A/N: Here thar be hot, sweaty MANSEX. … Haha, not really. XD Have fun with your non-mansex chapter.

-

Azure Paler than the Sky.

fourteen.

"Raito! I-I'm here!"

… Great.

Raito arched an eyebrow in Matsuda's direction as the student came flailing his way. He was about five minutes late which was early for Matsuda. Raito had briefly entertained the thought that maybe Matsuda would have been too nervous to come after all and though he really didn't like the thought of getting stood up, it would be for the best. Raito had had one hell of a time trying to get Mikami to be okay with this whole thing. He couldn't just lie to his and tell him he was going to be in his apartment all night because Mikami was notorious for sneaking up on Raito with flowers and wine.

So he had told him earlier in the day that he was going to be going out with Matsuda that night, just as friends. Mikami didn't buy it for one moment, going on and on about how it wasn't safe, that Matsuda was a deranged lunatic under disguise as a simpleton. Raito thought about it but in the end, couldn't agree. If Matsuda was in disguise, he would be the greatest actor to ever grace the Earth.

When Raito ignored him and said that he was going anyway, Mikami said, "If it will make you happy, beautiful, then go ahead. But I'll be worried about you until you come back. I'm sorry if I seemed upset but I don't trust anyone with such a precious jewel."

Raito positively melted every time Mikami spoke that way. So he had drifted out of the dorms and into the courtyard where he sat waiting. Truthfully, he hadn't been there too long, only since about five forty-five but now, at six o' five as Matsuda jumped onto the white stone of the courtyard, the moon was just fading and threw up vast purples and reds all over the sky, stars twinkling dimly overhead.

"Hey, Matsuda," he said, standing from one of the tables. He'd decided to try not to worry too much about what to wear. But, being Raito, that was hard and so he decided to go in jeans, and a long-sleeved white and gold shirt underneath a red hoodie.

"Hi! Sorry about being late. You know, I got out of the shower and thought about what to do with my hair and my face but, you know, I'm a boy and I'm not gothic so makeup really wasn't-"

"It's okay, really," Raito said hurriedly, not wanting to hear a life story right then.

Matsuda smiled brightly and scratched at the back of his head, looking around. His eyes wandered back to Raito, traveling from toe to head. "Uh… y-you look great, by the way."

"Oh. Thanks." Raito looked at Matsuda's attire: a pair of jeans and a dark blue hoodie thrown on. At least his hair was combed. "You look good too."

Matsuda brightened. "Really?"

Raito considered. "Yeah."

"Thanks! Well, I guessed we'd better get going," Matsuda said, walking around Raito and off of the square. Raito blinked and followed, catching up to him as Matsuda speed walked around the side of the building towards one of the parking lots. When Raito was walking side by side with him, he noticed that Matsuda wouldn't look at him and that there was a small smile tugging at his lips. Raito couldn't help but laugh as they turned off of the grass and into the lot.

Matsuda looked up, blinking. "What?"

"Nothing… Um, what're we doing back here? This isn't your idea of a good time, is it?" he asked, smirking at how Matsuda blushed.

"N-No, no, nothing like that." He smiled then and raised a ring of keys out of his back pocket.

Raito blinked and looked around. "A car? You have a car?"

Matsuda nodded and pointed the small pad on the key ring over Raito's head. He pressed a button and the sound of a beep went off. Raito turned around and his eyes widened at the red car that had been unlocked and whipped his head around to find Matsuda walking towards it. Raito jogged lightly to catch up, calling, "Hey! Hey, wait a minute, we're using Matt's car?"

"Yup," Matsuda chirped, "wasn't that nice of him?"

"Try unheard of. That boy values this car more than air." Raito looked on, perplexed. And he trusted it to Matsuda? Jesus.

Matsuda whistled cheerfully as he opened Raito's door for him and walked around to the other side, climbing in. Raito sighed and got in, closing the door behind him and beginning to strap on his seatbelt. He looked over at Matsuda doing the same and starting up the car. "Hey, so…" he began, sitting upright, "I didn't know you had a license, Matsuda…"

"Oh, yup, I sure do! I just never had a car so I don't get much practice is all."

Raito blinked and slowly began to tighten his seatbelt.

Matsuda caught sight of this and laughed, "Don't worry! I'm a good driver!" He then proceeded to back up, neglecting to check any mirrors. There was a loud 'BEEEP' behind them and they whirled their heads around to see someone in a black Mercedes that they'd almost hit. They were waving obscene hand signs and shouting. Matsuda smiled and waved back at them. "Sorry 'bout that! Go ahead."

Raito wanted to cry.

