Death: Happy New Year! Well, it's actually New Year's Eve, but still. I thought I'd update this just before it's 2012 where I live. Actually it's not until the next eight hours or so, but still, I'm updating! Just thought it'd be a nice gift.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Title: Flowers For a Ghost by Thriving Ivory. The song is often mistaken and titled as "Only Human" thanks to YouTube (which I don't own btw).
Chapter 7 – Flowers For a Ghost
=3=
All actions come with consequences. And all consequences come with some form of punishment or another. This is what L understood, and to him it was one of the most important lessons Whammy's could offer to their children. L knew this lesson, and he understood it.
However, L found it unfortunate that one of his potentials will have to learn it the hard way. From what Roger had told him, Kinship didn't show up for the meeting. Roger didn't bother looking for the boy, and he insisted about severely punishing him for making a fool of himself. L refused to take that action, for reasons Roger could not understand.
He knew that Kinship was intelligent, and they had given him an offer that he could not pass up. It was evident that Kin will fight all the way if he had to, in order to avoid the path of becoming L's back up. L didn't want that to happen. After the challenge with B he couldn't allow another child to follow that path. All it would lead was destruction, just as B nearly succeeded.
So there must be a reason why Kin didn't show up. He had requested Roger to go and find him to ask what happened, but the old man wouldn't budge. L didn't pressure him further. Roger was not a man who would be made a fool, let alone by a troublesome child.
But L wouldn't believe Roger's accusations, at least not yet. He had to hear both sides of the story, and he knew that Kin would never pass this opportunity up. It was the only chance that they will provide him so he can escape the path of being L's first choice in a successor. He provided something that would change Kin for the better.
Kin was not a fool. He would never pass up on the one and only opportunity that was given. So maybe some incident that Roger was not yet aware of that held Kin up. But what? For all of his intelligence, L couldn't quite reach the answer that was hidden from him. For all he knew, Kin could be sick or injured, if the fights with Mello had truly become violent.
No, the latter couldn't be it. Injury, sick or not, Kin would find some way to meet with the man L had chosen to be the teen's mentor. The cause of Kinship's inability to come by to the meeting was something else, something critical.
That bit of information L couldn't obtain, for when Roger reported that Kin was ill with the flu the day after he supposedly defied them with excuses about his roommate, L was left to wonder. Roger was a reasonable man, and with a kind heart he always listened to what the children had to tell him. But in Kin's case he was different. It could be that Roger has had enough of Kin's behavior, and thus his patience was wearing thin.
Which was understandable, when for the past year Kin's high sense of pride and unafraid of the consequences of skipping his classes came forth. Not to mention the fights between Kin and Mello, to this day L still had no idea why those two would clash and fight over the simplest of things. So Roger had every right to be harsh with Kin.
But now L had another obstacle as to this complicated puzzle. Why, and more importantly how, did Kin become sick? For all the years he was at Whammy's, he was as healthy as a horse. He never got sick and had no need of flu shots. Although on that part it was Kin's outright refusal, to which they finally conceded when Kin made his point by destroying one of the needles and made an attempt of attacking the poor nurse.
Yes, he is quite violent, L thought. And although of his and Roger's careful planning of setting up Kin's classes to grow up and avoid such acts of violence. Apparently their plans have failed, and quite miserably at that. L had miscalculated how deep Kin's pride ran through him. Perhaps that had something to do with his upbringing, long before he was brought into Whammy's.
Thus far L was not close to figuring out Kinship's true name, but since the little challenge has begun he was a little better off than when he began. L has learned through subtle hints from Watari that Kin was a child of a chief detective who was on his way of earning trust with the Watari figure whenever there was a case from Japan L happened to be working on.
L had yet to conduct research on past investigations in Japan, for he had been distracted by the Los Angeles BB Murder Case, and among other matters such as pondering what was going on at Whammy's.
It has been about a week after Kin's Defying Act, as Roger liked to call the incident, and he's been receiving rather odd reports. Kin was still sick, and gradually getting worse. Near was given clearance from his classes to stay and help his roommate since Kin refused having the "creepy nurse" watch over him.
