A/N: … Well? I promised a sequel didn't I? XD Don't stare at me like that. Anyway, here we have another school year at Irai. You won't be seeing their summer vacation but it'll be referenced throughout the story, I'm guessing.
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Azure Paler than the Sky.
one.
The boys arrived back on campus in August right after the height of the summer heat was settling in. The lawns of Irai were all brown and dingy and the inexperienced groundskeepers had little idea of what to do about it, already getting berated by some of the older alumni about keeping a proud-looking school. The sky was clear as ever, lacking clouds and pouring sunshine down on the poor groundskeepers' heads as they worked out in the fields, repairing the grass.
When the red corvette pulled up into the school's front parking lot, Matt was distracted by Mello's constant whining about rap music and drove up too far, missing the bump and going onto the grass. Good thing it was already dead.
"-it's fucking annoying! 'Baby mamma' this and 'fine bitch' that! I've heard it for two months-"
The car lurched forward.
"Shit," Matt cried as the front tires stumbled over the curb. The car stopped on a dime and everything bounced, shifting around in the backseat, a small cry coming from it. Matt blinked and looked back along with Mello to see Near being violently attacked by a Gamecube and its wires.
Mello rolled his eyes. "See, this is why you don't bring that shit on a road trip. Near, are you all right?"
"Y-Yes, I'm fine," he said feebly, still fighting for his life.
"See?" Matt shrugged and smirked. "He's fine!"
Mello snorted, "Still-"
"I would appreciate assistance, however…" Near muttered.
"… Right, coming."
The doors opened on either side and Mello got out first, coming around to open up Near's door. He leaned inside and pushed the systems off of the younger teen and backed up so that Near could get out. The two older boys went to the trunk to see what the damage was, that is to say, how much crap they had to carry upstairs. Upon opening it up, Matt whistled and Mello groaned.
"Look at all this," he shouted, unbelieving, "how did you get enough money to buy all these souvenirs, anyway, huh? When we don't even have enough money to buy shampoo and deodorant!"
"I dipped into our scholarship funds," Matt explained, scratching the back of his head.
Mello's left eye twitched horribly. "Just wait until I get you alone, Matt."
"Heh," Matt leered and leaned over. "Oh, Mello, so naughty."
"Shut up!" He reddened and looked over at Near to see if he had heard.
But Near hadn't heard. He stood by the open door of the car and looked up at the large building some yards in front of him. It was good to be back after so long of traveling all of Japan and with the prospect of spending a complete year here, the happiness he felt was completely engulfing him. To see Irai Academy in the midst of autumn and then winter would be nice as Near had an affinity for snow. And to spend another year as L's student, to learn more and more, was an amazing prospect in itself.
He's probably in his rooms now, Near thought just as Mello walked by him, holding a stack of Matt's needless memorabilia. He grunted as he walked and Near took a step forward, calling, "Can I help?"
Mello stopped and looked over his shoulder, smirking a little. "No, you don't have to carry anything."
"Oh… but-"
"Gangway!" Matt shouted and Near turned around just in time to be mowed over by Matt stampeding past with more than was humanly possible to carry. Mello jumped out of the way and onto the hood of the car as Matt raced up into the building. When he was out of sight, both Mello and Near heard distant screams of females that Matt had probably scared the living daylights out of.
"Jesus!" Mello sighed and got back on his feet. He looked over and found Near grabbing at his chest and breathing heavily. Mello laughed, "Are you all right?"
"Mm… mmhmm." Near walked forward and held out his arms. "Please, let me be of use."
There was a pause before Mello nodded and lifted a game controller from the top of his stack and placed it in Near's cupped hands.
Near blinked down at it and frowned. "Mello, I can carry more," he said, feeling a little ridiculed.
Mello laughed suddenly and leaned in, pressing a firm kiss to Near's warm forehead. Near sighed at the contact and let his hands droop a little, dropping the controller to the concrete and gasping, scrambling down to retrieve it. Mello walked away, saying, "Looks like you've got your hands full with that. Come upstairs when you're ready."
Near sighed and fumbled with the thing. He was right behind Mello in a few minutes and the two of them walked like goose and gosling in a small line through the hallways. The sound of their shoes echoes through the concrete all around them and it sounded familiar, like a noise Near had heard a long time ago. And it seemed like a long time ago, too.
And out of nowhere, it seemed, Mello asked, "Did you have fun?"
He didn't look back at Near or anything, just expected an answer. Near nodded eagerly even though Mello couldn't see it. "Yes, it was more than fun, really."
"Good, because you need to chip in for gas money."