-

Near fought with himself as he sat in the chair, legs spread wide and head tilted to the side as he had been for the past couple of nights. Each session was like this and he absolutely hated it. Near couldn't stand the way his blood boiled and hissed beneath the creamy layer of his skin from the excitement of being the sole object of L's attention - when L's eyes were on him just over the canvas, his whole body was throbbing with the feeling.

He had to be conscious of every movement he wanted to make - the twitching of his fingers or the slight shuddering of his stomach. He had to keep completely still and for those who thought they knew Near, they would say, well, he's still all the time so what's the big deal? But during daily activities Near found that he had never wanted to move so much. Seeing the way L's shoulders moved as he worked on the canvas and his eyes darting all around Near's body, there was a nasty twitching that ran rampant throughout the boy and he wanted to act on it.

Near wondered as he sat there if Mello had had these feelings to when they worked together. But that was completely impossible; Near had never given Mello those god-awful hungry eyes as he watched him. He merely took Mello to the canvas. He didn't ravish him on the way there. Because, really, there was something completely lewd in the way that L painted and Near was in awe over it.

Conflicting feelings, he guessed was the problem. Sitting there like that, told not to move and given nasty glares every time he made the tiniest motion, he felt like he was captive to the pose and the moonlight reflecting off of the mirrors on the other side of the room. But the feeling of being desired from the second he took off his clothes to the second he put them back on again, that was something that never left Near's mind even when he went back to his room for the night. Like being in the afterglow of sex, it was something that crawled all down his body and lingered there.

Still, he's a teacher, Near thought to himself, blushing as L peered over the canvas again. Teachers don't…I mean, well, Raito did but is L really the same? They're completely different. And Matt is older than I am anyway. But…

Of course, it was complete insanity to think that L had those sorts of feelings for him. As the professor had said over and over again - and usually at the most inappropriate times - the creative process was intimate and loving, like conceiving a child. It made sense when he thought about it that way but otherwise, it was just crazy. It was crazy the way L looked at him or the way L would always offer to undress him. And it was crazy the way Near had to fight with himself like a madman to stay flaccid. He hadn't taken that into account when he agreed to pose naked. There was nothing to hide behind and if he couldn't control himself, it would be there for everyone to see.

L… and Mello, who stood at L's side and assisted him with suggestions and crushing paints when he wasn't banished to the table to catch up on his assignments. Mello was standing there then, looking at the canvas and occasionally at Near. There was nothing warm or heated in Mello's gaze, if anything, there was an ample amount of irritation. Like he was upset that Near got to model for L and not him.

And Near was not a prideful person by nature but whenever he thought of the horrible way Mello had been acting recently, he got a bit bolder and spread his legs the tiniest bit wider.

"Near, you're moving your head."

Near looked up, startled and Mello groaned. "Now you're completely out of position."

"I-I'm sorry," he said to L, ignoring Mello's griping.

L shook his head and walked forward, leaving the paintbrush on the shelf of the easel. Near tensed up a little at the smile on L's face and he bit back a sigh as L's pale, spidery hands cupped his cheeks and tilted his head at an angle that his bangs fell back from his forehead.

"Near," he said thoughtfully, "we're going to give you some training. This will never work if you don't believe in yourself."

Near blinked, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You have to believe you're the sexiest thing on this Earth," he insisted, ignoring Near's furious blush and sputtering. "It shouldn't be that hard. You're quite close as it is."

"Ah… w-what-"

"Mello, come here."

"What? What's the hold up over here?" Mello groaned, walking over. Near watched his expression change from annoyance to disturbed shock as he viewed L's hands all over Near's face. L took them away though when Mello stood next to him and Near wanted to faint with both of them so close and staring down at his body.

L nodded to Mello, "Mello is going to show you how, right, Mello?"

"… Show him how to what?"

L leaned over and whispered something into Mello's ear. Before he was even done, Mello recoiled with a distraught look on his face. "Aw, hell! Are you serious? I can't just-"

"You can and you will."

"…" Mello glared at him for a bit and, upon seeing that had no effect, he sighed. "Fine, fine. Whatever." He looked towards the boy in the chair and pursed his lips a bit before a fire lit in his eyes and a smirk appeared on his lips. He placed his hands on the metal armrests and gripped them tightly, leaning down into Near. The boy gasped beneath him and it was muffled under his kiss. Mello's left hand moved down from the armrest to fondle Near between his thighs and caused him to tremble and moan.

L watched this with astute curiosity. When Mello pulled away from Near, L nodded and said, "Now, Near, how do you feel?"

