"Happy Birthday to you!" Matt sang happily. Mello pushed his thick blond hair behind his ear with a big grin. "How does it feel to be eight already!" Mello had never really thought about it, he never felt older every year on his birthday. But to be eight years old? It didn't feel much different. And no one would really say "happy birthday" to him except Matt. No one really paid attention to Mello, Mello knew he wasn't that important.

"Hey I know, you should tell the new kid it's your birthday!" Matt pulled the blond kid up quickly by the hand. The new kid. Near. Mello didn't notice him much, but he was different. Mello never seen a kid as white as the snow before. He thought it was the coolest thing, his hair was pure white and his skin was pale, Mello thought maybe he had superpowers. You're not so smart at eight. "Near looks cool, maybe he's an elf!" As quick as a cat, Matt grabbed a videogame he'd gotten for Christmas last year and pointed to the elf character on the front.

"Why an elf?" Mello asked as he pulled up the sleeves of his long black sweater.

"Why not?" The redhead asked and fell playfully back on his bed, tugging at the mess of hair on his head. "I'm sure he has some sort of elf powers. He can move things with his mind! Or shoot lasers from his eyes!"

Mello thought about it. How cool would that be, to have powers like that? He could be famous; he could do anything he'd wanted. It'd be so cool. "I wish I had powers like Near," Mello muttered to himself, but of course Matt heard.

"I know the way to get powers from an elf!" exclaimed Matt as he sat up. "You kiss them!"

"Ewww! Kiss?" Mello yelped and curled up like a cat. "No way, that's gross!" He stuck out his tongue for extra effect.

"C'mon, kiss him! It's your birthday, you could get powers! Do it, Mello, do it!"

It was his eighth birthday, and Mello wanted superpowers. So he swiftly jumped up and bolted out the door, his pants nearly tripping them as he went down the hall. His bare feet were thumping loudly on the hardwood floors. After what seemed like forever, he got to Near's room and opened the door quickly. Near was sitting there on his floor playing with a couple legos. Mello was noticing especially how Near's small, pale hands barely made it out of the long sleeves of his night-shirt, and the legos were brightly colored compared to his own skin.

"Near!" Mello ran over and slid on his knees to the younger boy. "Guess what? It's my birthday!"

Near looked up. Mello could barely see his dull eyes behind the curly white hair. "Oh….Happy birthday," Near whispered quietly. Mello, to this day, could still remember how quiet he was. Even more so than he was now, and his voice sounded so small.

"It's my birthday, so I need a present from you!" Near simply put his legos on his lap and looked Mello in the eyes. "I wanna kiss from you!" Little Near, only six years old, had no idea what a kiss was. And without even asking what it was…

"No." Near said, and continued playing silently. Mello sat there, dumbstruck with wide eyes.

"Wha- C'mon it's my birthday! Just a quick kiss!" Mello wanted superpowers! He went to grab Near, but the younger boy quickly got up and ran out of his own room.

It was three years later, and here was Mello again, sitting on his bed and watching Matt play videogames. Matt told him happy birthday earlier, he didn't say it again. Mello was eleven now, and he had somewhat made an impact on the orphanage. No kid liked him much, Mello picked on kids and bullied kids, and he was a bad kid.

And Mello had still remembered his birthday, three years ago, when Near refused to kiss him. He had asked again the next year, he was nine and still wanted the powers he assumed this boy had. Near knew was a kiss was by then, and he definitely did not want to kiss Mello. It took Mello a whole half-hour arguing with Near, but he didn't kiss him then.

Then he remembered last year, when he turned ten. By then, the blond boy had started to figure out that Near was no elf and he had no powers. But he'd asked him for two years for a kiss so he started to think he had to do it. "You know what the little brat did?" Mello told Matt. "I walked in there and he was gone! And he left a note on the bed. The note just said 'No, Mello." Mello remembered how pissed off he was then. He remembered how angry he was, and he didn't speak to anyone else for the rest of the day.