Aside from Kin's illness, Mello had become more violent than ever. This, L at first guessed was a reaction to have no one else who gave him a challenge now that Kin was sick, but that guess was soon crossed out. At one strange incident, a group of boys tried to lock Near in the bathroom when Mello happened to walk by and violently attacked the four boys responsible.
This attack was more violent than any of the fights the blond child had with Kinship. One boy had a black eye, and a concussion from Mello beating his head into a pulp. Another boy had a broken arm and missing a tooth, the other two had broken noses with large and very deep bruises over their chests and stomachs where Mello kicked them. There were a few things that bothered L about this attack.
One, Mello wasn't provoked. L had asked the blond straight out through the laptop, who responded that he attacked them as soon as he turned the corner and saw what they were doing. This was completely different than the fights the blond had with Kin, for they would start with words of insult and the tension would build until one of them took the first punch. At this incident Mello attacked them from behind and didn't even give them a warning.
And the blond wasn't the least bit sorry. Not even L could convince Mello to apologize, let alone figure out just why he attacked the four boys. For whatever reason he remained quiet, and Near wasn't much help. The boy L had been particularly fond of after Kin, Near avoided the laptop by caring for his roommate.
L didn't press the matter. If the boy didn't want to answer questions, then once he did meet the laptop he wouldn't speak a word. It'd simply be a waste of time on both of their parts.
Another thing that bothered L, was the fact that Mello rescued – rescued – his rival, Near, from the boys. This was a complete 180 turn that was certainly not expected. Since the beginning Near was the target of Mello's bullying. First it was because he simply didn't like the pale boy, but once it was learned Near was above Mello in the list of potentials, his anger towards him escalated.
Thirdly, all of this couldn't be coincidental. Whatever prevented Kin from his meeting, Mello and Near may have been a part of it. What event that could draw them closer together, even more bizarre Mello, L did not know. If L could guess, it centered on either Matt or Near, seeing as how they were fond to either of them. But L didn't really think that given any circumstances Kin would stop and help Matt. So, no, maybe it was Near.
Now that he thought about it, it did make sense. Near was Mello's rival, a rival he hated, and maybe he had been searching for the pale boy in means to bully him. If the blond and his roommate met Kin, who was going around to check on his pale roommate, then the three of them could have worked together to find Near.
The probability of such an event, however, was about forty six percent. No, it was more forty eight percent. Either way the probability was low. But it was a better circumstance than anything else L could think of, which were in the less than ten percent range.
Just as L figured the most probable conclusion, his computer startled him out of his thoughts with a beep. Upon looking at the screen, L blinked.
On the very white screen, was one instant message.
'Um…I suppose I can't exactly call you what you're known to us. Now please, hear me out. This is a kid from Whammy's.'
A child was contacting him from the orphanage? How in the world did this child manage it? Unless this prodigy was good with computers, and not to mention good hacking skills in order to pass all of the firewalls L had set up. The detective leaned closer to the microphone.
"Yes, it would be wise not to address me in that fashion, seeing as how you infiltrated my computer. What is it that you need?"
There was a pause on the other end. Maybe the child was surprised about his behavior? Normally L would scold anyone who attempts to hack into his computer, but his gut told him that this was an emergency. In the back of his mind L was cross referencing all the children he could think of that had the capability to hack into his personal computer without setting off alarms.
'You have to come back. Kinship needs your help. He's delusional from his fever, and as much as Near tries to help him I don't think he'll pull out of it.'
L frowned at the information. For the past few days Roger didn't give him anything abnormal about Kin's illness other than it was becoming worse. Also, this child that contacting him would have to be someone who was close enough to Kin and Near, for all L guessed Near was the most probable to know about his friendship with the teen.
"Why ask me in particular? I am no doctor, isn't there a doctor checking up on Kin–kun too?"
'Of course, there's the doctor, but he's no miracle worker. Kinship won't eat or sleep, he keeps rambling on about smelling blood and hearing screams. Just recently he tried to attack us, and if it weren't for Mells he would've harmed someone. Also, you need to hear the entire story behind Kinship unable to come to the meeting.'