"… H-How do I… I can't-" Near was cut off when Mello lowered himself again and took possession of Near's mouth roughly, forcing his way inside. Near tried to pull away but L put his hand on the back of Near's head, tangling his fingers in the white curls, as Mello kept a grip on his hands. Near felt dizzied and was beyond trying to keep himself from getting erect.

Mello pulled away again, panting, his hair falling into his eyes. He pushed some of it back behind his ear and looked at Near objectively with one eyebrow raised. L smirked and leant in then, ignoring Near's shivering as his lips grazed against the shell of his ear. He whispered, lowering his voice so that only he and Near could hear it, "Do you want more?"

Near's breath caught in his throat, his eyelids lowering and the blush spreading throughout his body. "I… um… L…"

"That's it," Mello said, nodding.

"Good." L smiled and straightened back up, turning on his heel and walking back to the canvas with Mello in tow. "Near, keep that expression on your face. I don't want to have to stop to correct the problem again."

"…"

-

Baby when we're grinding,

I get so excited.

Ooh, how I like it,

I try but I can't fight it.

Matsuda hurriedly turned the CD player off, a blush spreading across his cheeks. He fumbled with it for a second before the sound bubbled down and the CD popped out. Raito rolled his eyes and grabbed the disk, placing it on the dashboard.

Matsuda laughed half-heartedly, "I guess me and Matt don't really have the same taste in music…"

"Barely anyone has Matt's taste in music," Raito sighed, leaning back in the chair and looking up through the window at the stars wheeling overhead. It was quiet for a few minutes before he turned back to Matsuda and said, "So, where're we going?"

"Oh! We're going to the mall movie theatre," he said as he ran a red light.

"M-Matsuda!" Raito gasped, looking back.

"Yes?"

"You just… I mean…" He sighed heavily and collapsed in his seat. "Never mind. You were saying?"

"Uh… oh, the mall movie theatre and then I figured we could go walking around afterwards."

Raito shrugged. "That sounds good. I've been meaning to get new shoes anyway."

Matsuda smiled to himself and they pulled into the mall parking lot. He was happy Raito liked the idea because, unable to think of any place to go for a date, Matsuda had gone to the library at the school and got on a chat site to ask for ideas. The people of the internet had come through for him. When they were finally parked in front of something that wasn't a speed bump, Matsuda jumped out of his seat and ran around the car to open Raito's door.

"Um… thanks," he mumbled, getting out.

Matsuda nodded and walked by his side as they walked along the concrete. "I really like this mall," he said, "you always see the most interesting things."

"Interesting things?" Raito asked.

"Yeah. Like, there was this one time, I was here for something but I can't remember what. But, oh yeah, this guy stole from Payless and when the owner realized it, he shouted 'thief, thief!' and the guy went running. So this one guy who worked at the pretzel shop just down the way was trying to stop him and jumped on him, tackling him to the ground! But the thief was really tough and peed on him, making an opening for escape!"

"…"

"True story."

Raito gaped as they walked into the large, lit up building. This was Matsuda's idea of a good time? He followed closely then, wary of everyone who bypassed them. They went to the large directory and found that the movie theater was only just down the left hall upstairs. Raito began to head for the escalator but stopped when he noticed Matsuda wasn't with him. He turned around and saw Matsuda standing in the same spot, pointing back at the elevator.

"Let's use this instead!" he called.

Raito tilted his head. "Why?"

"I don't really like them. Please?"

Raito blinked but then shrugged and followed Matsuda over to the elevator. They squeezed in with a good sized group and on the way up, Raito asked, "Why don't you like escalators?"

"I got my shoelace caught in one once. It was horrible, I was terrified and no one would help me."

"Oh, when you were little?"

"No, last week."

People snickered and Raito just sighed.

When they emerged on the second floor, the movie theater was quickly found and they stood back from the line, watching the list above the ticket booth. Matsuda looked at Raito. "What do you want to see?"

Raito shrugged at the choice. "Whatever you want." I plan to take a nap anyway.

"Okay," he drawled, looking up at the choices. His internet friends had told him to chose between a romance and a horror movie. So, it was down to either Saw 4 or Definitely Maybe. Matsuda nodded at his choice and went up to the booth to get two tickets. He came back and he and Raito walked into the theatre.

"So, what'd you pick?"

"Saw 4," Matsuda said happily.

Raito paused for a second, thinking. He looked back at Matsuda as they crossed the lobby. "You do know what that is?"

"Mm, no clue," he hummed. "I heard it was scary though."

"… Yeah."

"Do you want anything from the concession stand?"

"Oh, no, I-"

"Aw, you don't have to say that. Really, I'll get you whatever," he said, waving his arms. Raito sighed and was about to insist that he wasn't hungry but Matsuda turned him in direction of their film. "You go get seats and I'll get stuff, okay?"

