"Along with Sergey Yesenin, there are also many other famous Russian poets. An example, which will be on page 275, is Alexander Pushkin. He lived from 1799 to 1837, and wrote around 800 lyrics with a dozen narrative poems. He's one of my favorites so far..."

Her voice would trail on endlessly, inflecting to try and wake up the dozed students but to no avail. One, in particular, was a very slim blonde boy, whom was obviously not up for hearing about his own culture. Normally Mello was sitting straight in his seat, keeping great posture and listening intently; being number one was all he cared about. Today was clearly different. He had his head poorly propped up with his hand, tapping the eraser end of his pencil endlessly on his desk without any type of rhythm. Every now and again, he'd shift and sigh heavily- he was done with this already, and if weren't for the fact that Mrs. Kol was a teacher, he'd pipe up about it, I knew. I knew all about that dainty blonde, and he was no saint.

When she uttered another page number, Mello idly flicked two pages over and sighed deeply again. It was then made clear that he was not expecting any interaction, for when Mrs. Kol barked his name, he sat up straighter than ever, looking at her pointedly. "Ma'am?" he said back, blinking his drowsiness away quickly. "I heard from Roger that you are Russian.. I just wanted to know if it was true." she said, smiling. "O-oh.." he slowly relaxed, "..yes, that's right, ma'am. Lived there until I was 12, then I came here." Nodding and grinning broader, she attacked.

"So, you speak Russian?" "I..er.." the blonde looked a bit confused and flustered. "Yes, I do." She nodded and continued to beam, "Well... I wanted to ask if you'd like to translate one of Alexander Pushkin's poems for us. It..does have the Russian version on the next page, but an audio version would be nice." Mello flinched, hearing Linda giggle a few seats back. This was bad, and I knew it. Mello never did so well with people looking at him critically. Taking a heavy breath, he nodded finally, and I watched cautiously. Would there be an explosion...? I was fully aware that he was not afraid to round on Linda. "..Yes, ma'am. Which one?" Her smile got strangely bigger, "I know it might be difficult to see English and speak Russian, so I'll give a short one. Try... "I Loved You"." I was not phased, but it looked like something hit Mello in the chest. A sudden small smile spread across his face, and he nodded, "Very well." Even his voice perked up slightly.

"Ya lyubil vas, i dazhe syeĭchas ya mogu priznatʹsya," he began in a smooth, balanced tone. The Russian words and phrases passed from his lips easier than English did, and it was rather soothing to hear. I thought so, anyway. "Nekotorye ugli o moyeĭ lyubvi, i ogonʹ ih sohranyaet; No ne daĭte yemu prichinitʹ vam bolʹshe bedstviya ya ne hochu pechalitʹ vas snova." He paused, licking his lips and taking another breath. Then, smiling again, his eyes slowly shifted to look at me. It was clear he had memorized the poem, because he continued to speak, looking directly at me.

"Beznadezhno i kosnoyazychen, no ya lyubil vas dorogo S revnivoĭ muki, i robkiĭ znayu; tak nezhno ya vozlyubil vas, tak iskrenne, ya molyu Boga predostavitʹ druguyu lyubovʹ k vam tak." Mrs. Kol wagged her head and smiled, "That was very good, thank you!" Mello kept looking at me, and nodded at her slowly with a warm smile. When I gave him a confused look, he put his finger up, then looked at the teacher.

"Excuse me, but could I read the English version as well? To help with the idea of the translation, I mean." he questioned, and I was even more lost. What was he up to? Mrs. Kol nodded again, grinning, "Go ahead, Mello." He looked unbelievably pleased with this. And then, as Mello began to speak, realization rammed into my brain stronger than any combo move Sora could ever use while he is in Valor form.

"I loved you; even now I may confess, some embers of my love, their fire retains; But do not let it cause you more distress, I do not want to sadden you again. Hopeless and tongue-tied, yet I loved you dearly- with pangs the jealous and the timid know; So tenderly I loved you, so sincerely, I pray God grant another love to you so."

