BEGINNING:
When I first arrived at Wammy's house I wasn't impressed. Yes, it was a big building, it was beautiful, but I didn't see that. I didn't see ANY of that. I just saw another orphanage. Of course if you looked at my records they wouldn't say I'd been to one orphanage, but that would be if I had any records at all. The only record that I knew I had was a criminal record. The first half of my childhood had been living in an orphanage and the other was on the streets. I had had a family. But they died when I was little. Wammy, who had 'taken me in' smiled at me. When we pulled up he opened the door for me and smiled again. I stepped cautiously out of the car. Most of the guys in the gang referred to me as 'a traumatized puppy that can only live on the streets or be put down.' they used that saying a lot. I asked them why once, and they told that it was because most people living on the streets couldn't ever socialize again, like the pit bulls that the cops pick up, and they have to be put down. "Welcome to Wammy's House. This is Roger; he'll be taking care of you for the most part." I just looked up at him and nodded. When we walked in we were greeted by a rush of children. I guessed that they were looking for a new victim. Of course I look at least 5 years older then all of them. I thought it might be because of the way that I grew up that I looked older than I was, but I didn't complain because it came in handy on the streets. I was 13 but I could pass for 16. Most of the kids looked around 10 to 12. Some a little younger. I remained impassive as Wammy said something t the kids and took me to my room. I'd have a room to myself, but it was a small room. But of course I didn't care, a small room was better than no room at all. An older teen stood impassively at me. He had a stooped stature and was eating cake with an odd posture. Wammy motioned for the boy to come over where we were standing. "Altessa, this is L. L, this is Altessa, would you mind showing her too her room and telling her, her new name, schedule, and the rules her at Wammy's? I have other matters to take care of at the moment." Wammy said rushing off before he could protest. I had heard of L, and I didn't like him to begin with because many of my gang members had been caught by him. I sneered at him and walked off in the direction of the room. From looking at this place I could figure out the type of building it was and the layout. L looked surprised when he saw me walk off, which meant I was obviously going in the right direction.
He cleared his throat, and I paused and looked at him. "I might as get this over with," he grumbled to himself and walked up to me. "From your almost nonexistent records we couldn't seem to find a first or last name. Which means the name you're using has an 80% chance of being fake? So you may keep your name if you wish, but you have a better chance of using another fake name. Since it seems you were involved with a gang." he said. I had heard that he used a voice filter most of the time and figured that it must have worn off on him because his voice even sounded robotic.
"Altessa isn't even a fake name. It was one of my nicknames. As I'm sure you've noticed it means 'noble reaper.' I got it from killing with respect of my victims." I said impassively. "There was also another one, Vatusia, or 'they leave us behind'… I'm sure the reason I got that one is obvious." I said quietly. I think maybe he was attempting to cheer me up, but L coughed and said.
"What language is that?" he asked. I looked at him funny. Of course HE knew! He knew everything. I coughed.
"it's Andalusian." I said.
"oh yeah, now I remember. I never studied much on that language. May I ask who in the gang gave these nicknames?"
"my gang-mother." I said. A lot of people just thought that gangs were unorganized and just a bunch of people on the streets thrown together and that sold drugs, stole, and killed other people. They did that too, only the people they killed were either rival gang members labeled as threats to our gang members, or people outside gangs that were labeled threats. But we were a family and worked as one. Also I learned a lot of things such as a respect that most people wouldn't think you'd learn in a gang. We were both standing there silent. We must have looked funny though because we were both slumped in out posture (though I wasn't slumping as nearly as much as L) and he was biting his thumb nail while I chewed on my lip, which I did often. "so what's my new name?" I asked, mainly because I thought a new name would be interesting.
"do you remember your real name?" L asked. I glared at him. Like I would tell him. He got the message and sighed heavily. "fine." he said simply and gazed at me for awhile. Usually, when most people stare their eyes narrow, not L. when he stared intently his eyes widened. "the name you've been using is Altessa, hmm…" he murmured to himself. "since you're American, or at least you look American, giving you a Japanese name wouldn't do you any good." I was American. Or at least I thought so. I had to take a flight from the states to come to this place. I crossed my arms and tapped my fingers lightly. "your new name will be Willow. Do you have a last name?" he asked.
"I've been using the name Altessa Estelle." I said.
"then your new name is Willow Estelle. I don't usually give out last names. The kids here just use their regular names or obtain the last name Wammy. Now le-" he was cut short by a blond boy and a redhead walking to him.
"L! what are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to fly here from the states till next week." the blond yelled. The redhead hadn't looked up. He was intently trying to beat some game on a DS. L sighed and started to explain something to the blond. I assumed he was a boy, but when I took another look he could pass as a really ugly girl.
