Everyone has a heart. No matter how big or small, it's still a heart. At some point in their life, they're going to act not out of logic, or routine, but out of the kindness concentrated in that one place. The compassion and genuine love that cannot be misplaced or lost. It's there. It just takes a trigger to bring it to the surface, through the perfectly emotionless exterior.
Mello had a heart once. He used to have a warm, loving family. He loved them back. The competition might have deluded it a bit, but it was still love. His love. Everything changed when they abandoned him. He never knew why. They had money. They had everything everyone else was dying to have. But they couldn't have him; one of their own. Mello still knows where his house was; at least the general area. He still wonders why it had to be him. The kid with an actual life to live.
Why is it when you have all there is to have you lose it all?
It's like a game of checkers. One step to victory and the next thing you know you've lost. It takes one mistake to ruin your life.
Theirs ruined Mello's.
For a boy with a huge heart, Mello's shrank quickly. As soon as he was given up, he recoiled away from the world, lashing out at anyone who dared provoke any emotion inside him besides hatred and anger. Because that was all that was left in his cold, neglected heart. The love had vanished, just like his life. Just like the boy he used to be.
Nobody knew this better than anyone else but Near. He was the tail end of it, the effects fully displayed through him. Destroying toys, kicking his sleeping body, and verbal abuse were just the half of it. Something cracked inside Mello when he saw Near… Something that sent his actions spiraling out of control for years. But Near stood not wavered at all; swallowing his sorrow and cries when they burned his throat, threatening to bubble over. He looked up to Mello, but as the years grew longer, his fear of him grew and grew.
Near wondered what had happened to his friend.
Mello kept wondering why.