Chapter 3

"I'm serious Matsuda, I saw it myself! Matty has a boyfriend and he's a hot leather biker!"

Ryuk's voice filled the house that morning, making Matt stop on the stairs and barely resist the loud groan that nearly escaped his throat. He was lucky he'd heard that while he was out of sight, because now he had a few minutes to come up with some sort of escape plan... if there really could be any when you lived with people like Ryuk.

Ryuk's statement and Matsuda's nervous laughter that followed soon after was really not what Matt needed to hear after the night before. It also didn't help the matter when he heard Naomi and Sayu's voices as well. Was the entire house in there plotting and laughing at him for dealing with the strange blond boy? Ever since the boy, Mello, had left and Matt himself had come back inside, he couldn't get the boy's face out of his mind. He realized it about halfway through the night, that somewhere in his mind he'd seen that face before, but he really couldn't think of any place where that could have been possible. Besides, his mind was so jumbled from before he moved into this house with the others, he wasn't sure if he'd seen the boy on a simple grocery day or before he'd moved.

He'd decided last night that if he didn't remember, then it probably wasn't that important.

Apparently Ryuk had decided that it was hilarious and was to be the subject of the day to talk about.

Matt grabbed an apple from a bowl by the kitchen and tossed it at Ryuk's head as he walked into the living room. Ryuk was sitting in his usual seat, now whining and rubbing his head where the apple hit him, while Matsuda was on the floor and Sayu and Naomi were curled together on the loveseat. As usual the TV was on some random odd cartoon, but the sound was muted.

"What a waste of good food," Ryuk muttered. The thin goth boy rubbed off the skin, then gave an expression near to crying when he saw there were now bruises on the apple. He sighed and ate around them, as if it were a crime of the highest sort.

"So Matt, does he have a name?" Naomi had a very tall and elegant body, with a voice to match. She always kept her appearance and hair in perfect form and even wore business like clothing, even though her and Sayu never really left the house.

"He said it was Mello," Matt took a seat in the remaining plush chair, sinking into the well loved seat.

"Ohhh, sounds like a biker." Sayu giggled and Ryuk nodded enthusiastically with her. Sayu was the polar opposite of Naomi, her lover, wearing cute little skirts, oversized sweaters and pig tails in her long, mousey brown hair. She and Naomi were always attached at the hip, but then that was normal, as Matt remembered they'd come to the house as a couple looking for a place to stay a couple nights and then it just ended up being permanent.

Matt made a face at them all, trying to signal for the subject to change. Ryuk was in the middle of giggling but Matsuda apparently caught it, because he changed the subject at his own expense. "Maybe I should ask you for tips on Misa then."

"You mean that girl? Come off it Matsuda, she really doesn't fit you."

"Ryuk, don't be mean. I think Matsuda and Misa would be cute together." Sayu added to her point by tossing a pillow at Ryuk, which made him rub his nose and mutter not so nice things into what was quickly becoming a core to his apple.

"It's just that I thought, well, that she was sweet and she always smiles at me so nicely when she comes bring the food..." Matsuda trailed off, looking a bit lost.

"Girls like that wouldn't like a guy like you. You've seen her car right? She's obsessed with some singing star, she'd never go for a nerdy little boy like you who can't muster up the courage to even call her and say hi." Ryuk's voice took on an even more mocking tone. "She's not your type Matsuda, just give it up."

"Shut up!" The outburst was completely unlike him, shocking the room into silence. Even Matt sat there in surprise, staring at the normally shy boy who was now standing in front of them, his hands clenched into fists and shaking just a little.

"Oh what are you getting all worked up about-"

"Just shut up Ryuk! I don't care if you think you know more because you watch TV more than the rest of us or play some stupid video game that tells you how to date a girl, but when have you ever been with a girl?! What the hell do you even know about the subject? Don't sit there and tell me that no one wants me, especially if I like them! You have no idea and you're just being a mean, selfish jerk!"

