End Transmission

AN: XD. Its all I have to say.

Suggested Listening: Not Now by Little Boots

Chapter Thirty-Two: Unexpected

Mello sighed and glanced at the phone on the table as he silently debated getting the call over with or waiting. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to deal with anyone else at the moment.

He had just gotten off the phone with Matsuda, who had called him. Thankfully it hadn't been any bad news for the most part. Simply Matsuda wanting to know if there was anything else Mello wanted him to do, as Light had informed him of everything going on with L.

Mello leaned back, his head resting against the chairs arm. He had told Matsuda to concentrate on the people that surrounded Yagami, to make sure that none of them got too close to him and to keep extra tabs on the ones already close; and if possible, trail and survey the officers who had been or presently were acting suspicious as it was now, more than ever, imperative.

Matsuda hadn't really surprised him when he had stated that two of the other officers, who worked closely with Yagami's father, had been acting a little tense since a few days before; the date that Mello associated with L propositioning Yagami. Matsuda had concluded that it could have been a coincidence, as their cases hadn't been going well for them, but stated that he was wary of them. And if Matsuda was wary of someone then there was something more to it. Mello had suggested extreme caution for trailing them.

That call had taken up a half hour of his life. And Mello had a feeling the next one would take just as long if things didn't go in his favor. Sucking in a breath Mello leaned forward until his phone was within his grasp. He had given Yuriy more than enough time; he just hoped that the man had done as asked.

The call was picked up on the fifth ring, Mello having been willing to let it ring for some time, and there was a commotion going on in the background that didn't bode well for someone if the gunshots were anything to go by.

"Mello." Yuriy commented blandly, as though he couldn't be concerned with what was happening, and if he wasn't then Mello wasn't going to be either.

"You know why I'm calling." he told the other man. There was a tense silence, followed an agonized scream, in which Mello was certain he would have to get rid of Yuriy, someone who had been loyal to his family for so long...

"It's done. I'm not happy about it, but it's done. There is a lot of shit going down because of it, and even though we framed the smaller Titov family eyes are still glancing at us since we had the most to gain." Yuriy sounded far less than pleased and Mello understood but it was something that had to be done.

"Well done then." Mello commented, though he had a feeling it would only irritate the other man and perhaps it was that he had been aiming for.

"And the men, have you informed them yet?" there was a deep sigh on the other end.

"I have that planned for once the current commotion at the base has died down. Bernt and Stasik decided to make some trouble so I've just had them dealt with in a rather embarrassing way." Mello grinned. That meant they would live to regret their mistakes.

"Be careful they don't try to off you because of it." that was the last thing Mello needed. It was bad enough that he wasn't there and in the thick of things and relying on second and third hand knowledge but if Yuriy was killed he would have to make an appearance before his men, and he really couldn't afford to be traveling, never mind attempting to get Kain recognized as a second.

"No one here would let them after the backlash it's caused us."

"Is it something I should be concerned with?" Mello asked carefully. It was almost as though Yuriy were purposely attempting to keep him in the dark; and either it was simply because it were something potentially laughable, a screw-up unworthy of attention, of something darker. Mello knew he was paranoid but he wasn't sure what was simple paranoia or a gut feeling anymore.

"No, it's nothing major that will affect business. The only thing that would do that would be the Fedorov brothers."

Mello ignored the silent jab at him and instead refocused on the task at hand. "So other than that you have things in control?" he mused. Yuriy made a noise of acknowledgement and Mello snorted.

"Not for long you wont." he commented. He could almost picture Yuriy's reaction, the slight widening of his eyes before his years of experience overrode all emotions, he would straighten and be completely alert and focused.

"L is watching you." Mello told him and proceeded to tell him most of what he knew about L and how much he believed L knew, despite Yagami not being told. Mello knew that things needed to be changed, subtly, so that L wouldn't have an exact picture of their dealings if he didn't already.

"Don't implement things too quickly, think of it as chess. You make a wrong move and you will be checkmated before you even realize it."

"You think of this as a game?" Yuriy's voice was stiff and Mello wondered if he was angered. He had been a bit of since Sasha's death.

"Isn't it? The entire world is the board and life is the game. The only way to win to have the most under your belt before you die."

Yuriy sighed softly. "If you don't mind me saying, you are completely fucked in the head."

Mello laughed harshly. "Of course I am. I'm going up against L. Just make sure everything gets done." he dropped his amused tone towards the end and made it an order.

"Understood."

Mello tossed his phone onto the table and suddenly found himself with a lap full of redhead. He hadn't even noticed Matt in the room.

