A/N: I am displeased... that is, I'm happy because there are tons of people faving and alerting this story, but only like half of that number have reviewed, and only one person reviewed the second chapter. To those that did review, thank you so much! Consider this chapter dedicated to all of you! Special thanks goes to Rambie and Rinna-Kun, who have reviewed almost all of my DN stories! I love you two!

Disclaimer: The ownership... I lack it...

Stage 3: Depression

"Come on Mello, it's not so bad." Matt said gently. They were sitting across from each other on Mello's bed in their shared room. Mello was chewing on a chocolate bar and studying a textbook almost too large to fit on his lap, a stack of as-of-yet uneaten chocolate rested close on his right.

"Every time, Matt. Every test, paper, worksheet. He beats me every time, and not even by much. Eight points, five points, two goddamned points! And have you ever seen him study!?" Mello exploded, Matt hesitantly shook his head.

"No… though I heard Octo saying that Near had borrowed a book from him once." Matt offered.

"Doesn't matter! Here I am, studying hard night after night. It's been weeks since I last played soccer, and he's down there putting together his stupid puzzles, or his stupid legos, or crashing his goddamned stupid robots together!" Mello shoved the rest of his current chocolate bar in his mouth and chewed ferociously. Matt took advantage of Mello's full mouth to put in his opinion.

"Maybe you're trying too hard." The redhead suggested. "I mean all this stress can't be good for you. Before you were always number one with only a bit of studying, and Near only beat you by a little. Now you're studying twenty-four seven and he's still only beating you by a handful of points." Mello paused and considered this. Then he sighed.

"Thanks for trying Matt… but it's just no use. I wasn't stressed out in the beginning and he was still beating me." Mello stared at the open book in front of him. Matt was alarmed. True this was a big change for Mello and it was undoubtedly a shock, but for Mello to be acting this… well, mellow, was just frightening.

"Dude… are you alright? I've never seen you this down."

"You know perfectly well I'm not alright! I have to beat him, Matt! I have to! But I can't!" Mello exclaimed, but it lacked his usual fire. "That little jerk… it's like he's taunting me! It's not fair; no one should be that intelligent!"

"Mello… no offense, but that last part was just ridiculous." Matt pointed out. Mello sighed.

"I know… I'm just so frustrated. Because I can't seem to beat him even though I know I can! I mean, I've beaten everyone else! There's no way I'm gonna let a little ball of fluff get the better of me. Not for long, anyway." Mello took a ferocious bite of his chocolate bar. Matt stared at him, and something clicked in the gamer's mind. Maybe it was due to years of being Mello's best friend, maybe it was because he'd played through so many games' storylines and could now figure out dramas like this, Matt didn't know. What Matt did know was that something fishy was going down with his best friend, and it wasn't just the academic thing.

"If I didn't know better…" Matt began, and Mello looked up at him curiously. "I'd say you… like Near." Following this statement was a deadly silence.

"In that case I'd say it's a very good thing, for you, that you do know better." Mello's voice was low and warning, the threatening undertone laced with a barely contained sadistic tinge that made Matt shudder.

"Uh… y-yeah. Totally. So know better. Don't even know why I brought it up." Matt laughed nervously. Well, at least the melancholy mood seemed to have dissipated.

TBC…

A/N: Really short chapter... Lol poor Matt... He's so adorable. And such a good friend! 8D Ya I love Matt lots. Not as much as Mello, but lots. Anyway... once again I cannot stress enough how much reviews mean to me. They make me so happy and inspire me to be the best writer I can be. So please, just take a minute and give a review. It would mean a lot to me.