SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. Just a few quick things before you start: IT IS NOT EDITED. I have the flu, my best friend is mad at me, and I should be sleeping. I couldn't care less about typos. SPOILERS FOR MATT'S REAL NAME. Self explanatory THE SECTION IN ITALICS IS A RANDOM FLASHBACK. Sorry, it really is random. THIS STORY IS GETTING REPETITIVE AND BORING. I'm sorry, I'm trying to fix that! THE CHARACTERS ARE OOC. Shoot me now. I FAIL AT LIFE AND EVERYTHING IN IT. Yes, I know that.
L ran a hand through his wild, black hair. He was wandering the empty halls of the orphanage, waiting for the classes to be let out. After he paced the same hall for the fifth time, he could wait no longer, and barged into the classroom housing his two successors.
The whole class looked up at him in unison. His eyes scanned the confused and excited faces for the only two he was looking for. They barreled into him before he could see them.
"Ryuuzaki!" Near gasped, arms tight around the detectives waist. "You're... you're alive..."
L put his arms loosely around the white haired boy, and said nothing, only stood like that.
He felt another pair of arms encircle him and turned his head to look down at Mello. "We were so scared."
L chuckled. "I was too."
L was aware of the rows of astonished eyes on him and the two kids he embraced. "Maybe we should take this elsewhere?"
Mello and Near nodded and followed him out the door. The walked behind L silently as he lead them down the halls and up the stairs to his bedroom. He shut the door behind them, and took a seat on the chair, gnawing on his thumb.
"I have made contact with Kira."
The two boys gasped, eyes widened. L continued. "He tried to kill me, but killed the decoy instead, meaning that he can kill without contact." L shook his head. "I've also determined that he is in Japan. I will be heading there soon."
"When?!" Mello asked.
"I'm not sure. Soon, though."
"But..."
"I'm sorry."
"Can't you at least stay for my birthday?" Mello cried, not wanting to focus on the more significant, and more painful, things.
L turned his eyes to the ceiling. "It is in... three days?" He asked. "I can make you no promises, but I'll try."
Near, who had been silent up to this point, spoke, his eyes turned from L and Mello. "Do you think..."
"That I'll die?"
Near nodded.
"It is a possibility."
Near gulped. If it was dangerous, he didn't want L to go. But at the same time he knew he had too. He forced the threatening tears back, not wanting to cry in front of L, or Mello for that matter. That night had been enough for him.
"I need you two to be strong. The world is falling into Kira's clutches, and we must stop this. Even if I must sacrifice my life to do it." His obsidian gaze was piercing, as he looked intensely down at the duo. "And if I die before Kira is brought to justice, I trust that my
successor will risk the same."
"I'm not afraid of death!" Mello said, a trace of triumph in his voice. "If you fail, Ryuuzaki, I will gladly die if I can bring Kira down with
me."
L smiled slightly. He leaned forward, opening his arms for a hug. The two kids happily obliged, and ran into his arms. He held them close for a moment, before pulling away. "You should get back to class." He said quietly. Mello nodded, looked at L a moment longer, and walked out the door. Near still stood there, silent.
"Near..."
"I..." Near looked up at L. He wasn't sure what to say. He felt L's lithe fingers on his head.
"I'll miss you when I leave."
"You'll visit, right?" Near asked. He didn't care if he sounded childish. He was a child, no matter how much as he wanted to deny it, how much he wished he wasn't.
"If I can. When I get there, I hope to get a few suspects and narrow them down and finally solve this case. I hope it wont take long, but it may last for years. This is a person who can kill without contact. I'll come if I ever have the chance."
Near hesitated, but after a moment, he turned and walked out the door, without a glance back.
- - -
The day of Mello's thirteenth birthday came, and he was having a small party. L had kept his promise and was staying for the day. He had baked a cake the night before, and it was sitting proudly on the table, looking absolutely delicious. A few kids loitered in the room, while others were outside, playing. Near sat in the corner, holding his gift for Mello in his lap. L was currently winning at a board game that he was playing with three other kids. Near eyed the growing pile of gifts in the corner, and knew his would be one of many.