This worried L. It was one thing that Kin was suffering from the flu and gradually worsening, but it was another if he was delusional and the horrors from past trauma were haunting him. L was beginning to worry about the teen's sanity.
And he also figured out the identity as to who hacked into his personal computer. No one else would dare give Mello a nickname.
"I am aware that I have not all of the information needed about this incident, however, why can't you tell me here and now?"
'I'm pressed on time. I'm risking myself from getting caught for staying too long.'
Understandable, L thought. To use a computer without permission, as well as sneaking around at night, and hacking into L's personal computer, would have major consequences.
"All right, I'll be there as fast as I can."
'Oh, one more thing.'
"Yes, Matt?"
'What? How'd you…? Oh, never mind. Anyway, what I wanted to ask, actually it's more of a favor. Could you maybe come here by the 28th?'
L hesitated, thinking over what the date today was. The 28th would be the day after tomorrow. That's quite too soon to pack up everything that's needed on an important case and make it to the orphanage in England in time.
"Any reason why that particular date?" He asked more out of curiosity.
'The 28th is Kinship's birthday. He was rambling how his birthday was the 28th, and that it'd be as boring and unappreciated as the previous years he's been here. I thought it'd be a nice birthday present.'
At the last bit the detective smiled. Although Matt was a tad socially awkward, he had a sense of kindness that was rather surprising for a child. It was even more shocking when the gamer was very close to Mello.
"It'll be a bit stressful, but I'll do my best to arrive in the morning of his birthday. Oh, and Matt? Thank you, for going through all of this trouble."
'Anytime.'
And with that, L contacted Watari to begin preparations for a flight that will help them arrive at the orphanage by Kin's birthday.
=3=
Near was at his wit's end. He's been losing more sleep, although he has chronic insomnia, he still manages throughout the day with at least four to five hours of sleep every other day with short naps along the way. But for the past few days the pale boy has been unable to recuperate the few hours he could sleep.
Kin's soft rumblings would sometimes escalate to shouts, and often switching languages from English, Japanese, French, a few curses in German here and there. At one point the teen switched to all four languages in one sentence, which further confused the very sleep deprived Near.
Matt and Mello would try and help, but the blond didn't know what to do and Matt could only cook and serve food that Kinship would barely touch. And about the only thing the pale boy could do was gently run his small hand through his roommate's hair, which seemed to be the only effective method to calm him down.
And thus, another reason why Near had been losing sleep. It didn't help matters that the boy was rather bored, and he couldn't stay on the floor for very long with his toys. So Near decided to adapt by using Kin's chest and stomach as a battle field with army toys. Thus far he has completed the lines of the soldiers in red, and was now finishing the soldiers in blue.
How he had gotten this far in lining up his soldiers, Near still didn't know. He kept one hand twirling a lock or two of Kin's hair in replacement of his own hair, and the other worked on his toy soldiers. Each placement of each soldier was careful, so as they won't tumble down each time Kin took a breath or as he mumbles about random ideas.
For the most part since Near began to work with his toys, Kin had retreated into a calmer state. At this point in time while he was almost done with the blue soldiers Kin's eyes started fluttering, as fatigue finally caught up to him. The teen was worse off compared to Near about the need for sleep, as the fever and his delusions never allowed even a few minutes of shut eye.
Apparently he wasn't done talking, though, when Kin started rambling again. His voice sounded hoarse, and incredibly sleepy enough that he spoke so softly Near had to hunch his back a little more to hear.
"I can't remember if I ever told you, but I don't really like this place. But you and Mello made it more bearable here, and sometimes I wish you two could meet L in person as I had. He's probably too paranoid to come here after the BB case, so I can't really promise he will come."
Near blinked, surprised. He knew of the first part of Kin despising the orphanage, but not the rest. The pale boy guessed that his roommate missed L, even cursing him out of frustration that he hadn't visited in so long. But as soon as his venting had passed Kin was back to missing the detective once more.
