Uwah! O_O I've been updating RIDICULOUSLY fast. Hehehe, don't get too used to this! Thank you for all those who read/reviewed/favorited/alerted. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Mega-man, or Game Boy

Cool spring air blew past, bringing with it the smell of freshly cut grass and the upcoming rain. Blond hair swayed in the breeze lightly, as if it were dancing to a beat that was hidden away in his mind. Sighing, the European boy looked down at his partner and saw that he was still playing that thing called a Game Boy. Ever since he discovered that thing, Matt had his nose practically glued to the screen. Mello looked at the grey screen and tried to figure out what the heck was so special about it.

"Matt, let's play before it rains," he whined.

"Just gimme a minute," the boy mumbled, furrowing his brow in concentration. Mega-man was kicking ass right now.

Mello looked longingly across the grass as it swayed lightly, enticing him. The white and black ball wobbled in the wind as well as if begging him to kick it. Well, Matt could sit there and play his stupid game, but the blond decided that he was going to have some real fun.

"(Huff) I'm not going to sit around waiting for you! Just play that dumb game and I'll play ball by myself."

"Ok."

Frustration bubbled up in the older boy at his friend's disregard for his feelings. He really wanted to play with Matt, but the brunette would much rather stay inside. What kind of child would prefer to stay inside when there was a whole wide world out there? Maybe it was just because he had been raised inside that tiny room all his life, but Mello was tempted by the open air and the soft grass. Yes, he would much rather play a game of football than sit around inside watching that action box Matt called a TV.

Shoving the boy to show his disapproval, Mello turned and ran wildly to the ball while Matt continued to play the game on his side. "Whoa, nice move, Mega-man."

Bare feet ran over the cool grass before swinging back and connecting with the hard ball. A laugh erupted as the blond child watched the ball bounce far away. Grinning widely, he charged at the ball and kicked it again. The house got further and further away, but he didn't notice as he focused on trying to kick the ball farther. The front gates glistened for a moment in what little sunlight was left before a thick cloud swallowed up the golden light.

Mello was completely absorbed in his game and continued to unleash unkind kicks on the ball. He wasn't allowed to kick other children like that, but he could kick this ball. It brought a smile to his lips as he watched it sail through the air before plunking down on the ground and rolling a little further. Just as he pulled his leg back for a super powerful kick, a droplet of water fell directly onto his red nose.

"Eh?"

He rubbed his nose in surprise before blinking up at the overcast sky. A frown settled on his face as he realized that his little game was over now. He had to go inside or he would get all wet. Roger would yell at him and give him a good swatting if he came in all wet and ruined the carpet. Looking up defiantly at the sky, he stuck out his tongue at it.

"You're no fun!" he yelled as another drop of rain splashed on his forehead.

Looking down at the ball longingly, Mello thought hard. Surely one more kick wouldn't hurt anything. After one kick he would go pick it up and head straight to the house. What could possibly happen? Coming to that conclusion, he pulled his leg back as far as it would go and kicked the ball as hard as he could. Black and white melded together as it spun through the air, bending a little before landing softly in a patch of longer grass.

"I'm the greatest kicker in the world!" Mello screamed happily. That was so far!

Taking a deep breath, the blond tore down the field to reach his ball. The burning feeling in his chest made him giggle; he never felt so alive! Just as he reached the area where his ball was, Mello's foot sank into a pot-hole making him tumble and roll over in the long grass. Rubbing his head, Mello looked around a little bit dizzily. What tripped him? Not seeing anything, he tried to stand so he could grab the football but a burning pain shot through his leg. With a cry he fell down to his knees.

Tears sprung in his eyes as the throbbing became more pronounced. Looking down at his foot he saw it all swollen and turning a funny color. When he tried to move it, he screamed in pain and started to cry in earnest. He had never felt such horrible pain in his life! A low rumble echoed across the grounds and raindrops began to fall with increasing speed. Soon, Mello was sitting out in the middle of a full-blown downpour.

~_~_~_~_~_

Matt paced nervously at the back door waiting for Mello to show up. Getting up on his tip-toes he looked through the glass window to see nothing but the rain. Where could Mello have gone? He went somewhere, but he didn't come back and it was scaring the brunette. It was dinner time, but he was too worried to go and eat with out his best friend. Beside, he had never been to dinner without his other half, so it would feel weird to do it now.