"I had to pick up ms. Estelle and came home early. The case was simple." was all I had heard him say. So he had been the one on the plane. I was wondering why I had flown here alone. Not that I had cared. I walked to the other boy who was so intent on beating his game. I saw he was loosing and tapped him on the shoulder. He paused the game and looked at me. I made a motion for the DS. He was hesitant but slowly gave it to me. It was Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I quickly took the stylus and resumed the game. The boy looked eagerly over my shoulder, probably to see if I would wreck his game. I easily beat it in the matter of two minutes and got the bonus items that only hardcore gamers knew about. I had been a beta tester for the game and a lot of others. It was pretty good pay. The boy's mouth dropped open as I handed him back the game system. "my name's Willow." I said. "Well, it is now."
"I'm Matt, and that's my friend Mello." he said. He was still in awe.
"so how old are you guys?" I asked.
"I'm 11 and Mello's 12." he said quietly.
"I'm 15. Well it was nice to meet you." I said. I looked at him and saw that he was obviously checking out my wardrobe. My hair at the moment was cut short and blond. I wore my usual outfit of a hoodie that was cropped on the bottom, exposing my stomach, and the hood over my head where it would cast a shadow on my face to where it was difficult to see my eyes. Which were a mix of silver, blue, and green. They were contacts. I often changed my appearance so I couldn't be recognized by police. I also had on my black pants that hung on my hips, and black Converse that went to my knee. Also I had a pair of goggles that hung around my neck as well. He looked surprised when he saw the goggles. It was kind of obvious that he would because of the fact that a lot of people didn't wear them.
"wait!" matt yelled as I started to walk away. I turned around and gave him an inquisitive glance. "I was wondering if we could hang out, since we're some of the oldest kids here. I just got some new games, we could p-p-play together…" he said shakily. It was obvious that he wasn't used to playing video games with other people. Of course, I wasn't much of a social gamer either. Most of the best gamers weren't.
"okay, sounds cool." I said. He was cute I had to admit. L must have heard me because he stopped mid sentence when I said that I'd go. Then he cleared his throat.
"guys, why don't you go back to your rooms. I have to get Willow situated." L said. The boys nodded and walked off. Matt looked back one more time before leaving. I smiled at him and waved weakly. L started to walk towards the room. I followed him until he abruptly stopped. "this is your room." he mumbled. Then he said something about finally getting a piece of cake.
"so what time are classes?" I asked, since I had heard Wammy talking to him about telling me my schedule.
"I'll stop by your room tomorrow, 'bout 8. I'll tell you the rest then. Your stuff is already in your room, so unpack however you feel necessary." he mumbled while walking off. I had just barely caught it and sighed. He was so much help. I shook my head sadly and went into the room. The room was bland but immediately I started to unpack. I didn't have much, I didn't bring anything that I couldn't buy again. Other than my clothes I really didn't have much. I would ask to go shopping tomorrow. Of course I'd have to buy all the game systems. I decided that I might as well make sure they were ready to just pick up. I dialed my friend's number who worked with all the big gamers. He had enough connections and would set me up perfectly. As I asked there was no TV, I'd buy my own. The phone rang a couple times until I heard a click on the other end.
"yo, this is Mario. What's up?" the Hispanic accented voice sounded.
"Mario. I need you to set me up. The works, you know the deal. There's just one thing. I'm in England so I need you to send it to the Gamestop in the nearest mall." I said.
"Altessa!! It's good to hear from you. Last I heard they had you in jail. Heard you hacked into the government system for some of the gang. Don't worry, once boss caught wind that they had blamed the entire crime on you and you were caught he beat their asses to king fucking kong!!! England you say? What happened? Thought you were jailed up in San Fran." he said.
"I was, but I was busted and 'taken in.' it's hard to explain. Tell boss that I'm fine. Once I get outa here I'm gonna take a plane back to the states." I said. Mario laughed wildly.
"I knew it. No one can keep you down for long. So da works eh? I can hook you up. I'll send in some games dat haven't even hit da shit son!!" he said.
"of course. Well I have to go. Mario, don't call me by this number anymore. I'll contact you and give you a new number but until then don't call this. I'm gonna destroy this phone. And to everyone else, in the gang except for you boss and ma, we never had this conversation." I said in a venomous voice.
"got it. See ya 'Tess." he said and hung up. He didn't question me of course. Even though I was in England I was so connected in the gang world that he knew he could be dead within minutes of hanging up the phone. I threw all of my clothes into the small closet and went to bed. I didn't change except for taking off my hoodie and throwing on a black tang top. Before I went to bed I thought about it and decided that when I went shopping I'd have to buy new hair dye and contacts. I was thinking of going back to my original hair color. I'd keep the contacts though. Then I drifted off to sleep.
I was a light sleeper and when I heard L approach I awoke instantly. He was leaning on the doorway with a handful of sugar cubes that he would repeatedly stack in his hand or pop in his mouth. I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged and made a slight hand motion signaling it was time to go to class. I looked at the clock that had already been placed in the room and saw that it was flashing 8:00. I knew he was coming to get me at the time, but I was also pretty sure that classes didn't start at 8:30, or even 8:15.
"Aren't you going to make me late?" I asked curiously. All he did was nod as a maid walked over to him and handed him tea and more sugar cubes. He nodded at her and dropped about 10 sugar cubes in the tea and slurped it. Then he started to continually dropped more sugar cubes in.
