Heaven Help Us
Mello
Chapter 1: Countdown
11.o5.o4–death date– 30 days 'till take off
The students were quiet in the classroom as they sat and answered the test questions. It was pretty much that way in all of the classrooms.
It was the day of the rank placement exams.
There were three particularly concentrated people in the room. One- a status crazed blonde that went by the alias Mello. Two- a rather bored looking redhead known as Matt. Three- a small lanky child with messy strawberry-blonde hair called Millennia.
'I've gotta beat Near!' Mello thought to himself. This was his last chance of the semester to push himself ahead of his albino adversary.
'I've gotta beat Millie!' Matt was currently trying to save the ten dollars he bet Millennia. He either got a higher rank then her, or lost his game money.
'I've gotta do well on this!' Millennia was the only one of the three who was motivated to do better on this test by herself and not someone else. Last rank up she had scored 8, and that had set her off her rocker. This semester she had done all she could to get into the top five with Mello, Matt, and Near.
"How do you think you did?" Mello looked pretty confident.
"I'm sure I shoved that prick Near into the dirt with this one! I feel like I got everything right!" He stretched, leaning on Millennia. "What about you?"
"Eh..." She refused to give a solid answer. She apparently wasn't too happy with how she did.
"Matt?" The redhead looked up from his DS and smirked at Millennia. "I win."
"Shut up and level up your Pikachu, you mindless twit." Millennia spat at him, frowning. "I'm hurt, Millie." He replied, only to be whacked in the face with a sandal.
Mello let out a roar of laughter as Millennia put her shoe back on. "Can we just go back to the room? After four hours of looking at some stupid test and having to wake up at 7:20 to take it, I wanna go to sleep. I'm so happy they canceled classes for the rest of the day."
'The room' was Mello and Matt's room. Millennia usually preferred to take her naps in the toy room, with Near, but Mello wasn't too keen on that idea, so she had stopped that long ago.
Upon entering the room Millennia crashed on Mello's black bed sheets, pulling his My Chemical Romance pillow under her head.
"After we get our scores tomorrow, let's hang with everyone." Mello suggested, sprawling himself over Millennia. "Get off..." She whined. Matt laughed from his spot on his bed. "Butt secks her, Mello."
Mello laughed at Millennia who groaned pitifully under him. "I'm not in the mood for 'teh awesome butt secks', Mello. I'm tired, get off." "What're the magic words?" He demanded. Millennia scowled.
"The magic words are Millie is gonna make you butt secks Matt if you don't get up." Matt frowned. "I'm telling you guys, I'm NOT gay."
"Yeah, sure Matt." Mello mumbled, finally getting off Millennia.
11.o6.o4 – 29 days 'till take off
A tidal wave of students rushed from their rooms and into the main hall. Amongst these kids were three teenagers with their usual game plan for rank days.
"Matt!"
"Okay! Up you go!" Millennia grabbed the rank paper off the wall so no one could see. There were multiple complaints from the crowd of children. "Oh shut up. You guys know I'm gonna read it to you." Matt boosted her up away from the crowd and onto an arch in the wall. She moved the small potted plant sitting there and took its spot.
"Alright! You all know the rules. Back off you animals! And give me my shoe back, Matt." Matt laughed, handing her the green flip-flop.
"Okay! Number twenty is... Marshall!" There was some praise. It went on much like this. Finally, it was time for-
"The top five! Okay, Number five is... Ooh, me!" She, Matt and Mello engaged in a team high-five. "Number four is... Shawn!"
"Number three is... Matt!" "HA! I WIN, MILLIE, I WIN!" Matt and Mello shared a high five.
And suddenly, it grew very, very quiet in the room.
Everyone knew what happened next. And Mello was just hoping against them.
"Number two is... Mello..!" Millie watched in despair as she revealed Mello's failure for about the fiftieth time in her life. Mello tried to smile a little, and thank the kids in the orphanage for the praise he received, but it only turned in to a scowl. He looked down at the floor, directing his hate to the hard wood.
"And number one is... Near..!" Now that all attention was on Near, Mello could slip away without a problem.
Millie was friends with Near, or about as close as acquaintances could get, but she too had hoped that Mello might be able to surpass him.
"Mello? Can I come in?" Millennia didn't even wait for an answer. She could come and go as she pleased.
"Mello, come hang out with us. You said we would." Mello didn't look up. "Not right now Millie... I'm studying."
And just like that, Millennia gave up. She knew she wouldn't be able to convince Mello to come out. Instead, she leaned down and gave the blonde a light kiss on the cheek, lingering a little to smell his hair.
It smelled nice.
"Well... okay. Come out later, alright? Don't skip dinner..."
She moved to the door, opening it to let herself through.
11.13.o4 – 22 days 'till take off
Millennia was a bit pissed at the moment.
