A/N: A short, kinda lame fic for Near's birthday. Idk about it. I wrote this in about an hour…

Death Note © Ohba and Obata

Near opened his eyes slowly. Blinding golden lights streamed through the sheer curtains. Birds could be heard chirping even from inside his single-person room at the Wammy House. It was early in the morning, probably seven or eight, but it was at that time that the light set Near's colorless walls ablaze in fiery oranges and majestic golds. Though it woke Near up in the morning, he couldn't say that he minded.

With an inaudible yawn and a quick stretch, Near sat up in his bed to find that someone had left a balloon and a note on his toy trunk at the foot of his bed. Then he remembered that today was August 24th. It was his fifteenth birthday.

Curious to read the note, Near stepped out of bed tended to the piece of paper immediately. It wasn't everyday that he got notes, and especially not on his birthday. Near eyed the paper closely, reading it slowly so as to savor the moment.

'Your dreams lay upon a silver platter,

To find them, you must step up as batter.

You must find the place,

With no smiling face.

That is your clue, now you must scatter.'

Near read the note several times. It appeared to be the opener to a scavenger hunt. Being as smart as he was, Near had never been into those things. They always seemed so easy. However, he decided he might as well do this. After all, someone did go through the trouble of writing a bad limerick.

The clue was for Near to "find the place with no smiling face." There were a lot of places where no one smiled. There were the classrooms, the nurse's office, Roger's office, and in the library. Perhaps the first part of the poem was also a clue.

Silver platter. Step up as batter.

All platters and batters, when dealing with cooking, were found in the kitchen. Most people were happy in the kitchen, except on meatloaf day. That was probably where Near had to look. He had to find the meaty, bread-y batter used to create the monstrosity every month.

Without any hesitation, Near went to the kitchen. The kitchen staff wasn't on duty yet, so the kitchen was pretty empty, except for a few children getting cereal. Near went straight to the cupboards and pantries looking for the meatloaf batter. He didn't really know where the staff kept everything, so he was just looking through every container in the kitchen. Finally, though, he found the meatloaf crap with a note taped to it.

'Good job, you're perfect

Find the tree of howling wind

Dead men tell no tales'

Near noted how this haiku was much better than the limerick. The problem, though, was that Near had never heard of "the tree of howling wind." Also, "dead men tell no tales" seemed kind of like it was just thrown in to complete the haiku. Perhaps, though, it had some meaning that Near didn't immediately see. If it was a tree he was looking for, though, he should probably head outside.

Upon opening the front door of Wammy's, Near was blasted with a breeze of the cold, England air. It may have been sunny, but it surely was not warm. He hugged himself as he shivered slightly and went down the three large steps that led to the front door.

No one was outside yet, but Near didn't blame them. It was so cold in the morning. He cautiously stepped on the grass of the yard that wrapped all the way around the back and to the other side of Wammy's. The grass, to Near's displeasure, was wet with dew, which soaked his feet through the socks and made them cold. He quickly made his way to the trees that filled Wammy's grass fields.

All of the trees looked the same to Near. He had no idea which tree had howling wind. Slowly, though, he made his way around the yard, looking at all the trees for the slightest anomaly. He was rounding the side of Wammy's to get the back when he noticed something. There were four trees that had Jolly Rogers hanging from them. They were all weeping willows, which made sense to Near. That explained the "dead men tell no tales" part of the clue. Now he just had to find the tree of howling wind.

Even after thirty minutes of studying each of the four trees carefully, Near couldn't tell which one was the tree of howling wind. That's when Near noticed something. About 30 yards away was a tree with a tombstone carved into it. Maybe that was the answer instead of the trees with Jolly Rogers in them.

Near hurriedly made his way to the tree and decided that the clue might be up in the tree instead of on the trunk where he could actually reach. So he began to climb the weeping willow. The wood was moist and mushy under his fingers and toes, but he tried not to pay attention to that.

When he got to the point where the trunk ended and all the branches fanned out, Near took a rest. He saw a piece of paper hanging from one of the branches that looked like he could reach it. Near carefully grabbed onto a branch for stability and leaned outwards with his other arm outstretched towards the paper. He balanced on one foot, trying to reach farther. The bark beneath his fingertips slipped and he fell forwards out of the tree.

