The Story of Matt and Mello



PT. 27;;  Shit is about to hit the fan
^{A/N;; Spoilers for first names!}



After their busy weekend, the whole gang was packed in the benches again.

Trying to rub the ‘Monday morning’ out of their eyes, all six were working on the newest assignment; analyzing whose handwriting was who’s, by the way the letters looked.

Everyone had to write down the exact same story and then put it in a bowl so they could pull out another one at random.


Near had already figured out he was holding Mello’s paper; the t’s were so violently crossed it looked like they were almost decapitated.

Mello had Linda, whose handwriting was curvy, small and overall; girly.

Linda held the winning paper; no one had figured out it was Matt’s text.
He earned extra points by having a general ‘average’ handwriting;
not slanted, not too big or little... It didn’t stand out.

As the teacher praised him, all he did was shrug, and glance over at Mello who was smiling at him; he was glad Matt got some credit, even if that meant he lost, this time.


Suddenly the tutor got interrupted as the intercom went on, letting out a rusty ‘ding-dong’.

“Children.” The little speaker box said, with a too familiar voice for some of them.
“I have important news. In order for your training, I’ll be involving a few of you in a case. You will be joining me in a meeting as I show someone I know around this place.”

It stayed silent for a few seconds, before L continued.
“Do keep in mind that this might be dangerous; if you want to decline on this by not showing up, I completely respect that decision. Ten of you will be given this chance,
I must ask the others to be cautious of showing yourself today. My apologies for the possible inconvenience.”


After another breaking ‘ding-dong’, their Miss spoke again.
“I’ve been told to hand out papers with either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on it. Please keep it to yourself, and no peeking on others. If you have a ‘yes’ and are chosen, think about whether or not you are willing to maybe risk your life by joining L today...
People who are certain are asked to be Roger’s office at three o’clock.”

She gave them the little handouts, and added;
“If you received a ‘no’, L has given strict rules.
You will not come to mister Roger’s room, you will not ask about what will or has happened. Every child who disobeys these policies will be punished. And lastly...
I had instructions to mention this clearly; You must not call each other by name for the rest of the day. That last one goes for all of you, also the children given a ‘yes’.”

Her sigh resounded through the ill-quiet classroom, as she checked if she said everything L wanted her to say, and how he wanted it to be said.  “Any questions..?
Class dismissed.”



As soon as the bell rang, Mello grabbed Matt by his loose, striped shirt and pulled him all the way to his room and shut the door.
“Show me your card!”

“I don’t think we’re supposed to do that...” Matt mumbled.

“Oh, like I care! Don’t be such a conformist wuss and give me the damn paper.”

The redhead had it more ripped out of his hands than he gave it away, and he thought of something. “What did yours say?”

“I.. I haven’t looked yet.”

“What?”

“I’m too nervous!”

“Are you scared?”

“Nooo, I’m nervous, didn’t you hear me? This is such a big chance to impress L!”

Of course, Matt thought, Mello didn’t even hear the teacher go on about rules.

The blond folded open Matt’s and sighed in relief.
“You’re in, not that I had any doubt about that.”

Before Matt could react, Mello went on to the next paper.
“I got in! I got in!” He put his arms around Matt’s shoulders and yelled in excitement.

“This is so awesome, I can’t wait!”

The gamer just smiled and patted Mello’s back, silently, pondering...

“Hey Matt,” Mello seemed to discover Matt’s cool reaction.
“You’re going with me, aren’t you?” His eyes stared into his own, waiting.

Matt swallowed, but then smiled. “Of course, I’ll go.” And he gave him a kiss.
“For you, I will...”



“Wow.”

As some people were silent and recovering from the shock; others were whispering to each other, excited by this very possible one time opportunity.
(‘Do you think he got in?’ ‘What do you think this is about?’ ‘I’ve heard it involves someone who killed seven prostitutes..’ ‘Ohh! Wait, what are prostitutes?’)

But Basil and Taff were sharing a lunch, sitting apart from the gossiping larger group.
“..Wow.”

“I know. I wonder what it’s about...”

“... Wow.”

Taff looked at Basil, he was staring at his food with enlarged eyes.
“I don’t know how to say this, but.. ehm.. I can’t hang out with you today.”

The boy glared up from his food. “Do you mean..?”

“Yes.”

“..Wow.” His earlier reaction again.

“Will I.. be seeing you there?”

“I-- I’m not sure.”

“How do you mean, you’re not sure? Don’t you know? Is something wrong with your card?” She asked as she grabbed it from underneath his plate.

“No, wait--!” Basil stretched out his hand to get his paper back, but was too late.

“But... This says yes.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Taff looked confused, so Basil said; “I.. I don’t think I want to do it. I mean...
How much do I know about that L-dude? Not enough to risk my life.
Didn’t you hear them? All those restrictions? It sounds dangerous as heck!”

“I understand..” Taff mumbled, and she meant it. Basil was a careful guy, until someone he really knew and cared about was in trouble. He’d go through fire for them.

“If you want to go, I get that. Just.. say hello to the lads for me. I have a feeling they’ll be there as well.”

“I will.”

