Apricity || M. Keehl

01

Quinn's mary janes clicked as she walked down the empty hallway, jumping at the sound of the creaking door. The loud chatter of the other orphans reached her ears, a shining screen rested on a wooden table—wires connected to the olive green wall.

Today was a special day, one that many of her peers had been looking forward to for weeks; they would be speaking to L, their glimmer of hope and inspiration. Inventor Quillish Wammy, the founder of Wammy's House, had set up a call with him for them. Most people had never heard L's voice without a voice scrambler, so everyone took this chance to listen to him for the first time.

It was not uncommon for the orphans to look up to him; after all, they all had a chance to become his successor. The orphanage was originally for gifted students to express their creativity outside of standardized teaching. After the success of L, who became the "Greatest Detective in the World," it changed to a place to train potential successors for him. Anyone who didn't fit that image could become experts in various fields so that these successors could use them for different cases.

As Quinn walked through the lively room, she spotted Near and Mello—two of the people in L's Successor Program. They stood separated from the other kids, in the back. Since they were special, the manager of Wammy's House, Roger, didn't scold them for staying isolated.

Near fiddled with a colorful Rubik's cube, his white pajama sleeves shifted as he turned the sides with remarkable speed. Around him were four other cubes, already solved. While he was doing this, he was solving an all-white puzzle.

As Mello brought a bar of chocolate to his lips, the wrapper crinkled and shined in the sunlight. He was taller than most of them and always wore dark clothes that made a statement.

Near always had perfect scores, while Mello was only a few points off, this led to them having a rocky relationship, as they never got along.

Quinn couldn't help but space out when she sat down, all of the kids' voices seemingly unheard. As she bit back another yawn, another orphan's question snapped her out of her trance, catching her attention.

"Can you tell me if there's something you're not good at...or maybe something you're scared of?"

A girl—Linda, she presumed, said in excitement. She was an eccentric girl, always wearing bright clothes and extremely energetic. The orphans knew her as someone who was very artistically gifted, but her unconventional personality led to many of them shying away from her.

Although Quinn wasn't one to listen to the uninteresting chatter of their classmates, she couldn't help but be intrigued by Linda's question.

"Something..." L paused, seemingly lost in thought. "I'm scared of?"

The other kids were angry that she would ask such a question. They didn't want to believe that their role model could be scared of anything.

"Well, I suppose...monsters," He answered.

"There are many types of monsters that scare me," L explained. "Monsters who cause trouble without showing themselves, monsters who abduct children, monsters who devour dreams, monsters who suck blood..."

Quinn moved closer to the monitor, as if she wanted to catch every word. She noticed the orphans shivering in fear at the thought of those monsters.

"...and then, monsters who tell nothing but lies. Lying monsters are a real nuisance: They are much more cunning than others. They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart; they eat even though they've never experienced hunger; they study even though they have no interest in academics; they seek friendship even though they do not know how to love. If I were to encounter such monsters, I would likely be eaten by them...because in truth..."

He paused.

"I am that monster."

Soon, the questionnaire died down, and Roger closed the laptop with a click.

Quinn stood up, loud clacks could be heard from her shoes as she walked out the door with her classmates.

"Wasn't that inspiring?" Linda asked as she walked up to her.

They hadn't talked much, but she was in a good mood, so she responded.

"Didn't you notice how uninterested he was? You could hear it in his voice." Quinn spoke airily; she fiddled with her necklace.

Linda's eyes widened slightly. It seemed that not many people noticed. She grinned, "You seem like a fascinating person! Can we be friends?"

It was Quinn's turn to be shocked. She was never one to have many friends. She wore frilly dresses and always seemed to be daydreaming, so no one took her seriously.

But as the two became closer, she realized that there was no ill intent behind Linda's words, and for once, she let her guard down in front of someone.