Chapter Text
Mello tossed his keys into the bowl by the front door and let the door slam behind him as he made his way to the kitchen.
"Matt!"
He called out into the seemingly empty house before heading to the counter to check in any mail they had gotten. On top of his usual few pieces, there was another envelope, this time with Matt's name on it.
He picked it up and examined it but could find no return address. Curious, he carefully opened it so as to not destroy any potential prints on it and fished out the paper inside.
As he did, an old polaroid photo fell into his hand. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he picked it up. It was an image through the window of their bedroom, taken from across the street.
In the picture, Matt was visible sitting in a swivel chair in just a loose hoodie, typing away at his computer. It was slightly blurry and out of focus, so it was likely taken without a tripod.
Mello set it aside and continued with the letter inside.
The letter began with "My Dearest Subject," and immediately Mello had an idea of what kind of person this was. He skimmed over the paragraph of gushing over the object of their affection to get to the end as quickly as possible.
It read: "I'll be seeing you again soon."
Mello let out an involuntary shiver as he set the paper down. How long had this person been watching them? How had he not noticed something like that? Or was it just sheer dumb luck that it was when they were home alone?
He walked to the living room to confront Matt.
There he see matt playing Minecraft on his new computer
He watched for a moment from the doorway, observing his friend's blissful ignorance. He was reluctant to disrupt this.
"Hey, Matt."
He finally broke the silence, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Matt's head quickly turned, and his game was forgotten.
"Hm? What's up?" Matt asked, looking over at him with a smile. There was no hint he found anything wrong to Mello's surprise.
Mello slowly began walking over to him and tossed the photo onto the couch next to him.
“oh uhm so it wasn't a prank?” Matt had asked seemingly thought it was a joke
"No, I don't think this is a prank." He grumbled and sat next to him. "I got home and this was sitting with the mail. It was with yours, so you're definitely the target."
“yeah i already know that they sended me that before i thought it was a prank from one of your pal or something”
"No one I know would be psychotic enough to do something like this." He said and leaned back, placing his feet up against the coffee table. "How long has this been going on anyway?"
"I got that envelope a little over a week ago" Matt said, "I didn't think much of it, so I threw it away."
That answer seemed to aggravate Mello, "You threw it away? How could you not think anything of it? Someone is spying on you from across the street."
"How was I supposed to know that though? How was I supposed to think it was serious?" Matt asked, his voice getting a bit louder.
"It's very clearly serious." Mello bit back, also raising his voice to match Matt's. "Whoever this person is, they've been watching this apartment for god knows how long. How could you not think anything of it?"
"I. Don't. Know." Matt said, now yelling at him.
Mello opened his mouth then shut it, refusing to continue arguing. 'You can't stay mad at Matt for being a dumbass..' He thought to himself and took a breath.
"Well, the least you could have done is tell me about it. I had no idea this was going on," he said a bit calmer.
"I didn't want you to start freaking out over nothing." Matt said as he leaned back in the chair, returning to a much more calm demeanor himself. "I guess I just thought *if* it was serious, you'd worry too much about it and not go to work or do something else that could put you in danger. I can handle it."
That did little to lessen the impact of the last line. "What do you mean you can handle it?" His voice was back to being raised, "I can't sit by and let you be a target. If they're after you, they're probably after me too, by association."
"Mello that's exactly why I didn't tell you." Matt was doing his best to keep a level tone, but it was difficult for him. "It's probably an elaborate prank, and I don't want you getting hurt because I was stupid enough to tell you. I didn't want *anybody* to know about it."
"It's not an elaborate prank, you idiot." He shot back with a frustrated expression. "I have the photo right here. They're taking pictures of you! Who knows what they're doing with them."
"I don't know.." Matt muttered and ran his hands through his hair, exasperated.
"It's more than that though," he said as he leaned forward towards him, "This is dangerous. What if they try to hurt you? What if they're following you when I'm not around, huh? They could be dangerous."
"They probably just have a crush on me or something." Matt said with a shrug. Despite his casual attitude toward the situation, he was very clearly getting anxious now.
"They probably just have a crush on me or something." Matt said with a shrug. Despite his casual attitude toward the situation, he was very clearly getting anxious now.
