Summary: How could he love a boy he knew he hated. It had to be admiration or something else to make him feel this way.
"I love Matt… I love Matt!"
Uncertain Love
Chapter 4
A/N: Thanks for the reviews I have so far. I got A LOT of hits too but why only 2 reviews? I wanna know what you think so far! This chapter (I hope and think) will be pretty long because I planned for it to have several (plots?) in it. I have no idea how long it'll take to write all of it down but I'm hoping it'll be longer than six pages. And if that is the case then I expect a lot of reviews in this one. PLEASE! Lol, anyway I hope you'll enjoy this one and hear my reply to review or at least alert this story. There is going to be a 'cute' part that I added I hope you like it! :D There is also someone who's going to appear! Any guess on who it might be? Find out…!
…
About a month passed since Mello and Near started 'bonding'. And shortly after Matt joined the group. It's been a new experience for all three of them since they've been spending time with someone else. They were all strangers before but now they were a complete trio. Even the kids at wammy's started to talk again, but this time it wasn't 'Mello and Matt' it was 'those three'. (They had no need for names since they knew what three they were talking about.) Mello, however, wasn't completely open to Near as he was to Matt, but the feeling was coming and Near knew it. Every time he saw the blond open his mouth and turn towards him it was a sign that he wanted to say something but couldn't. Matt seemed to be the 'tag along' in the group. He didn't really play the games or activities the other two did. He just watched and played whatever game he played that day. Though they may not be the most perfect group there, at least they were getting along better than a few months ago…
Fall quickly approached the world and it showed with the beautiful, crimson scenery. Wammy kids rushed with excitement and anticipation as they decorated for one of their most important holidays, Halloween. Sure, everyone knows this one wasn't special enough to take off of school or work, but at Wammy House this holiday practically equaled Christmas. The hallways buzzed with activity during the day and were dead silent at night. It would seem kinda disturbing to hear all of this inside a room without actually seeing the actual activities since it was pretty abnormal for the house. Because of this most of the kids either helped or watched. This was also the time that L would appear every now and then. Though, to their disappointment, L wasn't coming this year. Roger announced this shortly before now. It was because the detective was caught up in a case and had no time to come. Regardless the kids celebrated it anyway because it was just so damn fun. (It was also an excuse to slack on work.) It was about a week until Halloween arrived but they always decorated early because wammy's was such a big house and they put up so many decorations. They also needed time to retrieve their costumes. The deal was about the costumes was that only children 14 and older were able to go out and buy their own. Children younger had to stay and pick out the costumes that were sent to wammy's. Though they didn't really complain. They were sent a huge selection since there was so many kids. They didn't have to worry about first come, first serve either since some kids (mostly who decorated) used their previous costumes from last year. This left about a third of the house able to choose their outfits that were meant for 3/4ths of the house. A day after the clothes were delivered, the trio decided to go pick out their outfits…
The racks of costumes were in the ballroom. Near liked this room because of its black and white tiles and huge windows that reached the ceiling. He liked coming here to play. No one really played in there. Mello was basically the only one who was looking for an outfit. He scanned the racks quickly, excited that he's finally able to wield an ax without being called dangerous or insane. About five other kids were searching the racks in search of a costume. Clothes were being dropped on the floor and none of them even made an attempt to pick them back up. Near watched the red head play his game. He was interested to know who was screaming and how come considering he couldn't see the screen. From the sight of Matt's expression the albino could tell that he was getting into his game more. He must be winning… The gamer's tongue stuck slightly out of his mouth as he held his DS in all directions, trying every so often not to boast out a victory scream. One leg hung off of his chair while his other foot sat safely on the chair. Before Matt was able to unleash a special move he's been powering up for (and Near seeing the move on his face) Mello jumped out of the clothes and placed something on his friend's heads. "WTF!?" Matt quickly paused his game and glared at the blond strangely. What did he do? He slowly moved his hand upward until it rested on the piece of clothing. He fingered it, identifying the object as… "Are these… cat ears?" Near rested his hands on his pair lightly. He just stared curiously up at Matt's. He had never worn something like this before.
