November 28, 2003

November 28, 2003

Winchester, England, United Kingdom

Wammy’s House

It was strange for a young man to be wearing a sleeveless vest so late in the year, but Mello didn’t mind, as long as he could be outside, away from the chatter of the Wammy Kids. Yeah, he was a child of the Wammy Orphanage, and even though he was regarded as one of the smartest persons to come from the orphanage, it didn’t make up for the fact that he didn’t exist. Mello would never exist as a real person; he was simply being groomed to be a great detective, to work for whichever government would pay him the most.

Mello, at the moment was the second smartest at the orphanage, and hated it. He was always behind Near, always. But, there was something he was able to tease Near with, and that was his superior knowledge of L. L never really took a specific liking to anyone, but for some unknown reason, he bestowed upon Mello, three stories of his great detective genius. (But that story has already been told, and I don’t want to repeat history.)

Leaves had rotted into colors of autumn, and died from the cracking limbs of their respected hosts, now littering the yellow blades below. Mello had taken responsibility for raking the leaves this week and even though Quillish Wammy had nagged him everyday thus far, he refused to wear a coat. He claimed that it would build his endurance if it didn’t inflict sickness upon him. He knew it was bullshit, but used it as an excuse anyways. He sighed and waited for the wind to die down before shaking his blond locks from his face, but it was irrelevant to do so after a succession of gusts knocked his hair in every other direction, and eventually onto his face.

“Hey Xyzzy, want to give me a hand with these?” He waved to the raven haired girl, who kept her gentle frame pressed against the trunk of a large willow.

“You didn’t help me when it was my turn.” She lifted her gaze from The Catcher in the Rye.

“I just need you to hold open the bag for me.” He snarled with a hand on his leather clad hip.

The girl rolled her eyes and pulled herself to her feet, and wiped off her bottom before dragging herself towards Mello, “Thanks.” Mello smiled softly, handing the bag over to Xyzzy, who took in one hand and held her book in the other.

“What are you reading?” Mello asked after a moment of only metal scratching at rust painted leaves.

“The Catcher in the Rye…” She muttered.

Mellow laughed under his breathe, “You have crappy taste, woman.”

She quickly darted her emerald eyes at Mello, and gave him a heated glare before dropping the bag and walking away, “Hey! Where’re you going? I’m not done!”

No reply came from the hips, which Mello couldn’t help but admire, even though he was enraged at the woman for abandoning him, “Damn wench.” He snarled.

He mentally cursed his teenage hormones for letting his eyes wander, but at the same time cursed Xyzzy for sticking him with a tough task such as this. But he digressed; he had done everyday this week thus far and only had to do it a couple more times. He continued his raking, but was quickly halted by a strange sound. It was different from the monotonous scratches of cold, cheap metal against dead leaves. It sounded more like…

He bent over and dug through the leaves before spotting a small black cover with white writing on the cover, “Death Note?”

“The human whose name is written in this note…” He murmured after opening the note, “Shall die?” He closed the note slowly, “What Wammy Kid would be so immature as to write something like this?” Mello scoffed before tossing it into the bag.

He continued raking the leaves into the black bag with the bent claws of the rake, before taking a short break to wipe the sweat from his brow, “The human whose name is written in this note shall die…” He chanted.

His gaze was redirected from the naked whipping limbs of the willow to the chatter of girls in the distance, “He is so creepy!” Xyzzy snickered.

“Damn girls!” He snarled before his eyes were caught by the white D from the note book in his bag, “I don’t know any of their real names anyways… it doesn’t matter.” He told himself, “What am I saying? It is just a stupid gag anyways…” He leaned against the rake, “Isn’t it?”

“It has to be someone I don’t know…” Mello muttered, “But who…?”

The boy was hidden under the covers of his bed, whispering to himself so not to disrupt Matt, who was either sleeping or playing video games above him. He kept a small flash light gripped tightly between his teeth while staring at the blank notebook with pen in hand, “It should… be someone, who if they die of a heart attack… it wouldn’t look suspicious…” He nodded.

After a few minutes of going over names in his head, “The President of the United States of America…”

“No…” He shook his head, causing the light to flicker a bit, “It is a serious crime… It may be linked back to me…”

“But how?”

His pen tapped the Death Note.

“Did you hear, Mello?” An impish boy of white tresses mumbled through his right knee, while assembling a puzzle with the image of a jar of preservatives on it, “The States’ President died last night.”

“What?” Mello’s heart stopped, and his body grew limp, “H-how?”

“Heart failure.”

Mello felt a wave of subzero chills shoot through his body, “D-did he have a history of heart problems.”

Near shook his head before placing the final piece of the puzzle into place.

“Strange.” Mello gulped before forcing his composure back over himself.

“Mello, you’re up, good.” Roger placed his hand on Mello’s bare shoulder, “Why don’t you get some breakfast and meet me in Watari’s office, you have a visitor.”

“Who?”

“Who do you think?”

Near glanced up at Mello before returning to his blank puzzle, which was almost completely solved, revealing what seemed to be a plural of white B’s in the corner of the black back round.