That response was like a punch to the gut. It irritated Mello to his core and only made him worry even more. "You think it's smart to just dismiss this? Do you know how many people are kidnapped or worse because of stuff like this? There's no guarantee they're harmless. Just some crazy person who happens to like you."
"How would you know it's one of those situations though? You're just assuming." Matt said, his arms now crossed. "Look I know it's not really a good thing, but I'm a big boy. I can handle myself."
"It's not an assumption," he said through clenched teeth, attempting and failing to stay calm. "Matt it's literally stalking. I don't know anything about this person and neither do you! It's better to assume the worst than be sitting here assuming they're just some love-sick idiot pining from afar."
"What am I supposed to do then?" Matt looked away and let out a breath of frustration, "I can't just assume they plan to murder me. What am I supposed to do? Call the police and tell them that someone is taking pictures and leaving some cheesy letters?"
"Yes!" Mello's voice came out like a bark and the volume at which he spoke seemed to shock them both. When he spoke next he was notably more calm, but Matt could still hear the anger in his voice.
Mello took a breath before continuing, "You're supposed to call the police and get the problem dealt with before it evolves into something more dangerous than a creepy camera and some romantic love letter."
“alright, alrigtht calm down ill let the police know tommorow i know your worried”
He let out a huff of air, as if attempting to breathe out his anger.
"I am worried, for god's sake. I care about you, moron. Don't you think I would be worried about waking up one morning to find you beaten by some creep who took things too far because you weren't smart enough to get help?"
“yeah yeah anyway wanna play Minecraft with me?”
Despite it all, Mello rolled his eyes and suppressed a small smile.
"Sure, fine." He said and pushed himself up off the couch, moving to sit on the floor next to him.
He slumped down next to Matt, who was still sitting in the swiveling computer chair. He laid his head on the edge of the chair and looked up at him.
"You're such a dumbass..." He grumbled.
✩⋆｡𖦹°‧★
Just as the previous day, Mello returned home from work just before evening and tossed his keys into the bowl. Nothing felt out of the ordinary.
He made his way to the kitchen to check the mail, like clockwork. When his gaze landed on the usual pile, he saw an envelope with a familiar handwriting.
He picked it up and examined the handwriting from the return address, confirming that this was indeed a follow-up from their potential stalker.
Not bothering to wait, he tore it open and pulled out the photo and letter inside.
The letter began as the previous did, with the same creepy lovey dovey language. It read: *"My dearest subject, I have been watching you from a distance for some time now. You fascinate me, and I yearn to grow closer to you. Every little thing I notice, every detail that makes you who you are."*
Mello didn't bother reading further. He was ready to burn the letter, until a final sentence caught his attention.
He picked it up and examined the handwriting from the return address, confirming that this was indeed a follow-up from their potential stalker.
Not bothering to wait, he tore it open and pulled out the photo and letter inside.
The letter began as the previous did, with the same creepy lovey dovey language. It read: *"My dearest subject, I have been watching you from a distance for some time now. You fascinate me, and I yearn to grow closer to you. Every little thing I notice, every detail that makes you who you are."*
Mello didn't bother reading further. He was ready to burn the letter, until a final sentence caught his attention.
"I want to bring you closer." he muttered and reread over a few other lines before the letter finally dropped out of his hands.
It read : i like the shampoo your using, might be using it too..
The picture that fell onto the countertop caught him by surprise. In it, Matt slept peacefully in his bed, covered in only a thin blanket. They had somehow taken this picture while Matt was asleep and in bed.
Mello felt chills run down his spine. It hadn't even occurred to him that they would have the audacity to do something like this. This person was inside the apartment, and Matt was just sitting on his computer like nothing was wrong.
He left the kitchen and moved into the living room. Sitting on the couch beside Matt, he handed him the letter and photo in silence.
Matt looked at him with a questioning look but took the items anyway. When he had finished reading both, he seemed to get the same feeling of terror that Mello had felt.
"This is..." He was quiet for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words. "This is bad, isn't it?"
"That's an understatement," Mello said with a scoff. "They were *inside* this apartment, Matt. How the hell did you not even hear them?"
“i had my earpod on!”
"And it didn't occur to you that it might *not have been a good idea for you to be so oblivious* to a person inside our home while I'm gone at work?" He sounded nearly hysteric.
“you wanna go to the police station?”
"Yeah, obviously." He said, his voice almost coming out as a half bark, "I should have done that days ago but you didn't think it was a good idea."