Matt had wrapped his arms around him and brought their mouths together before he could protest, and just when he had thought of giving into Matt and doing whatever he had in mind, the redhead pulled back with a smirk and stood up. "I know you are busy so I'll let you get back to it."

Mello simply stared at Matt's retreating form and waited until he was out of earshot before he groaned in frustration. Matt, not L, would be the death of him, he was certain of it. That or, as he looked down at himself with a grimace, death by prolonged erection.

Either way, it would be Matt's fault.

He was going to need some coffee before he did anything else. Coffee and chocolate. It was going to be another long week, he could just feel it.

And if he had know just how long he might have simply gone back to bed right then.

.

Hardly four hours after his call with Yuriy Mello received an e-mail from Matsuda. The man always worked fast when he was given a task, an inert willing to please Mello knew. But it seemed that Matsuda had simply been lucky as he'd been invited to lunch with Yagami and his girlfriend by Yagami's girlfriend.

Though from the report it almost sounded as though Yagami had suggested to her that it would be a nice thing to do. Apparently she wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch and had done so, Matsuda had noted that Yagami got easily annoyed with her and honestly had no idea why someone like him was dating her. Matsuda expected Yagami's parents to have something to do with it.

And that had only been part of the typed report, Matsuda had been able to record some of it, Mainly when Yagami's girlfriend Amane Misa spoke about the kind of clients she got in the modeling business; she apparently had clients from all over the world and not simply Japanese backers. Mello paused the video of her in mid speech and wondered why the name she had just rambled off had sounded familiar, but nothing immediately rang a bell.

There was a loud whistle that caught his attention, from right behind him, and he turned to see Matt looking rather thoughtful. "She's kind of cute, you know?" Matt commented and Mello frowned.

Matt laughed at him and shook his head. "It's only because she's blond and remind me a bit of you."

Mello let him off the hook and felt satisfied for all of three seconds before the actual words caught up with him.

"Are you saying I look like a chick?" he yelled but Matt, the bastard that he was, had already hightailed it from the room, obviously knowing what his reaction would be. "I'll show you chick when I shove my dick up your ass..." he snarled into the empty room.

Mello shoved his annoyance at Matt to the back of his mind and concentrated on what Matsuda had sent. In observing Amane, who apparently stuck to Yagami like glue whenever she had the chance, he was also able to get a little information on another woman, a news anchoress name Kiyomi Takada, who Yagami apparently went to school with whom Amane hated since the two had also dated in college.

The love triangle aspect of it didn't interest Mello in the least and was rather annoying to listen to; Mello wondered just how much of the conversation Matsuda had recorded and where he'd gotten the audio camera from so quickly, but he needed to know everyone in and around Yagami's life.

It was possible that L had recruited one or many of them. And for an old flame to suddenly reappear in Yagami's life right during the L situation rang a little too much of a coincidence for Mello. He rather hoped he had simply overanalyzed things.

Amane mentioned having just come back from America and that was when he recognized her clients name. It belonged to one of the American Mafia's families. And he knew it couldn't be a coincidence. He had worked with them in the shipping of arms from either country and had found out, during one of their completely pointless pre-business conversations, how he had a thing for pretty foreign models. And according to Matt's comment Amane fit the bill.

Mello tapped his fingers on his knee and tried to determine if any of that was of any use to him. He could have Yuriy get in contact with the American's and see if they would be willing to keep tabs on Amane, though Mello honestly wasn't sure if anything would come of it. Amane didn't seem the type to be able to pull off a complicated spy assignment, but then again neither did the brainless idiot Matsuda portrayed. He would be an idiot to simply dismiss her because of her apparent lack of depth.

As it wasn't a pressing matter he sent the request to Yuriy's e-mail. It would get done whenever the man looked at his account.

Mello had so much new information and he knew he had to go over everything he had again to make sure there was nothing conflicting, nothing that had changed. And he knew it would take days. With a sigh Mello took a sip of his cold coffee, pulled up his computerized files, and got to work.

.

.

Mello had hardly noticed the passage of time since then, being involved with negotiating with the Americans, and going over the e-mailed reports Matsuda continued to send daily on various people he observed and followed in his spare time or at work and such. Matsuda had apparently gotten a bug inside of Yagami's apartment, as he was sometimes invited over there, so there was even more video and audio to go over.

Everything had been quiet with Yagami and L the past few days, with the exception of when L had called him to personally see if anything new had been uncovered. Either L distrusted the entire Japanese police force, or he was testing to see if Yagami was withholding information he had already obtained from a different source. But Mello didn't worry on that as he knew Yagami wasn't stupid and wouldn't do something obvious to get caught.