“O-okay, Roger…” Mello nodded to his elder, who kept a stern face the entire time.

Mello glanced back at Near, who seemed occupied with his now complete puzzle, “One thing I can say I have that Near doesn’t…”

“Mello,” Watari shifted his gaze from the papers before him to Mello, “Come in.” He smiled at the young teen of 14.

“Good morning, Watari.” He nodded to the grey-haired man, before shifting his gaze to L, “It’s great to see you again, L.” He couldn’t help but smile.

“How have you been, Mello?” L asked, forcing himself from his usual sitting position.

Mello took in the sight of the pale skinned man before him with bushy black hair, and equally dark bags under his eyes, “Good,” Mello nodded, a bit shy, “And yourself?”

“I’ve been well,” L nodded, “Have you been keeping up in your studies?”

Mello nodded, “Number 2 in the orphanage.”

“Good,” L sat back down, “Then as agreed, I will tell you another story.”

“Which one?”

“The LA BB Murder Cases.”

You see, once a year L comes back to the Wammy house and meets with Mello. Why only Mello? Well, he saw potential in the boy, but he had to find a way to draw it out. Unlike Near, Mello had to push through torment after torment and work his hardest to be just underneath the albino boy, two year younger than he. L needed to know that the two were trying their hardest to surpass the other if they were to one day succeed him. Since L knew that he was a role model to Mello, he offered him knowledge that only himself and Watari kept track of.

It had been a good day for Mello, who was now resting against the Wammy the cold stone walls of the Wammy house, munching on a bar of chocolate. He always loved getting visits from L, and knowing of his great adventures as a detective. He aspired to be just like him in so many ways, but it was hard for him, since he passionately needed to first surpass Near, which was impossible for him. Mello wasn’t level-headed enough to do what was necessary to be better than him.

In the midst of the visit though, he had completely forgotten about the Death Note, “It must be a coincidence,” He assured himself, “But… He had no prior heart problems though…” Mello wasn’t really one to ponder on things, but this was something that required his full attention.

He was a murderer.

It was late and Mello was solitary in his room, famished and tired. He hadn’t slept or eaten in several days. He was a murderer, and it would only be so long before someone found him out, or even worse, if L discovered the truth. He had to regain his composure, and do so soon.

“I am a murderer; there is nothing I can do to change that.” He told himself, “Maybe I can use this Death Note… To… Change the world for the better…” He nodded to reassure himself, “Mello, you’re stupid… This world will never change just because you kill some evil people… You need to do something bigger.”

It was in that very moment Mello realized what had to be done. He would find a way to change the world, to make it his. A world worth calling Earth must be his, and he would be god of it. But he had to be careful, if he got in too deep without covering his steps he knew very well what would happen.

He stood from his bed, and brushed his hair from his face, trying to regain his composure, “I will use this note.” He muttered to himself as a crack of lightning illuminated his bedroom.

“I see you’ve taken a liking to that note book of mine…”

The voice itself was foreign to Mello, and took him by complete surprise, causing him to press his back against the nearest wall, “Who’s there?” he stammered.

“You can call me Ryuk.” The serpent voice hissed through gnarly teeth, unseen by Mello.

“Where are you?” The teen shouted over the pellet drops on his window.

“Over here, Mihael.” Ryuk cackled, as if summoning the bolt of lightning and the holler of thunder that followed.

Mello’s Grayish-blue eyes fell upon the lanky creature in the corner, clad in ebony, glaring back at him with yellow fish eyes. Large, curled, black lips and glimmering white teeth wore the deep raspy voice of the monster before… Mihael, “How… how do you know my name?”

“You may call yourself whatever you like, but my eyes don’t lie.” He leaned forward, letting his face hover just inches from Mello’s, “Mihael Keehl.”

Mello’s eyes drifted from Ryuk’s to the top bunk where Matt lay, deafened by his headset, “Who…” He had already gotten that answer, “What are you?”

Ryuk laughed, “I am the Shinigami who dropped that Death Note onto Earth.”

Mello glanced at his pillow before reaching inside of it, “Do… you want it back?” He muttered, pulling the Death Note out from the cotton filled pillow.

Ryuk shook his head, “Only if you don’t want it.”

“What?” Mello coughed, “You… I don’t understand. Why did you give this Death Note to me?”

More lightning. Ryuk Laughed. Thunder.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Mihael,” Ryuk rotated his neck, “I didn’t give it to you… I just dropped it in any old place. You just happened to pick it.”

“Then why are there directions on how to sue it in English?” Mello demanded.

“It is the most popular language in your world.”

Mello rolled his eyes, “This Shinigami is a fool…”, He told himself, “Then why did you do it?”

“Oh, that’s simple,” Ryuk smiled, “I was bored.”

“Bored?” Mello spoke with confusion on his voice, “You were bored?” A quick shift to annoyed, “You drop a powerful tool of murder such as this in the human world, meant only to be used by Shinigami… Anyone could have picked it up, ANYONE!” It was obvious now that Mello was truly an heir to L, his sense of what was right was showing through his rage, “You’re lucky that I found it before someone else did… Ryuk.” Now it was gone.

