Disclaimer: I do not own or make money from the anime Death Note, but the plot of this fic is mine.
Suggested Listening: No Medication by Landon
Part 1
Mello took in the messy all-over-the-place red hair, the pale skin and green eyes he hadn't seen nearly enough of, the goggles that hung around his neck and the stripped clothing. It was Matt alright.
But there was something else in the picture that was wrong, that didn't fit or belong in there.
The wheelchair.
Matt was sitting in a wheelchair.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Matt sighed irritably but left the door open as he wheeled back into the apartment, obviously expecting Mello to come in regardless of his wishes. At least Matt had not forgotten how stubborn Mello could be when he wanted to. But Mello had been expecting a little more than 'why the hell are you here?' after five years.
Mello followed him inside and closed the door behind him as Matt had left it for him to do. He took in the state of the apartment. Surprisingly, it was clean. He would have expected it to be messy. Matt couldn't have been in the chair all that long then.
"I was looking for you," Mello answered the belated question.
"Well obviously." Matt snorted and flipped down the laptop screen, the one that sat on a desk that was the perfect height for one in Matt's position. There was a tiny and almost overflowing trashcan by it as well as what almost looked like one of those tools pet owners used to pick up their animal's crap.
Mello didn't see an animal.
"Nosy bastard," Matt commented. "It's for cleaning. I can't have the place messy, and it reaches things I can't with my arms."
The more Mello glanced around, the more he noticed how low most of the things in the place were, perfect for reaching in a wheelchair. Mello was beginning to get the feeling that Matt's current condition wasn't something temporary. He surveyed the redhead again and worried his lip a little. There was no cast on either of Matt's legs. He was damn curious now but got the feeling Matt would hardly be forthcoming in information.
"You know Wammy is looking for you?"
Matt's expression darkened. Mello knew all too well what Matt had thought of Wammy—the man himself, never mind the actual place—when they were younger. "They are looking for all of us in the top ten. They want a gathering back at Wammy's House for something. I personally wanted to see how you were doing." Mello added the last bit rather quietly.
"I'm doing fan-fucking-tastic as you can see. Alive and well. You can go now," Matt told him and took a swig of what Mello thought was beer until he read the label. Monster. It was an energy drink. Matt had never liked those.
"Matt, we're not friends anymore now are we?" Mello questioned carefully. There was something odd about Matt at the moment; something almost bitter or perhaps jaded was the better word. He was much more crass than Mello remembered.
"No. We're not." Mello winced at the bland voice Matt affected. It was really going to take some time. But it was worth it to Mello. He had missed Matt, when he'd had the time to think of him.
"Then we will have to work on that." Mello tried for a smirk only for it to die on his lips at the look Matt gave him.
"What do you want Mello, really? You come here out of the blue and decide we ought to be friends again? What for? We are obviously very different people now." Matt glanced at the leather, and for once, Mello felt a little insecure. Exposed. None of his mafia could even manage that anymore. "So what's the point?"
"The point? Matt, we were great friends. I wouldn't mind that again. That's the point." That and Matt was a challenge now, and Mello liked challenges.
"Maybe you don't remember, but you left. Not such a great friendship there." Matt's tone was still bland, blasé, as though the entire situation didn't concern him. It was a little disconcerting.
"It actually wasn't the fight that made me leave."
Matt raised an eyebrow, and Mello expected that was as close to interested as he was going to get with Matt at the moment.
"I heard Roger talking about them choosing Near over me. I was so pissed off already that I snapped. It was stupid, but I left." Mello shrugged. Incidentally, they had been speaking in secret because they knew he would fly off the handle at the information. Near had been chosen.
Matt looked blank for a couple of seconds before barking out a laugh. "I appreciated the note you left," Matt told him sarcastically, and Mello felt the sting of guilt because of it. He deserved it though.
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't bother, Mello. I wasn't brokenheartedor anything. I missed you, I got over it, and I went on with life." At his frown, Matt grinned. "Sorry, did you expect me to be pining away over our lost friendship? Sorry to disappoint."
Mello grit his teeth. He couldn't tell if this Matt—certainly not the one he once knew—was being truthful or just trying to get a rise out of him. He couldn't read him, and in Mello's business, that was a dangerous thing.
"Alright, that's fine. Matt, let's start over. I'm Mihael Keehl, and I work for the mafia." Mello outstretched his hand. He had never given his real name to anyone since he had become Mello at age six; he hoped Matt would understand the meaning behind that. He saw the flinch at the use of his real name before Matt grinned at him.
"God, Mello, you really are stupid. Do you know how much people would pay for your name? The name of a criminal, the name of a former L successor?"
Mello actually felt a stab of panic when Matt pulled a cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open.
"I'm not worried." Mello shrugged again and wished that were true. Had he made a mistake?
Matt clearly gave him a look that stated 'and why not?'
"Regardless of how many years have separated us and what's happened to fill them in, I still know you. And you wouldn't do something like that. Maybe to others, but not me. Not a friend. Or a once friend, if you were." Mello tensed but didn't move even as Matt punched in some numbers. It was like a game of chicken but with so much more riding on it. Matt's lips eventually formed a thin line, and he hung up.
"Get out of here, Mello, and don't come back. I have your name now, and I have no problem selling it. I don't know who you think I am, but I'm nothing like the boy you once knew."
That much is certain, Mello thought crossly.
"I'll leave, but I'm coming back tomorrow. And the day after and the day after that until you understand that this isn't some fixation of mine. You will give me a chance. You just don't know it yet," Mello told Matt, and with one last look, he left the wheelchair bound redhead alone in his apartment.
-End Part 1-
AN: so here it is, the result of voting on my profile :D
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Special thanks to reviewers: mxmsupporter, Aoayame, Techie Bunny, kikyotwosoul, Amour en Rayures , Keono, Deadly Nightshade1395, Kathrin J Pearl, 3BR, Carottal , S'moresForMooses, ForeverMATT
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Preview of chapter 2: He really wanted to know what happened but he didn't want to push Matt. He understood that Matt's hospitality ended at letting him through the door and with his name in the others mind he didn't really want to test how little it would take for Matt to sell him out. Matt might not have done something like that in the past, but Mello had seen it in his eyes the day before.
He would have done it.
Mello didn't know what had stopped him, but he was grateful. He didn't think he had the heart to kill the other or even hurt him as he was. But his name... Matt held all the cards even if he professed not to.
This new Matt, Mello didn't like him.
"I'll even close my eyes when you choose." Matt commented and motioned to the coffee, both made the same way. Mello stiffened. He was being too obvious if Matt was reading him. Mello didn't take him up on his offer and instead took the closest one to him. He sniffed it but knew that not all additives gave off a smell. He supposed he would find out soon enough if there was something wrong with it.
Matt grinned at him as he sipped his own and after a few minutes of nothing happening Mello supposed he would be fine. "So suspicious." Matt commented, smirk widening.
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