Its 3:00 in the morning, still dark outside. In a small, deserted apartment, on an old, ruined bed, breathing heavily, deeply immersed in his sleep, lays a thin, redheaded boy wearing orange-tinted goggles.
Loud, ferocious banging wakes him up. Shirtless and half-asleep, he runs to the door.
"Mello? What's wrong?" he says, when he sees the troubled expression on his visitor's face. "Matt…" he hesitates, and walks past Matt, sitting down on the broken, squeaky sofa. "Mello, tell me what's wrong," he says gently, sitting down beside him. "Matt…what if I told you…there was something…we could do…that would solve the Kira Case, but-" "I would do it." Matt interrupts. "But," Mello continues, "it might…no…probably will…cost us our lives. Would you still be willing to do it?" Matt looks into Mello's eyes, and sees something that he had never seen before in Mello, surrender. Complete and utter surrender. "You…why? What do we have to do?" Mello places his head in his hands. "I've just been talking to Halle, Linder, from the SPK. She says Near has decided to end the Kira Case…tomorrow…" Matt knits his eyebrows "So, you want to beat Near. But that's not it. You're not doing this to beat Near, you're…" his eyes widen in understanding and shock. "You're helping Near? You?" Mello nods solemnly, head in hands, still. "That's right. There's no choice, we have to, otherwise Near can't…he hasn't got proof…a reason." Matt leans over to look at Mello, he cannot believe it. There are tears in Mello's eyes. "W-what are you saying?" he wraps his right arm around Mello's shoulder. "We kidnap Kira's spokesperson- Takada Kiyomi. Kira and X-Kira won't want that to happen, since she could reveal information about them both to us hence; they write her name in the notebook. So, Near would be assuming that…well, you understand, you get it, right?" Matt nods "Yeah, I get it. They'd write the name at the same time and Near would use it as proof." Mello looks up again. "You'll have to create a diversion, while I make like I'm protecting her from 'whomever', and then I'll turn down an alleyway…but she has so many bodyguards, you'll have to be really careful." Matt picks up a nearby cigarette and lights it. "Well, what about you? She'll try to kill you, with the notebook or something." A small tear glistens against the scar tissue of Mello's left cheek. "I'm going to have to take that chance. I-I can't believe…but it's the only way to…it means I lose the race. I am just a tool for Near to solve the puzzle. It's all I e-ever was. A-all...I…e-ever…" "No! That's not true! You were never just a tool! And you aren't now! Can't you see? This means you win! You've solved the Kira Case, you've done it already…please don't cry…" Realizing that he was, in fact, crying in front of somebody, Mello quickly wiped away the tears with the back of his hand "I…wasn't crying." Matt smiles "Okay. You weren't. I must have been imagining it." Very suddenly, Mello wraps his arms around Matt, putting his head on Matt's shoulder. "Thanks Matt. You've always been the best friend a person could have…I'm so sorry I've gotten you into this shit."
Matt smiles and pats Mello's scarred shoulder "That's okay. You know, I wouldn't have let you do this without me, anyway. If anything happens tomorrow, I want you to know, that you're the best friend I've ever had."
In Memory of Matt and Mello.