A/N: XD Thanks for the birthday wishes, guys. Yes, still accepting wives.
-
Azure Paler than the Sky.
twenty-two.
A few days after the gallery, Near's guardians left. However, their departure was much unlike last time with long goodbyes and hugs. They practically slunk off to the airport with a few quick goodbyes over the phone from a hotel room they had rented for the week. Since they saw Near's modeling debut, the three of them were quite unsure of what to say. Even Gevanni, the most vocal of the three, was at a loss for words until he got the idea in his head to accuse L of forcing Near into that position.
It was only when Mello said that he had been there the entire time and that nothing had been forced that Gevanni gave up, too confused and mentally exhausted to go on with his allegations. Lester didn't have much to add except for a grumble that Near was old enough to do what he wanted with his body. Hal herself was much too shocked and refused to look Near in the eye - as a matter of fact, whenever her gaze did drift towards the boy, she would immediately look away, not childish enough to blush but still quite uncomfortable. She was sure that image would follow her around for quite some time.
As the plane carried the three of them back to London, L looked up and found that Circumstance of Midnight, his portrait of Near and Stratosphere, his painting dedicated to his two lovers, were gone. They were taken by one of the wealthiest patrons that had attended the event for a large sum of money that was probably more than L made in a year. L had never before felt… regret from selling a painting. He made them, he sold them and received the money - it was all very circular and, furthermore, it was his job.
It's what he did best.
Still, he supposed he missed the painting even though the real Mello and Near remained by his side, day in and day out. Sometimes, L daydreamed of buying the painting back. If only for posterity. Though, he guessed, he had tons of pictures for that sort of thing - sentimentalism, as Matt called it and it was thanks to the redhead that L had all those pictures. Matt took them at the gallery, having snuck in his camera in his blazer. Now L had wallet sizes and he supposed that when classes started back up again for the Spring semester, L certainly wouldn't be bored with those types of photos in his back pocket.
Had it been me, Raito told L onetime, I would not allow pictures of my art to be taken. And do not take those things out in class, for God's sake.
Raito had become soundly more teacher-like as the winter break wore on with the prospect of gaining his rightful place back on the school board. He had worked much too hard for that title to be taken away from him. And, he promised himself, that if he ever did engage in another relationship with a student again - and no, Matsuda's image did not pop into his head, thank you very much - he would take L's lead and refuse to give up his spot. The only difference would be that Raito was highly cautious and would never let his relationship out in the open as L did with his. Really, the bathroom walls were already freshly coated with gossip due to the three.
"It's so shameful," Raito said to himself on the seventh of January as he stood out in the snow, just off of the courtyard square. He looked around himself, his hands shoved into his hoodie pockets as he shifted his weight from foot to foot in the snow. He'd been standing there for about fifteen minutes as the students walked back and forth around him, all chirruping and moaning about their exam scores. Raito and Matsuda were supposed to meet here to go see his text scores together.
Well, they were supposed to meet about fifteen minutes ago but so far, Raito hadn't seen any sign of Matsuda. He sighed and turned around, taking his feet out of the spot and leaving deep indents in the snow. It was very possible that Matsuda had forgotten their appointment together that morning but then, afterwards, all of them were supposed to go out and celebrate, no matter what the outcome might be. Raito was sure Matsuda couldn't have forgotten about that.
I'll just go look at them myself. Poor Matsuda, he thought as he went to the giant board posted outside of the cafeteria, he'll be so sad… but hopefully the festival will cheer him up.
In a few minutes, the brunet shimmied through the crowd around the board and looked up at the long list of numbers. "600181," he hummed, scanning the numbers. Finally, he found it and his eyes widened.
-
Matsuda sighed as the hot water ran down his back and sore muscles. Contrary to popular belief, it was quite a lot of hard work, doing nothing all day but spending time with Raito and the others. This winter vacation had been one of the most eventful he'd ever spent at Irai or even in high school - those days in the tenth grade spent on the ground in just his socks, watching as his shoes hung from the power lines.
Now, though, he spent his time with Matt and Mello playing videogames in their dorm while Raito berated L on his teaching methods on the couch behind them. Near would either be inspecting the game and giving Mello tips on how to win - which would ultimately lead to his failure - or lay around idly on L's lap, allowing the older man to play with his toes. Matsuda had noticed L liked doing that a lot.
It was understandable, he guessed. After all, Near did have adorably tiny feet that looked like little pale fish in contrast to the darker hues of his jeans. Matsuda could hear as the game over screen flashed and Mello cursed loudly that Raito thought walking around barefoot was unhygienic. There are diseases on the floor, Raito had said and Matsuda looked at the floor interestedly, wondering about its hidden dangers.
