Choices

AN: OMG this chapter just would not end! And took forever to edit… But I am having soooo much fun with this fic and have found out that it is going to be much longer than I had originally intended.... damn.

Oh yes... my favorite line from last chapter was ‘His roommate looked like something out of a gay mafia centerfold’ hehe.

Suggested Listening: I Begin To Wonder by Dannii Minogue; You’re Going Down by Sick Puppies (really... I found this amusing considering the second half of this chapter....)

Chapter Two: Words

Matt stood, carefully, on top of the sink and stretched above as far as he could. His tongue poked out the side of his mouth in concentration as he unscrewed the grating of the ceiling vent.

Placing the grate in the sink he gathered his dirty shirt, which was now wrapped around all his tech things, and shoved it in the opening of the vent. Making sure it couldn't be seen, he screwed the grate back in place and silently hopped off the counter.

He was more than happy with that hiding place. He highly doubted that Mello or anyone else would look there in the next few days. He just needed to hide it all until the new laptop arrived.

At least that was the plan.

Taking one last look in the mirror he frowned at the sight of his goggles. He'd cleaned them as best he could, but his own blood had stained parts of it, and they were still torn. If he wasn't careful they could break before he got a replacement.

With an almost audible sigh he left the bathroom, holding onto the remainder of his old clothing and his backpack. He could feel Mello watching him, almost as though he were sizing him up. His shoulders tensed and it had nothing to do with acting.

He felt... wary around the blonde. Mello was supposed to be 'unruly' and yet he had so far not said one word to him nor done anything to him. That made Matt antsy.

He wasn't worried about getting attacked or anything, he just didn't like the false calm he suspected the blonde was implementing. Or did Mello just give every new roommate one night to themselves before becoming a terror?

It was also possible that his previous roommates were just too sensitive and couldn't take the slightest rough treatment. Though the definition of ‘rough’ was dependant on the person.

Anything was possible. However, only time would tell which was correct concerning his new roommate.

Matt didn't really have anything to put away, as his backpack was now mostly empty, and he was for once at a loss concerning what to do. He usually had his games, a hacking job, a mission, or internet to amuse him.

Now he had none of those things, for a small while at least, and he was rather... bored. He decided to just lie on his new bed, which was really comfortable, and do nothing. He had his eyes closed though he was nowhere near relaxed enough to sleep.

Matt let his thoughts drift for a while, mainly thinking about possible placements for the cameras. A microphone would need to go into Rodgers office somehow. He would probably have to do that at night...

“Hey.” Matt turned his head and cracked an eye open, though he knew that his eyes couldn’t be seen from that angle. “It's dinner.” Mello said around his chocolate before walking from the room. Matt rolled his eyes but got up to follow anyway.

He did need to know where things were.

The hallway had gotten rather crowded and it didn't help that everyone kept stopping to glance at him. Matt almost sighed. He rather disliked being in the spotlight, people tended to pay more attention to you then.

But after a few moments he shrugged it off. It wasn't like he had a set time table for the mission, so if he had to wait a few extra days before setting things up to make sure he want being watched too closely, he could.

Light had said it would probably take months to even get a small bit of useful information. It wasn't as though L stayed there often, at least that's what reports had suggested.

Thought he was still supposed to check in once a week after he got his laptop up and running. The model he had asked for came with a built in webcam so he could easily have a conference call with his boss. Wasn't that fun?

The dining hall was huge, made to fit all of Whammys residence. It was set up in a buffet style, which Matt thought was probably best despite all the children there were. Whammys didn't seem the type to have cafeteria style food lines, and individual orders wouldn't work. So that left buffet style.

Or so it seemed at any rate.

He picked up a plate and piled on whatever he could, or rather whatever he could actually name, before taking a seat off by himself. He wasn't there to make friends or anything weird like that. He had a mission to complete, and the less people he came in contact with, the better.

Hardly two minutes later a strange white haired boy came to sit with him. The boy was extremely pale, with silverish white hair and he wore nothing but white. He also sat very oddly. But despite this, the boy had a very deep and calculating gaze. Matt would have to watch out for this one.

