Mello: The Lost Guardian Chapter One

Matt swerved and missed the truck just in time. He and Mello laughed.

"Stop laughing!" I yelled. "We could've been killed, dammit!"

"Aww! Where you scared?" Mello mocked.

"Yes!" I yelped, tears in my eyes. Matt looked over at me, and stopped smiling about his 'triumph.' Mello was in the back seat still throwing snide comments my way.

"Dude, cool it!" Matt said. "She really was scared."

Mello glanced into the mirror, and saw my shiny, teary eyes. He stopped immediately.

"Isaki…." He said. "I'm sorry. " I didn't realize you were truly frightened."

By then, we had arrived at my apartment building.

"S'Kay." I muttered, getting out of the car. " Oh, and call me by my alias!" I yelled, knocking him in the head. He barely even flinched, but I knew it hurt.

"It's just that I've never seen you afraid before," he continued, rubbing his head as I pushed the elevator button for my floor.

"…Yes you have." I replied. "You just probably didn't realize it."

"When?" He asked.

"Yeah, when?" Matt jumped in. We had reached my floor. I found my door and unlocked it.

"On the day we were told L had died…" I had whispered, as the door swung open.

They were shocked; their expressions looked as painful as mine. I lowered my eyes as I walked into my apartment, Matt and Mello following close behind. I turned to look at them, and just hugged them both. Tears streamed down my face. They hugged back. I let them go, gave them a weak smile, and sat down on the couch.

"Make yourselves at home," I managed. Mello sat in one of the armchairs. Matt had already spotted my Wii and was rummaging for controllers.

Mello looked kind of bored.

"There's some chocolate cake in the fridge," I informed the chocoholic. He grinned and went to retrieve it. I lounged on the couch, listening to Mello rummaging in the refrigerator and watching Matt play Final Fantasy.
I thought of L. I was the fourth in line to be his successor. I was really close to him, as was Mello, Matt, and Near. It was like we were family. They were all I had. Whenever L visited, he often brought gifts and sweets and funny stories with him. There was never a dull moment with him around. Everyone at the orphanage loved him, but he was closest to the four of us. He would often play games with us, such as hide and seek, board games, video games, etc. He was truly a child at heart. He was very kind to us all.

I remember that day when Roger called us in his office very clearly…

*Flashback*
There was a knock at my door and an impatient "Hurry up!" from the other side of it. I put my manga down and went to open it. Mello and Matt were there, with Near hanging back, clutching a white puzzle with L's emblem on it in black.

"Roger needs to see us immediately." Matt said.

"What does he want?" I queried, eager to get back to my manga. Mello answered before Matt even had a chance.

"I don't know, but it had better be good," he said , bitterly, as we rounded the stairs. Near, as usual was behind all of us.

"Something has happened to L," Near said, showing not even the slightest hint of emotion.

"Kira most likely killed him."

"Near!" I almost screamed. Shock was embedded on Mello and Matt's faces.

We had reached the door to Roger's office by that time.

"Just be prepared for the worst. This can't be good," Near continued.

With a pang in my heart, I knew that Near was right. Something must've happened. Roger never calls us in his office all at once.

We walked in. And that's when part of my world had died.

*End Flashback*

"Amaya?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up. Matt had Final Fantasy on pause and was staring at me. Mello had stopped dead in his tracks with his cake.

"You're crying," Mello said simply.

I reached up to my eyes. I WAS crying. I hadn't even noticed.

"Are you…thinking of L?" Matt asked, his voice shaking. That had to be the worst day of our life, the day L died. Matt's eyes were shiny as well as my own. Mello showed so other sign of remorse other than a light frown. How could he not be as sad as we were? L was just as special to him as he was to us and vice versa.

Then, it hit me. He was second in line to be L's successor. He must only have one thing on his mind right now; revenge.
I wiped my eyes and gave a genuine, cheerful smile.

"Remember when we talked L into dropping a pie on Roger from the stairs?" I started.

"How could we forget that?" Matt said, smiling.

Mello just smirked. It was all his idea.

*Flashback*

"Go, go, go! He's coming!" Mello, Matt and I cried, waving L onward. He gave a sleepy smile.

"Oh , alright," he said, finally giving in. He took the day-old pie from my hands and walked to the stair railing.

We trailed close behind. Roger was coming. L let go of the pie. Well, it just so happened that Roger had turned his head when it came down. We laughed and had just enough time to duck before we heard Roger swear, and yell. As Roger made his way to his office, L ushered us to the room he usually stayed in when he visited Whammy's. He shared it with Near. We were all snickering as we walked in. Near didn't even look up.

"What did you do?" he inquired in his trademark, monotone voice.

Mello, Matt and I just sniggered. L simply smiled. That was the first prank of many we had pulled with L.

*End Flashback*

I loved L a lot. He was like the big brother I had never had. Near, Matt and Mello probably felt that way about L as well. They probably even saw him as a father figure. L was great, there was no denying it. I didn't know very much about Kira, but I knew that he must the most terrible person on earth to take our L away from us. That bastard! L must've known who he was to have been killed by him! And Watari! He was very kind hearted and often visited as well. Two great people, gone. All because of Kira! I have hated him since the day L died, which was about four or five years ago.

I awoke to someone arguing. I didn't even know I had fallen asleep. I was curled up beside Mello. He was on his phone, shouting at someone on the other line.

"Just do it, we need it to investigate!" he cried. There was a pause as he listened to the person on the other line.

"I'll be there tomorrow." Pause. "Can't you do anything right?" Mello screeched, disgusted. He hadn't yet noticed that I was awake.

"Yes, I'll investigate soon afterwards. They'll have to bring it if we take the hostage."

Hostage? I thought. I shivered and wrapped my arms around me tightly. Something soft and bulky landed on me in a heap. Someone had thrown a blanket at me. I looked up to see Mello at the other end of the couch, looking at me as he spoke on the phone. I wrapped the blanket around myself. Mello turned away.

"Just do what I say!" he growled, hanging up the phone.

He looked over at me and said,
"It's almost three in the morning. You need more sleep."

I nodded dumbly, and shivered. I shivered partly because my apartment was quite frigid and because of what I had just heard. How could he be so fierce and then so sweet? It was quite confusing.

"Matt," I managed, looking over at Matt, who was practically passed out on the floor.
"You can have my bed," I told Matt. He dragged himself to my room without a word. He looked dead tired.

"Don't you want your bed?" Mello asked me.
"I'm too tired to move," I mumbled, burrowing into the couch further, trying to get warm. Mello got up, turned the heat on, turned off the light, and collapsed in the small love seat opposite of the armchair.

"Goodnight," I said. But he was already asleep.