Another thanks to nine lifes for being the second review! And to icantseeyourstar for being the second individual person to review, third review in total!

Nine Lifes- Yes, I did indeed update. It actually seems to please you almost as much as it pleases me.

You have rather innate intuitive senses. Your guesses are startlingly close to home.
I do plan to give you such introductions until I gather enough reviewers to which this act becomes unreasonable. It is good to know that Ikiryo is not an overly obnoxious entity.

You gave me more inspiration for this chapter, in suggesting a good chunk of MxMxN. Although not in the yaoi manner; as mentioned before, I prefer them as separate entities merely existing in the same ecosystem of literary settings.

Your critiques have aided me greatly, and I say that your reviews have given me renewed vigor on this story with the utmost candor. It truly makes me happy to write in order to please.

Icantseeyourstar- Thank you. It makes me quite happy to know that I am not the only one to question the lack of reviews. I'm a trooper; no quitting due to lack of support here.

I try to keep things real, more or less. I'm afraid that as it progresses, some characters will have to get bent slightly out of character in order to fit the lines. It's an unavoidable fact at some point.

Originality is another great thing. I would have to seriously reconsider some basic principles if everything that I created in my mind was actually from an outside source.

Why thank you greatly for your abundant compliments. I have tried [with ninelifes's help] to keep him as legit as possible. It means a great deal to have my writing be appreciated.

Your review was not ridiculously long. It was of satisfactory length and made my spirits rise.

Onward to the chapter!


Why the hell did they have to go to L? Didn't he have better things to be doing than babysitting? Or was this talk of him being the greatest detective really just exaggerating smack? Honestly, he and Matt could hold their goddamn own against some pathetic criminal that had already been put behind bars. He didn't know so much about Near, should the albino have the fortune to be pitted against a murderer, and that only made him want to delay the flee until he got to see such a fight.

He had to give a hand to the guy though; escaping Alcatraz was no laughable feat. But really, the guy was a lunatic and Roger thought that they were in danger of being outwitted or bested by him? Given, Roger didn't know about the weapons that he and Matt had stuffed under their mattresses either. Regardless, the guy was supposed to be what, maybe three years older than them? He could beat him in a fist fight!

"Ugh, Matt! Where the hell did you leave the charger for my phone??"

He threw the pillow in his hand at the red head, pausing in his mad dismantling of his bed to glare at him when his toss earned him no answer. Standing, and kicking the clothes that were strewn around on the floor out of his way as he moved across the room, he grabbed Matt's shoulder and jerked him away from the open side table drawer that he was hunched over.

"I asked you where the fuck you left my charger!"

"I wrapped it up and threw it at your bag. Dunno if it went in. Never was very good at basketball…."

"Agh Matt! You bastard!"

"Hey, I was only trying to help. You'd've never found it by yourself."

"Go fuck yourself Matt."

He stomped over to Matt's bed where both of their open suitcases lay open, and searched around them on the bed. Although all of the components to his bed were still on it, they were all bunched up and disheveled, making the process of finding an object that was five centimeters by four centimeters by three centimeters rather stressful. After ascertaining that it was neither atop the bed nor on the floor by his feet, he coiled and sprung up onto the full size bed. Landing expertly with one knee between the two bags and the second one on the opposite side of his bag, he leaned forwards on his hands to peer over the edge to the other side of the floor.

"You put too much heat on that one Matt. You missed by a fucking meter. How the hell do you miss by a whole goddamn meter?"

"Oh can it Mello; you've done it loads of times."

He rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth as he rolled his weight backwards to roll into a standing position. He moved back to his bed, not caring to look whether or not Matt had gone back to gathering his things. Matt had a habit of stashing little things in places to 'hide' or 'save' stuff, so his red head friend was turning every messy item over on his side of the room in order to find all of his lost shit. He liked rooming with his friend, considering he wasn't as insufferable as all of the other waste-of-space kids at the Whammy house, but on occasion his disorganized living quarters got a little annoying.

'Are those gummy bears on the carpet by his feet? Is it really so hard to put those in a bag?'

