#6 Brown

Such an angry child…

Apparently incapable of sharing with the other kids in his orphanage… but strong and clever… and devious with it. He ruled the playground with an iron fist. No-one dared argue with Mihael. And those that did very quickly found themselves in the nurses office with bleeding noses and blackened eyes.

As it said on all of his reports, he wasn't a bad child at heart, but something about the world seemed to make him furious at everyone around him, and he didn't seem to have any idea how to express himself without violence.

This information made Watari consider not taking the boy into the house after all, gifted children were one thing, but violent ones were another.

But L had taken one look at the files on the boy and folded his arms, set his features to their most determined expression and said softly:

"If my mother had died giving birth to me, I would be angry at myself too."

Watari had blinked. "Himself?"

L nodded. "More than likely that he is violent because he is angry at himself, he believes he was the thing that killed his mother. Having no-one to reassure him that it is not so, he resorts to expressing his frustration on everyone else." He smiled. "I think Mihael needs a friend."

So they went to Croatia, to pick up the angry little boy.

~*~*~

L found Mello sulking outside in the playground. He was digging up an ant's nest.

"Hello Mihael. I'm L."

"Piss off."

L blinked. He'd expected hostility from the boy, but not that quickly.

"That's not very polite." He spoke with caution. "Why are you digging that nest up?"

Mihael shrugged.

"It's not very nice. I bet those ants worked for several of their lifetimes to build that nest."

Mihael shrugged again. "Well now they're dead. Sucks to be them."

L sighed and crouched next to Mihael, watching the little insects running around in terror.

"Do you enjoy hurting things?"

Mihael's furious digging stopped.

L smiled a little. "I don't think you like hurting things at all. Not insects or your classmates. I think you're just scared someone might realise you're a lonely little boy."

The boy threw a punch, but L was faster than he was, caught his fist in one hand and lowered it slowly.

"See? I hit a nerve there, didn't I?"

Mihael turned away, his long blonde locks making him look like an angel in the twilight. His hand went to the rosary that hung around his neck.

"You miss your mum." L stated. "Mihael, it's okay to be sad and scared, you're a child, no-one expects you to have to deal with everything on your own like this."

Mihael's body shuddered. L realised slowly that the boy was struggling to hold in tears. He sighed and held one hand out to him.

"If you need someone to talk to, it's okay to say so."

Mihael dove into L's arms and clung on tightly, as though he was afraid the older boy would vanish if he let go.

After a moment or two, L reached into one pocket and removed a chocolate bar.

"Would Mihael like a piece?"

Mihael grabbed the whole bar from his hand and tore into the foil around it. L would have told him off, had the boy not looked so cute, mouth smothered with rich brown chocolate. No longer a little tyrant or an angel, just a lonely child.