“Taff... Be careful.”

She just nodded and started walking towards the meeting point. She understood Basil’s angst, even more because she got to compare his card with her paper...
Was L’s handwriting shakier on hers because he was afraid she was going to be hurt..?  


-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -



About half an hour before the clock would strike three everyone who was invited was gathering in front of Roger’s office. There was Mello; keeping Matt in clear sight, Taff; counting down every minute on the big clock in the hall, Victor; who was not exactly comfortable with who he was, Near; of who no one ever knew if he was comfortable,
and two other girls by the name of Paige and Piper.

(They were supposedly good students, but they usually hung out with only each other.)

Four boys, three girls. Matt wondered if that was wrong as he nervously hopped from one foot to another.

“Don’t you dare run away,” Mello hissed softly.

“Can you blame me for being uneasy?”

“Relax, it’ll be fine...”

“Like, how do you know?” Matt’s turn to hiss.

“I don’t know but my instinct tells me so.”

Matt knew he was just clearly lying at this point.

“Plus, you said you’d go for me.”

Ah bitch. He’s got him now.

He nodded in silence and Mello seemed pleased again.



“Why were you invited anyway?” Piper, a black-haired girl, asked Victor.

“How would I know? Did your card give you a reason?”

“Can I... See your card?”

“What?! Don’t you believe me!?” Victor burst.

“I do!”

“No,” The girl called Paige coughed in the background, “No.”

“Of course I do..” Piper replied sweet-voiced, now just let me see it.

Victor pulled out a card and shoved it almost in her face.
“There. Happy?”

The Wammy girl pouted. “No, but whatever..” And she walked back to Paige,
who was trying to stop gloating.

“I think it’s a fake..” Paige whispered in her ear.



When there was about 15 minutes left, Mello quietly told everybody to shut up and lay his head on the door.

“I hear voices...”

Normally everybody would’ve made a bad joke about that, but these were serious times, and nobody felt like breaking the now fallen silence for such a dumb reason.

“Can you understand what they’re saying?” Victor asked.

“Not really, but I think I recognize L’s voice...”

“How many are there?” Taff asked, while Matt also put his head against the wood.

“Two, or maybe three. The other one sounds... Old.”

As the two were trying to listen closer and for ten other ears as well, they were so focused on the voices that they didn’t pay attention to the footsteps.
That is, until the door flew open and the two boys were sailing to the floor.

Roger, still holding the doorknob, greeted them with a gentle nod.

“If you’re really sure about this, I’ll be leaving the two of you alone with these children.”
He said, maybe as a way of saying bye, before stepping over the two teenagers.

“Wait.”

L, who was standing in the middle of the room, gestured in the direction of Victor, making Watari (‘Two old voices’, Matt thought) stand up.

“He’s not supposed to be here.” Watari exclaimed.

“W.. Yes I am!” Victor said, not knowing whether to look at Watari or L.
He pulled out his card and showed it to the black haired man. “See?”

“Boy, L wrote yes or no for each person individually, he would know if you were meant to be here.” And he gently but firmly pushed him towards Roger.

(For a second Taff remembered her shakily written card and stiffened, before trying to shake that feeling off.)

“You broke the rules, Victor... Not only did you ignore the statement about staying away from here, but you also forged something that was supposed to be by L’s hand... You’re in big trouble now, come with me.” And off they went, the boy’s face showing slight fear.

After that, L seemed to let out what sounded like a sigh as Watari signed for them to enter and the last person shut the door.

They were seated in chairs that were lined up next to each other, all facing the way of two other chairs that were a bit turned away from the other.

“Before I explain anything, listen closely to this.” The raven said in a calm, strict manner of tone, as he walked past the children one by one.

“For this afternoon, you will all have different names. Use this name with confidence.”

He stood still in front of Matt. “Mail.”

On to Mello. “Mihael.”

Taff. “Tiffany.”

Paige. “Paula.”

Piper. “Rachel.”

And on the last chair, Near. “Nate.”

All the teens had gone into a freeze, but no one dared to ask the other why they were upset too.

Watari bend over L’s shoulder and asked with a whisper if he really thought this was a good idea.

“Would you believe it were their real names if you were him?”

“No sir, I don’t think I would...”

“So,” L went back to his normal voice as he looked at the other people in the room.

“I need you to say those names without hesitation. No stuttering, do you understand?”

To be honest, L feared this bit. Stuttering would throw apart this whole act. If they didn’t stutter, normal people would assume it were their real names, but there was a 89% chance the suspect would see way too hard on it and think the teenagers had just practised saying their false name a lot. Let’s just hope this will work...

“Are you all ready..?” He checked one last time.

Most of the children nodded, some answered with a weak ‘yes’, and Near sat there staring at him blankly. They were as ready as they will ever be.

L walked to a door filled with bolts, (probably the one they came in through, Mello thought) and pulled on the knob. The door turned out to be soundproof when it was visible that it was five inches thick, so it surprised everybody that L seemed to open it with more easy than expected.

“You can come in now...”

“Thank you, Ryuzaki.” A smooth voice echoed through the room.

Behind L walked in a young, nicely dressed man.