Painting Easter Eggs

Matt sat at an empty counter in the kitchen, a boiled egg in his hand. He was painting it, but wasn't finding it very fun. Not like he usually would have. He'd begun to paint eggs that day--which was Easter, by the way--in an attempt to make himself feel better, but it wasn't working. Instead it was just bringing back memories.

He sighed and put the egg down, furrowing his brow in distress. It was so quiet...everyone else was outside enjoying the nice weather or searching for easter eggs. No one was inside painting eggs, like he was. But even though he was lonely, he didn't want to go outside with the others. First of all, he didn't like it outside, and second of all he'd much rather stay in the kitchen and paint eggs. Even if it wasn't fun.

Matt painted eggs every year. He didn't want to stop, even though no one else seemed to enjoy doing it. He would keep doing it all by himself, he didn't care.

Now why was Matt so determined to color those eggs, you ask? Well, because every year before he left, he and Mello would paint eggs on Easter.

Let's start from the beginning.

Matt's first year at Wammy's House was hard. He didn't know anybody, just like all of the new kids didn't, and he wasn't exactly a social person. It was hard for him to make friends. Everyone thought he was really weird; he was the goggle-wearing, shy gamer-freak and nobody really wanted to talk to him. He wasn't sure why. He supposed he didn't exactly come off as a friendly person, but he really was if you got to know him better! He was just a little shy, that was all.

But no one in Wammy's House really bothered with him. He was lonely for a while, and stuck to his games and school. He loved video games; they never betrayed him and if they did he could just shut them off. Matt was only 7 years old when he came to Wammy's House. He wasn't sure himself what had happened to his parents. Everything was a blur to him. Roger knew, but he wouldn't tell Matt.

But by the time he was eight years old, he met Mello. Mello was the second smartest kid at Wammy's. He had blond hair and always wore black, and when Matt first saw him he thought he was a dark angel or something. But, he was very much mistaken, of course. Mello was just a boy--well, a boy genius, more like it. With quite the personality, as well. He was probably the most emotional boy Matt had ever met. And the most intimidating he'd ever met--especially for someone his age, which was nine, at the time.

Matt had met Mello one day when he was outside, searching for a certain game disk he thought he'd lost out there. Several of the other kids were playing soccer, including Mello. Matt didn't really pay attention to them, instead he continued to look for his game. And, as ridiculous as it sounds, he finally spotted it out in the part of Wammy House's three acres where the kids were playing soccer. Matt, desperate to get his game before someone stomped on it, rushed into the yard without even thinking and grabbed his game. He was suddenly hit in the head by something hard, though, and he fell to the ground. He held his head in pain but didn't let go of his game--it was his favorite one. Someone came over to him and nudged him in the side.

No one even came over to check on him until that round of the soccer game was over. Matt, too scared to move in fear of getting hit again, just laid on the ground, curled up in a ball. Kids were yelling at him to move, but he just closed his eyes and hoped that they wouldn't hurt him. He must have looked ridiculous.

Finally, someone came to stand over him. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? You almost made me lose!" When Matt opened his eyes and looked up he saw a young face that was framed with golden hair glaring down at him with icy blue eyes. He just stared at the boy, blinked once, and slowly sat up. The boy gave him a weird look. "Do you talk?" he asked impatiently, and Matt nodded. Matt didn't say anything, and the blond boy seemed to grow more impatient. "Would you get up? We have a game to finish here," he said, putting his hands on his hips. Matt, a bit flustered now, stood up and brushed off his pants. He quickly got out of the other childrens' way and went back inside.

After that, they bumped into each other again and Matt learned that this boy's name was 'Mello'. Or at least, that's what everybody called him. Matt liked that name. It was fun to say. After the soccer ball incident, Mello and Matt just kinda started hanging out together. They didn't share a room, which disappointed them both, but they soon began spending almost all day together. It turned out Mello didn't have very many friends, either, and soon he and Matt were nearly inseparable.