Matsuda sometimes wanted to see Raito's feet. He bet they were well-manicured and lovingly tended to despite the brunet's aversion to feet in general. Matsuda thought about them as he looked down at his own feet planted in the tub, washed over with the water as it rushed towards the drain.
He stepped out onto the towel just on the other side of the tub and grabbed another towel to wrap around his hips when there was a loud knock on the front door. Matsuda perked up and looked towards the closed bathroom door, surprised.
"Uh… uh, coming!" Matsuda scrambled around and even though he had shouted out at the person, the knocking was still persistent and loud. For a moment there, it almost sounded like someone was kicking at the door and Matsuda ran into the living room, trying his best not to slip. He made it to the door and grabbed a hold of the handle, swinging it open. "H-Hello…? Oh! Raito!"
"Matsuda, where the hell were you?" Raito demanded, but for some reason he didn't seem too cross. "We agreed to meet at eleven to see your grades!"
"… Huh? What? Oh man, I'm sorry, I thought you said twelve! I-I totally forgot, ah, I'm such an idiot-"
"Eighty-six."
"-I… what?"
"Eighty-six," Raito repeated, nearly breathless as he took one of Matsuda's hands in both of his. It was still wet from the shower and it seemed as if Raito didn't notice Matsuda was completely naked save for a lone, white towel. "Matsu, you're not an idiot, you got an eighty-six on Mikami's exam! You did well!"
Matsuda's jaw dropped a bit and he blinked widely. "I… I passed…"
"And it's so much better than either of us expected," Raito admitted and then gasped right as he was pulled into a tight hug.
Matsuda pressed their bodies together and cried out, "Oh my God, that's amazing! I can't believe it, I may not fail this year after all! Oh, Raito, everything is thanks to you, you tutored me, you helped me, I just-"
Matsuda was silenced then as Raito pushed their lips together and advanced forward, pushing Matsuda back into the room. When the door was closed behind them, Raito smirked a little at Matsuda excited but flustered state and said into his ear, "I knew you were smart."
-
"You know what's really, really good?"
"What, Mello?"
"That chocolate pie that Matsuda made the other day," Mello said, sighing as he rolled over in bed. He placed his chest up against Near's back and threw his arm over the boy's side. His eyes had been closed until he felt a bounce of the bedsprings and looked up, watching as L climbed down to the bottom of the bed and got off, not bothering to wrap a sheet around his waist or grab his pants. Mello sort of liked it when he walked around like that.
L hummed, "Yes, it was pretty good."
Near shook his head and sighed into the pillow. "You two ate the entire thing and Matsuda had worked so hard on it."
"Hell, we left some!"
"There was one piece left."
"Mm, no, I do believe I ate that one."
"See, that was him, not me."
"…"
"Well, we should probably be going now," L said, ignoring the point Near was trying to make. He bent down to retrieve his pants and tugged them over his slim legs. As his back was turned, he heard some whispering coming over from the bed. He waited until he found his shirt and pulled it over his head before turning around to find both boys sitting up on the bed with the comforter draped across their legs and laps.
L blinked. "What is it?"
"… Mm," Near made a small noise and looked aside. "L, it's just… well, we were wondering if you've decided on who to choose…"
"Who to choose?"
Mello growled. "For your apprentice!"
"… Oh, that's right. I had forgotten about that, you know."
"You forgot?" Mello and Near echoed.
"And as well it should be forgotten. I would rather not have to have the burden of choosing between the two of you," he said curtly and looked towards the door. "You should be getting dressed now."
"L, come on, you know that's not right," Mello objected, shaking his fist at the man. "You said you'd pick!"
"I lied."
"… Wha-"
"L, please pick Mello," Near said calmly.
Both L and Mello looked at him with a bit of surprise but Mello, not one to be outdone, shot right back, "L, pick Near!"
"Honestly," L scoffed.
Near shook his head delicately and went to pick up his jeans and shirt, blushing at how his lovers' eyes followed him around the room. "I completely failed at being your assistant, L. I quit at a critical time. For that, I shouldn't even be considered."
"I quit way before Near and had to be threatened to return," Mello shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards L.
Near frowned. "Mello, are you challenging me?"
"Damn right I am! You should be his apprentice, Near."
"No, Mello."
"Yes, Near."
L groaned, "Do I get no say in this?"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, interrupting whatever answer L was about to receive. Being the only one fully dressed in the room, L trudged over to the door and opened it, blinking at Matsuda and Raito standing there. Matsuda's hair was shining and clinging to his face as if he'd not been out of the shower for long and both young men's cheeks were flushed.
"Hello, L," Matsuda greeted, obviously in a good mood.
"Ah, you're right on time," L mused.
