In Charge
Chapter 5 – A Brief Trade
By Threshie
AN: Welcome to chapter 5! Wow, 5 chapters already...and this fic hasn't even been online for long. My other 29-chapter fic has been in the works for over 3-4 YEARS... (Sweatdrop) LOL—here's me crossing my fingers that my inspiration for this one lasts for awhile.
Let's see what Matt's up to (with me and my mean Gameboy-stealing ways, he's probably waiting yet again...)
(...Yep.)
If only he knew Gevanni's or Rester's phone numbers.
Near had played with his dinosaur for about an hour, before fatigue set in and he had fallen asleep with the toy hugged loosely to his chest. That was fine with Matt, but for most of that hour, and the four that followed, all that had occupied the redhead's mind was that he really needed a smoke.
Ughh...addiction's a stupid thing to get into... He groaned inwardly, holding his head. He stubbornly refused to leave Near alone...which basically meant that, unless Gevanni and Rester somehow knew where they were and that they should visit, he couldn't leave one of them to watch the white-haired boy even long enough to go have a smoke. He could have just left Near unattended for about fifteen minutes—he was asleep, he wouldn't even notice...but, again, he'd promised himself that he wouldn't.
Come to think of it, though, if Rester and Gevanni get back and the house is empty, they'll probably be left wondering where Near went... Matt thought about this for about thirty seconds before concluding that he had to leave them a message. He headed out to the pay phone, telling himself that Near would be okay alone for a minute or two as long as he was asleep, and called the house's number. I wish I could smoke a cigarette as quick as I can make phone calls—that'd fix this whole problem.
Well, not exactly—he didn't have a pack of smokes on him, either—but it would help a whole lot...
Naturally, he got the answering machine.
After listening to the voice mail message—a recording of L's voice with the identity-hiding computer effect over it—and waiting for the beep, the redhead explained shortly what had happened, listed the hospital's name and address, and said pointedly that if Gevanni or Rester were listening, they should come visit.
"Near would appreciate it if you'd bring some of his toys—those robots, maybe—and if it's not too much trouble, bring me a few packs of smokes." Satisfied that he'd made the last request nonchalant enough that nobody would accuse him of being an addict (not true—he could quit if he wanted to, he just...well, didn't want to), the redhead hung up the phone and hurried back to Near's room.
Maybe that other thing he'd asked the nurse to bring would get here soon...
Near awoke feeling like he hadn't slept at all. ...Why does the human body have organs it doesn't need, anyway? Especially if they are going to explode randomly...? He rubbed one eye, then looked down at his lap, realizing that his dinosaur was missing.
It had surprised him when Matt presented him with the plastic reptile. He had been surprised, but he couldn't say that he didn't like the gift. It had made him realize that, besides having no one there with him all of the time, the first thing that had made him uneasy about the hospital was that he hadn't had anything to occupy his hands with. His hospital room was very orderly...there was nothing unnecessary in it, nothing at all to play with. It had been uncomfortable.
Until Matt had given him the dinosaur. Except, now his dinosaur was gone...
It didn't take him long to find it, though; glancing toward the other side of his bed, he was surprised to see it standing on the bedside table—surrounded by a platoon of army men! Big green plastic reptile faced off against tiny green plastic soldiers, as a certain redhead was making the former stomp through the latter.
"Rowr," Matt said drolly, shoving one of the soldiers into the dinosaur's mouth. He proceeded to make chomping noises, working the reptile's jaws with his fingers.
Near smiled inwardly at the sight, but feigned a very serious face as he reached over and picked up one of the soldiers Matt had knocked over with the dinosaur before. I understand if he wants to play with them, but he has to play the game right...
"Soldiers should have more structure than that." Matt froze at the familiar soft voice, feeling his face flush in embarrassment. Near was awake!
"U-uh...eheheh..." He stammered, quickly pulling his hands away from the dinosaur as if it might burn him and leave pebbly plastic marks on his skin. Crap! I was so bored I kind of got carried away... That, and he didn't even need to add in his thoughts anymore that it was a good distraction from wanting a smoke.
