Happy birthday ChocoAndCigs!

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Mello hated competition.

So of course, it was no great secret that Mello hated Near. The number one child in Wammy's had never actually given Mello a reason to hate him, besides scoring higher on every test, but Mello hated him all the same. And after years of this undeserved and often turned-physical hatred, Near had learned the many tricks and habits of the blonde.

Near knew that when the chocolate supply in the kitchen was running low, it was best for him to avoid the cafeteria until new groceries were shipped in. Near could discern the amount of anger Mello was feeling that day just by the sound of his footsteps in the hall. And above all else, Near knew to never, ever be around on the day that the monthly rankings were posted. Yes, Near had become quite adept at avoiding confrontation with Mello.

Now while it was widely known that Mello harbored an intense disliking for the orphanage's palest student, it was much less common knowledge that his hatred extended further down the ranks as well. Numbers three through ten also had to watch out for the fiery blonde. Anyone ranked lower than ten might as well not exist in Mello's world, so they were spared his usual wrath.

Of course, just because you weren't on the list of the nine children Mello hated the most, didn't mean it was safe for you to be in his path on the first of the month, when the official rankings from the previous month were posted. That was why, on the first of December, despite the freezing cold conditions, nearly every child in Wammy's House donned on their heaviest jackets, pulled on their snow boots, and headed outside to spend the day tromping through snowdrifts. It was a well known fact that Mello rarely ventured outside, and a little frostbite was a far more favorable fate than crossing paths with him today.

"Dammit!"

Mello stalked angrily down the empty hallways, throwing doors open, looking for someone, anyone to take his anger out on. But the orphanage was utterly devoid of human life today, it seemed. It really sucked, because this time, Mello was especially pissed off.

Near had beaten him again. No big surprise there, but this time it was especially annoying. He had beaten him by one point. One tiny little point. Usually there was a bigger gap between their scores, but this time…

You would think that this would be good news for Mello. After all, one point away meant that he was all that closer to beating Near the next month. But to Mello, that one point was infuriating. He would rather be a hundred points behind Near, than one. Because one hundred meant he had somewhere he needed to improve, something he could work on. But one point? All one point signified was that he would always be a behind Near. He would always be trailing by one measly point.

"Huh?"

Mello stopped in his destructive path. He had thrown open the door to a broom closet, and to his great surprise, there was a person in there, sitting up against a (mostly unused) pile of cleaning supplies, punching buttons on a handheld game at a furious pace. The boy looked up at Mello, who was casting a shadow over his game.

"Do you mind moving? You're messing up the light."

Mello immediately seethed. He detested being told what to do.

"What the fuck are you doing in a broom closet anyway?"

"What are you doing screaming up and down the hallway?" The boy shot back.

Mello scowled. This kid obviously had no clue who he was talking to. "Who the hell are you anyway?" He asked.

The boy adjusted the goggles he wore, and punched a few more buttons on his game before he finally answered, "My name's Matt."

Matt. Mello swore internally. He knew that name. Matt was number three. Matt was the second most hated person on Mello's list.

Mello had never actually seen Matt in person, but he had heard through rumor that Matt never did anything. He never showed up to classes, never studied, just sat and played his stupid video games all day. Yet somehow, this Matt kid was number three in the ranks.

Mello stared down at Matt. He just didn't understand. How could this kid be so close to surpassing Mello's score? You see, just as Mello was one point behind Near this month, Matt was also very close to overtaking Mello's hard won second spot.

This didn't even make any sense. Mello worked his ass off for his ranking. And what did this kid do? Nothing, he did nothing.

Anger. Mello could feel it bubbling in the pit of his stomach, working its way through his veins like fire. He knew this feeling well. He looked down again at Matt. The longer he looked the more his anger grew, and before Mello even had time to process what he was doing, his booted foot lashed out and smashed into Matt's face.

Matt sputtered and dropped his game. It clattered against the cement floor of the closet as Matt clutched at his nose, which had broken under the impact of Mello's foot.

"What the fuck!" Matt started to scramble to his feet, but was stopped as Mello's first slammed into his temple. Matt fell heavily against the pile he had been leaning against earlier. The various cleaning supplies fell around him as he instinctually brought his hands up to guard his face.

Mello was breathing hard, consumed by anger. He wasn't even quite sure of why he was doing this, he just knew that he was mad and Matt was in his way. And it felt so good to finally let some of his anger out. The sight of Matt bleeding and balled up on the floor was like a drug to Mello. He wanted more.

Mello raised his foot again and stomped on Matt's unprotected stomach. The redhead doubled over in pain, leaving his head once again open for Mello's foot. Mello felt a chuckle build in his throat as he kicked Matt over and over again. The tip of his shoe was turning a garish red.

Matt sputtered again and spit out a mouthful of blood and teeth. He barely had time to wonder what the hell he had done to make Mello so angry, before the edge of Mello's boot caught him on the temple, and unlike the previous punch, this made a hell of a bigger impact. Matt heard rather than felt something in his general head area crack, and his vision turned black.

X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X

Roger sighed in an almost pained way as he pinned the newest list of rankings to the board outside his office. It was the first of January, a whole month since the 'incident', as Roger liked to refer to it. He took one last look at the list, and then went to sit down with a cup of hot tea and his latest novel.

The list looked much the same as it always had. Near was still number one, Mello was still number two, and for the most part the children were still in the same order. However there was one noticeable difference.

The name Matt was nowhere to be found.

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