Hello, and welcome to my first Death Note fanfic. It is a oneshot, and is mostly about Mello. Since there is no information about his past besides his real name, I created a backstory for him, as well as one for Near. Hopefully they are realistic and logical. Since this is the first time I'm writing about these characters, hopefully they seem in-character.

This takes place when Mello still lived at Wammy's house. Mello is thirteen, Matt is twelve, and Near is eleven.

I don't own Death Note. (If I did, Mello, Matt, and L would have never died).

This story is dedicated to anyone who ever came in second place.

Second Place is the First Loser

Second place. Those two words sent a wave of emotions through Mello. Anger, humiliation, frustration, all at the same time. Why? he thought, his fists unconsciously clenching in anger. Why is it that I can't ever surpass him? What makes him so great? He clenched his fist so tightly that it crumpled the graded test he held. Though he could no longer see the grade, the red numbers were emblazoned in his mind, perpetually blinking. 99.5%. It made him sick.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone shaking his shoulders. His icy blue eyes locked onto Matt's dark, cerulean ones.

"You okay, Mells?" the shorter boy asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, fine."

"Don't lie to me, Mello. You might fool everyone else, but not me." Matt's face was serious, for once. "I know there's a reason why you hate coming in second place, one that has nothing to do with Near."

Without thinking, Mello grabbed onto the front of his only friend's shirt, harshly pushing him to the ground. "Shut up," he growled. "You know nothing." He brought his foot back, ready to kick the younger boy. He stopped when he saw the gamer's face. "I'm sorry, Matt." He didn't want to hear the brown-haired boy's response, so he quickly ran back to the dorms.

Once he got back to his and Matt's room, he slammed the door behind him, flopping onto his bed. Idiot! he mentally shouted. You're such an idiot! He won't want to be your friend anymore after that. He didn't mean to act so rudely to Matt; all his emotions just exploded. If it wasn't the brown-haired boy, it would have been Near, Linda, or any of the other students at Wammy's that was unfortunate enough to cross his path.

At the thought of his white-haired rival, Mello clenched his fists once more. Near. This is all his fault! If Matt doesn't want to be my friend anymore, I'm going to kill him!

As soon as he thought this, his eyes widened. No. Yes, he constantly tormented the younger boy, with both words and physical attacks, but he never thought of killing him before. An image of Near lying on the floor of his all-white room, blood contrasting dramatically with his clothes and hair entered the blonde's mind. It made him absolutely sick. Ever since he witnessed his parents' deaths—no, murders—he couldn't stand blood, not even his own.

Mello was snapped out of his morbid thoughts when he heard the door open. His eyes softened when Matt shuffled into the room. "Hey," he said quietly.

The stripe-clad boy said nothing, only kicking off his boots and climbing onto his bed. This silence continued for a few more seconds, until he spoke. "Mello, I'm not angry with you. I'm concerned. You're going overboard with trying to surpass Near. Does it really matter if he's number one and you're number two? You're both a hell of a lot smarter than I am, but do you see me complaining about being number three? No!"

Despite what Matt said, Mello knew he was mad; the shorter boy only used profanities when he was really upset.

"Look, Matty," the blonde grimaced; he rarely used the younger boy's nickname. He hesitantly continued after going over what he was going to say in his mind. "You were…right. There's a reason why I hate being number two. Of course, it is partially Near's fault; that albino twit pisses me off so much! …But it's not entirely his fault."

After he stopped speaking, the two stared at each other, saying nothing. A few moments passed, and Mello was starting to get annoyed. "What?" he asked. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Aren't you going to finish your story?" The gamer looked like a puppy who wanted a treat.

"What more is there to say?" The taller boy grabbed a half-eaten chocolate bar from his nightstand and bit it, perhaps a bit more dramatically than necessary. When he turned back to Matt, he saw that his friend was still staring at him. "Will you stop staring at me? It's really starting to creep me out."

"I just want to know why you act this way."

Mello knew that Matt wouldn't back down until he gave him some sort of explanation. "You really want to know why I'm so obsessed with rank?" he asked, hesitantly. "I'll tell you why." With each sentence, his already icy voice got colder. "When I was five, a group of men broke into our house. Apparently, they thought that my father owed them a lot of money. They were looking for a man with the last name of 'Keele', and thought my father was that man. Idiots!" His eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched. "My father's last name was 'Keehl'. Anyways, they broke into our house after we ate dessert. My mother kissed my forehead and gave me this," he pointed at the rosary he wore around his neck, "before pushing me into a closet. Through the slats, I saw them…shoot my parents. There was blood everywhere."

He stopped talking, and looked to see Matt's reaction. There was a mixture of sadness and confusion on the younger boy's face. "What does that have to do with rankings and Near?" he softly asked.

