Chapter nine:
"You're…." Near trails off remembering that he should remember to pretend to not know this male.
The male offers his hand. "The names Matt. Well it's what I go by now."
Near extends his hand and shakes the others hand. "Most call me Near."
"Interesting name." Matt admits as they shake hands then pull their hands away. "Want to be friends?"
Near smiles. "Sure." He agrees and they begin walking down the hall talking to each other. He plans to try to stop Matt from trying to kill him if he can.
After school Near takes Matt over to his place to hang out. He leads Matt into the living room where they find A and BB on the grey loveseat together.
A and BB turn as the two come in and they narrow their eyes skeptical when they see the red head.
"Near." A begins but Near gives them a look to remind them that this is the present Matt who has no idea what happened. He sighs at this knowing that they have to pretend that what happened didn't happen. "Who's this?"
BB looks to A only to turn away with a slight huff.
"This is Matt. I met him at school." Near responds causally. "Matt this is A and BB." He gestures to each of them as he names them.
"Yo." Matt waves in greeting.
A nods softly and settles to cuddle with B.
Matt turns to Near. "Hey. I was working on a bot. Want to help?" He asks.
"Sure." Near agrees and they head to the kitchen to see what they can do.
"Say. I mean I understand this is a bit straight to the point but am I your only friend?" Matt asks as they settle at the island in the kitchen.
"Yeah. Well I mean as a friend. I have A and B but they are more like family to me than friends." Near admits.
Matt nods. "Ah. Well I only have one other friend."
"Oh?" Near turns curiously as Matt sets up the stuff he brought with him in his bag.
"Yeah. He's a good guy. A bit of a temper sometimes though." Matt explains. "Say. I should introduce you two at some point."
Near smiles. "That sounds nice."
"Okay! Now let's get started on this." Matt says and they turn to the half completed little robot.
They begin working on it together on the robot getting a lot done rather quickly.
A or BB check on them every now and again but see no reason to currently stop this… Well at least no reason that Matt would understand right now…
"Does this friend of yours go to our school?" Near asks as he is working on some gears of the robot.
"Yeah. But he sometimes skips. Like how I did for the past four days but fir different reasons. He's sick and probably will only live for another forty years if he's lucky." Matt explains.
"Oh." Near frowns glancing to Matt. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Matt blinks as if a lightbulb goes off in his head. He turns to meet Near's eyes. "Hey! Maybe we can do something about it! You're good at robotics. Not as god as me but still good."
Near blinks then smiles. "That sounds like a good idea." He agrees.
"Great! Hopefully he'll be there tomorrow so you can meet him!" Matt chirps happily.
The next day…
Matt is leading Near around the school to go meet the other friend of Matts. "If he's here today he should be at the usual meeting spot."
"Okay." Near agrees.
They make it to behind the bleachers and Near pauses blinking in surprise as his eyes meet with a pair of familiar ones.
"Near. This is Mello. Mello this is Near." Matt introduces them.
Near smiles and approaches. "Nice to meet you." He greets.
"A new friend?" Mello questions his eyes sweeping over the mostly albino boy. He himself is wearing a long sleeved black shirt, black pants and black runners.
"Yup. He's new here." Matt confirms. "Plus he doesn't have anyone but these two that look to be the adults that he sees as family."
"Ah." Mello nods. "Well hopefully you can keep up." He lightly elbows Near.
Near smiles. "I will do my best."
"He's really smart!" Matt chimes in smiling wide. "He even worked with me to finish the robot!"
Mello raises an eyebrow. "All in one day?"
"Yup. Technically one evening but yup." Matt confirms.
"Huh." Mello nods then turns to Near. "Not bad." He says. "I think we might get along quite well."
"I hope so." Near admits.
"Great! Now let's see what that thing can do. I know a short cut." Mello leads them under the bleachers then onto the football field. "No one will be using this until a gym class either uses it or until after school." He explains to Near. "So we can use it to test that robot."
"Okay." Near nods in agreement.
Matt takes the robot out and places it on the ground. "Alright!" He smiles pumped for this. "Let's do this!" He switches it on using a switch on and the little light turns on. He uses one of the joysticks to begin making it move in which the wheels wrr to life and it begins driving around following Matt's directions. "It works!" He jumps in happiness and switches the speed to make it go faster.
"Not bad." Mello pats Near on the back. "You two did good."
Near smiles at Mello. "Thanks." He responds.
Matt is too busy enjoying the robot out of happiness to really notice.
Near understands what he should do now. He makes sure to focus his attention on his robotics class that he shares with Matt and his science class he shares with Mello. He quite enjoys their company in and out of both class and school.
The three of them have become rather close and are now seen as a rather tight trio even after graduation.
Matt and Near began their own robotics company that quickly flew into success.
Mello did his best to help where he could and the threes always warmly welcomed him to join them in whatever they are doing at the time.
Near and Matt are now sitting on a hill watching the sunset.
Matt is off in the house that the three of them own playing some video games.
Near slightly remembers the future Mello that he met just twenty years ago.
"You know. I wanna tell you something." Mello says and Near turns to him. "I may act like the fact that I will die probably within the next twenty years… But in truth..." He looks down. "I don't want to die."
Near blinks then smiles gently. He places a hand gently over Mello's that is resting on the ground between them.
Mello turns to him with sad half open eyes.
"It's okay." Near assures him. "Death can be scary. It's understandable."
Mello smiles. "Thanks Near." He says feeling better.
Later when Mello is sleeping in his room Near shared his idea with Matt.
"Oh that's brilliant." Matt nods in agreement. "We should start working on that right away."
Near nods in agreement.
They can do this! They have to!