Essence

Near signed his name carefully, taking great pains to make sure his signature was as legible as possible. After signing, he folded the card and slid it carefully into the envelop, licking and then sealing. Turning the envelope over to the front, Near wrote the only name that could go on such a card: Mello.

Tomorrow was February the 14th, Valentine's day. Most of the children at Wammy's House enjoyed participating in the holiday, writing love letters or giving gifts to those dear. The upper students tended to ignore it, however. Near's intended, Mello, considered the idea of Valentine's childish and whimsical and refused to participate in the activities. 3rd ranking student Matt ignored it also because he was Mello's best friend, and to Matt whatever Mello says goes. Near, #1 student and most generally ignored save for one stalkerish crush from the artist Linda, had no reason before to participate in Valentine's day. He simply hadn't had feelings for anyone.

Until now, that is. So far Near's 13th year of living had turned out to be rather tumultuous. He hard entered a state of puberty, and all of a sudden started having... certain dreams pertaining to his rival Mello. Previously Near had not looked at anything or anyone will sexual intentions up until that first dream. After that he just couldn't look at Mello without blushing or slipping up in his normally fluid speech.

Post-exam time was always the worst for Near. That was when Mello purposely sought him out, if only to beat him up or attempt to intimidate Near in some other manner. And despite what Mello believed, Near was actually highly intimidated during those times. He wasn't intimidated purely because he was afraid of Mello, more so it was that he was afraid of his feelings for Mello would be exposed. He didn't necessarily consider himself to be a masochist, but whenever Mello touched Near, even if it was in hurting, Near couldn't help but be turned on by it.

After about 7 months of hiding his feelings, Near had decided to come out to Mello in a classic manner of a Valentine's love letter. Though he left out the frivolity of pink and red stationary or drawing hearts all over his letter, it was a love letter none the less. In it, Near was frank.

Mello:

I cannot say I am used to talking to Mello like this. I have never written to Mello previously. But what I need to say here is something I cannot tell Mello in person.

For months now I think I have been in love with Mello. I cannot state with entire accuracy what the feeling of love is, but I do believe my feelings for Mello are the closest I have experienced to it. Now, I know that Mello with laugh at me. I know he will use my feelings to his advantage. I know that he will hate me even more. But I accept that, because I respect Mello's opinions and ideas. I just thought that Mello should know the truth so that I do not live out my days hiding information from him.

Regards,

Near

Near turned off his desk lamp in preparation to leave his room. Once he had done so, Near quietly padded down the hallway. His socks muffled most of the noise of his feet, and the floor was carpeted. He wasn't afraid of being caught, but just in case he had slipped the letter inside his billowy night shirt, which really was also the same as his day shirt, since he wore the same ensemble of plain white pajamas every single day, and had the alibi that he needed to use the restroom.

There was no light leaking through the door labeled, 'Mello and Matt', signifying that the two were probably asleep. That was good for Near, because if either one of them were up they would notice him slipping the letter under the door and would probably chase after him to harass him about it.

Holding his breath, Near carefully slid the letter through the crack under the door, trying hard to create the least amount of friction possible, and therefore the least amount of noise possible. Once that was done, Near shuffled back to his room at the fastest pace he would allow himself and practically collapsed onto his clean starched bed. That was possibly the most stressful thing he had done in his entire lifetime.

Yawning, Matt shut closed his laptop. His ass was starting to get uncomfortable from sitting on the toilet seat for hours, and he was tired anyway. Damn Mello and his damn rules. When his highness Mello was asleep, Matt wan't allowed to play games in the same room because the light might wake Mello up, so Matt was forced to relocate to the bathroom every time Mello went to bed earlier then him. Matt didn't really mind, though. Mello was his best friend, and best friends put up with each other's shit. God knows Mello put up with his.

Walking out of the bathroom, Matt's eyes were still adjusting to the darkness of the bedroom him and Mello shared, and he almost missed the white envelope lying neatly on their doorstep. Curiosity piqued, Matt set his laptop down on his desk and then leaned over to grab the envelope. He retreated back to the bathroom, flicking on the light.

