A/N: HAPPY CANADA DAY, to the Canadians out there!
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.
Warning: This chapter is one of the longest chapters yet. It contains mature language + possibly disturbing themes.
Chapter 25: Behind Closed Doors
In the blink of an eye, Mello dodged the blow. At the same time, Rick's foot jerked up, aiming straight for his groin.
"Are you screwing around behind my back, Allie?" Rick snarled as his kick landed, a sadistic smile spreading across his tanned face. I gasped as Mello blanched and doubled over in pain.
"Rick, stop it!" I shouted, instinctively slamming my body into his and tackling him onto the lawn.
"Who the hell is that goddamn freak?" my ex-boyfriend roared as he brutally shoved me away. I jumped up just as Rick scrambled to his feet and threw himself at Mello again.
Mello growled and leapt forward to meet him, his bare hands outstretched.
Rick yelped as Mello grabbed a fistful of his sandy-colored hair. Mello slapped his other hand over Rick's mouth, and roughly forced him down onto his knees. I quickly seized Rick's wrists and pinned them together, rendering him defenseless.
"Mmph!" Rick's angry voice was muffled as he stared up at us with his dark, rage-filled eyes.
"What's going on here?"
Matt sidled up next to Mello, lowering his Nintendo DS to observe the quivering boy who was my ex-boyfriend. Rick was now completely surrounded.
Mello cast a wary look at the front door, as if expecting my parents to pop out at any moment. They didn't. After several cautious seconds, he turned his attention back to Rick.
"No one," Mello said softly, as if talking to a small child, "lays a hand on me and lives to tell the tale."
Rick's blue tank top was drenched with sweat. His chest heaved for breath as Mello tightened his grip around his mouth and nose. I watched in horror as his face began to turn purple.
"Mels," Matt said warningly.
I met Mello's gaze, and we simultaneously released Rick from our grasp.
Rick toppled backwards onto the pavement, wheezing for air. He stood up unsteadily.
"Allie, where were you last night?" he hissed. His dark eyes were slit with jealousy as he glared at the three of us. "Don't tell me you were fucking the both of them!"
My jaw dropped. I could hardly believe my ears. He had never been this crude with me before. "Go to hell, Rick," I snapped.
"So you're not denying it, huh?" Rick ranted, riling up once more. "It hasn't even been one whole day yet, and you're already running off to not just one cock, but two? You're just... a little whore, aren't you?"
Mello went stock-still. Matt draped his arm securely around his friend's shoulders, and stared intently back at Rick.
"Dude, you'd better watch your mouth," the former redhead drawled, "because Mello here is really good with his gun."
Rick just stood there, his mouth flapping like a fish. "What?" he finally exploded.
"Go home," I cut in before Mello could show Rick what Matt had really meant. "We're over. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Rick shook his head frantically. A bead of sweat trickled from his temple, down the side of his chiseled face. "I didn't mean it," he mumbled. "I'm sorry. I'll take you back!"
I folded my arms across my chest. "Well, I don't want you back. You're obviously a crazy asshole."
"But we love each other! We've loved each other for a year! Don't throw it all away!" Rick protested, his voice growing hoarse.
"You wouldn't know what love is if it hit you in the face," I scoffed. "End of discussion."
Matt broke apart from Mello. "I'm bored," he yawned, tossing his cigarette to the ground and crushing it with his boot. "I'm going to start the car."
Rick was glowering at me. "Where are you going?" he demanded. I ignored him as I loaded my duffel bag into the back of the Camaro. "Answer me!"
"It's none of your business anymore, Rick." I slammed the trunk shut.
An ugly look twisted his handsome features. He was about to open his mouth again when Mello suddenly went, "Hey!"
"Hey!" I barked sharply.
Rick jerked his head up at the sound of my voice. In one fluid motion, I swept my jacket aside to reveal my hidden Beretta 92. The barrel was just peeking out of my waistband. I had no real intention to draw my weapon, but luckily, flashing it had the same effect.
"Oh, God!" Surfer Boy screamed, fleeing down the driveway and out of sight.
"Thank God," I muttered.
I opened the back door for Allie, and she silently climbed into the car. As soon as she was settled, I surprised everyone – including myself – by slipping in right next to her.
