A/N: I'm back! The months of May and June haven't been very kind to me and I was forced (that's how I see it) to abandon my stories until I get a more human schedule. So I'd really want to apologize for my hiatus... But hey! Now I'm back and I'm here to offer you a new chapter of this story, a much longer chapter than the previous ones and I really hope that you like it :)

I would also like to thank Storm229 and GingerificFabulousTime for their kind reviews, it really means a lot and it gives motivation for further writing ^^

Well... Here comes the third chapter!

Chapter 3 : Shackles

The two large men that Sayu now knew were called Roy and Skyer didn't untie her rope to bring her to Mello's room. They were carrying her altogether with the chair. Not knowing where they were taking her, Sayu found herself sobbing all the way up. And then she felt it. Thirst. Thirst stronger than any she ever felt before. Thirst that made the world in front of her eyes move as if it was taken by seizures, thirst that made that same, twisted world slowly disappear. The universe faded to black and all that remained was thirst.

"Wa...ter..." she moaned.

Did the two men even hear her? They just continued to walk. She felt that they were climbing the stairs, but she couldn't see anything. The thirst has made her other senses go numb. And it seemed that the stairs would never end.

"Water... Please..." her voice was barely a whisper now.

After what seemed an infinity later, the chair was put on a firm surface. Sayu could only think about one thing.

"Water..." she sobbed "Water..."

Something was brought to her lips. Out of that, a cold liquid was poured in her mouth. Progressively, the world came back to life in front of her eyes. The bottle was taken away from her. The first thing that she saw then was the face of her angel.

She started to cry.

His name was Mello. That was how they called him. They said "Mello, what do we do now?" Mello replied "Bring two pairs of handcuffs. The ones with the longest chain."

Then he turned towards Sayu and ordered her to stop crying.

She couldn't. She couldn't stop. So he stood up, took a knife that was standing on the desk in the room and came closer to her. She tried to stop crying then, but she failed again. He approached his armchair to the wooden chair on which she was sitting and made her face him. For a couple of moments, he was looking at her, thinking of what to do. He then proceeded to get on his knees and to cut the rope that was holding her legs attached. He did the same with the rope that was holding her hands. Sayu still didn't move from the chair. The tears in her eyes seemed to have frozen. Mello installed himself in front of her. He looked as if he was about to start talking, but then he stopped himself. Sayu didn't move. She was silently awaiting the angel's next move. He seemed to have been studying her. He then grabbed her right arm and pulled her towards him. She ended up on the angel's lap, his arms around her. She clutched to the fabric of his shirt, feeling that if she let go, something terrible would happen to her. But not while she was there. Not when she was guarded by the angel. Right now, she was perfectly safe.

This was all just part of the plan. Almost. Almost all. A new idea just popped in his head. The first thing that he wanted was beating Near. That was the main reason why he was doing this. The second thing that he wanted was the Death Note. The Death Note that Soichiro Yagami would bring him for sparing his daughter. The third thing that he wanted was unmasking the Kira. The fourth thing that he wanted was discovering who was hiding behind the name of L. Owning the Death Note, discovering Kira and the second L were all parts of his plan to beat Near. Finally, there was a fifth thing that Mello wanted. A fifth thing, which he discovered just recently. A new idea that popped in his head less than an hour ago.

Angel...

Why'd she say that? And why did it make him feel the way he did? There was something in that word, something else than the obvious. Sayu was hallucinating; she might have seen things... But when she pronounced the word, it woke something in Mello; there was a string that has been pulled. And right now, it was important to discover what it meant. A person doesn't feel the way he did when she called him an angel if there isn't a reason to it... And he had that feeling in his gut, the feeling that you have when you're close to discovering something important, when you're close to discovering a key element to... Something. He didn't know what it was yet. But he will be damned if he loses this string. Therefore, he must continue to play along. He will be the girl's angel, or at least, he will try his best. If she keeps seeing him that way, then maybe... Then maybe he will get the key which will help him understand. At the same time, he did feel a bit bad for the girl. And when he spoke to her father, he told him the truth: he wasn't interested in their lives. The only thing that he wanted was the Death Note.

