I'm really thankful for my two reviews. So here is the second chapter. Don't hesitate to tell me if you find any mistakes.

Day 0

"Are you leaving?" he asked, holding the weight of the videogame console with one hand and the frame of the door with the other.

Mello turned around to give him an indecipherable look and then continued with what he was doing. He put some of his belongings (those he probably considered more valuable, like that cup that supposedly had belonged to L) in a small bag. Anyone who saw him would have thought that he'd make a short trip, that he'd be gone and back that afternoon in late autumn.

But Matt had heard. He was in the other side of the door when Roger's withered lips pronounced L's Death... Matt's heart had given a little jump, producing a sensation of vertigo in his chest, but his fingers had not stopped their frenetic movements, pressing the buttons on the small console.

Beep, beep, beep, beep...

Matt used to follow his roommate through the long corridors of the orphanage. That habit had a lack of intention or objective, just as well as Matt had no interest in the position of the world's most famous detective. It was more of a reflex, an inexplicable inertia acquired by his body. Perhaps, in the same way that Mello secretly lurked Near, a part of Matt considered natural that the number three in the line of succession followed number two. Nobody followed him, but he didn't care. While a portion of his brain focused on passing level after level of some game, another was alert to Mello's words, his gestures, the way he moved...

"Yes. I can't stand this suffocating place full of idiots".

I can't take being under the shadow of Near anymore, it seemed to Matt that actually meant. But saying it would have ended in a black eye or a split lip. He had come to testify on a couple of occasions Mello's explosive personality when someone messed with his pride.

"I'll go with you", he heard himself saying. The words had come out of his mouth without thinking.

Mello raised an eyebrow and stopped his activity.

"And why would I want you to come?"

Matt was speechless. For starters, he didn't quite understand why he had proposed that. Lately, Wammy's House bored him to death (perhaps since forever). However, he liked the easy life he had there, being isolated from the world, from the unknown...

"You'll feel alone if you leave on your own. Two heads are better than one. I can give you a hand in whatever you need"

Or perhaps it was hard for him to imagine the orphanage without Mello, forever destined to be a shadow without substance, an imperceptible and aimless ghost.

He felt how his roommate peered at him up and down. In his penetrating gaze he tried to guess everything Mello was thinking: "You don't know how to cook, you don't know how to clean, you have no ability to relate to people, you have no idea how to manage money".

It was true; Matt was only good at videogames and computers, and was terrified of the idea of an independent life.

He was about to turn around and retrace his steps, heading down, when Mello, who had returned his attention to his luggage, replied:

"See you at seven o'clock in the Black Jack cafeteria. Bring all the money you have and some luggage. Don't tell anyone. If you betray me, you'll regret it".

Black Jack cafeteria was anything but exceptional. Matt had never heard of it, but he had no trouble finding the address on the Internet. It was far enough away from the orphanage so that nobody will look there, and close enough so Matt had time to prepare things. He hadn't faced great dilemmas when preparing his luggage: a backpack with a few changes of clothes, a few personal hygiene items, money, his remaining cigarette packs... And, of course, his video game console. He had hesitated to take one of the laptops from the orphanage, but he was convinced that this would give Roger more reason to chase them. He would manage to get another one.

At six-fifty, Matt sat at a secluded table and ordered a soda. He lit a cigarette and left it lying on the ashtray as he took the console from his backpack. The electronic sounds soon filled the air, until he realized that it was dragging too much attention. He put the device on his knees and looked around: a girl asked for a coffee while underlining a thick book; a mother scolded her child for spilling soda on his clothing; a couple was holding their hands; a group of friends talked in a low voice and then burst out laughing. Nobody paid attention to him. For the vast majority of humanity, Matt was an ordinary teenager and not a gifted orphan who had just left the only home he had known for chasing Kira, the mass murderer.

What are you doing, Matt? This is a terrible idea, he said to himself as he looked at the time on his watch: twenty past seven.

Probably Mello had changed his mind about taking Matt with him. Or maybe everything would have been a hoax, and he was now hundreds of miles away, laughing at the image of Matt waiting for him with abandoned puppy expression.

"So you came". A familiar voice interrupted his pessimistic thoughts. Without noticing, Mello had entered the cafe and now he was watching him from the opposite side of the table.

"Sure..."

"Pay the bill and let's go out, it's not a good idea to stay long here"

Matt did as he said, and they went out into the street, where the cold wet London night received them with suspicion. While the redhead pulled another cigarette, the other guy checked a little map of the city.

"For a moment I thought you'd go without me", he decided to confess. He imagined that, now that they only had each other, sincerity would play an important role in their relationship.

Mello must have believed the same thing when he looked at him with a silly smile and said:

"Yes, I also thought the same".

I promise next chapter will be more interesting!