Near landed on his back on the wet grass with a mixture between a thud and a sloshing sound. He had the piece of paper, though, so that made his misery a little better. Eagerly, though in pain, Near unfolded it and read its contents.

'Sorry, but you got it wrong,

You had to pick a flag

You failed and your dream is gone

Go back to your room and let your feet drag'

Near groaned. He didn't like this scavenger hunt. Slowly, he made his way back into Wammy's, his socks sticking to the marble flooring. He had grass stains on his socks and probably all over his backside, and now he felt a little dumb for even following the clues. This was a bad birthday for Near.

Near opened his door and pitifully entered to see Mello, Matt, and L standing behind a pull out table with half of a cake on it and 15 candles.

"Near, you finally showed up!" Matt greeted with a grin.

"Yeah! We had to wait forever." Mello rolled his eyes, his arms crossed on his chest.

"It is good to see you again, Near," L said, though he looked more interested in the cake.

Near stood there in the door way a bit dumbfounded. He hadn't expected to see Matt or Mello, let alone L in his room. "Why is everyone here?" Near asked, sounding a bit confused.

"To celebrate your day of birth," L replied emotionlessly.

Near gave a small smile as his three guests began singing happy birthday to him. No one had ever celebrated his birthday before. Together, they all shared cake and celebrated with games and mindless chatter, which was rare in the Wammy House.

Near decided he'd had the best day of his life, until Mello's head turned into a teddy bear.

--

Near opened his eyes slowly. He had been dreaming. A small pain twisted at his stomach. Of course that could never happen. L would never think Near's birthday was important enough for a visit. Mello would never agree to showing Near kindness. Matt, well, Matt followed Mello, so with no Mello, there was no Matt.

The majestic oranges and golds danced across the wall, though. That made it a bit better.

Near's eyes widened as he heard two people singing happy birthday. He sat up quickly to see Mello and Matt singing to him behind a small cake with a burning number candle that read 15. When they finished, the pain in Near's stomach disappeared in a flash.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Matt greeted, sitting beside Near on his bed.

"Good morning, I guess," Mello grumbled, glaring at a wall.

"Why are you two here?" Near asked. He thought he knew the answer, but Mello and Matt always surprised him for the worst.

"We wanted to celebrate your birthday, since we never did before," Matt explained as Mello handed the cake to Matt, who held it carefully in front of Near.

Near looked at Mello, then Matt, a bit confused.

"Blow out the candles and make a wish! Jeez, haven't you ever had cake on your birthday?" Mello glared at Near, hands on hips.

"No, I haven't," Near said.

An awkward silence rolled in and stayed for about a minute.

Matt broke the silence. "Ah… Yeah… Well, my arms are getting tired, so blow out the candles and make a wish, but you can't tell anyone your wish or it won't come true, okay?"

Near nodded and blew out the two candles that made the 1 and the 5, making sure to make a silent wish as he did so.

Matt let out a sigh and handed the cake back to Mello so he could put it back on the cart they wheeled it in on.

After Mello cut the cake into three, big pieces, they all ate quietly. It was pretty good cake, Near had to admit, though he wasn't very fond of confections. It was chocolate inside, of course, but it did have whipped cream frosting. As they were munching away, Near asked, "Matt, how did you get Mello to agree to this?"

Mello and Matt looked at him for a moment, but Mello looked away as Matt chuckled.

"It was Mello's idea, not mine," the redhead admitted.

Near looked at Mello incredulously. " Why on earth would you want to celebrate my birthday?"

Mello was blushing a little bit as he whipped his head to glare at Near. "Why the hell would you think this was Matt's idea?" he retorted.

"Matt's nicer than you are," Near bluntly said.

"Pssh, whatever! Just don't get used to this!"

"You still didn't answer my question."

Matt chuckled and looked away.

Mello gave a flustered sigh and placed his hand on Near's head. "'Cause I like you, okay?"

Near couldn't help but give a small smile, for the irony and the fact that he wasn't hated.

"What the hell are you smiling for?" Mello suspiciously asked.

"Nothing, it's nothing." Near made his normal expressionless face as he gave Mello a small hug.

Mello shouted.

Matt laughed.

Near smiled.

A/N: Short little oneshot, yes, yes. First attempt at writing MelloxNear, though it's not much. Anyways, I hope you liked it!