The Chills

Chapter 1 – I Am Ill

By Threshie

AN: This fic is set during Mello, Matt and Near's time as children at The Wammy's House. I'm not very good at writing light-hearted stuff, but in general the tone of this story will be a lot more humor-based than my other Death Note fic, "In Charge". In this story Mello is 7, Matt 6 and Near 5. They're geniuses, though, so they speak/reason a lot better than your average young children. (L is 19, by the way. Hehe.) I've had the idea for this story for awhile, but originally wanted to make a doujinshi of it. Now it's a fanfic. Hope it's amusing to you! :)

Disclaimer: Death Note and all of its characters belong to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. This is a work of fanfiction, created out of love for the original work, and I intend no copyright infringement whatsoever, nor do I make any profit from writing this save for adding to the enjoyment of the series for other fans like me.

"Stop pushing me!"

"But I wanna hear, too, Mell..."

"Shh! If you keep talking, I can't hear!"

"S-sorry..."

Near sat silently on the polished hardwood floor several feet away from the bickering blonde and redheaded duo, staring calmly down at the jigsaw puzzle he'd brought with him. Mello and Matt had been eavesdropping for fifteen minutes now, he'd finished his puzzle nineteen times over, and still there was no sign of whether the doctor's visit brought good or bad news.

If it takes this long to tell what is wrong, he could be really sick. The white-haired boy frowned to himself, tiny fingers slipping the final puzzle piece into place for the twentieth time. I wonder what happened for him to get sick? The doctor had better take the best care of him ever... L was, in his eyes, the most important person alive—and that was something that he and Mello could agree on for once. It wouldn't do for everyone at Wammy's House to be worried because their idol was ill; once everyone else learned about this, they wouldn't be able to focus on their studies.

It's still early, Near told himself, Perhaps he will get better before anybody else learns about this. Nobody knew that L was sick except for the three children, the doctor and Roger. It was only by chance that anybody but the latter two knew about it...Mello had nicked and hid one of Near's puzzle pieces again, and Matt, suffering from a lot more of a conscience than his blonde best friend, had arrived to return it to Near. Just as Mello burst into the hallway, ready to explode at the redheaded boy for ruining his plans, Roger and a very familiar black-haired man had slowly walked past.

The three children had fallen into complete silence, watching them pass. L was leaning on Roger and looked pale, and for somebody as pale as L usually was, that was quite a feat. He'd stared at the floor, not seeming to notice Near, Matt and Mello at all, and hadn't said a word even though Roger kept asking him questions like, "Are you sure you should walk right now?"

Naturally, the children had done what any young geniuses would have done in such a situation.

They had staked out the door to the room L had gone into, waited until the doctor arrived and went inside, and then Mello and Matt had commenced eavesdropping in hopes of learning what was wrong with him. Near, of course, wasn't so impatient; he ignored the crack in the door, planning to ask L himself as soon as the doctor departed.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait much longer. Just as Near was dumping his puzzle out onto the floor again to start assembling it for the twenty-third time, the sound of footsteps came from inside the room. Scrambling back from the door, Matt and Mello did their best to hide in the shadows of the corner and waited. Unconcerned, Near swept his puzzle pieces onto the board, tiny fingers tangling and twisting a lock of his white hair as he listened to the door open off to his left.

"I'll come back to see you in a few days—remember, bed rest!" The doctor, a big brown-skinned man with an even bigger smile, was saying back over his shoulder. Without waiting for a reply, he eased the door closed, then turned to find himself faced by a very small white-haired child with dead black eyes.

"May we visit him?" Near asked, looking up at the man quite calmly. Another child might have been intimidated by their massive size and age differences, but Near had always spoken to adults the same way that he spoke to anyone else.

"Yes!" Mello leapt from the shadows, standing boldly beside Near since hiding in the corner anymore would seem like he wasn't as brave as the smaller boy. "We want to see him!"

"Is he gonna die, doc?" Matt asked, coming over more meekly to stand in a strong contrast to the other children. He was perhaps the most normal of the three, and while speaking to adults didn't particularly phase him, speaking to an important one like a doctor was cause for shyness.

"No, he's not going to die," the doctor smiled warmly down at the three of them. "He'll be just fine. You kids can't go in his room, though, okay? You'll only catch what he has and then I'll have to take care of you, too." He tipped his hat to them, "I'v got another house call to get to; you kids be good and go play. Don't go in that room!"