Matt made sure he shrank in on himself and kept his head down, though he could still watch the boy easily from behind his goggles. Matt eventually felt someone glaring at him and turned to see Mello watching him with narrowed eyes.

Though it wasn’t really him Mello was watching, it was the albino in front of him. He wondered if there was some sort of feud going on between the two. But in the end it was nothing more than a passing thought.

There was no announcement to the end of dinner, everyone just seemed to know when to leave. Matt took his half eaten food and tossed it into the trash on the way out. The past few days had finally caught up with him completely and he was exhausted, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

Matt crawled into his bed the moment he entered the room. He doubted that Mello would do anything to him during the night, though Matt was a light sleeper so he would wake if something was tried. It had saved him in the past when Light had gotten fed up with him being late and sent people to 'wake' him.

Really, how was getting beaten to a pulp supposed to make him get there on time? That had only occurred in the early days though. Light had finally gotten used to his lateness and planned accordingly.

Right now though, it appeared that Mello was studying. He was at one of the desks in the room with the lamp on and reading what looked like a text book. Matt scrunched his nose up at the thought of studying.

“You know,” Mello's voice broke the silence a while later, just as Matt was drifting off. “Rodger came in while you were showering and left your class schedule, and your materials for those classes. It's all on your desk.”

Matt withholds a sigh. Mello couldn't have told him earlier instead of when he was sleeping? Or would have been sleeping had he not been woken up...

“They stuck you in the easy classes.” Matt could hear the sneer in those words and ignored him in favor of curling up into a ball under the covers. He isn't sure when, but his thoughts began to slip and his mind blanked out, sleep claiming him.

-

Had he not gone to bed early, he probably would have been rather irritated when the knocking started. He was up and out of bed and pulling the door open before his thoughts were really even in place, before he was even awake.

He blinked lazily through his goggles at Rodger who stood in the doorway.

“Your things have arrived. You will need to come with me to collect them.” Matt nodded and quickly slipped on his shoes and followed Rodger from the room, he didn't bother to shut the door all the way.

Matt remembered the way to Rodger's office, where he assumed they were going, so he doesn't pay too much attention to the route. “Will you be needing any assistance?” Rodger asks once they had arrived.

Matt took one look at the two big boxes and shook his head. He may appear frail but he could lift those easily. Besides, one was filled with clothes.

“Oh, and Matt.” Matt turned on the way out, boxes balanced in his arms. “After breakfast, classes start. Inside the top box I left a map for you to follow until you are more familiar with the place. I forgot to leave it last night.” he nodded again to the older man and left quickly, eager to get to his things.

Mello wasn't in his bed when Matt returns, and the sound of the shower running tells him exactly where the blonde is. He probably didn't have much time before Mello came back out, but for now at least, he was afforded some peace.

Glancing at the clock Matt noted that he'd gotten around nine hours of sleep. It was a good thing he now had things to occupy his mind with. After a sleep that long he'd be up for quite a while. Though he supposed he would have to plan around his school schedule.

Which sucked since he'd gotten out of going to normal schools a long time ago.

Matt opened the first box and pocketed the map, he would look it over later, probably right before classes. He would only need to study it once before it would be in his memory. He quickly took his clothes out of the box and stared happily at everything. He wondered if he would be able to take some of the stuff with him when he left. It was much better quality than the things he normally had.

Mainly because everything went to buy games or cigarettes.

He left out a black and red striped shirt and a new pair of jeans and boxers before putting everything else away. Deciding that Mello would be in there for at least another five minutes, he dressed and threw the other clothes into his backpack.

The second box held his laptop, goggles, as well as a black PSP with around seven games for it. They were all a mix so he was happy enough with the games. He was even happier with the new goggles. He tossed the torn ones into the trash bin and slipped the new ones on just as Mello was exiting the bathroom.

Mello eyed his new things with sharp eyes and Matt made sure to at least have his PSP on him at all times. Though Matt was supposed to stick to his default expression, he couldn't help the quirk of his lips as he eyed the few cartons of cigarettes lying underneath the laptop.

