Chapter three:
It's been five days and the trio have been keeping a lower profile by staying where they are living. They are trying to avoid any potential trouble that Linda might bring to their peaceful home. They are still wanting to keep it after all. They are eating some of their food stock when they turn hearing Linda calling out for them.
"Ignore her." Mello hisses glaring at Near in particular as he turns away from the direction that Linda is in. "Maybe she will go away if she doesn't find us."
Near turns away and focuses on the food he is eating instead. He agrees with Mello as they will just wait this out in the hopes that she will leave.
Matt turns away as well and the three are quiet as they wait for her to think they've left so that way she will leave them alone.
They finish their food and duck into their shelter to wait in there for awhile.
Matt shifts to nudge Mello closer only for the blonde to slightly glare then shake his head. His shoulders drop so he nods softly for now.
They hear Linda searching around for a bit before she finally goes quiet seemingly given up at least for now, though they hope that it will be for good.
Matt looks around Mello to look at Near who has head slightly down. "Hey. Let's not get too hard on ourselves. Things happen." He tells the other as he knows him well enough that he knows that he is being hard on himself for attracting potential trouble to their area.
Near turns and gives a small grateful smile to Matt for this.
Mello peeks out of their shelter and sees no sign of Linda. He ducks back in only to turn to look to the other two. "We should scout out the other two areas we've thought could make a place we can escape to. Just in case. I think we should be prepared and know where we will go if we cannot get her to leave us alone or she brings even more trouble to this area."
Near and Matt nod in agreement to this as they can see Mello's point.
"Matt. You and Near should go together and check out that area on the west side. I'll take the one on the south side." Mello tells them before exiting the tent and can be heard heading off on his own.
"That's fair." Near admits causing Matt to glance to him instead of looking at where Mello had left out of. He turns to meet the red head's eyes with his own. " I did end up bringing this upon us. Mello means well for the three of us and only wants us to make it through just like you and me want. I understand. So, shall we head on out to check out that area?"
Matt smiles softly before nodding his head. "Yeah. Let's go." He agrees and the two leave heading in the direction that they need to go in. He walks close to Near while they make their way through the city.
"Hey!" Linda's voice causes the two to pause and Matt sighs heavily. Her footsteps rush towards them before stopping behind them. "I was on my way back to the orphanage. Come on and come with me. I know you want to. It really is a great place."
"Stop!" Matt turns to glare at Linda who blinks in surprise at this. "We told you that we're not going with you. So stop trying to find us! We don't want anything to do with whatever orphanage you belong to!"
Linda turns to look to Near with hope in her eyes that maybe he will agree.
Near turns to look with his emotionless look. "We don't want to go with you." He confirms causing her eyes to widen. "We have no interest in going to some orphanage. We would really appreciate if you left us alone." He does find this annoying as her persistence despite that they've told her no is irritating. He doesn't show that she is getting to him as he is well versed in keeping his emotions in check. He turns away. "Go home." He begins walking again to which Matt joins in following along with Near.
Linda stands there staring after them until they are gone from sight and she finally starts her trek back to the orphanage. Her mind twisting with thoughts.
Matt glances to Near. "Man is she persistent."
"For now all we can really do is tell her no until it gets through to her." Near points out to which Matt hums in agreement.
"I suppose. I just wish that there was a way to get through her."
Near lightly shrugs to this. "Well there is only so much that we can do. Hopefully she'll get the message this time." He points out to which Matt hums in agreement.
The two of them arrive to the spot only to duck into hiding behind a pile of trash that they peer around.
In the spot that is an area by some abandoned farmland only to see that a small gang moving around clearly using the area for something.
They don't dare to get close enough to be able to have the chance to figure out for what. They know that they need to stay away from the gangs since they are very dangerous.
"Damn. Mello is not going to like this." Matt whispers to Near with a sigh as it is clear that there is no way that they are going to be using this area.
"I think they might be a newer gang." Near whispers as the two of them duck fully into hiding before they are spotted. "The serpent symbol on their jackets don't look like any gangs that we know of."
"Well hopefully they won't cause trouble for us even if its just some sort of aftermath of whatever criminal things that they do." Matt huffs quietly and takes the lead as they leave the area. He takes a slightly longer way to get back to their home.
Near goes along with this as he makes sure that they weren't noticed and followed.
Luckily there is no sign of anyone following them.
Near is disappointed that they had lost one place that they could escape to if needed. He really hopes that Mello's check on the other spot went better than their check had gone. He doesn't want them to end up without a place to put as their home on the streets if something makes them have to leave their current location.
The two get back only to find that Mello had beat them there.
Mello turns to the two as they approach him. He has a serious look in his gaze that is mixed with that of slight worry. "So. What do you two think of the location?"
"Can't use it." Matt tells Mello with a sigh slumping slightly. "Some probably new gang has moved into that area and is using it for something."
Near notices that Mello looks a little agitated at hearing this. He has a bad feeling about what the other had found at the other location. "What about you? What did you find at the other spot?" He inquires to which the blonde crosses his arms across his chest.
"Well it's not good news at all." Mello admits quickly confirming Near's suspicions about how the check had gone. "That area is now under construction. I saw someone with a company jacket so it looks like some big shot store company bought that area after finding it. Now it's going to be turned into who knows what."
"Damn. That means that we are going to have find new potential spots for places we can leave to if needed." Matt groans knowing that this is going to mean so much more work for them all.
Near slightly glances down hoping that what he had done doesn't cause them to have to relocate. He'd hate it if they had to move because of him. He knows that the other two like their current home as much as he does. He looks up when a hand comes to rest upon his shoulder. He finds his eyes meeting with Mello's blue ones.
"We will figure things out." Mello tells Near and he lets out a breath before he continues. "You know despite that we shouldn't be sticking our noses into anyone else's business I do think it was a good thing you did help her. We will all be avoiding things like that to not make more enemies than we have to, as well as not bringing trouble here. I hate the rule as much as you two however it's what we have to do. What's done is done and we will just deal with whatever happens."
Near smiles at Mello at this. "Yes. Thank you Mello. I'll be more careful in the future."
Mello smiles as well then gives a soft nod. He lets his hand linger on Near's shoulder a little longer before moving it off. "Well. We should start trying to brainstorm areas that we might find potential spots to go to if we have to."
Near nods and goes to join Mello while Matt groans about the work only getting a roll of the eyes from Mello plus a slight chuckle under his breath from Near.
The area is quiet other than the sounds from the three indicating that truly no one else is around.
All three of them not sure what may happen next though they are just glad that they have each other to lean on during all of this.
