Yayy Chapter 2. It's all about Nia 3 :3
I decided to start them out as friends before Mello starts being a bitch about beating him and finds Matt.
Anyhow 3 Hope you enjoyed it my loves.

Disclaimer: Do not own. Do not Claim. Do not sue betches D8

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Mello – Chapter 2

Near.

The sunlight pouring in through the cracks in between the curtains was what woke Mello up the next morning. He eventually felt the soft sunlight heat against his skin and eyelids and thus opened them. He squinted as the light blinded him for a short second, and threw his arm over his forehead, letting out a low yawn as the sunlight shifted around on his form as he moved. He rubbed at his eyes and sat up, rubbing at them more violently when everything was still blurry.

He yawned again and got out of bed, squinting at the clock hung up on one wall of his room; 8:30. Half an hour til breakfast. Mello scratched at his head and walked lazily to his bathroom. He stripped down and stepped into the shower. The warm water truly felt fantastic, and Mello considered it a luxury, he could only remember ice cold baths back when his mother was alive. He stayed in the shower for a long time, enjoying the warm water run over his body, he washed his hair with extra care, as to fully enjoy the shower. He had never used shampoo or conditioner when he lived with his mother, in fact, he didn't even know what they were. But he quickly realized what they were for and what a privilege it was to have them, after all, they made his hair shiny and smooth, and made it smell nice.

When Mello had finished his shower and dried himself off, he was pleased to discover it was already time for breakfast. He slung his new bookbag over his shoulder, locked the door to his room and treaded to the Dinning Hall, perfectly pleased with his morning.

When he arrived, he was even more delighted to find that they were having chocolate pudding. Chocolate had become his new favorite thing since the first moment he had tried it. It was absolutely the best thing he had ever tasted. He soon became addicted, and managed to eat at least two chocolate bars a day. Surprisingly though, he never seemed to gain any weight from it.

He grabbed himself a large portion of pudding and headed off to an empty table, on his way there, however, there was a small group of older kids mumbling about something at a fairly far away table from everyone else. Curious, Mello quietly slipped close enough to hear what they were saying.

"I know! I can't believe it! The kid's 3 years younger than me and he's in my class, beating me in every subject!" one kid he recognized said. Mello beamed, they had to be talking about him, indeed he was placed in the more advanced classes, with older students, that student as well, and he beat even them in every test he did. He managed to slip a little closer, determined to hear what else they had to say.

"-and he's only been here for what..? Two days now? Next to that Mello kid, he's probably the smartest one here," at this, Mello frowned. Two days? Next to that 'Mello kid'? They couldn't be talking about him, but then.. who were they talking about? No one his age had ever come close to his standings at Wammy's. Impossible. No one could ever beat Mello. He snuck even closer to the group.

"What's up with that hair too?" Mello subconsciously combed his fingers through his hair, before realizing they weren't talking about him, "What a colour! So bright white like that? I wonder if he dyed it..." the kid added. Mello frowned. A boy his age with white hair had been coming close to beating him and he hadn't even noticed? Well, it was certainly time to start paying more attention in class then.

"Well of course it's dyed!" the older kid's voices died away as Mello took a seat at an empty table, his mood somewhat recked. Smarter than him? No way. He was the top kid at Wammy's and he was the next L, nobody was going to change that. Angrily, he dug a spoon into his pudding and shoved it into his mouth. The chocolate made him feel a little better, but he knew it wouldn't last. The only thing to do was to find this boy, and make sure that he wasn't a threat.

When he was done his pudding, he dropped his dish on the counter and followed the boy that had been talking about the new kid. Mello was sure that he was in his class. Sure enough, he was, and Mello followed him into his math class. He took his usual seat in the far end by the window, and racked his memory to recall a boy with white hair being let into the class yesterday. Oh wait, no of course he wouldn't remember that! Yesterday had been his birthday, and thus he had gotten a day off from classes. Of course. It was also the day he got his first ever present. It was a neatly wrapped up book, brand new; Oliver Twist, it was called, from L himself. Mello had been so pleased, he was determined to make it last and vowed to read only one chapter a day, no matter how interesting it got.

Losing himself in his thoughts, Mello almost didn't realize the boy with the white hair come in, but his head jerked up when he noticed the flash of white and he shook his memories away. The boy was clad in bright white pyjama's, the same colour as his hair. Eerily, Mello thought; You could at least bother to get dressed in the morning, as the boy slipped into the seat next to him, twirling his hair with his finger.

There was a bright red plastic robot tucked under his arm and he began to wind it up as soon as he sat down. His face was empty of expression. Mello sneered, but then quickly turned it into a smile as the boy's blank eyes moved over him, obviously calculating that he wasn't here yesterday. Mello put out his hand in the most friendly way he could manage.

"Hi.. I'm Mello," he said with a smile. The boy simply stared at his hand for a second before returning his gaze up to Mello's face.

"Near." he said simply. Mello frowned a little, and nodded, pulling his hand away. Near.. what a stupid alias...he thought as the boy returned to winding up his robot.