"Where did you go?" he whined as he tried again to see out the window on the door.

"Hm? What are you doing back here?"

Jumping at the sound of someone speaking to him, Matt wheeled around to stare at a suspicious red stain on a plain white t-shirt. Looking up higher, he saw dark eyes almost hidden behind the dark bangs of crazy hair. Sticky jam was smeared across the pale cheek and clung disgustingly to long white fingers. The young boy shrunk away from the scary sight and tried to hide in the shadow beside the door. Red glistening lips upturned as the taller boy watched the new kid shiver in fear. He never grew tired of seeing that kind of reaction. Only the little blond one didn't shrink away from him like that.

"I asked you a question," he tried again, this time kneeling down to be eye level with the sickly brunette. There were funny swimming goggles over his eyes, but that was inconsequential. "What are you doing back here when dinner is being served in the dining room?"

"M-mello," Matt stuttered, afraid that if he didn't answer this strange boy his innards would be the next thing to stain that shirt. "He h-hasn't c-come back."

"That's interesting," the older boy whispered, his sickeningly sweet breath washing over the terrified brunette. "Want some jam?" Sticky and wet fingers dipped into the jar before retracting with the red gelatinous substance clinging to them.

Trying not to look sick, Matt shook his head violently. There was no way he was going to eat anything from those fingers. Who knew where they'd been?! "Not hungry," he choked out, turning his head away. This guy was really creeping him out and he felt the urge to pee his pants. Who wouldn't?

"Go to dinner," Beyond commanded softly before shoving the digits into his mouth and sucking on them thoughtfully.

Matt thought about arguing, but one stern glare from the older boy made him clamp his mouth shut and scramble towards the warm dining room. Maybe he would stop by the bathroom first…

Beyond watched to make sure that the little guy ran off before he hesitantly set his jar of jam on the linoleum floor. If Mello was out there, he was probably getting soaked to the bone and that wouldn't do at all. Things like that could make him sick. Grumbling about children's lack of common sense, he toed off his socks and wiped his fingers clean on his shirt. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, he stepped out into the cold rain and stood still for a moment to adjust to the wet feeling. Dark hair fell over his eyes as the water weighed it down and he shivered at the feeling of water running down his back. With a shake of his head to remove the hair from his eyes, B began his search for a certain blond-hair child.

~_~_~_~_~_

Holding the slippery ball in his hands, Mello sat on the grass crying loudly. He had never been hurt like this before and the pain seemed to be too much for him to handle. Walking was completely out of the question and crawling with the ball was impossible. Still, he couldn't leave the ball out in the rain, or Roger would yell at him.

"M-matt," he sobbed as he buried his face in the leather covering of the ball. Why didn't his friend just come with him? If he were here, then Mello would be inside the warm house and not out in the cold rain. It was all that stupid game's fault, he concluded as he hiccuped.

Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and when he turned his head, the sight nearly paralyzed him. Beady little eyes were watching him while a pink tongue slipped out before hiding back in that scaly mouth. Aquamarine eyes widened in terror as he stared at the strange creature that looked an awful lot like the deadly python he read about in National Geographic. It was smaller of course, but a snake was a snake, and he was convinced that it was going to kill him.

Even more tears mingled with the rain running down his face as he tried to keep perfectly quiet. Maybe it wouldn't see him if he remained perfectly still. Unfortunately, it slithered forward a little closer to him making him sob loudly. He didn't want to die! What about Matt? He couldn't be by himself! And Loyal, and B! He wanted to play with them again and, and, and…

A shriek of terror tore from his throat as the small snake approached him. There was no escape, just certain death. Suddenly, a bare white foot stomped down on the head of the snake making a small cracking sound. The body of the snake wiggled around helplessly in its death throes, but Mello just cried in relief. Ignoring the rainwater that ran into his eyes, he looked up to see a familiar face.

"B!" he cried and held out his hands to be carried.