“Why is that?” Ryuk tilted his head.

“Because,” Mello looked out his window, “No one else would have the balls to rule this world.”

“Rule, huh? How do you purpose to do that?”

“Easy. First I kill off all of the world’s largest criminals, and then the smaller ones. Slowly I will empty out prisons, and people who have been misjudged will be crushed by my hand. And when they are out of the way I will start getting rid of Politicians and police, anyone who could stand in my way. Eventually I will be known to this world, and when I am L will come after me…” His voice became a whisper.

“L?”

“I’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Mello’s gaze drifted to Ryuk yet again, “Do you want to watch this world come into a new age, Ryuk?”

He cackled, “Humans are so interesting!”

Several weeks had passed, and Mello had successfully eliminated all of the convicted criminals in Canada, Mexico, Russia, Germany, Japan, and China. Why these? Well he knew that if he where to strictly kill in his region, then, it would Draw L to him, however, instead he killed in random countries at a time, leaving behind no trail at all of where he could be located. He even took the time to experiment a little bit, to see what the Death could and couldn’t do. It was an amazing tool, that was for sure, and no matter how many names Mello wrote down in it, he never ran out of pages, and never grew tired. He now spent most of his time in his room, the only times he left were to go to the bathroom, bathe, or eat. Nothing else required his attention.

It was amazing that he hadn’t died of carpal tunnel, at this point, but he continued to push himself. Some of the Wammy house kids noticed a difference in him, but nobody really liked him, so they didn’t pay much attention to him. However…

“More apples, Mello?” Near glanced up from his toys, “It seems that Apples have become your favorite food next to chocolate.”

“So?” Mello glared at the albino.

“Have you been following the Kira case?” Near questioned.

“No, not really. Have you?” He retorted.

“Why should I, when L has it covered.” Near didn’t bother to look at Mello.

“Yeah.”

“There is going to be an ICPO meeting today.”

“Really?” Mello’s attention was caught, “L is going to show himself, isn’t he?”

Near nodded, “He told us so.”

“Us?”

“He had us patched through the other day, but you missed him.”

“Damn.”

“Why have you been spending so much time in your room?”

Mello shrugged, “I don’t see the point of coming out.”

“So you’re a hermit now?”

Mello laughed, “I guess so.”

Near laughed with the only person he could really call his friend, “Well, you should come out in visit more often.”

Mello nodded before turning from Near, “Like I would ever visit you. I wouldn’t even visit your grave!”

“Yes,” Ryuk shouted, “Apples, apples APPLES!!” He began shoving the juicy orbs down his throat.

“I spoil you, Ryuk.” Mello laughed, taking a bite form his chocolate bar.

Ryuk did not reply.

“So there will be an ICPO meeting today…” Mello grinned as he began to tap away at his keyboard, “Perfect…”

“So there are 500 people at the meeting tonight…” He glared at the illuminated screen, “Where… are… their…” He muttered, clicking about, “There we go.”

“What are you doing Mihael?” Ryuk questioned.

“Killing some very important people…”

“I think we should bring in L.”

There was a cold silence among the ICPO.

“Chief, who is L?” An invited policeman of Japan, named Matsuda asked his higher up, Soichiro Yagami.

“He is supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, and he has never once been wrong.” The middle aged man replied.

“Who’s that?” Matsuda pointed out the tall cloaked man.

“Watari…”

“Greetings ICPO,” A scrambled voice shot from the speakers connected to the Laptop Watari had delivered, “I am L.”

It wasn’t long after L had introduced himself that the first person had fallen from heart failure, and only seconds after, the rest followed. It was a sea of death, which was the only way to explain it. Many tried to escape the building, hoping that it would free them from their deaths, but they had already been written, and there was no escape. After several minutes of constant death, only two men remained alive; Watari and Matsuda.

“Chief!” Matsuda shook at Chief Yagami, “Damn you Kira!”

“Mr. Matsuda.” L spoke in his synthetic voice.

“What?” He glared through his bangs.

“Was your name on the attendance list?”

“What? Is this really the right…”

“Was it?”

“No.”

“Very well.”

“What are these, Mello?” Matt leaned over his roommates shoulder, peering at the computer screen.

“They are websites dedicated to that scum, Kira.”

“Scum? You are insulting yourself you know.” Ryuk laughed for only Mello to hear.

“Hm…” Matt turned away, bored of all the Kira business.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters in the original Death Note mangas, anime, movies, novels, or games.

Claimer: Xyzzy I suppose…

PJ: Well, this is my first Death Note fanfic… So… yeah… I am hoping it won’t last longer than 8 chapters… maybe 14 at most… I want to keep it at the same number of the volumes of Manga released… since I am totally obsessed with Death Note. XD What to expect in the next chapter: L forming a group of people you may know form the show. XD Who? Well… all I can give you for now is…G.R.A.H.M. L.U.L.I.M. Figure it out… To help with the hint you get two more letters: N.W. XD I win! So… yeah… My friends like it, especially the Japanese Exchange student. XD Reviews are loved! I will take any ideas!! But please, don’t ask for MelloxMatt! For I already have it planned…