"it would be best if you got up out of bed and got dressed." he said in his robotic voice. I shrugged, got up and threw my shirt over my head. He tried not to act surprised but I could see that he was when I just started to undress. I smirked and took out a normal hoodie out and threw it over my head. I had an undershirt underneath it. I decided not to change my pants. Then I slipped my converse back on and got up.
"done." I said and walked past him. I could see him smirk slightly and turned to walk with me. From living with a gang for so long I had gained a sort of swag when I walked. I always walked with my hands in my pockets or with my thumbs intertwined in my belt loops. "by the way I was wondering if I could go shopping. Since I didn't bring much." I said impassively. L was probably as tall as me but he looked at least a foot shorter because of the way he hunched his back. When he walked it was amazing that he could still look up at you. Mainly because gravity forced him to stare at the ground.
"I don't see any problem with it." he murmured. I nodded and we walked in silence. Out of his pocket he took out a piece of folded paper and handed it to me. I took it and opened it up. Inside contained a schedule. Probably my class schedule. I quickly scanned over it and frowned. There were all advanced courses. My gang-mother, who I called 'ma', had taught me a lot when I was little. And I had learned a little from my time spent in the first orphanage. But this was beyond everything in my teachings.
"I can't do these courses!" I said and gaped at him. L sighed heavily.
"of course you can do those classes. If you couldn't, you wouldn't be here right now. I'll take you to your classes but I don't think you should participate at this moment because of you lack of confidence. I think that it would be best to start you with a skills test. If you really fall as low as you think, I'll make sure you're kicked out. After all, like you told your buddy, you can't wait to get out of this place and fly back to your gang." he said, with his index finger lightly touching his lip. I looked at him with shock. He had heard my conversation with Mario? Then when I thought about I decided that he probably bugged my room as well. I'd be sure to check as soon as I got back. I sneered at him and looked away. When we finally got to the first class room he knocked and opened the door before he got a response. The kids in the class widened their eyes with shock as they saw L leaning in the doorway such as he had mine minutes ago. "hey." was all he said. The teacher, and elderly man who's eyebrows made it look like they blocked his line of vision looked up from the book he was reading and stopped copying whatever line he was on the blackboard.
"L! what a surprise. What brings you to class?" the man asked. Looking surprised.
"I wanted to introduce you to your new student." he said and motioned for me. I slowly walked forward and glared at every single kid in the room. I saw Mello and saw that he was smuggling chocolate while the teacher was preoccupied. I smirked and I was pretty sure every single person in the room, including Mello, cringed. I had that effect on people. It was like my presence said 'I could fucking kill you all without blinking an eyelash.' not that I cared. When we went there we visited several other classes, all of them having the same effect as the first. When finally we visited the last class I spotted Matt in the back playing his DS. I smiled at the sight. When he saw me he was the only one in the room who grinned. I winked and left with L. He yawned and stretched when we were finally done. Then he took me to this office where I lounged on a couch while he went into some room. When he came back he brought back a pencil and this pack of papers. He told this was a skills test and that I had to do my best or I was going back to jail. I started to bite my lip. I wanted to go home, not back to jail. I sighed and started the lengthy test. The entire time I chewed on the skin of my bottom lip. I made it bleed several times as well. I was pretty sure it was swollen and dark by the time I finished. I sighed and rested my elbows on the clipboard. After a few minutes L came out. I had rushed through the test and just put down whatever came to mind. I knew I probably get graded badly because I was so fast. I remember teachers always despising those that finished first, and awarding those that were last. I was usually first, so I wasn't listed very high on their 'students-to-like' list. L took the test and flipped through it a couple times. Then he cleared his throat. "sorry about that. I know that was kind of long. By the way I asked Roger to schedule a ride that will take you wherever you wish to go tomorrow. You can bring whomever you wish. And since there's class tomorrow they will be excused. And you don't have to go to class till the results come back, and that might take awhile. Even so, you are more than welcome to wander around and enter whichever classes you wish. All I ask is that you don't disrupt the others." he said.
"sounds fun." I said sarcastically. L coughed and walked away.
"oh, and when you're shopping when you ring it up just tell them to charge it to Wammy's. have fun." he said and murmured something about sugar cubes. I smiled and went back to my room. I noticed that when I passed a door I heard fighting and music from assassin's creed. I politely knocked on the door. Mello opened it and snarled.
"what do you want. Unless you come bearing chocolate go the fuck away!" he yelled. I had taken some from the kitchen on the tour. It wasn't melted, still solid, which was the reason I didn't eat it. I was about to get it out when Mello was hit in the head by a Xbox 360 controller. I looked behind him and saw that my savior was Matt, who was grinning with a cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth.
"you didn't have to do that ya know." I told him smirking.
