A/N: Yay another update :3 I'll try my best to update tomorrow too, but it depends on how I'm feeling XD luckily I already had the majority of this chapter written otherwise idk if I would have been able to finish it. 

Just a warning: Matt is going to have brown hair in this, since that's what his hair colour is in the anime (I think he looks cooler with red hair though). Anyway, enjoy the chapter! 

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mello's POV

"Mello... forgive me." Her voice is quiet. Her eyes meet mine and all I see is uncertainty. What is she saying? She leans up and presses her lips to mine.

My heart stops beating.

I kiss her back eagerly, not wasting the moment. I may never get this chance again. I lift my free hand to her ice cold cheek, my other hand entwines with hers perfectly. I tighten my grasp, never wanting to let her go.

Please stay.

Is she doing this to distract me?

I drop her hand in shock and she pulls away. I try to meet her gaze. I have to know what she meant.

My heart begins to thud in my chest.

Her black eyes flicker away as she begins to turn. I reach out to grab her hand again but she's too fast.

She's already running off.

"Shit." I curse and I pull my phone out of my pocket. I dial Matt's number.

"Yo," He says when he answers. I don't waste another second and run after her. I can't let Benihime leave.

"We're going to Japan." I hang up the phone and put it back in my pocket. I need to concentrate on catching her. She's pretty fast at running considering her height. Don't most girls complain that people walk too fast because of their tiny legs? So why is it almost impossible for me to catch her?

I resist the urge to yell her name, I can't let her know I'm following her. Anyway, I need to use my energy on catching her.

I'll follow her to Japan if I have to. If she wants to go there so bad I'll follow her. As long as it keeps her safe.

Anyway, Kira's there. I can use that as an excuse to follow her. Or use her as an excuse to get closer to Kira. I may be able to catch him before Near.

Benihime's safety comes first. If she dies then we lose someone who is capable of catching Kira. She's spoken to Kira and is only hiding because she messed up. She put herself in danger and escaped. She's too useful to let Kira kill her – even if she does act stupidly at times. Like now, as a very great example.

I see her turn the corner, her long black hair being thrown about in the wind. There's no mistake, that's definitely her.

I run faster. I have to catch her.

Why do I want to protect her? Until now my only goal has been to be better than L and Near. Maybe this is a way of being better, if I can protect her when they can't then that means I'm better for her than they are. Although, L can't exactly protect her now.

She's slowing down. I can finally catch her.

I notice how close the airport is and I grab her wrist before she enters the large building. She screams but I cover her mouth with my free hand. I tighten my hold on her wrist, hopefully not too much since I don't want to injure her.

"Benihime, it's just me." I tell her and she stops struggling. She turns around and my hand that was on her mouth falls to my side. Her black eyes are wide when she realises I caught up to her. "If you won't stay here, then I have no choice but to go to Japan with you."

She shakes her head, her black hair swishing with the movement. She brushes the strands in her face away and holds them in place. She tries to free her other hand but to no avail.

"I'm not letting you go alone."

"You can't go! If you think it's a trap then you should stay here!" She tries to tug her hand free and I just tighten my grip in response.

"So?" I retort. "You played a real dirty move back there." I narrow my eyes at her. This girl is so confusing.

"I'm sorry, okay? I thought you was going to push me away..." her voice trails off and her gaze travels to something else. Her cheeks begin to turn red. "I don't like you like that at all! Don't worry! I was just trying to create a distraction. I read online that those sort of distractions work most of the time." Her words are rushed and she appears scared. I raise my eyebrow. Her eyes jump to my face and then away, like she's scared of my reaction.

Did she really not like me that way? Why does that hurt?

"I don't care if you do or don't like me. Why did you create a distraction? Why didn't you just talk to me instead?!" I tell her. I flick her forehead. "Let's just get a plane now. That's if there's one soon. Matt will be meeting us inside the airport soon."

I begin to walk inside, dragging her behind me.

"Hey!" She protests. I ignore her and continue dragging her until we get to the desk.

A part of me is wishing that there are no more planes going to Tokyo, which is very unlikely. Maybe all the seats are taken up.

***

Three hours later we find ourselves sat on a plane. Matt luckily brought my passport with me otherwise I wouldn't be able to get to Japan.

