L POV

It had been a long time since I visited my childhood home. Yes, contrary to the other orphanages I graced with my presence, Wammy's House truly had been like a home to me. True, I never made any friends and opted to stay in a single bedroom, but my isolation wasn't crushing or lonely. It was a nurturing environment in which people, rather than fearing my intelligence, encouraged it, even looked up to it. When I return now, the children look up to me now even more than my peers had. Now, I am idolized. It is a wonderful feeling. Rather than being ostracized from society, branded an outcast, I am embraced.

I especially look forward to meeting with my three favorite prodigies, my successors. Of course, I was slightly unnerved by the fact that Watari had insisted that I immediately make my decision as to which boy would carry on my legacy. Although the boys hold a special place in my heart, it is always slightly painful to realize that to look at them is to look into the future... the future after my death. Which I can presume from Watari's sudden insistence, is not in the distant future.

Ah, Recreation Room 3, a favorite spot of mine. I curled up in my customary seating position on the edge of a black suede couch and breathed deeply. It smelled of childhood.

Chachink. Slightly startled, I searched for the source of the sound. Oh yes, due to my sentimental thoughts I had nearly forgotten the man I was currently chained to. Odd, it is usually quite difficult to block out Light's rambling. I wonder what the intelligent collage student is attempting to impart to me at the moment. I turned to face him. To my astonishment, my excessively verbose friend was speechless. His wide, innocent eyes were blank, dumbfounded. His bewildered expression made him appear quite adorable. The familiar feeling of friendship filled my chest- or at least I presumed the feeling was one of friendship. I had never had a friend before Light, so I had nothing to compare the feelings he induced to. However, I can surmise from the fact that Light is indeed my friend, that the way he makes me feel is common for friends. The yearning to be close to him, the desire to peer deep into his eyes- the portal to his soul, the slight obsession with everything related to him, the urge to touch his smooth skin as he sleeps... Ah, it feels good to have a friend.

"L? It's nice to see you again. I thought I might find you in here."

"Greetings, Roger," I replied.

"Would you like to unpack your bags, or would you like to first observe the boys?"

"Please ask the boys to meet me here now, Roger."

"Very well sir. And welcome back."

I turned back to Light for further observation, only to find him already meeting my gaze, his eyes brimming with questions.

"I presume you are confused, Light-kun."

He nodded, "Will you tell me what's going on, now?"

"Well, you will be discovering the purpose of this visit momentarily, so I see no harm in explaining." Light waited expectantly. "We are currently sitting in Recreation Room 3 of an orphanage for exceptionally gifted children named Wammy's House. I was raised and educated here. This particular visit was-oomph!" I glanced down at the little white object that had collided with my chest. I stroked the boy's full, curly locks of white hair. "Hello, Near."

I rose from the couch, the young genius still latched onto my shirt. I wonder what Light's reactions to Near's exuberance is. As usual, Light did not disappoint. Although Light appeared to be calm and collected, his eyes were readable with practice, and incredibly expressive. His look of disbelief and wonder was as amusing as it was cute. Of course, I deemed the majority of Light's expressions to be some degree of adorable.

"L!" Without warning, I found that Near's body had been forcible removed from my own. I looked down to fair a tuft of blonde hair in its place.

"It's nice to see you too, Mello," I glanced up to find a redhead standing rather awkwardly in the center of the room. "And you as well, Matt." He gave me a lopsided grin before fixating his gaze on the boy in my arms, looking rather irritated by his display of affection. I gave Mello a tap on the back before gently prying him off of me. Near rose from his crumpled position on the floor to stand to the right of Mello, and Matt stepped up to his left.

"It's wonderful to see you all again. Allow me to introduce you to Light Yagami. Light- kun, this is-"

"Ryuuzaki?"

"It is rude to interrupt, Light-kun."

But didn't you say you were meeting up with 'the boys'? What's that little blonde girl doing here?" He gestured towards Mello. Uh oh. Mello was going red in the face with fury. With his teeth bared, his back slightly hunched, and his hands clasped in tight fists, he looked rather animalistic and quite savage. He was trembling with rage. The other two boys looked at the blonde haired fourteen-year-old fearfully.

Matt reached out a tentative hand, "Mels?" He squeaked. And that's when the ticking time bomb that is Mello finally exploded. He let out an incoherent wail and lunged at Light. The two tumbled to the floor. And before any of us were able to react, the furious little chocoholic was straddling my obsessive compulsive murder suspect and punches were flying.

"I AM NOT A GIRL, DAMN IT!"

Fortunately for Light's gorgeous face, the chain tugged me down a second after the teens fell, effectively knocking Mello off of my friend. Even as Matt held the violent teen a safe distance away from us, he continued to thrash.

"MATT, LET ME GO! AAARG! WHAT THE FUCK? YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME YOU FUCKING JAPANESE PRETTY-BOY! DO I LOOK LIKE A FUCKING GIRL TO YOU, NOW?"

Although his face was already swelling from Mello's fit of rage, Light proved once again that he was incapable of turning down a challenge. Seeming unfazed by Mello's violence and curses, Light slowly stood, an arrogant smirk adorning his face. "Due to the fact I mistook you for I girl, I would have to say yes, you do look like a girl," he said airily.

Mello looked murderous, "Oh yah? Well I'll have you know I'm more manly then you'll ever be! I'm wearing leather. That's fucking badass!"

"I would say that's more gay."

Mello let out an indignant snort, "I'm not the one chained to another guy!"

Light remained cool, "Your presumptions about the handcuffs are incorrect."

"Oh, so he's denying it!"

Light ignored him, "L has handcuffed me to him because I am a suspect in his current case."

Mello's jaw dropped. "You want me to believe that this fucking wannabe abercrombie modal is a psychopathic mass murderer? I just beat the shit out of you! You can't be Kira!"

"You didn't beat the shit out of me! I just don't hit girls!"

"Why don't you look in the mirror! I totally messed you up!"

"Why don't you look in the mirror? You'll see a female!"

"JUST BECAUSE I'M SEXY DOESN'T MEAN I'M A GIRL!" Mello began to thrash once more, but a surprisingly strong Matt kept him held back.

"You think your sexy? You have the body of a ten year old girl."

"I am too sexy! Your just jealous! MATT! Aren't I sexy?"

Matt turned beat red, "Uh... s-s-sure, Mello."

Light was beginning to get upset at the younger teen, "Stop spewing nonsense! I thought this was a place for gifted kids! I'm not jealous of you! You admitted yourself that I could be a modal! And I don't have to dress like a man-whore to turn heads!"

"YOUR UGLY!"

Near piped up, "Genius retort, Mello."

"NEAR, I HOPE KIRA FUCKING KILLS YOU!"

I decided to intercede, "Alright everyone!" All heads snapped up to face me. "Now that we have all become acquainted, Light-kun and myself will retire to our room. Good day." I turned on my heel and left, dragging Light with me.

Light grinned. "I won."

"4.12%"

"WHAT? Yesterday my Kira percentage was at 2.84!"

"That was before you took the opportunity to emotionally destroy a boy you just met that is five years younger than yourself. In addition you derived much pleasure from his pain. Mello takes pride in his appearance almost as much as yourself. He is very important to me, and you hurt him. You are cruel."

For the second time today, Light was at a loss for words. We entered our room in tense silence.