"… Fine, fine," he said and walked that way.

Finding seats was fairly easy since Saw 4 had been out for a while and there weren't that many people in the room. Raito sat down and watched the previews disinterestedly. When they were over and the movie was about to start, it just the occurred to him that Matsuda hadn't returned yet.

He looked around the room, wondering if he had had trouble finding him. Jesus, I hope he didn't get accosted and peed on…

Just then, a figure entered the room and ambled over to Raito. Matsuda sat down next to him with a complete mountain of food piled on his lap. The mountain consisted of a large tub of popcorn, two large cokes, Muddy Bears, licorice, Reese's, Snickers, ice cream bites, sour lollipops and much more. Raito stared in awe.

Matsuda nodded to him. "Take your pick!"

"For Christ's sake, I'm not a hog, you know," he whispered. "What's all this for? Can two people even eat this much?"

Matsuda smiled. "I just didn't want you to be hungry."

Raito blinked at him for a moment and then turned back to the screen, a light blush coating his nose. Matsuda laughed and held up the large tub of popcorn. "You know you're hungry," he said tauntingly.

Raito pouted a bit but reached over and grabbed some anyway.

-

"Hey, it's Matt here. I know I've been out of commission for a few days but that's because my twat of a friend is overly emotional and ruined the equipment. Seriously, he went berserk. You'd think with our reputation and the way he dresses, he would get used to people thinking he was a whore. Guess not.

"Anyway, since it's so late, I have a few things I'd like to discuss that I usually don't when all the admins are listening. Let's talk a little about hygiene, folks. I, personally, take showers everyday but I know some in this school that don't and it's a bit annoying to those of us that adhere to the law.

"Seriously, people, it's not thoughtful to go to class without bathing. I'm not gonna say names or anything but today I had this kid sit next to me in class and, good lord, I thought my eyebrows had burned away. Damn. And you may think this only affects me immediately but, really, I was concerned that the smell would follow me around all day so I had to come back to the dorm to wash up.

"Does anyone else have any personal problems they'd like to share? I'm a bit bored so call me up at the studio and talk to me. The number's 555-MATT. That's 555-MATT. I - Oh, we got a call already! Okay, caller, you're on the air! S'happening?"

"… Oh? Hello? Is this Matt?"

"Sure is! What's your name?"

"Uh, well…"

"Oh, I get it. Shy, huh? S'okay, we'll call you Girl."

"… Okay. Well, anyway, I was just going to say that my boyfriend… well, I love him, I really do. I'd do anything I can for him, I feel that way from the bottom of my heart… but… it's just that he and his friends have a bet going on. They want to see who can go the longest without bathing. It's been a few weeks already and now he's wondering why we don't… um, you know…"

"Oh hell no, a-are you serious?"

"It's not funny…"

"… Uh, no, it's not. You're right. I feel for you, Girl. Let's see… if it were me, I'd tell the tosser off. Really, he can't expect you to hold your nose during sex. That ruins the mood. Tell his ass to take a bath."

"But he'll be upset."

"You're upset, aren't you?"

"Well, yes… but my feelings aren't hurt."

"Oh, you're one of those nice people, huh? Well, how about getting him all worked up, you know, really horny and then telling him that you want to try having sex in the shower."

"Oh… you think that'll work?"

"Sure! If you're not ugly, I bet it will."

"… Gee, thanks."

"No prob, sweetie. Next caller! … Hey, this is Matt, how's ya?"

"Hi, this is Dave."

"Hey, Dave, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I just sort of wanted to know what you're wearing."

"… Uh… black and red boxers… and socks. Well, a sock. And goggles. Uh… you?"

"Nothing."

"… Hmm."

"…"

"…"

"What're you doing right now?"

"… I'm… I'm on a radio show, dude. Uh, do you have a question or something?"

"…"

"… Dude, what's that noise?"

"…"

"… Aw shit. Are you seriously…?"

"…"

"Fuck. … Well… when in Rome…"

-

When the two of them got out of the movie, Matsuda was still holding onto Raito's hand and shaking. Raito shook his head at the younger man and said, "We shouldn't have seen that, now you'll have nightmares."

"I-I didn't know what kind of horror it was," he moaned. "How can people watch that kind of thing and not pass out?"

Raito shrugged. "I'm fine," he said. Even though Raito had planned to take a nap during the movie, he was unable to due to Matsuda's constant shrieks of terror and trembling. He grabbed a hold of Raito's hand about ten minutes into the movie and Raito had held on to his hand, smirking slightly at how Matsuda tried so hard to be brave and keep his fear to a minimum but couldn't help himself.