Mello stood up and looked down at Matt expectantly, waiting for him to get up.
It took a few second before matt actually get up
Mello let out an internal huff of impatience as he waited, tapping his foot against the ground impatiently.
"Let's go." He said once Matt was up and began making his way to the front door.
The pair stepped outside and made their way to Mello's car in silence. Once they were both in, he started the engine and pulled out of the driveway.
Neither of them spoke in the first few minutes of the drive until Mello glanced over and looked at Matt. "You don't feel scared at all?"
Matt was playing his gameboy low-key chilling whike everything is happening
Seeing him so calm about the whole thing frustrated Mello. He gripped the steering wheel tighter.
"You should at least be a bit freaked out." He said with an edge to his voice. "Are you trying to look like a brave idiot or something?"
“well that person weren't hurting us in anyways right? So i shouldn't be worried beside they gave me free roblox gift card last time”
That was what seemed to set Mello off. He hit the breaks and jerked the car to one side.
"YOU WHAT?" He snapped, turning his attention to him now. "They're literally invading our home and you're just okay with it? You're accepting gifts from them?"
"I MEAN ROBUX IS EXPENSIVE??”
.
.
.
“THAT'S NOT THE POINT."
Mello yelled and hit the steering wheel with his palm in frustration. "They're stalking you. They're a criminally insane stalker
and all you can think about is some kind of free internet money?"
"alright im in the wrong my bad"
"Damn right you are." He said and put the car back in drive before beginning to move again. "You're gonna get yourself killed at this rate. I still can't believe you just ignored it, then accepted a gift from them like they're some kind of benevolent admirer." Mello pause for a second before he continues
"Have you seriously never seen a movie or read a book before?" He grumbled, clearly still livid. "Everything about this situation screams 'dangerous.' You're just sitting there on your video games with your headphones on and letting this happen to you. I can't believe you're this dense."
matt animal crossing music went on "yeah i know beside we going to police station right? So don't worry much"
When he heard the Animal Crossing music, Mello had to restrain the urge to throw something. He gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles began to turn white, and the volume of his voice went up as well.
"How can I not worry about it? They're taking secret photos of you while you sleep, Matt. I come home and you're just sitting on your damn computer like nothing is wrong. What are you doing, waiting to be murdered?"
He turned to look at Matt, and his expression darkened when he saw his calm disposition. It made his blood boil to no end.
"Stop being so nonchalant about this," he said through clenched teeth. "This is serious business. Someone is *breaking into our home* and you're acting like it's a joke. I don't know what the hell kind of thought process you're on but you need to wake up and take it seriously. It's not a game."
Matt raised an eyebrow, "You know that this is what most horror movies are about right? Stalker, home break ins, that kind of thing?"
The way he said it with a casual tone made Mello want to scream, but when he realized what exactly that statement meant his expression changed to one of shock.
There was no malice behind the statement, just curiosity and an attempt to make light of the situation.
"Are you seriously comparing this to a fictional movie?" Mello asked, completely astounded. "This is real, Matt. You're living in real life. You can't just blow something like this off. Those horror movies end with the victims dead, not casually accepting gifts and playing video games."
Matt looked back at him, his expression still neutral. However, there was a hint of confusion evident on his face.
"Well yeah, but those are movies, right?” he said with a shrug. “Like you said, they're fiction, they're fake. Besides, those movies usually end with the victims winning, beating up the 'bad guy' or whatever. We'll be fine."
"Yeah those are movies." Mello said with a scoff. "And in movies everything always goes according to plan. You act like you know that this whole situation is going to end with both of us alive and this person behind bars."
----
Shortly after they arrived at the police station
Once they had parked, Mello got out of the car, and Matt followed suit.
"You better let me do the talking." He said with an annoyed huff. "I don't want you saying something dumb."
While Matt only responded with a smirk, he didn't deny the statement. They made their way into the police station and approached the front desk, where the lone officer there was currently reading something and sipping coffee.
The officer glanced up. "Morning, how can I help you fellas?" He asked, clearly noticing their agitated state.
"We need to report a crime." Mello piped up, leaning his arms onto the desk. "We have some concerns about a stalker and wanted to know what our options are for dealing with them."
The officer put down the paper he was reading and set down his coffee, his expression suddenly serious.