And here he was now, holding a scared girl in his arms, listening to her sobbing into his chest. It felt strangely good to hold someone in his arms this way... He never did it before... This gave him the sense of some new form of power.

Skyer entered the room at that moment. If Mello had paid attention, he would have heard Skyer when he was still in the hall, for the rattling of the chains would have given him away. When Skyer entered, if he wasn't as distracted as he usually was, he would see Mello with Sayu in his arms.

"Here's what you asked Mello." Skyer said without even looking around him "Roy is downstairs so I'm bringing the... Oh!"

When he finally noticed Mello holding Sayu, Skyer's face lightened with a huge grin. Mello signaled him with his eyes to put the chains on the armrest of his armchair and to get away. Skyer did so hastily, still smiling. He was looking now at Mello, now at Sayu, clearly misinterpreting the situation. Mello let him misinterpret all he wanted. In the heads of the mafia members, whatever Skyer was thinking right now certainly made more sense than his actual plan of discovering why being called an angel did what it did to him.

"Have fun, boss!" Skyer winked as he left the room.

"Close the door." Mello ordered.

Skyer obeyed and Mello could hear him laughing as he closed the door. Skyer was so happy that it was irritating. Well... At least he brought Mello what he was asked to bring.

Mello looked at the being that was now breathing more steadily in his arms. He felt her hands on his shirt, her body pressed against his. She was his age, and she was not ugly to look at, even now... Still holding her with one arm, Mello grabbed his rosary with his other hand. Then he grabbed the chains.

Sayu felt something closing around her right hand with a metallic sound. She lowered her head and saw that she was handcuffed. She looked with distrust into the angel's... Mello's... Eyes. The expression on his face didn't show any emotions. Still not leaving her with his eyes, he closed the other shackle bracelet around his own hand. He showed the chain linking them to her.

"This is to make sure you don't try anything stupid." he said "Now, do you want to go to the bathroom? Or do you want to take a shower, maybe? No matter what you do, you're chained to me and I'll be close to you. You cannot escape." he tried to keep his tone low and to make himself as clear as possible.

Sayu was silent for a few moments, still sitting on his lap

"I know you're not an angel." she said quietly, looking at his eyes "Your name is Mello, right? I heard your men call you that way... Mello... Why am I here?"

What she said stirred Mello, pinched him, bothered him. He stood up without even realizing that he did it and she was forced to do the same.

"You are not the one asking questions, Sayu Yagami." he said, struggling the urge to utter some menacing threat.

Sayu looked away.

"I'm sorry" she muttered.

She was starting to be afraid of him, but maybe not in the way that Mello hoped. Mello suddenly realized that he almost... almost shouted at her. Great. He usually likes his hostages to be afraid of him, but this time, it wouldn't be going along with his plan. He needs to be careful now. His plan mustn't be disrupted. He sighed.

"It doesn't matter. Now sit down."

Mello really had to try and sound as kind as possible. All part of the plan... Only this time... But yet, he had to make it clear that he was the one giving orders and asking questions around here. When she sat down, he put his hand on the rail of the chair. He bent over so his head would be slightly above Sayu's.

"Now listen. I want you to answer all of my questions honestly. I will know it if you're lying." He paused. He should speak more gently. He mustn't destroy the remnants of the positive image that she had of him.

"Tell me everything, Sayu. You know that I won't hurt you, right? I'm not mean, you know. But this was all necessary." He was starting to get better. It was going fine. Her eyes were glistening again; he must have been doing something right. Good.

"I needed to do this so that Kira would be captured. Do you understand?" he continued "Isn't that your father's aim as well? Tell me, Sayu Yagami, what do you know about your father's work?"

"I... I don't know much" she started "Well... I know that he's working on the Kira case. With several other..."

"Do you know anything about the Death Note?" he interrupted.

Sayu looked confused.

"No, I've never heard of it." she answered.

Suddenly, Mello pushed the back of her chair and Sayu was balancing on only two of the chair's legs. Of course, even if Mello let the chair fall, Sayu wouldn't be hurt that much, but the aim of it was more psychological, having her feel that she must cooperate, for he was the one having power over her.