Near blinked, surprised. "O-Oh, okay, I-"
"I was kidding," Mello groaned but there was a smile in his voice.
Near blushed slightly and looked down at his feet.
"You know," Mello said, "I bet Matt's feeling pretty damn stupid right about now."
"… Why?"
They made it up to the third floor of their building and went down the hallway when they found their dorm rooms, across from each other, and Matt, who was sitting outside of his and Mello's room with his pile of items in disarray around him. He was panting and sweating and looked up to find Mello laughing at him and waving their cardkey.
"Ha ha, very funny," Matt grumbled.
"Yeah, I thought so," Mello said as he slid the key down the pad. There was a click heard deep within the turnings of the lock and Mello was able to open the door. Matt stood up with him as the door opened wide and the two of them walked in first, paused a second, and continued on with two completely different facial expressions.
"Agh! Good Lord, it smells awful," Mello cried, dropping his stuff and holding his nose.
Matt embraced the dust-covered furniture and mothball scent of the apartment. "Home, sweet home! Mel, what's wrong with you? Insulting our little paradise like that."
"Paradise my ass, it smells like someone died in here."
"Yeah, well, besides that… Hey, where's Near?"
Mello looked behind him and saw no one there and, in a second, Near reappeared after having made a quick trip to his own dorm room across the hall. He held his nose lightly with one hand and used the other to spray a lilac air freshener all around.
Mello nodded proudly, holding his nose as well. "Good job, Near."
Matt looked offended. "Right, Near, way to side with unsentimental guy!"
Near wandered around the living room area and then into the small hallway with his ammo. "There is a difference between the comforting smell of home and an overpowering stench, Matt. This is unfortunately the latter…" He stopped then, taking his can down from the sky and breathing in deeply to test if he had completed his self-appointed task. He wandered to the kitchenette as Matt and Mello began to pull things in from the hallway and looked at all of the dust covering the counters.
He inched towards the refrigerator and, suddenly, an unsettling expression crossed his face. He sniffed curiously at the fridge door and frowned deeply. What… what is that? he wondered and gingerly continued with his investigation, opening the door and immediately letting out an alarmed sound at the foul odor that came floating towards him.
"Near?" came Mello's voice. "Was that you?"
"Please, come quickly," Near called, shying away from the contents of the fridge.
Both older teens came into the kitchenette, thinking there would be a cockroach attacking little Near but when they dipped their heads inside, they gasped in disgust at the jug of milk that was green and blue and overflowing with mold, attaching itself to the sides of the shelves.
Mello looked outraged and whipped his head around to Matt. "This is the smell of home, huh? You're sick!"
Matt giggled nervously. "Well, I… uh… I'll clean it…"
"Stop laughing!"
-
A week later, the twenty-fourth arrived and that was the first time the six of them were able to get together again. Near had walked into Matt and Mello's room on evening to complete darkness and when he clicked the light on, Matsuda popped out of nowhere and nearly gave the boy a heart attack. L and Raito had both told Matsuda not to scream so loud but he had apparently forgotten. He was forgiven, however, and quite quickly for having made such an exquisite cake for Near's party. It was triple layered, chocolate, with little ghost sprinkles.
When asked why the ghost sprinkles, Matsuda explained they were leftovers from the previous Halloween. That answer was dully accepted.
"One, two, three… Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Near, happy birthday to you!"
Near blushed away from all of the attention until, of course, Mello leant over and pressed their lips together, gathering Near in his arms so that he couldn't wiggle away.
Matsuda giggled excitedly and clapped, L ignored the two lovers and pressed an inquisitive finger into the cake, Matt made obscene noises and Raito, who had his arm around Matt on the couch, rolled his eyes. "Aw, come on, get a room," he groaned, averting his eyes.
Mello took a breath to say, "We're in our room, where's yours?"
"I don't need-"
Matt silenced him by placing his lips against Raito's and distracted him that way. Mello went back to Near and Matsuda suddenly felt a little odd, standing there amidst the couples without anyone of his own. He looked over at L who was highly intrigued by the cake and already cutting a large slice.
Matsuda cleared his throat. "Ahem… we'll this is awkward, huh, L?"
L looked up mildly. "How so?"
"… Uh, never mind…"
Near let out a small squeak when Mello's hands began to wander and he pulled away from the blond, just long enough to say, "Mello, later, later…"
Mello sighed and eased off of him, only to find L munching happily on the bed.
"Hey," Mello whined, examining the cake, "did you have two slices already?"
"No," he said over his full mouth, "I have merely had one. I will be coming back, however."
"… One?" Mello screeched.