"I know, but I've wanted to do that for so long. It's just there were never anybody around to witness my death." he said, standing there triumphantly. I laughed and took the chocolate out of my pocket. Mello had been glaring at Matt but when I took out the chocolate he turned his attention to me and quickly snatched it out of my hand. "MELLO!" Matt yelled as his friend greedily took a chomp out of the chocolate. The way he ate it made me think of the sound of snapping someone's neck. I had been spacing out and when I got back to reality I saw that Matt was lecturing Mello about manners and how to talk to girls. Mello sighed heavily and dramatically and then turned towards me. He wasn't saying anything and then Matt elbowed him.
"thanks." he mumbled. I gave my classic smirk. And did a fake curtsy for him.
"no problem, mi liege." I said in an old renaissance voice. Mello was puzzled but Matt got it immediately. Probably because when you play so many knight games the language sticks. I said it because he sounded so much like a king being forced to thank a peasant. Mello sneered, even though I knew he didn't get it. "so, you guys want to come shopping with me tomorrow?" I asked. I would rather it have been me and Matt, since Mello was getting on my nerves, but I decided to just ask him because I didn't want more harsh feelings because he was being left out.
"hell yeah! I can't believe you got permission!! Roger is an effing douche bag and never lets us out." matt said enthusiastically. Meanwhile Mello took a crunch out of the chocolate bar and shrugged with a sneer plastered to his face. I smiled and walked in there room. It was obvious who's side was who's. Mello's was neat and the only thing littering the ground was chocolate wrappers. While Matt's was a mess, tangled wires and abandoned video game casings piled on the floor. Light glinted off of upturned game discs. I walked over to the TV sitting in the corner. The familiar blue screen of a paused assassin's creed played on the screen.
"so what part are you on?" I asked. Looking intently at the map, it was obvious he was in Acre.
"the fifth assassination." he said excitedly. I smiled and sat down on his bed. He walked over and sat down next to me. He un-paused the game went through the entire game. We sometimes alternated and both played, we discussed the game and certain combos. It was 4:30 in the morning when we decided to go to bed. Matt got up and walked me to my room, even though it wasn't that far.
"thank you for the awesome evening." I said.
"sure, no problem. Come again, you're always welcome." he said shyly. I kissed him on the cheek and felt his face heat up. He was so surprised that he started to walked away wobbly.
"hey Matt, one more thing!" I called after him. He turned around, trying to hide his blush. "are you gay, or what?" I asked. He looked surprised at my question. "I mean come on, no straight guy could put together that outfit." I said giggling.
"I-I-I'm bisexual…" he quietly admitted. I smiled and ran to him and hugged him.
"I don't care." I whispered in his ear. I heard a coughing behind us and Matt lightly pushed me away. I turned around and saw L standing there with his hands in his pockets. Matt blushed and turned around and headed back to his room.
"seems like you are nocturnal." L said amused. I glared at him and bared my teeth. "we do have a curfew, ms. Estelle." he added.
"curfew my ass. Go fuck a palm tree."
"I'm afraid that none grow around here. My deepest apologies." L said back. I snarled and brought out my gun and pointed it to his head. He scoffed, "go ahead. I dare you." he said his eyes widened studying me. My hand trembled and the gun shook.
"what's the percent of me pulling the trigger?"
"extremely low."
"dammit" I cursed and lowered the gun. He smirked and I glared at him. "why don't you-wait. What are you doing here?" I asked, curiosity now laced my voice though a trace of venom still lingered.
"patrolling the halls. I do it every night."
"liar." I said. L looked up at me surprised. I smirked.
"how so?"
"if you did patrol every night matt wouldn't have been so shocked when he saw you."
"how would he know."
"because someone would see you eventually and tell every other orphan."
"good theory."
"I'm only being logical." I said. He nodded and looked away. "so tell me the truth." I said. He looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. I sighed and refreshed his memory. "I had asked you what you were doing in the halls at like 4:45 in the morning."
"I could ask you the same thing."
"you could? I thought it was quite obvious." I replied sarcastically.
"do you really want to say that? I mean if I were to take a guess I would say you slept with Matt and were sneaking back to your room." he said robotically. Then it hit me as to why he was here, in front of my room.
"you were checking up on me!" I said taking a few steps back. He sighed and looked away. It was obvious that he was not pleased that he got caught.
"I-I-I was just…w-w-woried…" he mumbled. I laughed and went up to him and hugged him. I had completely forgotten that he was L, the greatest detective ever, the man who imprisoned several hundred of my gang members, the emotionless computerized voice, the man behind the letter. Instead I saw a person, someone who had feelings. I whispered in his ear, "thanks." he cleared his throat and backed up.
"well, you better go to sleep. And I'll go ahead and leave. I have things to plan…" I smiled and nodded. Then I went into my room and lightly closed the door. I stood there with my head against the door listening as he walked away mumbling about sweets.