"Alright, I'll need some information from the both of you first." He said, "Can I get your names and the nature of the crime first?"
"My name is Mello, his name is Matt." He said, gesturing to his shorter friend who was standing just behind. "Apparently we have some weirdo taking pictures of him from afar and sending him gifts and letters, among other things."
The officer raised an eyebrow, "Letters as in love letters?" He asked before taking a small pad out and beginning to write some notes down.
"Yeah." Mello grumbled, "Creepy love letters and pictures and whatever else they've been sending, but mostly the pictures. They were taking pictures of him while he slept. Inside our apartment."
The officer gave Matt a long look then set his pen down again. He picked up his coffee and took a long sip.
"Alright, Matt," the officer said as he set his coffee back down, "Did you have any idea you were being watched by this person?"
Matt had been quiet the entire time, standing to one side and listening to the interrogation from the police officer. He shifted on his feet, clearly a bit ill at ease answering questions, but still spoke.
"Not until I actually saw them, no." He said, and in a more timid voice, added. "I just thought I was dealing with some kind of secret admirer..."
Mello was clearly taken aback by that statement and looked over at his red head friend, not believing what he was saying.
"Of course you did," he muttered under his breath.
The officer didn't miss this exchange between the two and gave them a puzzled look but didn't comment on it.
"You said this person was taking photos while you slept?" The officer asked, and when Matt nodded he continued, "This was inside of your home?"
"That's right," Mello said before Matt could answer. "In our apartment. He was asleep and they managed to somehow take a picture without him waking up."
Matt handed the officer the envelope
“maybe you should read this, officer”
"They mentioned your shampoo?" The officer asked, clearly surprised.
Mello rubbed his brow with his index finger and thumb, not knowing whether to laugh or yell.
"Yup, they did..." Matt said, his voice was low and quiet as well.
The officer looked at the letter once more then let out another sigh. "That's.... definitely concerning. This person definitely knows a lot about you, Matt."
"Yeah," Matt muttered, staring down at the ground.
Mello, on the other hand, couldn't remain quiet. "That's what I was telling him from the start. They know a lot about us and have managed to sneak in and out of our home without being noticed!"
The officer held up a hand to stop Mello, "Okay, just slow down. We're going to get this sorted out, alright? What I need to know is whether this person has made any threats to either of you."
Mello shut his mouth then, but his expression remained grim, almost livid.
"No, there were no threats mentioned." Matt spoke up. "They were pretty sappy the whole time."
"Sappy as in..." The officer paused for a moment, thinking over how to describe the letter. "As in lovesick sappy?"
"Yeah..." Matt mumbled, shifting awkwardly on his feet.
Mello just rolled his eyes. He is so goddamn dense. He thought to himself.
"welp this is is all the information we need you guys can go now we will solve this case"
The two looked up, surprised at the officer's words.
"Really?" Mello asked, sounding skeptical, "That's all you need?"
"Seems weird, doesn't it?" Matt added quietly.
The officer, for his part, nodded and began pushing them both towards the door. "Yes, we think we have all of the information necessary to help solve this issue with your stalker. You all should head back home and wait to hear back from us."
"Wait—" Mello protested. "What, so you're just going to make us wait around in suspense? What's the plan to help us?"
The officer gave them a small smile, which didn't do much to alleviate their worries.
"Don't worry. We are going to investigate and we will contact you when the time is right. For now, please just try and remain safe in your home until then. We will take care of everything."
Mello had a frustrated look on his face, visibly not satisfied with the officer's response. However, before he could say anything, Matt spoke up.
"Okay, we will..." he said, shooting a look towards his friend, clearly telling him to drop it.
"so mells wanna go to the nearby cafe?"
Mello grumbled under his breath but then gave a nod, "Yeah. I could use a coffee or something..."
The two of them left the station then, with Mello looking grumpy more than anything else.
"I swear, those officers are so useless." he said after they had gotten some distance from the building. "We give them all of the information needed and they can't even give us a clear idea of how their planning to stop this situation."
"yeah hm.. You know we could look at that envelope to see any sign of fingerprint"
Mello glanced at him, "Yeah, you think?"
They had come to a stop in front of the cafe, where a few small tables in chairs sat outside. The warm autumn breeze was gently blowing a few leaves around them.