"They look so cute on you guys!" Mello cheered as he laughed playfully, "They had it in both of your hair colors so I just wanted to see what they'd look like."
"Did they have yours?" Near asked innocently, wondering what a pair would look like on him.
Mello blinked at him for a moment until a blush arouse on his face. He scratched his cheek lightly, "Well-uh-yeah, but they wouldn't look cute on me!" (Really, he just didn't want wear them.)
Matt smirked at him, crossing his arms, "Oh really? Let's see 'em then?"
"Nope! I hid them so you'll never see what they look like!"
The gamer's devilish smile grew wider, "Hey girls!" He called, "Hand me another pair of ears! And some paws while you're at it!" The girls stared at him for a moment before agreeing with a 'sure' and giggling as they threw the items towards him. They stared, blushing wildly as the albino and red head forced the ears and paws on the kid. Mello threw in punches and kicks, trying to retain his 'tough guy' rep. Despite his attempts, they were put on him and the girls screamed lightly and tried their best to keep each other's balance. "He's so cute! " Matt and Near hovered over the embarrassed Mello as he growled. Matt laughed loudly, "Those girls are right, dude! You look adorable!" He smiled while playing with the boy's ears. Near nodded in agreement, his smile showing brightly on his face as well.
"You're all just laughing at me!"
"Hm… a little bit of both! Good thing there was two pairs or we never would have seen how cute you look!"
He quickly pulled out his cell phone and went into camera mode. "I-is that a camera!?"
"Sure is!" He snapped a picture, "I'm gonna send this to all of my gaming buddies on the internet!" He laughed.
"You punk! Gimme that!" Mello scratched at the boy but he quickly dodged it. "If you don't then I'll forcefully break that thing in two!"
"No way!" Matt spat, purposely dancing around the room to make fun of his friend. "Can't get it if you can't catch me! Right now, your threat means nothing!"
"Stop making fun of me!" Mello growled.
"Mello?" Near grabbed the older by his shirt and tugged on it lightly, "Don't worry about Matt. Here, this'll cheer you up." It was a ball of yarn.
"YOU GUESS ARE BOTH DEAD!!"
…
Mello lead, growling furiously as he stomped through the halls. Matt and Near smiled behind him, "Ah, come on Mello. It wasn't bad. You wouldn't still be keeping those ears if you didn't completely enjoy it!" The blond flinched. He did, in fact, keep the ears.
"Though did you hear?" Near spoke up, "There's some rumor about us related to some yaoi thing."
"What? Already? We just stopped for a few minutes to put up our costumes." Now that Near mentioned it Matt just now noticed the giggles of girls whenever they passed them. "They think it's some love triangle huh?" For some reason the red head found this amusing. He called out to the older who was much closer since he wanted to know the rumor, "Hey! Hey Mello! Do you think they'll write a fanfiction of us!? Or-or make a doujinshi?" He laughed.
Mello turned towards them and blushed severely. You may laugh about it, but it just makes me nervous!!
Near stared at the two cluelessly. What's a doujinshi…? A scene outside caught the child's attention and he turned to see several children racking leaves. The sight of them having fun when they jumped in them made him smile. "Near?" The two walked over to him. He had never realized he stopped walking, "What are you looking at?" When Mello took a glimpse he smiled, "Ah, I see."
"You've never jumped in the leaves before, huh?" Matt replied. Near shook his head and the two olders stared at each other before smiling. They took the younger's hand and started outside. By this time the kids were tired of playing and proceeded in finishing up the job so they could get inside. A pile a boy was making was huge and they decided to jump in that. The boy was taken back by the sudden entry of the three. When he realized it was Mello his face turned agree, "Hey! You better clean this up! This took me hours to finish!"
The blond laughed and waved the kid off, "Nag! Nag! Don't worry, we'll clean it up!" The boy glared at them before dropping his rack and running back inside; thrilled that he didn't have to finish his job. "Hey! Why don't we go in by wagon!?"