We was so lost in thought, that he didn't even notice L coming and sitting beside him until the older man spoke.
"You should be more observant, Near."
Near blinked out of his reverie and looked at L. "I'm sorry, just thinking it all."
"You must learn to think and look at the same time. It is dangerous to become literally lost in thought."
Near nodded, and cast a glance at the kids at the party. "I didn't know that Mello had so many friends."
L stared at the party too. "They're probably here for cake." He stated with a smile. Near chuckled.
Silence settled upon them, and Near was happy with practicing how to think intently and keep aware of what was happening around him, when L broke it.
"I'll be leaving tonight, after the party."
Near swallowed. "So soon?"
"Yes, I must."
"Did ever consider that Kira might have left Japan after you confronted him?" Near asked, curling his finger around the red ribbon on the box.
"Yes, I have a list of suspects and have made sure that none have purchased any plane or boat tickets out of Japan. I am sure that they are all still in the Kantou region."
"Who are your suspects?"
"I'm sorry, Near, I can disclose that information, especially here."
Near nodded. What could he do with the information that L couldn't, anyway?
The party ended after a few hours. Mello opened all the gifts that had accumulated and eyed the royal blue box that Near clutched in his hands. He decided not to ask. The kids had cake, hugged Mello, and left.
Near tucked the present into his pocket and followed Mello and L outside, where Watari was waiting to take L to the airport.
L turned to Mello first, as he always did.
"Happy birthday, Mello."
Mello nodded, smiling despite the fact that L was leaving. "Thanks for staying until my birthday."
L reached out and ruffled the blondes hair affectionately.
"13, eh? You're a teenager now. Do you feel different?" L asked with a kind smile, coming off like a father. Mello thought for a second.
"No."
L chuckled and turned to Near. Mello didn't leave like he usually did. Instead, he lingered off to the side.
Near glanced at him nervously. He'd been planning to tell L how he felt before he left, but with Mello still with them, he couldn't say anything.
"Near..." L said quietly, and crouched down to be level with the boy.
L blinked slowly.
"You have something you want to say?" It could barely be considered a question.
Near nodded. "But now is not the time."
L's eyes flickered in the general direction of Mello. Near bowed his head slightly.
"I see." L mumbled, putting his thumb to his lips. "Perhaps another time, then."
He stretched out his arms and pulled Near into a hug. His lips next to Near's ear, and Near heard him take a breath as if to speak. He held it for a second before exhaling slowly, obviously changing his mind.
He stood up abruptly.
Near looked at him, confused, though his blank expression didn't show it.
"Goodbye Near, Mello. Until we meet again."
He climbed into the car, watching the two kids as they shrank from view.
Watari chose this time to speak.
"Ryuuzaki," he said.
"Yes, Watari-san?"
"What you're doing is dangerous."
"I know that." L sighed. "Haven't we had this conversation before?"
"Then why, pray tell, are you doing it?"
L was quiet for a second.
"Tell me, Watari, have you ever been in love?"
Watari glanced in the rear view mirror, glanced into the emotionless black eyes that met him there.
"Yes, I have had and lost a few loves in my lifetime."
"Would you sat that you felt willing to do anything for them while you felt that way?"
"Yes, I suppose I would have."
L turned his eyes out the window, to watch the tinted shadows of houses go by.
"So you have loved. Then you must surely know how I feel."
"For Near?"
L sighed. "Yes. He's that first person to find a way into my heart."
"So you are throwing better judgment to the wind for a crush? Risking your life for a fleeting emotion?"
"No," L said coldly, turning his eye back to the mirror. Watari flashed him a confused look.
"I'm doing it for my love. I'm doing it to live."
- - -
Mail Jeevas sat in his bedroom, alone. He could hear his parents screaming, him mother's voice shrill and piercing through the walls. His father's voice was a baritone, rumbling the floor with tremors.
