~~~
Light kicked his legs up onto the stool, leaned back into his seat, and flicked on the television. The news was simple, and silly. A new road a couple blocks down, the plans for a town hall renovation, two celebrities dating...No criminals. He smiled to himself at the thought. No criminals. Kira had won. All his adversaries were dead. Near, Mello, Mello’s accomplice, and L...All were pushing up daisies.
He flipped through a couple channels. Sports, cooking, more news, cartoons, reality shows...They were all boring. That was the only flaw he’d found so far in ruling the world. It was so horribly dull. Oh, and he had to deal with Misa. But he’d had to deal with her even before he’d ruled the world, so she didn’t really count.
After Near had mysteriously died of a heart attack, the Kira case had been dropped. As a thanks for all his ‘help’, Light had been rewarded with a part of L’s funding. But it even if it was just a part, it was enough for him to live in luxury for the rest of his life. Now, Kira was a billionaire living in a mansion way too big for one person with anything he could ever hope for under that one roof.
And yet, he was still bored.
He sighed and relaxed back into the chair, but just as he did so he heard a knock at the door. He assumed it was Misa, and begrudgingly got up to answer.
“What is it?” he asked once he’d flung the door open. But he stopped, and stared instead. It wasn’t Misa. Just a wooden crate with a note on the top. He plucked the note off the container and began to read, noticing that some muffled noise was coming from the box and it shook every once in a while. The message was actually rather short.
To Light Yagami, It read.
Certainly, by now you are incredibly bored with your life. So I have decided to make things a little more interesting for you. I have sent you a box that will easily sweep away the boredom in your life.
Light frowned. There wasn’t a signature or any indication of who it was from. He glanced down at the box again. It rumbled, and there were a couple bumping noises from within. Was it an animal? A monster? Maybe even a person?
He picked up the box with a grunt (it was pretty heavy) and carried it into the house. As he did so, he heard loud screaming from inside the box. Whatever was inside, it was surprised.
By the time he’d gotten it into his house, he was really curious. The screaming died down, but he could hear a few voices from within. He dashed over to his garage and retrieved a crowbar, then quickly ran back to the crate. He used the tool to pry the lid open, then carefully and slowly lifted it up. He peered inside, on guard in case there was a monster inside that would attack him and try to rip him to shreds.
Well, there were a few monsters. But not the kind Light had been expecting. Once the lid was off, he found four pairs of wide eyes staring up at him.
Four children, all of which looked surprisingly familiar to his previous adversaries. L, Mello, Mello’s accomplice (Matt, was it?), and Near. They were all children. L looked about four, Matt and Mello around three, and Near appeared no older than one.
“Look, it’s Kira!” little L exclaimed, pointing a tiny finger up at Light. Near instantly burst into tears, while Matt and Mello screamed in fear and whipped out two pistols.
Water pistols. Which they then proceeded to use to squirt Light in the face with little spurts of water.
Light shut his eyes, trying to keep the liquid out of his eyes as he reached forward and managed to grab the plastic weapons out of their hands. He ignored the children’s complaints as he threw them off to the side of the room.
“What are you four doing here? I thought you were all dead!” Light exclaimed. As a second thought, Light added, “And why are you all children?”
Finally, three of the kids shut up (Near continued wailing, but he was merely one so it was to be expected) and stared back at him silently.
“I dunno what you’re talking about, Kira,” L finally spoke up. Matt and Mello nodded in agreement. “All I remember is being in That box with Matt and Mello and Near all there. Where didja see us before, Kira?”
Light blinked. None of them remembered anything? So he had his adversaries as children without their memories? Well, it was certainly interesting. Maybe...Maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad to just give it a shot...
“Never mind that,” he started, staring down at the four children. “You guys can stay here and live with me, but you’ll have to follow my rules?”
“Live with Kira?” L inquired. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“No...” Light felt his eye twitch from frustration. “I’m not going to kill you. I’ll be kind of like your father. Okay?”
The three not-crying kids exchanged silent looks, then L spoke again. “Okay, but what are your rules?”
Light smiled. “Rule one: Stop calling me Kira. My name is Light, not Kira.”
Mello and Matt seemed to pout at that. “Fine...What else?”
“Rule two: Since I’m the dad and this is my house, you guys have to listen to me. Rule three: Outside in public, you need to have less weird names. More normal ones. Most kids aren’t named L, Mello, or Near.” Light glanced over to the redhead. “Matt’s normal enough though. Mello can be Michael, Near can be Neal, and L can be Ryuuzaki.”
“Why does my name sound so different?” L complained.
“And why doesn’t Matt have to change his name?” Mello whined.
Light’s eyes narrowed. “Because of rule number two. I think those three rules will be okay for now. Come on out of the box.”
He reached into the box and slipped his hands around L, lifting the four-year-old up and out of the crate and placing him onto the carpeted ground of his living room. He did the same for Matt and Mello, but held Near in his arms like a parent normally would hold a baby.
He pulled the children around to give them a tour of the house and assign them rooms. Near had a crib in Light’s room, Mello shared with Matt, and L was on his own. All the rooms were in the same hallway, and there was a bathroom just a door or two away. Light silently mused over how lucky he was to have a mansion with space enough for kids.
...Was he really lucky? He wondered about that as Matt and Mello proceeded to fight over the top bunk in their room, Near started to drool onto the front of his shirt, and L asked if there were any sweets in the house. Maybe...Maybe not.
