A Cry For Help Chapter 7- The Third pt1
A loud knocking sound came from the door and woke Near from his trance. He knew it was Matt because Mello would have just walked through the door and anyone else would have said something by now. That and the quiet pinging of a video game also gave a slight clue.
Near called out to let them in the room. As expected, the redheaded gamer with a videogame at hand walked in and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. His tinted goggles were covering his eyes as opposed to hanging round his neck and he looked at his feet before muttering without looking back up.
"Hi Near, so… Mello told me about the L thing."
Present day – Mello
Mello could only just manage to get just outside the infirmary door before grinning wildly and throwing a fist into the air. He couldn't fully believe what had just happened. He was going to finally work with the man that he had been following the footsteps of for years!
Careful not to make too much noise, Mello ran down the hallway. He needed to tell someone; more specifically, Matt. He practically sprinted to his door and stopped outside, narrowly avoiding falling and sliding down the corridor. Bursting into his shared room, he was greeted by the familiar sight of his redheaded roommate, and best friend, sitting on his bed with his eyes locked on a flashing screen, making no noise except the occasional curse following the ever so familiar "game over" tune. Noticing his friend's sudden appearance, Matt was careful in what he did, not knowing if the blonde's sudden movements were a result of excitement or anger. Pausing his game and setting his console down next to him, Matt spoke.
"What's up?" Matt had realised that this was a mostly safe expression to start up a conversation with his friend when he is unsure what the reaction will be. As if he was waiting for his friend to ask him, Mello couldn't hold in the news anymore.
"L wants to work with me, Matt. I'll finally get to meet him!" A wide grin stretched across his face as the blonde said this, as if he was confirming to himself that what he was just told is actually going to happen. Mello hadn't felt anything like this is so long. Most of his time now was occupied by studying, and the rest was normally taken up by the hell him and his partner in crime raise when they're bored and when Wammy's needs a little livening up. He couldn't describe this feeling, but he knew it was amazing.
Seeing his best friend smiling so excitedly and sincerely, Matt couldn't help but smile back. Despite it being subtle, he had noticed changes in his friend's personality and general presentation recently; he had become more cynical and jaded, as if he was getting fed up of living at Wammy's. Of course, he had said it years prior, but recently, the threats of him moving out had become all too real. He seemed to get less and less sleep every week as he desperately tried to keep up with and overtake Near, putting not only his physical, but his mental health at risk. Matt understood it was difficult to even be in the middle ranks in Wammy's, let alone right at the very top when the top two are fighting over one possible role. But in this moment of happiness, no matter how short lived it may or may not be, Mello seemed to transform into his former, happy, childish self, almost jumping up and down in excitement. It was nice to see him like that.
Snapping back into the present moment, Matt grinned even more and got up to talk to Mello. "Dude, that's amazing!" He laughed for a moment, "And here I was thinking that you were going to get punished for punching Near's lights out." The two burst into fits of laughter at this comment and the general strangeness of the whole situation. However, in this moment of joy, a difficult question popped into the gamer's head.
"Mello, does this mean you've beaten Near? What's his role in all of this?" These carefully worded questions felt alien being spoken by Matt, but he felt this caution was necessary in a situation like this.
The other boy's smile suddenly faded from his face, but only for a few seconds as he processed the fact that his best friend was asking about his competitor over him. But he knew that, since he wasn't there, Matt was bound to be curious about this whole situation, including Near. Smiling again, despite it not being as bright, Mello told his friend what he was told by Roger.
"Roger said that we will both need to work together." He watched as the colour in his friend's face seemed to drain out of fear and tried to reassure him. "I know it sounds crazy, but I really want this Matt. You of all people should understand this. And if it means I have to put up with that apathetic, smartass, son of a bitch, I'll still go for it." Matt could not only sense how truthful Mello was being in this moment, but how mature he was acting. After letting out a relieved sigh, Mello took this moment as an opportunity to leave.
"Well I'm gonna go look up the latest cases L's solved; gotta become the guy's favourite before that dickhead gets there" he quickly stated before almost running out of the room. Matt smiled goodbye and waited for the footsteps to fade before returning to his usual, slouched position on his bed near the window on the right side of the room.
The scarlet-haired boy loaded up his game once again and tried to resume playing it, but something felt wrong. Not being able to concentrate on his game, he threw himself back to lay sprawled out on his bed, and let out a long, loud sigh before closing his eyes to reflect.
AN: So…it's been a while…again.
It's been much longer than expected as well. I was seriously considering dropping this story for a very long time, but I have the bulk of it planned out in my head; I'm just really bad at introducing stories. I'd need at least two pairs of hands to list the stories that didn't even get past three chapters.
Also, I know this story is all over the place, but I promise the timeline will even out slightly when the real plotline actually starts – probably after this chapter because I'm fed up of build-up goddammit!
Oh yeah, I know it's kinda weird to say, but thanks to the guest named randomuffin for asking this to be updated. I mean, I don't write stories with the sole intention of people reading my stuff, but it helped me get motivated to write this chapter…at half past midnight…I'm going to hate myself later today.
Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter (I'm praying that my writing style hasn't drastically changed whilst I've been gone), I enjoyed writing it anyway, and of course:
Until next time my few readers, Lollylion out!