Disclaimer: Death Note does not belong to me. That is all.
A/N: whew! Wow sorry for the long wait guys ^_^;; didn't mean for this to take that long, but it's almost getting as serious as my other fic, with the amount of work I've been putting into it.
STILL no LEMON???!!!! Yes. I know I know, how could I why am I so evil- but it's almost guaranteed that there's going to be some sexy stuff in the next chapter. That is a promise ;)
ThAnK yOu: eryis-blud, ZomgKelley, Jan, xxbeyondxbirthdayxx, Your Alien, onixxfilth, Isabella and me, Possessed4evr!
Apples to all!! Ahem.
Recollections
Following Misa and her giant body guard around was as exciting as picking paint off a post, and even doing something like that is induced by boredom so it was a lose-lose situation anyway. Matt hated waiting for the girl outside shops and restaurants, watching for any kind of suspicious behavior or of the like. It was mostly just her goofing off, picking on Mogi, complaining about the absence of her boyfriend and nothing related to the second Kira, like she had no memory of killing off about a thousand people. She didn't even have a nice chest for him to stare at while he was bored out of his mind!
Matt took out a pack of cigarettes from his vest pocket to suck on, and contemplated the events as of late. Since the almost-rape incident and the make-up shower discussion, things didn't change too much. Mello still molested him, and Matt molested him back. And it also seemed like the only one who was affected by the whole thing was Matt himself, because getting overpowered by another man like that made him realize he really should defend his pride more often in case something like that happened again with someone else.
But aside from all that, Mello seemed to be in a somber mood as of late. The drama from a week ago was all settled, and everything was mostly back to normal, but something else was on his mind. Matt wasn't sure of how to bring it up to ask him about it, but whatever it was, he knew it wasn't going to be happy news. But when his evanescent babysitting was finished for the day, he was saved the inconvenience of bringing it up when he walked into the apartment, because Mello approached him first.
"Come here." He said bluntly.
Matt looked up after he threw his vest onto the couch, "What is it?"
"There's something I have to talk to you about."
The underlying tones in his sentence told the teen that it was probably something serious, so he followed Mello into the kitchen and fetched himself a glass of water. "Is this about the second Kira?"
He shook his head, "No. She doesn't matter anymore."
"What?" Matt searched his face, his brows furrowing in confusion. "But you said-"
"I told you we had to keep an eye on her, just in case she does anything funny," he cut in, and leaned against the table across from him, "that notebook can be passed around, and when its owner renounces it, they lose all memory related to having it."
He nodded, "Yeah, I remember that. From watching her, it's impossible to imagine that she's being haunted by a shinigami. But from the records it's also impossible for her not to be, yet you still wanted me to tail her. So you're saying I don't have to anymore?"
"Yeah." Mello's stare drifted to other things on his conscious before he spoke again. "There isn't much time left. It's up to us, Matt."
"What do you have in mind?"
Mello's eyes bore into the other, and held it there until he finally said, "How much are you willing to risk for the outcome of this case?" This was his way of asking, "Are you willing to die?" And Matt understood this.
Was he willing to die? He was still only 19, and didn't have a social standing in life quite yet. But would it matter if Kira was still around? Matt wasn't the classic hero found in video games, he didn't care about the betterment of the world, he didn't have a superhuman capacity to love or be brave in the face of danger. He was just your average guy who was landed in an orphanage for smart children, but it's not like he strived to be the best like Mello, he wasn't so gifted that he didn't have to put any effort into anything like Near, he just did whatever the hell he felt like doing. And now this.
"I'll do whatever you tell me to, Mel." He said after a long bout of silent thinking, "Just give the word."
"It isn't guaranteed that you're not going to make this one."
Matt set down his empty glass, "Then why are you making a huge deal out of it?"
"Because it's just a possibility." He said innocently, and held up his hand to cut off his response, "And as a continuation to your noble statement of doing whatever I tell you to do, does that include special services?" he winked at him.
"What the fuck, Mel!" Matt instinctively pressed his backside against the cabinets behind him, as if trying to protect it, "I thought this was a serious conversation!"
"It is." Mello mused, "But if you insist on those kind of services, it'll to have to wait a bit longer." He resumed talking over Matt's indignant spluttering, "I need your help on kidnapping Kiyomi Takada."
His eyes widened, "the Kiyomi Takada? The Kira representative?"
"Yes."
Matt raised an eyebrow at Mello's matter-of-factly disposition, "We're doing this for a purpose, right? Not just because we can?"
"No, Matt. I want to do this because she'd make the perfect slave since you're unwilling to have sex with me." he sniped sarcastically, "Jackass."
He raised his hands in the air in surrender, "Hey man, you started it with that creepy wink. But aside from all that," Matt adopted a more serious tone, "I want to know why you need to kidnap her." Mello sighed in response, and ran his finger down the side of his face where his scar is. A habit he picked up after Matt deigned it healed enough to take off the bandages, but the teen swiftly smacked the offending hand away. "Dude, I told you not to do that!"
