Chapter 28
Mello curled into a ball for warmth pulling the thin blanket around him as best he could. He cursed himself for not thinking things thru better, all of his brilliance seemed to disappear the moment he heard L was dead. And now he was stuck out in the middle of nowhere trying to get warm enough to sleep. He didn't even know where he was going, all he knew at the time was that he had to get away. Away from Near, away from Whammy's, away from having to deal with L being dead. If he didn't have to face it, maybe it didn't have to be true.
He had been lucky enough to get picked up by a minister and his wife while he was hitchhiking the first night and they had offered him dinner and a place to sleep. They'd even given him a few dollars to help him along after he refused to be taken to a hospital or orphanage. The next couple of nights were spent in barns or inside parked cars that hadn't been locked. The few pounds kept him from being hungry. And now he again had received good will from a family that picked him up and he was at least indoors, but in a drafty old house that smelled of animals and hay. It was here that he had to decide what to do next. He didn't know how long he could keep traveling like this. He reached into his bag for chocolate bar, and realized that his supply was getting low. Maybe he would go back to Whammy's if only for a week or so to put things together better. He shook his head, there was no way he could go back there, especially after the way he'd left. He knew Dr. Thompson would welcome him back and not make fun of him for not being able to make it for any more than a few days, but he would be humiliated. And Near…he could see the smirk on his face now. That he would not allow. He'd starve before he'd go back and have to face that. He'd make it somehow, and then be able to contact Matt. He missed Matt and felt horrible about leaving him but he couldn't even deal with Matt right now either. And it was all L's fault. He broke his promise, and he died. L was not supposed to die, ever. All this talk about successors he had figured wouldn't be real until L was older and didn't want to do it anymore. He never really thought that L would die like this. How could L do this to him and just leave him this way? He thought L really cared for him, cared for him enough to be careful and make sure he came back to him. Obviously that wasn't the truth was it? He punched the bed with his fist, his anger and hurt coming out in shallow breaths and tears.
After a few minutes he got himself together again, wiping his eyes and telling himself he was never going to do that again, as long as he lived he would not cry again. He bit into the bar, the snap echoing off the room. He had to get himself to London. And once he got there he would find the kind of people Kira didn't like. He'd find a way to convince them that he could relieve them of Kira if they helped him. Which meant he'd be hanging around with criminals and it didn't bother him in the least. Whatever he had to do to get to Kira in Japan he would do it, and he had to do it before Near. All he had to do was prove to them he had the ability to do it. But first things first, he needed sleep. He might have to do a lot of walking tomorrow. He counted how much money he had left and decided he'd get more if he needed it any way he needed to, and that would probably get him noticed by the correct people. He'd contact Matt soon and have him do research on Kira so he would be ready. He settled back down and soon fell asleep, a smile on his face.
Christine lay in bed unable to get to sleep. Everything was settling back into its normal routines at Whammy's; the boys were beginning the healing process and going back to classes. But one thing would not let her rest, and that was Mello. She knew she had been so busy and caught up with doing the right thing for L and taking care of the boys that she had let Mello's absence slide to the back of her mind. Now it was all she could think about.
How could she have let a 14 year old boy who was distraught and not thinking properly just leave like that? Because she was distraught and not thinking properly as well, she thought. True he was not your average 14 year old but he was still a child. She thought about reporting him missing and having the authorities search for him. He could not have gone far, and trying to find one blonde, black clad boy probably wouldn't be all that hard, but he had already warned her he would not stay if she brought him back. She imagined he would try to find some way of getting to Japan eventually, it was the only way he could reach Kira, but how in the world was he going to do that. She sighed deeply and looked at the empty pillow next to her. She wished she could discuss it with someone who knew all the ins and outs of the situation. The only other person who did was L. She remembered the many times she and L would just talk in bed; some nights there was no sex, just the joy of having deep intelligent conversations without the possibility of interruptions from over excited heirs, sick children or well meaning guardians. As she continued to wish she could talk to him now, she suddenly realized what he'd probably say to her. Leave him alone. Mello is incredibly resourceful, and not your average young boy, and he'll be alright eventually. He has to learn he cannot act so irrationally without consequences. The only difference being L would have made sure to have him tailed until he came home. Well, she couldn't do that, she had no idea how his network of contacts worked and wouldn't even think of trying. She closed her eyes and patted the pillow next to her. "Thank you," she whispered and finally drifted off to sleep.
As she slept, Near was in L's apartment, Matt beside him at the computer. They had decided to come back up after dinner and work some more on getting information from the Japanese police records. Near had replayed part of L's message, trying to discern any clues he may have left in the things he'd said and he was sure he'd found a couple. He had said the Kira had "reacquired" his powers, which had to mean he had lost them at some point and somehow regained them. The word "powers" alluded to something other than the norm. Did Kira have some kind of magic he was using? Near shook his head, that was ridiculous. But then L had said there were things involved in this case that were going to be hard to believe. Something to look for in the future once he got a handle on exactly what was going on. Matt nudged him as information began to seep thru once he had hacked thru the firewall. Information that had never been made public, and then it stopped. Nothing new had been added not too long after L had arrived in Japan. He could only assume that L had cut off information going to the police force for fear of it getting to Kira. Near sighed as he played in his hair, this just got a little bit harder.