The smile Near put on indicated that it was unanimous. When they found the wagon and walked up the hill Matt became uncertain. "I don't think this'll fit all of us."
"You know… I thought of that. That's why I thought that Near should sit on one of our laps. He's small enough." Mello sat in front while Matt sat behind him. "We're you gonna sit?"
Near thought for a moment before stepping inside and sitting on Matt's lap. "I might get dizzy if I sit up front…" He explained innocently.
"AAAAALLLLL RRRRIIIGGHHTTTT!!" Mello called as he grabbed the wagons handle and started to push forward. Near looked to the side to see the pile of leaves down the hill. From there it looked like a bronze penny. Matt assisted the blond this time in pushing and before Near knew it they were riding down the hill again. The ride seemed shorter this time but had the equal amount of bumps and speed as their last ride. "WWHHHHHOOOOO!!" The two olders cheered and when the albino opened his eyes they were just about to hit impact. They collided with the leaves and seeing them flutter around them made Near curious. He stared, wide eyed as they swayed gently to the ground. They were now scattered and it was their job to fix it up again. But why? He thought it looked pretty as it was. Near was caught off guard when his friends jumped out of the wagon and into the leaves. They started throwing them at each other like water balloons or snow balls. Near never participated in such a thing and it looked too fun to pass. He leaned forward until he fell into the leaves, out of sight. He felt the movement of the two stop when he stuck his head out. The two started laughing at the sight of Near so small. With the look of curiosity on his face he really did look cute. They lifted the boy up and placed him on top of the leaves and they played in there for another hour. When Mello thought it was about time he jumped out and wiped the dirt from his clothes, "Well, see you guys when you're done."
"What!? Where do you think you're going!?"
Mello turned, "To get a chocolate bar!"
"Get back here!"
"Chill! Chill! I'm only kidding!" He ran over and put his hand on the boy's head, "You are way too serious my friend!"
…
4 days 'till Halloween…
The three didn't do anything practically interesting this day since they run out of things to perform before the holiday came up. And they didn't even consider the idea of helping out with the decorations.
3 days 'till Halloween…
They picked out their buckets to hold their Halloween candy. The bustling outside just keeps getting louder and louder each day. They must be starting to rush. Near didn't get a bucket. What was he planning to hold his candy in?
2 days 'till Halloween…
This day was particularly loud since they were finishing the decoration. Near wasn't in a really good mood to play since he hated the noise. They spent most of the day sitting with the depressed albino until he felt better.
1 more day…
Somehow today was quieter. The soft giggling of kids meant that tomorrow was the day…
…
It was Halloween at wammy house and truly, the decorations were so perfect that you wouldn't think that you were in an orphanage for extremely gifted, intelligent children. The day seemed to drag on forever considering they finished all there was to prepare for this holiday and the sorta, kinda quiet day turned into a night filled with rustling and bustling. By six o' clock kids were already in their outfits, knocking on doors for candy. Most kids knocked on workers, attendance, and helpers (whatever the hell you wanna call them) door for their candy first before going to other kids who happened to stay in their room. Actually the deal with the candy was that kids were either given the choice to go out and get candy or take a package and stay in their room and give it away. Whoever went out to trick or treat would get their candy by finding random bags around the house or play games to earn them. (Kinda like Easter? Besides the games…?) Children 16 and up were given the privilege to go out and trick or treat as long as they were responsible enough to return home at curfew.
Mello tied on his cape and turned towards Matt, "Dude, what do you think?" He spiked his hair and was held in place with hair gel, eyeliner coated around his eye which almost made him seem like a tired person (remind you of someone?) and the rest of his attire was black, wearing his favorite tight, leather pants and a plain black top with a silver heart on the left side of his chest. He aloud the cape to flap behind him and he placed his fangs inside of his mouth.
"What are you supposed to be?" Matt chuckled lightly in-between words.
"Ah! A vampire!" Mello scowled.
"Huh. You look the same besides your hair, teeth and makeup."
