Title: Candy Kisses [Chapter Nine
Author:Endless-Kaoru
Rating:M
Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, there would be a lot more Matt, Mello, and Takeda, a lot less Soichirou, and Misa wouldn't exist.

Warnings:cussing, fighting, and insane amounts of sexual innuendo. You will never look at pocky the same way.
Summary:

Candy Kisses

Chapter Nine

Matt and Eliza sat outside Roger's office, sitting side-by-side in silence. Inside, Roger and another teacher were talking to Aurora, probably trying to find out what had happened.

"Matt… I'm worried…" Eliza confided softly.

He swallowed and nodded, placing his hand atop hers on the floor between them almost hesitantly, "I think…" he bit his lip, "I think that Roger is going to want to talk to us next. We should tell him about the girls that told us where she was."

"Right." Eliza shyly turned her hand around and entwined their fingers, squeezing his hand before releasing it.

The door opened, and the two stood up expectantly as Roger stepped out. The other teacher led out Aurora with a guiding hand on her shoulder. Aurora didn't protest like she usually did, and that frightened Eliza.

"Aurora… Are you okay? Tell me what happened…" the black-haired girl said softly. Aurora didn't respond.

"Matt, Eliza… would you two please step in my office?" Roger asked, and he patted Eliza on the shoulder reassuringly as she passed.

The pair seated themselves on the couch in front of Roger's desk, and he leaned against the front of his desk, "I realize that you both are very worried about your friend. Physically, she's going to be okay. Other than that… I can't say for sure, but it seems as if she's just in shock, at the moment."

Matt and Eliza nodded mutely, and Matt was first to speak up, "A group of girls came out of the girls' bathroom and told us that Aurora was waiting for me inside. They looked like they were up to something."

Roger remained quiet, waiting for him to go on.

"We went inside, and she was on the floor with her shirt ripped open. I gave her mine, and we brought her to the nurse. All she's said to us is 'I'm sorry.'" The boy finished.

Roger nodded, "And these girls? Who were they?"

"Jennifer's troupe." Eliza answered readily enough.

Roger nodded again, "I see. Thank you." He pushed off the desk and moved to open the door for them. His hand on the doorknob, he turned and asked, "Could I ask one more favor of you two? Please try to keep an eye on Aurora."

"Yes, sir."

Aurora was quiet within her room. Eliza cautiously knocked on the door.

"Aurora? It's me, Eliza. Can I come in?"

There was no verbal response, but the door opened within a few moments, revealing Aurora, head lowered a little and fingers entwined in her newly cut hair. The ends just reached her shoulders, and it looked strange on her. Eliza only smiled, reaching out to stroke the strands. She wasn't surprised when Aurora twitched away.

"You're hair looks cute this way, Aurora!" The black-haired girl beamed, dropping her hand away.

Aurora ducked her head a little more and turned to pace back into the room, mumbling, "I don't like it."

Eliza sighed a little, stepping inside to sit on the other girl's bed. Aurora sat at her desk, fingers still absently playing with her hair.

After a long moment of silence, Eliza finally asked, "Hey, Aurora, you doing okay?"

A slight nod, but no other response.

"I got some pocky. Matt said he thought you liked strawberry flavored." Eliza held out the pink box that she'd carried in with a teasing smile, "But it's my favorite, too, so save some for me."

Aurora nodded a little and shyly extracted one of the slender sticks, bringing it to her lips to lick delicately at the flavor.

Eliza laughed, "You're like a little kitty!" she got her own share of pocky and waved it in the air like a magician's wand, "You gotta take it all in! You can't just lick at it, or you won't get anywhere!"

"…I like to lick it, though… It tastes better…" Aurora's voice was soft. Eliza grinned, glad she'd gotten her talking.

"But… But it's just meant to be eaten quickly! If you take your time licking like that, it'll take hours, and you'll never get anywhere!" Eliza bit off the end of her pocky before continuing, "How many are you going to get through just licking?"

Aurora took the pocky from her lips, staring at the tip where she'd licked the flavoring off, and replied thoughtfully, "But I like it this way… Because they're just so good. How can you not savor the taste?"

"But… But…"

There was a dull thud outside the door, and both girls jumped in surprise. Matt peeked in, hand covering his nose and looking at them a little wide-eyed, "Wh-What are you talking about?"

Aurora perked up, "Matt! What do you like better? Licking, or eating it all at once?"

Matt fell over onto the floor, and Eliza just cracked up, laughing insanely.

Awhile later, Aurora sat at her desk, red-tinted cheeks buried in her arms as she stared at the blank wall. Matt and Eliza were snickering a little, seated together on the bed.