Mello made everything better. Once you got past all of his fits of rage and random bouts of depression, he was actually very likeable. Matt thought so, at least. Matt decided that he liked having a friend much more than being alone. Mello also made holidays much more interesting. Wammy's House always celebrated them before Matt had met Mello, and Matt had tried to participate a few times, but he was just too shy. But Mello was starting to bring him out of his little shell.

When Easter came around, Mello woke Matt up early. He'd told him that the employees at the orphanage hid the eggs for the Easter egg hunt early, so that everything would be ready by the time the children were ready.

"I like to watch them so that I already know where they've hidden most of the eggs. That way, I get more candy than all of the other kids," Mello, at the age of 10, explained carefully to Matt.

Matt was still half asleep--he never got up that early--, so he just nodded in response and "hmm"ed. Mello had snuck into Matt's room and then dragged the boy to his own room. Matt didn't really see why Mello liked candy so much--he thought it was yummy, but not good enough to wake up that early for--, but he'd known the blond long enough not to question his methods. Mello ate as much sugar as he could get his hands on--mostly chocolate. Mello LOVED chocolate. He was completely addicted to it, kinda how Matt was with his games.

"Matt, come on, they're done hiding them--let's go get some!" Matt watched in confusion as Mello hopped off of his bed and to his closet, pulling out a sack and then walking to the door. He stopped and looked at Matt when he didn't follow him, though. "Come on," Mello urged, waving Matt over with his arms. Matt slowly got off the bed and trudged over to Mello, who "shh"ed him and told him he was being too loud. They'd been whispering because they didn't want Mello's roommate to wake up and find out what they were doing. They snuck out of Mello's room and down to the first floor of Wammy's House. Several of the workers were already getting to their daily duties, so the two orphans had to be extra careful not to be caught. They had to duck into a few closets, but they finally made it outside without being caught.

The air was crisp and cool that morning. Matt shivered when they first got out there but hurriedly followed Mello, rubbing his arms in an attempt to get warmer. Mello seemed fine, which wasn't really fair because Mello was wearing short sleeves and Matt was wearing long sleeves. He shook it off, though, and watched anxiously as Mello stole several eggs from where they had just been hidden.

"Mello, what if someone sees us?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. I do this every year. I only got caught one time." Even though he claimed he'd only gotten caught once before, it still made Matt nervous. He could get caught again, after all. And then not only Mello would be in trouble, but Matt would be, too. "Aren't you gonna get any?" Mello questioned after about five minutes. Matt, although he still wasn't fully awake and hadn't been paying attention to where the workers hid them, began to search for eggs. He found it frustrating, really. The sun hadn't fully risen yet, so he couldn't see very well, and that didn't help with his search. Mello just laughed at him. Matt only found three eggs before he did and soon they were heading back inside and up to Mello's room. They stuck the eggs in Mello's closet and Mello climbed back into his own bed while Matt headed back to his room.

Later that day, when everyone was awake and anxious to begin searching for eggs, Mello was right there with him...and he'd taken Matt along with him, too. Matt didn't really want to go search for more eggs, but Mello promised him he'd only have to for a little while, and then they'd do something else. And, lucky for Matt--who, after about only fifteen minutes of searching, had grown sick and tired of Easter eggs--, Mello kept his promise. They went back inside not long after they had begun--apparently Mello was satisfied with his stash from earlier that day.

Matt wasn't really sure what he wanted to do next when Mello asked him, so the blond suggested painting Easter eggs. Matt thought it sounded weird, but Mello assured him it was fun, so he decided to give it a try. He actually liked it a lot more than he thought he would. They boiled the eggs, readied their paintbrushes and then colored the eggs all different kinds of colors. Matt decided to paint bunnies on some of his, and Mello took his idea and twisted it a bit. He drew evil vampire bunnies with blood dripping from their mouths. Matt had laughed, and they'd continued painting eggs for a while.

