AN: Hello, welcome for this first chapter of Near and Matt. This story is inspired from a movie. I'll reveal the title in the last chapter but if you recognise it, feel free to let me know. It was begun a year ago but I waited to have it finished to publish it. Why? Because if I had not, you would have waited more than 6 months for the third chapter. So be happy! I should publish once a week though because I'm awfully busy, as some of you may know.
That it's finished doesn't mean I can't make changes according to the reviews and advices that I'm sure you'll leave. To be true, I'm not satisfied yet with the last chapters but that may have to do with the fact I had a writer's block until I got to finish them (in one day). Anyway, be honest!
It's a kind of AU: it could have happened, were it not for some tiny little details you may notice. They'll come later but still.
Summary: All eyes are on the screens, watching with dread as the red car speeds through Tokyo's streets. And did someone ask him about this person driving so recklessly, he would tell them a story. The story of his only friend.
Disclaimer: I don't own Death note. If I did, I don't think the manga would have been such a success!
Warning: I wrote that one while studying for my exams... it may show...
Boy love and maybe some cuss words.
Shounen ai. NOT YAOI (sorry nothing farther than a kiss, the rest is for you to imagine but I want to keep my fantasies to myself!)
There may be some grammar mistakes, feel free to point them out!
Rating: T because of the aforementioned warnings, but tell me if you think it should be M (though I doubt it) or K.
And I don't know why I created Matt this way... I really don't know... he suddenly decided he was a fan of the old wise Chinese guys... oh well.
Oh! Some of you may recognise the kaplas... yes, it was because of that. For the ones who don't know, Kaplas is a construction game, a bit like Jenga... I just think Near would prefer those to play with than legos that can attach themselves together... just google it if you want more information!
Enjoy!
Near and Matt
Chapter one: Meeting
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All eyes are on the screens, watching with dread as the red car speeds through Tokyo's streets. Who is the one driving this car? No one knows. Well, no, that isn't entirely true. Surrounded by a kapla wall, eyes never leaving the screens, Near has recognized right away this carefree way of driving. And did someone ask him about this person, he would tell them a story. The story of the redhead that later would make himself known as Matt, or M2. The story of his only friend.
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It was a sunny day of July, Friday the 13th, but the boy wasn't one to believe in superstitions. The sand of the playground was warm under his legs, the wind blowing soothingly in his hair. Happy shouts of playing children came from everywhere around him. But three-year-old Nate River was playing alone, as usual. The others were too boring. Always the same games, always the same patterns in their imagination: a princess to save, a pirate, a prince or a mage, a bad guy who usually ended up being the old dog attached to the tree by the end of the square, because no one wants to lose in the end, and bad guys never win. And a lack of subtlety and realism that Nate found depressing. He was better off building his own castle. A castle where there were no princess, no prince, no mage, but a king, trying to see if he should start a war or not, because his neighbour country was acting strange. He was finishing his third hidden passage when a boy came to him. It was the new boy. He had been there for a month now. But it seemed he hadn't managed to make any friends. It was just a matter of time until he'd be desperate enough to talk to him.
"So, what do you think about the new project of the European Union to create a single money?"
That was exactly Mail Jeevas for you: intelligent, original bordering on crazy, surprising, and too honest for his own good or just socially inept. If this had been the way he had tried to talk to any other boy in the school, it was no wonder he was still alone. Fortunately for him, Nate River was not your usual boy. And this was exactly the kind of person he could speak with.
"I don't know, it could be a good thing given how well the European Monetary System works nowadays. It would be great to have a currency that weight as much as the dollar. But I'm not sure it would be so wise with the absence of a true common economic policy. Then again, it's just a way to make sure Germany won't begin to act alone, you know, now that it's a whole country. Look at what they did for Croatia about three years ago. It's not as if this project is going to become true any time soon." His tone sounded plain, bored, as if he was plainly repeating something he had just heard, as if he didn't understand what he was saying. But his eyes said otherwise. He knew he couldn't hide the strange way he was sure they shone, as if taunting the red head. It was a test.
"That's what you think" Mail had answered. And, for the first time, Nate had witnessed his friend's smirking knowing face. Because Matt was also the kind of person that knew everything. When he put his mind into it, that is. Near would learn how he got all this information much later. At the moment, he didn't know. He also didn't know this boy would be his first and only friend. All that mattered, at that precise moment, was that the new boy had passed his test, he was worthy of staying with him. The three-year-old genius stood up to move and leave a little space for Mail to play with him. The redhead smiled and began digging his hands in the sand. Never had the sun felt warmer to Nate as this first time he had played with someone.
