The entire ride home the boys giggled and whispered together. On one level Matsuda found the brotherly bond charming, another side of him was (he was ashamed to admit) quite jealous at his exclusion of this.
Initially he tried to engage in conversation with them, but it was clear they wanted to speak quietly to one another, so he eventually gave up. It was kind of pathetic that he felt jealous, but in all fairness, Matt had been the only person Matsuda could be himself with; Matsuda was at a loss with all the adults and had trouble understanding their culture and mannerisms; he often felt like an outsider. Besides all Summer had consisted of Matsuda and Matt playing and learning together. Matt had a lot of respect for Matsuda, so it felt strange, having this other boy now usurp Matsuda's place as the impressive, older male.
During these ruminations, he noticed that whispering became even more hushed. Turning his head slightly so that the boys were in his peripheral vision, Matsuda noticed Mello handing something to Matt, who promptly hid it in his shirt.
Matsuda turned to them quickly, "what was that?" he demanded.
Both boys smiled sweetly, "what was what?"
"Don't be cute Matt!" Matsuda was appalled, though he knew Matt evaded the truth a lot, this was a blatant deception- and... it hurt. "I saw Mello hand something to you and you hid it in your shirt!"
Mello chuckled good-naturedly, and relaxed into the car seat, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. "Calm down Mr. Touta! Can I call you Matsuda, like Matt does?" Matsuda opened his mouth to reply but Mello continued speaking. "It isn't an issue. I just gave him a gift. He is my little brother and I haven't seen him in months, ok? That's what your people say isn't it? O.K?" Mello laughed again, in contrast to the slightly aggressive edge his tone had but moments ago. "What does it stand for? Ok? What does it mean?"
"I don't know," Matsuda felt a little confused by Mello's onslaught. "But I-erm..."
"And?" The adolescent interrupted.
"Excuse me?" Matsuda replied with as much indignance as he could muster. "'And' what?"
"And can I call you Matsuda?"
"Yes, you can, and do not take that exasperated tone with me. I'm not a schoolmaster but I still warrant respect." Matsuda huffed feeling put-out, but he wanted to develop less animosity and more peace between them, so decided to compromise. "Alright, I understand you have not seen Matt in a long time, and..."
"Gosh, look at how golden the fields are!" Mello cried with enthusiasm, his eyes widening as he turned to look out the window.
"Matsuda says that Midas has been walking in them!" Matt chirped.
"You know about Greek myth Matt?" Mello looked back at Matsuda, scrutiny giving way to awe, "well, Matsuda, impressive, teaching someone so young the Classics! Thanks to you my little brother will be horribly clever when he enrols in school!"
"Th-th-thank you." Matsuda found himself blushing under the praise, "but please stop changing-"
"Do you have a stammer Matsuda? Gosh, it's fun getting to call an adult by their first name, helps me feel like a gentleman, if you know what I mean. And you calling me by my nickname instead of my family name..."
"Nick name?"
"Yes, nick name." Mello blinked at Matsuda a few times, before actually pointing and laughing, making Matsuda recall horrible childhood memories of bullying, "did you think I was called Mello? Who in England would name their child something like that?"
"Maybe Aunty Misa never told him," Matt replied quietly. Matsuda was simultaneously grateful for the defence and ashamed by his feelings of anger towards Matt for not standing up to Mello with more confidence.
"I like your hair Matsuda." Mello changed topic again, it was making Matsuda's head spin a little. "Erm thank you," Matsuda suddenly became suspicious. Why would Mello like his hair? It was distinctly ordinary; straight and black. He fingered it nervously, realising suddenly that it had grown quite long, long enough for it to begin kinking at the ends, giving it a slightly wild look. He hadn't noticed before. Looking over to Matt he saw the boy's hair was in similar condition. Had he really let them go that much? Were they a laughing stock? Was that why the servants disliked him, because he looked like a ragamuffin and was allowing Matt to look the same way? Was Mello therefore being sarcastic? Of course he was!