Mello paced the room, needing the movement as much as it helped his train of thought after the long hours of sitting; there was something he was missing. He was certain of it. It was like a nagging feeling at the back of his mind and whenever he thought he had grasped it, it was out of his reach not unlike a wisp of smoke.

What bothered him more was that he couldn't discern what it pertained to. His mafiya? L? Yagami or Matsuda? Something else? And it bothered him to no end.

Mello whirled around, startled at the hand that griped his shoulder, and was pulled into a kiss. It wasn't one of the heated ones where Matt was simply horny and wanted him, but neither was it one of the spur of the moment quick ones either.

Matt carefully inched his arms around him, as though Mello were some easily frightened and volatile animal, and deepened the kiss ever so slightly. Mello's arms were trapped between them, pressed against Matt's chest, and though he could have easily pushed Matt away and gotten annoyed at being distracted he simply relaxed into the embrace.

"What the hell was that about?" he murmured, once Matt had finally pulled away. If Matt had simply done that to wind him down it had certainly worked. All of the tension in his body had left, though the reason for it was still on his mind.

"I was right. You did forget." Matt's smile held amusement and affection, the latter being something that was rarely shown in his expression. Matt kissed him on the nose and Mello frowned. He had forgotten something? What had he-

"Happy birthday Mello."

Mello froze, wide eyed, at the statement. Happy birthday? It was that time of year already?

"Hm... perfectly legal now right?" Matt said with a raised eyebrow, and Mello was reminded of just how young they were despite how old their souls seemed to have become in such a short amount of time.

Seventeen and eighteen, though Matt would be joining him in legality in a little under two months. "Thanks Matt." he gave a crooked smile, thoughts swimming in their fucked up childhood.

"Come on, gift time." Matt told him and unwound his arms, gently pulling Mello towards the bedroom.

Mello supposed it was the best place to have hid whatever it was as Mello only ever really went in there to sleep or get changed. He didn't randomly search through things like he did with the kitchen, mainly since things always got misplaced in the kitchen; it was rather difficult to misplace clothing unless Matt had thrown it somewhere...

"Sit." Matt forced him to sit on the edge of the bed, which Mello did with curiosity as he saw Matt dig through a pile of games. He laughed and Matt shared a grin with him; Mello never would have looked there even had he known Matt were hiding something.

Matt pulled free a good sized brown box and held it out to Mello as he sat cross-legged next to him. Mello shoved down the decidedly mushy feeling he could do without and instead began to calmly peal back the tape holding the box flaps down.

Once done he peered inside and felt his taste buds immediately begin to salivate. He hadn't had that chocolate in so long! He snatched the back of Matt's head and dragged him in for a searing kiss. He had only had that chocolate once before, and only at Wammys. He hadn't thought to look at the name on the label, only memorizing the coloring of the package to search it out again later, and had never been able to find it since.

"How the hell did you find this?"

"So I guess it's a hit?" Matt asked breathlessly. Mello didn't believe that question even needed an answer. "You know, there is more stuff at the bottom." Matt commented once he seemed to understand there would be no digging around in the box anytime soon.

Mello blinked. There was more? He tried, really he had, to stamp down the almost childish feeling of anticipation but in the end simply let himself push the chocolate aside as he dug. He eyed the contents in confusion for a second before he laughed. It was a completely Matt gift, and yet he loved it.

"Chocolate lube and body paint? Why Matt, whatever will we do with that?" he looked up and stared at Matt's grinning expression.

"I have no idea. It's your birthday."

Matt had given him free reign to do as he wished? It would distract him from the L case.. but Mello could afford it for one night... his thoughts had only been going in circles anyway. And maybe 'relaxing' would allow him to figure out what was nagging him.

"Hey Matt. What if I had wanted a different flavor? I don't eat only chocolate." Mello commented suddenly with a raised eyebrow despite being absolutely pleased with everything.

"If I had thought they had a cigarette flavored one I'd have gotten it." Matt replied cheekily. Mello only laughed and with a shake of his head pulled the redhead in for another kiss.

"Thank you Matt."

The redhead smiled slightly at Mello before climbing onto his lap. "How about we test out that body paint to see if it actually tastes like chocolate?"

"We could... but I have plans for that later. I have you all night." he grinned and watched as Matt shivered. It would definitely be the best birthday he'd had thus far.

Definitely, he reaffirmed to himself later as Matt's lips slide over his erection.

-End Unexpected-