Now he was a bit older at eleven. He knew for a FACT Near had no powers, he was a simple little albino boy. Albino boy…that was still pretty amazing to Mello. Near was cool nonetheless, he was so calm. Calmness was something Mello admired considering he couldn't BE calm. Too much chocolate. And Near was quiet and no matter what he did he could still look so innocent.

Today was Mello's birthday, so as tradition, he stood up and took in a deep breath, and then walked down the hall to Near's room. Without warning, he slammed the bedroom open, causing the younger boy to jump a little. The blond saw Near, sitting on his bed with wide eyes, but still his expression looked the same as it always did! He didn't look surprised, he just looked bored. As if on cue…

"Happy birthday, Mello," Near whispered. The older boy chuckled at the nine year old and sat on the bed beside him.

"Do you know what I want for my birthday, Near?" He chuckled. The younger boy looked away and sighed.

"A kiss." He stated. It wasn't even a question; he just came out and said it.

"And chocolate!" Mello laughed a bit, but Near didn't even smile. "But..Yeah," So, as Mello turned to face Near, he noticed Near had already jumped off the bed. Mello narrowed his eyes and got off the bed. "And you won't even kiss me this year?"

"No, Mello." Four years he had asked, it had made him furious.

"Damnit, Just kiss me!"

"Mello!" Near exclaimed a bit, he had never heard Mello curse. The older blond boy had always used a sweet, nice voice with him. Probably to try and persuade him.

"Kiss me!" Mello lunged forward and grabbed Near by the shoulders. He closed his eyes tight and leaned forward for a kiss, but Near turned his head and Mello kissed the wall. Before he could even respond, Mello found that Near had pulled away from him and backed up. "What a baby!" The blond growled. Near was a bit shocked, he went to back up and tripped on his own pajamas and fell to the floor. "Baby," Mello snarled and stomped out of the room.

Then it was three years even after that. Matt was jumping around the room, full of joy. "Mello's fourteen! Mello's old! Mello's old!" The blond boy just wanted to punch Matt in the face, it was annoying. Of course he knew Matt didn't need to be annoying, it was actually a sweet gesture but Mello was annoyed.

He hated birthdays. He hated knowing every single year he would get about one "happy birthday" from Matt, then get annoyed by him, then go try to kiss the little prude albino boy who'd never let him. And Mello had a secret now. He was young then, he didn't know anything about kissing or anything about Near really. But he knew he would pay special attention to Near because he was special.

Near really was special. His skin was so soft, even when he was trying to push Mello away, and his hair was so light and curly. Mello noticed every single feature of Near. His clothes were always baggy and they hung off his pale arms and legs. His eyes, even if they were dull, were always so mysterious…and Mello remembered he'd only seen Near smiled once in his life but it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. Mello wanted to kiss Near, he liked Near a whole lot!

So this year, Mello was already awake at seven o' clock in the morning. Matt was awake due to all the sugar he had, he had found Mello's chocolate stash. Even though he knew Mello would kill him later, he still ate them all. But Mello quickly ran out into the hall, then began sneaking over to Near's room.

He opened the door as quietly as he possibly could and peeked in. Near was curled up on the bed, his body clinging onto the blanket covering him. Near looked peaceful when he slept, like a small porcelain doll in a cradle.

This was his one chance; he would never get another chance like this again. So ever so carefully, Mello stepped over and kneeled beside the bed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; his heart was pounding so loud, he was paranoid that Near would wake up because of his loud heartbeat. Mello nervously leaned forward. His lips were about an inch away from Near's, and as fate would have it, Near's eyes slowly opened. But Mello didn't stop, he went even closer.

But then, he felt Near's trembling hands gently on his face, pushing him away lightly. "N-no…No, Mello, N-no," His voice was so tired, he yawned as he talked. Mello gasped, he was SURE he would've been able to kiss Near without being caught. Even half-asleep, Near could still say no to him!

Mello felt something inside him snap. He grabbed a pillow and threw it at Near's face, earning a whimper from the younger boy. "Fuck you, you little freak!" He went to the door angrily, and as he turned over he could see Near's eyes peer over from behind the pillow. Mello swore he saw a pained expression in Near's eyes, but he still slammed the door behind him.

