Nda

[ GhostWhisper!AU ] [ Hint of Mello/Matt ]

It's a sort of prequel of Drugs, where Light is a ghost whisperer.

To be honest I'm not quite satisfied with this shot, but it's a sort of gift for a friend who loves Mello/Matt 3

Ja ne!

VII. Ghost

Light's ability to communicate with ghosts showed up when he was seventeen years old.

He'd always heard whispers in the dark of the night or felt a stranger's hand tapping on his shoulders, but no one could be seen around as he turned with a bewildered look. He'd tried to speak about it with his mother, but she shrugged it off with a gentle caress and a cup of tea along with the suggestion to rest well and don't stress over the exams -that his parents would be always proud of him. So Light learnt to ignore those voices until he saw the first ghost: a male on his early twenties, a pair of googles covering his eyes and a lit cigarette between his lips, asking if he could borrow Light's Nintendo DS because he missed gaming.

After futile attempts at ignoring the ghost and trying to convince himself the sleep deprivation induced hallucinations, Light couldn't bear with it anymore and decided to face the ghost. Mail Jeevas, the ghost's name, had little memories of his past life and barely remembered his death -an atrocious one as Light discovered looking through the police files of his father. Matt had died in a mafia gunfight, his corpse swamped in a pool of blood and seven holes in his abdomen. The murderers were arrested and the case was closed, marking Mail as an innocent victim mistaken for someone else.

"So why are you still stuck here? Those who killed you have been thrown in jail months ago."

Light had never truly believed in the Afterlife, but he had found proof of Mail's existence so there was a proper reason his ghost decided to show up all of a sudden.

"I need to relay a message to someone who was important to me. Guess you're the only one who can help, ghost whisperer."

The moniker ungratefully described Light's apparent ability, an absurdity to which even a rational mind had to surrender unless proven craziness. However surreal that experience was and still feeling like being stuck in a dream, Light confessed to be freed from the obnoxious boredom steering him towards the perfect image of a young promising adult with a career in police as his father. Shivers ran through his fingers as they tapped away along the keyboard at the quest of all the little details Light needed to solve the case; an enticing prospect to prove himself he was more than the mask of perfection he showed off the world, that something laid unheeded on the edge between believes and truth. Mail's ghost wasn't just a mere hallucination.

A week of researches occurred before the name Mail gave him, Mihael Keehl, was correctly located. The recipient of Mail's message ran a gothic style clothing store which was surprisingly close to Light's university; just a few blocks away, in a fancy quarter of small boutiques and vintage stores that build its fortune thanks to teenagers around the age of his sister. Sayu knew absolutely well the store Light was looking for and the description she provided of the commercial manager matched Mail's -a man with chin-length golden-blond hair and deep blue eyes, average height and often dressed in dark tight leather clothes. "Oh and I think he has an obsession for chocolate bars, I've never seen him without one at hand!" Sayu giggled as she described the man and even without glancing at Mail, Light knew they found their target.

What his sister and Mail didn't mention was how deeply cynical and short-tempered Mihael was, the angelic face always twisted in anger and frustration he vented out crunching loudly on his chocolate bars. Light wondered how he could be still so thin eating sweets non-stop, but this was the last one of his problems. He started to show up from time to time at the shop, feigning to look for a gift for an imaginary girlfriend and careful to not turn up his nose at the sight of a clothing style that didn't meet his good-looking taste -detail the blond man noticed since Light landed in his territory and didn't wait to point out with his sharp-tongue. "How about a change of style? Khaki pants and solid coloured shirts are out, dear boy. '90s ended a decade ago, you know."

The third time it was quite obvious Light wasn't looking for a gift and still the teen hadn't found the right way to approach Mihael. Mail suggested to go straight to the point, but whoever would laugh at him or find him crazy if he ever proclaimed to see ghosts and talk with the deads. Light needed a plan and as he stepped in the store for the fourth time he was seriously motivated to breach Mihael's walls.

As the doorbell rang announcing his entrance, Mihael welcomed Light with a sarcastic sneer. "Still looking for something fancy for your girl, dear boy?"

"He still has it."

Light held his breath as his fingers inadvertently followed Mail's in the clumsy attempt at touching the ring dangling down Mihael's neck. The ghost's hand lingered on the cool surface of the metal while the blond slapped away Light's fingers, anger burning in his eyes. "Don't touch." He almost hissed through grit teeth, unaware of Mail's presence at his side as he'd always been when alive and where he would have stood if the cruel fate would let him be.

"It's our engagement ring."

Mail's soft whisper invested Light was a giant wave of emotions which sadness prevailed. Voices of men resonated in the milky limbo of his confused mind and as his eyes narrowed, Light saw Mihael and Mail cuddling on the coach of their apartment, kissing tenderly and fingers interlacing as they drowned in one another's gazes like there was anything more beautiful that of a bubble of pure bliss. Mihael's eyes softened as he leaned for another kiss, nibbling at Mail's bottom lip before sinking his head in the crook of his boyfriend's neck and falling asleep at the feathery touch of hands running through his hair. The image faded in one soaked with blood and now dreadful screams echoed all around him along with the siren of the ambulance, but it was too late, there was anything they could do, that poor man died with the engagement ring for his lover in his clenched fist, treasuring and protecting it until his last breath, unable to fulfil the wish for a happy life with the man who was shaking and crying out loud his name in the dead of the night...!

Light's legs trembled and his fingers laced around Mihael's hand, strengthening the grip when the blond's rage bubbled up again. His vision blurred as Mail's fingers flashed out in the connection of Light's and Mihael's hands and just for a single moment they felt real and warm as if still alive; an hallucination maybe, but still powerful enough to silence the yells and when Light opened his eyes again, a single tear stroke down Mihael's cheek.

"He's... here?"

Throat suddenly dry and unable to understand what exactly had happened, Light slightly nod.

"He wants to talk to you. If you feel it."

Now Mihael was holding tight Light's hand with such a shaking strength the teen almost feared it broke his bones. The man's blue eyes scanned the surroundings, eager to see Mail's ghost again, eager to know if he'd been dreaming a moment ago when he had felt Mail's fingers touching him and his presence reassuring him. Telling him it was all okay, that he would always stand by his side no matter the cost, yeah, no matter the fact he was now dead and had left alone the only person in the whole world who didn't deserve even this, when their life was one step closer to end in the most affect way possible, happily ever after.

So he simply nodded and fuck everything, fuck his life and the whole nothingness belief, if there was still a chance for a broken heart to embrace the feeling tormenting his nights and crush it beneath the reassurance Mail wouldn't completely washed away, that even if simply as a ghost he was still around and look after him and that weird good-looking guy could prove it, Mihael would believe it and cling onto that hope.

The ghosts of the past never leave us.