There is no romance in this; Mello and Matt are best friends, and maybe each other's only friend, but that's it. Anyhow, important information as stated in Death Note's How to Read, Mello blows the base up on 11-11-09, meets Near on 11-19-09, and contacts Matt on 11-27-09. Also as stated in Another Note, Mello has met L before (but I believe the creators are quoted somewhere saying Near has not). The stories are kind of together, but still one-shot-y.
Even with bandages, changed from their disgusting white that looked like Near to a blood-soaked red, the burn puts Mello in agony.
It doesn't show on his expression, which is just as serious and angry as usual. But his face feels like something is trying to eat it, and it's oozing blood and other things that he doesn't want to think about. It's sensitive to the air, to the sunlight, to everything, which is not helped by the awkward and poor job he did of bandaging it. The pain in his face alone makes the rest of the burn, which extends down to his hips, nearly unnoticeable.
At this moment Mello can do nothing. The police will not find him; he's in a perfect hideout that even few in the "underground business" know of. Tomorrow he will be fighting again, preparing to storm Near's place to get what he wants. But today he has to wait and plan.
That leaves him alone with nothing but his own thoughts.
Rage builds in his stomach until he is sick with it, but it has no outlet to take. Two people always come to mind when he is alone; today it is L's face that's first.
He met L once, years and years ago, after being chosen to be one of the potential successors along with Near. While the too-smart, repulsive, infuriating perfectionist held the World's Greatest Detective in contempt, Mello had always felt an admiration towards the man. He wanted what L had—the title of number one. The best.
It was an accident he was home on the day L came back to visit Wammy's; all of the orphans, he remembered, had been taken out of the building under the guise of a "puzzle to solve" or "free time." Probably Mello was just running from Roger, or taking the opportunity to try and steal chocolate or a toy of Near's. The circumstances weren't really important, but he had snuck in the door, looked over his shoulder, and tripped around the corner right into the lanky insomniac.
Nothing about the dynamic, defiant boy phased or startled L. He remained calm through the threats and the near-tantrum, the escape attempt and the pounding of small fists. Instead, he hunched even lower to Mello's level and simply began to talk.
It was a story of murder and mystery and crime, of intelligence and traps and Los Angeles, and Mello began to listen despite himself. Quickly he realized that this quirky and unkempt man, maybe not even ten years older than himself, had been in this story. He had done these things.
At the end L ruffled the boy's hair in a gesture of comfort, and gave a slight smile. If he thought hard enough and long enough, Mello could still see it; a look that said, one day you're going to do something great.
And now L was dead. What would he think now, Mello wondered? Would he approve of the tactics? The mafia? Would he like the scar?
Would L still ruffle his hair?
Mello hates these thoughts, and so he reaches his hand up to the once-white bandages and rips them off.
The constant pain flares brighter immediately, but he doesn't care since it distracts him from the anger. The bandages are off weeks earlier than they should be, if not months, but suddenly Mello wants to see the scar and know how he looks. He looks at his chest, side, and tries to feel some of his neck before giving up in frustration. Even moving is different. It's so hard to get used to.
He's thinking of person number two before he even realizes it. Matt would have known the perfect thing to say right now.
Suddenly he knows, though it will be after confronting Near, where he needs to be.