Matt was a mute.
Well, not in the "can't speak" way, in the " I wont speak" way. He hadn't said a word in eight months.
Instead, he listened to people speak, and marveled in their acute differences.
His mother was hysterical. Her voice was racked with sobs, too thick with tears and so high anger you could barely make out what she was saying.
His father was drunk, and the words he spoke were slurred with alcohol. He'd never been a good speaker, he never knew what to say. So he resorted to physical contact, to violence.
Mail's eyes were wide. Not with sadness, or shock, or even fear. But with wonder and fascination. People were so very different.
He heard his mother being thrown into the wall. Heard her screaming in pain and despair. She formed no more words, only sounds of hatred and pain. Animalistic sounds from before humans were humane.
His father replied to her wordless wails.
"Shut up, woman! Shut up!"
He roared. Her voice went higher than his, soaring over the trees and singing, "Why? Why me?"
But the bird wasn't fast enough. Wasn't high enough. For his fathers voice was like a lion. A beast crashing through the forest, it's roar so deep an deafening that it stunned the bird and sent to spiraling back to earth.
When the winged creature neared him, the lion struck, and once again, his mother met with brittle dry wall.
Mail reached for his Gameboy and switched it on. The music for Pokemon red version burst from the tiny speakers in the back and did nothing to drown out the fight in the living room.
Even as his parents raged outside his door, he stored each screamed and rage filled word. When his mothers voice faded out and became fickle, Mail grabbed the phone and dialed 9-1-1 before stretching the cord to it's limit and trapping it outside the door, thankful that his sister wasn't home. He was sure that the magnitude the voices were at, the dispatcher could hear them.
Minutes later, sirens blared as police cars sailed into the driveway and Mail never saw his father again.
His mother, however, he saw a few times afterward. But she was frail and psychotic, and deemed unfit to care for her son a daughter.
Merill.
Merill, Mails younger sister, was deaf. Thinking back on it he believes that may be why he loves sound so much, because she could never hear a thing.
He remembered when he had caught the Pokemon, Merill. He had been ecstatic, and jumped to his feet, eager to show the only person he cared for that there was already a Pokemon named after her, and he could stop nicknaming them.
Her eyes lit up and she signed frantically to him before forgetting all that and throwing her arms around him. Mails smiled into her hair, which was a few shades darker than his.
It had been about two weeks until her sixth birthday when the two kids had been removed from the family. They were sent to live at their grandmothers while their lives were being sorted out. Merill and Mail didn't see much of each other, for they were always doing somewhere, doing something different.
Mail didn't know what was happening, but he knew that nobody wanted him, that his whole family was being ripped apart and that he would never see Merill again.
Bags packed before the sun was even up, Mail stood next to his sister, clutching her to his side.
"Where ever she goes, I'm going with her!" His said forcefully, his voice scratchy from unuse, and narrowed his eyes.
"She's going to a special place." The woman cooed, smiling, not grasping how important this moment of speaking was.
"Don't treat me like a kid!" He yelled.
Merill stared up at him with wide eyes. She knew that something big was happening if her brother was speaking. She tugged on his sleeve and he looked at her and sighed before kneeling in the dew soaked grass.
"What's going on?" she signed., her wide brown eyes confused.
"They're taking us away from each other." He signed back. Her eyes filled with tears.
"They can't, they--" She started, but Mail grabbed her hands, effectively quieting her. He pulled a card out of his pocket, and slipped it between her hands.
He released her hands and held his up, waiting for her to look at him.
"I can't go where you're going. You can't go where I'm going. I promise you, Merill, when I'm older I'm going to find you and take you with me. But for now, we have to go our separate ways."
Tears were streaming down her face now, and tears threatened Mail as he continued.
"Never forget me. Someday, we will be reunited."
Merill swallowed and nodded before throwing herself into a hug. Mail embraced her back, whispering promises in her ear,
knowing she'd never hear them.