The tickets were bloody expensive. I had to go into my chocolate fund to afford it. This girl better be worth it.

I look over at Benihime and she's staring at the window, deep in thought. I turn to my brown-haired friend who's frowning about the non-smoking rule.

Benihime's POV

Several hours later, I find myself sitting in my old apartment. Matt, who is Mello's friend, and Mello are sitting at the table and eating in silence. I place my chopsticks down and let out a sigh.

"Sorry that you have to eat take out. I cleared out my fridge when I left for England." I explain, apologising again.

Mello rolls his eyes. "Seriously, stop worrying about it."

"It's fine! What isn't fine is your non-smoking rule." Matt adds with his mouth full.

I shake my head. "It's understandable. I don't want my house to reek of cigarettes. If you need to smoke then go outside." I pick my empty plate up and stand up. I dump my plate in the sink and turn to see Mello standing there. I let out a squeal of surprise before taking his plate from him and dumping it in the sink.

"Thanks for the food," he says. "Now we're alone, I think we should talk."

My eyes widen "but Matt-" I begin before I'm cut off.

"He's gone outside for a fag." He leans closer to me. My heart begins to flutter in my chest and I suddenly find it harder to breathe. "Now, tell me why you kissed me and ran off earlier." He demands. His face is so close. I feel my face heat up.

"I told you, it was to distract you." I murmur, I look away from his blue eyes.

"I know that." He snaps.

"I didn't have time to think it through properly. I needed to get away. Anyway, why do you care that I kissed you? We don't like each other, so it shouldn't matter. Let's just forget it happened." I reply. I fight the tears. I'm lying. During the time I spent on the plane I realised that I like Mello. I kind of knew it this whole time but I didn't want to admit it. He doesn't like me, he couldn't like me. He's too worried about beating Near and catching Kira. He doesn't have time to fall for a girl like me.

"You know full well that isn't true." Mello responds. He moves his arm so it's resting against the cupboard above my head, trapping my in so I can't escape.

"W-what do you mean?" I stammer, utterly confused at his response. I look up into his eyes and I freeze. They're a really nice shade of blue. "Mello?"

He doesn't respond, instead he presses his lips to mine gently. My eyes shut and I lean into him, my arms going around his neck. His free hand holds my waist.

The door opens loudly and Mello quickly moves to the other side of the room. I look around and try to ignore how hot my face feels.

"Yo, it's only me." Matt calls out and I see him sit down at the table, looking very calm.

"I'll handle the dishes." I say quickly, turning my back to Mello and moving the plates from the sink so I can fill it up with hot water and dish soap.

"I'll help." Mello offers but I shake my head.

"You're the guest here, you shouldn't have to do anything. Go sit down with Matt, I'll be done soon. There isn't a lot to wash up." I say as I pour soap into the sink.

"I'll go grab Matt's plate, I think he left it on the table." Mello murmurs as he leaves the kitchen. Several seconds later he returns and places Matt's plate on the side next to the sink.

"Thank you," I quickly look at him and smile. Strangely enough, he smiles back before leaving.

I let out a sigh as I wash the plates. I'm behind on bringing the criminals back. Hopefully no one has noticed. It's going to be obvious I've changed time zones again. I'd hate for Kira to realise I'm back in Japan, that'll only cause problems.

It's a shame it's so late as well, I'd love to go see my parents but I have to wait a few more hours before the hospitals open for visitors. Hopefully they're okay. 

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I enjoyed writing it :3 

This is definitely lasting a lot longer than expected :/ I'm not complaining since I'm really enjoying writing this. When I first started writing it I expected it to be around 20 chapters, it's not 28 which is pretty crazy. I really don't know how many more chapters this has left, I'm hoping it's no more than 40, since we're quite close to the end. We still have the whole Takada kidnap bit to cover, and now Mello, Matt and Benihime are in Japan that will happen very soon. 

Today's question: favourite ship in Death Note? Mine is MattxMello. I actually wrote a smutty one shot for that pairing, which is somewhere on AO3. 

Also, did you enjoy Mello's POV? I really enjoyed writing it :3

Also, this is #282 in fanfiction! Thank you so much!! :D 

~ Alice