Seven

When L was seven, he spent one week hunting down and cutting out pictures of perched birds from magazines, encyclopedias, children's books, newspapers; anything he could get his hands on. One night, when the rest of the orphanage was asleep, he plastered an entire wall with those pictures. His reason given was that, if birds could sit on their feet, there was no reason he couldn't.

When Mello was seven, he heard that story and was impressed by L's dedication. It merely cemented his hero-worship and his desire to become as good as L. Every time he walked pass the wall collage, he would pause to admire L's work.

When Near was seven, he spent one sleepless night carefully removing every single cut-out from the wall, because he was finally almost tall enough to reach them all. He spent the next week painstakingly restoring the books from which the birds had been removed, and hiding from Mello's wrath. He didn't give any reason; he didn't feel like he had to.

When L returned and saw the wall, he gave Near a grudging pat on the head. "See, all you need is a little motivation." Mello was outraged; Near was unimpressed.

And L began to plan his succession.