"Who does that little brat think he is?" Mello screamed. "Fucking moron!"

"What'd he say to you this time?" Matt asked quickly. Mello went to tell him that Near woke up, but he nearly forgot about the lies he's been telling Matt all these years! Matt didn't even know Mello went to Near's room every year to ask for a kiss, he thought Near called Mello to his room every year to trash him on his birthday.

"Um-…he said he KNEW he'd be L's successor, not me. He just TOLD me that!" Mello paced around the room with clenched fists. Everyone knew Mello was mad that he was always second to Near in everything, and yeah he was upset about that, but more or less that was just a good cover for the real reason he was angry at Near.

Mello remembered he had gone on yelling and screaming that he wanted to be number one. But he was actually thinking "Why won't he kiss me? Does the little bastard think he's too good for me? Does he think I'll be a bad kisser? Like he's so great! He's such a prude!"
There was one thing everyone had right about Mello and Near. Mello had never felt good enough when he was around Near.

Epilogue

"Happy Birthday to me," I growled impatiently. I'm nineteen today, I left that damn orphanage four years ago. That's four years I've been gone from all them, except Matt, he stuck with me.

"Sayin happy birthday to yourself again?" Matt chuckled with a smug tone. He wasn't happy and cheery like he was back in our room then; he didn't even bother to look up at me as he smoked his cigarette. I was annoyed by the smoke surrounding me from damn Matt, so I walked out into the hall, adjusting the leather vest suffocating me. I can still remember when I used to wear baggy sweaters everywhere; you gotta look sharp to make it around here.

"Hey Mells," Ross stomped over to me with a dead expression. "Got a message for ya, dunno who it's from, check it."
I snatched the note from him and looked down. "Come to the headquarters, Mello.I have information on Kira." Signed by "N". Of course Ross didn't know who the fuck it was from, but I knew. "I'm goin out," I nodded and put on my thick red jacket. "Don't fuckin call me, Ross." With that, I stomped out.

Took me a long time, even on motorcycle to get to the SPK headquarters. When I got there, I knew there was gonna be a TON of security, but they knew who I was and let me right in. I was getting the urge just to punch them. They were just standing there looking tough, but they're not tough. The guys I work with are tough.

I finally got into the last room and walked in. There was Near, sitting all by himself on the floor in the middle of the room. There were his toys scattered all around the room, and giant TV monitoring screens on the walls, it was high-tech in here.

But seeing Near brought back a ton of bad memories. I remembered every year he would turn me down, and how I hadn't asked him in about five years. And I wasn't gonna ask now, that's what I did when I was a kid. And I wanted to get straight to business so I could leave. "What info do you have, Near?" I said.

"I don't."

"What?"

"I don't have information on Kira." He stood up and looked at me; some of his pure white locks of hair fell carelessly in front of his eyes. I clenched my fists a little and tried to fight back an urge to grab him, he just looked so innocent. I missed that, I actually missed that.

"Damnit, why am I here then Near?"

Near walked over to me quietly, he was so much shorter than I was. He got on his tip-toes to be even close to my height, he ran the tips of his fingers very lightly over the scar on my face. I drew my head back, but he grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back. I didn't want to stay around him anymore, I went to walk out, but his hand gently grabbed mine as he said "don't go."

I was a little confused, yeah, but I wasn't gonna just leave. I wanted to see what would happen. And quietly, Near stood up on a chair in front of me so he was level with me, finally. "What do you want Near?"

He didn't say anything, he just leaned forward, closed his eyes and pressed his lips on mine. I was in shock, but I kissed back a bit too eagerly. His lips were soft, just like I had imagined for all these years. He was so innocent looking; I wish I didn't have to close my eyes to kiss. It didn't last very long though like I had hoped; he gently pulled away and looked me in the eyes. I saw the edges of his mouth somewhat curl up, he was smiling barely.

"Happy birthday, Mello."