Of course he had no place to talk. His bed was surrounded by a moat of torn and crumpled chocolate bar wrappers of all sorts. However, and this was his deciding factor on cleanliness; He tended to rid the room of his trash every month or so. Matt, on the other hand, left whatever he used wherever he used it. There were tissues in a ring around the small black trash can; various snack foods crunched up by feet on the floor; clothes both dirty and clean all over the floor, his dresser barren of all items that weren't saved for 'special' occasions. All in all, his room was a pigsty and it was sort of disgusting in a nonchalant, friendly way, if that was possible.

"When will you two be done?"

A quiet yet distinctly annoying voice came from the doorway, making Mello go rigid in the middle of bending down to gather an armful of his clothes off of the floor and stuff it into his bag. Now he was less exasperated and more disgruntled. Why the fuck was the marshmallow standing in his doorway now?

"Near, get the fuck away from me. Before I decide to maim you and make us miss our flight."

"Roger wants you two to be ready to leave in fifteen minutes. Are you incapable of completing this task?"

His eyelid twitched involuntarily as he bared his teeth towards the white haired brat. How dare he insinuate that he was incapable of anything, much less something as menial and simple as packing a travel case!

"Das ist mir furzegal! Go away du verficktes abschaum!"

The next words came from Matt, a lazy slur of words that had a worn out sound to them.

"You're using Denglish again. None of us speak German. Use English."

He glared at the red head, his anger spiking not because of his insolence but because he hadn't realized that he was using German too.

'Damn him for calling out my mistake!'

He clenched his jaw, his hands fisting, before he threw one hand up to point dangerously at the white haired boy that was teetering treacherously on the boundary line of his safety zone.

"Go away Near, I can't beat you at anything if I kill you first."

He tried to keep his temper in check. He tried to speak somewhat civilly; it was his best chance at getting some sort of agreeable response. He never tried to go off of anyone, it just happened. More often than naught, he'd feel horrible afterwards. He hated losing his temper around Matt; it felt like he was letting his friend down. He hated that feeling almost as much as he hated being in second to Near. He hated feeling second-rate.

"No, I won't leave. You have to get packed, and I have to supervise. Roger said so. Just hurry up."

He sighed, trying to focus on the nails of his one fisted hand biting into his palm as he forced his body to move and grab a handful of clothes. Walking robotically over to his suitcase, focusing heavily on his bag, he began to stuff his things into the carrier.


"Hurry up, would you? You three are going to be late!"

He tightened his grip on his bags, bouncing slightly in one step to jostle the backpack he wore into a more comfortable position as he hurried alongside Matt and Near behind Roger. The car was parked in the lot and Roger was hustling them through the doors quickly, past groups and herds of people and through the maze of airport shops towards security.

Security was supposed to be easy, seeing as Roger collected every metal object that they had and crammed them into clear plastic bags for the security guards to pick through as quickly as possible. He knew that both Matt and Near, regardless of what they might have willingly said, hoped that it would go smoothly as well. Matt had only been getting tenser and tenser as they got closer to the gate.

"It's just up there! Get in line for the security check and let me go talk to the security guard."

They nodded, unable to pause and bicker as the need to catch their flight overrode the need to bicker. Near led, being the suck up he was, and Mello followed him without griping. The last thing he needed was to get probed for hidden weapons; it was probably best to follow the 'by-the-book' goody-goody. Matt dragged a bit behind, following hesitantly. He tossed a quick glance over his shoulder to look at his red head friend and saw an expression that he recognized.

Was Matt afraid of airplanes?

"Oi, Matt, c'mon! You're going to get left behind."

He saw the gamer's hands tighten around the handles to his two suitcases, the strap to his duffle bag digging into his shoulder as he sped up to get in line next to him instead of behind him.

"Ah….Mello…"

"Yeah Matt?"

"..Forget it. Step forwards; the line is moving."

They moved through the line quickly, setting their bags onto the conveyor belt to get loaded into the cargo area, and similarly putting their carry-on bags through the x-ray machines and stepping through the metal detectors. It beeped on him, forcing him to show his studded belt and crucifix necklace before stepping through and letting it beep for Matt's goggles and single plain metal thumb ring.

Roger hurried over to them to hand them their respective bags of electronics and other metal items before handing them each their tickets and pointing to the correct gate. He had no hand to hold his ticket in, so he got his between his lips.