The people sent him to a foster family. He stayed there for a week before running away. It wasn't that it was a bad family-- they were nice, always kinds, never harsh. But that's not what Mail wanted. He'd never fulfill his promise if he was wasting away in some small town, being babied by people who would never push him hard enough.
When he was found, they tried to make him go back.
"We'll find a new family for you!" They said, "But please don't do this again!"
Mail looked them in the eyes and told them he didn't want that. He didn't want a cozy home where he would grow soft. "Besides, I already have a family. I don't want a new one!"
So they sent him to an orphanage.
Like most orphanages, it wasn't the Taj Mahal, but it was good enough. It was there they discovered he was a genius.
They watched him, observed him, gave him an I.Q. Test
It was 176.
After that, he was on another plane, this time to Britain. Whammy's house. A place for geniuses.
He became a new person there, wanting to leave the past behind and be strong enough to care for his sister when he found her.
There, he became determined.
- - -
"Ryuuzaki?" Matt asked, gripping the door frame. L turned his eyes on the boy.
"Yes?"
"Could you look someone up for me?"
L contemplated it. "Yes, come in."
Matt closed the door and walked lightly across the room, sitting on the ground beside L.
"Merill Jeevas." He said quietly to L, who had his fingers poised on the keyboard.
Matt watched with innate fascination as the computer searched the database. It stopped suddenly, complete, and three Merill Jeevas' popped on the screen.
Matt spotted her instantly.
"Her!" He gasped, and pointed to a young girl. L moved over to give Matt a better look at the screen.
Matt pushed his goggles up on his forehead and read quickly, everything it had to say. His hands gripped the desk so hard it hurt, but he didn't care.
"D-Deceased?!" He gasped.
"Meningitis." L murmured, peering at the page.
"Deceased?!" Matt exclaimed again , unable to believe it. L said nothing.
Matt got to his feet and ran to the door, refusing to believe she was dead.
- - -
The next day, after Mellos party, he lay on his bed, trying not to think. There was nothing he could his could do to keep his mind off Merill, of Mello, off of how alone he was. He was just sitting there, hating everything, when he heard something being slid under the
door. He leaned up on his elbows and eyed the manilla envelope next to the door.
He got off the bed and picked it up, looking at it.
"To: Matt
From: Ryuuzaki"
It read on the front. Matt went back and opened it up. He saw a white envelope among some paper.
"Matt," the letter inside began, "I'm sorry for what happened yo your sister. I know that I liked to know what to my family, so I thought
you'd want to know what happened to yours.
-Ryuuzaki"
Matt looked back in the envelope to see that the papers were printed off. Medical records and police records and articles. He was surrounded by the past of his family, by what had become of his flesh and blood.
Tears brimmed his eyes. Here, before him, was everything he wanted to know.
- - -
"Near." Near turned at the sound of his voice. Did Mello see what had gone on between them? Did Mello know?
"Yes?"
"You glow."
Near quirked an eyebrow at him. "I glow?"
"Yes. In the moonlight. It reflects off you."
Near looked down at his sleeve, but he couldn't see it."
"You look nice. Angelic."
Near looked back at Mello, surprised. Was this really the Mello he knew?
"Mello--"
"Your gift. When are you going to give it to me?" Mello pointed at Nears pant leg, where the outline barely showed.
Near, still stunned by the angel comment, looking down at his pants. Realizing what Mello meant, he fished it out and handed it to him.
"Happy birthday. Have fun."
Then he walked off, deciding to sleep off the pain in his heart.
Mello eyed the jewelry box sized gift before ripping off the wrapping eagerly. Just as he expected, under the paper was a silver box. He pulled the top off, wondering what Near could have given him.
Inside, laying on some paper, was a puzzle piece.
Mello blinked down at it, before picking it up and turning it over. Finding nothing significant on it, he dropped it in his pocket and looked at the paper. It was on the back that he found his answer.
"Mello,
I'm willing to bet money that you are confused right now. Worry not, for I am going to explain this game-- in due time. For
now, keep looking for the next piece.