He wondered how Whammy had gotten Rodger to agree with him on that one. Whammy had seen him smoking before they left so he probably knew it wouldn't be a good idea to just make him quit.

There was a note attached to one of the cartons that said he was required to smoke outside, and that they would be taken away if he didn't comply. Going outside was fine so long as he could smoke. Really, this place was better than HQ so far. Well... maybe not.

Mello had made a sound of disgust as the cigarettes were lifted into view.

Matt quickly added that to the top drawer of the dresser, where the ones he'd brought were, and stuffed a pack into his pocket before shutting the draw.

Mello left the room after that, and Matt could hear voices from outside the door. That meant it was probably time for breakfast. Taking out the last item from the box, something he hadn't asked for, though after seeing all the books on his desk he knew it was something he needed.

A small black book bag.

Matt knew that his laptop probably wouldn't fit in with all the books so he would have to leave it. For today at least. Once he found out what classes were more lenient to him not paying attention, if any.

He figured he'd have time to go back to the room before classes actually started, and the fact that Mello's book bag was still propped up by his desk said so as well.

The hallway was no less crowded than the night before, and just as many eyes were on him. He shrugged them all off and made sure to ignore any questions aimed at him. No, he didn't want to talk. No, he wasn't going to suddenly get a desire to.

Well, that was partly true. He didn't mind talking occasionally, so long as he could make the other person look like an idiot or piss them off. Like Takada. She was fun to piss off. Generally though, no one interested him enough or was intelligent enough for what might pass as normal conversation.

Entering the dining hall, Matt decided to be daring today. So he chose something he was unfamiliar with and sat down to eat, hoping it wouldn't taste nasty. Surprisingly, considering his luck sometimes, it was rather good.

Though he still held no clue as to what it was. Probably something he should know, but considering he lived off of microwavable foods…

The strange white haired boy sat with him again and the boy's eyes didn’t leave him unless he was eating. It was... odd.

“Near.” Matt looks up to see Mello practically snarling at the albino across from him. “Mello.” the albino, whose name Matt supposed was Near, didn't look up and instead moved his fingers to play with a piece of white hair.

Mello looks only seconds from snapping but before anything could happen everyone was getting up, signaling the end of breakfast. “Mello should get to class before he falls further behind.” 'Near' commented quietly as he got up and walked off leaving Matt sitting at the table with an angry Mello.

Mello took out his chocolate and tore into it before stomping off. Well, Matt thought, at least the anger hadn't been directed at him yet. Yet being the key word.

Matt found that he had been correct in assuming there was time to collect his things before classes began. Not a lot of time, but enough. He glanced at the schedule and shoved all the required books into the book bag, making sure he had his PSP on him, and left the room.

He quickly scanned the map that Rodger had given him before tossing it into the trash.

His first class was... really boring. Mello hadn't been kidding when he'd said he was in the easy classes. Matt could do this math in his sleep. He kept his head slightly lowered and began to play the PSP under the desk.

On mute, of course.

He paused his game when everyone began to leave, and headed to his next class. It was literature, and no less boring. He'd read all those books years ago when his laptop had crashed due to a power surge at HQ, which had incidentally killed all of his games that had been plugged in at the time.

He had not been happy.

He doubted he could bring his laptop to any of the classes, just after being in the first two. The teachers were strict. Not insanely so, but enough where they wouldn't tolerate inattentiveness.

That he was already exhibiting.

“Matt, what is the answer to the previous question?” Matt had heard the question but really didn't feel the need to speak up, so he shrugged a shoulder and the teacher sighed heavily.

“Pay attention. This is the only warning you will receive.” he ignored the woman and went back to his game.

Wouldn't it boggle her mind when he aced the tests despite having slacked off?

Matt liked messing with people. But really, it was their own fault for not looking more closely at him just because he appeared to be a slacker.

Well he was, but that wasn't the point.

He went through three more classes like that, none of them stimulating him in the least, as well as lunch. Matt considered going to Rodger and asking for harder classes, but figured the man wouldn't believe him until there was proof.

Like him scoring well in the rankings at the end of the week.

Matt guessed that he had a few hours before dinner so he could probably finish the game in that time. Then he should probably work on the laptop...

