"It's over Mello! Put your hands up and surrender!"

Suddenly, everything was white. All that could be seen, heard or even felt was pure white.

The fire crackled and popped. From the flames came a figure, injured, yet holding his head up high. When he cleared the rubble and debris from the explosion, the warm night's air began to whip at his face with each step away from the flickering light of the burning building in the distance.

…

"We've got a 904B at 945 Clydown Avenue, Los Angeles, California. 951." The LAPD's police scanner alerted the two Wammy boys sitting in New York City.

"Well somebody got their ass charred." Near placed another die on top of the other. He twisted the cube slightly, so that it lined up with the rest.

"That was Mello's hideout, Matt."

His eyes widened a bit. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Why the Hell didn't you tell me? So my best friend, right now, is in a fire, probably getting burned alive."

"You know Mello's not that careless. He won't go down so easily; it's likely he had the hideout rigged to explode the entire time."

"That didn't answer my question. Wait—explode?" Matt dropped his Nintendo DSi and he squealed as he caught it not two inches from the floor.

Near paused, twirling a lock of his white hair. "Yes. I was unaware that you wished to be part of this investigation. You've always made it very clear that you don't want to get involved."

"Well, to Hell with what I said! If my best friend is in danger, then I'm getting involved. I come here for you, hack into the LAPD's radio for you, no questions asked, and you don't even fucking tell me why?"

"Please do not use such vulgar language in my presence."

"Fuck your presence!" Matt threw his hands in the air and began to walk out the door. "God Mello, if you get yourself killed, I'm going to revive you and kill you again…" He grumbled under his breath. He raised his voice at Near. "I'm going to L.A. If you need me, you know how to contact me." He patted his pocket, where he had stowed his modified Nintendo DSi.

"Fair enough. I am in no further need of your skills."

"You're impossible." And Matt was gone.

…

Matt scoured the city. Every street, every diner, every alley. The blonde was nowhere to be found. He stopped at the scorched remains of the hideout they had heard over the radio. There was nothing but debris, in the process of being cleared out by a construction crew. He asked around the area, questioning about a blonde kid wearing leather and feathers. Nothing. He hacked into each of the hospitals in the city and those surrounding to see if there had been any blonde, male, burn patients recently. Again, nothing. The search was becoming monotonous. Days of pursuit, and nothing to show for it. It seemed as if Mello had just disappeared off the face of the Earth…

…

"Near!"

The albino turned to see Halle Lidner being lead into the SPK at gunpoint by an eerily familiar blonde figure. Those same icy blue eyes that peeked from beneath the black hood were now accentuated by an ugly, still-healing burn scar along the left side of his face.

Commander Rester glanced at his superior from the corner of his eye. "What should we do?"

"Let him in."

The high-tech electronic locks on the door clicked and opened the door. The two blondes walked into the chrome room, where Near sat with his back to the door, watching two toy monorails drive around and around in circles. He twirled the same few strands of hair in his finger. "Mello, welcome."

"Drop your weapon!" Rester and Gevanni immediately took aim at the intruder. Mello stared back at them, something of a breath of laughter escaping his lips.

"Everyone, please put away your guns. Having a shootout here would achieve nothing."

"Sir, with all due respect, Mello's the one who killed out partners," Gevanni pointed out, his aim not budging.

"Please don't make me say it again. Remember that our primary objective is still to catch Kira. Killing Mello right now would do nothing to benefit our investigation."

Rester grunted and lowered his weapon. "Alright." Gevanni followed.

Mello too pocketed his Beretta. He lowered his hood. "It seems as if things have been going just as you planned, Near."

"Yes. I take it you've heard all about the second L from Lidner by now. I've pretty much figured out who Kira is, and it's all thanks to everything you've done."

The blond gritted his teeth and whipped his gun out again, outrage pouring through his veins as he pointed it directly at the small white boy. "Shut up, Near!" He roared. Gevanni and Rester resumed their aim at the threat to their leader. "I'm not just a tool for you to use in order to solve your puzzles, you know," he spit severely, ignoring the two guns pointed toward him.

"Mello," Near addressed his former classmate, "If you really want to shoot me then go ahead and do it."

The blonde's eyes narrowed and his hand shook as it tightened around the trigger. Click, click, click, click—

Halle jumped in front of him, putting a hand over the barrel. "Stop! If you shoot him, then the rest of us would have no choice but to shoot you too. What will it solve if both of you die?" She tried to reason with the blonde. "That's just what Kira wants."

Mello growled under his breath. With a grunt, he pulled the gun away and his hand dropped to his side. "You have a good point. Anyway, I'm only here for one thing. I came to take back that photograph you have."

"Of course," Near reached into his pajamas and drew a photo of Mello as a child, staring into the camera with the same piercing eyes as now. "I got it from the orphanage. There was only one, and no copies have been made. I've already gone ahead and dealt with everyone who knows your face, both inside and outside Wammy's House. They'll keep quiet." With a flick of his wrist, the photo flew across the room, and Mello snatched it from the air. I can't say one hundred percent for certain, but it shouldn't be possible for you to be killed by the notebook." There was a pause and Near turned to stare at him with panda eyes strikingly similar to their predecessor. Mello looked at the back of his picture, where Dear Mello was written on the paper. His eyes narrowed. "Is that the only business you had with me, Mello?"