"Let's go," I ordered Matt.
He didn't need to be told twice.
Several miles away, a Japanese couple was window-shopping, arm in arm.
"Motchi," Misa Amane cried, excitedly pointing at the dazzlingly colored dresses, "they're all so nice! Which one should I get? What do you think Light will like best? Oh, I can't choose!"
Kanzo Mogi coughed as Misa squeezed his well-muscled arm. "I can't choose either," he offered politely.
"Motchi," Misa complained good-naturedly, "Misa appreciates that Motchi is protecting her from danger, but he is no fun when it comes to clothes-shopping!"
Mogi rubbed his head, embarrassed. "I'm sorry." He checked his watch. "Misa, it's almost one thirty. Shouldn't we be getting back? We haven't eaten lunch yet."
"Hmm," Misa replied, examining her surroundings. There were several cafés, bars, grills and bakeries. "Alright, let's go home," she decided. "Can we have shrimp today?"
"Sure," Mogi agreed. Garlic shrimp was one of his specialties. His companion perked up.
"Yay! Misa loves Motchi's cooking. Let's goooo!" the Japanese idol exclaimed, leading him away from the window display.
The car ride seemed to last an eternity. Mello showered me with advice while Matt drove.
"Be careful of Misa. She may seem like an idiot, but there is nothing more dangerous than a fool with a weapon that could wipe out mankind."
"Be careful of Mogi. He may not talk a lot, but he is extremely intelligent. Make sure he doesn't find out what you're up to."
"Try to get Misa to open up about her personal life. She may or may not give us clues vital to the investigation."
I finally threw my hands up in exasperation. "Mello, trust me. I can handle it."
We eventually pulled to a stop right in front of Misa's apartment complex, just across the street from Mello and Matt's hideout.
Matt cleared his throat, and handed me a tiny black casing.
"Allie, here's the thing. So far we've only been working on visuals and crappy audio. That's what I get for trusting the local geek squad. Here's our chance to kick it up a notch. This little guy is a powerful bug. I would know, since I made it myself."
"Does it matter where I put it?" I asked, determined to commit every detail to memory.
"Just make sure it's out of sight. Stick it under a table or something. It shouldn't be able to be detected by metal sensors. It's protected by the same shielding technology as the frequency shifter in my Nintendo," Matt explained, sounding like the professional hacker that he was.
I nodded. "What else do you have?"
The former redhead tossed me a plastic baggie filled with flower-shaped hair clips. "There are electronic bugs inside the clips," he informed me. "That way, your conversations are recorded wherever you go – when you leave the apartment, when you're at school, and so on. Or, you can just leave any one of these lying around and no one will even suspect a thing."
"I'll have to remember to take these out before going to the bathroom," I said, frowning.
"You don't have to," Mello deadpanned beside me.
I laughed. It felt good to laugh, especially after that upsetting scene with Rick. He had some nerve, showing up at my house like that.
"So, are you ready?" Mello asked me softly.
"Yeah," I said, shaking my fingers out in order to calm my nerves. "Alright, I'm going to get changed."
Matt had suddenly whipped out his Nintendo DS again, and Mello was staring pointedly out the window. I rolled my eyes. "How courteous." I pulled my sweater off, along with my track pants. I left my shoes on.
Underneath my normal clothes was my Halloween costume, the black and red corset dress. I had also thrown on a pair of fishnet stockings. It was the perfect Misa-Misa fangirl look.
"You can look now, you know. It's not that bad, is it?"
Matt peeked up from his game. "You look like a hooker from hell."
"I was going for that, thanks."
I noticed that Mello's ears had turned a bright red. I smiled and pressed my mouth against the side of his face, feeling the rough, bumpy texture of his scar under my lips.
"Gahh," Mello croaked.
As I was putting on the flower hair clips that Matt had just provided me, a Japanese couple, laden with shopping bags, rounded the corner up ahead.
"Target approaching," Mello hissed. We watched as Misa and her escort, Mogi, as Mello had informed me earlier, entered the apartment building.
"Matt, pop the trunk. It's time," I said briskly. I opened the door and stepped out of the Camaro, into the sunlight and heat of downtown Los Angeles.
