I am not sure if the ages would be right, but I am going to assume that they are for this story's case.

Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Death Note.

Change

***

Taking a shaky breath, Rose, now known as B, backed up until she hit the wall, then slid to the floor. She held the soft materials in her hands, looking them over intently. Reluctantly, she got up, locking her door and shedding her clothing before retiring to her shower.

***

B checked a mirror while she wandered over to Mello's room. She had decided she looked… decent. Actually, much better than she ever remembered looking. Small smile disappearing quickly, she knocked lightly on the door that was Mello's and his roommate's.

"It's open," A male voice spoke, sounding quite distracted. B entered slowly, quickly taking in her surroundings. An auburn-haired boy with orange goggles over his eyes looked up at her for a second before looking back to his game. She heard the sounds of him beating a game, and then set it beside him. He smiled easily, loping over to her. "My name's Matt. You must be… B?" She nodded. "Yeah, Mells told me about you. He's in the shower, trying to get ready to see L with you." He grinned, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead, revealing dark sparkling emerald eyes. She visibly relaxed, which caught his attention. His smile slipped from his face.

"Hey, you gonna be okay?" Matt asked, sounding concerned, but trying to hide it. "It's pretty hard for some kids here to settle in. Some kids actually have mental breakdowns, but they're all okay in the end." He looked towards the bathroom door, then back at B, then lowered his voice. "Mells had a breakdown, too…"

B nodded, then looked to her feet. "He really loved his parents…"

Matt tilted his head to the side slightly. "You knew him..? Never heard you talk before, but you two have the same accent and everything, too…" He smiled again, just as Mello came out of the bathroom, wearing a black leather vest and black skinny jeans with a pair of boots in his right hand, toweling off his hair with the left. Seeing B, he smiled, dropping the towel on his bed and putting on his boots. "Ready to go?" She nodded, then smiled at Matt. "Nice meeting you." She blinked suddenly when he hugged her, then blushed slightly. He grinned again at her confused but slightly happy expression, before pushing her lightly towards the door. "You two have fun now, play safe!"

Mello threw a pillow at him as B walked out the door.

***

Mello boldly banged his fist repeatedly onto the door that he said led to Roger's office. A familiar voice calmly said "Come in." B smiled, recognizing the voice that belonged to Wammy, which Mello informed her that she should call him Watari. Nudging Mello out of the way, she entered the room, ignoring everyone else and walking to Watari. He smiled warmly down at her small body, before she wrapped her arms around him.

She then felt several pairs of eyes on her, namely, about three. She guessed that it would be Mello, L, and Roger. Slowly, she backed up, smiling slightly at Watari's fatherly expression. She turned, standing back near Mello, before taking in faces. She saw another elderly face, sitting behind a desk, and she assumed it was Roger. Suddenly, a small clatter sounded to her right. Her head whipped to the side, her hair tossing around. She saw multiple cakes and sweets sitting on a coffee table, seeming to groan under the weight, before looking at the person eating them.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

So, this is L…?

B hadn't realized that she had spoken out loud before Mello nodded and L's head whipped up at the sound of her voice, surprising her and everyone else further. They hadn't seen him move quite this fast in a while.

He stood gracefully, walking towards B and Mello, before crouching and looking B in the eyes from her height. Her chin jerked up in defiance, her face going blank; no emotion showing. She had been getting good at it. L's dark, orb-like eyes stared into her own blue ones. His face held an expression similar to her own.

"So, you are the girl that had corrected me earlier, in the library? You are B?" L questioned rapidly, not receiving any emotion from the younger girl. The 16 year old boy sighed softly, not receiving a response from the girl, but hearing Watari respond. "She had corrected you? And, was she right?"

L stood slowly, and then murmured, "Yes… she was."

***

Once B had finished her meeting with the great detective, she walked a safe distance away from the office, then ran, full speed towards the doors that led to the huge yard. She sighed, running in shadow to avoid being noticed. She stopped under the branches of an old oak, looking up at its beauty. It looked just like the one at the church, she thought, before shaking her hair out then climbing the branches skillfully. Once she was comfortable enough, she relaxed. Before she realized it, she was asleep. It had been a long day, after all.

***

Three long tolls of a bell, sounding quite like one that would be at a church, startled her awake. She visibly shuddered, then started lightly trembling from the cold that had settled overnight. Everything was dark in Wammy's house; outside was lit up by what the crescent moon could shine on. B stretched out her muscles, slightly sore from sleeping on a branch, then stopped suddenly. Déjà vu.

She looked around, taking in her surroundings, before looking slightly disappointed. Didn't seem like anyone had even tried to look for h—her thoughts stopped midway, when she saw a silvery head of hair wandering around the colorless landscape, everything bleached of color from the moonlight. He looked straight at her.

How the hell did he hear that?! It wasn't even that loud, and he was so far away…

B's thoughts trailed off as the boy walked closer. Once he was near the tree, she leapt down agilely, landing on her feet then bouncing back up to full height. She stared at him with a blank face, carefully studying him. He seemed to be… albino? Hmm. Cool. White hair, pale skin, white pajamas, toy robot in hand…

"Hello," the boy said to her, breaking her out of the trance-like state she was in.

"Hallo," B murmured. Hmm… I've been pretty quiet lately…

"Ah, you must be B. You do realize that everyone had been looking for you earlier. Even L had. They decided to look again in the morning…" He murmured, words trailing off.

"I'm sorry… I hadn't meant to cause trouble. I just needed to relax, somewhere kind of familiar.." She looked somewhat pleadingly into his eyes, then shivered violently as a gust of wind wrapped around their bodies. He noticed, then handed her the coat he had been holding in the hand that was not carrying the robot.

"Danke," She said quietly, slipping it on with some help from him… what was his name?