But more importantly, he needed a cigarette.

It wasn't hard to find the main doors to the orphanage, nor was there any opposition to him just walking out. Matt quickly took out the necessary items and he sighed as the smell of smoke swirled around him.

No, he decided, this place was worse than HQ. Because at least at HQ he could smoke as much as he wanted. Here, he would have to work out when he actually had time. He took his time outside, smoking two more, before finally venturing back inside.

Matt felt calmer now and knew that it was only the work of the nicotine in his system. Funny how he didn't even notice how tense he'd gotten until he was able to smoke. Funny in a not so funny way....

Upon entering his room, or rather their room, Matt sighed.

On his side of the room all of the blankets and sheets are on the ground, having been pulled from the bed, and his new clothes strewn across the floor. He sighed again. What was Mello, five?

He quietly picked up his things and flopped onto his newly made bed. He retrieved the PSP from his pocket and unpaused it. He had just been getting to one of the last boss battles when Mello arrived.

He watched Mello's expression darken slightly at his lack of reaction. Honestly what was he supposed to do? Cry over tossed clothing? Throw a fit? Matt went back to the game and ignored Mello, who was probably studying again as it seemed like it was all he did.

Only a few minutes later something hard flew into the side of Matt's face subsequently causing him to drop the PSP; thankfully only onto the bed. Matt glanced at the object. It was a book.

Mello had thrown a book at him. That book had fucking hurt.

Mello smirks when he looks up. “I was just making sure you were alive, you don't make any noise.” Matt narrowed his eyes but doesn't comment, instead keeping his expression blank.

Mello sets down his bar of chocolate, Matt watching his movements warily, and strides across the room. He gently picks up the fallen book, having to lean over Matt to do so, and starts back to his side of the room. But not before yelling to Matt over his shoulder.

“I dislike having a roommate, so you’re better off changing rooms or it won't be a book that hits you next time.” Matt wondered if he is supposed to feel threatened by that. Matt felt threatened when Light so much as grinned at him, this boy had nothing on his boss.

Matt had the sudden desire to know what rank his roommate was. Perhaps it would explain why the blonde acted as though everyone was beneath him, not worth his time. But that would have to wait until either his laptop was up, or the rankings at the end of the week. Matt wasn't so curious that he couldn't wait.

Matt had just finished the final boss of his current game when he noticed Mello leaving the room. How long had he been playing if it were already dinner time? Not that he really cared all that much. He lived off of games.

Fantasy was always so much better than reality, at least in his opinion. Why have one life when you can have many?

Matt walked down the hallway, PSP in hand, and managed to get to the dinning hall without looking up once. Getting food was another matter and required him to actually pay attention. Matt isn't quite sure what to make of the scene at his now 'usual' table.

Near was sitting in the same spot as he had been for the last three meals, only now he was joined by Mello who was glaring at him from across the table. Matt had to wonder if going to a different table would make a difference.

As Near's dark eyes lock on his form he decided that, no, moving would not matter. He would just be followed. For what reason he couldn't even begin to fathom.

So instead of worrying about it, he sat down with his stalker and his pissy roommate. At least this made his stay even more interesting. Though he supposed that it may veer away from interesting if the sheep like boy started to actually follow him everywhere.

Matt sat further down at the table, as far as he could go actually, and despite the two sets of eyes now on him, managed to eat in relative peace. Matt kept his head low but began to watch the other children.

One of his skills was observation, as so many people ignored him and dismissed him simply because of his looks that it made it easy to watch them. Get familiar with them, and draw conclusions simply by their unconscious actions.

He supposed that was one of the reasons Light had sent him and not one of the other agents. Though Matt isn't actually certain if there is another agent around his age. He was once the youngest in the group but doesn't know if that still applies.

And when everyone else begins to get up, so does he. He can feel Mello glaring at him, this time he was certain that it was at him rather than Near. Mello would obviously do something else to him once he realized that he had no intention of changing rooms, the question was what.

Matt would, if he had to, break character if a fight was involved. He wasn't going to let the blonde walk all over him simply because he felt he should be able to.