"Right on time, sure. Listen, we're going to be late if we don't get a move on, let's go collect Matt," Raito said, rolling his eyes. He jerked his thumb inside the room and asked, "Are the two of them ready to go?"
L blinked and leaned back to see, both Matsuda and Raito leaning forward and being nosy. They found that Near was completely dressed but that was soon to be changed if Mello's wandering hands weren't stopped. They were locked together, kissing, as Mello sat on the edge of the bed and held Near close.
"… They're arguing," L deadpanned.
Raito raised an eyebrow. "Really."
-
"This is Matt with the Irai noon-hour radio show! Just to let you all know, classes start back up in a few days so this'll be my last broadcast until then. Everyone's still busy from snogging under the mistletoe so I haven't gotten very many postcards. Actually, I did sort of get one but it was a picture and not really a letter. Could be sort of sweet, though, if the porn was soft-core.
"All this left-over Christmas stuff is making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. What about you, Lisa?"
"… Oh. Uh, I-"
"By the way, the grades are all posted today, so, how'd you do?"
"A's across the board."
"…"
"Uh."
"…"
"Matt-"
"I GOT A FUCKIN' C PLUS!"
"… Aw, i-it's okay-"
"OKAY? Okay, she says! Man, I tell ya, kids these days. I'm behind Julie now in the running for the lead in our department… dammit. I'll have to work harder next semester. Actually, today me and the guys are going to a winter festival. It's supposed to be in celebration for me and Matsuda doing well on our midterms but since we both did terrible, it's not going to be much of a celebration…"
"He did badly?"
"Well, it's Matsuda."
"…"
"Besides that -"
"Matt!"
"Huh? Hey, Rai! What're you doing in here?"
"Come on, we have to get a move on. Did you forget where we're going today?"
"Hm? No, I was just educating the masses on it."
"What? They don't need to know-"
"Hi, Matt!"
"Hey, Matsu, s'up?"
"Am I on the radio right now?"
"Yeah, dude."
"Matt, let's get a move on!"
"All right, all right. Lisa, you're in charge while I'm away. Go nuts."
"…"
"Later."
"… Ahem. Welcome to Lisa's sexual counseling services…"
-
"So, who's car are we taking?"
"We can't fit six people into one car, we'll be cramped," Raito explained as the six of them walked down to the parking lot. He waved his hand flippantly and Mello made a side-joke of Raito's subtly flamboyant nature which Raito complained loudly about. "L, can you contain him?"
"Hey, I'm not a pet!"
"Down, boy," L said, eyeing Mello.
Mello frowned and Near turned away, hiding a small smirk.
Matt sighed longingly, looking up at the frosty sky. "Man, this completely sucks."
"What sucks?" Raito asked.
"This was supposed to be a happy trip but I got a C plus on my midterm…"
Matsuda gasped and placed a comforting hand on Matt's shoulder. "Aw, it's okay. You can still have fun even if you didn't get the score you wanted."
"… Huh? What score did you get?"
"Eighty-six."
"… Aw, for…"
Mello laughed at his friend's pain and confusion and Matsuda continued to pry at what was so wrong with that.
"Excuse me," Raito cleared his throat, "we still have that car dilemma. Matt, would you mind driving yours and then we'll have L drive his?"
"Sounds fine to me," L said.
"L," Near said, looking up at the man, "have you considered what I said? About choosing Mello?"
"I'm not commenting on that."
"Pick Near," Mello growled.
L rolled his eyes.
They reached the parking lot and Matt jumped into the driver's seat of his convertible and was whining about placement when Matsuda and Raito climbed in. The engine started up and L, Mello and Near were standing to the side of L's Mercedes, unmoving. Raito rolled his eyes and rolled down the window on the passenger's side, calling to them, "What's the hold up, you three?"
He was ignored as both boys were engrossed in what L held in his hand. Mello raised an eyebrow and asked skeptically, "You're kidding?"
"No," L said, looking down at the quarter he held. "Tails, it's Mello. Heads, it's Near."
"Haha, Near, you got head."
"…"
L smirked. "Ready?"
-
end.
-
A/N: Ah, yes. It ended that way because there is a third one. This series is a lot like Harry Potter, with their years in school. So, yes, no tears, okay? Um, also… don't ask me WHEN I'll be doing the third. Because I dunno. But I have the plot all together anyway.
Further notes… I'm starting college. Don't expect super fast updates but do expect more per update. Got it? Hm, I'm looking for a Beta. Someone who will push me to be my very best and who is COMPLETELY open-minded. They must also be a grammar Nazi. And they must push me to work on my problem areas.
Oh, I want them to be available, too.
If you fit the bill, tell me so and I'll contact you through PM. One last note, I'm interested in having some dramatic readings done, so please contact me for more information on that.
See you next time.