.
The car takes a new turn, lucky no one comes from the other side of the street. One black car is lost, after nearly killing a man. What a strange view it is, a bit of red, followed by a huge black monster. Red and black, the colours of death.
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Mail was paler than usual, red eyes hidden by his goggles, dry tears on his cheek. The dark mourning clothes made his pale skin stands out all the more. Red hair, pale skin, black clothes. Nate wasn't much better. But at least, his parents were there to hug him, calm him. He wasn't all alone, even though his only friend was leaving. The news had arrived yesterday. Mail's parents died in an accident while hiking in the mountain. Mail would leave to enter the orphan system. The boy closed the door of the old car, rolled down the window, smiled and said "Don't worry Nate, best friends forever."
And they had remained friends. So when they met again, as Matt and Near, in Wammy house, because Near's father had died from cancer and Near's mother had been deemed not sane enough to take care of him, it had been as if they had never been separated.
Wammy, he had been surprised to find the redhead there. Not that he didn't believe the boy didn't belong there. Hell no, the boy had always been smart. But Matt seemed to have strange views on the competition in the house. Whoever was first or second, Matt would always be third. It was some kind of a mystery to Near why Mail wanted to be at this rank. He had asked it once and the answer had been as anything that came from his friend: interesting.
"The front line is for the dead to be, the second line is where you see them die, the third line is nothing important, but exists nevertheless." Near wasn't sure if he was right to find something meaningful in that answer or if Matt considered it wasn't worth the effort to try to be better ranked and wanted to hide it behind enigmatic words for others to give sense to. He was a bit lazy, only using his energy to play his games. Though the future smoker had added. "But really, I'm not third, I'm fourth." And that, Near had understood. That was the thing with Matt, dear Matt, he was living in his own world, with his own logic, a mix of video games, geopolitics, information only he managed to get and Asian philosophy. And orange, because of the goggles only Matt thought were cool.
"Say what you want, I'm not the one using toys!" Matt would retort. True enough!
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As the time went by, they grew closer and you couldn't find one without the other. Even in Wammy, Matt was the only one who really could understand him.
January 2002, the sweet taste of a cake dipped in the milk on his tongue, Near was having his breakfast. He was an early riser, always first in the canteen. He loved this moment of total solitude. No sound around him, just a peaceful atmosphere, a cake and a glass of milk. He could then see life awakening in the house, the still dreaming children arriving one by one, groups forming as friends sat at the same table, chatting beginning.
"See, they did it!"
Everyone started. Matt had arrived, strangely awake for a boy that without a doubt had spent his night in front of a screen. Near had been too immersed in the melting cake in his mouth to notice his friend coming. He raised his eyes to Matt's covered ones. Gears working to understand the meaning of the message. Their eyes met. Near laughed. That scene was one of the most shocking ones the Wammy house witnessed, second after A's suicide, that would come later. Near laughing. But the boy didn't mind the surprised stares and the whispers that followed him the whole week. Mail hadn't forgotten their first meeting.
When they hit puberty, rumours began. They were always together, Matt would often come into Near's room to "play" with him. What game could a healthy 12-year-old play? And Matt would always defend Near if someone picked on him, and if someone picked on Matt, they would be sure to have extra work to do during the following month. Near was very popular among the teachers!
However, the day Linda confronted them with it, they just left her, crying from laughter. Well, Matt was crying. Near had merely snickered, but it was just as meaningful.
So they had grown up together, remaining best friends, without interruption. And then…
Then came Mello.
A/N: Here, end of chapter one. I hope you enjoyed it! I really don't know about the ICness of the characters. I don't feel they're exactly IC but well... it's a side of them we never got to see in the manga so why not?
Before I go on, I have to add something. This fic is inspired from a book that was adapted in a movie. But the story of that book is inspired by a true story, that happened between the author and a friend of his. Last week, a famous man died. That man was the son of the author's friend, and one of the reasons I got acquainted with the story. If he's not the one who created this story, I had this strange feeling, that I had to publish this now. I'm not sure if it's a tribute... I don't think so.
So, here is the part where I'll start a little game. Don't worry, it's easy. Very easy. The question is simple, what was the scene in the canteen about? what happened on January 2002?
Soon in Near and Matt: two friends, two loves, a murderer... chapter 2: Love
"Mello, I love you."