Matt was not surprised to see that the envelope was addressed to Mello. This was Valentine's Eve, and Lynk only knows how many adoring love letters Mello was sent each year. Matt got his share too, but nothing could compare to the amount that Mello got. Mello was publicly known as the sex god, whether it be straight or gay, of Wammy's House, and he was not afraid to flaunt that title.

Knowing that Mello generally brushed off the letters with a mocking laugh (not only was Mello sexy, but he was also selective of his lovers), Matt was 69% sure that Mello wouldn't mind if he opened up the letter and took a peak. Matt ripped the seal of the envelope and was surprised that the note was written on ordinary lined paper, no fancy decorations or anything. He read the letter, and his initial reaction was to facepalm, and so that he did.

Near. Fucking Near. Of all fucking people. Oh, this would be a laugh to Mello, hell, it would practically be a triumph! If Mello couldn't conquer Near's intellect, then he could conquer the robot's heart!

On more serious note, Matt was actually slightly concerned for Near. The letter seemed serious enough, and the day you see Near kid is the first sign of the apocalypse. And so now Near knew love, but what he didn't know was the feeling of rejection.

With a sigh Matt finally retreated to bed, shoving the note under his pillow. He would show Mello in the morning.

"Fucking five more minutes!" Mello growled, face buried in his pillow. Matt was trying to get him up, and though it was about five minutes earlier then when Matt and Mello got up, Matt could not stop thinking about the letter, and so he had decided to get Mello up early.

"Mello, there's something serious going down here. You got a love letter last night."

Mello was silent, signaling an, 'Oh who fucking cares' kind of vibe.

"From Near," Matt added.

That certainly got Near's attention, as he sat up straight in bed, eyes wide and raving, golden hair a mess. "Matt," he said seriously. "Please be shitting with me."

Matt shook his head, handing Mello his morning chocolate from the nightstand. Once Mello had some chocolate in his system, trust Matt, he was much more agreeable. He then passed the letter to Mello, whose eyes poured over the thing in a second. Mello looked up at Matt gravely. "Matt this is-"

"Hilarious? Triumphant? A joke?" Matt supplied.

"No." Mello said. "This is ironic."

"Why...?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow above his custom orange goggles.

"Because, because-" Mello stammered, fumbling with his words. That wasn't usually a common thing for Mello to do. "Dammit, I'll tell you later!" Mello snapped. He slid out of bed and opened his clothes drawers, selecting an outfit and then went to the bathroom to change and wash up, slamming the door in the meantime.

Matt was concerned. Mello was behaving oddly, and that worried him. He couldn't possible have feelings for Near back, could he? No, Matt concluded. That was impossible.

Upon being dressed and ready to start his day, Mello left Matt for the dining hall without another word, ignoring Matt as he left their dorm. For some reason Mello grew angry as he made his way to the dining hall, ignoring the calls from the other orphans, he mind on just one in particular. Near enraged him not entirely because of his superior ranking, but because he had previously believed that Near would never be his. Yes, Mello had feelings for him. But he had never thought they wouldn't amount to anything, and he hadn't dared confront Near before this letter.

Mello's eyes roamed the dining hall before he spotted a familiar blotch of white sitting apart from the other children. "Near!" Mello yelled as he somewhat stomped up to his rival, having trouble controlling the urge to break something. "I need a word."

Near stood up and obediently followed Mello out of the dining hall silently, and enigmatic though somehow cute frown playing out on his face. Mello could not even dare to look back at Near, for fear that he would lose what little control he still had.

"What is it that so concerns Mello that he needs to seek me out to discuss it?" Near asked when the two were alone. "What word exactly does Mello need to have from me?"

Mello smirked, reaching out boldly to caress Near's cheek, tilting his head at a better angle so that Near was looking directly into Mello's piercing ice blue eyes. "The word I need from is, 'good'."

And with that one word, Mello sealed the distance between him and Near, placing his lips firmly to Near's. They shared one sweet kiss in which no word was needed, for they conveyed all emotion and thoughts. Black combining with white in a tendril of sweetness, a throng of contradictions mixing and swimming together to create not sparks but explosions. Happiness, in essence.

A/N: This little cutesy thing is intended to be a one-shot. However, if you like this in the least bit, if you would enjoy seeing this continue into something larger with more well-crafted plot, please let me know. Oh, and this can turn sexy if you want it to. Think Formal Dining.