He headed back outside rather than to their room, after a good meal he preferred to smoke. Actually, he just preferred to smoke. The night air was cool, rather chilly, and held a damp smell.

He had read that Winchester was rather dreary.

He took out the PSP and turned on the volume now that he was alone, and doesn't turn it off even once he is back inside. The game looked like it would have interesting music and rather loud sound effects.

Matt feels rather satisfied when the third irritated sigh floats across the room. “Put that fucking thing on mute, I’m trying to study!” Mello finally snarls. Matt however, merely turned the volume louder.

Mello, only a few minutes later, gathered his things and with a snarl slams the door on his way out. Matt knew that there would definitely be retaliation for this, but can't find it in himself to care at the moment.

Really though, he shouldn't have done it.

Mello still isn't back by the time Matt realized he needed to go to sleep, not because he was actually tired, but because of the stupid classes. Stupid and insanely boring classes. Switching off the light he lay awake for some time before falling asleep.

It is only when the sun hits his eyes that Matt notices he had left his goggles hanging from his neck all night. Yawning, he checked the clock quickly before sliding from bed. Mello is still asleep despite Matt not making even the slightest bit of effort to be silent.

Just when had the blonde gotten back, and why hadn't Matt been woken? The only answer was.... Mello was a ninja.

Matt rolled his eyes and took a quick shower; changing into a black and white striped shirt, the only real noticeable change in his outfit, and deciding to head outside for a few cigarettes. The only problem, he couldn't find his cigarettes.

Even the ones in his dresser were missing. Glancing across the room he eyed Mello with a frown. At least it hadn't been his games. He could wait the blonde out until he got bored, right?

Now having nothing to do before breakfast, which was more than a half hour away, Matt opted to take his laptop and explore. If he found a nice spot he could sit down and work a little while.

He found a music room, as well as what looked like the common room, though he didn't stay in either of those places. They would become crowded and noisy far too soon. Or at least the common room would.

Turning another corner Matt was met with two large, thick wooden doors. Pushing them open he found a vast room lined with books. The library. And it was huge, having a second floor.

And it was quiet.

Heading up to the second floor Matt found a small area in the middle, set up with plump cushiony chairs and a table, where he could work. Alright, some things were better than HQ.

Setting the laptop on the table, and pulling a maroon chair closer, he begins. Over an hour later he is still there, having decided to skip breakfast in favor of this, and there is still more work to be done.

Not with the computer, that issue was sorted out. No, now he needed to map out the rest of the school and start placing the cameras and microphone in key areas. Mainly the most traveled areas.

Problem one, he couldn't do that at the moment since he had classes. That was fine though, it wasn't like it would kill him to wait until after classes.

Problem two. He couldn’t fucking concentrate. He needed a cigarette badly, as his last one had been sometime yesterday, but thanks to Mello he couldn't have one.

He had finally had it.

Threaten him, that’s fine. Kick him around a few times, alright. Take his games, not really ok but he could live without them for a few days. But don't touch his smokes. It was never a good thing to deprive him of cigarettes...

Sure he could wait a surprisingly long period of time without them, but it was never advisable as, well... he tended to get rather moody. He was good at hiding it though, as it was never good to show much weakness at HQ.

Matt had overestimated just how long he could go without smoking this time. Greatly overestimated...

So, in order to get his smokes back, it was time to play hardball. This, after all, deserved some retaliation. He had noticed where the blonde stashed his chocolate, not really hard since Mello went through so much of it he was always dipping into it, and that was only after a day and a half of Matt being at Whammys.

Breakfast would almost be over so he would have to work fast. Making his way back to the room Matt let a rather a rather devious grin slide across his face. This was definitely going to get a reaction from his lovely roommate.

Closing the door, but not locking it, he set to work. Stuffing the chocolate into his backpack he went into the bathroom, because he was sure the blonde wouldn't look there. He could have hidden them in the vents but then he would have had to find a different place for his tech stuff, as well as tip Mello off to the possibility of him hiding things up there.