After they had sat down, Matt reached into his hoodie pocket again and pulled out the envelope.
"Well let's start there, I guess. See if this person left any signs of themselves at all..." he said, examining the outside of the paper which was still rather crumpled.
Mello nodded in agreement and leaned over to look at the envelope himself.
"I doubt they were smart enough not to leave any fingerprints on that," he said. "*They* haven't given any indication of being smart so far."
Matt looked over at him, "Hey, you don't know that, don't get so ahead of yourself. They did manage to sneak into our apartment without being seen or heard by us, after all."
"That just means they're sneaky, not smart," Mello said, crossing his arms. "Honestly, they're probably a coward. They've been leaving love letters and taking pictures while you sleep. Sounds cowardly if you ask me."
"They're just shy," Matt said with the wave of his hand.
Mello looked at him and gave him a deadpan look. "You're defending this stalker now?"
"No..." Matt said but then paused. "I'm just saying, you shouldn't jump to conclusions. You're calling them cowards when you have no idea who this person is. For all you know it could be some girl who's madly in love with me."
"then what if its a guy?" Mello asked
"Then it'll be a guy who's madly in love with me." Matt responded.
Mello rubbed his forehead, clearly frustrated. "That's not the point, Matt! This person is obviously not right in the head! How are you not bothered by this at all??"
"cuz im nacholant deadhead"
"It's nonchalant, Matt," Mello corrected with a sigh.
He was silent for a moment, trying to process Matt's apparent lack of care concerning this whole situation.
"Why aren't you worried?" he asked, finally. "This person has broken into our apartment. They've been watching and taking photos without us knowing it. They're creepy and crazy— hell they could be a killer and you're over here acting like it's nothing more than some prank."
Matt only shrugged. "It sort of does feel like a prank, sort of..." He said, waving the envelope around casually.
Mello watched him for a few moments before he started to get irritated. How was he supposed to get Matt to take this seriously if he was so blasé?
" man! There's no fingerprint it's only our fingerprint that i could detect"
"Well, damn." Mello said, his frustration getting the better of him again. "Of course there wouldn't be. That would just make things too easy for us wouldn't it...!"
.
Then a waiter came asking for their orders
The two of them discussed their order with the waiter quickly. Matt ordered a chai and a small breakfast bite while Mello simply ordered a black coffee.
The waiter nodded as she jotted everything down and then left to place their order. It was only just now that Mello spoke something after a few moments of silence.
"I'm surprised you chose chai over coffee," he said, leaning his chin on his palm.
"im suprise you didn't order a chocolate what are you finnaly scared that you get diabetes or something?"
"Just because I like chocolate doesn't mean I don't like other things." Mello said defensively, "I've had black coffee plenty of times before. It doesn't always have to be chocolate, you know."
Matt just laughed then, "Hey, I was only teasing you. No need to get so defensive. But you do eat an inordinate amount of chocolate."
Out of nowhere, a tall waiter with striking brown hair emerged from the crowd and approached Matt with an intense, almost unsettling look in his eyes. Before Matt could even react, the waiter whipped out a sharp pair of scissors, reached over, and swiftly snipped off a small lock of Matt’s hair.
The sound of the scissors slicing through his hair left him frozen in shock. And just as quickly as he had appeared, the waiter turned and sprinted away, disappearing into the crowd, leaving Matt bewildered and everyone around him in stunned silence.
The action was so quick that the two didn't even have time to process what happened before the waiter fled the scene.
Matt's head jerked around, looking very confused, and then he touched the spot where his hair had been cut.
"What the—" he said, bewildered.
"dude my beautiful hair had just been ruined?"
"It's just a hair cut," Mello said, trying to reassure him. "Hair grows back, you know. It's just a few inches or so that they took."
"yeah uh shouldn't we be worried that some random waiter just cut my hair?.."
"That's a pretty big chunk," Mello said as he examined the cut hair. "What the hell is his deal anyway? Who just attacks a random stranger's hair at a cafe?"
"what if that's the stalker?"
"What, you think the waiter is the stalker?" Mello shot him a look, his expression skeptical.
"wait call the other waiter so we could tell them apparently their worker CUTTED my hair"
"Right, I was about to do that..." Mello said before gesturing for the nearest waiter.
A waitress, wearing a white apron and nametag approached them.
"Yes?" she inquired, her arms folding.
