Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.
What a better way to celebrate Matt's birthday than to tell about his first meeting with Mello? 3 I think it's funny.
The limo pulled up to the gated, obviously old but well-taken-care-of orphanage, and the ten-year-old blonde boy stepped out importantly, before it sped off into the distance. His parents had been killed in a car crash less than a week ago, but that wasn't the cause of his frustration at the moment. He would be expected to interact with these good-for-nothing, stupid (he'd been told they were of above-average intelligence, like him, but seeing them now, he doubted that it was a true statement), loud children before him. Ugh. He loathed each and every one of them already, and would assert himself as the smartest, strongest, best one of them all, no matter what.
On his way to the main building, following a stone pathway, he stepped over a white-haired younger boy lying on the ground, playing with a toy robot. He had the look of someone who had been forced to go outside; he was under the shade of a large tree. He walked a few steps away, knowing he was still in earshot, and muttered under his breath to the kid, "Idiot."
He didn't hear a reply, but the white-haired boy looked up to stare at him. Huh. Maybe he did respond to "Idiot." This kid would be fun to tease. Maybe he could make him a servant, to cater to his every whim. Chocolate sounded heavenly at the moment.
He turned back and nudged the boy on the ground with his shoe, making a face as if he were now contaminated. "You. Fetch me some chocolate."
"There is some in the kitchen." He didn't even react to the prodding at all, so he kicked him harder this time.
"Did I ask where it was? Go bring it to me."
He growled, and considered kicking the insolent boy again to teach him a lesson, when an old man— most likely the headmaster, or someone equally important— walked towards him.
"Are you our newest student? You were told to report to my office immediately on arrival." His tone made him seem cold, as if he couldn't care less what the boy did, and was being torn from more important matters.
"Fine."
"What were you doing to him?" He gestured to the boy on the ground, with dirt on his white clothes from his shoes.
"Please, sir! I was just talking, I swear."
"Meet me in my office." The man walked away, and he followed closely behind, yet far enough away that he wouldn't notice should he decide to "talk" to anyone else.
Sure enough, he walked into a redheaded kid a little younger than him on the way. Literally, walked into. He dropped the game system he had been playing while walking, and it clattered to the floor, the motions on the game freezing. When the boy glared at him, he shot one of his own back, his blue eyes icy cold.
"Watch it," he said, continuing on his way to the office without a second look back at the boy. Was this place full of weirdos, or what?
"You're here. What do you wish to be known as? Write it down," he said, as the blonde entered the office, then hastily added the next part as he opened his mouth to speak.
After a moment of thought, he hastily scrawled, "Mello" on the line, the name a touch of irony in his mind— although the ten-year-old couldn't spell some simple words, no matter what, even though he thought he could.
Though he didn't know it, this was a mistake he would carry around for the rest of his life.
"Fine. Now, you can choose your roommate. We have two choices for you— it is based on intelligence, after all. Matt…" the man gave Mello a picture of the redhead from earlier, who'd given him attitude, and his face paled.
"…Or Near?"
He produced a picture of the white-haired boy who'd disobeyed his order earlier.
Kill me now, he thought.
A/N: I just couldn't resist the idea of Mello spelling such a simple word incorrectly, even though he is a genius. He's ten. It's cute. And I don't care if he wouldn't be able to choose a roommate in a "normal" orphanage. He does, because… Mello's special. Heh. Reviews? Can you tell that I wrote this quickly?