Cold fingers reached under his arms and easily lifted up the smaller child up and out of the muddy ground. Mello clung to his wet body as if he were afraid that B would disappear and leave him alone with the terrible grass snake. Lifting up his foot to see the crushed head, Beyond tilted his head and stared at the blood and grey matter seeping into the ground.

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel."

Sniffling, Mello looked up at the dark-haired boy. "W-what?"

"Nothing, just a verse from the Bible," he muttered. "It's of no consequence."

Leaning over, he picked up the muddy ball and carried it under one arm while he held up the clinging boy with the other thin arm. The rainwater made his t-shirt cling to his wiry body and his cold perked nipples were easily seen through the thin fabric. The said fabric was held tightly in the small chubby hand of the small blond as he held on for dear life. Adjusting his hand to rest on the boy's bottom, Beyond just focused on getting inside the house before they both caught a cold.

~_~_~_~_~_

"They should be given the L code as soon as possible," the voice on the other end of the line commanded.

Roger nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I agree. Matt might be able to keep up with the work since we know how intelligent he is, but I'm concerned about Mello. Unlike the other children, he hasn't shown any promising talents. For all we know, he might not be a genius."

"He did teach himself to speak English," Quillsh retorted with a chuckle. "Mello might make it look easy, but speaking English when all you know is Slovene is a difficult task."

"Fine, so he has good language skills. What else? How can he even be considered in the running for the next L?"

Another darn chuckle. "Calm down, Roger. Just because he receives the L code doesn't mean he's going to be the next L. We'll just see what happens. Who know? Maybe he'll surprise us all."

"I doubt that," the cynical old man replied with a sigh. "I doubt that very much."

"Well, I need to get L some more food before he starts complaining."

"I don't complain, Watari," a small voice was heard in the background. "I merely remind you of your duty to provide nourishment for my young body."

"Well, don't work yourself too hard," Roger replied with a grin. "You're not as young as you like to imagine you are."

"Nonsense," the elderly man snorted. "I'm quite young enough."

"He's right you know," that small voice interjected. "You might break a hip-bone if you stand in that position too long. Getting me some cake would certainly help your chances of keeping perfectly lubricated and healthy joints."

"I'll talk to you later," Quillsh said before the dial tone droned.

Sighing, Roger set the phone back on the cradle and shook his head. The next round of schooling bean in a few weeks, and he could throw Mello and Matt into the mix without disrupting too many things. First, he needed to give them some sort of placement tests so that he could organize study schedules.

A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts and he couldn't help but sigh. The only time people ever bothered to talk to him around here was to give reports on the children or to hand over an unruly child that needed to be spanked. No one ever bothered just to have a decent conversation about the weather, or the news…

"Can I come in?" asked an irritated voice of someone who was not a nanny.

"B? Is that you?" he asked in surprise. "Come in, yes, come in."

Both eyes widened behind his spectacles as the drenched boy walked in. The white shirt was practically see-through and it was smeared with mud and a red substance that Roger was hoping was jam. Shaking his wet hair and splashing the old man with some of the cold water, Beyond tilted his head and looked down at the man still seated in his chair.

"I think Mello's sick," he stated emotionlessly.

"Eh, Mello's sick?" Roger was completely confused. What was B doing with Mello? "How did you-"

"He was in the rain," B responded as he scratched his neck. "Are you going to check him or not?"

"Uh, yes, I will," he replied before gathering his wits. "Good gracious, child, put something dry on! You're practically naked!"

B looked down and noticed uninterestedly that his bare chest was completely visible. He just shrugged his shoulders and began walking down the hall, his feet making squelching noises as he proceeded to soak the carpet with each step. There was also something stuck to the bottom of his foot that Roger would rather not know.

"Wait, where is he?" Roger called out as he slipped on his house slippers.

"In my bedroom," Beyond replied as if it were completely normal to have the small blond in there.

Widening his eyes, Roger headed straight for the older boy's room and found a soaked Mello tucked under the covers of the plain bed. His red face betrayed the fever that was attacking his body and a soft cough echoed in the otherwise empty room. B never did like unnecessary decoration.

"Great," he mumbled as he felt the wet forehead. "Just what I need, a sick child."

~_~_~_~_~_

"Am I going to die, Matt?" the blond croaked as he rested under the clean warm blankets.

