A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 56

The next afternoon, Jubilee was sitting on the floor of her room, staring blankly ahead at the footage on her laptop and biting her nails.

They hadn't heard from Mello the night before.

Matt had assured both her and L that the other boy was fine, but remained tight-lipped about why he was unavailable.

"I don't have an answer to that," was all Matt provided when Jubilee demanded to know where Mello was and what he was doing. "He just said to send his regards and that he'll check in again soon."

Jubilee clenched her fists, frustrated that she couldn't glimpse a line over the head of the unseen hacking prodigy to determine whether or not he was telling the truth. She turned on L.

"Don't you have a way to contact him?" she demanded. "And make sure he's not doing something stupid that will get him killed?"

L chewed on a thumb, his worry less observable than hers but still there nonetheless. "Possibly, but that's not quite how we work," he stated slowly. "We operate under the assumption that none of us ever do anything 'stupid.' It's in the job description."

"L, he's fourteen—"

"Hey, now," protested Matt. "Don't knock the young. Not all of us have yet reached the wise old age of two decades and a smattering of years."

Near made a noncommittal sound of agreement.

"And, even then," continued L, ignoring all of them, "It is still possible for us to get killed. That, too, is in the job description."

"Don't you guys have rules or something for how you're supposed to work?" she cried. "For—I dunno—safety?!"

"Besides the ones we make up ourselves? Not really." L shrugged. "Benefits of not having parents."

Jubilee unclenched her fists and stared at him helplessly. "So what do we do about Mello?" she asked.

"We trust him," said L simply. "That is the only thing we can do."

Hours had flown by as Jubilee grappled with anxiety over the missing boy, one worst-case scenario after another playing through her head. In front of her, dual videos streamed side by side on the screen—one of Mikami from the night before, getting ready for bed, and the other one of him in real time, typing away in his cubicle at work. She vaguely registered the usual black haze that shrouded him, but her mind was too preoccupied with worry.

Where was Mello? Why hadn't he contacted her yet?

Distantly she was aware that her last thought was an unreasonable one, seeing as how Near hadn't contacted her today either, and neither of them had ever contacted her unless there was something to report or check on using her sight.

She sighed heavily and rested her forehead against the coffee table. Hellenos wasn't visible, which was no surprise, but she had no doubt what he might be thinking.

"I know, I know," she muttered, waving her hand in the direction he was probably standing in. "Gotta just trust the kid and let it go."

Trust. That had always been a difficult one for her, hadn't it? L was finally the major breakthrough for her, but even then, she still struggled to fully put her trust in others. Perhaps it was because she couldn't fully trust herself.

Now there's a thought, said Hellenos' voice faintly, but she still couldn't see him.

The headset around her ears buzzed and her head snapped back up. A new number was calling her.