Hi Again! This is bmsnakia361991 with a new short story about Deathnote. You may or may not have noticed but Deathnote has recently become my latest obsession. I have nearly read all the LxLight and MelloxMatt stories (over 40,000 words) on this website. :P Now I'm going to have to resort to the shorter one, which aren't so bad, but they just don't make time pass fast enough! And here (me being hypocritical ^_^) is my short story.

The summary is as follows: Matt didn't know why he followed that bastard. He hated his guts for leaving. So why the hell is he here?

It is really short and angst. Told in Matt's POV. It is NOT however a slash. Just a friendship fic.

Why am I here again? Oh yeah. Mello. Right. What a jerk. I mean honestly. It's been nearly 5 years since he had left Whammy's and, by association, me, behind. Damn bastard. If you can't tell by now, I'm still a bit sensitive about the whole thing.

So then why am I here, listening to stubborn old men blaming each other for a botched mission that I wasn't even involved in to begin with? For Mello. Always for damn, fucking, Mello. I can honestly say that I hate the bastard right now. I know he just wanted me here to give him an ace-in-the-hole. I was a world-class hacker. One of the absolute best. You couldn't get much better than me.

And he was totally gonna use me for leverage in this deal. To get his way to the top. All I was, was another damn card in his arsenal. He hadn't even seemed all that happy to see me either! It was just a 'Oh Matty, I need your help! Follow me!'

…Ok. So it was more like, "Matt! Get your ass on the bike! You're coming with me!"

How's that for a hello after 5 years, huh? Yeah I didn't even get a how-have-you-been. Or even an apology. Nothing.

Damn bastard.

Ok. So I'm a bit bitter. I think I have a right to be. He was my best friend and he should have known that I would have willingly followed him wherever he would have wanted to go. Even here to the mafia! So why the hell did he leave me behind?

Oh right. Because he's a damn bastard.

Another sigh worked it's way outta my mouth. That seems to be all I've done lately. Where the hell did Mello even go, huh? He just disappeared on me again. Why does this still surprise me anymore?

"You Matt?" I hear a gruff voice asking behind me. I turned to the man expecting to see a large, bald, badly tattooed gangster. I wasn't disappointed. I let out another sigh as I nodded my head. What use would there be to lie anyway? Either I am or I'm not. And I am.

"Yeah. That's me." I said, not fully paying attention to everything. Why should I? I have nothing to do with all this. All I'll be used for is to hack what I'm told to hack, when I'm told to hack it. And I will. All because Mello's gonna ask me too. That's obvious.

The gruff guy grunted (yeah trying saying that five times fast) and told me to follow him. I made no complaints as I followed him down a dimly lit passageway dusty with cigarette smoke. It didn't bother me at all. I actually rather liked that brand in the air. Made me feel a bit more, at ease, I guess. Ah, the wonders of second-hand smoke.

Where the hell are we going anyway? Ah, there I guess. I mean, that is where the big guy stopped after all. There really couldn't be many other places he would want me to go that behind that door he's standing beside. I reached up to adjust my goggles before pushing the door open and stepping through.

Except…

…I'm outside. Why the hell am I outside?

I took a quick glance around my surroundings and found Mello. With a black eye. And a black arm. And a blue jaw. What the hell did they do to him? I rushed over to his side. He was down on the ground propped against the wall.

"Damnit Mello! Are you alright?" I could have slapped myself. Of course he wasn't alright. Just look at him! And I was supposed to have been the top third at Whammy's. Yeah, a real genius I am.

Even bloodied and bruised, Mello is still Mello. He cocked an eyebrow at me and glared.

"Do I fucking look alright to you, dumbass?" Well…you sound alright…

All of a sudden Mello was ripped from my arms. Well…to make it clear, I was ripped from Mello's arms. If he'd had his arms anywhere near me.

This huge, and by huge, I mean monstrously tall, jackass picked me up from my spot near Mello. Yeah. This guy picked me up. And threw me over towards two other men who promptly latched a hold of my arms locking me in place.

What the fuck was going on?

As if they had heard my inner musing, the freakishly tall bastard decided to answer my unspoken question.

"Well Matty! You've joined us just in time! We were just discussing your transfer into my department! Right, Mello!" At Mello's name this jackass brought a foot down onto Mello's ribs. A sickening crack was heard as at least one rib was broken, or at least fractured. My heart and stomach both dropped at the sound.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD!" I shouted out at the guy who had been bringing his foot back for another kick. All of a sudden, he froze and turned back to me. An evil-looking grin found its way onto his face before I felt his hand socking me in the gut.

With a groan, I fell forward, the arms grabbing me, releasing me and dropping me down to the pavement.

"What the hell was that for!" I shouted. Or at least I tried to shout. It actually came out more like:

"UGH! OH! Uhh…." And then a nice long moan of pain.

Then my stomach dropped completely at a new sound. Even worse than Mello's ribs cracking.

A gun cocking.

Oh god. Who was pointing a gun at who? My first thought (and hope) was that Mello had taken his gun out and was pointing it at the tall jerkwad.

But when I looked up, it wasn't Mello with the gun. The gun was pointed AT Mello.

I didn't even think. I don't know what happened. I really couldn't tell you what went through my mind at that moment, except that Mello couldn't die here. If Mello died here, how could he beat Near?

When the shot went off, at first I thought I was too late. All I could focus on was the scream Mello let out. No, I had to get Mello to a hospital and fast. He couldn't die here. Those were my thoughts as I hit the pavement.

I could make out sounds of footsteps on the ground running away from me and Mello's shouts of pain. I had to get over there to him before he died from blood loss.

Then, all of a sudden, he was leaning over me. How did he get here so fast with a bullet in him?

"Oh God Matt! Oh God Matt! Oh God Matt! Oh God Matt, DON'T DIE ON ME!"

Don't die on me? What the hell was he talking about?

Then I looked down.

Mello wasn't screaming in pain because he got shot. Mello wasn't even screaming in pain at all. Because Mello didn't get shot.

I did.

A smile lit up my face as I watched the sanguine blood pouring from the shot in my stomach and onto the cold cement ground. Thank God.

Mello didn't get shot.

I guess I didn't hate him as much as I thought I did.