Looking back at the boys he saw they were now engaged in a fast-paced discussion about automobiles. Matsuda was determined to take back control,
"What do you like about my hair?"
Both boys looked at him with blank expressions.
"...I beg your pardon?" queried Mello eventually.
Matsuda fought a blush he felt creeping onto his face. "You said a moment ago that you liked my hair. Why? It's perfectly ordinary I know! and, granted a bit long, but only because Matt and I have been in the fields a lot. By the time Matt begins school it will be cut short." He said all of this loud enough for the driver to hear; then she could go tell the rest of the staff once they got home.
"Well, alright." Mello finally replied, his face still blank as he considered Matsuda. It seemed condescending, but Matsuda was uncertain of what to say.
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and Matusda felt as if he had forgotten something... Oh that's right...the reason why was Mello excluded!
Just as he opened his mouth, Mello finally spoke. "I do like your hair though Matsuda."
"Erm...well never mind that now..."
"No I really do!" Mello looked at him earnestly, sincerity blazing out of azalea eyes. "Don't cut your hair. In fact, let it grow a bit longer. "
"Stop teasing me now-"
"You would look more like Lawliet that way." Mello didn't face Matsuda as he said this; in fact, a face that had once been so full of emotion was now curiously blank. The boy looked straight ahead.
Matsuda cast a nervous glance to Matt. The young boy was looking at his brother mournfully. Slowly he bought his thumb to his mouth and began prodding at his lip.
Matsuda shuddered. The temperature dropped suddenly as the car was cast under the shadow of Applegate.
"Home sweet home," muttered the blond, straightening his back and crossing his legs.
"You must be happy," replied Matsuda thinking that Mello, being an orphan, must have felt very displaced without his younger sibling and family home.
"Of course," Mello turned and smiled. Matsuda recoiled slightly. The smile was more like a smirk, as if Mello was keeping all kinds of secrets. Even worse, it did not seem like it was supposed to be on Mello's face...
The boy reached out to Matsuda's face, making the man instinctively flinch back.
('There's something wrong here...')
Mello chuckled in a voice too baritone for his own, "don't be scared," he chided, before reaching forward once more and stroking Matsuda's hair and down the side of his face."You should definitely let your hair get a little wilder...you aren't as striking but you do have his boyish charm."
"Me-Mello what are you-?"
Suddenly, Mello blinked, uncrossed his legs and resumed his slouching position. "Sorry!" He grinned. "I'm just really glad we have another really kind tutor. I'm so excited Mr Touta!"
As he stammered thanks and attempted to get his thoughts back, the brothers got out the car, seemingly completely content and happy, talking together as they entered the house to be greeted by Watari.
Matsuda went to look at the driver, but she had already left the car and was marching to the house also. "Is she just going to leave the car on the drive?" He thought vaguely, his mind still a little stunned. Matsuda actually felt a little drained. He had never known Matt to be so talkative, though it was Mello who completely held control over the conversation and the topics that came up. Alone outside, he looked up at Applegate. He had always thought it was a rather jolly looking place, but it seemed somewhat sinister to him now. The house also looked...smug.
Matsuda shook his head, "I'm just being paranoid and stupid," he chastised himself, but all the while, a larger part of him was beginning to believe his fears.
It was then that Matsuda suddenly realised, he never found out what hidden gift Mello had given Matt or why Mello had been expelled.
Matsuda decided to leave the boys alone for most of afternoon; they could meet up again for dinner, and then maybe do something in the evening. He wanted to allow the brothers time to bond; it was clear in the journey home that they had a lot to catch up on, and he didn't want to interrupt that again. He was standing in the hallway, the one where the pictures of the brothers and the two dead adults were hidden behind the curtain. Matsuda found himself in this place more and more often, staring out the window into the beautiful countryside. He was too high in status to sit with the servants (besides, there was some sort of animosity between them which must have worsened after he demanded Sayu's departure), he no longer felt very confident in his friendship with Watari and now he no longer had Matt.