For one thing, she hadn't seen her boyfriend in about a solid week. She wasn't even sure he had been eating.
But she wasn't gonna do anything about it.
Instead, she made her way to the toy room, intent on taking a nap. When she got there, Near was the only one there. Not unusual. They exchanged greetings and Millennia plopped herself onto the window seat, hugging the pillow.
"Mello hasn't been out of his room since Rank day." She informed him. "I've noticed." Near gave his quiet reply.
"I mean, I know he might be out today, but something feels weird about it. What if he doesn't come out today?" Near glanced at her, "What am I supposed to do about it?"
Millennia laughed. "I know, I know. There really is nothing you can do about it. But because he has such a crazy problem with me hanging out in here, I think he might come just to get me. No offence, I mean it's not like I don't want to stay, it's just... Y'know."
"It's alright. I don't care." Near was currently playing with a puzzle. He was about fifty pieces from finishing it. Millennia listened to the soft 'clack' the pieces made when they hit the puzzle board.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a red head popped in. "Oh. That's where you are," he nodded to Millennia. "Mello is looking for you."
Millennia shrugged. "Well let him find me." She said, clutching the pillow tighter. Matt nodded, closing the door.
It was quiet in the room for a moment. Finally, Millennia spoke again. "Have you ever liked anyone, Near? You know, like as more than a friend?"
"No," Near's reply was easy. "I think it would get in my way. I'm not the type of person for that kind of thing."
"Oh. I see." The room fell silent again.
The door opened again.
This time it was Mello. He walked in completely ignoring Near's existence. Instead, he walked up to Millennia.
"Come on, we're going for a walk." Millie really wanted to kick him in the shin and tell him to take that walk himself, but instead she stood up. Her weakness had to be Mello- she was a bit worried about how he might feel about being second again.
"Okay..." He led the way out of the room. Millennia looked behind her, giving Near a quick wave and a smile. The albino child nodded back.
11.16.o4 – 19 days 'till take off
"Two eights."
"One nine."
"Cupcake."
"Two tens."
"Bullshit."
"Fuck," Matt groaned, collecting the cards on the table. "This is so not fair. You damn well know that Millie is gonna call a cupcake and you don't try to get her out, but when it comes to me your more than happy to call bullshit."
Mello shrugged, and Millennia laughed, knowing that Mello never called her out when she lied.
"It's like you always set it out so she can win." Matt frowned. "Three elevens."
"She's easy competition; I might as well get you out of the way first. One jack."
"Cupcake." Matt called the word, happy Mello had let him have some sort of head start.
"Excuse me? Not competition? Fuck that, that's why I beat you in Tekken yesterday, huh, Mello? Two queens."
"I wasn't paying attention. God, how many times do I have to tell you that? One king."
"Cupcake. As many as you want, 'cause I'm not buying it," Millennia smirked.
"Oh, and by the way- Bullshit." Mello scowled.
"You traitor. I'm so not letting this go. And after I let you win." Matt laughed as Mello took the cards. Millennia looked out the window, smiling.
"Whatever, Mello-bear."
11.23.o4 – 12 days 'till take off
"I wanna go outside." Millennia complained from her spot next to the window."
"Count me out." Matt frowned, tinkering with the functions on his laptop.
"We can't go outside anyway," Mello pointed out. "It's raining."
"I don't care. It's still outside, right?" Mello snorted. He currently sat on his bed, his head in Millennia's lap.
"You know what?" Millennia asked the two boys in the room. They listened intently.
"Forget being outside- I'd rather be in here with the two of you." She smiled.
It was quiet in the room. "God, that was corny..." Mello muttered.
He was soon sprawled across the floor.
11.28.o4 – 7 days 'till take off
Matt tampered with his laptop, looking for the right song.
"Did you get it yet?" Mello asked, taking a quick bite of chocolate. It had been raining for five days strait and quite frankly they were tired of it.
"Almost..." Matt mumbled. "Got it."
Millie giggled, and the three of them stepped in line with each other.
"Whatever!" They shouted, beginning to dance to the music.
Finally, Millennia jumped forward. "I went down to the beach and saw Kiki, she was all like 'uhhh' and I'm like 'WHATEVER'!"
She stepped back and Mello jumped forward.
"Then this chick comes up to me and she's all like, 'Hey, aren't you that dude?' and I'm like 'Yeah, WHATEVER'!"
Matt's turn.
"So later, I'm, I'm at the pool hall, and this girl comes up and she's all like 'Aww', and I'm like 'Yeah, WHATEVER'!"
They all jumped up and down at that point.
"'Cause this is MY UNITED STATES OF WHATEVER! And this is MY UNITED STATES OF WHATEVER! And this is MY UNITED STATES OF WHATEVER!"