"Ahem," Raito said, garnering attention. Everyone was surprised to see him without Matt down his throat. "I guess it's time for Near to open his presents now."
"Oh." Mello blinked. "Right."
Near looked around, startled. "I have presents…? Really, you shouldn't have."
"Nonsense!" Matt said loudly. He rocked himself off of the couch and reached in between the couch cushions for something small and pink. He handed it to Near with a flourish. "Here you go! It's a visual diary of our summer vacation! In high-definition."
Near blinked owlishly as he was handed the picture album. On the cover was a dancing penguin and a white kitten side-by-side with the words 'Bestest Friends'. As Near flipped it open, Mello whispered to Matt, "What's with the girly décor?"
Matt shrugged. "I got it from a Hello Kitty gift shop."
As the younger teen flipped through it, he witnessed what had happened in the past two months and all they had done. There was a picture of Mello as red as a lobster on the beach from sunburn; Matt's face all puffy from big bites; Near sleeping with his pajamas askew, revealing quite a lot; Matt and Near playing with expensive sock puppets in the Japanese House of Yarn; Near spoon feeding Mello shaved ice and as Near continued to flip through, his eyes widened.
My very first trip with friends.
"Annnnnd," Matt drawled, taking a black picture book out of his back pocket and waving it under Near's nose, "I'll give you the pictures I took when you and Mel didn't think I was looking-"
"Gimme those!" Mello shouted, snatching them away.
Matt groaned. "Fun-spoiler!" he accused.
"My turn, my turn," Matsuda cheered, running away from the living room and into the bathroom. There was some clattering heard. "I-I wanted to hide it so you wouldn't see, Near!" The raven-haired young man came back in a second with a gigantic, pink teddy bear in his arms. He set it down in front of Near and they stood at the same height.
Near's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you, Matsuda."
"You're welcome," he responded, smiling. "I noticed how much you seemed to like stuffed animals, so I went and got this at the maternity ward gift shop in the hospital a few towns over."
Everyone sweatdropped.
Near smiled anyway and went to hug his new bear. However, something hard contacted with the side of his head and he looked up to find a CD case tied up in the bear's bow. Near took it down and looked at it. "What's this?"
"Oh! Yeah, that's for you, too. It's a soundtrack with a woman's heartbeat on it. You play it by a newborn's crib so they feel like they're still in the womb! Cool, huh?"
This time even Near sweatdropped.
"Y-Yes, thank you. I'll be sure to play it tonight."
Mello snorted. Not if I'm in there, he's not!
"All right, I'm next," both L and Raito said. They looked at each other. Unfortunately, they had something else in common and that was their gift. They each got Near the same exact set of expensive, exotic mixed paints.
"Well, thank you both very much," Near said, mainly to Raito because he could tell he was upset, having probably thought that his gift was so unique and magical. "Really, I appreciate it. I've been running low and these are wonderful."
Raito sighed.
"Now, now," L simpered, "there's no need to pout, Raito."
"I'm not pouting! And don't call me Raito."
"As a student, I can call you what I'd like," L said and took another bite of cake.
Raito turned a little pale.
"Oh, yeah," Mello said, looking towards the brunet on the couch, "what course did you sign up for anyway?"
"Sculpture," Raito grumbled and braced himself for what was about to occur.
"Yes," Matsuda screeched and dove onto the couch on the opposite side of Raito. He grabbed a hold of Raito's head and hugged it fiercely. "As of now, we are equals! Oh, Prof - I mean, Raito… we have finally broken the boundary of teacher and student and can be friends! We can hang out between classes and help each other on homework and gossip and…"
Matt was practically crying with laughter and Raito was just crying.
"Okay, enough of Idiot Theatre," Mello said, and put his hands on Near's shoulders, turning him around. Near blinked and then gasped mutely at the painting leaned up against the television stand behind him. It was a medium sized canvas on which dark hues of blue cascaded over a night sky. It was lit faintly by the hint of stars behind clouds high in the atmosphere and on the ground, surrounded by trees that were blown by gentle breezes and in front of a trickling stream over multicolored pebbles, was Near.
He stood there in jean shorts and a white shirt that hung a little too big. In his normally gray eyes, the water was reflected and they lit up the entire scene, acting like the moon would to the Earth. The grass covered his feet and the rest of his skin glowed like porcelain, everything reflecting the light that shone in his eyes and swept across his field of vision across the stream and into the woods.
Near, after spending almost five minutes staring at it, looked up at the blond. "M-Mello…"
Mello just grinned.
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to be continued.
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A/N: End of prologue, people. Spread the word, tell your friends. Did you like it? Tell me in a review!
