Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. D: sadly.
A/N: Yay, Matt and Kaeda again! 3
When Matt went back inside, a few minutes after Mello, he was surprised to be greeted by Kaeda, who had, apparently, been witing for him.
"Kaeda, hi." Matt tried his best to look nonchalant.
Kaeda smiled cheerfully, falling into stride with him as he headed towards the 'playroom' of the Wammy House. The room was basically a large area with shelves full of puzzles, board games, a few toys and two computers. "You were outside!" Kaeda teased. "Call the press, someone."
Matt stopped outside the playroom door, peeking around the corner. There was no one inside. He entered and Kaeda followed.
"So, Matt, I have a question."
"Shoot." Matt said, seating himself at one of the two computers. He hastily entered the Wammy House password, 'knowledge.'
"Who's L?"
Matt double-clicked the icon for his racing game before looking up at Kaeda. "L?" he asked, surprised. "Well, he's. . .he's L."
Kaeda shoved him lightly and he smiled, turning back to the computer screen. "He's our mentor, sort of." he explained, choosing a black car for his game.
Kaeda sat beside him, on the floor, leaning against his chair. She placed an arm on his lap to support herself and, seeing that he didn't move away, left it there. "Mine too, or just yours?"she asked curiously.
"Well, L takes an interest in all the kids here, I guess." Matt explained, avoiding colliding with the virtual racetrack's rail in an effort to dodge a passing car. "And when he finds a kid he thinks has more potential than the others, he keeps a special eye on that one."
"Who's his favorite?"
Matt laughed. "My guess is Near. Or Mello."
"Do you think that could change?"
"Not very easily." Matt paused the game, looking down at her. "I mean, I guess you've got a better chance of winning his favor than I do. . .I think he's pretty much made his mind up about me."
"Sounds like you have to."
Matt said nothing, but unpaused his game and continued playing, thinking over her comment.
Kaeda placed her head on her arm - the arm that already rested on Matt's leg. He glanced down at her for a second, then his attention was jerked back up to the screen, where sparks were flying from a semi-collision.
Kaeda chuckled and he could feel her shake as she did so. "You're going to lose because I distracted you, aren't you?"
"Don't give yourself so much credit." Matt grinned, gunning his engine. Kaeda, do his minor disappointment, sat up. She no doubt wanted a better view. "Can you do this two-player?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure." Matt shrugged. His car whizzed around the leader and he smiled. Winning was easy when you knew the cheats. Of course, he barely needed them, having played this game thousands of times in his stay at the Wammy House.
Kaeda was sitting on her knees, nearly upright, and she placed a hand on Matt's knee to steady herself as she watched. Since the round of the game had just finished, he spared the use of his right hand for a few seconds, to reach down at take her hand. She turned to look at him for a moment, blinked those stunning lashes, and faced the sreen again. Then, before Matt could replace his hand on the keyboard, Kaeda reached up, placing hers in position instead.
Matt hesitated. He didn't much like sharing controls. But. . .it could be fun.
"I got ya covered." she said casually.
Matt gave her hand a quick squeeze, just as the flag was waved. She gunned the engine and they took off, Matt steering and Kaeda controlling the speed. The first lap was a little awkward, but by the third and final lap, they'd mastered the routine. Kaeda was very attentive and would slow down or speed up, without Matt even having to blink. Somehow she just knew exactly what he wanted.
They placed 3rd in the top 10, which was not shabby at all, considering all 10 had been scores of Matt's, none of which were done without much effort.
"Whoa, sweet game." Kaeda said, smiling as Matt typed in 'M+K' for the name of the scorer.
"Mhm, not bad at all." he said smugly.
Kaeda sighed, leaning against his side. Matt spoke tentatively. "Here, come here."
She looked up at him and their eyes locked. Then she stood and Matt nodded his head a little, indicating that he had, indeed, wanted her to sit on his lap. She sat daintily on the edge of his lap and leaned against him. "Don't think this means anything." she whispered.
"Wouldn't dare get my hopes up." Matt answered, his voice equally low.
Kaeda smiled, placing a small arm around his waist. "You might be selfish, but I think you can learn not to be..."
"Oh?"
"Mhm." she nodded towards the computer for a moment. "You let me play too, and not because it would get you something."
Matt, despite what he had said moments before, felt his hopes rising. Did this count as a 'selfless act,' worthy of a date?
"I think that it'd be fun to play this way at the arcade some time, don't you?" Kaeda asked casually. Matt grinned. Another chance.
"Yeah, sure."
"How about we go hang out for a while friday, after dinner?"
Matt barely dared to answer, afraid she'd change her mind. "Sounds good. . ."
She laughed, watching his face. "You can relax, Matt. You got it in the bag. Don't worry."
Matt placed his arms around her lightly, giving her the tiniest of hugs. "I'm the luckiest man alive. Most people don't get a second chance at heaven."
She just laughed, snuggling against him.
Review? -waves computer games in face- :o