"I swear I don't know!" she said with a more panicked voice "My dad doesn't talk about his work! I barely see him anyways! He and my brother are always absent!"

Mello put her chair in its initial position again.

"Tell me about your brother." he said.

"Well... He's... He's... He's a genius." her voice became softer at the mention of her brother and Mello noticed her eyes beaming with tenderness "he's been a good brother to me. He..." she looked up to Mello's eyes

"Sayu... You have to cooperate. I swear to God that I won't hurt you, and that I have no interest in hurting your family." he said before he instinctively seized his rosary. "But you have to tell me everything."

He looked at his rosary. He was turning it in his hand, playing with it.

"Tell me, do you believe in God, Sayu Yagami?" he asked.

"Um... Well... Ye... Yes, I guess that I do." she replied.

"Good. So you would agree with me that only God has the right to decide who will live and who will die."

"Y... Yes."

"And Kira has no right to do the job that only God should do, right?"

"R... Right."

"Good. Now do you understand how important it is to catch him?"

"I do."

"So you will have to cooperate with us. After all, our aim is the same as your father's. Your aim is my aim. We all want to catch Kira and to reestablish the natural order of things. You will cooperate with us."

It was more a statement than a question.

"I will cooperate." she replied calmly "I will tell you everything."

He sat in front of her and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Up till recently," she started "my dad was always home on the weekends. He was also able to go on vacation..."

"Up till recently... Up till Kira happened?" he asked.

Sayu's father was working in the Japanese Task Force on the Kira case. Mello had his own suspicions when it came to the Task Force. They always seemed a little bit too close to arresting Kira, but never close enough. And it seemed to have been the case all the time. He was suspicious of them. What if they were actually working with Kira? What if Kira was one of them? That thought probably also crossed Near's head... Was Near suspecting the second L too? The real L, his mentor, his inspiration, had managed to locate Kira, to /figure out/ that there was a mysterious killer who could kill people only by knowing their face and their name, and had also managed to discover the way in which Kira proceeded to kill people. L was a genius. This second L was a genius too; there was no doubt at that. But he seemed less focused on actually capturing Kira and somehow more focused on establishing the image of an indestructible, almost God-like Kira, from what it seemed to Mello. If he was really trying to catch Kira, why was there no advancement in the case? And yet, in order to get to that position, he must have become really close to L. Close enough to... Actually learn his real name? Was it possible? Could Kira no other than the second L himself? And he might have something to do with L's death... L wouldn't have left them and died just like that. He was killed by Kira. That was the only possibility.

"Since he started working on the Kira case," Sayu continued, "he's never at home. He would come back late and immediately fall asleep. Once he didn't come for two months... Light..."

She stopped there for a bit. She felt as if something pinched at her heart and her eyes became watery. She dried them with the back of her right hand. Mello waited.

"Tell me a bit more about that Light," he said.

"Light is my older brother. The pride and honor of our family. He came first at the university entry exams. He's a genius, he's the brilliant son... I... I was always the... The "good enough" kid..." she marked a small pause "I shouldn't complain though, he helped me through so many times with my school work... But unlike him, I'm not able to enter one of the best universities in the city... I'm not... I'm not the brilliant one. But I don't care. He's my brother and I love him. My always brilliant brother..."

Mello was looking at her, trying to conceal the amazement. Her voice didn't hide any spite, any jealousy. She spoke as if she was perfectly all right to always be second in line, to always have someone above her. She accepted this situation a long time ago. She accepted to live in her brother's shadow. Was she complaining to him right now? Was she displeased by this situation? Was she just pretending that she didn't care? She was. She definitely was. If she didn't care, she wouldn't have felt the need to say it.

"You say you don't care?" he asked, and Sayu was surprised to see a smirk on his lips. It was the first time she saw him amused.

"So, you say you don't care... But let's be honest, Sayu Yagami... You never envied him? Not even a bit?"

