Mello woke up in the middle of the night, panting and sweating. The moon filtered through the nearest window to his bed, showering him in milky light. He turned his head towards the light, wondering why he had woke up so suddenly. After a while of sitting, motionless, surrounded with his nest of sheets, he finally stirred, trying to settle himself back into a comfortable sleeping position.

Then it hit him -

"AAaurgh!" He cried, flinging his arms around his middle as a sharp, breath-taking pain struck his stomach. Gritting his teeth, he stared forwards shockedly, waiting in agony for the pain to strike again.

Someone groaned nearby him. Mello turned stiffly towards the noise.

"..M...Mello?" Matt's voice, dripping with a sleepy slur, sounded from another bed in the same room. Mello could see a lock of his red hair, illuminated by a shaft of window-light.

Mello heard him yawn, then:

"Mello? Is that you?" drawled his tired friend again.

"Uh huh," muttered Mello, still refusing to let go of his aching waist.

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"But...You cried out, didn't you?"

"Y...No. I didn't."

"Yeah...you did."

"You're losing it, Matt."

"No, I'm not. I heard you. You just yelled in pain."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"I did not."

"Yeah, dude, you did. You were all like: 'aaaauuuuughhhh!' " Matt let loose a long and exaggerated moan.

"I did not."

"...You sounded like a dying animal..."

"I did not."

"...It was like you went into labour pain or something..."

"I did not."

"...God, how would you explain that to Roger?..."

"I. Did. Not."

"...Okey dokey, Miss Mello."

"I AM NOT A GIRL."

"You're hair and name speaks otherwise..."

"Put a freaking sock in it - Annie!"

"Ouch!"

"Oh, will you just -"

"Just, calm down, dude."

"..."

"..."

Matt cleared his throat. "...So. About your labor pangs..."

Mello chucked the thing nearest to him at Matt's head.

Matt shrieked and toppled off the bed. "DUDE THAT WAS YOUR ALARM CLOCK!...*sob* Now I'm gonna have a bruise..."

"Suck it up, you sissy!"

"Chicks aren't attracted to black eyes, you know, jerk!"

"They're not exactly attracted to red-headed winers, either."

"...Argh..."

"So who's moaning NOW?" Mello smirked.

"Well, what I just did was just a little groan. You executed this huge, long, desperate cry. And then you were all like: 'Help me pleeeaase...I can't' take it...kill me now...(Matt I owe you twenty bucks)..."

"MATT."

"Okay. Okay. But you did cry out. Just admit it."

"...Hmph...Fine. So I did. I just got a little surprised. Deal with it."

"...Yeah. I've learned not to ask."

"You'd better not tell anyone about this, Matt."

"...Um, Okay."

However, about a minute later -

"Dude, you know we all heard that, right?" another boy in the dormitory piped up.

Mello sighed exageratedly. "Oh, I hate you all." He flopped back down on his bed.

A few minutes later, however, Mello was rudely reminded of his problem at hand when another strike of agony sprung up in his abdomen. He yelped, like before, and sat bolt upright in bed. Covered in sweat and goosebumps, his breath coming out in shocked little gasps, he barely heard Matt as he called him.

"Mello?"

Mello didn't reply. What was WRONG with him? Was he sick? Well, it felt pretty awful...

"Mel-lo," chimed Matt again. "Earth to Mello! Come in, Mello! You there?"

Again, Mello ignored him.

"Mel-looooo! Melson? Mel? M-Dog? M-ily? Melly Bell-"

"Matt..." rasped 'M-Dog' in a hoarse voice. "Shut. Up."

Matt, hearing his pained tone, looked over at his friend with concern. "So...what's up?"

Mello looked down at his painful stomach. "...I dunno...But my stomach just...kills. A lot."

"You're stomach is a mass murderer?"

Mello glared at Matt. "Stop being stupid. You know what I meant."

"Yeah...yeah...You probably just have a stomach-ache, dude. You did have a whole lotta chocolate cake last night..."

"Ugh! Don't remind me!...Because now...I'm starting to feel sick...!" He gasped in pain, eyes wide, before running from the room, leaving Matt staring after him questioningly.