The young man gave his partner a strange look, but instead of the usual fight that broke out when the issue on what and how to do things around each other sparked on things like that, he let his hand drop without argument. "Near can't win."
At first, Matt assumed it was that same rivalry the man carried around with him about the orphanage, but Mello didn't look as passionate as his words would've made him before. "What do you mean?"
"Near can't win this." Mello said quietly, "He's forgotten something important, and it's going to cost him more than Kira. He's probably going to die."
Matt stayed silent, asking him to continue with his attentiveness.
"If we kidnap Takada, put her in a position where she isn't useful anymore and away from the cameras, then there's the possibility that she'll spill some information about what she knows. I doubt she'll do that, but Kira can't risk it, so he'll have to get rid of her."
"So what'll this prove? That he's a dick?"
Mello threw a napkin holder at him from the table, "Shut up and listen. Light Yagami and Mikami Teru are undeniably Kira's. But Yagami probably doesn't have the Death Note anymore, like his girlfriend, and Teru is very punctual with his schedules. So if Teru where to step out of his planned out day to expose of Takada, we'd know where he hides his notebook."
"But it's in his house, isn't it? The SPK have been keeping tabs on him."
"That's the problem. Near hasn't thought of the possibility that the one he uses is a fake."
Matt's brow furrowed and made a face, "Whoa, wait up." He pushed himself away from the counter to stand up straighter, "So you think that Teru's been putting on a show for them? That would mean that he knows that they've watching him and…looking through his stuff." He looked up, "What made you suspect something like this?"
"The train." He said, "That was the main factor. But first, a careful guy like Teru would definitely notice being followed around all day for a couple weeks by the same person. It might've taken half that amount of time for him to realize it, give or take, but being Kira makes a person paranoid of their surroundings. So he knew he was being followed, then why would he kill someone in public? Yeah, there was a person who was being unethical in front of him, but why didn't he wait to write his name down until he got home? Why did he risk being found out?"
"He wanted them to know…?"
"Yes. But why would he have such a sense of security that he wanted them to know he was Kira? Be put in a position where his notebook will be taken away and cease all that he's been working for?"
"Ok let's not get ahead of ourselves," he ran his hand through his hair as he tried to grasp everything, "This is all still a theory, we can't prove it-"
"Unless we kidnap Takada."
"God- damnit Mel," Matt breathed, "Do you have to come up with such dangerous plans of action? I mean, last time you fucking blew up an entire building. When you were still inside!"
Mello raised an eyebrow, and stood up to leave, "If you don't want in, I'll just do it myself."
"No-" Matt grabbed his arm to stop him, "Mel, this is why you asked me how much I'm willing to sacrifice for this case? Fine." he sighed, "I said I'd do what you tell me to, and I meant it. Besides, you can't do anything without me to help."
"Oh really?"
Matt sensed a fight brewing, "Don't even try, man. Kidnapping takes team work and if you're gonna get your ass whooped I'm going to have to extract you from their evil clutches."
"Who said I'm gonna get my ass whooped? If anything you're going to be the scapegoat and if Takada's goons catch up to you, I'll have to save you."
"Why am I the scapegoat?"
"Because you can't handle women."
"What? A gay man tells me that I can't handle women?"
Mello put his hand over the one Matt had on his arm and squeezed, "I'm bisexual Matt, and yes, as a bisexual man I'm telling you that you can't handle women. Because you're still a virgin."
Matt's face heated up and he wrenched his hand away, "How the hell would you know that? And even so, what does that have to do with anything!?"
Mello leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and promptly left the kitchen, leaving Matt fuming and embarrassed. "What the fuck was that for?!" he rubbed his cheek childishly, "Mel-" he stopped, crossed his arms and pouted angrily when he knew the man wouldn't listen. Matt would never admit that he was pouting, but there was no other reason why Mello would turn back on his heel to heed his call.
"Are you pouting at me?"
"…NO."
"I think you are."
"I'm not."
He walked over to him and smirked in his face, "Yes, you are."
Matt held his ground, "Fuck. You."
He tsked at him, "Why are you denying it?"
"I'm a man. And men don't fucking pout."
"Oh, so that's what this is about." Mello chuckled, "You're upset because I- how would Caesar Millan put it? I've been 'dominating' you?"
"No!" Matt shoved his senior away from him, "Dammit, I'm not a girl! Stop treating me like one!"
Mello grabbed hold of the arm that made contact with him, "You want me to stop? Then start acting like a man! Come on, show me what you can do."
A/N: yep. Compared to the first chapter no one expected PLOT now did you? This is beginning to turn into one of those, 'what they did before the Bad Thing happened' sort of fluff. Is fluff the right term? Hm. But yeah. Matt is getting insecure, but behold, Mello is doing that on purpose. Why? You'll find out soon enough ;)
Predictions on what's going through their minds are welcome as well as a heads up to hurry my butt along.
Thank you for reading, and please review
-Zak