When I awoke I heard a pounding on my door. I could smell the bittersweet smell of cigarette smoke, mixed in with the luscious smell of dark chocolate. I got up and went to my closet and picked out a few things to wear. "come on in guys!" I yelled. They both walked in. Matt acted like nothing had happened last night, and Mello looked like he didn't get much sleep last night. "give me a second, okay guys? I just need to get dre-" I was cut off when matt hugged me from behind. Mello sneered and took a bite of his chocolate bar. So much for forgetting what happened last night. I just couldn't seem to yell at matt to let go. "let go!" I said laughing. "I got to go change." matt frowned, but he let go and I walked in the bathroom and got changed quickly. I'd take a shower later after dying my hair. We walked out to the car that was waiting and I told the driver to go to the nearest mall. He nodded and drove. Mello insisted on sitting in the middle of me and Matt and I let him. When we first walked in the mall it was almost as if me and matt were pulled by gravity to Gamestop. Mello refused to go in and decided to go to some chocolate store awhile down. Matt started to search through the games while I went to the counter. I spotted Mario's cousin, Jose`, behind the counter.
"Tess!" he yelled when he saw me. I smirked in my trademark way and he winked. "got everything you ordered. The works." he said motioning to the back.
"that's awesome. You mind holding it for me for while. I got to do some other shopping. I'll some pick it up later okay?" I said. Jose` gave me a thumbs up and nodded his head in the direction of matt. He had obviously seen me walk in with him. "he's nothing to me." I said. Jose` frowned and sighed.
"fine. You should get a boyfriend. Right now the other gangs think you're in jail so he wouldn't be in danger."
"and then what? When I go back to the gang I forget about him? Forget any feelings I developed?" I asked enraged. Jose` shrugged.
"it's better than never having feelings at all. At least you attempted to be normal. Tessa, the gang isn't your life! You could do so many other things, good things. If you stay with the gang there's a chance your past will catch up with you and you'll be arrested and maybe get life. Take advantage of this moment." he said. All I said was 'humph.' and dragged matt out. I promised him that we would be back and I'd buy him whatever games he wished. I picked up some other necessities and walked into the hair store. I got some dark brown hair dye and then went to the contact place and picked up some green and purple contacts. Matt and Mello eyed my items and I just rolled my eyes. Finally after we got some pizza in the food court I went back to Gamestop, bought Matt 2 PS3 games, and then picked up everything I ordered. Matt's eyes widened when he saw the amount of stuff. I asked for some help and got some guys to help load the stuff in the car. On the way back I sat next to Matt and laid in his arms. But the entire time I kept going over my conversation with Jose`. Does Matt really not mean anything to me? was the question that kept surfacing in my head. Matt had pulled out a gameboy and a cigarette. When he took it out to blow the smoke I quickly snatched his hand and took a long drag out of the cigarette. He looked surprised but I just smiled and blew the smoke in his face. He took a drag and did it back to me. I laughed and lightly punched him in the arm. Then I pretended to choke.
"you two are going to make me barf up my perfectly good chocolate." Mello sneered. I decided to mess with him a bit and went up to him on all fours and lightly rubbed against him like a kitten. I laid my head in his lap and toyed with his cross with my hands balled up like cat paws. He tried to look away and ignore me, but I could see he was having trouble. Especially because my head was laying on his crotch. Matt saw that I was doing this to test Mello's patience and tried to stifle his laughter. Mello finally just pushed my head away and went back to staring out the window. I sat there like an abandoned puppy and gave him the saddest eyes I could.
"aw, Mello-yellow! Don't be mean." I whined. It was obvious that he didn't like to be called Mello-yellow. Matt had told me to call him that and now he was watching Mello and practically dying of laughter. Mello was about to reply but we arrived at Wammy's. We got out and someone was ordered to bring the stuff to my room. When all the boxes were loaded in my room I got out the hair dye and contact lenses. "Matt, could you start setting this stuff up? I got to go do something." Matt nodded and eagerly licked his lips. I could see that he couldn't wait to start setting up.
After an hour or two I walked out towel drying my hair. When I opened my eyes almost everything was set up and matt was connecting wires to my new alienware computer. I snuck up behind him and gave him a kiss. He immediately dropped the wires and I tried not to laugh. He turned around and gaped. I took a strand of my hair and twirled it in my hair innocently. "do you like it?" I asked. My new green contacts stood out.
"I thought you have bluish-eyes." he said. "and blond hair."
"I wore contacts and dyed my hair blond. Though this is my real hair color it's not my real eye color." I said sarcastically. I didn't know what I had said but the next thing I knew I was on my back staring up at Matt. He was holding my arms down and staring at me. "what?" I asked him blushing. He leaned down and kissed me on my lips. I was going to resist but I decided against it and deepened the kiss. His tongue lightly brushed my lower lip and I opened my mouth hesitantly. He pushed his tongue in my mouth and it fought against mine. All of a sudden there was a knock on the door and we broke the heated kiss immediately. "c-come in." I stuttered. L walked in and looked from me to Matt. We were both blushing and I couldn't imagine what was going on in his head about what he thought we were doing.
"I didn't mean to intrude." he said innocently. I glared at him. Yes he did. "Willow, I need to talk to you if you don't mind." I nodded and walked out of my room and shut the door. L looked at me for awhile and then smirked.
"what?!" I asked.