His face was still red and his hair clung to his sweaty face. Snot continued to run from his nose, but he just grabbed another tissue and blew loudly. Matt looked up from the game and patted his friend's leg.

"No way. It's just a cold."

"Are you (cough) sure?"

"Yeah, Roger says so."

"O-ok."

It had been a long time since Mello had fallen ill and he had forgotten how bad it felt. Still, it was nothing compared to the pain that his twisted ankle was giving him. Greenish eyes looked at the propped limb and examined the white bandage.

"Does it hurt?" Matt asked as he noticed what Mello was staring at.

"Yeah," he said softly. It did hurt a whole lot more before, but once B brought him inside the house, he took the swollen foot carefully in his cold fingers and pressed a gentle kiss against it. Now the pain wasn't so bad. "But it's not too bad I guess."

Matt looked down at his feet where his baggy jeans were covering the braces that were keeping his healing ankles steady, he couldn't help but wonder if Mello had ever really felt pain before. He seemed so distraught over something like a silly cold and he had cried while the nurses wrapped up his ankle. Did all children do that?

"Did I say something wrong?" Mello asked, seeing how his friend looked sad. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't you," Matt said with a large smile. "I was just thinkin' you know."

Leaning back against his pillow, Mello stared at the white ceiling for a while. Matt went back to the Game Boy and they were silent. Only the small weird sounds from the handheld broke the silence. A young nurse came in after a while and checked up on the blond to make sure that he was drinking enough water.

"It's time for some sleep, you two," she said cheerily. "Say your goodbyes!"

She walked out and flipped off the lights. Matt sighed and shut off the game without saving it. Sliding off the bed, he was getting ready to walk away when he felt Mello grab the back of his shirt.

"Eh? What do you want?"

"Can you give…can you give me a kiss, Matt?" he asked softly. That was his mother's cure all, and he really did miss that. Her painted lips would always press gently against his forehead and she would whisper that sweet lullaby. He knew that Matt couldn't sing the lullaby, but he could at least give him a get-better kiss.

The brunette just gaped at the other boy for a moment. He wanted a kiss? Even in the darkness he could see the red face with his quivering lips as his strained breathing brushed past. Those large eyes were practically begging for the kiss and it made Matt get a strange feeling in his stomach. It was just like in TV when the girls would ask the sexy guy to kiss them and to make them into women. Swallowing hard, he wanted to say no, but the look that Mello was smothering him with was too much.

Turning a bright red, Matt approached the expectant blond who closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath and closing his own eyes, Matt leaned in and pressed a sloppy kiss to those soft pink lips. Mello's eyes shot wide open, and just as quickly as he pressed the kiss, the brunette pulled away.

"Good night," he forced out through his tightening throat before walking away very quickly. Mello just stared after him in confusion. What was that?

~_~_~_~_~_

Two different placement scores sat on Roger's desk. Looking down his spectacles, he shook his head in surprise. Matt did fairly well overall which was expected, but Mello flunked everything but the reading portion. He missed every arithmetic question, and his understanding of the natural world went only as far as National Geographic taught him. Abstract concepts completely escaped the child and he didn't even have any sense of art to make up for it. The picture he was supposed to draw contained very crude stick figures; one with goggles, one with red splashed all over him, and one with a giant donut in his mouth. Shaking his head, he looked over at Matt's picture and blushed at the inappropriate picture. That boy really did need to learn some decency and respect. His foul mouth scared the younger children and his American accent annoyed the older ones.

'At least he isn't screaming like a banshee anymore,' Roger thought to himself. Mello had seemed to calm him down some, and that Game Boy did wonders for keeping his mouth shut.

Turning his attention back to the papers in front of him, the elderly Britain began writing up the schedules for the two boys. Mello would need a private tutor for most of his schooling because none of the children at Wammy's House was that uneducated, but he was sent to the advanced reading class. Reading some classics would do that child some good. As for Matt, he placed him in mid-level classes and added a special course: etiquette.

Once he finished with the class schedules, he leaned back against the chair he was sitting in. The older generation of children was practically already considered a lost cause to Quillsh, so their education focused on pulling out their talents while the younger generation was still given the chance to become the next L. Of course, the more artistically gifted children weren't forced to go through that trying education; they merely learned what was necessary and were given every opportunity to flourish in their arts.