Sayu seemed to be uncomfortable. At first she was avoiding his gaze, but when he put a hand on her chair - a gesture she misinterpreted, thinking that he would tilt her chair backwards again or shake it - she started talking again.

"It's not a good thing to be jealous of someone you love!" she almost shouted "Of course I'd want to see how it is to be the first... To be the best... To be the genius, to make my family proud, to be the smart one... But... But he's my brother! Whatever his achievements are, I feel as if it was me! Because I love him!"

She seems sincere, Mello thought. He didn't want to interrupt her now though, he had the feeling that she was at the point of telling him something important... Without even realizing how important it was. And he always trusted his gut in such situations. His gut never failed him.

"Besides," she said cocking her head on the side, "he used to spend way too much time up in his room. Now, he lives with his girlfriend... I remember, when he started working with the Task Force, he started coming back home late, like dad..."

Suddenly, Mello felt the puzzle in his head making a picture. It was her brother. Ninety percent of chances of Kira being her brother. A genius working with the Task Force. Working with L...

"He's the youngest member of Japanese police to ever work on such a case! Even before, when he was still in high school, he helped them solve some cases," she continued her musings.

She definitely dissipated all Mello's uncertainties and confirmed that her brother was the one when she finally said:

"When we were younger, he told me he wanted to be like L."

She really loves her brother, thought Mello while waiting in the bathroom. Sayu was in the shower, the curtains were hiding her, and he was inside, waiting for her to finish. And he loves her too, it came to him... Their last hostage didn't die by the hands of his men, but was murdered by Kira. Nobody but the Japanese police knew that he was held prisoner. It must have been someone from the inside. And right now, Sayu was still alive, healthy enough and taking a shower less than ten feet from where he was standing. Kira didn't want to murder his own little sister. It made perfect sense. Mello raised his eyes from looking at his feet and directed his gaze towards the shower curtain. He could not see Sayu, but he could notice her silhouette. He smiled, mentally congratulating himself for being kind enough for her not to feel uneasy taking a shower while he's around.

"Principles," he'd said, holding his rosary in his hand in front of her. "I have my beliefs and I won't hurt you."

How ridiculous. He did have his beliefs, that's true, but he wasn't the example of a man of this sort of beliefs, or quite a few people that he killed wouldn't be dead... Or at least, not by his hand... But he did believe in God, as much as he believed that there were some sins worse than the others. Laying a finger on a girl, hurting her, dirtying her always seemed disgusting to him. Even at the orphanage, when he'd often fight with other children, he never hit a girl. It seemed low to him.

"I have to pee first" was her response, and he let her.

When she was about to take a shower, he insisted for entering in the bathroom as well. He'd let her enter in the bathtub and take her clothes off there, behind the curtain, if that makes her feel safer. Before she entered, he leaned on the wall and laid his eyes on an invisible bug on the floor. He mechanically took his phone from his pocket (it didn't seem like it was in a pocket, thought Sayu to herself, but she entered in the bathtub before he'd noticed that she was staring at his pants, afraid that he may read her mind and guess that she was wondering how it was possible to fit anything in there) and called Roy.

"The girl will need some new clothes," he'd said.

And here he was now, waiting for her to finish her shower, waiting for somebody to bring her new clothes.

It was finally one of Rod Ross' prostitutes who came. Strawberry, they called her. All the prostitutes who visited mafia members had aliases instead of names. Granted, it was usually surnames reminding of fruit, sugar-stuffed foods and jewelry, or sometimes even animals (Mello found the animal aliases disturbing, they were always feline animals and he didn't exactly understand how one would find an actual lion or an actual cat sexy), but as he himself wasn't known by his actual name either, he found himself having great respect of them solely due to the fact that they had aliases. He never touched one though. There was something that seemed unsanitary about putting his tongue in a place where Rod Ross' or Snyder's, tongue had been. But he sometimes talked to them. He was always surprised when one of them displayed an enviable quantity of knowledge. Girls of their standing didn't really have the reputation of being particularly highly educated women, but there were always surprises. Besides, many had had a hard life and have learned the ways of the society. So talking to them was fun. And Strawberry has always been particularly nice with him, he thought. Especially on one occasion, when he was alone in his room and she came to visit him... She smelled nice, he remembers, she sat on the bed besides him, and talked to him. Then she started touching him, moving her hands along his body... When she wanted to untie his pants, he stopped her. He said that it was nice to talk to her and bid her goodnight. Strawberry was nice, but she was what she was and there was no changing that. Besides, he had some principles and even dying a virgin seemed a better option than to be touched by a prostitute.