Mello pushed the two back to speak.
"And then it's three A.M., I'm on the corner wearing my leather, this dude comes up, and he's like 'Hey punk' and I'm like 'Yeah, WHATEVER'!"
Matt pushed Mello to the side.
"Then I'm throwing dice in the alley, Officer Leroy comes up, and he's like 'Hey I thought I told you-' and I'm like 'Yeah, WHATEVER!"
Millennia shoved Matt out of the spotlight.
"Then up comes Zafo, and I'm like 'Yo, Zafo, What's up?' He's like 'Nothing', and I'm like 'That's cool.' ..."
The three finished the song-
"'Cause this is MY UNITED STATES OF WHATEVER! And this is MY UNITED STATES OF WHATEVER!!"
And as the music ended, they came to an agreement: p
"Never. Again."
"Yeah."
"Uh-huh."
12.o4.o4 – 1 day 'till take off
Whammy's House was just as loud as ever. The children occupying the orphanage were as happy as ever. It was nearly Christmas, just twenty-one days.
Millennia had been prepping for Mello's birthday. It wasn't too far away, she had even gotten him a present, via Matt's computer. It had come in the mail that day. It was a large, expensive leather jacket. Meant as a joke, due to Mello's line in United States of Whatever the other day, but still a good present. It might take him a year or two to grow into it, but it would still look nice on him. She thought it was an interesting present, especially with the fur on the edges of the hood.
Mello was oblivious. He usually ran around as if nothing new was happening- he had nothing to do otherwise- but Millie and Matt were sure he knew they were planning something. He was turning 15, after all.
With all the preparations for Christmas, and the December birthdays, everyone thought nothing could go wrong.
But they were wrong.
12.o5.o4 – Launch
The door slammed open and Matt shoved the magazine he was reading under his pillow, startled.
Mello stalked into the room, pulling out a duffle bag and packing whatever clothes he had into it.
"Uh... what's going on?" Matt looked at his friend through his shaggy, uncut hair.
"L is dead. I'm leaving." Matt's eyes widened considerably.
"What..?" He asked, but by that time, Mello was out the door.
The door slammed open and Millennia jumped ten feet into the air.
"Mello, what the hell was that?! ...Mello?" She watched as her boyfriend began to take a few of his random possessions from the room and shove them into his bag.
"L is dead, Millennia."
And Millennia watched him with wide eyes. "You're leaving. L's dead and you're leaving."
"I can't do this anymore. Now it's Near's job, he can do whatever he wants. I'm going to do my own thing and catch Kira before him."
"Mello, you're leaving me."
"I can't be with you anymore, Millie." He gave the girl a look and began to walk out her door.
"What! No! Take me with you!" "I can't afford any distractions." "What about Matt and me?" "You two will be fine, just stay here."
"But why?! We could go with you, Mello! We're a team!" Mello, just nearly out the orphanage doors now, gave Millie a look.
"Look, Millennia, this isn't going to work. I will find you again, one day, but for now, I need you to stay here. Do you get that?"
"Don't move! I have to give you your present!" Millie ran back to her room as fast as her legs could carry her, reached under her bed and got the present and sped back to the hall.
"Here! Take it! Please, take it! And stay here! Everyone is gonna be devastated when they find out! You can't go! You're part of the reason we're so strong!" Mello shoved the box into his bag too.
"Thank you, Millie. You're the best I could ever ask for." He said, heading out the door.
Millie looked out in frustration. He was just out the gates now. She ran to catch him. To try one more time.
"Mello! No! Wait! You can do this some other way!" She finally caught up to him again. "Millie..." He sighed, aggravated. "Please don't-"
She stopped mid sentence. Mello loomed over her, an angry, pained look in his eyes. He bent down, giving her a hug, and then leaned in, giving her a swift kiss. "It's not even good bye, it's see you later. So stop crying you big baby. What happened to the tough Millie, the one I asked to be my girlfriend?"
"We're a team..." She complained. Mello smiled. He walked away. "See you later, Millennia."
12.o6.o4 – Response Action/ Back-up Departure
"Well..." Matt scratched his head.
"I guess I'll see you later then?" Mille asked, messing with the sleeve of her jacket.
"Yeah..." The two teens stood in an airport, about to head their separate directions. Matt was going to New York. Millennia was heading over to California.
It was a little strange for them to be leaving each other. But they wanted to go their separate paths, so... It couldn't be helped either way.
"Now boarding flight number 155 to New York."
"Well, that's me..." Matt said. The two looked around awkwardly. Finally, Matt lunged in for a hug. Millennia returned it.
"I'll see you around, okay Matty-cakes?"
"Yeah. Later, Millie-buns."
Matt ran off to catch his flight.
Millennia sighed and headed over to the gate that went to L.A..