"Don't get it wet Mello. The gate is there. Hurry up!"

Near nodded and walked towards the gate calmly with his little backpack full of toys and puzzles. Matt seemed to drag his feet even more as he advanced on the gate next to Mello. They gradually approached the gate, a thick line of people slinking through the double doors lethargically while a mildly pretty stewardess took ticket stubs next to the waving pilots. Mello ignored them, not even offering a polite nod as Near had, and jabbed his chin roughly to the stewardess, indicating his inability to hand his ticket over. She seemed confused, confirming his assumption of her daftness, before coming to her senses and quickly taking the ticket from him. She grimaced automatically, before catching herself and smiling again, before taking Matt's ticket from him and gesturing into the gate.

"Please enjoy your flight."

He just barely caught a mumble from Matt that sounded something reminiscent of 'Give me a pack of cigarettes then we'll talk.'

The gate was dimly lit, leading to a smaller door that then opened up into the air plane itself. Once through the little door and inside the plane, he blinked spasmodically to try and lessen the glare from the bright lights. He scoffed at the sight before him. Without L leading the way, regular class was all that Roger cared to pay for; how cheap. He caught Matt pushing his goggles into place next to him out of the corner of his eye, before he registered that Near was seated already in a row near the back of the plane.

Glancing down at his ticket stub, he saw enough of it in focus to know that his and Matt's seats were on the other side of the plane then Nears. That was good; at last Roger cared enough about Near to make sure that he and Matt didn't have to deal with the albino.

He pushed his way past a rather large lady to walk down the isle, pulling Matt with him by sheer will as he did. Well, maybe Matt was following of his own accord, but he liked to think that he had mental precedence over the red head.

"Mello…."

"Ngh….vat ith it Matt?"

The red head sighed, reaching his hand around the blondes shoulder to grab for the ticket stub.

"Gimme that…"

Once he had plucked it from his lips, Matt cleared his throat and continued.

"We are sitting together, right? Oh……yeah the tickets say we are….never mind."

"I could've told you that even with the paper in my mouth, dumb shit."

They fought their way down the packed isle, pushing past lots of people who were trying to cram their baggage into the over head compartments in the process. Finally they found their seats, the middle and window seats of the third row in their classes' seating section. He stepped back away from their row, shoving a middle aged man to do so, and let Matt into the row first. When his friend broke his worried string of expressions to shoot one of confusion at him, he glared at the red head.

"To hell if I'm letting you of all people try and make our bags fit into a confined space."

Matt opened his mouth as if to reply, before closing his eyes and shrugging in defeat. He set his things down in the outside seat for Mello to position in the over head rack, quickly opening and digging through his backpack to produce a U-shaped microfiber neck pillow before sitting down in his window seat. Instead of using the pillow like recommended, his red head friend sat with it in his lap, his fingers dug into it nervously and his hands twisted it anxiously.

"Hey, would you like me to help you?"

He turned, his blonde hair spinning out as he did, to stare incredulously at the woman with clearly bleached almost-white, curly blonde hair that was standing a little too closely behind him. Her also clearly bleached white teeth chewed obnoxiously on a wad of pink bubblegum behind her carefully glossed lips, pulled tight by obvious botox and unnaturally plumped by other injected chemicals. His eyes wandered up her face, taking in the heavily applied blue eye shadow and false eyelashes, to stare directly into her brown eyes. This woman was so much older than him!

'Cougar! Damn it! She'd better not be fucking sitting next to us. Or even across the isle from us.'

"I asked you if you wanted help, cutie."

One wink from her was enough to make him slam the last bag up into the rack with unnecessary force. What the hell? This cougar was trying to flirt with him! It would have been okay if she had been closer to his age, but this woman had to be at least 40! Her boobs looked like floatation devices, and her nails were long and fake. It was disgusting. It made him want to shudder, the idea of even having her touch him with her long, wrinkly fingers. That was right; they couldn't botox fingers, could they?

"No. I don't need your help putting bags on a rack."

"Well, there has to be something that I can help you with. Is there nothing you can think of?"

He could tell that she had tried to make her voice as seductive as possible, and it made him want to gag. How disgusting, how revolting! Was this woman so desperate for sex that she had to resort to hitting on total strangers? Strangers whom were young enough to be her son? Or grandson, depending on the accuracy of his conjecture about her age.