"Is she all right?" asked Strawberry after posing some clean clothes on the bed.

Then immediately "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't ask, it's none of my business," while staring directly at Mello's eyes, making him uncomfortable lest he tells her.

"Why do you care?" he asked in a voice low enough that Sayu wouldn't hear it in her shower "You do care for her and you've seen her only for a few moments. Why?"

"She seems delicate... She isn't used to bad treatment. She was treated harshly by some of your men."

"I was treated harshly too, all my life," he replied.

"So was I," Strawberry said, and it led to a short, uncomfortable pause.

Mello wanted to tell her to go away and to mind her own business, but it was Strawberry, and she was one of the few people who ever treated him with tenderness. She was very soft, but not in an unnerving way. And when he made it clear that he wasn't interested in her in a sexual way, she stopped flirting with him. Her closeness was more of a motherly type, if you could say so about a woman who slept with all of his fellow mafia men. But for someone like Mello, she was good enough.

"I brought her here in my room, she will sleep in a comfortable place, I allow her to have a shower, and right now I'll ask you to bring us some food. I don't intend to torture her." the tone of his voice was still low.

Strawberry smiled.

"You're not a bad man, Mello," she said before walking out.

Shortly after Strawberry walked out of the bathroom and out of the room, Mello noticed Sayu's arm going past the shower curtain, trying to grab the towel on the wall. Mello took it and shoved it behind the curtain. She replied with a weak "Thank you". Then she waited for longer than it would normally take to dry herself

"Strawberry was genius enough to pose your clothes on the bed instead of simply bringing them here, so stop waiting for me to hand them to you while you're in a bathtub" he said.

Sayu stepped out of the bathtub. Once clean and refreshed, her face looked much younger and prettier. She blushed upon catching his eye.

"It's alright, Sayu," he said with a sigh.

He turned around and pulled on the chains to make her follow, but stopped when he heard her chuckle.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You called me Sayu. Not Sayu Yagami. Just Sayu."

It seemed to make her happy, for some reason.

"Thank you for being kind to me," she said more quietly and Mello felt a strange tingling in his stomach.

"Time to sleep, Sayu," he said unlocking the handcuff bracelets.

"You... You're letting me free for the night?"

"Not exactly. Lay down on the bed."

Sayu suddenly blemished. Mello rolled his eyes.

"Sayu, do you think that I'm some kind of savage? If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it by now. You were handcuffed and wearing only a towel when you walked out of the shower."

Mello tried to keep his tone low, but he suddenly felt offended by her innuendo and the insult burned so painfully that he couldn't keep calm. Soon, he would be up to an emotional outburst and talking much less kindly than he was supposed to, if he wanted for his plan to work.

"If I wanted to rape you, Sayu Yagami, I'd have done it earlier today, when you finished your shower. You'd be far less likely to fight, even if I could easily overpower you now as well, and you were practically naked. It'd have taken me much less time to tear down your towel than to tear down your clothes. And nobody would've cared about your screaming. Nobody would care even now, that I think of that!"

Too far. He went too far. And this was all uncalled for. She was silent now, silent and afraid. His overreactions will kill him one day, Mello thought. He took a deep breath and continued, in a calmer tone.

"You called for me when you were down in the cellar, so deep inside, you trusted me. I told your father that I'm not interested in taking your life, or his, for that matter. And in case you didn't notice, I've got some principles." he instinctively went for his rosary. "I promise that I won't hurt you. I got all the information that I wanted from you, I don't even need to scare you anymore."

"What information?" Sayu asked very weakly, before biting her lower lip and looking away, as if she said something she shouldn't have.