Near didn't seem to notice his embarrassment; the white-haired boy was arranging the soldiers into two neat lines, one flanking each side of the dinosaur.
"Soldiers are a team," he said calmly, carefully inspecting the lines of little green plastic men; his right hand had gone to twisting a lock of his hair again. "They work as one large entity—this way, they know what will happen."
He turned the dinosaur to face away from the tiny army.
"They have the element of surprise."
Matt watched this, glad that Near seemed to be so absorbed in the toys that he wasn't going to comment about Matt playing with them, too. The white-haired boy remained leaning back on the pillow, only moving his arms; each time he did, Matt would wince a bit. He better be careful with those IV tubes...
"This man is the distracting element," Near continued seriously, pulling the last soldier out of the dinosaur's mouth and placing him on the ground alone in front of the plastic beast. "He's the martyr. He's going to sacrifice everything so that the rest of the team will win."
He picked up the little plastic soldier, frowning down at it.
"...He's stupid. There are better ways to do this." He sighed, placing the man back into place before the dinosaur. "Oh, well—it's not the best way, but it is one way. It will work." He nodded to himself, turning his attention back to the army of men behind the dinosaur.
He's completely absorbed, Matt observed in bemusement. I mean, honestly...he does remember they're just pieces of plastic, right?
"If a team works together and does everything as they are told to, they can accomplish what they thought was impossible." Near gestured to the army of little soldiers. Reaching over, his eyes narrowed as he pulled one out of line from the others. "If, however, even a single person makes a single mistake..."
He turned the dinosaur and made it stomp through the soldiers, knocking all of them down. Matt nodded; he didn't need to explain, the point was clearly illustrated.
I get it...teams only work if they work together. Maybe that's why when Mello wants to do things differently than him and L, it seems to irritate him... He shook his head, feeling silly. Look at this—he's got me thinking seriously about toys, too! Sheesh...
He patted Near's shoulder, smiling.
"I'm glad you're feeling better."
Near glanced at him sidelong, a toy soldier in one hand and the dinosaur in the other.
"I feel terrible," he said tiredly, looking down at the soldiers on the table. He began to set them back upright, adding calmly without looking up, "That's why I'm glad someone brought these soldiers. If you find out who, I hope you'll convey my thanks to them."
He knows I got them for him just as well as I do, Matt thought, amused.
"You're welcome," he said wryly, sitting up straight in his chair again; he had been leaned over to be able to reach the toys. Near's dark eyes were focused intently on him again. He nodded, hugging the dinosaur to his chest.
"Do you sleep with your goggles on?"
The question was so random, so spontaneous that for a moment Matt didn't realize that it was a question. Near said it so nonchalantly...like a statement, like he already knew and wasn't curious at all.
The redhead shrugged, "Sometimes, when I forget to take them off. Why?"
Near was still staring at him, unblinking.
"I don't remember what you look like without them," he said seriously. Matt blinked. Is he actually serious? I guess I do kind of live in them, but still, he's got a really good memory—how could he forget what I look like without goggles on? "If you ever take them off," the white-haired boy continued, seemingly oblivious to the slight implied insult in saying 'if', "Can I try them on?"
"It's not like they're stuck to my face," Matt pointed out, sweatdropping. "Look, I can take them off." He pulled the goggles off in one swipe of his hand, blinking at how oddly-colored everything looked. He'd never seen the hospital room without the yellow-tinted lenses on... "See...?"
He actually took them off... Near was surprised that he had gone along with the request. Matt had been wearing the goggles constantly for almost as long as he could remember. It wasn't entirely true that he didn't remember what the redhead looked like without them, but his mental image had been getting fuzzy.
I didn't even remember what color his eyes are, the white-haired boy thought glumly, disappointed in his memory's capacity. He should have been able to recall things better than that...perhaps it was because he was so tired right now.
Matt blinked, glancing around the room. His eyes were, as Near now recalled from their days in the orphanage, a vivid cornflower blue.
Near switched the dinosaur to one arm, holding out the other hand expectantly. Sweatdropping again, the redhead handed him the goggles.
"You were serious about trying 'em on, huh?"