Misa clicked her tongue impatiently as Mogi fumbled with the keys. "Come on, Motchi!"
"I'm sorry, it's kind of hard, carrying all these things," the burly man said apologetically, indicating Misa's shopping bags.
"Oh fine, let me!" The blonde playfully snatched the keys from him. She was just about to insert the correct key when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
Misa spun around in surprise. Her chocolate-brown eyes narrowed in recognition as she took in the small teenager in front of her.
"Miss Amane?" the girl squeaked timidly.
"Allie," the Japanese idol acknowledged her as she openly stared at the younger girl's outfit. It was a corset dress, the kind she used to wear back when she was a full-time model. The strapless, silky bodice was embroidered with black and red lace, and the skirt was ruffled and frilly. Underneath the dress were fishnet stockings – Misa's favorite kind – in a Fleur-de-Lys pattern. The only thing that looked out of place was the pair of worn-out sneakers on the Eurasian's feet.
"What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?" Misa said suspiciously, crossing her arms. Mogi watched in silence.
Allie Robinson shyly bit her lip. "I was walking around downtown when I saw you, and I just wanted to say hello."
"Are you by yourself?"
Allie hastily rubbed her eyes, but not before Misa noticed the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. "Yes, I am."
"Why are you crying?" Misa demanded, placing her hands on her jeaned hips.
"Misa…" Mogi muttered beside her, appalled by her rude question.
Allie sniffed. "Well…uh…you see… my boyfriend dumped me yesterday. And today, my parents kicked me out of the house."
No wonder she sounded like crap at yesterday's rehearsal!
Misa blinked, astonished. "Oh, honey! Why?"
"They…they…they said they won't support any daughter of theirs who wants to become a Hollywood star!" the girl whispered, turning pink with shame. Allie bowed her head, and her long brown hair hung around her face like a curtain.
Misa made up her mind in an instant. She unlocked the door to her apartment and flung it wide open. "You can stay with me! We're gonna have sooo much fun!" the bubbly woman squealed.
Allie's head jerked up, her eyes wide with shock. "Oh no, I can't," she stammered.
"Yes, I absolutely insist. Motchi won't mind cooking for three, will he?"
The large Japanese man hesitated. But when he saw the pitiful look in Misa's friend's face, he couldn't resist. "No, not at all," Mogi said. "Come on in."
Misa Amane swept into her apartment, renewed with energy and excitement. "Yay! No offense, Motchi, but things were getting really boring around here!"
Allie merely beamed at her. "Thank you so much! Domo arigato!"
We were just settling down onto our respective couches back in Matt's apartment when Allie's voice chirped through the speakers.
"Domo arigato!"
Matt and I shot up in surprise. "That was easy," Matt commented, running a hand through his newly brown locks before sitting back down.
"Yeah. She's good," I replied. Allie's purple sweater and grey track pants were sitting in a folded pile on the bed. I had retrieved my leather gloves from the pockets, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to put them back on.
"So, what's the deal with you two? You were getting pretty friendly back there in the car."
"Shush."
"Don't deny it. I want details!"
"We've got a job to do," I reminded him. I put my headphones on to drown out Matt's questions.
So far, it sounded as though Amane was giving Allie an extremely thorough tour of her apartment. I suppressed a yawn.
"So here's the bathroom…there's the shower, and the toilet, and yes, that's a Jacuzzi! Misa has all kinds of shower gels and soaps and shampoos and…"
"L'Oreal Perfect Blondissima?"
"Heh heh, Misa doesn't know what that's doing there. Here, let me put that away…anyway, nothing else to see here! Now, this is the spare bedroom. It's supposed to be Light's bedroom, but he's never home…you can stay here."
"Thank you, Miss Amane. I really appreciate it."
"Just call me Misa, Allie! Okay, so, Motchi does all the cooking and cleaning…he's really sweet. He'd make someone a perfect husband, but not for me, because Misa is already engaged! This is my closet, where I keep my clothes and shoes and purses and…"
I stared at the wall, my head throbbing with pain as Misa Amane's voice continued to drill into my head. My vision blurred, and I was only vaguely aware that my eyelids were growing heavy, like lead, and were fluttering shut…
…
"Dear friends," Roger began. "We are gathered here today to mourn the death of a girl who brightened all of our lives when she was among us."