In parting, I leave you with this clue:
Dissect the vows."
Mello stared at the paper long after he finished reading. He had to dissect vows? Which vows?
Despite himself, he let a smile graced his lips. "Fine," he thought, "I'll play your game, Near."
He went back into the orphanage, cold from the chill in the air. Fall was definitely on the way.
- - -
The next morning, Mello sat at one of them many tables, shoving bacon down his throat at an alarming rate, and staring at the slip of paper Near had given him.
Matt sat down next tom him, his eyes slightly puffy. Mello didn't notice this, for he was too busy taking in every letter on the paper.
"What are you doing?"
"Eating, thinking," Mello replied quickly.
"What's that?" Matt asked, referring to the paper.
"Near's birthday gift. I have to figure it out."
"What does it say?"
"'Dissect the vows.'"
"Wow, vague. What do you think it means?"
"I'm assuming the marriage vows--"
"Whoa, whoa, what? He wants to marry you?!"
"What?! No!" Mello spat, finally looking up, "I think the next clue just has to do with the words!"
Matt smiled sheepishly. "Well, what are the wedding vows?"
Mello cleared his throat. "I, take you name here, to be my wife or husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."
Matt leaned back and considered the question.
"Maybe he's talking about 'in sickness and in health'?"
Mello shook his head. "Why would he say that?"
Matt shrugged. "I dunno. He's always pretty uptight around doctors."
"Yeah, I guess, when he was in the hospital he always seemed uncomfortable."
Matt chewed on his spoon. "You know what? You're right. I had to watch him one day when he was unconscious, and when he woke up, he was really tense. I just chalked it off as being, just, you know, sick." Matt barely had time to finish as Mello jumped up and snatched the paper off the table.
"Do you mind if I have the rest of your bacon?" Matt called after him as Mello ran out of the room. Mello yelled something back that Matt couldn't understand. Deciding it was a yes, he pulled the other's plate closer.
- - -
Mello slid into the infirmary and instantly began looking around. The nurse wasn't at her desk, so Mello figured she must be with a student. He quickly got to scrutinizing her office.
He was under the desk when he heard a confused but strict voice say, "What are you doing?"
Mello, forgetting momentarily that he was under a metal desk, sat up abruptly, knocking his head hard. He yelped in pain and crumpled on the floor, his hands going instinctively to his head.
"Are you okay?" The nurse gasped, making her way to Mello. "Gosh, I didn't mean to startle you."
Mello just groaned.
- - -
"... and that's why I wear goggles." Matt finished his essay with a dramatic dot just as the teacher announced that the time was over.
He ripped the paper out of his notebook and passed it up before putting his stuff away, eager for lunch. He felt rather than heard Near's presence at his desk.
"Where's Mello?" Near asked.
"Would you believe it? The nurses office. He almost knocked himself out looking for your next clue."
Near raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"No, I'm serious!" Matt defended himself quickly. "He was under the desk, the nurse came in, and he jumped."
Near sighed. "Why would I hide something under the desk?"
Matt smirked. "I don't know." His sentence was punctuated by the ringing of the bell. He grabbed his back pack and joined Near in the hall.
"So, you know about the game?"
"Yep. Mello and I tell each other everything."
"So why haven't you told him you like him?"
Matt sputtered indignantly, eyes wide, ready to deny the accusation. But the look he got from Near stopped him. He looked up and down the hall, seeing the it was emptying quickly.
"Well," he said quietly, "quite simply because he likes you and--" Matt cut himself off by slapping a hand over his mouth. Nears eyebrow raised, but his eyes remained blank.
"Crap! I just slipped Mello's secret to the one it was about!"
"Does he now?"
Matt was motionless.
"So, let me see if I get this straight; you like him, he likes me--"
"--and you like L!" Matt spat, determined to get off the subject of his treason.
For a split second a flicker of emotion shot across Near's face, but he quashed it.
"Why would you think that?"
Matt let a small smile cross his lips.
