"Matt. Get your ass up."
The gamer groaned and squeezed his eyes shut as he clutched at a pillow. His eyelids slid open when he felt the squishy fabric. This isn't Mello…
The light filtering through the window landed on his face as Mello moved from where he was standing and he squinted. Darkness greeted him again a moment later as a pair of jeans landed on his face. "Up and at 'em. We're off to Japan."
"Wait, what?"
…
It was three days into the new year. The night of December 31st ended with a drunk Matt and Mello (which is always fun), equally inebriated Ben, a tipsy Kyle, and a dejectedly sober Linda with her daughter. Certain things occurred that night that Linda envied the drunkards for not remembering, and certain sights were forever imprinted into her conscience.
It didn't take too long for Mello to virtually dress Matt like a child would her doll, and pack up whatever belongings he had remaining from their life in Los Angeles.
Matt followed along, slowly wrenching his way into consciousness as the morning progressed. Seven A.M. was too damn early for the gamer. Ben hopped in the driver's seat and, with Mello and a still half-asleep Matt in the backseat, took off for LAX.
"So, this isn't sudden at all," Ben began sarcastically.
"Actually, it's not."
"Hey, could you swing by Linda's place for a minute? I'd feel horrible crossing the Pacific without saying goodbye," Matt asked, looking up from lying on Mello's lap. His eyes darted between the driver's seat and Mello staring down at him.
Ben glimpsed in the rear-view mirror as Mello nodded. His face was stony, and with the added scar, was rather unsettling. "Right-o," He switched lanes and headed toward the artist's apartment.
As they pulled up to the street corner, Matt tapped on the buzzer incessantly until a sleepy-sounding Linda answered with an exasperated, "What?" There was crying in the background.
"Lemme up."
"Matt? Fuck you. Come on."
With that, the door was unlocked and he dashed up the stairs. Pushing open the door as if it were nothing, he was met with Linda, in PJs, sitting on the couch asleep. He sat down beside her quietly. "Hey."
She jolted awake. "God, Matt. Don't do that!"
"Sorry. So I guess Mello's dragging me off to Japan now," He dived right in, laying his arm over the back of the couch.
That woke her up. "What? Why so sudden?" She straightened, bringing one leg up on the couch beneath her as she turned to face him.
"Beats me, it's Mello. So, I just wanted to say goodbye and wish you well for the moment. You know the drill: call me whenever you want to; I'm lonely." He chuckled, flipping his scarlet hair out of his eyes.
Linda slipped into his arms and squeezed him tight. He hugged her back. "Well, hit me up when you'll be back. I hate not being able to see you."
He pulled back and placed a friendly kiss on her forehead. "You'll be the first to know from me. If you ever feel so inclined, I'm sure you're welcome to join us any time, if you want."
She glanced to where Nora was whining from her crib. "No, I couldn't leave now. Besides, I have a feeling you two'll have your work cut out for you in Japan. That's where Near's working on the Kira case, isn't it?"
"I guess so. I dunno, I'm pretty much just along for the ride at this point. Whatever Mello says, I do. It just works that way," Matt shrugged.
"Well, you be safe, okay?"
"Always." The gamer stood and swayed toward the door. "Give Nora a kiss for me." With that, he was out the door and back in the car idling near the sidewalk. Ben took off as soon as he was buckled in.
"So, I've been thinking about following you guys to Japan," The brunette started abruptly.
"What? Why?" Matt asked, and Mello listened.
"Well, I figure, I'll be able to train under Hatsumi-Sensei over there. Besides, I'm already fluent in Japanese because of training, and it'll be a new start for me. Get away from this city, y'know?" He explained smoothly, shrugging as he turned the steering wheel.
Mello sniffed and stared out the window. "Do whatever you want; it's your life."
"And that's what I'm beginning to figure out."
"Good for you! If only some people would think that way…" Matt hummed, tossing a light accusing glance at the blonde beside him.
Mello's snapped his head around. "I want to beat him. I want to do everything I've ever done. If you think for one second that I wouldn't completely abandon it if I didn't want to do it, you're sadly mistaken."
The car fell into silence. "Right," Matt murmured, suddenly finding the back of the passenger seat oddly interesting. Only when the car pulled up to LAX did he move again.
After leaving the car with the valet, they flew through the check-in lines. The hacker screwed with the scanners just enough so that the ex-Mafioso managed to smuggle his Beretta through the lines. Once they were through, Matt dragged Ben off to an outdoor patio for one last smoke, leaving Mello to examine the menu of some bakery in a café outside the gates.
Ben took a drag of a cigarette, looking out at the bustling traffic at the parking lot. "I really shouldn't be doing this," he sighed a breath of smoke, turning to sit beside Matt on the bench.
"But you are because you're a nice guy and wouldn't leave me alone." Matt mumbled through his own death stick, pulling out a GameBoy he managed to stuff in his pocket before Mello dragged him out of the apartment.
"So much for the lull in the action."
"It's more like the calm before the storm."
Ben paused, looking at his smoke. "You know, this is my first one in a month."
"Hey, you're strong. You can just drop it. I'm not. I can't. But my life's fucked as it is, so why bother?"
"That's what I thought when I was your age," Ben lowered his cigarette and stared at the smoldering tip. "When I was nineteen, I had no home, no life, no money. The only things I owned were the clothes on my back and my laptop. I did cheap hack jobs for money, but after hanging out with the wrong people, that money became drug money. It came in and immediately went out. You, at least, have friends, a place to go..." He shook his head. "When I almost died because of these chemicals building up inside me, I willed myself to quit. Matt, I weaned myself from extremely addictive drugs—by myself—in a place where there was more available than a big time hospital. Imagine that."