And maybe, just maybe, Kin was starting to accept Mello as a friend. The blond would come by to check on them at least once a day now, but his visits were short due to his inability to interact properly and his detention for attacking four boys required his attention. Roger had punished Mello by giving him janitor duty, cleaning the kitchen, library, and all of the bathrooms in the building. And the old man took away the entire stock of Mello's chocolate, which didn't help.
"You're really fond of L, Kin." Near stated, returning his attention to his toy soldiers.
"Of course, he was my first friend." Kin smiled fondly. "And he made me realize that coming here wouldn't be so bad. Although it could be boring at times, you guys made this place more fun. And I've come to think of you as a little brother."
Again the pale boy paused. Normally Near was not one to be caught by surprise, and yet Kin had managed to do just that not only once but twice. Near studied the teen's face, and saw the honey brown eyes seemed to shine like gold. He seemed to be telling the very truth.
But Near was not yet ready to call him big brother. And maybe once Kin was over his illness he won't remember anything. So the pale boy decided to change the subject.
"What are you most afraid of? And why do you hear the screams and smell blood?"
Kin frowned, not expecting such a question. In truth L had briefly breached the subject, but never dove further for more information when he clammed up and refused to look L in the eye.
"I only hear it when I or someone I'm fond of are in danger. I always thought it was because of the first bit, but on that day when I woke up I could hear the screams and smell the blood, although very faint and distant. But both grew more intense as I searched for you. They stayed with me well throughout that day, even after we found you." Kin stared off into space. His eyes no longer held the golden shine and the honey dulled into a dark brown.
"Does it happen often?" Near knew that he was treading on thin ice, but if there was any chance to ask it was now when Kin was in this state.
"Sometimes it comes and goes, it happened a lot the first time I came here. But now it's almost rare, and I'm not too bothered by any of it." The teen nearly shrugged, sending a few soldiers to tumble down into an early death.
"Oops. Sorry."
Near sighed. "I can always start over, anyway. At least it was only the blue soldiers and not the red ones."
"You like red?" Kin tilted his head up at his roommate awkwardly.
"No, red is the color of the hatred, blood, violence, vengeance. The red soldiers are the evil ones in this battle. Blue is calming, and at times can be deadly. And I like to think that blue signifies justice."
"Personally, I like red. Sometimes to do justice you have no choice but to get your hands dirty."
"You've been smelling blood for far too long, Kin." Near remarked with a small grin.
"Did you just joke? Who are you and what have you done to my roommate?" Kin frowned.
"I didn't go anywhere, Kin. You're the one losing it from your fever." The pale boy shot back.
"I blame the rain. And my stupidity for sleeping in wet clothes instead of dry pajamas."
"He admits that he was stupid? All right, now who are you and what did you do with my roommate?"
"I don't know, I didn't go anywhere, and yet I'm the one who got sick." Kin grinned.
Near rolled his eyes as he went back to lining up the blue soldiers that had fallen earlier. But now, thinking back, he was supposed to have a serious conversation with his roommate.
"So I'm guessing you had some sort of psychological and emotional trauma from your past that causes you to hear screams and smell blood. Does Roger know about this at all?" Now that he thought it over Near was worried whether or not anyone else knew and why Kin didn't reach out to anyone for help.
"I don't even think Butler Man knows, despite him being there when I had my break down from being chased by B. I briefly mentioned it to L, but he didn't press further on the matter. I don't really care about it anymore. I'm over the horrors that caused it." Kin replied.
"Butler Man?"
"My nickname to Watari."
Near picked up a random soldier, and asked, "If you're over the horrors you saw before you came here, then why are you still hear and smell those same horrors?"
For once since his ramblings started, Kin remained silent. Either he was too tired or he didn't know the answer at all. Near suspected it was the latter, for Kin was now wide awake.
The pale boy continued with his toy soldiers, silent and as determined to finish setting everything up for the epic battle that was to come. As silence filled the room once more, Kin's eyes began to flutter, now more tired than before. Within five minutes the teen was almost fast asleep, unaware of the toy soldiers in battle on his stomach.