Ryuk stood up, dropping the pillow in his lap to the ground, walking right up to Matsuda. His normally raspy voice took on a sharp bite to it as he took the last bite from his apple and tossed the core to the ground. "Same to you, kid. Don't ever assume you know anything about me. Because you know absolutely nothing. And you are better off that way."

Silence stretched between the two of them, growing solid with tension and occasionally sparking with anger. Sayu bit her lip, looking between the two of them, then slowly moved off the loveseat and picked up the used apple core, depositing it on the table with a trembling hand. The movement seemed to deflate the mood and Ryuk stepped past Matsuda. A single look, that was almost sad in nature, passed between them, before Ryuk was going up the stairs, leaving his prized seat in front of the TV and next to the video game remote empty.

Matt and the others stared after him quietly, then their eyes slid to Matsuda, who stood there, not moving and not making a sound. It took a couple moments before the angry boy in front of them seemed to pop, his anger dropping to the floor as he slid down into his seat and stared quietly after Ryuk. The argument was left in the air and even Sayu and Naomi could tell there was something else behind it. Matt realized, belatedly, that there was something between Ryuk and Matsuda, if nothing else then just the way they acted.

"You should talk to him or something." Sayu beat Matt to the punch, suggesting what appeared to be in the front of all of their minds.

Matsuda simply nodded and quietly left the room.

Matsuda took a deep breath as he climbed up the stairs and stood in front of Ryuk's door. Whatever anger he'd had abandoned him in the living room, and now he felt small and embarrassed that he'd even gotten angry. What was he doing anyway? Rocking the boat in this house was just silly.

Six people living in a single house were bound to have disagreements now and then and something like this shouldn't have bothered him so much... but he couldn't really stop thinking about it. What right did Ryuk have to get upset about him liking Misa? She was just the girl who delivered their groceries. So what if he liked her. Did it really matter that much?

Apparently it mattered to Ryuk. Which was odd. That was the only explanation that Matsuda could think of for the outburst and the argument.

Matsuda took another deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Go away Matt, I'm not in the mood for your little pep talk."

Matsuda smiled a little. Of course Ryuk would think it was Matt. That redhead was forever the peacekeeper of the house. He took care of everything from the food to their arguments, so it was only logical to think that. Matsuda knocked again.

The door opened, "I said- oh. Um... hey."

"Hey."

Ryuk shifted by the door, his eyes moving behind Matsuda looking for anyone else, then settled back on him. "Matt sent you up here to kiss and make up?"

"No, I came up on my own. Well, actually, Sayu suggested it, but I really wanted to come up here and talk to you because I don't like fighting with people and we really shouldn't be fighting..." He trailed off from the rambling, noticing a small smile on Ryuk's face. "What?"

"You're cute when you ramble."

"What?!" Matsuda ducked his head, his cheeks burning. What a horrible thing to say to someone! Here he was trying to apologize and Ryuk was flirting with him!

Wait... Ryuk was...

Matsuda blinked and looked up at Ryuk again, recovering from his embarrassment. "You aren't... doing what I think you're doing are you? I mean that's impossible! Why would you even be interested in someone like me? That's really just a silly idea, isn't it? And I'm being stupid and I'm going to go now." Matsuda turned to quickly leave and get out of the situation┘

But he found Ryuk's hand on his arm.

And a second later he was being pulled back.

Matsuda could only let out a muffled whimper as Ryuk pressed him against the wall and kissed him, closing the door behind them.

(Lemon edited, see profile for mailing list with unedited fics.)

Later that night, Ryuk wasn't to be found in the bed. He had spent time in bed with Matsuda, he wasn't completely heartless, but as soon as he was sure that Matsuda was completely asleep, he was slipping out of bed, grabbing a shirt and moving toward the door. Before he left he snatched the large and worn sketch book out from the dresser and snuck quietly into the hallway, pencil in hand.

Ryuk moved through the silent house, finding his way down stairs before collapsing on the couch. It was the middle of the night, so he didn't worry about make up or stealing some of Sayu's foundation to hide the bags under his eyes. The others didn't realize it - or at least if they did they didn't say anything - but his constant sitting in front of the TV and watching shows was actually when he slept. Other than that...