"Humph! And what are you supposed to be?" Mello questioned, taking out his teeth so he could take a bite of his Halloween chocolate.
"Me?" He pointed to his head, "I'm just Matt wearing horns."
"Hm… 'Matt wearing horns', huh?" He put a finger to his chin, "Never heard of that character. What porno is he from?" Mello laughed as Matt lunged to hit him. "Now, now! You need to chill." The blond took the gamer by the arms and bit him on the shoulder.
"OOOWWW!" Matt jumped back, putting his hand on his wound, "Why the heck did you bite me!?"
Mello shrugged, "I am a vampire, dumb one." He let Matt growl at him before his eyes opened wide, "Oh! We have to find Near!" He paused at the door before opening it. He laughed as he turned around, using his hand to motion him towards him, "Follow me my victim…!"
Matt sighed, "Wow…"
It didn't take long for the two to find him. Near was in his room naturally. They probably thought that he would just stay in his room and give out candy though he wasn't really the type to give it out either. Matt knocked on the door but Mello barged in without giving the boy a chance to get it. "Yo, you ready?" The blond looked the child up and down, "You're not getting dressed up either? Man, you guys are lame."
Near put a hand on his kitty ears, "Isn't this enough?"
"You should at least wear some make up. Like Matt here."
"Matt… Why are you wearing eyeliner?"
Matt sighed, "Cause the punk bit me and now I've become a 'vampire' too."
Near looked at Mello naively, and eyebrow rose, "You're a vampire?"
Mello hung his head as Matt burst out laughing, "BWAAHHAAAHAHAAAA!! Even Near couldn't tell!"
"And… you bit him?"
"Uh… long story! Well… maybe not that long. Probably a few minutes, but I'd rather not say!" Matt replied, waving his hands.
"Blah, blah, blah, come on! We're wasting time!" Mello gestured the two towards the door. Near followed but only for a short second until he knelt in the doorway. "Near, come on."
The albino pulled out a controller and pulled out its antenna, "You guys go without me for a while."
"Aren't you going trick or treating?" Matt asked.
He shrugged, "Well I'm not but…" He pushed the up button and a robot walked up to them, "he is." The robot was taller than the albino and was silver in color besides its orange and black bag. Near decided to give the toy a demonstration by controlling it up to the door just a couple of feet away from his. He was careful not to let it bump into any kids so it wouldn't be at the risk of breaking. It rolled into the door and before long a girl just a few years older than the three answered her door. She pushed up her glasses with her middle finger and smiled, "Wow, what a great costume." She dropped some candy into his bag, "There you go!" And she closed the door.
Matt and Mello stared in disbelief, "Great costume? Is she blind?"
"She had to be…" Mello replied. All Near did was smile. "Well… Near, we'll see you later." They both waved back as they ran into the crowd of candy-loving kids.
After about an hour Matt's pail was practically full. He was great at the games they had (truly, they weren't all that hard) and even won a whole pack of Hershey's chocolate which Mello drooled over. The blond, on the other hand, couldn't win a single piece of candy and sucked at every game he played. The only candy he was able to get was at the doors but there wasn't much who stayed in this year. One other candy was because this girl felt pity for him and gave him a free piece. So Matt was forced to give up some of his candy, but even though he did, his pail overflowed. By now most of the stalls were running out of candy to give out and they started to close down. "Do you think we should bring Near out here before it's over?" Matt asked.
"Yeah. Halloween'll be over in less than two hours." They ran back to the boy's room where they found him sitting outside his door, looking inside of his bag. "Near! How'd you d-what the freak!?"
"Whoa… You got all that candy just by going to doors?" It was true, his pillow case was completely filled.
Near nodded slightly, "Yup. How'd you guys do?"
Mello hung his head while Matt smiled, "I'm full! This guy, on the other hand, is completely sucked dry!" He laughed.
"Well that's beside the point. We came back to take you out trick or treaty, for real this time."