There were so many unforeseen problems. Matsuda was moderately used to difficult or over-bearing children; so Matt suffering some sort of Post-traumatic stress and delusions were not too much of a problem, and Mello being somewhat manipulative or controlling weren't either. However, this was the first time Matsuda was completely alone in trying to deal with these issues.
Also, it was possible, quite possible that if Sayu was telling the truth, that these boys were both being manipulated by supernatural forces. Matsuda hated thinking this way; his entire childhood had been full of terrors of Hell and demons, of purgatory and malicious ghosts. He had grown older and whilst his faith in God had remained intact, it had grown less fanatical, more relaxed and in keeping with the real world; with science and rationalisations and logical reasoning. The fear of possession was surely a regression into the realm of religious madness.
However, the evidence was adding up; the boys had both acted completely out of character at specific points. Whilst he did not know Mello that well, the change in the car had been significant. Yet, had it not been for Matt's shocking change but the night before, would Matsuda have really noticed that change?
"Think Matsuda, think!" He muttered, leaning his forehead on the cool glass. "You were already on edge from Miss Sayu's ghost story. Then Matt frightened you. You didn't sleep all night. You're scared of the wardrobe because of that...hallucination. That hallucination also happened late at night, when I was feeling frightened and angry. So maybe...maybe it's just stress. Maybe I'm so stressed out and so tired, that I'm starting to see things that aren't there." He lifted his head and looked outside, without paying much attention at the scenery itself, so lost was he in his own thoughts."This job is hard. I'm allowed to feel stressed. I am in a foreign land and I have no friends; none of the adults seem to like me much. In fact, when was the last time I actually slept? Properly slept?"
To the left of Matsuda was a winding staircase, the one that led up to the Battlement were he thought he saw a man standing. Unbeknownst to the tutor, an apple slowly thudded down the stairs, ending its journey at the foot of them. As it stilled, another one began to bounce down...
"And Miss Misa," he continued muttering to himself, "has put me in a difficult position, as I am not allowed to contact her at all on their welfare. Yet she could show up at any point, and will want everything in order. But nothing is in order, through no fault of my own, Mello is not at school and something is wrong with Matt...Alright, I should focus on real problems. Why was Mello expelled? He hasn't mentioned a thing of it so far...but he wouldn't. I mean, he wanted to focus on his brother as soon as he arrived, which is perfectly normal, they are the only real family they have left. Miss Misa is never around and so they cannot be close. And he must be frightened of getting in trouble, though he must realise that I know. Maybe he is waiting for me to broach the subject?"
At this point, four apples bounced down the stairs. But Matsuda still was lost in his ruminations. "Hmm, maybe I should give him a chance, relax a little and let him come to me in his own time. He's only a boy and he has had a hard time. Both he and Matt must have loved their old tutor, and if Miss Sayu is correct, then Mello was close to Mr Yagami, who also died." Slowly, Matsuda's heart sank, "it must have been so hard for them! Almost everyone they love has died; their parents, and then Lawliet and Mr. Yagami. I wonder if they feel like all this death is somehow their fault; often children feel guilty about things that aren't their fault. Yeah, I should definitely relax and let Mello come to me in his own time."
Something small bumped into his foot, halting his musing. Looking down, Matsuda picked up a ripe, red apple. "Why is this...?" But before the question completed itself in his mind, he looked over to the foot of the winding stairs. A large pile of bright red apples sat there.
Matsuda stared stupidly, "how did apples get in?" He thought. "This is the top of the building." Looking outside he saw the grounds below. How did-how did the apples get up this high? None of it made any sense.
A moment later a soft rumbling sounded out. Cautiously, Matsuda stepped closer to the winding stairs; the sound was coming from the battlements... The floor shuddered a little from whatever force was causig the rumbling. "Am I dreaming?" Thought Matsuda. "But this all seems very real."
