In the heart of a Japanese metropolis in the heart of the night; there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of teenagers. But only one of them knows Mello, and only one of them knows he will die.
This kid is Matt.
He sits by a window, his breath steams up the glass, that kid is Matt. He looks down, from the twelfth floor, at the ground in the grip of January snow. He's done this before a couple of times (hell, a lot of times), and thought of whether it would hurt to jump. He always thought it would hurt far too much. But now he's wondering whether a heart attack would be more painful. He climbs onto the desk and pushes his head through the open window, his whole body throbbing with the adrenalin of it. He feels the wind on his face, and it is so powerful he can hear… nothing. It is as if the cars have stopped driving, the men have stopped drinking, the police sirens have stopped wailing their grief. But then the gust stops, and life resumes. Matt brings his head back inside.
Matt is terrified. That's all that can be said. Matt is scared, terrified, of dying, of all things. His chest constricts, his pulse races, his breathing is fast and erratic and all because he is scared of dying.
Matt thinks about writing something down about his life. But he doesn't know who'll read it. Because someone will be alive at the end. Kira. Near. Not himself. Undoubtedly not Mello. He doesn't want Kira to read about him. And he sure as hell doesn't want Near to. So he doesn't write anything.
And for a second, just a minute, short second, Matt thinks about leaving. Leaving Mello to come back to an empty flat. Leaving Mello to face Kira alone. Leaving Mello to die. And he knows this is a ridiculous idea. Matt had been imprisoned long ago, captured by a man who covered his mouth with a gloved hand and bound his wrists with a rosary.
Matt doesn't do much else for the rest of the night. He smokes. He drinks. He stares out of the window.
And he thinks, what a shit way to spend your last night on Earth, drunk, high, and depressed. And then he realises, this is what going out with a bang means. Not literally exploding out of existence. But leaving this life like a typical teenager. Leaving this life with style.
And Matt stands up, stretches, and leaves the room. Matt starts the last day of his life.