"nice look. You look better a brunette than a blond." he observed. I gave him a mean look and started to walk to the end of the hall.
"now what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked.
"I wanted to tell you that the test results will be pinned up tomorrow in the dinning hall." he said, walking up the stairs to the first landing.
"is that all?" I asked enraged. I followed him and blocked his way up to the next staircase.
"no." he said. I looked confused and then he grabbed me in and lightly kissed me. I was shocked and pushed him away.
"what was that for?!" I yelled.
"there was a bit icing of your lip." he stated, like it was normal. I was blushing again and he used it as an advantage to walk up the stairs. I watched him go out of sight and then fell to floor. I sat on the staircase for the longest time. Eventually Matt came out and got me.
"hey, are you okay?" he asked looking at me nervously.
"yeah, I'm fine. Let's go. I want to try out some of the new games." I mumbled. He nodded and we went back to my room. After that day I went to lunch with the rest of the guys. Everyone in the dining hall was excited because the test results were going up. The entire room went from an excited chatter to a dead silence when L walked through the doors and posted the piece of paper up and left quietly. He was not three steps from the list when a crowd of kids burst passed him to see the list. I sat quietly waiting for the crowd to pass. I was anxious, but part of me didn't want to see the results. All of a sudden there was a gasp from the crowd and every child looked at me.
"what?" I asked glaring at them all. Near, a child who had been #1 in surpassing L walked up to me and shook me hand. I gave him a funny look.
"congratulations. You are now #1 in surpassing L." from the corner of my eye I could see the detective himself looking at me, waiting for my reaction. I was shocked, but I was more outraged than surprised. I ran up to the board and ripped the list off. Everyone had gone down one level because of me and didn't even want to surpass that bastard. I swear to this day that my eyes must have been red.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH MOTHER FUCKER!!!! HOW DARE YOU?!! Do you want to die?" I yelled and then whispered and I got right up to him. He smirked, he SMIRKED.
Then he said, "congratulations. I had a great amount of faith in you." then, I punched him, hard. He went sliding and hit the wall behind him. He shook it off like nothing had happened. The whole room had gone still.
"I don't want to surpass you. don't you understand ANYTHING?" I said and then stormed off. Matt quickly followed me like a concerned puppy.
The next day L left for some big case and didn't come back for a month. By that time me and Matt had gotten pretty serious, of course I still thought of that day on the staircase. When I thought of it questions would race through my mind. I had gotten used to hacking into places. I was curious of the case that L was working on, and why it was taking so long. When everyone else had gone to bed, even Matt, who was passed out on my bed, I hacked into L's secret database. I had been attempting to hack into it before, but I only quietly tiptoed around and then left immediately. I sighed and before I put in the exact code to hack the firewalls, I got up and shook Matt awake. He shouldn't be there when I did it, because if I were to get caught, so would he. I told him to back to his room and he obliged, without struggle, only because he was half asleep. When he left I proceeded. I dodged firewall after firewall, and several computer viruses. Finally I got to the core. I found what I was looking for, his current case file. I clicked on it and made sure there was nothing to protect. After that I searched around the file. My computer beeped several times, telling me that I had been detected, it was only a soft beep which meant that it was either L or Watari who had discovered me. All of a sudden my screen went blank and an old English W appeared on my computer screen. I silently cursed to myself. A voice sounded out, it was going through a voice filter, so it sounded robotic.
"Ms. Estelle, I'm astounded you broke in so easily, but I'm afraid L wouldn't like this. I'll give you 1 minute to abort and leave immediately. That should be enough time, if you don't leave L will be notified and will not be happy." so, I sat there, for one minute I waited. I heard Watari sigh on the other line. In immediately 1 minute the old English W changed to an L.
"Willow, what is it?" the voice said, it was a voice filter, like Watari's. It almost sounded amused.
"I want to help you with your case." I said.
"impossible." he said.
"and why would that be?" I asked.
"because then there would be two L's and that would confuse the public." the voice said, sighing.
"who said I would go by L? I thought I made it clear that I was not replacing you."
"then what would you go by?" L asked, curious.
"I don't know, how about Altessa?" I asked smirking to myself.
"you'd sound like a criminal, and plus, it should be a letter."
"says you" I scoffed. "I mean, it's not like it's my real name. no one would know."
"except for your gang, which is one of the most crime related organizations in the U.S."
"the only one who knows my name are Mario, Jose`, Boss, and Ma. Everyone else in the gang knows me as Vatusia. I will contact those people and tell them that the Altessa they see is not the girl they knew. I will tell them that I have died. I'll tell them I committed suicide and write a fake note telling them not to take revenge on anyone. It'll be believable since they know I never liked revenge, it corrupted too many people around me…" I said. L was quiet for awhile. I could tell he was thinking about my proposal.
"I have one last question."
"shoot."
"why do you want to solve this case so bad. It has no ties to you, so why do you want to solve it so bad?"