Before he reached the staircase, a plethora of bright red apples suddenly cascaded down the stairs, bursting onto the hallway and slamming into Matsuda. "What-?" He yelled aloud, his arms covering his face protectively. "What is happening? Ahh!" He bent his knees slightly and turned away, his body automatically trying to shield his face and chest.
As the noise finally ended and the apples stopped hitting into him, Matsuda slowly lowered his arms and looked about the area. The hallway was covered in red apples.
Matsuda felt strangely detached from the whole thing- maybe it was that he was in shock. It was just all too strange. What was he supposed to think at this time? What was the normal response to this? Should he call for help? With all the noise, shouldn't someone have shown themselves already, looking to find out what the ruckus was? Was this all happening in his own head? Looking at the apple he was still holding, Matsuda analysed it for a moment before taking a bite. Like most red apples it was deliciously sweet, the crisp, thin exterior withholding sweet juice and crunchy pulp inside. He swallowed. Well the apple was definitely real...
Suddenly he gasped, dropped the apple, and clutched his head whilst falling to his knees. Images flashed in his mind at a rapid, dizzying speed that he could scarcely comprehend them; a young boy, with red eyes, eating an apple, an apple that had come out of the mouth of a snake. Oh God, no! Matsuda thought he screamed. He wasn't sure, he felt as if he were submerged in water, sound and sight were impaired and he couldn't smell anything. His screams seemed to come from his mouth but didn't go anywhere. He felt like he was not quite in control of his body, like he was floating slightly.
Oh God, the boy, the boy with the snake and apple! It was Sin, the sort of sin his father raved about in church; the sort of sin that Matsuda was so terrified of committing as a child that he would kneel for hours a night, at the cost of precious sleep, praying ardently that he would not fall into temptation...all those hours locked in the closet...tired but unable to sleep...
Matsuda seemed to turn around, motion going either too slowly or too quickly. Ah there he was, the boy with long black hair. Only it wasn't a boy, it was the old Tutor, Lawliet. Matsuda shouted out something to him, but he didn't know what; he couldn't hear himself. The dark eyes of the man looked up at him; his merciless, dark eyes full of knowledge. Matsuda became afraid of him. The chill of winter came upon him. He turned around to run away, only to be met with intense heat. The other boy, the sinner, stood before him. He smiled beautifully and held out the apple, its rouge colouring reflected in the boy's eyes. Matsuda shook his head; no he would have no part in this. The boy scowled, his beauty suddenly evaporating. Before Matsuda could scream, the red-eyed boy hit him, and Matsuda fell to the floor.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was sweating and shaking all over. Sitting up, Matsuda looked around. The sun was beginning to set a little, covering the hallway in a vermillion glow. He must have been out for a few hours. Had no one wondered where he was? He looked at the winding staircase and the floor. There were no apples, except, to his side he looked down and saw a single red apple, a large bite mark still engraved into its side. For some reason, the apple made him feel guilty; he had to fight the urge not to hide it away somewhere.
"What happened?" He queried aloud, feeling exhausted. It was like he had experienced some sort of delusion. Only this one was more unreal than the other ones...
"But are they delusions?" He thought. "I've never had problems before now." He looked at the apple guiltily. "Besides, where did I get this apple? I didn't have it originally, I am certain. All the others disappeared but this one didn't. Something is trying to tell me that this place is haunted. Those two in my dream, I dreamt about them before I arrived. I remember now, back on my journey here, in the automobile, I fell asleep and dreamt about a beautiful red-eyed boy and a mournful, dark haired child. I must remember exactly what happened in that dream! They were definitely Lawliet and Mr. Yagami, I'm certain of it! Only they were children, not adults. There were apples involved ten as well, and Mr. Yagami, he was angry, because I was going towards Lawliet. He was jealous; I think...Why was I going to Lawliet? Why?" Just then an terrified scream ripped through the building, destroying Matsuda's thought process. He leapt to his feet, the cold sweat on his skin chilling him. Matsuda, turning his back to the twisted staircase, began to run down the right-hand side of the corridor, he knew that scream, he knew that scream! It was Matt!