Still, a few of the older children were showing signs that concerned him. A was withdrawing into himself more and more everyday, and B was…well, he was B. He was beyond any of their comprehension and it was getting a little worrisome, especially now that he seemed to show an interest in Mello. There was the possibility that B just wanted to be friends with the six-year-old, but he was starting to pass through puberty. If he hadn't already, he would become curious about his own sexuality and he might try toying with Mello to sate that curiosity.

Shaking his head, Roger was hoping that he was wrong. He would never allow any of the children to be hurt like that by anyone. Maybe he should let Quillsh know of his concern. After all, he was probably dealing with a sex-crazed L and would probably know what to do. Snorting at the idea of a sex-crazed L, he just shook his head. No, he couldn't bother Quillsh with all these problems. Besides, if L was sex-crazed, the old buzzard would have his hands full anyway. Still, he couldn't see that stoic boy craving for anything but sugar. It was just too weird.

"Well, better get to work," he mumbled to himself as he looked back at the schedule. There were tutors to talk to, nannies to inform, classes to organize…

~_~_~_~_~_

"Matt, do you want my orange?" the older boy asked as he wrinkled his nose at the fruit.

The brunette looked up from his game at the blond sitting in the middle of the room with his large orange resting on the plate in front of him. They hadn't talked about the other night and Matt wanted to keep it that way. He was really embarrassed of what he did, but he was still curious as to why Mello made him do it. To be honest, he was hoping that Mello didn't want him to make a woman out of him, because he didn't think he could do something like that. Besides, he wasn't really sure how that would work with two guys.

Sure, he'd seen plenty of raunchy late night shows and the hooker neighbors he had would sometimes take their business to the halls, but that was always a girl and a guy. It was never guy and a guy. Why was that? Well, it wasn't like he wanted to do those things with Mello. He was just curious. Scratching his nose, Matt began to wonder if Mello wanted a kiss from him just because he was curious too. Since they were friends, it would be a lot less weird than going up to some random girl and asking her for a kiss. Yeah, that had to be it.

Mello stared at his friend who had been off in la la land for a while now. Getting bored, he threw his orange at him and it hit him right between the eyes. Being caught off guard, Matt yelped and fell off the bed with a loud thud. Smiling widely, Mello laughed at his friend's misfortune.

"Do you want the orange, Mattie?"

"Damn, you didn't have to throw the thing at me," he grumbled as he picked up the soft, peeled fruit. "Why don't you eat it? The nurses told you to, or you'd stay sick."

"I'll be fine," Mello pouted. "I don't like oranges 'cause they are too spicy."

"Spicy?" Matt questioned as he shoved a piece into his mouth.

"Um, maybe that's not the write word. It just doesn't feel good in my mouth."

"Maybe (munch) you mean too acidic?"

A shrug was his response. Wiping his nose with his sleeve, Mello watched as his best friend ate the food happily. He still remembered that funny kiss from the other night and still wondered why Matt did it. The idea that maybe Americans kissed different from Europeans seemed plausible, so he just tried to leave it like that. Besides, he did get better, so maybe a kiss had healing powers no matter where you were kissed. Smiling, he wiped his nose again and stood up.

"Want to go play outside?" he asked.

"Ugh, that again?" Adjusting his goggles, he soaked in the sight before him. The sun was shining brightly behind Mello, making his hair glow and casting the rest of him in a shadow. It was weird. "How 'bout we go prank some people?"

"What's a prank?" Mello asked excitedly.

Smiling wickedly, Matt got to his feet. "I'll show you, ok?"

Author's Notes: So yes, a child's imagination can make things look a hell of a lot worse than they really are! Mello probably seems really weak in this chapter, but it's really important to realize that he was a very sheltered child and doesn't know about pain or many other things. By the end of the chapter I realized that Matt seems to be the instigator instead of Mello, but once again, Mello is far more innocent than Matt is. Once he gets a taste of mischief though, and all that might change. XD So, just enjoy how they grow up and everything will fall right into place.

Next chapter: the beginning of Near's story

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