It Matters

Mello emerged from the club, his hood up covering his hair. His hands were jammed into pockets deep enough to swallow them, but despite the cold, his coat was unzipped. The edges were nontheless tightly wrapped about his front, covering the gun pushed into the waistband of his trousers. Mello's pace picked up as he entered the street. He didn't glance back but, as the car slowed behind him, he started to run. A side sleight and he was racing down a darkened alley, practically at the end when his name was called.



Mello stopped and turned. Silhouetted against the lamplight, at the alley's entrance, stood Matt. A long look at him, then Matt was turning to view back down the street. He looked back with a shrug, as if to say, 'you aren't being followed, you know.' Then he held up a bar of chocolate.



Slowly Mello trod back the distance which he had run, boots crunching broken glass and syringes underfoot. Matt took a couple of steps towards him, into the alley, but peeped back around before signalling that the coast was still clear. He only turned again as Mello's hand crept into his and squeezed. Matt relinquished the chocolate and smirked. "You look like you don't need to be here. I'll start the car back up, get ready to run."



"Thank you." Mello glowered from the shadows. Matt raced out and within seconds his car was covering the entrance. Mello dived into the passenger and without needing to be told, Matt put his foot down. "Have you finished playing with Near's computer?"



"Yes. All fixed." Matt cast a sidewards glance. "You look hot in red. Have I seen you in red before?"



"You actually look at me?" Mello snapped off chocolate and ate it in great, hungry bites. "Why couldn't Near fix his own computer?"



"Because he's... I don't know." Matt was taking out of town, away from their apartment. "He just couldn't and you were hardly going to help him. It was a challenge, I enjoyed it. Oh and..." He pulled a piece of folded A4 paper from his pocket and threw it onto Mello's lap. "Pwnt." Mello opened it and read. It was a list of their overall ratings. Matt was at the head of the chart by a clear margin. Mello just stared at it, mouth tight. "Erm, it's not real. I changed the data just long enough to print that off, then put it back. You know..."



"I know. I'm looking at the rest of it. You just changed yours, right?"



With a faint smile, Matt lit a cigarette.

"Yes. And yes, you and Near were level. I could hack back in and knock him down a few points if you like."



"No." Mello seemed to focus as the road opened up in front of them. "Where are we going?"



"I don't know." Matt responded helplessly. "You were running down an alley, I figured you just needed not to be there."



"Oh." A crack of more chocolate. "No, take us home." He seemed distracted. It was hard to read him in this mood. "I've just burnt some bridges. I said I wasn't doing any more jobs. They seemed ok about it."



"I didn't realise you could have a career change out of the Mafia." Matt frowned. "How do you even put that on your CV?" A gun was cocked and Matt felt cold metal pressing against his ear. "This is where I shut the fuck up, isn't it?" The gun was removed. "Roger sends his love." The gun returned. "Shutting up."



They drove in silence back to their apartment. Once parked up, Mello said softly,

"Stay here, drive around the block or something, but stay out of sight."



"No-one followed us."



Mello gave him a look that broked no opposition, then slipped out of the car. As he was bidden, Matt drove away, but only as far as a lay-by further up the road. He turned around and parked the car in there, watching the entrance of their block. No-one entered or left. The road was deserted but for himself. He caught a movement deep in the shadows of the reception and accelerated off into the road, onto the tarmac before it. Mello piled bags into the back seat and strapped himself back in.

"Fast as you legally can, Matt."



"You don't want us getting pulled." He put his foot down. "No-one around while you were in there."



"You shouldn't have been there to know that." Mello snapped off more chocolate. "If anyone is ever going to shoot you, I want it to be me."



"Destination?"



"Airport."



Matt glanced across but kept on driving. He peered into the rear-view mirror and eyed the bags. Beside him Mello was counting out money and folding it into, presumably, set amounts. Matt noted with some small relief that there were two passports there beneath the bungles of cash. Shoving stashes of money in various pockets and bags, Mello reached across and slid a bungle into Matt's pocket. Finally, he settled and stared straight ahead.



The miles flew by in silence until the glow of aeroplanes became more frequent and closer. Mello rubbed his eyes and pointed towards a hotel. Matt pulled in, parking right before the door, then waited to see where this was going. Mello sighed, "Double room, twin room, I don't care." He made no indication that he was going in himself, so Matt, rolling his eyes, stepped out of the car. Mello called after him. "Just not single rooms."



Ten minutes later, Matt dropped their bags onto the double bed and walked over to the window to watch planes taking off. Mello trailing him, closed the door and fixed the chain. His entire manner now was calm efficiency, as he opened the nearest bag and took out yet more money. Matt watched in fascination, then reached for an ashtray.

"I got us a smoking room."



"Fine." Mello was counting. "By the way, the leather hold all. In there." Matt slid off the windowsill again and opened up the bag. It was full of computer games and his PS3. Mello shrugged. "You've been on that more than the Xbox and the Gamecube recently, so I thought..." He pushed another wad of money into his mouth and reached for an elastic band. "Well, when you're home."



Matt walked across to Mello's side and chastely kissed his cheek. His hands slipped around Mello's stomach and he smiled, gesturing towards the still loose money.

"I can count."



"Fine, but don't. I just want to sort this out and then I can relax. Go and plug your game in." Mello made no effort to emphasise the point by pushing him physically away, but he did carry on counting. Matt considered just seducing him, but he had the feeling that he'd get hurt in a bad way. Mello really didn't seem in the mood.



For half an hour more, Mello busied himself with the contents of bags, while Matt played 'Grand Theft Auto IV'. He was just getting into it, when Mello sat down heavily and absently patted the bag beside him.

"Matt, you don't have to come."



"But you're going and I can come too?"



"Yes." Mello bowed his head. "But it could be really dangerous."



"I'm coming." Matt steered his virtual car into a wheel-spin turn across a Liberty City junction, regained control and screeched off up a street. Behind him, the chasing cars were falling behind.



"We're going to Japan." Mello pulled off his coat. "If you're coming, we'll need to put your car into storage. Keep the guns in there, because of the plane. Get more at the other end. Reappraise the situation there."



"'kay."



Mello picked up bags and stored them along the wall, clearing the bed of all clutter. He touched Matt's shoulder. "I'm going after Kira."



"'kay."



"I have another plan that doesn't involve... my former colleagues. That's why I've cleared the decks here. That's why it's dangerous." Mello let his arm drop from Matt's shoulder. "You can't fuck up and call me by my real name in front of anyone. There can't be any pictures, media footage. You'll have to destroy your MySpace and whatever else for a start."



"Owned! Fair and square! I kick ass!" Matt put down his controls and turned to face Mello. The blond looked so tired. He was sitting with his arms dangling between his legs and head bent right down. "I don't need to be told about it. Part of what I've been doing at Wammy's has been destroying cyber information that could help Kira. I've swopped all the cameras to surveillance only and wiped the archives, at The Whammy House and everywhere else. All photographs are with Near anyway. I got my own, but they wouldn't give me yours. I'm not you, see? I could be Kira for all you know."



Mello's head shot up with an expression of absolute horror.

"There's a photograph of me?"



Matt slowly nodded and reached into the inner pocket of his jacket.

"And here's the one of me." He shrugged. "I did try. They would only release my own stuff to me. Wammy's is full of directives about names and identities. Kids don't even know each other's real names now. And anyway, I'm not stupid. Roger and Near have already tried to patronise me over this shit. I don't need it from you."



"We're going to New York." Mello reached for his laptop. "I'll change the tickets. I need to know what he knows anyway."