"I'm an expert at reading people. You hide it well, but not well enough. He probably knows as well, I mean, he is trained to see that."
Near's face paled before coloring a light pink.
Matt chuckled. "What? You thought he couldn't tell?"
Near did nothing.
"Er.. what's wrong?"
"If he knows, then why hasn't he said anything?"
Near looked up, his eye moist and searching for an answer, something the he just didn't know.
Matt suddenly felt like he did a very, very bad thing.
"Near.." Matt murmured, completely at a loss for what to do.
Near looked away. "No, I know. He he knows and didn't say anything, than that means he obviously doesn't--"
Near was cut off as Matt pulled him into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around the lithe boy, comforting him like he did years ago for his sister.
"It could mean a lot of things. Don't assume the worst."
He awkwardly patted Near on the back, hoping that his words did something to help the lamenting boy. He tensed a little when he heard him sniffle.
He opened his mouth to further comfort him, but decided at the last minute that humor was his specialty, and that anything else would be fake and meaningless.
"You know what they say about assuming?"
He felt Near shake his head.
"It makes an ass out of me and you."
He felt light tremors of Nears body as he laughed slightly. Matt smirked. "And now we know that you have more than one emotion: Emo, blank, and now trying not to laugh at the red haired boys totally hilarious joke."
Near leaned back and glared at "The Red Haired Boy." Ne noticed thankfully that the hall was empty. Imagine of someone had been around to witness his episode? He mentally shuddered at the thought.
Without dismissing himself, he walked away, toward the bathroom. He heard Matt trotting after him
"What, no 'thank you'?"
Near slowed to a stop and took a deep breath. He turned around and flashed Mat a real honest-to-God smile.
"Thank you for cheering me up."
Matt swallowed, taken off guard. "N-no problem..."
- - -
Mello sat up, keeping a tanned hand on the icepack that someone had placed on his head.
"Ugh... God.. My head hurts..."
"Oh, you're awake!" Mello looked up to see the plump nurse in the doorway. She was wearing a greenish blue smock with pandas on it,
and her hair was done up in a messy bun. A mixture of relief and confused anger mingled in her eyes.
"Now that you're conscious, may I ask why you were under my desk?"
The throbbing pain in Mello's head was almost too much to bear.
"Nng, I was looking for a clue.." He muttered, squinting against the bright light.
"A clue?"
"Yeah, from Near."
"Oh! I have that for you!" The nurse exclaimed before walking off. Mello blinked at the now empty doorway, confused as he heard her pull open a drawer. She click-clacked her way back to Mello. She set a box on his lap.
"He asked me to give this to you if you ever asked for it. Would you like some Tylenol?" She inquired when Mello grimaced, getting in to a more comfortable position.
He nodded, wishing instantly he hadn't as his headache pounded with full force. While she was gone, he opened the box. Inside was another puzzle piece and some paper. He grabbed the paper and read the words written there.
"'In sickness and in health'-- good job. I'm mildly surprised you figured it out--" Mello scowled at the note and promised that Near would get quite the punishment for insulting him, "So now, here is your next clue:
Vopoju ieg gsih pymgeypu, ymw aie dopp vomw gsu mucg xpei. Hi suju, quxiwuw. 'Piiq om gsu gil iv gsu zygajiin du xjaoq om.'"
Mello blinked down at the paper.
"The hell? What the crap is that?"
The nurse chose the moment to come in with his Tylenol. "What's that say?" she asked, handing the water and pill to Mello.
"Near's clue. It's in a different language."
"There is no way that is an actual language."
Mello just stared down at it for a moment, before popping the pill in his mouth and taking a swig of water, washing down the dusty white drug. The nurse walked off, but Mello barely noticed.
"What the hell is this?" He muttered.
I don't really have much to say, except that I'm sick and high school is hard. I don't have anytime to write in school like I used to, and I'm very sorry. And I'm sitting here with the flu, and I had the worst day ever and I hope you liked the chapter, even if it sucked. Again, I am sorry. So very sorry.
-Hybrid