~{Y/N}'s POV~

I slammed the door to my bedroom closed, locking it and face planting straight into my bed. "Fuck. Life." I swore, pulling out my phone and unlocking it.

Immediately, I realized I had a few missed calls and texts from both Near and L.

Shit... I ditched Near downtown, didn't I? Oh, well. He's smart enough to get a cab or something.

Annoyed at myself, I grabbed my headphones and plugged them into my phone, drowning out reality with the loud music coming from them.

~FLASHBACK~

"So... hungry..." I mumbled, clenching my stomach, trying not to cry.

It'd been a few days, perhaps weeks, since my parents had abandoned me. I gave up trying to find my way home. The streets were my home now. And the only food I'd gotten were from people that felt sorry for me.

I laid down and looked up at the sky. I was in an alleyway between two buildings, but I could still see the sky peeking from the small opening.

"Stupid. You're so fucking stupid," I swore at myself. I was only three years old, but I already had more vocabulary than an eight-year old. What could I say?? I was a literary prodigy from birth. My vocabulary was immense. And a good bit of it was cuss words, too. I'd never been able to use them, but I knew they existed. Now that I was alone, I could swear all I wanted.

Well, there's a positive.

As I was staring up at the sky, I heard footsteps come towards me. My head snapped to look towards the noise, and I saw a blonde haired boy, wearing what seemed to be black pyjamas. "H-hey, d-do you have any food?"

"Sorry, blondie, I don't. You can come over here and help beg for some with me, though."

"Beg?" He echoed. "I- I can't beg for food. Not after what my parents did to me. I'm not stooping any lower than this."

My eyes widened. He must've been abandoned, too.

"You got ditched, too? Great," I mumbled, smiling at the boy. "So did I. I'm {Y/N}. {Y/N} {L/N}."

"I'm Mihael. Mihael Keehl," he mocked, and I sat up and smirked. "So you're an abandoned brat, too, huh? Two of us. Fucking amazing."

"You... You're smart. Your vocabulary is like mine. Maybe we could be friends." I held out my hand to him.

"You seem decent. Alright, {Y/N}. Friends." He said, placing his hand in my and smiling.

Weeks went by, and Mihael and I had been together through all of it. One sporadic evening, we were talking in the alleyway, and a boy, much older than the two of us, with black hair and pale skin, spotted us and began to observe us. Of course, we didn't notice until Mihael pointed it out.

But as soon as both of noticed, Mihael jumped in front of me and put his arms out protectively in front of me. "You... who're you?"

"I can't tell you my name," the boy replied, "But what I can do is help you. How old are you both?"

"I'm {Y/N}, and I'm three," I quietly answered, and Mihael turned to glare at me.

"Don't tell him all of your info! What if he's a pervert or some shit?"

"No, Mihael," I said, "He's someone you can trust. He's willing to help us."

"That's right, but you'll have to come with me," the boy said, holding out a hand. I stood up and placed my hand on Mihael's shoulder.

It'll be okay...

He clenched his jaw and nodded. "Fine. But try anything and we run to the police station."

"There will be no need for that, but okay."

We followed the boy, who led us to a building. It had the words 'Wammy's House' printed on a sign outside, and immediately I knew what it was.

"This... This is the gifted children orphanage!!" I exclaimed, and the boy grinned. "I've heard of it, but I didn't know it was an actual place!"

"It is. And don't tell anyone, but I," he whispered, "Am L."

...L?

"You'll understand once you're inside. Come on, kids."

We tailed behind L as he brought us inside and into an office-like room, where we met Mr. Wammy and Roger. They explained what the institute was and why it was built. It was made to seek out a second L. And Mihael had potential to do so, but he wasn't going to be able to unless he changed his name. L was L. He was a letter.

"You mean the boy who brought us in?" I questioned, and the two men nodded.

"But you cannot tell anyone who L is, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. We get it." Mihael said, "And why am I gonna have to change my name?"

"Because you have great potential. And no one should really know your real name if that's true."

"So it should start with M," I mumbled, and then snapped my fingers. "How about Mello?"

"Mello?" He echoed, "Sounds cool. Why that, though?"

"Because it's the complete opposite of your persona." I said, and he nudged me.

"You're so mean," he uttered, "But Mello... I like it. There we go. My new name. 'Mello'."

~FLASHBACK ENDED~

"Hey, {Y/N}, let us in." A voice said, knocks coming from the other side of the bedroom door.

L...

"I just want to be alone for a bit, okay? When I'm done having my emotional breakdown, then I'll come downstairs. Wait for me there."

The knocking ceased and I heard faint talking before L spoke again. "Okay, {Y/N}. But then come downstairs, okay? And don't do anything stupid."

I could hear footsteps going away from the room and I wiped my eyes, which were burning from all the crying.

I sighed and laid down flat on my bed, my head resting gently on the pillow. "What am I doing?" I asked myself, before I heard my phone ring.

Without reading the contact name, I answered. And boy, was that a mistake. "Hey, {Y/N}," the voice on the other end said, "What's up?"

"Mail," I said, "Why're you calling me? Mihael would kill you if he knew you called me."

"Screw Mihael, I have you. Come on, let's go out." He whined, and I clicked my tongue.

"I'm with Mihael. It's wrong to go out with another guy when you're dating his best friend."

"So? I love you, {Y/N} {L/N}." He insisted, "Come on, think about it. For me?"

I felt a pang of sadness hit me. Maybe it was because I knew he was Matt, or maybe it was because of the mood I was in. But I sighed and put him on speaker so I could check my calendar app.

It's not like I'm gonna do anything with him... And I'm sure that Mihael thinks that I'm insane now.

It's for Matt. Why wouldn't you? To hell with it.

"Okay, okay. But it can't be anything too big. This Friday, I'll go out to the mall with you or something." I managed, and I heard a gasp on the other line.

"Seriously??" He exclaimed, "Yes!! Thank you, {Y/N}!! I'll pick you up."

"I'll see you on Friday, Mail. Bye." I said before hanging up the phone.

I've dug my own grave, haven't I?

~Mail's POV~

"Yes!" I exclaimed as the line went dead. "Oh, my god, yes!! I've won!!"

The trap has been set, Mihael. You're going down. One-on-one...? Please.

You never had a chance against me.