"Hello, this is going to sound pretty weird but some guy just cut a few inches of my friend's hair and then ran off. I think that person was one of your employees..." Mello said, gesturing towards the red haired boy.
The waitress, who's name tag was "Amie", looked confused by this, and maybe even a little frightened.
"An employee cut your hair?" she repeated back to him.
Amie frowned as if trying to recall an employee, "Did you get a good look at his face? Do you think you could identify him to me?"
"he was wearing a mask i couldn't see his face only the brown eyes"
Amie looked even more confused as more of this story was revealed.
"A mask?" She asked, clearly bewilder
"an employee wearing a mask? "
Amie looked confused as she opened her mouth. “I’m sorry, I’ll get the manager. I don’t believe any of our workers are wearing masks here. We apologize if they disturbed you and your boyfriend.”
Mello had just opened his mouth to protest the assumption that he and Matt were a couple, but Amie had already taken off to find a manager. All he could do was just watch her go. He glanced over at Matt, who was still staring down at his hair, still looking very confused.
"You know they probably think we're boyfriends now, right?" he said, a mixture of irritation and humor in his voice.
"damn that's gay"
"Hey, why are you offended by that comment?"
Mello chuckled as he sat back down in the lawn chair. He found Matt's flustered expression incredibly amusing.
"I'm not offended," Matt defended, running a hand through his now short locks. "I'm just surprised that a stranger would even think that we're a couple in the first place. I mean have you looked at yourself? You look like you rolled out of bed."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mello asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It means exactly what I said— if a stranger were to look at us right now, would they see a cute couple out enjoying the day, or would they see a lazy bum and his edgy buddy?"
"Hey!" Matt protested again. "I am *not* a lazy bum. You might be a little right about the other part, though..."
"I'm always right, don't you know that by now?"
Mello had a self satisfied smile now, enjoying himself a little too much.
In just a few moments, the restaurant manager arrived at the table,
The manager, an older man with dark graying hair, approached their table.
"What seems to be the problem here?" he asked.
"We were just minding our own business, when a waiter came up behind my friend here and just cut his hair," Mello explained, jerking a thumb in Matt's direction. "And then he just ran away."
The manager was clearly surprised by this, and seemed at a loss for words momentarily.
"I... I'm deeply sorry," he said finally, sounding a bit flustered. "I promise you we are not an establishment who condones such behavior from our workers. Can I ask how this waiter looked like?"
"like i said tall probably a dude, both of his hair and eyes is brown and worn a mask"
The manager was silent for a moment, mulling over Matt's description.
"We have one employee that sort of matches that description, though he doesn't wear a mask... as far as I'm aware," he said, looking over at the waitress behind him.
Amie shook her head in response. "I do not think it was him. He is usually one of our most reliable employees and I don't think he would do something like that..."
Out of nowhere, a loud voice broke through the noise of the restaurant, startling everyone at the table. They turned to see someone shouting, their tone filled with urgency, causing heads to turn and conversations to pause in confusion.
They all looked over in the direction of the sound, and after a brief silence, the manager was the first to speak.
"What on earth...?" he asked aloud.
Mello was getting to his feet now, "Let's go check it out." he said.
They all exchanged nods before making their way towards the bathroom. Once they were close to the bathroom, some of the other customers had also gathered near there as well.
People began talking in whispers, a few of them taking a look inside the bathroom then turning away quickly, looking horrified.
An employee was beaten up in the restroom, where he was repeatedly struck and left disoriented. During the attack, his clothes were forcibly taken, leaving him with only his boxer shorts and in a vulnerable state.
The manager's face twisted into a look of horror as he saw what had happened to his employee.
Several of the other customers were gasping as they caught sight of the beaten employee through the open doorway.
Amie covered her mouth in shock and looked as if she might throw up at the sight of it all.
Matt, on the other hand, looked mostly confused. "What happened to him? Did he get mugged or something?" he asked somewhat loudly.
"Looks that way..." Mello said as he looked in the bathroom as well. "There's no evidence anything was taken though..."
The manager, who was still a bit dumbfounded by all of it, spoke up then.
"I don't understand... why are his clothes gone? Where are they?! Why is he still in his boxers?"
“The guy who, without my permission, cut a chunk of my hair—probably he did that, don’t you think?” Matt said, his voice filled with a mix of frustration and disbelief.