If we aren't allowed into his room, perhaps it is worse than he is saying—perhaps he is telling us we will catch it only to keep us away, Near thought, watching the tall man head off down the hallway with his doctor's bag in one hand. He turned to the door—then sweatdropped, as it was open!

...Mello.

Frowning faintly, the white-haired boy padded to the door; his socks were slippery on the polished hall floor, and so he travelled a bit more slowly than he could have. By the time he got inside the room, Matt and Mello were already over next to the bed.

Curled up in a green plaid blanket with his hair even more mussed than usual, L didn't look up to staying awake, much less talking to anyone. Nonetheless, since Mello's impulsiveness had already disturbed him, Near decided to ask what kind of illness he had—for his peace of mind.

What a horrible day... L let his eyes rest closed for once, huddling into an even smaller ball. He was laying on his side with his knees pulled up to his chest, and the thick plaid blanket that Roger had spread over him seemed to have the miraculous ability to both overheat him and not be warm enough. Groaning slightly, he tried to pull the blanket over his head, but his arms refused to cooperate; he'd felt weak like this ever since he'd made the mistake of laying down, and now he couldn't really move if he wanted to.

I hate being ill. Not that hating it helped anything...

The eccentric detective very rarely got sick, because Watari made sure that he took a mountain of vitamin tablets every day, but apparently some germs were tough enough to break through that defense line and get to him anyway. The unfortunate result was that he rarely got sick, but when he did it was always such an awful cold or flu or other illness that he felt like death warmed over for days.

I only get sick occasonally this way, though—occasional serious colds take up less of my time than constant minor ones. He'd reasoned it all out the last time he'd been stuck in bed sick; actually, his mind tended to dwell on that very subject every time he wasn't feeling well, really. It was easier to believe the logic behind it when he was feeling fine...the only time he ever questioned whether it was worth being this miserable was when he was sick.

It could be worse, he told himself, trying to look on the bright side, At least I don't have the flu like last time.

Ugh—that was something he never cared to repeat. Perhaps the experience had been made worse by the fact that he and Watari were traveling at the time, so there had been no one to care for him half of the time because the elderly man had been out maintaining their agenda for the case that he'd been in that city to solve in the first place. Laying around sick is worse when people are there to stare at you, though; I'd rather be alone, to be honest. Then I can just...try to sleep it off...

Almost as soon as he'd finished the thought, the patter of footsteps brought his attention back to his surroundings.

"L!" The single syllable told him everything. Oh, no...Mello, you'll catch my cold... Sighing, the black-haired man opened his eyes to look tiredly at the small blonde boy who stood beside his bed. Mello's mouth was turned down into a pouty-looking frown, but his blue eyes were wide. Just as L was wondering what to say to him—if he just said to leave, surely the blonde's feelings would be hurt—a familiar head of bright red hair appeared uneasily over Mello's shoulder, and suddenly a second pair of blue eyes, darker cornflower but still blue, were also trained on him.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Matt asked, staring at him as if he might be dying. He looked so worried that L felt a bit bad for thinking that it was cute.

They came to see me...how sweet. While it was nice to know that somebody besides Roger cared whether he was miserably ill or not (Watari was out of the country on business again, and had left him at the orphanage to visit with everyone), L wasn't sure what to do now. He was running a high fever; surely they would catch his cold. How typical of Mello to ignore that kind of warning...and where Mello goes, Matt always follows. He'd noticed that Near, the less impulsive of the three by far, wasn't there.

"I'm okay," he assured the two concerned children, smiling sleepily. "You two shouldn't be here...you'll only get sick, too."

"Is it something serious?" A small, calm voice asked. L glanced to Mello's right, and sure enough, a certain tiny white-haired boy had joined them. Near...you guys are going to get sick! This isn't good...

"No," he assured them, tugging on the blanket edge again to try and get it over his shoulders; as with before, he didn't really have the strength to move it far. "It's only a cold, I'm all right. The doctor is taking good care of me."

Near regarded him with a flat stare for a moment, then nodded and came over to stand at the head of the bed.

"If it isn't serious, then it's worth catching it—we'll take care of you."

Huh? L's eyes popped open. Near looked perfectly serious...and Mello was nodding as if it had been his idea in the first place.

"Th-that's...very kind of you," the detective began, a bit touched. Aww, they really want to help me...but, I can't let them. They'll only get sick! "But, as I've just been telling you, the doctor is already taking care of me, so you all don't have to."

"He left!" Mello pointed at the door accusingly, as if the man was still standing there, "How is he supposed to take care of you if he leaves you alone? He said he'd be back days from now!"