"Yes." I may never get the chance again...and I want to see what wearing goggles feels like, to decide whether I should have Commander Rester get me that pair of spy goggles... It was no good, he had to let go of the dinosaur to put them on properly. Absently, he handed the plastic beast to Matt without looking away from the lenses in his hand to see if the redhead actually took it (he didn't hear it hit the floor, so he must have...), and pulled the goggles on. He kept his eyes tightly closed until he was sure that he had pulled all of his hair out from under the lenses; when he opened them again, he couldn't help but squint a little.
The room was stained various shades of yellow. The perplexing part was that some things—such as the sliver of sky he could see through the window—for some reason looked very bright now. So this is how Matt sees the world... He glanced around the room, then at Matt.
The redhead—whose hair was tinted dark gold through the lenses—looked a bit anxious. Perhaps he was afraid that Near wouldn't like the goggles, which obviously were an accessory he was fond of, since he wore them all the time. It could just be the difference in color...but he looks very odd without these on.
"Interesting." That was all that Near said about the goggles. Matt wasn't sure he was glad or disappointed; on one hand, it would have been kind of embarrassing if the white-haired boy had said they were stupid, but on the other hand... What? He likes toys, so I assumed he'd like them? Goggles are kind of toy-like...I guess. I just think they look cool.
He shrugged. It was kind of interesting to see Near when he wasn't tinted yellow...he knew that the smaller boy's hair was white, but it was still kind of startling to see how white it was. I wonder why his hair is white? He's not albino or anything—he would have blue eyes if he was, and probably bad eyesight, right? Huh...well, age definitely isn't a possible reason.
His mental meanderings were interrupted by their very own grumpy male nurse, who came into the room without bothering to knock first. He held a clipboard in one hand, and as usual had a frown on his face. He seemed a bit perplexed by the fact that the goggles had traveled from Matt's face to Near's since last he'd been there, but only adjusted his glasses and stood up a bit straighter in reaction.
"A-hem."
Near glanced at the newcomer, frowning slightly. It's him again. The nurse must have been assigned to his room, because he was the only one who had come in since the surgery besides Matt.
"Excuse me," the man said in a tone that suggested he didn't care if he was interrupting any conversation of theirs or not. "I'm sorry, but I need to run some tests to be sure your condition isn't becoming...something more serious."
"More serious"? Near stared at the man evenly. He was about to ask what made the nurse so sure, but Matt spoke up first.
"There you go again—is there something wrong with Near that nobody's telling us?" He sounded both frustrated and concerned at once. I wonder how long he's been wondering about this... The redhead hadn't hinted that anything else was wrong until now... He probably didn't want to worry me. He sighed, pulling the goggles off—seeing everything in yellow was disorienting.
"I noticed during my last visit that his complexion is ashen," the nurse frowned, glancing sidelong at Matt. The redhead frowned at him, blue eyes daring him to look away first.
"Yeah, he's sick. Isn't that normal for somebody who's sick?"
"...It could be a sign of a very serious condition," the black-haired man explained, sliding his little glasses up the bridge of his nose with an index finger. "I need to run these tests to be certain that he isn't developing an infection."
Near listened to them quietly, not entirely sure he liked the idea of the man examining him. I don't like him...there is something suspicious about him. He couldn't decide what, exactly, but it made him uneasy.
Matt had stood, and was now crossing his arms and looking stern.
"I don't want you to do it."
The nurse blinked, "I have to—do you mean to tell me you would rather he get a possibly life-threatening condition than have me examine him?"
"I...no, th-that's not it. I think..." The redhead glanced at Near, a questioning look in his eyes, "I think he'd rather have somebody other than you do it."
"..." Near reached over, picking up one of the green army men and examining it with sudden, intense interest. No, I don't like him at all...but, I wouldn't like any complete stranger running tests on me. He wondered why Matt was so defensive of him all of a sudden.
The nurse got a very strange look on his face.
"I...I see." He took a deep breath, as if Matt's last sentence had struck a physical blow, and asked stiffly, "What, may I ask, is objectionable about how I have been treating the patient?"
Matt frowned, waving the man to follow him further away from the bed so that Near couldn't hear every word.