He removed the top three towels, as he doubted this little war would last long enough to go through more of them, and began wrapping the chocolate in the remaining ones. Once he was finished he quickly exited the bathroom, gathered his books and left for class.

His attention was split the entire day, between the wanting for a cigarette, and his own twisted amusement in finding out Mello's reaction. There was however, the possibility that the blonde hadn't gone to his stash yet, so he might even be able to watch.

He knew he was opening a can of worms with this act, but really, if Mello was going to be childish it meant Matt could as well.

Later, as Matt walked into their room, he made a show of looking in his dresser and moving things around in search of something. He's could see Mello smirking from his reclined position on his bed.

Mello had been asleep earlier when Matt had actually discovered the missing smokes, so he figured he'd let him have his fun. It would be right around the time he'd be smoking....

But that was alright, since Mello was in for a surprise of his own.

Matt allowed a sigh and settled down to play his PSP for a while. There was no sense in trying to do anything for the assignment at the moment; he actually needed to concentrate a little for that. Light could go to hell if he thought Matt would work without his smokes, and at the moment, he might have even told him that.

Matt heard the crinkling of plastic and the shuffling around the room, about the spot of Mello's stash, before deathly silence. Matt likens it to the calm before the storm. Or maybe more like the eye of a hurricane.

“Where are they?!” Mello snaps, his tone somewhere between furious and disbelieving. Matt looked up and cocked his head to the side in question, though he knew exactly what Mello meant.

“Where is my fucking chocolate?!” Mello is standing over him and Matt realized he was in a rather bad situation, so he stood up and found with some amusement, that he was an inch or so taller.

Mello raises his fist and holds it there as though it might make Matt talk. Matt made himself flinch, supposed abuse victim after all, but stayed silent. Mello then punched him, making his goggles dig painfully into his face.

He was probably going to end up with a ring around that eye, how lovely.

“I expect it to be there by the time I get back.” Mello says menacingly and kicks him in the stomach. Matt coughed and glared up at the blonde though his back was to him now. Mello snarls and storms out of the room. Matt took that time to clear his head and go into the bathroom to gently inspect his eye.

Well, there was definitely a red ring around his left eye, if he was lucky it wouldn't bruise. Though he would definitely have a bruise on his stomach, which was rather tender at the moment.

Matt didn’t see Mello again until dinner, which had been rather awkward. And amusing. Very amusing.

Especially when Mello kept going to grab or eat chocolate that he didn't currently have.

Matt figured that it was probably safer for him not to go back to the room until he was actually ready for bed. He really didn't want to actually have to fight back, at least not so soon into his stay.

Thought, wasn’t that kind of what he was doing anyway?

Matt was glad that he had the foresight to take his PSP with him when he'd left the room earlier. Otherwise... it would have been a very long wait.

When he finally made it back to the room, far earlier than intended, the lights were out. It seemed that Mello couldn't concentrate without his own addiction. That thought had Matt smirking as he quietly readied himself for bed.

In some ways, they were similar, at least judging by what he's seen. And in others, like studying, they were complete opposites.

Matt, though he isn't sure how, managed to fall asleep despite the constant craving for nicotine.

When he woke early the next morning, his cigarettes were sitting on his bedside table and he couldn’t help but grin.

Matt – 1; Mello – 0.

He made sure to get ready and leave as quickly as he could, after all, Matt had gone longer without his cigarettes than Mello without his chocolate. So the blonde could wait a few more hours.

And since they didn't have classes together Matt was left in peace to play his PSP and completely ignore the world until it was time to go back to their room and switch out his books before lunch.

Though he wasn't sure why he even bothered bringing them as he hadn't so much as opened them yet.

Mello walked in a few minutes after Matt did, with a scowl firmly in place. He glared at Matt so forcefully that Matt is sure it could make paint peal. Too bad he wasn't affected by it.

Hearing the shuffling noises outside, the signaling of lunch, Matt headed for the door with Mello watching him intently.

“Your chocolate is wrapped up in the towels in the bathroom.” and as Matt walked out the door he mused on the fact that those were his first words to the blonde.

-End Words-

AN: Sooooooooo how was it, other than long? (*thinks over that statement and giggles* -_-; )