A glare was shared between the two successors. He growled. "Near," There was a brief, stiff silence. "Let's get one thing straight. I have no intention of working together with you on this."

"Yes, I know."

"At the same time, I can't just take my photo and leave. That wouldn't be right. So I'll settle my debt."

Near peeked at him emotionlessly from the corner of his eye. "Hmm?"

"The killer notebook, it belongs to a shinigami. Whoever touches it is able to see a god of death."

Near exhaled.

Rester interjected, "That's crazy!"

Gevanni agreed, "Who the Hell would believe something like that?"

"I would. I believe him completely." Near earned several "Are you serious?" looks from his subordinates. "What good would it do for him to tell an outrageous lie like that? Even if he had something to gain, he could at least come up with a more believable story. Therefore, these gods of death must exist."

"The notebook I obtained had previously belonged to another shinigami. Perhaps even Kira himself. Also, some of the rules written inside are actually fake." Near glanced at him. "That's all I can tell you for now." He turned and began to walk away, the click of his boots echoing in the quiet room.

The footsteps stopped. "Near."

"Mello."

Mello drew a bar of chocolate from his pocket, rustling in its foil. He bit off a piece with a loud snap! Near wrapped his hair around his finger.

"Which of us is going to reach Kira first, I wonder?" There was something smug about Mello's tone.

Near betrayed a small grin. "The race is on."

"We're both headed toward the same destination," Mello said, his voice reverberating off the walls of the hallway, "I'll be waiting for you."

The albino hissed a laugh. "Right."

Mello kept walking, down the hall. "Mello," he called at the last moment, and the blonde turned to look at him. "Matt went to look for you. I believe he is in Los Angeles right now."

The Mafia member bowed his head and kept walking, disguising the jump of his heart rate in his chest.

…

"Mello was here," Near said evenly.

Matt on the other end of the video conversation threw his head back in an aggravated growl. "Are you serious?"

"I am."

The redhead sighed and pulled an earbud from his ear as he yelled out the window of his cherry red rental, "Hold your horses, assholes!"

"Matt, are you driving?"

"Maybe. What's it to you?"

"I'm leaving."

"Near, wait—" The screen went blank and he angrily tossed the DSi in the passenger seat. He huffed and gripped the steering wheel and swerved in a U-turn, back in the direction of LAX.

...

Mello walked through the streets of Los Angeles. Well, to say he walked would be an understatement. He strutted down West Central Boulevard like he owned it. He got the odd glance from passersby at his thick, feather-hooded coat in the comparatively warm weather and the gruesome scar on his face. Tourists, he quipped. They'd better get used to it. There are some pretty fucking creepy looking people in this city.

The first place he stopped was at the car rental place.

"Good afternoon, sir, how can I help you?" The bouncy clerk asked, obviously having seen her fair share of odd characters.

"I'm not renting a car. I was just wondering if you happened to have a certain customer lately. He's a funny looking redhead with goggles and this fugly vest. Probably borrowed something small, fast, and red. Ring a bell?" Mello leaned on the counter as he stared down the clerk.

She clicked her tongue. "I'm sorry, we can't give out information on any customers. It's part of our policy."

Mello watched her eyes. They twitched to the right as she spoke. "So he was here."

"I didn't say that." Another twitch.

"Did you get that car back yet or not?" He opened his coat and revealed his Beretta wedged faithfully into the waistband of his leather pants.

The blood drained from the clerk's face and she swallowed. "It was found abandoned at LAX. We got paid, though, so we didn't investigate any further."

"That's what I thought," he turned, throwing back a nonchalant, "Thanks," as he strutted out the door.

…

"So you told him I was in L.A."

"Yes."

"And he more than likely went back there to look for me."

"That is correct."

"God, this is like a nationwide blisterfeld. I'm just gonna stay here, damn it all."

"If that's all the business you have with me—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving. Don't get your PJs in a bunch," Matt sighed and ambled down to the bottom floor and out onto the New York City streets. He made it back to the luxurious but rarely occupied apartment Matt owned. There was a letter taped to the door from the landlord: Rent was overdue and he could reach his patron on the phone. "Damn. I forgot," He mumbled to himself. Inside, large glass windows were covered with black, vertical blinds, and junk food wrappers were strewn on virtually every surface. "Ugh, this place is a mess." Matt ran a hand across the coffee table, dragging all of the rubbish off the edge and into a rapidly overflowing bin.

He plopped down on the couch and tapped the remote. The TV flared on, the static buzz echoing in his ears. One game of Mario Kart and I'll start cleaning this place up.

…

Four hours of gaming later, Matt finally managed to glance at the clock: 3:42. "Fuck. Oh well." He didn't feel like getting up and moving to the bedroom, so gathering up his vest beneath his head, he fell asleep there on the couch. He dragged the blanket thrown over the back and wrapped it around himself as he drifted off.