"Uh, nope. I think I'm fine, thanks."

'God damn. Why couldn't it have been a cute girl with big boobs? Why an old hag?'

"That you most definitely are, sweetie. My name is Francesca; you can call me Chessie though. What's yours?"

"You don't need to know!"

Mello finished arranging their bags just in time for a pushy stewardess, not at all pretty like the others they had seen in the airport, to order him into his seat and save him from the cougar by yelling at her too. Scowling, he did as she said out of irritation, not submission. There was no way in hell that some stuck up stewardess would dominate him. Neither would that horrifying cougar.

A sidelong glance gave him a clear view of his friend, grasping at straws to maintain composure; a sight that made him forget the cougar entirely. His goggles were in place, but that didn't stop Mello from seeing Matt's green eyes clench shut as the air lock on the gate closed shut. He felt his eyebrows furrow into a worried look; he was unable to stop himself from reaching out and setting his hand on Matt's shoulder. His friend jumped at the touch, his eyes shooting open and his jaw clenching in surprise.

"Matt, what's…going on?"

Matt seemed to chew on his words before he spoke them, his gaze downcast and roaming everywhere except for towards Mello. He twisted the pillow uncomfortably, the microfiber beads squeaking indignantly as he did so.

"I…..I've never been on a plane before, and it's just that……I don't think that I like them very much…"

He swallowed convulsively, his head bobbing with the action. Any response that Mello had in him was interrupted by the intercom over their heads.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking; we would like to welcome you onboard this flight to Tokyo, Japan. Flight duration is around 12 hours and 40 minutes and we are expecting a fairly smooth flight with a chance of turbulence nearing Japan. Once again we thank you for choosing to fly with us today and we hope that you enjoy your flight."

Long, strong fingers that were adept at gaming clenched tightly around the pillow at these words. Even from where he sat, Mello could hear the pounding of Matt's heart as he began to hyperventilate. He began to get worried, involuntarily sympathizing with Matt's panic, and scooted a little closer to his friend. Matt didn't react, his shoulders tensing as the plane started to move slowly towards the runway.

"Matt, nothing is going to happen. The plane is just going to go down the runway and then glide smoothly into the air, where it'll feel like we aren't moving. Just let go of the pillow before you break it and buckle your seat belt. The bitch flipped the seatbelt sign on."

He flipped the arm rests up between them, removing them from his path, as he grabbed the straps to his chair and pulled them as loose as he could before buckling himself in as close to Matt as he could get in the chair. Turning back to Matt, he grabbed his hands lightly, prying them away from the poor pillow. He let the pillow roll out of Matt's lap and onto the floor while he quickly pulled the seatbelt around his friend and snapped it together. As soon as he finished buckling him in, Matt's hand began to grasp at the air, desperate for something to clutch and take his fretfulness out on. His bright green eyes wheeled, his breaths coming out in ragged gasps. Mello looked down, eyeing the pillow that had rolled just past how far he would have been able to reach with the seat belt on with vexation. Of course the pillow would roll that far. Why didn't he think of that possibility earlier?

"Chill Matt. Everything is going to be fine."

Matt didn't listen to him though. It was making Mello start to dread actually taking off. Not because Mello was afraid of a stupid airplane; he'd gotten used to them the many times that he had to fly back and forth between the Whammy House and the lowly dump of an orphanage he had been in back in Germany. He was beginning to worry about the effect it would have on Matt. He was already hyperventilating, and they had only started rolling towards the runway. He couldn't have Matt passing out on him; that just wouldn't do. Then he'd have no one to talk to but the disgusting cougar who was sitting three seats and an isle away from him; her stare even now was unnerving. He had to get Matt to calm down and relax.

"Okay Matt, here. Just breathe right, so that you don't pass out and die on me."

He reached over and pulled Matt's hands onto his leather-clad thigh that was closest to the red head, his hands holding them and absorbing the pressure that Matt was exerting.

"I……I'm sorry Mello……I tried to….tried not to freak out…but I just….I..."

"It's fine Matt. Just don't go ballistic; breathe and relax. Look at me, not out the window."

