Disclaimer: Death Note the series is obviously not mine. And no, I don't have a death note hidden under a secret panel in my drawer.
A/N: Right off the bat, I want to say that this piece is completely different from what I usually write.
Fools in Paradise
Living as an idiot is infinitely better than living as a genius; but I know what he would say if I tell him that. It is nothing more than a consolation prize for not being born a genius, a rationalization to make the rest of us mere mortals feel better.
But living the life of an idiot isn't so bad, really. An idiot is free to be as stupid as he wants, with no strings attached.
He is always trying to one-up Near, always trying, but almost always failing to do that. Seeing the raging rivalry between them, I'm only glad that I am not a genius.
Now that this game of cat and mouse is reaching its end at last, there remains only one thing he wanted to accomplish no matter what; and he is willing to gamble with his life for the victory he desires above all else.
It's madness, I can tell you that. Not that I can judge him, since I'm basically doing the same thing as he is. The only difference is that I don't really give a damn who wins or who loses.
Then again, if this were to be the last thing he will ever ask of me -- the only other time he asked for my help was after he got blasted in the explosion that he caused -- then I guess it's worth throwing my lot in with him just to hear him admit he needs my help.
I don't believe in destiny, and I never will. I'm not into heroic sacrifices and all that crap; I leave those for grandeur-seeking brutes with no brains. I'm just an idiot who cannot help accompanying him through fire and hell; and he's just an idiot who keeps going up against Near even though he loses at almost every turn. Perhaps just like me, he's betting on that one time when he could actually win.
A fine pair of idiots we are, always striving for the one thing we can never have.
That's what I would have loved to say to him just to get a rise out of him -- not that it takes much to annoy him. All I need to do is to say the magic word that starts with the letter N.
Oh well, it's been fun while it lasts, this game that he dumped me into without my permission. It's stupid of me to stick with him even knowing what the end is likely going to be; but the world ends for everyone at some point in their lives anyway. And I'm too stupid to let him go off on his own, too stupid to even let him go.
Perhaps ending it this way isn't all that bad. I have done all that I've set out to do, so that he will be able to do what he wants to do. Me, a tragic martyr? Hardly. A sentimentalist at heart? I shudder to even think about that. I did what I did because there are very few people whom I can call my friends, that's all.
We are comrades-in-arms, Mello and I, belonging to the fine school of incurable idiocy.
Hmph, maybe I will tell him that if I ever bump into him in another lifetime.
Finis.
A/N: A bit weird, I know. This is my first attempt at writing a DN piece, and it's a complete divergence from the style I usually write in. I blame it on my repeated listening to the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks. And I can never quite figure out exactly why I've taken a liking for Matt.