Mello averted his gaze to me again, smiling wickedly when he knew that red was tinting my cheeks. I just stared at him, dumbfounded and blushing, cursing mutely at the blood accumulating beneath the skin of my face. Then Mello turned to look at the teacher, his gaze releasing me and allowing me to put my head down and watch my trembling hands. "Thank you." he stated with a nod, and she responded with the same head movement. "Since we're coming close to leaving for our rooms, you may go on and get your things together. Permission granted to go out to the lockers." she said with a content sigh.

Mello stood, then turned to me as conversations exploded into the classroom. "Matt," he began, holding his hand out, "come with me." I blinked, slowly looking at him before nodding slightly, taking his hand and standing. He pulled me along out of the classroom, my trembling body regretting ever leaving the seat. My legs felt like they were going to fall out from under me at any moment as I walked numbly with the blonde boy. Finally, he stopped once we had reached the restroom.

I expected an explanation, or to be yelled at for being so stupid. I mean...Mello looking at me like that during a poem like..that..meant nothing. Surely he didn't like me in that way.. did he? My thoughts were interrupted when I was shoved into a stall, then followed by Mello. He locked the door behind him, turned to me, and rested his lips against mine. I could tell he wanted to be rough with me, like always, but he remained gentle, his lips soft. The burning sensation was back in my cheeks, followed by more trembling and a churning feeling in my stomach. Clearly wanting us closer, the blonde shuffled further and took my face into his hands. It was almost like a type of dance, and I was standing on his feet. Whenever I messed up, he'd lightly guide me into the right direction by gently tilting my head more or bringing me closer. Testing me, he trailed his tongue softly against my lower lip, pushing for entrance that I granted him hesitantly. He smiled at how I cooperated, blending the taste of burning, roiling chocolate and nicotine with his tongue.

Then, very carefully, he pulled away to look at me breathlessly. At my still dumb-stricken expression, he smiled and pulled me into a tight embrace. "I love you, Matt, and I won't be here when you wake up tomorrow." I blinked, slowly bringing my arms around him, one hand going into his hair. "W-what do you mean..?" I asked softly. And instead of answering me, he kissed me again, briefly, then unlocked the stall and pulled me by my hand again. "The bell is going to ring, and Roger won't be happy if we're late." I nodded once, frowning, and followed him out of the restroom and outside to the back building orphanage we called home.

The school was separate from the orphanage, to give us kids more of a normal childhood with public school. But to me, nothing was normal after that day in Reading class. Once we arrived back in our room, he studied and did homework while eating chocolate mindlessly like always. I played my video games, trying to get myself to calm down. The rest of the day passed by easily and normally, until we were both tired.

Mello was lying on his bed, his deep blue eyes barely able to stay open. "Nhn..Mattie.." he murmured, and I turned from Zelda to look at him. "Mm?" "Come..come lay with me." He looked almost miserable, and I could see now that his eyes were barely open because tears kept flooding them over. Concerned, I nodded and pressed pause, going over and carefully sitting next to him. "S'matter?" I asked, frowning at him. "I-I said /lay/ with m-me, dumb.." he muttered, trying to keep his dominance while still a complete wreck. He tugged at me, and I finally complied to his wishes. I hugged him close to me, petting him gently. "Now, then...what's wrong?" I asked again. He smiled sadly, rubbed his eyes, and shook his head. "I won't be here when you wake up, Matt. Goodnight, and I love you." I was disappointed when this was all I could get out of him, for he'd fallen asleep to get away from my questions. I didn't wake him up, though; he looked really hurt, and he deserved sleep. It was about an hour later that I passed out, my head against his.

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Yeah, I know. |0 I bet all of you hate me for leaving the ending at that, huh? XD;; I'm sorry!! I gave you a Russian poem to make up for it. -/shot- I don't even know if I got the translation quite right, so feel free to correct me as much as you want. I'd appreciate it~. I'm trying to learn Russian, so.. Hahah. This was good practice, and I hope you enjoyed it. Oh, and just so you know, 'Mrs. Kol' actually came from my love of Axis powers Hetalia. XDDD Russia-nii~. "Kol kol kol kol kol kol..."

Also-- no need to worry! "A Lovely Pair of Friends" should be updated very, very soon, and I will fix the ending to this one with another fanfic for your pleasure. :D Yaaay. But what it is is a surprise. ow o; A very sad one, at that... That's what my friend said, anyhow. X3 I love you all~!