"I'm getting to that!" the blonde barked. "Once the police came, and they realized that I had no parents, they sent me to a foster family." His nose automatically wrinkled in distaste. "They were a pretty nice couple…just as long as you were perfect. Any un-tucked shirt, any hair out of place qualified you for a punishment. No food for the day, being locked in the basement for hours, etc. When they discovered how smart I was, everything got worse. They expected perfect scores and perfect behavior for everything. 'Second place is the first loser', the woman would always say. I heard that so much that it repeated in my head all the time. Still does. A year after I started living with them, they just snapped. My report card for the quarter said that I got a B+ in math. When they saw that, they went berserk." He harshly chuckled as he shook his head. "It wasn't my fault that I failed the last test before grades were finalized; I was locked in the basement without any schoolbooks to study with."

"Mello," the brown-haired boy said, getting up and sitting on the older boy's bed. "They hurt you, didn't they."

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Matty," replied the blonde, his voice uncharacteristically devoid of emotions. "They did. Both of them. I'm surprised that it took a year for them to hit me. I'll spare you the details, but when Watari found me, I was unconscious in the alley behind my house, bleeding from various cuts. I have no idea why he was walking around my neighborhood, but I'm glad he was; I don't know what could have happened to me if he didn't show up."

"Mells," said Matt, his eyes wide. "You're not a loser."

This surprised the taller boy. "What?"

"Being in second place doesn't make you a loser. Your foster parents were wrong. I might not be as smart as you and Near, but I still figured that out."

Suddenly, the blonde felt very tired. However, he was also happy that Matt was there for him. "Thanks."

"You know, you're not the only one who's hurting," stated the gamer.

Mello audibly groaned. "Let me guess, Near saw his parents get murdered too? Figures."

"Mello!" For once, the younger boy's voice was cold. "Near's mother tried to drown him in the river behind his house."

The older boy was speechless, and, much to his dismay, he was sure that his mouth literally fell open. "What?"

"I hacked Roger's computer," explained Matt. "I was looking for the password to get onto a gaming site that he restricted, and I stumbled upon Near's file. It was…disturbing." The gamer shook his head. "It stated that Mrs. River—Near's mother—was disgusted by the way he looked, his mannerisms, and his incredible intelligence. She thought that he was a monster, and didn't deserve to live. He was only six."

Mello felt ice creep through his body. "How'd the twerp escape? He's wimpy now; how did he overpower an adult when he was a kid?"

"He didn't. After a minute of being underwater, he pretended to die so that she'd release him. It worked; she left, and, by sheer determination, Near was able to drag himself out of the water. Roger, who was taking a hike through the woods to sketch insects, found him, and with Watari's permission, brought him here." Matt paused, turning to look at the shocked blonde. "You don't know how much you hurt him, Mells. And I'm not talking about knocking down his card houses and towers of dice and slamming him against the wall. His mother called him a worthless freak. By calling him those names, you're only proving to him that she was right. No one else might notice how much he's suffering, but I do. I'm not an idiot; I know how to read people."

At this time, the younger boy grabbed the goggles that were resting on his forehead and covered his eyes with them. "At least your true parents loved you. Near never knew that kind of affection. Think about that the next time you get mad at him."

The two were silent, the only noise being the sound effects of the game that Matt was playing on his Gameboy Color.

Suddenly, a harsh smile appeared on Mello's face. "I beat him!"

"Huh?" The brown-haired boy paused his game and looked at his friend.

"I finally beat Near at something!" clarified the blonde. "My parents loved me, and his didn't. That must mean I'm better than him!"

Matt narrowed his eyes, slightly tilting his head. Mello realized he looked sad and…disappointed. What's with him?

After another minute, the stripe-clad boy got off his bed, put on his boots, and left the room.

He'll be back, thought the blonde. He always comes back. Smirking, he looked at himself in the mirror next to his dresser. I finally won!

But the victory did not feel as sweet as he thought it would. In fact, it felt downright poisonous.

So, what do you think? Was it good? Was it horrible? I hope that Mello's and Near's backstories seem like realistic scenarios. (Near's was actually based off of an article that I read a couple years ago). I hope that the characters weren't too out-of-character. (This is my first Death Note fanfic).

Matt was actually a bit difficult to write about; he didn't appear in the manga/anime very often, so I didn't know what sort of personality to give him. I decided he would be a quiet, somewhat shy, laid-back sort of person who is best friends with Mello.

Since Mello and Matt are geniuses, that's why they might sound mature for their ages.

I wrote the dedication at the top because coming in second place all the time sucks, XD. (At least it does to me. I was ranked number two in my class in my eighth grade year, and it irritated me because I could never surpass the person in the number one spot. Though that was awhile ago, class rankings make me feel bitter. Though, I'd rather be ranked number two now; I'm currently ranked 69 out of 365 in my class, XD. Stupid high school and its gigantic classes!)

Hopefully, this wasn't a bad oneshot, XD.