Mello pushed her shoulders gently, laying her down on the bed. She didn't say anything. He positioned her so she would occupy the left side of the bed. She moved along, without protesting, as a doll. He crouched beside the bed and looked at her profile. She was staring at the ceiling.

"Look at me," he said.

She turned her head slowly, slowly, slowly... As if in a dream. He didn't want to break the silence yet. He just wanted to look at her. And for her to look at him. She was pretty, he thought. Very different from any girl he's known. Not very hard when all the girls you've known were either tough mafia ladies or flashy prostitutes... When he was in the orphanage, he was still too young to care about girls. No... Not too young. His age had nothing to do with it. It was the situation he was in that took care of his mind being only occupied with work and results. He never really got the time for being involved with another human being. Up till now, at least. He must have smiled without realizing it, because now, Sayu smiled back. She wouldn't have smiled first... Not like this... She was returning the smile he just noticed that he was wearing on his face.

"I trust you," she whispered.

Mello then felt an impulse he never felt before. He outstretched his hand, he wanted to reach for her, to touch her, to cup her face, to run his fingers through her hair, he felt the need to realize a sort of contact with her, a contact very different from any other he's ever had. His other "contacts" were mostly violent, either inflicting pain, alone or with his mafia buddies, or occasionally even being on the receiving end of the pain, pain he gladly gave back even when he was overpowered. But now, it wasn't pain he wanted. What he wanted was tenderness. But how would a person who's only known pain and pain alone be able to give tenderness? He hugged her once, earlier that day. He remembered that. But then, it was merely to calm her down. Now, he really wanted it, with all his being. But he restrained. He pulled back his hand before he managed to touch Sayu and stood up. He moved to the footboard side and grabbed the shackles.

"I'm going to chain your feet to the bed to make sure you don't run away" he stated calmly.

"I wouldn't..." she started, but he stopped her.

"I don't know that," he said "I've been in a hostage position once and every single moment of my capture, I was thinking about how to leave. Even when it seemed much riskier than to stay where I was, because if the guards had caught me trying to escape, things would've gotten worse. You may have an insanity rush of that type during the night. You may even try to suffocate me with a pillow, but I can counter that. If you tried to escape, though, it's on one of the other men that you'd risk to meet, and that would be ugly."

"I wouldn't try to escape" was her simple, quiet response.

"I won't risk it," he chuckled before proceeding to change into his simple black pajamas.

What followed was a bizarre scene, one would think. To have a captor and a hostage sharing one same bed, turned towards each other, but not touching, trying to understand what was happening to them. The situation wasn't romantic, or at least wasn't supposed to be. Looking into each other's eyes before falling asleep would be beyond awkward, but turning their back to each other seemed somehow improper in the given situation. So they would try and turn their eyes away, or close them, pretending to sleep. And then, hoping that the other one was already asleep, they would slightly open their eyes and try to have a glimpse of the sleeping face of the one facing them. A strange situation as it is itself, even stranger was the feeling of comfort and peacefulness emanating from it. Mello's presence to Sayu, just as Sayu's presence to Mello had the calming air of a lullaby and they both drifted to their slumber.

A/N: I really love to write scenes in which characters are falling asleep... I like that state between dreams and wakefulness, where we are only strong enough to be completely honest and a bit crazy... I actually dedicated one entire fanfic to such a state, it's called "Sleep Sound", and since it's also a Death Note fanfic (featuring L and Light), some of you may be interested ^^

As for the cover for the story, I intended to upload a cover picture specific for this story, which I wanted to be a fanart by me, of sorts. But as I told you, I was horribly busy, so not only I didn't have enough time for writing, but my drawing was also suffering from my schedule... I thought about waiting till I make a decent cover to post this chapter, but that would've been just dragging it, and I think that you have waited quite some time already for this update, I couldn't have let you waiting even more!

So my dear readers, I'm sending you loads of love and I'm gonna wish you a sweet sweet night (it's half past three in the morning where I live... But I couldn't wait till tomorrow!)...

Of course, reviews are much appreciated and will only help me get better and offering you more of what you like ^^ so don't hesitate!