He slipped his fingers out of Matt's grasp momentarily so that he could pull the blind down over the window and block the sight of the moving ground from the gamer. He quickly took Matt's hand again, using one of his booted feet to make sure the chair-tables in front of them were securely snapped closed. A blonde stewardess was blabbering into the microphone about safety precautions and rules about moving around on the plane and other such annoying things. Mello scowled. Weren't people imbued with common sense enough in order to not do such stupid things?

"M…..Mello…..ah…..I'm get…..getting a little…..dizzy..."

He turned away from looking at the ditzy stewardess who was wearing too bright a color of lipstick to look at Matt. His face was getting pale and he was still hyperventilating. Part of Mello wanted to start panicking, and another part wanted to get angry. However, it was the part that wanted to keep his friend from having a respiratory fit that won that particular matter.

"Matt, Tell me how to get a nuke in Modern Warfare 2."

He saw Matt's green eyes flicker towards him. He wanted to smile, but kept his face serious so as to keep Matt focused. Nodding a bobbing nod, he let his thumbs rub gently over the knuckles of the gamers hands that he held.

"I want to fucking know Matt. Tell me so that…so that I can beat Near."

This lit a spark in Matt's eyes, the green orbs focusing slightly as he began to concentrate on forming articulate sentences to make an answer.

"F…First you have to make two classes…..the first with an M16 Hologram Scope…. Claymore, One Man army… Hardline, and Scrambler, the…..the second one with….SCAR Hologram Scope, another Claymore and One…One Man army, Hardline and Scrambler……"

He wanted to swallow out of surprise. He had no clue about this video game! He didn't know anything about Modern Warfare two! Although he was perfectly capable of starting a war himself with a machine gun….

'Whatever keeps Matt's mind off of the airplane. We're picking up speed.'

"Then what, Matt?"

"First of all, you will need to camp. Without camping, you will get killed. I recommend you camp in a building. Camp in a building that is close to hot spots, meaning close to where the enemy always passes by. If you don't camp in a building, you will most likely be killed in numerous ways such as predator missiles, Enemies ambushing you from many sides, Chopper Gunner, AC103, etc..."

He wanted to cheer. He had done it! Matt was fully focused on teaching him how to get a strategic nuke. The only reminder of his stress was on his knees shaking in time with his hands and lips.

"Now that you are in a building, you must prepare to ensure your safety, meaning keep your goddamn eyes the fuck open. You will also need to plant a claymore in each door. That is why you need the one man army perk; the one man army perk can also be used as an ammo re-supplier. Just change to the same class, and in less then 6 seconds, you will have refilled your ammo."

He nodded, keeping his expression serious so as to not discourage Matt's elaborations.

"Now, when you have the chopper gunner, you have literally activated the nuke. This is because the chopper gunner is so fucking bitchin'. You have to use the chopper gunner to your advantage. Think of it this way; 'If you don't get close to a 25 kill streak with the chopper gunner you have fucked your chances of getting a nuke'. So just use the chopper gunner to its full potential. When you get around 25 kill streak, and you are still in the chopper gunner, I suggest you stop shooting and just wait for the chopper gunner to leave."

"After you get a 25 kill streak and your chopper has left the area, you will notice a beeping sound. This noise is your nuke. You have it, and all you have to press is the right DPAD. I recommend you use it immediately. You never know what will happen if you tease your enemy. Teasing them can fuck up your whole goddamn plan and make your efforts a waste of good gaming time."

He nodded, letting a small smile break across his lips as he realized that they were starting to take off. He had managed to keep Matt distracted for just long enough, but now he was out of ideas. Matt's breathing was picking up again as the gravel against the wheels made the plane tremble. He needed to think quickly, lest Matt was going to hyperventilate and faint.

"Matt, Matt look at me."

He tightened his grip on Matt's hands, eventually catching the redhead's green eyes with his own. He let go of his hands, quickly pulling him into a tight hug as the plane began to ascend away from the ground. He heard Matt's breath hitch as the back tires of the plane bumped against the raised reflectors on the runway, his hands moving around his sides to fist the material of Mello's shirt in the back. The cold metal of his goggles raise goosebumps where they pressed up against Mello's neck; he tightened his arms around the gamer, feeling Matt hide his face in the crook of his neck.

