A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 12

Jubilee stubbornly crossed her arms. Internally, however, her heartbeat escalated rapidly at even the thought of having to talk to L and seek out some kind of imaginary reconciliation. He'd probably just give her that blank, unintentionally semi-condescending stare and agree with her, even if he had no idea what she was talking about. And for some reason, the idea of that just made her completely balk. She was already feeling too much self-condemnation to be able to handle the thought of being looked at like that one more time. It was much more comfortable to simply avoid the whole situation and let it fade into obscurity with time—hopefully.

"I thought the point was to do things for others, not for ourselves,"she said stoutly in a low voice. Even as she said it she was aware of how backwards her argument was, and she knew that Hellenos knew it.

He heaved another heavy sigh and glided away.

Jubilee was left alone with her thoughts. Thoughts of how, in all of Watari's stories about L, the detective was always the one doing things for others instead of for himself.

And how so very different that was from her.

The little boy was six years old, but his thick black hair suggested the growth of a teenager's, jutting out wildly in all directions. Yet the large armchair that he sat in completely dwarfed him, as did the big book between his hands that he was holding up to his face. His stature was still as small as the day Watari had found him, over two years ago. But these were the days long before the old man had taken on the alias of Watari. These days, he was still known as Quillish Wammy.

"My boy," said Wammy. "Much as I take delight in your appreciation of the house library, I must insist that you join the other children for morning chapel. Structure and solidarity are important aspects of the program here at Wammy House; and what will the other children think if one of you is not with the rest? One seed of dissent could eventually sow chaos."

"Wise words, Mr. Wammy," said the boy, his mature speech at odds with his small voice. "But I think that, in the interest of solidarity, I am of better service separated from the rest of the children. You will find that they will altogether determine my absence to be quite agreeable."

Quillish sighed. All of the children at Wammy's Home for Gifted Children were extraordinarily intelligent, but this boy was several leagues ahead of the rest—even though he was the youngest and newest addition. This fact was not lost on the other inhabitants of the orphanage, who quickly found reasons to distance themselves from the strange new child.

"That is not entirely true," said Quillish. "I do believe that Adam would—I say, child." He paused, holding up his spectacles to observe the huge tome that the boy had not so much as removed his nose from during the entire conversation. "What are you reading?"

"Criminal Law and Justice, Volume IX," answered the boy without missing a beat.

"And do you enjoy it?"

"I find it rather fascinating."

The man blinked. This little boy never ceased to surprise him.

"Well, be that as it may," he continued, trying to get back to the matter at hand, "I do believe that Adam would highly appreciate your being there, as he is only a little bit older than you...and he hasn't had much luck making many friends yet, either."

The little boy's nose didn't move from its place in the book, but his wide, gray eyes rose to rest upon Quillish. "Are you worried that Adam will feel like the outcast of the group, Mr. Wammy?"

"The smartest ones usually are," Quillish confessed.

"Hmm," said the little boy thoughtfully. "I was under the impression that all the children here were categorized as 'smart.'"