"That's a long time to be left alone," Matt chimed in, looking more concerned than ever. "Who's gonna make you chicken noodle soup? Linda says chicken noodle soup makes you better when you're sick."

Chicken noodle...? Eheheh... Having an insatiable sweet tooth, L really wasn't fond of things like soup. They were too salty.

"Roger will check on me," L reasoned, smiling again. He hoped that seeing that he was calm about the situation might rub off on them. "I'll be fine—please go, I don't want to see all of you get sick because of me, okay?"

"We are already exposed to any germs at this point," Near countered pointedly, twisting a lock of his hair with one hand. He reached out with the other, feeling L's forehead. "...And you are feverish, so we probably have already caught the cold."

L sighed; he was right. Wonderful....just what I didn't want to happen.

"And since we have already been exposed--" Near began, but was promptly cut off by Mello.

"Since we've already practically got it, we may as well stay and take care of you," the blonde boy concluded, crossing his arms as if to say "prove me wrong."

Near frowned at being interrupted, but declined to start an argument about it—because if he disagreed with Mello, generally a loud argument was what followed. L looked at the three pairs of eyes that stared intently at him, Matt's worried and Mello's and Near's daring him to say anything but "yes" to their request to stay.

I guess I can't really do anything to stop them, the great detective mused tiredly, Roger will notice they aren't at their lessons sooner or later and come find them, so until then I suppose...

"All right," he sighed. I'll humor them. I have a feeling I'm going to regret this, though...

Little did he know.

--End Chapter 1

AN: Poor L...I'm not sure these kids have a clue how to care for a sick person, geniuses or not. ^^;

Trivia: This chapter's title, "I Am Ill", is a parody of L's introduction line in the manga, "I am L." XD Yes, really, LOL. (Loves silly puns)

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of "The Chills"; see you next time! :) But before we go, let's not forget the Akugi, an outtake-style section that I like to add to my fanfics. Each chapter's Akugi parodies scenes and dialogue from that chapter. Be forewarned, my attempts at humor are often cheesy/bad/just plain strange. ^^; With that in mind, read on!

The Chills Akugi! Volume 1

Akugi #1

Narrator: Naturally, the children had done what any young geniuses would have done in such a situation.

Matt: "I know what this is! I have a game about this—L's gonna turn into a ZOMBIE!" (Cries)

Mello: (Grabs Matt's arm and drags for door grimly) "If he's a zombie, he'll eat us—we've gotta get out of here before they quarintine the whole place!"

Near: (Follows, twisting hair nonchalantly) "Even as a zombie, L only ever eats sweets—if we are mean to him instead of sweet, he ought to leave us be." u.u (Childish logic makes sense to him...)

Matt: "But that means we hafta be mean to him for the rest of his life!" T.T "P-poor L...I wish there was a cure to being a zombie besides being shot in the head!"

Mello: (Grumble) "I wish Near was the zombie instead of L—I wouldn't mind shooting him in the head..."

Near: "..."

Akugi #2

Matt: "Is he gonna die, doc?"

Doctor: (Feigns seriousness) "Can't tell for sure yet—it's a really HORRIBLE disease, though, so you better not go in that room if you value your lives!"

Kids: "...." (Run into room to see if L's okay)

Doctor: -_-; "Okay, I know the kids here are supposed to be geniuses, but isn't reverse psychology supposed to work when it comes from a professional?!" (Little does he know they didn't see through any reverse psychology, they just were thinking of L's life and not theirs at that moment in time...)

Akugi #3

Mello: "L!"

Narrator: The single syllable told him everything.

L: Oh, no...Mello's here! _;

Mello: (Pokes and prods) "Are you still alive?! The doctor said you might DIE!" D: "Are you okay?! SPEAK to me, L!" (Shakes L)

L: (Twitch) "I'm fine, eheheh..." Now he won't be quiet...EVER. (Sighs and braces self for long sleepless night...)

Akugi #4

Matt: "Linda says chicken noodle soup makes you better when you're sick."

L: (Wrinkles nose) "Matt-kun...chicken noodle soup makes me sicker when I'm sick."

Matt: "...What about tomato?"

L: "....I'm, er, allergic to tomatoes." _; (Wishes he could be direct and just say he doesn't like soup, but doesn't want to hurt Matt's feelings)

Mello: (Confidently) "We'll make him CHOCOLATE soup, Matt—that makes EVERYTHING better!"

L: (Knows from experience that chocolate "soup" is really just hot chocolate syrup) "..." (Decides drinking that is better than drinking actual soup) ^_^