"It's okay Matt. We're in the air now; once the pilot gets us to the right altitude, it'll level out and everything will be normal. Just breathe right. Don't pass out—."

He was momentarily silenced by a violent twitch from Matt that was followed by a wince.

"Yeah, your ears just popped. That is normal. It hurts like a bitch though, doesn't it?"

All he got out of Matt was a feeble nod; the hands clenched onto his shirt were still trembling. He sighed, running his hands up and down Matt's back. If the bastard ever doubted him of being a good friend again, he really was going to shoot him. Maybe only in the foot though.

"You've tired yourself out, haven't you Matt?"

The answer wasn't heard as a stewardess' voice came over the intercom while the plane leveled out. She babbled about something unimportant before declaring it safe to move about the cabin now and flicking off the seatbelt sign. He took a deep breath before straining his arm down between him and Matt to unbuckle their seatbelts. Being crafty, he quickly got rid of the belts that were constricting tightly around them now that they had been given the slightest slack and let Matt fall gently back into the position he had been before.

"Matt, take the goddamn goggles off. They're fucking cold."

The gamers hands weren't pulling on his shirt anymore as one snaked around to slide the goggles up and off of his head, dropping them lazily on the floor at Mello's feet. The blonde rolled his eyes, stretching just far enough to grab the lever that was hidden between their seats. With one sound tug, he effectively reclined the two chairs. He felt Matt's mouth pop open against his collarbone in surprise at the sudden fall. The red head curled against him, his trembling finally ceasing as his cold fingers curled into Mello's shirtfront.

"I don't mind Matt, even though it's your fault you're tired now."

Matt exhaled, his breath ghosting over Mello's neck as he did so. Mello fought back a shiver before turning his head and tucking his face into Matt's soft hair. At least this would deter that horrid cougar from coming onto him. Maybe, with some luck, she'd think he was gay and out of her target zone.

"Mello, you're really warm."

He snorted, his mind getting fuzzy with sleep surprisingly quickly. His messy blonde hair had fallen across his face, although he didn't care since his face was buried in Matt's hair anyways. He thought about that for a second; Matt's hair smelled like mint and sandalwood. His train of thought was getting coagulated as he drifted closer and closer to the brink of sleep. Why did Matt falling asleep always make him sleepy too? What was up with that? He tried to think of a time that Matt fell asleep and he didn't. When was the last time he had stayed up past Matt? He gave up, his mind feeling numb and disconnected inside of his skull.

"Yeah, and you're an ice cube."


"Oh, what a nice and kind gentleman! You need to thank him Kasey. If he hadn't caught your bouncy ball, you wouldn't have gotten another one."

He smiled, waving his hands before him in a chiding manner.

"It's no problem, ma'am. Back home, my mama woulda whacked me upside my melon if I'da not helped the little guy."

He squatted down to get level height-wise with the little sandy-blonde-haired boy. His eyes were full of tears and his lower lip still jutted out a bit from his previous episode of fear at the concept of losing his toy in the masses of people that crowded the airport hallway. His pale little fingers on his pale little hand were fisted and rubbing at the corner to one of his eyes. They looked delicious.

"Juss hold onta it tighter, like yer holdin' the reigns to a pony, 'kay little mister?"

He reached one hand out to ruffle the little boy's hair before straightening up and addressing his mother again.

"Have a nice flight Ma'am."

With a tip of his hat, he turned on his heel and strolled towards the gate he needed to be in with a lazy gait. He couldn't contain his tongue before it swept across his lips ruefully. He couldn't taste anything yet; he had to wait until he was in London first. That was, after all, the first place his little songbird would have flown; back to the starting nest.

Her cage was empty and he was dying to hear one of her lovely little songs.


Please, anyone who is reading this story, just drop me a little note in the review section telling me whether or not you liked it. Just a short one at least, even though critiques are much more highly coveted. Please?

Firstly, I must apologize in advance for how uncharacteristic Mello and Matt may have seemed. As I mentioned before; I don't plan on making them a romantic couple. They're just really close friends, even though they have proven to have some homosexual tendencies thus far.

Secondly, I must translate the chapter title for you:

(Cyrillic Russian) Вверх в облака. : (Romanized Russian) Vverh v oblaka : (English) Up into the clouds