"You're new here..?" Mello asked, trying to strike up conversation. Near nodded, twirling his finger in his hair. He looked up at Mello again.

"Are you?" he asked. Mello shook his head.

"It was my birthday yesterday, I got to skip classes," he explained. Near nodded at him.

"Happy Birthday then.." he said blankly, his face still void of expression. Mello felt a little offended that he couldn't even manage a smile for that. Mello waited a bit, but the class didn't start, so he turned to the boy again.

"So.. where you from?" he asked, not bothering to try to smile anymore, but managed a curious expression.

"America." the boy stated, looking bored. He didn't bother asking where Mello was from, but Mello decided to tell him anyway.

"I'm from Germany," he said almost proudly. Near looked him up and down, and seemed satisfied with his appearance. Mello cocked an eyebrow, but Near didn't seem to notice.

"My parents died four years ago.. I was sent to various orphanages before I was sent to this one, I've been here for about half a year.." he explained, it didn't seem as if the boy sitting next to him really cared, but he somehow knew he was listening. Near looked over at him again.

"My parents died just awhile after I was born.. I stayed in the custody of my aunt and uncle, before they died as well and I was sent here when they found me writing calculations on the wall of my house, trying to figure out how exactly they died." Near explained blankly. He didn't seem to care at all that he was somewhat explaining his life story to a stranger, and he didn't seem sad about it either.

How... Morbid...Mello thought distantly. A little smile appeared on his lips. Maybe I could get along with this kid then, he thought. Near continued twirling his hair and blinked at the smile on Mello's lips, but didn't say anything about it. They both turned to face the class when it started. However, Mello was somewhat disappointed to find that the boy wasn't paying attention to the class at all, and was simply winding up his robot and letting it walk around on the desk before winding it up again.

Mello wrote down everything on the board before settling comfortably in his chair while the older kids started to ask useless questions. He leaned over to Near, who hadn't even bothered to write anything down, only glanced at the board once, before going back to his robot.

"This is pretty easy huh?" he asked in a whisper. Near turned to him quickly, seeming a little startled that he wasn't working either, however his expression didn't show anything of it. He nodded shortly. Mello didn't give him the chance to turn back to his robot.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asked, staring down at his blank notebook. Near looked up at him, his eyes blank. He nodded.

"To one day success the one known as L." he stated, as if completely sure of himself. Mello leaned back into his chair and nodded.

"Do you think you'll be the one to success him?" he asked, his expression becoming a little heated. Near shrugged.

"It depends on whether anyone can beat me to it," he said, Mello was surprised to see the corners of his mouth twitch slightly, a little tiny smirk appearing on the boy's pale lips. Mello smirked in return.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked. Near looked at him, the tiny, barely visible smirk still on his lips.

"If you want it to be." he said, then turned back to his robot and continued playing with it. They stayed silent until the class was over. When it was, Mello followed Near out of the class.

"What class do you have next?" he asked, curious. Near looked over at him, and pulled out his schedule, he read all the classes over, then crumpled it up. Mello was shocked.

"English," he said, throwing the schedule into the nearest trash bin. "Then Science, then it's lunch, then History. Tommorow I have-"

"Okay I get it... but.. don't you think you'll need that schedule?" Mello asked, looking back at the trash bin. Near shook his head.

"I have a pretty good memory," he explained. Mello sneered at his confidence and followed him to English, surprised that he seemed to have every class with him today. They sat next to each other once more. Mello watched as he began to play with his robot again.

"Doesn't playing with that over and over get a little boring?" he asked. Near simply shrugged, and didn't answer. Mello sighed a little, and yawned. This class was by far the most boring, Mello had learned English very quickly as soon as he was taken out of Germany. He now had a pretty expanded vocabulary. His accent had long disappeared.

Officially dead bored, Mello took out his Math homework and finished it. Bored again once he was done, Mello pulled out his copy of Oliver Twist and began reading today's chapter. Oliver asked for more. He shouldn't have done that. But Mello sided with his logic. Obviously they were underfed, it only made sense. Mello became attached to Oliver's bravery instantly. He was totally intrigued with the story when the teacher asked him a question. He stuttered, not even sure what the question was.

"Well?" The teacher demanded, knowing that Mello was one of her best students. Near smiled a little and leaned a little closer to Mello, but just a little so that the teacher didn't notice.

"Midsummer Night's Dream.." he whispered, only loud enough for Mello to him. Mello blinked hard.

"Midsummer Night's Dream.." he repeated, too shocked to do anything else. The teacher beamed and nodded.

"Correct," as soon as she turned back to the blackboard Mello jerked his head towards Near.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked, still shocked. First of all, Near was paying as little attention as he was and still managed to know the answer to the question and second of all, he had helped him. Near shrugged. Mello sneered.

"Well.. you didn't have to... I could have figured it out on my own." Near simply nodded. Mello turned back to his book.

"Thanks though.." he muttered. Near smiled a small smile, and only Mello could distinguish it.

"No problem.." he muttered back.