(Disclaimer: Death Note does Not belong to me. It's characters and original storyline are the property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.)
Whammy House Blues (A short Mello/Matt and Near story)
Fan-Fiction written by: ShuichiPup
"Can you believe it? Another freakin' B."
Matt fell into a seat next to his best friend Mello. The library, in which they were lounging in, was empty save for them and a couple of the teachers. But since finals were over, it wouldn't surprise either of them if the rest of the children of the Whammy House Orphanage were outside playing soccer and doing other outdoors activities, far away from the confinements of the classrooms. Mello smiled at his bummed out friend.
"'Course I can. If you'd spend more time studying, other than playing Pokémon all day, then maybe you'd have a chance at getting an A once in a while." He explained, taking a bite out of his Hershey's chocolate bar.
Mello's little pep talk didn't seem to help Matt's self-esteem at all. "Once in a while?" He said, looking longingly at his friend through his red-tinted goggles. "What do you mean by that? That's harsh man. And besides. I don't play Pokémon all the time. I have other games too."
Mello sighed, occupying himself with another mouthful of chocolate. "You're so lazy."
At that moment, the number one ranked student at the orphanage appeared in front of them.
"How did your testing go?" The question irked Mello to his core. Who did Near think he was approaching them with a question like that?
Near tugged at a lock of his curly white hair as he waited for either Matt or Mello to reply. However, Mello took another bite of his chocolate bar and glared back at the little human sheep standing before him. Feeling the tension rising, Matt spoke up. "Oh. We passed. It was great. I could do with more studying, but I mean, I'm not half as studious as you guys, so Bs are good enough for me. And Mello got an A+."
"As expected." The sheep-boy said, twirling his chosen lock of hair around his finger, as he always did. "I did well, also. I was able to achieve one hundred percent."
"As expected." Mello mumbled, mocking Near as he leaned back in his chair.
Near glanced at Mello, but did not speak. Instead, he just nodded and walked out of the library.
"Dude. You guys have got some serious issues." Matt said, pulling a blue game-boy out of his pocket and switching it on. "True blue rivals 'til the end, huh?"
Mello glowered. "Did you see the way that man-sheep waltzed right up to us? I swear. It's just not enough that he makes top marks. But to go around and gloat-- Stupid sheep."
"Yo." Matt beamed slyly. "How 'bout we go hide his puzzles and toys? That'd be hilarious."
"That'd be amateur." Mello replied.
"Ouch. You're getting boring in your old age."
Mello raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? The way I see it, we're 14 years old." An evil smirk played across his face, darkening his features. "We can think of something better to do to him than just hiding his toys."
Suddenly, Mello had Matt's full attention. Something that even Whammy House's best staff of teachers could not achieve.
"What's the plan boss?" Matt grinned mischievously.
At a quarter to eight, all the children of the Whammy House were on their way to bed. Even the teachers, who were equally as relieved that finals were over, put down their grade sheets and half-drank coffee mugs and trudged towards their own rooms. This was the moment Mello and Matt had been waiting for. When they were sure that the last teacher was out of sight, the two boys scurried off to the common room, where they knew Near would be laying on the floor constructing one of his white puzzles or playing with his other assortments of toys. As the two boys peeked into the room, they found that their prediction was as expected. There, in the middle of the tile floor, was Near and he was building a towering skyscraper entirely out of Legos.
Mello grinned evilly.
"Oh. I gotcha." Matt snickered under his breath, a red lollipop held delicately between his jaws. He knew exactly what Mello had in store for their first plan of action.
Without a second glance at his accomplice, Mello strode up to Near and kicked over the colorful edifice.
"And all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Near's tower together again." Matt sang through his laughter. He leaned on Mello's shoulder for support. "Nice one boss. I get the next one."
Near stood and faced the two thugs. His expression seemed unfazed by the sudden destruction of his Lego masterpiece.
"How childish." He said coolly.
Mello's triumphant smirk broadened. "So, are you gonna cry now since I destroyed your building?"
Near played with his hair. "No." He replied, turning his back towards Matt and Mello and walking over to his toy chest. "I can always build more. It just leaves more room for other things." He held up a small red biplane and waved it through the air to make it seem as if it were really flying.
"Onward to plan B?" Matt asked expectantly, giving Mello a sidelong glance.
Mello clenched his fists and muttered his reply through gritted teeth. "Plan B, C and on through flippin' Z if we have to."
"Sweet." Matt smirked, twirling his sucker between his thumb and forefinger before placing it back in his mouth.
The next day brought nothing but rain. Near lay in the common room piecing a puzzle together, trying to get his mind off the gloomy atmosphere. As he clicked the pieces into place, he found his thoughts straying uncharacteristically back to Mello. Thoughts like "how will I get him back?" and "how will I be able to foil his childish plans next time?". Near wasn't exactly for the whole idea of revenge, but he didn't exactly like the choice of just sitting around and taking Mello's nonsense either. The last puzzle piece clicked into place, completing the white image.
Off in another section of the Whammy House, Mello was beside himself with, what he thought was, a great idea. Matt was all for it as well, however, something told him that it wouldn't be too--well, practical.
"Near will never see it coming." Mello beamed deviously. "All we gotta do is go in there, grab a piece of his puzzle, run out and lay it in front of the front door and hide. When Near sees it (which he will) you open the door and I come up behind him and push him outside." He laughed to himself. He deftly broke off another bite of his chocolate bar and stood. "Now...down to business."
The plan was set into action!
Matt and Mello raced into the common room, where Near was still laying. Mello snatched up one of the puzzle's corner pieces, scattering the rest of the puzzle in his rush and bolted out of the room with Matt at his heels. Near had figured out before hand that something like this would occur and stood up to go after the two thieves. It wasn't that he was about to fall into their trap. No. Near had something else in mind. All he had to do was humor his adversaries until just the right moment.
"Here he comes!" Matt hissed excitedly as he positioned himself at the ready in the hall, out of sight, with Mello. "This is gonna be priceless." He started to laugh, but Mello clasped a firm hand over Matt's mouth and shushed him.
"Shut up! He'll hear you!"
Near rounded the corner and spotted the tiny white puzzle piece on the floor. He knew that there was some mischievous reason to why it was laying in front of the door, of all places. However, he was ready. Just as Matt and Mello jumped into the entrance hall, Roger's voice was heard from the common room.
"Who wants ice-cream?"
At the word 'ice-cream', a stampede of children came charging into view. Matt and Mello were soon lost in the flood of kids and almost trampled in the process of trying to still carry out their plans for Near. After the chaos had subsided, Near smiled triumphantly back at the two boys.
"Shall we go get some ice-cream?" He asked innocently. He retrieved his stray puzzle piece before he turned towards the common room and disappeared into the crowd. Matt and Mello had been defeated yet again.
In the common room, Roger handed Near his ice cream. "It was a good idea to get ice-cream." He said. "But why so all of a sudden?"
Near shrugged and licked at his ice-cream. "I suddenly found I had a craving for it."