I Write Sins, Not Tragedies
ChipsAhoypup
Warning: Boy love. Don't like, don't read.
A/N Everything you say to me takes me one step closer to the edge, and I'm about to break. I need a little room to breathe, 'cause I'm one step closer to the edge, and I'm about to break. Shut up when I'm talking to you. ~One Step Closer by Linkin Park
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. Credit for plot bunnies of the story go to Nikkacatmeki.
"Haha, I owned you again, Matt," A blonde teased, pointing mockingly at a redhead.
"Shut up. I let you win," Matt muttered, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"That's what they all say."
"Mello. Shut. Up." Matt glared at the blonde, who became silent.
"Okay, Mello and Matt, it's your turn to switch," A raven-hair said with a smirk. "L and Near's turn to join in."
Since there were 6 children, two had to switch off every time. The four playing would do one round, before the two who hadn't switched off last time were pulled out of the game.
"Okay, here's how you pick a character." Matt assisted L, while Mello helped Near. Once they finished, they backed up and lounged on beanbag chairs, watching the battle.
"Why did you pick Pikachu?" Mello questioned L, while taking a bite out of a chocolate bar he had found hidden in his wardrobe.
"Is that who this character is?" L blinked. "I don't really know who any of the characters are, so I just picked the one that looked coolest to me."
"…So you picked Pikachu?" Mello snorted.
"Yeah. Does it really matter?" L rapidly pressed the A button with his index finger, watching the yellow rodent on the screen furiously kick at B's character, Fox.
"Goddammit, L, can you stop hitting me so many times? I can't move," Complained B, also tapping the A button as fast as possible.
"No, that's the point of the game," L stated calmly while Pikachu consistently kicked Fox with its yellow paws of doom.
"I'll help, B," A said softly, pressing his thumb against the joystick. His character, Kirby, trudged up to the Pikachu. A jammed his finger on the B button. Kirby opened it's mouth and inhaled the helpless yellow rodent. A hit the B button again, and Pikachu appeared next to the pink blob, who now had pointy yellow ears and a lightning-bolt-shaped tail that mimicked Pikachu's.
"Thanks, A," B praised his friend.
"You're wel—" A began, before Bowser struck Kirby with his claws. Kirby was but a pink blur, flying towards the top right corner of the screen. Bam.
And Kirby didn't reappear.
"Well, it would appear that I have killed your character," Near spoke up for the first time.
"…" B stared at the screen, his thumbs hovering over the buttons on his controller.
L recovered quickly. He slid the joystick down and pressed the B button. A lightning bolt streaked down from the sky, hitting Bowser against the head and knocking him backwards.
The game continued on, and Bowser was quick at knocking Fox out of the round. Then it was only Bowser and Pikachu left. Near and L.
A barrel happened to fall down from the sky and land next to Bowser. He picked it up and chucked it at Pikachu. The barrel exploded against the yellow rodent, knocking Pikachu off the board and knocking L out of the round.
"Hey, that's cheating," B shouted accusingly, glaring at Near.
"Is not. I'm allowed to use any items I want to defeat him. It's part of the game." Near stared at B boredly.
"That's not fair though. We didn't use any items the whole round," B complained.
"So? Life isn't fair." Near put the controller down, getting to his feet. "I'm done playing." Before anyone could object, he turned and left the room.
"Cheater," B called after him.
"It wasn't necessarily cheating. And it's just a game. No need to be so hard on him," L protested quietly.
"Shut up. You lost against a cheater. So I say that you're the real winner," B hissed.
"But—"
"Shut up, L!" B snapped, turning on the other raven, who shrank back.
"…B…" L whimpered.
It was the first time that B had ever turned on L, or any child had for that matter. And it wasn't the last.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The two safe ones stared at the hill of toilet paper that covered their friends. A long moment of silence followed, before the safe ones burst out laughing.
The ones underneath the hill of toilet paper wriggled around in an attempt to get to fresh air. Light was the first to emerge, panting wildly. "Stop laughing," He ordered as he caught his breath.
L popped his head out next, a white strip of paper hanging down in front of his face. He huffed loudly, the toilet paper flapping in front of his face. Irritated, he pushed the roll off his head.
Mello and Matt's laughter heightened in volume. L flinched the slightest bit. "Roger's going to find us," He murmured, mostly to himself. This caused the two Ms to abruptly stop laughing.
"We're dead," Light grumbled, standing up. He waded out of the toilet paper rolls. "Let's try to clean this back up."
L nodded in agreement. "Why don't you two help?" He turned towards where Mello and Matt were. Or, had been. They had vanished into thin air, apparently.
"They'd be good secret agents," Light commented upon noticing that Mello and Matt were gone.
"Or good thieves." L picked up a roll of toilet paper.
"Yeah." Light laughed a bit as he collected a couple more of the TP. He and L got to work, stacking them as neatly as two twelve-year-olds could.
It took them fifteen minutes to completely rebuild the pyramid. They stood back to admire it. "It looks even better than it had before," L said.
"It looks awesome," Light agreed.