I clutched my bouquet of red and spray-painted black roses as I waited anxiously for my turn.
I had never seen a corpse before, never mind a dead friend. I was glad I hadn't been there when Watari, Roger, and the elusive detective – L himself – fished Alternative's body out of the river. There were still, I counted, three people ahead of me. Near, Matt, and Linda. For some reason, they were all crowded around the casket, pointing and whispering vehemently.
"What's going on?" I hissed. I was curious, despite myself. I moved forward to see what they were looking at.
I peered inside the coffin. It was A, and she was dressed in her trademark green sundress. Her dead, porcelain skin contrasted greatly against the scarlet velvet of her casket.
"I don't get it. What's so interesting…?" I whirled around. Near, Matt, and Linda had vanished. Roger had disappeared too, along with all the other orphans. "Hey, where did everyone go?"
I was all alone. There wasn't a single soul in sight. The entire churchyard was empty.
"Mihael?"
I froze at the sound of my real name and pivoted on the spot. "What the hell?" I gasped, dropping my flowers in shock.
It was Alternative. And she was climbing out of the open casket.
I would've screamed, but something stopped me.
Ax wasn't...Ax anymore. She was at least one foot taller now, making us almost the same height. Her face and limbs were much slimmer, and her hair had lengthened into long, lustrous waves. Her only recognizable features were her angled, hazel eyes.
Her modest green sundress had suddenly been replaced by a strapless black and crimson corset dress. It was so short, I could – Oh God – see up the skirt, past the ruffles and lace…
"Oh, Mihael…" Alexandra purred as she circled me. I couldn't stop trembling. She suddenly pushed me down towards the coffin. I let out a yelp before I fell in, landing solidly on my back.
Ax gracefully clambered in on top of me, straddling my 14-year-old legs. I moaned at the sudden pressure that was stirring in my lower regions.
"Bloody hell, Ax," I choked out. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be dead!"
The girl slipped her hand up my black shirt and began to trace the outline of my abs. I shivered from the dizzying sensation of her soft, stroking hands.
"Call me Allie," she breathed heatedly, before leaning down to plunge her tongue deep into my throat. At the same time, she began to grind herself into my crotch.
"N-nngh..." I writhed underneath her. I was growing extremely, painfully, wonderfully hard. I was too excited to close my eyes. A forbidden thrill ran through me as I remembered that we were in a coffin, in an outdoor graveyard…
Ax – no, Allie – broke the kiss and nuzzled her face into my collarbone.
"Oh, Mihael," she whispered, brushing her lips against my neck and rocking her lace-drenched hips against mine. It was becoming unbearable.
"Allie," I cried out, my voice cracking.
"Mello," Allie cooed.
"Oh, God! Allie …" I repeated her name each time my body throbbed with pleasure...
…
"Al – "
"Mello!" Matt bellowed.
My eyes flew open, and I fell off the sofa in a panic. "Oh, shit!" I swore as I realized what had just happened. I tugged off my headphones.
"I didn't see or hear anything," Matt said with a straight face. "But really, falling asleep on the job isn't such a good idea."
I growled at him in an attempt to salvage my dignity. I jumped up and quickly made my way to the bathroom, trying to ignore the sickening fire that was surging through my veins.
I took a deep breath, satisfied by my successful infiltration.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, besides that one bottle of blonde hair dye. I mentally snickered at Misa's attempt to hide it.
As Misa darted around the apartment, I was secretly studying the well-built Japanese man that was following us. When he finally left us to tend to the kitchen, I seized the opportunity to stick Matt's listening device underneath a chair in the living room.
Back in New York, Near had told me that Mogi was one of the few, rare men that impressed him.
"The men on the Japanese Taskforce are blind idiots for not seeing that Kira is clearly in their midst. But Kanzo Mogi – he's an impressive man. He's very sharp, very loyal."
Clearly, Mogi had been assigned to watch over Misa Amane for suspicious behavior. Now, he had me on his hands, and he on mine.
Only he didn't know that we actually shared the exact same motives.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and merci to all my amazing reviewers! Special shout-out goes to xYourDearlyBeloved, who was first to review the last chapter again ^_^. Check out her new story, Being Near!