…

Matt was awoken by a quiet, "Matt."

He blinked his eyes open. A blurry, blonde figure came into view. He squinted and gasped. "Mello!" He hissed in response. There was a silent need to be quiet as the early morning sun barely cast light through the blinds. He hooked his arms around his friend's neck and hugged him tight. "Fuck, I've been looking for you forever."

"Me too," Mello whispered back. He pulled back, kneeling on the floor beside him, and looked him in the eyes. Though both their eyes were blue, Mello's lighter blues seemed more sharp and calculating than Matt's darker, open and soft ones.

Matt's elated face fell as he noticed the scar marring the left side of Mello's face. He reached up and ran a concerned hand slowly over it. Mello looked down, and his eyelids nearly slid shut. "I blew up a building," he said simply.

The redhead laughed and smiled softly at him. "Way to ruin the moment."

"Oops."

Matt looked up at Mello and kissed him. He pulled back for a moment with a smack. "You don't know how long I've waited to do that again."

"Me too," Mello smirked as their lips came together again. As the kiss became more eager, more rushed, Matt pulled the blonde toward him, and he crawled from his position on the floor on top of the redhead on the couch. He lowered his body so that his chest rested on Matt's, and began to further attack the gamer's mouth and effectively shove his tongue down his throat.

"Mm," Matt moaned into the kiss as he pressed both of his warm hands to either of the blonde's cheeks. Mello began to rotate his hips, eliciting another, longer moan from the redhead.

Mello smirked evilly.

…

"My ass hurts."

"Way to make the obvious obnoxious."

"Well it does," Matt complained, sitting down gingerly at the breakfast bar in his kitchen.

"Better get used to it, then," Mello smirked as he dropped a box of Lucky Charms on the counter. "Your milk went bad."

"Fuck."

He poured the cereal into a bowl and they picked through it. There was a silent agreement between the two; Matt would get the marshmallows, and Mello would get the cereal. There was a silence as only the crunching of Lucky Charms could be heard throughout the apartment.

…

A few weeks later, Mello slammed the door with his foot as he placed two armfuls of groceries on the counter in the kitchen. Matt ran down the stairs from his bedroom and launched himself into the blonde. "I wish you didn't wake up so damn early every day. It makes it impossible for me to surprise you in the morning on your birthday."

"It's not my fault you're a late riser," Mello's mouth quirked upward as he received a quick, yet passionate kiss from Matt.

"You have to come upstairs; I've got a surprise for you."

"I thought you said—"

"I said in the morning, it's late afternoon now," The redhead dragged him excitedly up the stairs and into the bedroom, where he had set up a tray with various chocolate-covered fruits and popcorn. He lay down on the bed, supporting his head with one arm, and gestured to the food on the night stand beside the bed. "Well? Happy 19th, Mello." He flashed a bright smile.

"What is this?" He pointed to the flat-screen TV, where a small logo boasting "DVD" was bouncing around the screen.

Matt followed his curious point. "Oh, a movie."

With a suspicious raise of an eyebrow, Mello crawled onto the bed with the redhead, grabbing a strawberry on the way by. "Whatever you say."

Before Matt could even finish fumbling with the remote to start the movie, four strawberries had disappeared. Well those won't last long. Finally, he got the movie to play.

"Are you serious?" Mello asked as a taxi pulled up to an old-fashioned New York City diner, where a woman bit into a tasty pastry. "Breakfast at Tiffany's?"

The redhead curled up next to the blonde. "Well I know you secretly like sappy romance movies. What, are you afraid you're gonna cry or something? Don't worry; I'm here to comfort you."

"Fuck you." Still, he couldn't help but suppress a grin as he looked up at the television.

An hour or so later, Matt glanced over at Mello. He wiped the corner of his eyes. The hacker rested his head on his shoulder. "What did I say?"

There was a sharp elbow driven into his side. "Ow, fuck, Mels! Do you want me to bleed internally?" He asked obnoxiously loud, dramatically clutching his side.

"I'm sorry, Mattie." Mello pulled Matt back up from the bed by the arm.

"Really?" Matt's eyes widened, surprised.

"No." He dropped him against the bed and crawled over him. He latched himself onto the other's lips and soon, the movie was long forgotten.

"Remember what I said about getting used to it?" Mello asked, a smirk playing on his face.

Matt's eyes widened again, this time with excitement and fear, all rolled into one. "Fuck yeah!"

A/N: In case anyone was wondering, a Blisterfeld is a slang term for when you almost run into someone, step one way, and they step the same way as you, then you step the other way, and they step too. It's really kind of an awkward situation. :)

Happy birthday to our favorite chocolate-munching Mafia boss! This was written off the top of my head, with many random thoughts thrown into it as it progresses. Hope you had fun with it! For the proverbial record, I do not own Death Note, nor Lucky Charms. Leave a review, lovelies; it would make my day. :3 Thank you, and adieu!