"I'll tell you that part once it's solved. So show me all the data you've collected so far." instantly files popped up on my computer screen, one after another. After all of them had occupied my desktop, I quickly scanned over every single one of them. Me and L communicated with each other. I stayed up all night and locked my door. Mello and Matt quickly tried to get in, but the lock was even too high tech for them. Finally, I looked at all the pictures of the victims and it finally hit me. The way the victims were laying, it reminded me of someone. "L!" I yelled quickly and started typing on my computer. I took all the photos together and quickly overlapped them. It was there. All of the victims were lying in the same position. Because the area around them was manipulated it was hard to see the pattern.
"what is it? Have you found something."
"yes I have. I'd like you to set up a meeting with the people who hired you for this case. I'd like to reveal the murderer there and then. Have two laptops so you can be there as well."
"I understand. You should get a package in one hour, it's a voice filter. Also you may design your message however you wish. You'll have to modify the filter though. My employers are French, and as I'm sure you've noticed, that's where these crimes take place." I had known that from the basic file.
The next day I was set up for the announcement. I was in Roger's office and hooked up to everything. L requested I give out the information in front of Roger, probably to show off the reason why I should succeed him. I talked into the voice filter when L gave me the okay that I was ready. "I have gathered you here today to tell you the outcome of this case. I have noticed that the pattern in the body's position is the same. Even though it's not noticeable because of the fact that the environment around the victim's have been manipulated, how is not important. As you can see," I said and quickly brought up the same picture overlap that I myself had discovered the connection on, " all the body's have been manipulated to make the same symbol. It's a symbol from a wives tale in gangs. it is said that if the body is laid in this specific symbol, the symbol for 'forgiveness', the murderer will be saved from a guilty conscious. It's very similar to the symbol for 'respect', which is another tale. The only person who kills like this is a coward named Howard Casings. He's 24 years old, height, 5'6, he works during the day at a car dealership on the east side of L.A., he had recently got a vacation and went to France, where his fiancé, who had run off on him to go with another man, was currently living. She was the first victim. That was another connection between the victims. Though it was not listed and you had to uncover a bit to find it, they were all women who had cheated. My guess is that Howard had been going into bars and finding poor souls, who had been the men in which these women had cheated, it was obvious that they told Howard their stories. He then found the women and killed them, leaving the corpses in this position as to save him from going mad with guilt. I met the man once, then he had been killing mother's and their children, after he lost his first wife along with his son. He was never caught and the police was sure that he had hung himself. He had attempted but failed. He then met his second love and it happened all over again. All the women and children were lying in the same position as you can see here." I said and listed pictures of the victims of the other man's murders. All of them matching the women.
"L, who his this new detective? I have never heard of her yet here she comes and solves the entire thing." one of the men said in French, but it appeared to me in subtitles.
"she is one of my companions. She is not a big time detective and this is her first debut but as you can see she has proven herself worthy. If anything is to happen to me then Altessa will take over for me." I flinched when he said that. Not just because he still made it to where I would surpass him, but because he had called me Altessa. It was obvious of course, Altessa was the name written in Old English capitols on the bank screen they were watching. The only difference between mine and L's screen was the fact that the background on my screen was black and the letters white, while it was vice-versa on his. I had insisted on that. It was to show that even if I was forced to take over L's spot, I would not be L. I was pretty sure he noticed it. All of a sudden the doors opened and I watched as two women stepped in.
"men, these are agents KiraKira Hiroshi, and Amaya Rukiko. I have hired them on the account that Mr. Casings has left France and is now in L.A. These two women are from the FBI and work in that distinctive area. They will catch Mr. Casings and arrest him. When they do this case is solved, it shouldn't be that hard because Howard has gone back to his job and believes that he is Scott free. At 1:00 in the afternoon he will be behind bars and will be found guilty before the court, in other words, this case is solved." I finished. There was applause from around the room. "now if you'll excuse me gentlemen, I must go. I thank you for your time and effort, but you are officially excused from this case." I then shut the computer off and leaned back into my chair. Roger stood there looking astounded. I took a tape and casually tossed it up in the air. I had sent a copy to L and I'm pretty sure he was puzzled as to why I didn't reveal this piece of evidence. I decided to let him do it. I counted 5 minutes and then there it was, the familiar beeping. I opened my computer and there on the screen was the L. "impressed?" I asked jokily. I had switched the voice filter back to English.
"very. I'm amazed you figured out all that. I did what I'm guessing you wanted me to and presented the men with the tape."
"yes, thank you. It will be presented at court, it will be used against him. He will probably get life." I said.
" you said that you had met him. But you didn't elaborate?" he asked. I sighed and explained.
"when he first started killing he went to Boss and asked for help. He declined and had him kicked out of the premises. I had no idea it was him killing until I overheard ma talking to one of the gang sisters about one of the women telling him about the tale of forgiveness. I recognized it instantly. It made me sad though, he was such a lost man. But killers must be stopped."
