Watari Pt 2: Wammy's House

They were chess pieces on a board and Near moved them assessing their situations. They all had something to lose. Near could lose his title and therefore his whole world. Mello could lose Matt. Matt could lose his life. So those were the stakes and they would influence each player. Did they mean anything? The white-haired teenager stared at each token in turn.



The title was a blow to pride, but its loss was not insurmountable. Mello had taught him that, giving up his claim to L’s succession, twice. Near’s stake then was high, but could be played as if it wasn’t a factor. The loss would be inconvenient, but, maybe, the return might be interesting. A little part of his mind already started planning that strategy, while most of his thoughts turned to Mello’s position.



The volatile blond played to win all of the time. The loss of Matt would be a blow to his pride, but Mello used people. Others were just so many pawns in his own game, so he might just decide that Matt wasn’t so important enough to save. Near paused, touching that chess piece again. No. Matt was different. The efforts that Mello had undertaken saving him from peril in the past few days were evidence of that. The fact that Mello had lowered his gun in Camden was further strength to that conclusion. Mello considered Matt in a way that trumped his own pride. He would fight to save him again. Yet, there was another factor. Matt was challenging Mello to the L title. This was the only thing that Mello had ever cared about, despite giving it up twice. Near knew that Mello’s rejection came only because both times the option had been power-sharing with himself. Matt himself was now betraying his boyfriend and that had to hurt Mello. Near lifted the chess piece and narrowed his eyes in staring at it. Mello was unpredictable and let his emotions cloud his judgement. However, if he so much as attempted to save Matt now, then it had to be concluded that the balance had swung into the redhead’s favour. Mello would fight to save Matt.



Near placed the token back onto the board and picked up the third. Matt was playing to lose. He had created a whole situation that it was impossible to win, without seeming, thus far, to realize that it was equally a position of strength. He could take everything. Nontheless, Matt was playing to die. Did Matt not value his own life? Near considered all of the evidence. The chain-smoking, the drugs, the wild car rides, the suicide attempts, the placing himself firmly into clear and present danger several times. No, Matt did not value his own life. Yet, he had taken measures in that cave to prolong it. Matt was not technically suicidal, just extremely reckless. He wouldn’t hesitate to arrange his own execution if the net closed, but until then would be content with living.



The pyjama-ed boy replaced Matt’s token and evaluated the whole. Of the three of them, Near was the one with the least to lose. Mello and Matt’s situations meant that they contained the seeds of each other’s success or failure. It could end in mutual destruction or mutual redemption. Which meant?



Near sat back suddenly with a smile. This was no more than a civil war in Mello and Matt’s house. What had Matt called it earlier, over the network, when the argument had sounded like something to do with what they were having for their evening meal? A ‘domestic’. As elaborately crafted and potentially devastating as it was, it was no more than a domestic between Mello and Matt. So…?



How could each person win? Near factored himself out for the moment, paused and stared at his own chess piece. It might be that he could factor himself out completely for the most efficient win. Mello would win if both himself and Matt were free to go; at the very least, his success required safety for them both. Mello would also win if he allowed himself to power-share with Matt and therefore changed the thrust of his battleplan into using Matt to gain the L title. That was a variable. It was an extremely likely outcome. However, its weakness was still that bottom line that Matt had to live. Near resolved that, should Mello show signs of switching to that scenario, then Near would ensure more danger for Matt. He sat up and stared at Rester until the large man moved to his side. Near whispered, “Arrange for explosives to be placed around the base of our London headquarters. Surround the building with armed officers. Do not move on either until I give you the directive. Do not let either Mello or Matt know about this.” Rester’s eyes widened, but he silently did as he was told. The white-haired teenager returned to his game. Mello could not win without Near’s co-operation. Either Near allowed Matt to walk free or else, if Mello pressed home the potential title advantage, Near had to be persuaded not to blow the building up with Matt still in it. Mello’s position was weak.



Matt would win if Near killed him or if Mello forgave him. No! Mello would also have to convince Matt of the truth of his forgiveness, against all of the evidence and two decades worth of fierce competition for this very prize. Near resolved not to kill him. That would remove one potential win, but… Near blinked. He had just ordered preparations for a situation that threatened just that! He scowled, looking from Mello’s chess piece to Matt’s. There was a terrible strength in Matt’s position here. If he had anticipated Near’s reaction to the point where the suggestion to power-share came from the redhead, and Mello was persuaded to do so, then Near would have no option but to make his own move. Yet there were hostages as surety against such a move. The evidence suggested that this was Matt’s intention all along! The third was going to talk Mello into sharing the position of L with him and then…



And then what?



The plan was pure genius right up until its conclusion. Near had Mello as a hostage, which counterbalanced Matt’s hostages. Mello could not join Matt without Near’s co-operation. Mello could not make any of his moves without Near’s co-operation. Mello and Matt could join forces only intellectually, not physically. They could not unite to become L without the probability being that one or both would be killed. Again the position of strength was with Matt. He could allow Mello to be killed by Near’s people and thus gain the advantage. He would still have his hostages. Did Matt care about Mello? There was no evidence. Matt had intervened in Camden, but that might have been caring about Near. He had put his life on the line in the fight against Kira, but that might have been selflessness in their collective struggle. Matt was Mello’s constant companion, but that could have been strategy. Keeping his enemy closer than his friends. Near frowned, initially finding the lack of empirical data irksome, then he smiled. Mail Jeevas had never been this interesting before.



Near replayed all he knew about the couple, lingering especially on more recent events. Matt was reckless with his own life and well-being, within that understanding, then nothing that he put himself through, as Mello’s lover, was inconsistent with playing a long game to secure the L title. None of it could unequivocally imply care for Mello’s life. If Matt really was the number one, then he had the intelligence and the patience to have been planning a strategy like this since they were children. He had waited until the Kira case had been solved and he had neutralised the threat of Mello. Now was his move against Near.



Or it could be a domestic between Mello and Matt.



Near reached his conclusions and found his strategy. Let Mello have free rein to take on his lover. If they cared about each other, then there was the potential for Mello to persuade Matt to leave that building. As soon as he did, Matt lost all of his advantages. If they spoke of joining forces, then Near would threaten to explode the building. It might be a bluff, but neither Mello or Matt would know that. If they determined it to be so, then Near would order his men to execute Mello. That would be less likely to be seen as a bluff. If Matt did not care about Mello, then his true intentions would be revealed and the fight could really begin.



Near rose, bored now that he had completed the puzzle. “Gevanni, allow Mello full access to the mainframe, but keep him restrained. He is working for us, but he is still our prisoner.”