The manager turned and looked at Matt. "You think the person who cut your hair also beat up my employee..?" he asked, sounding doubtful.
"well where the hell would he get that outfit from?"
The manager nodded slowly, still trying to wrap his head around the situation.
"I will call the police right now," he said as he took out his cell and began dialing a number.
Meanwhile the other customers were slowly shuffling away, many with horrified expressions on their faces. It wasn't the prettiest sight.
Some of them continued to whisper amongst themselves, some even taking their phones out to take pictures.
Mello glanced around at all of the people snapping pictures, his expression becoming cold and annoyed, "These people... what the hell is the point of even taking a picture of something like that... so they can talk about it later...?"
Matt, on the other hand, had his eyes fixed back on the beaten employee. "Did they take his wallet at least?" he asked aloud.
"That's your biggest question here...?" Mello said, giving him an incredulous look.
Matt shrugged, "Just trying to figure out if robbery was the motive here, is all."
"Hey, it's a realistic question. Do you have a better theory as to why it happened?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow.
Before Mello could respond, the manager, who was now done with the conversation, spoke up, "The police are on their way," he informed the two of them.
"They'll be here in a few minutes."
.
.
"Are we supposed to be the witness?"
"Most likely," the manager said, shifting where he stood.
"That is a pretty strange thing to happen after all," he added.
Mello and Matt were silent; the latter of the two just shrugged, he was too focused on what had happened to care about being a witness.
After a few moments of silence, the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance.
A couple of customers and even one of the waitresses turned to look then glanced at the beaten employee nervously.
It wasn't long before a couple of policemen showed up and started examining the scene. After an explanation from the manager and the waitress, each of the customers were questioned as they tried to get a full picture of what happened.
When it was their turn to tell the officers what they knew, Mello kept his answer short and to the point, while Matt, perhaps unsurprisingly, gave more detail than necessary.
"I swear I saw him in the back before we heard the scream," Amie said, shaking her head. "And now all of his clothes are just... gone?"
One of the cooks, a male who didn't look much older than Matt, spoke up then. "So whoever it was, just attacked him and robbed him of his clothes...? What kinda sicko does that?"
The police spent a considerable amount of time speaking with the manager, discussing the details of the incident. Meanwhile, Matt and Mello stood off to the side, watching the exchange with a mix of anticipation and unease, trying to gauge the outcome from the manager’s expressions and body language.
The cook looked doubtful, "Sounds like a lot of effort to stalk someone."
Amie shivered at the thought, "That would be pretty scary if what you said were true..."
"yeah the police will cover this case i dont think we shall be worried about it"
The cook sighed, "Right, best we can do is just let the cops do their thing."
Meanwhile, the police were wrapping up their questioning and talking amongst themselves, having already interviewed the manager and the waitress.
Soon mello and matt went home to their apartment
Upon returning home, they shut the door behind them.
"What a shitty day." Mello said, kicking off his shoes.
"I'm still shock with all those things happening in 1 day"
"No kidding. I didn't think today would be so crazy..."
Mello flopped himself onto the couch then suddenly looked at Matt with a frown.
"It's all your fault, you know."
"my bad?"
"Damn right it's your bad..."
Mello laid back against the couch, folding an arm over his eyes.
"You just had to start trouble, didn't you? Now we have to deal with the police cause somebody beat down a damn employee and god only knows why..."
"im going to my room, keep talking nonsense" matt laughs under his breath
"Whatever."
Mello shifted his arm off of his face and looked at Matt. "I'm not spouting nonsense, you know..."
He said, the corner of his mouth raising.
Matt only shook his head in reply before heading off to his room.
Mello, on the other hand, continued laying on the couch, thinking about the events of the day.
Eventually, the sun started going down and Mello finally hauled himself up off the couch. He began to wonder what Matt was doing, and decided to go check in on him. He walked down the hall until he got to Matt's door, which was ever so slightly opened. Without warning, he shoved the door open and leaned against the doorframe.
"Oi," he called out, staring at the redhead who was currently sitting at his desk.
Matt, who hadn't been expecting Mello, jerked his head up then glowered in his direction.
"Stop busting into my room, what if I had been naked in here or something?"
"As if I'd care that much."
Mello walked over to Matt's desk and leaned against it, watching the other boy work.