"unless they're family?" L asked. I could see where he was going with this,
"those who kill to protect, they are someone to overlook in my book. Those who kill to relive sadness, or gain pleasure from it, those who do it only for the sake of themselves, those are scum. Gangs kill to protect. I used to think of us like a lion pride. You had the highest male, the boss, and his wife, the lead gang-mother. The women would care for the children and help carry out things so the gang could be fed, housed, and clothed. The other males protected the pride, the gang, and did what was ever necessary." I said quietly.
"interesting. Does that make you part of the royal family?" he asked.
"right now, it makes me a threat." I whispered.
"you told them?"
"yes, they are all mourning my death right about now."
"did they want to see the body?"
"yes. I told them it had been cremated and the ashes thrown in the sea. I had always like the open water." I said. "the call was untraceable as well. I told them I worked at the orphanage and to protect the children they couldn't find out which one or where. There is going to be a memorial stone set for me in the Light before Shadows Cemetery, where all the great gang members where buried. I was thinking of attending my funeral in disguise, but it was too much of a gamble, I know myself too well."
"well, I thought I could compensate since I got you into this." L said and instantly the screen turned into a video screen. It showed the entire gang, standing there with their heads bowed. The women were crying and even some of the men. It was almost funny, the toughest gang members and criminals standing with each other crying. I almost laughed out loud. Almost. Until I saw boss and ma holding each other.
"L. turn it off. I'm not ready to watch this yet." instantly the screen turned back into the L.
"I understand. It's always here for you to watch."
"thank you." a few days later the criminal had been trialed and was now facing life in prison. And L was coming home. Matt and Mello refused to talk to me though because of the fact I had worked on a case with L and solved it when he couldn't. And since nobody would talk to me I usually stayed in my room. Not even coming out to eat or go to class. The teachers sent the lessons and the homework and I completed it and sent it back to them. When L arrived, I was the only one to not greet him. I knew that the question all the kids wanted to ask was if I really helped him or not. I didn't care about his response. No matter what he would say the others would still hate me. I laid in bed all day and I threw away all the food that they sent up. I hadn't eaten anything in the past 3 days. I had taken just a couple sips of water to stay alive. But I could now barely get out of bed. So, I laid there and stared up at my ceiling. I would now only get out of bed when I had to go to the bathroom. Near noon, there was a knock on the door. I pressed a button and the door unlocked itself. It slowly opened and L was standing there. He cautiously walked in and closed the door behind him.
"what happened?" he asked as he saw my state. I closed my eyelids but I couldn't go to sleep no matter how hard I tried.
"I'm sure you want to know why I wanted to solve that case so bad right?" I asked, my voice was raspy after not talking for 3 days as well.
"you promised." he reminded me. I laughed to myself and then with the last bit of energy I could muster I lifted my self up and kissed him lightly.
"it was because I wanted you to come home. And you had some icing on your lip." I said and then finally fell asleep. I felt him kiss my forehead and leave. When I woke up he was sitting on a chair that had been placed beside my bed and was eating ice cream.
"I was waiting for you to wake up." he said. I had heard him speak French and Japanese fluently and wondered why the only language he where sounded robotic was English. I looked at my arm and saw the IV hooked up. I went back to looking up at the ceiling. "if you do this every time I go on a case I'm going to have to start taking you with me." he joked. I lifted up my other arm and lightly hit myself with it. He looked at me confused.
"I hate you, I hope you're aware of this." I said.
"oh, and why might I ask."
"because I like Matt. Matt Jeevas is the only one my heart beats for." I stated, more to myself than him. He looked hurt and I sighed and went on. "but for some insane reason whenever I'm near you my heart decides to jump into my throat and it's all I can do to breathe." he sat there staring at the floor. "what's the percent of me falling in love with you?" I whispered.
"30%." he said. Not too low, not too high either.
"the chance of you falling in love with me?" I whispered. He had gotten up and was heading to the door but when I asked my second question he froze. Without turning around he answered just loud enough for me to hear.
"0%." he said and walked out. A tear silently slid down my cheek. I wiped it off quickly when I heard Matt and Mello walk in. They were both standing there with their hands in their pockets. I raised my eyebrow and looked at them. My contacts were still in, and I had to change them or else they'd fall out and show my real eye color. And that was one thing that I didn't want.
"I forgive both of you for ignoring me. I understand, if I were you I'd be mad too. I hold nothing against you so you can stop acting like that and sit down." I said and motioned to the two chairs on the opposite side that L was sitting. I could see that the boys realized where their mentor had sat and were dumbstruck. They quietly sat down and looked at me worriedly. I sighed and held my hand out to Matt and took his and held it for the longest time. "they had to put me on an IV drip because I couldn't handle solid food yet. I hadn't eaten for three days." after I said this Matt hugged me and wouldn't let go. I hugged him back lightly because I didn't have the strength to hold him like he was holding me.
"please, don't ever do that again. Promise me Willow. I don't ever want to see you like this. It scares me. And dealing with Mello almost my whole life, not a lot can scare me."
"you take things way too dra-"
"PROMISE ME WILLOW!"
"fine. I promise I'll never end up like this again. There. Happy?" Matt nodded and I kissed the top of his head.