As the went back downstairs in the elevator, Matsuda had clamed down considerably. He seemed to be enjoying the ride down. He said thoughtfully, "Do you think we value our lives enough? What if we got pulled in for a game like that?"

Raito shuddered. "Uh…"

"We'd better start enjoying life, huh, Raito? Let's go get your shoes!"

Raito gasped at being pulled by the hand off of the elevator. Once in the store, Raito looked around for the kinds of shoes that he would like but Matsuda showed him every single pair that he could find and asked Raito to try all of them on. Raito didn't even like some of them, mostly because, one, he wasn't one for leopard print and, two, they weren't in his price range. He had picked out one and when he went to pay for it, Matsuda dumped five other pairs of shoes on the counter that Raito had liked and paid for all of them.

"What… how in the world did you get all that money?" Raito asked as they left the shop. He had told Matsuda he didn't have the carry all the bags but Matsuda had insisted.

"Oh," he hummed, smiling, "I took out a student loan."

"… You did what?"

"I said, I took out a-"

"Matsuda!" Raito gasped, eyes wide.

"Please call me Matsu, Raito."

"… M-Matsu…" Raito frowned, having to get used to the sound of the pet name on his tongue. "Matsu, you do know you'll have to pay that loan back, right? W-Why would you do that for just one night?"

"Oh, sure, I'll pay it back. And I didn't have any money because I spent it all on cake mix. There was this new recipe I wanted to try out." His eyes rolled toward the ceiling in thought. "Actually, the cake came out pretty well. L sure enjoyed it."

Raito blinked at him and sighed, shaking his head. I can't believe it… this kid is going to be buried in dept by the time he graduates…

"Oh, Raito! Look!"

Raito whipped his head around, startled. "What, what?"

Matsuda grabbed a hold of one of his hands and dragged him down the hall towards a photo booth off to the side. Raito blinked when he saw what it was and slowly shook his head. "Aw, no way…"

"C'mon, please? It'll be fun!"

"I don't do well with pictures," Raito lied.

"Why not? You're so cute!"

Raito blinked and Matsuda blushed, turning away for a second. He cleared his throat and Raito sighed, taking his hand and pulling him inside of the booth much to Matsuda's surprise.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," said the brunet, sitting down on the small bench.

Matsuda smiled back at him as he chose the settings. "It'll be fine! Just smile!"

Raito frowned involuntarily.

When the pictures came out, there were two copies and Matsuda tore them apart, giving one to Raito. He looked down at it for a bit, raising a skeptical eye at the rabbit ears on his head. They left the mall a little while after that because it was getting late and Raito wanted to prevent Matsuda from spending all of his money. So they got back in Matt's car and Raito strapped his seatbelt back on, looking around worriedly. If the car didn't get a dent in it by the time they returned back to school, it would be a miracle.

Fortunately for Matsuda, Raito was an excellent back-seat driver and shouted orders when they were about to go whizzing into a ditch or about to be wrapped around a telephone pole. But they made it back safe nonetheless, pulling back into the same spot the had left hours ago. The campus was considerably quieter and even their footsteps in the stairwell sounded louder in the dead of night.

"Matsu, I think you should practice driving more in the future," Raito sighed heavily, now carrying half of the bags in one hand.

Matsuda laughed and blushed. "Yeah, probably. Could you tell I hadn't-"

"Yes, very much."

"Haha, darn."

"Well…" Raito looked around, realizing that they were at the door of his apartment. He blinked when he realized his other hand was occupied and looked down, noticing his and Matsuda's fingers were laced. Apparently, they hadn't stopped holding hands. Raito withdrew his hand slowly and nodded. "It was actually pretty fun. I never leave the campus anymore so…"

"Really?" Matsuda's eyes widened. "Y-You mean you really had fun?"

Raito blinked. "Yes, I did."

Matsuda swallowed harshly and looked away, trying to hide his mirth. Raito suppressed a laugh and then turned around, unlocking his door and heading inside. "Well, goodnight-" He was cut off when Matsuda took his hand again and turned him around, his lips connecting to the younger man's. Raito gasped at first and was silenced completely when Matsuda pushed forward, his free hand coming up to graze Raito's cheek. The whole thing lasted maybe three seconds and then Matsuda pulled away, looking aside.

"Uh… here," he said, thrusting the other bags into Raito's grasp. Raito stood there blinking for a moment and then hurriedly went inside. From the other side of the door, Matsuda could hear a mumbled, "Goodnight!"

-

to be continued.

-

A/N: -is dead- Uh, as for the postcards that you sent, Matt will answer them on the regular noon show. Review, yeah?