Ryuk hated sleeping. He didn't quite understand why, he'd just become used to not sleeping at all. And those nights when he did actually wake up in his room, fuzzy headed and feeling like he'd been shoved through a laundry press, he became even more wary of falling asleep and leaving himself unprotected in this place.

Wrapping the throw blanket around himself, he opened the sketch book, slowly turning through the pages and looking at each of the sketches. All were incredibly detailed, with shading and thin pencil lines that smudged across the paper. He could tell that the ones in the front were very old, because some edges were actually smudged out of sight, and as he flipped he refilled in a couple of the lines, making the pictures so they would last through at least a couple more page turns.

People he didn't recognize did significant things, each sketch a piece of his life taken and set to paper with charcoal and pencil.

Ryuk flipped through the pages, watching as odd faces he didn't recognize graced the rooms he was so used to. A girl standing with Sayu and Naomi, laughing with them. Himself, Matt, Matsuda, the grocery girl┘ every part of his life was sketched out, committing his memory to paper. Especially since it didn't seem to work very well lately. As he flipped through the sketches, he was disturbed by the ones that were so detailed, and yet rang no bells in his mind. He couldn't remember most of these people, not even a real hint of memory until the last few pages of the book. That bothered him more than waking up from sleeping and feeling like he'd been sucked dry.

Ryuk breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to pages he remembered. Sayu and Naomi kissing in the hallway, Matsuda making Matt give a rare laugh, and finally the strange blond boy who had thrown rocks at his window. Ryuk turned to a fresh page and began to sketch himself and Matsuda... and the night's activities.

Careful lines, very light at first, gave way to deeper, thicker strokes. They crossed the paper in curves and careful placed smudges, slowly sketching out all that had happened. He pushed every feeling, every thought, every emotion into that pencil sketch, his hand moving furiously across the page. He lost track of time and any fatigue he may have felt, just sketching as if his life depended on it. Finally, at the end, he set the pencil down to look at the sketch, and breathed a small sigh of relief.

He could relax now, because he would never forget that moment. Now the memory was safe.

Ryuk closed the sketchbook and tucked it under the couch cushion, away from prying eyes, then curled up under the throw blanket, looking for the remote... Hadn't he left it on the couch? Right in the corner? And it wasn't on the lamp table either.

The boy sighed, resigning himself to getting up and turning on the TV manually when it suddenly snapped to life, static crackling across the screen, hissing loudly filling the room. Ryuk moved quicker, nearly tripping over the table as he stood up and hit the power button, the TV snapping off. Ryuk frowned softly as he heard the couch cushion shift behind him.

Somehow in the back of his mind he knew who it was behind him. The strange white haired boy, the final person who lived in their house. He was the one Ryuk avoided and never liked, no one seemed to like him, and yet was always there, watching them. Ryuk slowly turned, still frowning at the young boy who now sat on the edge of the couch, swinging his feet in his loose pajama pants.

"You're up late. Aren't you tired?" The young voice was mocking, asking questions that it already knew the answers to.

"Fuck off." Ryuk didn't dare glance at where he'd hidden his sketchbook. Instead he'd retrieve it later. Turning he began to move toward the stairs, but he stopped cold when he found the boy standing on the stairs in front of him, up just enough so that they were the same height. Ryuk shuddered and quickly avoided looking into those inhuman golden eyes.

He took a step back from the stairs, his hand moving to catch the railing, but he misjudged and didn't quite reach it in time, stumbling on his own step. Ryuk winced and stumbled backward, his body hitting the carpeted floor with a thud, numbness spreading through his body like water.

He felt sick, cold and stripped down. He was open, laid out for all to see, all by this strange boy who was now standing over him.

Ryuk couldn't move and his mind fled into a panic. He was going to fall asleep and he suddenly knew this is why he was so scared every night. This boy was why he lived in fear that never let him sleep. This boy was why he sketched every important thing out so it couldn't be forgotten. Ryuk actually whimpered weakly as the boy knelt down in front of him and lightly kissed his forehead.

Ryuk's mind went numb, before the scream for help could even cross his lips.