"L! Light!" The two flinched at Roger's voice. They quickly joined hands again. The old man stormed up, a scowl tattooed on his face. "Did you two knock over that toilet paper tower?"
L and Light exchanged an appalled glance. They turned back to see Mello and Matt peeking from behind Roger, sticking their tongues out mockingly. "No. They did it," L answered, pointing at the two taunting boys.
Roger turned just in time to see Mello and Matt pulling their tongues back through their lips.
"Of course. Why hadn't I figured this out myself?" Roger grumbled, looking irritated for being so stupid. "You two. Go to the car."
"But—" Mello began to protest.
"Now." Roger's voice held so much venom that it sent Mello and Matt skittering towards the car as fast as their little feet could go.
"We cleaned the toilet paper up," L said, tilting his head to the side innocently.
"And we got enough food to last us the month," Light put in, following L's innocent façade. He pulled the cart away from the neatly-rebuilt toilet paper stack to reveal the food piled in the cart.
"You two are such good boys," Roger praised, patting their heads. "You both deserve a prize for your behavior."
"We don't need anything," L hastily replied. "We only did it because we knew it would be dark out by the time you were done chasing Mello and Matt."
"Yeah, it was for the sake of the other orphans." Light wanted a prize badly, but he figured he should just play along. Maybe L had a plan.
"Are you sure?" Roger asked. This was the nicest Light had ever seen him.
"I'm sure," L confirmed.
"Well, alright." Roger gave them both another pat before taking a hold of the cart, pushing it towards the check-out aisle. Light begrudgingly followed. So L didn't have a plan. He was just being selfless. Light was irritated now; he wanted a prize so badly! But, no, instead, he got a stupid, meaningless pat on the head.
"Light, are you okay?" L nudged his companion with his elbow—the one that wasn't holding Light's hand.
"Yes." Light's voice felt far away.
"You look angry," The raven continued. "Why are you so mad?"
"I'm not angry." Light stopped walking, turning to glare at L. "Besides, you have no right to accuse me of being angry! You're the one who randomly yells at me when I ask a simple question!"
"Like you're doing right now?" Light's glare turned into a wide-eyed stare.
"Yo—I—" Light stuttered. "I'm not—I didn't mean to—"
"I know." L's voice was sincere. He continued, "I understand what you're going through. I've gone through the same thing. Do you think…" He looked around, then dropped his voice to a whisper. "Do you think I want to be at Wammy's? Do you think any kid does?"
"…I suppose not," Light murmured. What did this have to do anything? He just wanted a prize.
"Do you know how many kids have tried to escape? During my time of being here?" L asked, to which Light shook his head. "A lot. Too many to count. And do you know how many came back?" Light shook his head again. "Zero."
"So… they escaped?" Light inquired.
"Nope. Not even close. The moment they set foot outside, an alarm went off, and they were captured instantly. No time to escape." L paused, then queried, "Based on that information, why do you think we have to hold hands?"
It didn't take long for Light to process this. "So that, if we run away… we'd have to run away together?" But that didn't make sense.
"Exactly."
"…Huh?"
"Think about it." L stared at Light intently as the brunette contemplated this information. Two boys running away together. Well, there were many ways that could go wrong. Lack of food. Arguments. Easily identifiable.
…Easily identified.
"Well, if they were looking for us, they'd just have to ask someone if they'd seen two boys, and could describe us, right? It would be easier than if they were looking for one boy, because there are many people out there who may be looking for someone who fits the same description. But it would be easier to identify us if they could ask if someone had seen two boys, and described the both of us. Correct?"
"That is correct." L nodded approvingly. "Obviously, there are things that could go wrong with that anyways. And usually Roger keeps a close eye on us. However, Mello and Matt were distracting him. I guess he figured a college level and a newcomer wouldn't try to run away."
"What's so bad about this place? Why do kids want to run away anyway?" Light finally asked the question that had been on his mind.
"Nothing's wrong with it. But… kids feel trapped here. They're separated from their parents, and aren't even allowed foster parents. They're simply put here, where they're educated for the rest of their life with no parental figures. Don't get me wrong, there are many kids who are grateful for being here, and who stay. But there are other kids who would rather decide their own future. Who would rather be free." L's words had Light mesmerized.
"You mean… they decide our future for us?" Light whispered, bewildered.
"Yes. No one really has a separate future. They're training us all for the same thing. Some will be better than others. Some won't ever get the objective, no matter how hard they try." L gave an exasperated sigh. "And since I'm the only one on a college level, they're making me the role model. I'll be the first—"
L abruptly stopped talking. Light followed his gaze to see that Roger was coming back over, his arms full of bags of food. "A little help, boys?" The old man called. L and Light scurried over to assist the elder.
As they carried the bags out to the car, Light was thinking about what L had said. So much so that he forgot all about the prize.
A/N Ah, yes. The plot thickens. Isn't the grocery store such an odd place for the plot to thicken at? I guess that makes it more interesting.
Oh yeah, and I feel like I make too much too obvious. I'm going to try to make things more mysterious, if possible. But the characters seem to have a mind of their own. They like to blurt things out without thinking about it. (I guess you could blame me for that, if you want…)