"F-for real?" Near thought for a moment, "I guess… for a little while." He stood up and pushed his robot into his room before grabbing another bag and closing his door behind him. "So, which one first?"
"Hm… We'll just go to the ones you've already been to and then we can try some games!" Matt replied. "First, let's try this sap who mistook your robot for a person." He sighed when he said this. They walked to the girl's door and knocked on lightly. The girl opened it and looked down curiously.
Near grew a little pink, "Uh-trick or treat?"
"Ah!" The girl knelt down and squeezed the poor boy, "You are so cute!! " She let go, "But I'm sorry… I don't have anymore candy to give you…"
The albino looked down in disappointment (though he really wasn't), "Oh, I see…"
This girl was in such another world that she imagined sparkles around the boy. This made him more adorable than he already was! "W-wait! I'm sure I have something!" She ran back in her room and came out with a huge pack of candy, "I was saving this for another occasion but you can have it!"
The weight of the bag made the boy lean a little, "Thank you!" The boy smiled and his older friends stared in disbelief. The girl squealed once more before giving him another tight hug, "Oh! You're so adorable!! Come over any time, okay!? My name is Tomoko. Enjoy the rest of your Halloween! " She smiled before closing the door behind her.
"Unbelievable…" Mello replied, "She didn't even notice us…"
"Giving a bag of candy to Near… She's really a pushover… Is something wrong with her?"
Near smiled, "She was really nice wasn't she? Though… she was a little bizarre…"
Matt shook his head, "Whatever! We have to hurry to the games before they run out of candy and close!" They took the boy's hand and dragged him downstairs. Several more kids were already playing the games and most of the candy vanished. "Huh… Which one should Near try?"
Mello was already looking for a game for the young boy to play. He pointed to one, "That one! You're pretty good with toy guns right?" The albino shrugged and they all walked over to the game. A young boy, in his twenties, was leaning against the stand, reading a Halloween catalog. "Hey, he'd like to play."
The man looked up and handed him a gun, "Good luck, kid."
"Okay, so all you have to do is hit all the ghost that pop up okay? If you hit the candy then you get less each time you hit one."
Near nodded and was given a chair to see the targets. He looked carefully at each figure that came out of its hiding place. He aimed the gun and took a random shot and luckily it was a ghost. The figure fell to the ground and while he watched it another figure popped up and sadly, since he wasn't paying attention, he hit a piece of candy. "You're pretty good, Near. You hit a candy but at least you're getting stuff." Matt replied. After a few minutes Near hit five ghost and two candy cards so he received a total of six pieces of candy considering each ghost equaled two pieces. "You were good. At least, better than Dracula over there." He pointed.
"Shut up, Matt!"
"You guys!" A girl, named Lydia, ran up to them. Her small pony tails brushed against her shoulders as she came to a halt. "L! L's communicating to us through TV!" She started down the hall, blending into the other kids, "You have to hurry!"
"L's here!? We gotta go!" Mello cheered, "Near, you'll finally get to meet him! He's totally awesome!"
Near shook his head, "Um, why don't you guys go without me… I don't want to meet him…"
"Why not?"