Just before his eyes closed, Kin spoke again for the last time.
"What I'm most afraid of…is that no one will ever whisper my name in a friendly and loving way. Somehow B knew my name. He knew my name just by looking at me. And since then I guarded my real name with fear. Although it's for my own safety, it still hurts, that no one knows not of it, and I will never hear my name in a loving voice again."
For the third time that night, Near was caught off guard. He didn't know what to do about this information, or how to comfort his distraught roommate. At the time all the pale boy could do was gently twirl with Kin's hair or running his tiny fingers through it in a soothing way.
=3=
It was about six fifteen in the morning when L and Watari arrived at the front gate of the orphanage. The morning was rather cold, and the pair was bundled up in their coats and scarves and, in Watari's case, his favorite traveling hat. As of yet only Watari could guess as to why the sudden and unexpected trip here was for, and he believed the main cause would be Kin.
It had been rather stressful packing everything up, but somehow they managed when L actually helped. When their flight came in the airport, Watari had called Roger's office with a brief talk that they were visiting. Roger had been surprised, for usually they gave him a twenty four hour moment's notice.
And now here they are, walking into the orphanage. Watari was the first to walk in, L close at his heels. The young man held the panda bear he had cherished for all these years close to his body, eyes scanning for any of the early risers among the children here.
"I'll head for the kitchen to check on the sweets." L stated, for he wasn't able to eat too much of the sweets available on the airplane.
"Don't eat all of it, as I understand most of those sweets belong to Mello." Was Watari's only response as he headed towards the shared bedrooms reserved only for them.
L simply nodded as he continued on his way. Just before he reached the door he heard a rather loud sneeze, followed by what sounded like a curse. Without thinking the young man entered the kitchen, panda in one arm, a suitcase in the other, and without confirming exactly who was in there.
At his entrance two heads immediately turned towards him. Both pairs of eyes widened at the sight of him, and L briefly wondered if he actually looked as horrible as the jacket he wore. He stared blankly back, recognizing these two as Mello and Matt.
The blond was the first to recover as he tilted his head, studying the unknown figure with interest.
"…Are you L? No, wait, you are L. I don't recognize your face, and you appear to be too old to be here." Mello chomped on what looked like toast with peanut butter and melted chocolate all over it.
L pouted, feeling rather insulted. "For your information I'm twenty one. I am inclined to say that I am not that old."
"So I was right, you are L. You never denied it, which means I hit the jackpot. And, really? You're twenty one? You know you're at a drinking age for America, right?" The blond grinned.
"Why are you talking about alcohol at this age, Mello? You're not sneaking around Roger's stash, are you?" L lowered his voice into a serious, quiet tone.
"No, of course not. I only search for whatever chocolate he's hiding." To prove his point, Mello took another bite of his strangely chocolate and peanut butter toast.
"He's telling the truth. I follow him around just to make sure he doesn't make trouble." Matt quickly added.
At this L finally backed off on the matter. He made his way to the cupboard for his own search for sweets.
"You should be grateful, Mello, that you have a loyal friend who is willing to follow you to the ends of the earth and back." L said, as he grabbed a muffin and put it in his mouth so his free hand could continue to grab other sweets.
"So, why are you here? Is it to see us in person, or to check on Kin?" Mello inquired.
With a muffin in his mouth, L had to let it drop to the counter in order to reply while his hand continued on its mission for sweets.
"A little of both, for I was summoned here by Matt. I was told that I could hear the entire story as to how all this trouble started."
"…You want the whole story?"
"Yes, preferably. I'd like to know why Kin–kun didn't show up at the meeting and why you seem closer to Kin–kun as well as Near. For last I checked, you wanted nothing to do with him."
"I still want nothing to do with him, but he's mine to bully and no one else's." The blond retorted.
"I think it'll be best for you to sit down, L. This story is rather complicated with many misunderstandings." Matt motioned for the empty chair across from him.
"Oh, please call me Ryuzaki. It's too dangerous for that name to be mentioned while I'm here."
