I don't own nothin'.

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Near beat Mello at everything.

The white haired wonder was more skilled and more intelligent and more creative than he was. Everything from grades to the amount of time it took to immaculately clean his room. There wasn't anything Mello could do that Near couldn't to better, and perhaps the only thing Mello had over Near was social skills. This, however, was dampened by the fact that Mello's only true friend, Matt, had attempted to become friends with Near first. And while Mello had quite a few friendly relationships, some people liked him and some people did not. Nobody hated Near... Well, except Mello that is. Everyone always, always invited Near places - even though they knew he would turn them down. People both admired and respected Near, adored him. Everyone wanted to be his friend, everyone wanted to be awknowledged by him, but no one ever reached him. He was unattainable, and that made him all the more sacred. N simply didn't need the social skills Mello had in order to steal even popularity away from him.

It was an insult. But perhaps the greatest insult was that none of this affected Near. Near didn't seem to try at anything, never worked hard. The boy didn't even notice he was so important because he simply did not care. Mello, like social skills, had ambition, a desire to win. He worked hard at everything he did - even if it was in effort to defeat the angelic creature - and still got nowhere. All the while, Mello just got ignored by his biggest adversary. Not even worth the glance his way, not even looked upon as a threat. Near was just so full of himself that he thought he was too good to talk to the scum around him, that must have been it.

Everything about Near made Mello want to spit.

So it was no surprise when another test went by and later Mello would find Near and punch him and kick him and say the cruelest things he could imagine. One could even say that Near had always braced himself on the day the scores of anything were posted, ready for Mello's attempt at vengence. The only thing he could avenge was his pride. However, despite Mello's threats, he had always been genuinely surprised that Near never retaliated, never told a soul, not once did he tell the truth about his scars and his bruises. Certainly, everybody knew. A lot of people hated Mello for hating Near, and immediately jumped to the correct assumptions. They were geniuses afterall. Yet Mello would overhear Near tell lies about how a tower of wooden blocks had fallen on him, or he had rolled out of his top bunk in the middle of the night, or even that he had simply fallen down a flight of stairs. Mello was even sure that in between lies, weeks after any incident, Near would make a public display of hurting himself. Near certainly didn't want the attention but he had to be perfectly aware that he never actually was clumsy, and that a bit of a show would be the only way to cement such stories.

And while it ensured Mello's safety, it was just another way of taunting him. It simply said that Near wouldn't be affected by his abuse. Mello just wasn't strong enough to do that kind of damage.

Near would have to be an idiot if he wasn't aware of just how often Mello watched him. A glowering gaze fixated on him whether Near was looking back or not. Mello certainly wasn't shy but to be honest he didn't stare at Near constantly either. The two of them didn't see eachother as much as one would initially expect, Mello always seemed to be drawn to crowds and Near could usually be found where other people were not. And even when they were in the same room, it wasn't like Mello would just stare at him. He had other things to do, obviously, with all his hard work trying to beat his rival. There were even days on end when Mello would ignore Near's existence and would avoid looking his way at all.

But when the blonde did look his way, Near could instinctively feel it. Sometimes he looked back, sometimes he did not. It didn't matter either way, because it was always a cold look, dead eyes just clancing back at him. Perhaps Mello didn't even stare at Near enough to write home about, if there was a home to write to, but the sheer fact was that Mello looked his way more than anyone else, and with more intensity. Anger, betrayal, hatred; it was all sent his way via Mello's gaze. The blonde never just happened to glance in the boy's direction, no, instead he was always looking directly at him or he wasn't facing his way.

And it was one day, when a particularly difficult series of test scores came back all in one day, and Mello ranked second in all of them, there was no question to Near what would happen. He did not see Mello all day that day, not from avoiding him but because he was sure Mello was brooding somewhere, breaking things. He did not go looking for him. However, he knew what was coming to him. His punishment for doing well. If these children had parents, someone to praise them, there would be no punishment for being second - and even less so for being first. They were geniuses, they were the most elite in the world. But the pressure was enough to drive you mad. And they were mad, every single one of them, just all in different ways.

So when the lights were out and the children were asleep, Near had stayed silently in his room since before nightfall. Waiting for Mello, for he was sure to come to give him his serving of retribution. Hour by hour ticked by and sometime in the early hours of morning, Mello barged into Near's room, shaking with anger. However, the blonde was caught offguard by Near standing. Standing, facing the door, waiting for his arrival. The first thing that went through the second best at everything was that Near was finally going to take a stand, defend himself. However, in the dark he could tell that he had just been waiting. Nothing more, nothing less. Cursing mentally at himself for expecting to be awknowledged in that way, he got even more upset.

It was only a moment before white hair was pulled forward as the thin legs of the older boy connected with his stomach. Caughing silently due to impact, Near simply fell limp in Mello's grasp. Pale neck was taken on by large hands and he was thrown up against the wall, fingers grasping his throat and cutting off his ability to breathe. It was then that Mello whispered angrily at him, audibly verging on screaming. "Who do you think you are? You're a fucking freak, okay? What makes you so god damned special, Near?" He pulled the young man from the wall and crashed him back against it. Glad that Near and Mello's rooms were the only ones on this side of the stairwell, he continued. "I really hate you, you know that? I should fucking do the world a favor and kill you." And in that moment he realized that Near was turning a bit blue. Loosening up for a moment, Near caught a few gasps of air as quietly as one could, considering. In the meantime, Mello punched him in the gut while suffocating him again with just one hand.

"Thanks to you, I look like a mere delinquent. If you didn't exist, there would be no question who was the best here. My life would be better if you'd just curl up and die already." Mello's face contorted with rage as he looked at Near's eyes. Near only looked disinterested in everything that was happening, his body like a dead fish against the wall. "You're a waste of hide." And, in that moment, Mello was saying what he knew to be true. Without emotions, what's the point in the body?

Near finally moved, which in itself caught the older orphan offguard. A hand grabbed the wrist holding his neck in place lightly, causing Mello to simply roll his eyes and let go of his victim, who prompty fell to the ground like a sack of potatos. Not quite satisfied, Mello kicked the collapsed Near in the hip. Kicking a man while he was down was not something Mello was necessarily against, if that man happened to be the white speck that was ruining his life. Growling, still not finished but not really wanting to continue, he began to leave the room.

"I'm sorry." Near's voice, while raspy and injured from the beatings, rung clearly through the room. He was not whispering. Mello stopped and spun around to look at the boy who had spoken to him. Near had never before talked to him during or after the beatings, and rarely right before. Frustrated with the apology, which seemed completely out of place, he left the room and slammed the door. Couldn't he at least react like a normal human being after getting the shit kicked out of him?

Now that Mello was gone, silence filled the empty room until he heard Mello's door slam down the hall. "I'm sorry, Mello."