"I think you scare him," he said pointedly, crossing his arms again. "You're blunt, and cold, and you don't look like the type who's very gentle on a patient, either."
The black-haired man blinked, looking down at the floor. He bowed slightly, startling Matt into backing up a step, and sighed.
"I apologize for my bedside manners. I'm afraid I'm not used to working with English-speaking patients yet, and...being short seems less risky than to say something incorrectly."
What is he, some kind of foreign exchange student? Matt wondered, regaining his composure somewhat. Now that he thought of it, the guy was Asian... No reason to assume English isn't his first language, though—especially when he speaks it so well. Apparently slang wasn't his specialty, though—he spoke a bit properly, and always seriously.
"I may not have the best relationship with my patients," the nurse continued, straightening with a little frown, "But I am excellent at doing my job. I wouldn't have been hired by a foreign company if I was not. If you find any part of my work to be anything but perfection, I'd dearly like to hear about it."
Matt thought about asking where he was from, then changed his mind and asked, "What's your name?"
"Teru Mikami," the man blinked, caught off-guard by the question. He furrowed his eyebrows a bit, adding pointedly, "It's printed on my nametag."
Matt nodded, not bothering to look at the tag pinned to Mikami's shirt, and headed back over beside Near's bed.
"It's really up to you, Near—are you okay with this grumpy Japanese guy doing the tests, or should we get somebody else?" With a name like that, he's definitely Japanese.
The white-haired boy continued to examine the little army man he was holding, handing the goggles back to Matt without looking at him.
"He can do them."
Just like that? Matt thought, absently taking the goggles back. I thought the guy really creeped him out, though...
"You sure? I could go get somebody else," he offered, glancing back at Mikami, who stood stiffly near the door looking like he'd be glad if they told him to get out right then and there.
"...It's all right." Near twisted a piece of his hair, looking down at the bed tiredly. He really doesn't look good... "My stomach hurts. I think...tests are probably for the best."
Matt nodded, waving Mikami over. His stomach hurts? They just did surgery on it, but still...I wonder if that's a bad sign? He watched anxiously as the nurse started his testing, all thoughts of L and Mello, and yes, even smoking having left his mind.
--End Chapter 5
AN: What a cheesy way to end a chapter... (Sweatdrop) Sorry, it was getting long and there just wasn't anywhere else I thought it could cut off at without seeming abrupt.
Yes, I made up Matt's eye color. There's no official canon color, and If you believe the anime's color scheme I'm already portraying his hair wrong, so sorry if you didn't imagine his eyes as blue, but it makes as much sense as the next color. (Shrug) Besides, Matt as a blue-eyed redhead looks cute, and very colorful beside Mello, Near and L.
Disclaimers: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Gameboy belongs to Nintendo. Little green army men aren't exactly a copyright issue, I don't think, but if they belong to a specific person, it isn't me. (Sweatdrop)
Thanks for reading!
-Threshie
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In Charge Akugi! Volume 5
Akugi #17
Narrator: Near awoke feeling like he hadn't slept at all.
Near: I must not have. (Goes back to sleep)
Matt: (Groan) "Please wake up so that I have somebody to talk to!"
Akugi #18
Near: "Do you sleep with your goggles on?"
Matt: (Shrug) "Sometimes, when I forget to take them off. Why?"
Near: "If you don't take them off for days, they must leave round imprints around your eyes. I was just curious whether they would double as swimming goggles, with that kind of seal involved..."
Matt: (Sweatdrop) "..."
Akugi #19
Matt: "Look, I can take them off." (Pulls on goggles) "...." (Tugs) ".....!" (YANKS) "....Nevermind, I think they've grown into my face." o_o;
Akugi #20
Mikami: "What, may I ask, is objectionable about how I have been treating the patient?"
Matt: (Frowns) "I think you scare him."
Near: (Calls from across the room) "No he doesn't."
Matt: (Sweatdrop) "Well...you're cold, and blunt, and have bad bedside manners!"
Near: "Don't worry, I can manage to be cold and blunt and have bad manners as a patient in return." u.u
Matt: "..."
Mikami: He's doing this just to make things more difficult for me, isn't he? (Sweatdrop)