"Right, Ryuzaki." Matt corrected himself.
As the boys explained what happened, L sat in his chair listening intently. He didn't interrupt them as they talked, only eating his sweets and wiping crumbs off the panda bear's head from his eating.
When they finished explaining, silence filled the kitchen. L began to bite his thumb in thought. All of the pieces of this puzzle were coming together, and now everything was starting to make sense. It explained Kin's illness, and Mello's drastic behavior. The reason why none of this was explained earlier was because Roger refused to listen to their excuses, and Near was excused from his classes to care for Kin. The pale boy still had bandages over his fingers from that day, and since he was never seen outside his shared room no one else but Mello and Matt knew about his injured hands.
If only things didn't turn out this way, L thought gravely. He feared that they may have just lost the trust from Kinship. He was not one to sit around and not allow such a blow to his pride for not being given another chance when he had done a good deed. It was at that moment that L felt a tad grateful that Kin got sick. The idea of him suffering in a bad flu made L feel guilty, but since the teen had been sick he had been unable to retaliate against them.
And with that in mind L stood up from his chair, ready to brave Kin's room.
"Thank you once more, Matt. If you had waited until after he was better, then I'm afraid we would have another B on our hands. " The young man stated as he passed the boys.
The pair didn't bother following him. But Mello had a strange sense that finally someone wanted to listen to what he had to say. He felt that the weight on his shoulders has been lifted. Meanwhile Matt had a feeling of dread of L's choice of words.
The detective gently and silently opened door as best he could, peeking inside. A soft smile crept upon his lips at the sight before him. Kin was fast asleep, and how he's grown the past years, L noted. The teen was starting to grow too big for the bed, for he barely gave enough room for his roommate.
Near lay curled with his head near the older boy's stomach and his legs used the rest of the spacious pillow Kin was using. One of the pale boy's arms was outstretched over Kin's stomach, holding onto what looked like a blue toy soldier. L realized that Near must have started playing with his toys with the teen as the platform, for red and blue soldiers were scattered over the bed. Some were even on the floor.
Carefully L made his way towards the bed, stepping lightly so as not to disturb them. The detective set the panda bear to lean against the bedside lamp. With a smile at his success, L pulled out a small envelope that had been stuffed into his pocket. He then set it between the panda's paws, the envelope reading "Happy Birthday".
Feeling rather proud of his handiwork, L turned and left the boys to rest a little more. And for the first time in many years, L felt giddy and excited. He couldn't wait until Kin woke up to see the panda on the nightstand next to him.
'I imagine he'll be delighted. He deserves something that will brighten up his spirits after all he's been through.'
=3=
Death: Well, I did say L would make an appearance. I just didn't say that he would meet Kin, er... Light, did I? And yes, the beginning of chapter has opened up with a change compared to all of the previous ones. For one I couldn't think of what lesson or thought Kin...*cough* Light, would have that's related to the chapter itself. So I just thought that maybe instead of Light this time, it'd be L. It was a nice change of pace.
1) Near's Toy Soldiers: I was kinda making fun of the Death Note anime. Remember how Light/Kira would be red, and L would be blue when they have the intense stare or when they have each other cornered? I can't remember if Near was blue or not, but I think he was, so I was kinda making a small referance to that through his toy soldiers and Light choosing the red ones over the blue, etc. I thought that it's about time I make at least some referance to the anime/manga, whichever worked best for this chapter.
2) Mello's Toast: That was something I made up on the spot. I have no idea if that kind of toast is edible. Now I've had toast with peanut butter with slices of bananas, that was good. But I don't know if peanut butter with melted chocolate is good on toast or not. I imagine it would, after all peanut butter works well with chocolate, and peanut butter is also good friends with toast. The only thing that worries me is the chocolate part with toast. Would anyone care to try and tell me how it is? Cuz I'd love to try it myself, but I don't think my mom would approve such a thing for breakfast...
I think that wraps just about everything here. So please, leave a review by clicking the lovely button below. Reviews are my inspiration to keep going.