"Anyway, what are you doing in here? You've been in your room all afternoon."
Mello bent his head down slightly so he could see more of what was on Matt's desk, it looked like a bunch of random tech junk that he was messing with.
"None of your business," Matt said, shooting him a look before looking back at his work.
Mello just huffed in response.
"I swear if you try to pull a Kira 2.0 with that tech crap..."
Matt looked back up in an instant, his face morphing into an irritated frown.
"You're really going to bring that up right now?" he asked, his tone a mixture of annoyance and anger.
"None of your business," Matt said, shooting him a look before looking back at his work.
Mello just huffed in response.
"I swear if you try to pull a Kira 2.0 with that tech crap..."
Matt looked back up in an instant, his face morphing into an irritated frown.
"You're really going to bring that up right now?" he asked, his tone a mixture of annoyance and anger.
"Oh relax," Mello huffed, "I was joking."
Matt just rolled his eyes, "Hilarious," he muttered sarcastically.
"You're so touchy sometimes, it's annoying..."
Mello leaned back against the desk then looked back over at the tech that Matt was working on.
"What the hell are you making, anyway?"
Matt let out an irritated exhale before replying.
"It would take too long to explain it to you. You wouldn't even understand anyway."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Mello looked at the other teen with skepticism, "I'm plenty smart, you know, I'm sure I'd get it."
"im making a security camera we both know im too broke to buy an actual one"
"A security camera?"
Mello raised an eyebrow. "What do you need a security camera for...?"
"To watch the apartment when we aren't here, obviously," Matt said, stating it like it was the most obvious thing in the world."Hmph, well, I guess that makes sense."
Mello's eyes shifted between Matt and the unfinished camera on the desk in front of him.
"And how long is it going to take to finish that thing? You're not expecting me to sit here and watch you work on it, are you?"
"Well excuse me for trying to do something practical," Matt rolled his eyes.
"And no, you don't have to sit here the whole time, why would I want you to watch me work on anything."
"Wow, okay," Mello said with an exaggerated look of hurt on his face.
"You're such a dick today," he added, the corner of his mouth turning up into a smirk.
"dude someone just cutted my hair when we are at that cafe like i dont even know who he is!" matt slightly shouted in response
"You need to get over that already," Mello said matter-of-factly.
"It's just a bit of hair anyway. It's not that big of a deal," he continued.
"what if he makes clone of me with that hair?"
"What the hell would he want a clone of you for?"
Mello chuckled at the absurd question.
"Seriously, you're being paranoid," he said, looking at Matt a little more closely. "You're starting to sound crazy now."
.
.
.
Mello's expression was still smug as he stared down at Matt.
"Maybe you're worried about getting stalked...?" he said, tone teasing.
"what do you think? Ugh what time is it i wanna play roblox"
"It's 9 o'clock,"
Mello said as he pulled out his phone to check the time.
"And aren't you too old to be playing that crap?"
"roblox is for all age man! All i did was play life in Paradise with those admin commands"
"Is that the one where you just walk around and rp?"
Mello let out a huff of laughter.
"That's so lame."
"Are you calling me lame or the game?" Matt shot back, he now had an annoyed look on his face.
"Both, obviously," Mello responded, a smirk on his face.
"That game is lame and you are also lame."
"Damn jerk..."
Matt had started to pout a little bit now, his arms folded.
"I'll have you know I'm way better at that game than you are."
"better with what? That's a roleplay game" Mello said sarcastically
"There are plenty of things to do on that game," Matt said, defensive.
"And I'm good at all of them."
Mello rolled his eyes in response, "yeah, I'm sure you are," he replied, in a tone that implied he wasn't taking Matt seriously.
"you know what get out" matt said as he threw pillow over mello
The pillow bounced off of Mello's head, causing him to frown.
"You little-" Mello reached for a pillow and chucked it back at Matt. "Don't throw things at me, idiot!"
As the second pillow hit Matt, a smirk appeared on his face.
"I hope you know that means war."
He then quickly grabbed another pillow and hurled it in Mello's direction.
"Oh, it's on,"
Mello dove to the side seconds before the pillow hit the spot he was standing, and when he re-emerged he had grabbed a second pillow, and hurled it back.
✩˚ 𓍢˚ ✧✩ 𓆝⭒ ༶𖧷 ✧