Eliza managed to stop giggling and reached for the box of pocky again. Holding one out to Matt, she grinned when he reached for it… and then pulled it away. He blinked in confusion.

"Answer her question, Mattie-boy." She sang, "Do you like licking--" she languidly licked the pocky, "--or biting?" and then she chomped down on the end.

Matt's eyes widened again, and his jaw dropped, "I… uh… I…"

Eliza stuck the pocky in his open mouth and snickered, patting him on the head, "Don't hurt yourself, I was just joking."

He pouted a little, gnawing quietly on the treat.

Matt shoved his hands in his pockets and turned his eyes up to the night sky in thought. He'd heard Eliza telling Aurora something about how before she'd come to Whammy's House, she'd hung out with some kid in her neighborhood. The two of them, Eliza had said, would sneak out at night to look at the stars, and the kid would tell Eliza what all the constellations were. Aurora had been enthralled in the descriptions, and the girls had decided to sneak out that night to look at the stars together.

But they hadn't known that Matt was listening, and Matt hadn't cared to tell them. In the end, he'd ended up coming out to look at the stars, too, standing in the shadow of a tree. He could faintly hear Eliza talking, and if he squinted, he could see them laying in the grass. He glanced to them, then back at the sky. It really was kinda pretty.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he jumped, startled, whirling around to see Mello. The blonde blinked at him and asked quietly, "What are you doing?"

Matt kept his voice down, because he didn't want the two girls to hear them and think he was stalking them, "Looking at the stars. What are you doing?"

Mello's eyes were transfixed on him, and he replied faintly, "…Looking at the stars…"

Matt felt his face flush a little, and he grabbed the other boy's hand, pulling him further away from where the girls were. He realized, somewhat absently, that things had never really been dealt with concerning Mello. As soon as they were out of earshot, Matt dropped Mello's hand, turned, and blurted, "Why did you kiss me?" He then proceeded to realize what he'd said, and he blushed a little, "Um… I mean…"

Mello paused, looking faintly uncomfortable, "Because… I wanted to."

Matt fell silent, chewing his lip.

Shifting his weight, Mello averted his gaze to the sky, "And… I kind of want to do it again, too. Cause… I think you're really, um, cute and…" the blonde swallowed thickly, shifting his weight again.

Matt couldn't think of anything to say to that, so instead he told him, "…I like Aurora."

Mello's head snapped down to look at the younger boy, "What?"

"I said… that I like Aurora. A lot."

The older boy grabbed Matt by the collar, dark eyes on the verge of overflowing with sudden tears, and Matt felt his heart beat so fast, he thought it might burst out of his ribcage. Mello's hand was shaking, and he moved his lips to say something, but no noise came out, and Matt was actually afraid.

"I--I'm sorry, Mello!"

"Mello…" the soft, even voice gave both boys pause, and they turned to look as Aurora walked toward them. She paused just outside their reach, fingers twirling her hair and head tilted a little, "Mello, if you love Matt, then beating him up doesn't do you any good." She shifted a little, lowering her chin, "You're mad at me, so you should be beating me up, right?" her eyes flickered to Matt, and the boy realized that she'd heard his confession. His face reddened.

Mello slowly released Matt, but didn't say anything, just staring furiously at the girl.

Aurora's pale blue eyes slid back to Mello, "I can't say that I know what you're feeling. But… Matt's a really good friend of mine. Even if you're mad at him for some reason, can you stop hurting him?"

Mello must've gotten a second wind, because he whirled on the girl, "What difference should it make to you, anyway?! You're always so cold to everyone! You're the one that's hurting him, because you're the one he likes!"

She had nothing to say to this.

Mello turned back to Matt, looking almost desperate, "Right, Matt? You said you like her, but she says you're just a good friend! We were really close, and I love you, so why can't you like me instead?!"

"I… I just… I can't…" Matt took a step away, glancing from Mello to Aurora, and back to Mello.

And then Aurora did something that neither boy ever thought she'd do. She strode forward, stopped just in front of Mello, and slapped him, square across the face.

Mello froze, stunned, hand coming up to touch his reddened cheek.

Aurora tucked her hands in her pockets and struck a pose that looked surprisingly similar to L's, speaking slowly, voice even, "Stop being such a selfish brat, Mello."

It only took a few seconds for Mello to process what had happened, and once he had, he launched at the girl, punching and kicking and pulling hair, and she turned around every attack and returned it with equal fervor, until their shouting had woken several kids, and bedroom windows had slid open and kids were cheering on the fight.

Of course, with all the ruckus, they were bound to attract the attention of the teachers, and soon enough there were teachers pulling the two teens apart, and still, all Matt could do was stare at them.