He paused, and Matt bowed his head, defeated. "You can quit smoking," he mumbled, flicking his cigarette on the ground.
He was about to leave the gamer alone as he stalked down the sidewalk, when a woman sitting on the bench by the door touched him on the arm. His hand reaching for the doorknob dropped and he turned with a questioning look to the stranger.
She brought her own cigarette down from her lips. "I lost my son to drugs just a few days ago. You are very courageous. I may not know you, but I'm proud to know that there are young men like you still around. Thank you." Her wrinkled face smiled sadly, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
"You're welcome. I'm very sorry for your loss." And with nothing more, he reentered the building.
Matt stared down at the cigarette in his fingers. The glass door swung closed as Matt left. Smoke drifted up from his cigarette, snuffed out, left half burned on the sidewalk.
…
"You ready?" Mello asked as he downed the rest of his hot chocolate.
"As I'll ever be," Matt replied, obliterating the Cerulean gym with his Ivysaur. Misty's Starmie went down in one vine whip, and he smirked proudly. "It's super effective!"
"Then let's go, you dork."
With one last goodbye to Ben, Matt and Mello boarded the plane, carry-ons in hand. After a while, Matt grew bored of Pokemon and instead wasted an hour or so playing Commander Keen on his laptop. Once more, boredom set in and he snapped his laptop closed.
He looked to Mello, who had been doing a combination of thinking, typing, and staring out the window absently. "Hey," Matt beckoned, drawing the blonde's attention. He stretched, pressing his hands to the soft roof of the cabin. With a sigh, he popped a handful of peanuts in his mouth.
"Hi," Mello replied, shifting his focus away from the cumulus clouds below them. He tugged the window shut.
"You know, you're wicked lucky I love you so much, I actually came with you on three hours' notice."
"Wicked? What are you, from Massachusetts?" Mello raised an eyebrow.
"Nah, but Kyle was. Besides, I was in New York with Near for a while, anyway. Close enough," Matt shrugged, giving up on trying to explain his absorbing of miscellaneous accents and dialects. "Anyway, as I was saying, I love you." He grinned cutely at Mello.
"I love you too," he grunted in the manliest way possible with a glance around the quiet cabin.
Matt leaned on his shoulder and burrowed his nose into the crook of his neck. Mello shuddered as his tongue flitted over his skin, and the blonde swatted him away. He murmured in his ear, "I'm not planning on joining the mile-high club this time. Sorry. Maybe next time," he winked.
The gamer slumped dejectedly in his seat, and opted to hold his lover's hand as he watched Toy Story 2, which was broadcasted throughout the cabin. Soon enough, he was asleep, boredom lulling him into a gentle nap.
Mello glanced at Matt. Why must you be so fucking cute? He grumbled to himself. He resigned himself with an exhale and dropped his cheek into Matt's head of coppery hair.
...
About seven or so hours later, the plane finally landed. Zooming through the airport once more, the pair of Wammy's kids headed off to meet the third of the top rankings back at the orphanage: Near. Mello hailed down a taxi, transitioning smoothly into Japanese. In moments, they were on their way to Near's headquarters.
When they entered the large building that was Near's headquarters, a dark-haired young man with sharp gray eyes answered the door. "He's expecting you." With those three words, they were swept into the building and into the elevator.
Matt ogled at the metal and glass structure around him. Imagine building something like this on Minecraft, he wondered to himself. I could do it. Mello stared straight ahead intimidatingly, and the man shifted slightly when the piercing gaze met his while standing in the elevator. Matt was no help, and simply started up his Pokemon game, absently tugging his goggles over his eyes.
"My name is Gevanni, I trust you remember, Mello. You must be Matt," He introduced himself, extending a hand toward the redhead.
He looked up from his game, and, holding the console in his left hand, shook it in a curt manner. "Nice to meet'cha. That's kinda funny. I'm actually just facing a Giovanni right now," he nodded to his game.
"How interesting…" Gevanni fell back into an uncomfortable silence for the remainder of the lift ride. As the door slid open to the room where Near sat, the buzzing of monitors sounded in Matt's ears.
"Welcome."
Matt completely ignored Near's greeting and instead stared at his "epic setup" of so many high-quality monitors creating a full wall in the room. "Whoa."
Mello grunted a returned greeting. Near remained with his back to the door, and consequently, his two former classmates. He examined two of his finger puppets: one with brown-red hair, a vest, stripes, gloves, and jeans, and another blonde one sporting a painted-on leather vest, scar, and rosary. The bodily forms of the two representations stood behind him.
"It's nice to see you too, Matt," Near's monotone echoed sarcastically, an immense Old-English N appearing on each of the screens with the click of a few keys of his keyboard.
"Huh? Oh, hey Near," He smiled, though he knew the albino couldn't see it.
"I trust Mello filled you in."
"Oh, uh, I kind of fell asleep during that. At least, I think that's what you were talking about..." He shrugged. "I don't know, just tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Mello snapped a bite off a chocolate bar his had stowed in his pocket. "I tried."
Near didn't budge from his place crouched on the floor. "Very well. As of right now, you two can get settled in downstairs. There is an apartment especially for you on the next floor down," He paused, setting down the dolls. He turned his head slightly, peering at them from the corner of his pale eye. "I do believe you'll find a certain room to your liking, Matt."
"Sweet, thanks."
"Yeah, thanks," Mello agreed warily, obviously berating himself for acting like a civil human being for the moment. But now that the legendary Wammy boys were in one place, Kira's reign couldn't possibly last much longer. Yeah, Mello thought to himself, Kira will die. I'll win. I'll finally win.
A/N: A rather fast-paced chapter here, I'm well aware. Hope you enjoyed it~! Reviews make my day. C: