Come On Stage

A&N: The story you will read is originated from an image flash through my mind. There are several unfinished stories about Mello and Halle in my laptop. I hope I could complete them in the following months. It's annoying that I'm too busy with work.

Mello hung up the phone and threw himself onto the bed. He had just spent twenty minutes rambling with Matt, going over every step of their plan, including every signposted building on the escape route, and response plans on what could happen. Matt had taken up residence in a normal one-room-apartment three blocks from the NHN TV building five days early, according to courses of action. He continued living in the abandoned warehouse filled with discarded dummies. Moonlight poured in through the exhaust fan on the wall. The room was terribly quiet, with the sound of dripping water from a faucet somewhere clearly audible. He rested his arm on his forehead, exhaustion assaulting his body, and he didn't even bother to remove his leather pants and shoes.

Mello arranged the entire plan within days after he knew Near and Kira were going to have a face-to-face confrontation at the YB warehouse. Based on his tracking of Takada for a period of time, he determined that the weakest link in security was a time when Takada entered the television station every day, happened to be when Halle accompanied Takada. He successfully infiltrated Takada's bodyguard convoy, observing and contemplating how to improve his plan every day. He considered almost all variables and believed that his plan was flawless. What he had to do now was to quickly fall asleep and wake up early tomorrow morning. Takada's schedule was incredibly full and her convoy usually waited outside her residence before six o'clock.

Often times, the harder one tries to do something, the harder it is to do it as one wishes. He was physically overwhelmed, but his brain still worked fast out of his control. The events of the day, his plans, even his memories of his childhood at Wammy's House, all came to his mind l like on a running-horse lantern. He let out a growl of frustration and reached out to touch his mobile on the small table, only to push stuff on the table to the floor. He sat up, turned on the desk lamp and picked up the magazine that had fallen to the floor. He recognized that the magazine with big headlines on its cover was bought by Matt last month.

Matt smashed a magazine on the table in front of him mysteriously.

"What's this?" Mello was focused on eating chocolate and thinking. He raised his eyebrows to show his dissatisfaction with Matt interrupting his thinking.

"Why don't you have a look?" The boy with goggles grinned wickedly. Mello was familiar with that look. Every time Matt gave that look, he would start babbling.

Matt quickly flipped through the magazine and pointed to the picture of the blonde in the magazine. "A fasting-rising star! Mello, your girlfriend has a lot of crazy fans now. Look, there's three pages about her."

The blonde leaned over and took a closer look. The woman in the magazine photo was indeed Halle. He scanned through the pages which presented Halle's profile and how she had passed the bodyguard recruitment.

Mello looked at the photo of Halle in the magazine, realizing that he had not spoken to her since he hung up the phone that day. Tomorrow he needed Halle to cooperate with him, but he didn't inform Harry in advance, which he thought was unfair to her. There was too much uncertainty. In order to ensure that his plan is foolproof, it was necessary to reduce all possible risks. He couldn't predict whether Halle would leak his plan to Near if he told her that he was going to kidnapped Takada. He didn't need to put unnecessary moral shackles on himself. That woman was not being entirely truthful with him. Mello thought, as he curled up in the bed.

"Did Near…" Delete.

"Are you…" Delete.

Mello deleted the words he input again. He snapped his phone shut and buried his head in his pillow. At such times, there was no point in trying to remove Halle's doubt which was caused by not contacting her for a few days. He believed she would support him, as long as it was to catch Kira, which he was very confident about, even he didn't think he knew her that well. He never thought that Halle was that attentive.

What's she doing now?

For the past two months, he usually call her contact and came to her twice. Halle's schedule had been filled up since she became Takada's bodyguard. Usually at night, she took Takata back home and returned to her temporary residence in Tokyo. It was obviously useless to call her so late.

Mello heard a knock on the door in daze. He stood up alert and picked up his gun to approach the door. He was surprised to see the one who was standing outside the door through the peephole.

"Why are you here?" Mello opened the door with embarrassment. Halle was dressed in suit, with neatly combed hair and exquisite makeup as meticulous as usual.

"I think you ask me to come. Aren't you welcome me?"

Mello swallowed and stepped sideways to let her into the room. "Have you been living in here lately?" She couldn't help but frown when her eyes flicked to the cluttered table.

"Yes. An unobtrusive place that can't be traced easily." Mello didn't like the way Halle recklessly observed the place where he lived now, a messy room. He quickly picked up the clutter on the table and placed them on the floor.

"What would you like to drink? Just coffee and mineral water."

"Seriously? Drink coffee at night? Halle patted the couch and sat down. "I'm exhausted from working during the day. I can't stand not sleeping at night."

Mello pulled out the last bottle of mineral water from the box under the table, wiping the ash off the bottle with his hand, and placed it in front of Halle.

"If you're so tired, you should complain to Near."

Halle turned down the corners of her mouth. "I would have thought you should understand me. You look tired, too, " She crossed her legs and changed her sitting position. "What have you been up to these days? You haven't even contacted me since you hung up the other day."

Mello lowered his head in silence.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me." The older woman added as she saw his face turn pale.

"I have a plan. But I can't tell you some details."

"You need my help, don't you?"

Mello hesitated for some time and nodded.

"I guess you will use me and leave soon as before."

Normally, Mello would have dismissed such a question. But he didn't want to or couldn't admit it at the moment. What he experienced since he became an orphan gave him a sense of self-protection – He knew he couldn't show his inner part to others, but he was also a person with a strong desire to show off all his genius ideas to the world.

Halle stood up and walked over to the armchair he sat. She said anxiously. "It doesn't matter. I just feel that you're changed. You become…"

Mello suddenly wrapped his arms around Halle's waist, his face pressed against her stomach. As he imagined, a woman's body is inherently soft. He took a deep breath, even smelling the faint scent of lavender perfume on her. The feeling was on a par with the comfort of lying down in a warm, soft bed after a long day of exertion.

"Mello." Time seemed to stand still and the sudden embrace overwhelmed her. She wanted to step back, but Mello held her tightly.

Mello whispered after a while. "Halle, do you think I'm a coward?"

Halle gently touched his blonde hair and answered. "How could it be? Why do you ask?"

"Near is going to the battle field and face-to-face with Kira. But I am on the verge of exiting."

"They know your real name. It's better to exercise caution."

"If I stop now, I will never have a chance to surpass Near."

Mello suddenly opened his eyes and the alarm clock on his mobile phone went off. The wind from the cracks in the window made him tremble, but the warmth in his arms still seemed to be sensed. He stroked his hair and put on his jacket, as he was about to face today's battle.