"…Just don't…" The truth was that he was just nervous to see him. Mello continued to stare until Matt brought back his attention and started running towards the crowd. They disappeared in a matter of minutes. The area turned silent and Near no longer wanted to stay there. He grabbed his bag and headed for his room. As soon as he dropped off his bag he headed back downstairs. It's probably been about 10 minutes since they left. Guess there was a lot to say considering there were 100's of kids and being gone for long periods of times. The albino walked to the rec. room and peeked into the doorway to see several small televisions being used to make one big one. The face of a pale looking, skinny, spiky haired man was visible on the screen. Practically all of the wammy house kids were there, crowding each other as they smiled up at the figure. Most of them were talking to him at the same time, telling their stories about something new while he was gone. How much they missed him and how cool they thought he was because of his ability to solve cases that couldn't be solved by anyone else. L smiled lightly, chuckling where he thought was necessary. Near's eyes widened. So this was L…? Truly, Near had no idea why he was still scared to meet him. Everyone else seemed to like him just fine. Were Matt and Mello ever scared to meet him? Impossible. L didn't look the least bit scary, odd, but not scary. Despite his reasoning he still couldn't make his body move. He just felt that he would just watch him. Admire him from a distance. That would be good enough. He didn't deserve to meet him yet if he was scared. The young boy watched as Mello and Matt took their turn talking to L. He could have sworn he heard his name a couple of times, but the chatter of the other kids was too loud for him to really be sure. This event lasted for about an hour and Near didn't lose interest once. He studied the detective carefully. His eyes… It's as if he never sleeps… He barely looks professional but he looks like he has potential. He talks rather intelligently also… L… This was when L finally announced that it was about time for him to go. All of the kids whined loudly, causing Roger (who was standing against the wall) to glare at them. Kids were so annoying when they whined… They all said their final goodbyes as most started to pile out of the room. Girl's giggling loudly as they went back to sharing their bags of candy. They passed by Near without even giving him a look of concern. Others stayed for a little while longer than others but still had to leave none the less. When he watched the kids leave L spotted Near standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Near isn't it?"
Near jumped and looked back at the monitor. L spotted him alright. "Y-yes?"
"So I do get to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet my new successor."
The albino stared in disbelief (seems they've all done that quite a lot today), "A pleasure? I should be saying that…" Matt and Mello watched the scene progress. "Sorry I didn't come earlier." He replied lightly, walking further into the room.
"Not a problem."
Oh… Near continued to inch closer until he was standing a few inches away from the TV's. He sat down and reached out to the screen. "Nice… to meet you L…" He stared blankly at the screen as if he were seeing Jesus.
"And it's nice to meet you also." L looked to his left and nodded, "I'll make sure to talk to you some other time. Until then, sayonara." The screens went black and the room fell silent. Matt and Mello walked over to him while Roger sighed, glad that this event was over. It was almost curfew and the lights began to dim. When his friends stood beside him he looked up, "I met L…"
"And?"
"He was nice…"
Mello rolled his eyes, "You'll like him a lot more once you get to know him." The two extended their hands towards the albino and he took both of them, lifting himself up. "We gotta head to our rooms though. It's almost curfew."
…
Near ended up spending the night in Matt and Mello's room. They each counted their share of candy they had just collected that night. "200." Near replied.
"250." Matt topped.
Mello growled, crossing his arms, "27."
"You wouldn't have even gotten 10 if I hadn't of helped you."
"Hey! I didn't even ask for your stupid help!" Mello eyed the huge pile of candy that sat before Near. "Show a little love." He replied, holding out his hand, "Can I have some candy? Please?"
Sure, he doesn't mind kissing up to Near though! Matt scowled.
"Why didn't you say so?" Near replied, dropping a piece into the blond's hand.
"A peppermint? I don't wanna peppermint! I want chocolate!" Mello whined, hitting his hands against the wooden floors.
"It's your fault for not getting any!"
Near shook his head, "It's okay Matt. Here." The younger dropped another candy into his hands and when he looked it was a Hershey's kiss. Mello blushed as he smiled up at the albino lightly before staring back down at it. "Chocolate kisses are good too right?" Near smiled.
Happy Halloween…
So I finally finished! And I'm so happy! It made it to 9 pages! Whoo! I even wrote it in one night! Yeah! Now all I have to do is edit it tomorrow and I'll submit it by Saturday afternoon! Whoo! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I thought I'd add Near meeting L in there too. It seemed typical for this to happen right? I hope so! I hope you also enjoyed the kitty ear, costume hunting tidbit. I enjoyed writing it! I can't wait to draw the picture when I get my school computer back! I'll make sure to post the link if you wanna see it. (You could care less right?) Anyway I hope you review this chapter. The next chapter… will come up soon once I come up with an idea for it. Sorry this one took so long too. I can't come on everyday considering I'm beat whenever I come back from work. (sigh) only two more weeks left… (yawn…)