They did that the next year, too. But as they got older, Mello began to focus on his school more. He was obsessed with being number one and beating Nea, another boy at Wammy's House, at all he did. He was younger than both Mello and Matt, but he was always in first place.

Matt didn't think it was fair. Mello always tried so hard to be number one--he was always studying and hardly had any fun anymore, and it didn't even seem like Near was trying! Matt actually got a little mad when he thought about this. Mello was his only friend at Wammy's--his best friend. And he didn't like Near. He was so emotionless, and sometimes he seemed to provoke Mello. And, of course, the over-emotional blond always reacted in the way the snobby-nosed albino expected him to.

But even though Mello was a lot busier now, he made time for Matt. They still spent a lot of time together, even when Mello was studying. Matt would hang out in his room and play video games while he waited for the blond to be done. And when Mello went outside to play soccer, he would sit out there and watch him.

And every Easter they still painted Easter eggs. Both of them liked it, perhaps for different reasons, even though some people said they were getting a little old to be doing it. They didn't care. They ignored those people. Matt was glad Mello didn't listen to them, because if Mello stopped then he would probably stop, too. He usually followed Mello's lead.

When Mello was almost fifteen and Matt was fourteen, Mello and Near heard about L's death. Matt wasn't supposed to know, but, of course, Mello told him. They told each other everything. Mello was devastated. L had been his idol, and he'd been working to succeed him. That's why everyone was at Wammy's House. But, since L hadn't decided who would be his successor--Mello or Near--, Roger had suggested that they both work together. Mello instantly rejected that option. He couldn't stand Near, and there was no way they could work together as the new L.

And so, he left. He left Wammy's House, the place he had called home for almost ten years, behind. He left behind his friends, his enemies. He left everything up to Near--he gave up. He let Near become L's successor.

He left Matt behind. He left his one true friend, and maybe even more than that, behind. Without so much as a 'goodbye'. Matt had had no idea that Mello was going to leave. Mello hadn't said anything about it to him. He just left.

Matt still got bitter about it sometimes. He didn't understand how Mello could just leave him like that. He didn't even say goodbye! And the worst part was that Matt had no idea where Mello had gone, or what he was doing now, or if he was even still alive.

Matt felt his eyes watering up and he rubbed at them violently. He hated it when he cried. Especially about Mello. He knew what Mello would say if he saw him crying. He would say that he was a baby. Mello wouldn't cry, and neither should he.

After he finally got the tears to stop trying to come, he picked up another egg in determination. Sniffling, he painted it slowly and carefully. He wasn't sure what it was at first, but it turned out to be a soccer ball-egg. He smiled sadly and set it down to dry.

Matt finished painting a whole carton of eggs, and took them all up to his room. He saved all the ones he painted every year. He'd saved all the ones that Mello had painted, too. And since Mello wasn't there anymore, he painted some for him. He thought Mello would like that.

Even though it sounded pathetic, sometimes he would even wake up early in the morning and sneak out to get eggs before everyone else. He ate the candy and it reminded him of all those years before. The first year, when Mello had woken him up really early and they'd gone out to get the eggs. Matt had taken that time for granted, and every day he wished he could relive those memories.

But hey, how was a nine-year-old boy supposed to know that his best friend was going to leave forever one day?

Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own Death Note or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plot, storyline, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.

A/N: Yeah...its short, I know. But gimme a break, I've been writing a lot lately. In fact, I wrote a different Easter oneshot right before I wrote this one. Obviously, I decided to post this one instead.

I hope you all liked it! I wanted to put more into this, but I figured since its supposed to be an EASTER oneshot, and not a oneshot about Mello and Matt's lives at Wammy's House, I should just leave it how it is. Plus, I dream of writing a chaptered story for Matt and Mello some day. :D

Sorry to my beta fish, The Fifteenth Organizer, who was expecting this to be a TsengxReno oneshot! It just turned out differently. -shrugs-

Thanks for reading, and happy Easter!

-orgymoogle

(beta fish says at least it was interesting)