"I am Near. I am only 6 years old. Not to brag, but I am 1st in the school, most likely to succeed L… Mello is second. Matt is third." Near told her, still quiet.

"Could we go inside, please?" B said, feeling strange for being polite to this apathetic boy. He nodded, then started the way to the doors, not checking to see if she was following. After walking inside, he knocked on Roger's office door. Sticking his head in the door, he murmured something that sounded vaguely like "I found her."

They started towards the rooms, the orphanage sounding strangely empty. Suddenly, a man seemed to melt from the shadows, stepping in front of them. B immediately took a defensive pose, a habit she had picked up before her parents' death. The man hunched over, sticking his hands in his pockets. Near stayed as he was.

"Hello, L."

Oh. That explained it. B relaxed quickly, standing upright. She nodded at him in greeting.

"You found her. Where?" L's analytical gaze seemed to look right through her, making her mentally shudder. That made her realize she was still wearing Near's coat, which may seem pretty suspicious. She blushed. L laughed quietly. The door behind him flung open suddenly, Matt stumbling out of it. "Yeah, where ya been?" he slurred, sounding exhausted.

Near looked at her for a moment, in which she handed his coat to him. He nodded slightly. The interaction was not missed by L or Matt. B, remembering what Near and L had said about successors, felt slightly intimidated. She sighed softly, then spoke up. "Out on the grounds, on the old oak tree. You didn't partake in a very thorough search, did you?" She shook her head in mock exasperation, then smiled sheepishly. "Es tut mir leid, I'll try not to do it again."

L nodded, running a hand through his disheveled hair. B swayed slightly where she stood, and, feeling overcome by a sudden wave of exhaustion, passed out.

***Matt's Point of View***

B suddenly fell over, hitting the ground quieter than one would think. They all jumped, surprised by the sudden action. Matt was jerked into being aware from the sound and movement, and knelt down beside her. She was asleep. He laughed quietly, then picked her up. Being a half a foot taller than her and stronger than some kids his age, he held her in bridal style, before noticing Mello stumbling out of their room in a black t-shirt, blue boxers, and a chocolate bar. He rubbed his eyes, before catching sight of Matt carrying B, then L and Near. His face flushed, and he muttered something about hearing people.

"Well, anyone mind pointing me out to her room?"

L looked at Mello, implying that he should help, before Near took hold of L's hand and walked to his own room.

***

B stretched, catlike, in her bed, sunlight streaming through the crack in the curtains. She yawned, and lied back on her pillows with her arms behind her head. She thought carefully about her first night in Wammy's House. Her home. It had been her home for a little over 7 years. Actually, today was her fourteenth birthday. She groaned out loud.

The door slammed open, a grinning auburn-haired boy bursting through into her room. She laughed, throwing one of her many pillows at him. "Ever hear of knocking?" She asked teasingly, her German accent less noticeable over the years in England, but still there. He looked behind him, at the door.

"Mello said he was going to go get Near, but now I'm starting to think it wasn't such a good idea…" B snorted. "Yeah, not the best of ideas, Matt." He grinned at her, which made her smile in return. He eyed a spot on her bed that was usually reserved for him. She rolled over, burying her face in her pillows while he kicked off his boots and jumped onto the bed, making the springs creak and nearly bounce B off the bed. They were laughing about that as Mello dragged Near in by the collar of his usual attire. Near was still half asleep, and crawled onto B's unoccupied side, burrowed under the soft white blanket on there. Mello walked over, pulling off his boots on the way and laid on the end of her bed. B smiled, now that most of what she considered her family was here. The only exceptions were Watari and L. She zoned out, deep in thought, before a sudden sharp pain on her arm brought her back to the present.

B immediately smacked whoever had done that in the stomach.

"Ow! SHIT! Fucking shit, man, I told you that was a bad idea!"

Matt laughed, then replied, "It wasn't my idea, Mells. It was yours."

They heard muffle laughter coming from B's left side. She grinned, then kissed the 16 year old on the cheek, before apologizing. "bekümmert, Mells. You should have learned five years ago not to do that."

He snapped back, suddenly furious. "Nun, es ist schon fünf Jahre her, seit Sie haben es geschafft! Fuck this. Damn it, I'm out of here. Erfahren Sie, dass Ihr Leben kein Spiel ist, dann komm mit mir reden."

Silence hung thick in the air as he grabbed his boots and stalked out the door, slamming it behind him. B hadn't noticed how bad she was shaking until Matt put his arm around her, and Near handed her a tissue for the silent tears making paths down her face, betraying her emotions. She had forgotten everything about that incident that happened five years ago because of the concussion she had been told she had gotten. B's head suddenly throbbed with the onslaught of information she had just received. She let out a low wail, before crying herself out onto Matt's chest, with Near's arms around her trembling figure.

***

This will make more sense in the next chapter. You will also learn what the "incident" was. So will I, haha. I really am not too great with my German at the moment, so it may not come across correctly, and I apologize for that. A lot of the inspiration for this chapter came from the song Seven Years by Saosin and The Day I Left The Womb by Escape The Fate. OH, and from Confines Of Gravity by Playradioplay!. (Quite frankly, I know I have a lot of kinks to work out of the story because of this chapter. At the moment, B is 14, Matt is 16, Mello is 16 going on 17, Near is 14/15, and L is 23.) I like writing author's notes. I also did not intend for this to become a romance type story. It really won't, but I just had to put a little romance in there. Couldn't resist. If you don't like it, don't read it. It isn't major, no sex, just small kisses every once in a while. Oh, and Beyond Birthday is coming up in the next chapter, with "the incident" and multiple random-ass flashbacks. If you read this whole entire Author's Note, I congratulate you and shall give you cookies.

[I have bipolar disorder and depression. There sure as hell will be mood swings in here.]