It was already late when Mello sneaked into the canteen. Most children were halfway through their meal. He'd get questions as why he's so late if someone of the staff would see him sneaking in and that's something he really didn't want to answer. Although Mello had to go fast to his seat next to Matt, he couldn't stop staring at the red glowing letters and numbers above everyone's head. Names and lifespans overwhelmed him.

'Finally! There you are! Do you know how late you are?' Matt said when he reached their table.

Mello shrugged and sat down. 'I needed some time, okay? No big deal.'

'And are feeling better now? Is our room still intact?'

He shot a glare at his friend, but grinned nonetheless. 'Of course it's still intact! Now shut up and give me one of your French fries.' Without waiting for an answer he quickly stole one off Matt's plate.

Matt circled his arms around the plate to protect his food. 'Get your own!'

'I'm too late to get some without getting noticed.'

Matt smirked. 'Too bad, seems like you need to eat some chocolate for diner later then.'

Mello rolled his eyes. 'Yes, horrible I'll eat a chocolate bar for diner.'

Matt continued to eat while Mello silently searched the room. His ice blue eyes looking for a certain someone who'll regret to ever anger him. It didn't take long before Raoul caught his eye across the canteen. The boy had a slightly swollen and bruised nose from the punch Mello gave him right in the face. He ate and talked with his friends at their table, but somehow… something seemed strange. Mello thought about what it was and suddenly he saw it. His eyes. Raoul's eyes had something absent. Like he was there, but not really there at the same time.
He shrugged it off as nothing important and read the name above his head. Rafael Santos.

Mello's eyes widened when he saw his lifespan. It was short. Really short. Raoul's time to live stopped next day around noon. I don't know why it's so short to begin with, but it doesn't matter. He won't reach tomorrow anyway.

Suddenly a hand waved before his vision and Mello blinked his thoughts away. Matt watched him curiously with slight worry seeping through. 'Are you with me again, Mels? I called your name ten times already.'

'I'm fine, Matt. Just hungry. Can't wait to attack those chocolate bars in our room.'

'Hmm, okay. But what were you staring so intensely at?'

Don't get observant now!

'I was just spacing out. Let's just go.' He stood up. 'You're done eating anyway.'

/\/\/\

It took some time for Matt to finally fall asleep. The redhead liked gaming far past bedtime and regret it in the morning only to do it again next time.
When Mello noticed Matt had fallen asleep he slid silently out of under his blanket and kneeled beside his bed. He slowly removed the loose wooden plank beneath his bed and retrieved the Death Note. He grabbed a pencil off his desk and wrote without hesitation.

"Rafael Santos, suicide. Jumps out of a window on the top floor of Wammy House."

A smirk tucked at the corners of his lips. He didn't write a time of death which would mean that the poor guy could jump in a few seconds. No need to traumatize other children with the suicide jump on bright clear day.

Mello hid the Death Note again and crept into his bed. A satisfied smile appeared as he closed his eyes and fell to sleep.

/\/\/\

The next day Mello was stunned with surprise. He hadn't heard anything about Raoul's death that morning or him being found. And just when he thought he wasn't found yet, Raoul walked into the canteen to get some breakfast with his friends.

He isn't dead. How did the Death Note fail? Mello noticed the lifespan was still set on that day at noon. It's impossible.

In the corner of his eye he saw Light and Beyond staring at Raoul in confusion. It seemed like they didn't know what happened either.

The day continued as always and Mello acted like he always did. He went to class with Matt, wrote notes, nothing out of order. The teacher told the class that they could leave a few minutes earlier to get some lunch, because he needed to go somewhere. Mello tried not to make it obvious that he was keeping an eye on Raoul. His eyes still had that strange glance, but no one else seemed to notice. The red numbers continued to go down, coming to an end. Light and Beyond stayed around to watch what would happen and if the guy really would die now.

Suddenly Raoul tripped over his own feet just when he was about to go down the large stairs. One of his friends tried to grab him, but it was too late. Raoul fell forward and tumbled all the way down the long stairs. Everyone around that saw the accident panicked and screams were heard.

Matt, who was walking next to Mello, gasped in shock. 'Raoul just fell off the stairs!'

Mello acted shocked too and ran with Matt down the stairs. The friends of Raoul had already gone before them and were gathered around a body that must've been Raoul's.

It didn't take long for Watari to arrive. Now Roger was gone and he was doing Roger's work. 'Move out of the way, please!' he demanded.

They moved away from Raoul and everyone could see his body now. It was certainly Raoul wasn't alive anymore. His neck was bent in a way that wasn't healthy and his eyes were dull and stared at nothing. Some of his limbs were broken as well.

Watari turned to the shocked children that gathered beneath the stairs. 'Someone inform the staff, please. Others go to the canteen or somewhere else, but don't stay here and watch. This is not something you need to see.'

No one dared to ignore Watari's orders and quickly went somewhere else. Mello and Matt went away as well while Light and Beyond stayed around the stairs to discuss.

'How did that happen?' Matt wondered, still shaken. 'Did he just trip?'

Mello nodded. 'I saw him tripping over his own feet… it's just unfortunate it happened right at the top of the stairs.'

But Raoul wasn't meant to trip over his own feet and tumble down the stair… it was an accident and not a suicide either. I hope the Shinigami will know an answer soon.