Kenzie: Wow. This…sucks. Hard. I suppose the most I can hope for is that it will get better as I keep going; hopefully I'll actually finish this one. For once. Anyway…So is the fanfiction I promised my friend for her birthday, and this year, I'm actually getting the character portrayals correct! Yay me~!

Okay, no more Smarties and Gatorade right before bed.

None of this belongs to me, except maybe the ideas that randomly hop around inside my head until I hit said head rapidly on my keyboard, somehow creating words.

Now, since it's after one and I have to wake up at six tomorrow, I'm going to sleep… [snore]

Stripes

"That's it! Do you even care about how I feel?" I grabbed Near's chin and forced him to look at me. "You don't listen to me, you put me down, and you don't have feelings!"

He stared at me steadily, his cold eyes observing mine. "While I may not seem as though I have emotions, I do; they only get in the way," he replied. His voice sounded void of all emotion, just like his expression.

We stared at one another for a while, until the tension built up within me burst forth. "I hate you!" I screamed as I punched him in the face. I felt something crack under my fist, and blood began to drip out of his nose, staining the white of his pajamas. I wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp, to see his will collapse beneath my hands, but I couldn't.

No, I needed something worse. "I swear I will become the best. You will wish you had never been fucking born!" I felt the sting of oncoming tears, and I ran.

As I ran, I thanked God that I didn't have a roommate. If anyone saw me like this, I'd have to kill them, simply to uphold my reputation. I slammed the door to my room open, then stopped in my tracks. "Who. The hell. Are you?" I demanded, my voice low and deadly. The twerp standing beside my bed looked up.

"Matt," he stated. His blood-red hair fell across his eyes, which were covered with orange-tinted goggles. His clothing was all faded black and ill-fitting, riddled with holes where his joints lay.

"Why are you here?" He shrugged at my rage.

"This is my room." Somehow, his voice began to calm my anger. I couldn't for the life of me understand why, but I knew he spoke the truth. Sure enough, when I looked around the room, several items had appeared.

A bed had been added; a suitcase lay on top of it, clothes strewn all over. My television had been embellished with various game systems. A dresser stood next to mine, and a series of goggles was proudly displayed on top of it. My possessions were otherwise left untouched, except…

"What. The. Fuck," I growled. I turned my glare on him, my anger quickly returning.

"What?"

"Where the hell did you put my chocolate?"

"I thought it was left as a gift, so I ate it," he replied. Unlike most people, this "Matt" seemed unruffled by my anger.

"Obviously, no one bothered to explain the fact that no one touches my goddamned chocolate. Just so you remember…" I threw a punch, aiming for his stomach, but he dodged it. I tried again, and he caught my fist. Another punch flew his direction, and other fist was caught. Finally, I attempted to kick him, but he blocked it.

"Why…the hell…can't I hit you?" I panted. Matt shrugged again, seemingly disinterested in my fury, and released my hands, folding his own hands behind his head.

"I took some martial arts back when my parents still loved me. After they left, I used it once in a while," Matt replied, entirely at ease with the atmosphere as the tension slowly left my body.

"Are they dead?"

"Not a clue. Like I said, they left after I got too expensive. They left me to live on the streets, but whatever." Matt flopped backwards onto his bed. "I don't miss 'em. No, I just wish I had been left out there instead of being taken in by certain people."

"Who?" By now, my anger had completely dissipated, and was replaced by curiosity.

"Ah," he sat up," now that is a question I can't answer." He flashed me a grin, a show of emotion I had not yet seen from the redhead, and pushed his goggles up. His eyes were green as grass, and they searched mine. "By the way…"

I looked at him, startled out of the reverie his eyes had caused me. "What?"

"You never did tell me your name."

"I guess I didn't." I looked at him, meeting his gaze. "Mello."

"Ironic. I would've thought you would've picked something along the lines of 'Eternally Angry' or something."

"Fuck off. I picked that name because it reminded me of…" I paused, suddenly remembering I was talking to a near-stranger. "Never mind."

"What? What did it remind you of?"

I grinned at him slyly. "Now that is a question I can't answer."

"Wait! That isn't fair!" he cried indignantly as I stretched and picked up my rosary before turning to the door.

"Life isn't fair. Anyway, I'm going to get more chocolate, seeing as you ate all of mine." My rosary felt comforting in my grip as I ran my thumb over each delicate bead, tracing the surface of my worn source of hope. "I'll see you in a bit," I said over my shoulder, clicking open the door. Truthfully, I had intended to speak with Roger about my current rooming arrangement, but I decided to just go with what I told Matt, adding a small detour beforehand.

As I walked across the gardens to the small mound of dirt, I thought about the day's events. "This could be the start of something interesting…" I mumbled to myself as I dug up the small box resting just below the surface of the ground.

A/N: ZOMG I HAD NO IDEA I COULD SUCK THAT BADLY! Why didn't anyone tell me? [sob]

This is super short, I know. The next chapters should be longer, I promise. Right about now, we're looking at about 8-12 chapters.

I can only hope my editor can save my soul. [goes to cry in emo corner. It is only suitable for terrible authors.]