Spoiler-warning. Though if you know Matt, your probably know what it is.
Disclaimer: Near would be dead too if I owned Death Note.
Numbers
It's not like he didn't want to be number one. It was because it'd be too troublesome to be number one. He has the skills and if he tried, he could have beaten Near, or so the instructors would say anyways. No, Matt didn't try.
There was not point for Matt to become number one. Besides, that was Mello's goal. No one wants to be in Mello's way, except Near anyways. But Matt says he's just a sadist that way. He takes pleasure in Mello's suffering.
Matt didn't want to be number two either. It'd take too much work to try. Mello's crazy for knowledge. Who knows, if Matt surpassed Mello then maybe Mello would have tried even harder and beat Near. But if Mello won, it just wouldn't be the same. So Matt didn't try to try.
Matt settled for being third. It didn't take much effort. That was the way Matt liked things. Besides, three was a pretty number. It stands alone, but it takes up space. Being third meant that he was still in the rankings, taking up bronze, but not as noticed. Matt liked it quiet anyways.
Matt'd laugh sometimes thinking over the numbers. Gold didn't fit Nears image just like silver didn't fit Mello's. Then he thinks, bronze isn't really a pretty color either. Then he stops. Thinking about colors is a waste of time.
He likes being third, he really does. Really though, these ranking were just to catch up to L. He didn't care too much about being the greatest detective ever. That'd be too troublesome. Being at the top would just be boring anyways.
Third, it wasn't bad at all, but what Matt didn't know was that he put himself one step closer to four, to death. The game was fun though, trying to reach the top, though he wasn't really trying. It was fun watching Mello. No, Matt didn't regret dieing for Mello. At lease he knows when he dies, he won't be alone.
End Notes: I kinda pulled a Shikamaru personality on Matt with the word troublesome. I think he kinda thinks that way too.
In Japanese, one way the number four is pronounced is "shi" and that is also one way to say death.
AN: It's a Matt-centric 333 word drabble. Didn't even write about the topic I was thinking of, but it turned out pretty good.