L sat before them, placing sugar cubes on the rim of his tea cup as usual. Mello and Near sat in the chairs in front of Roger's desk, Near shifting nervously in his seat.

"What is it, L?" He finally asked. L smiled mysteriously as his sugar cubes landed in his cup.

"Watari, Beyond, and I have recieved the results for the yearly tests." He informed them, stirring his drink-turning-to-sludge. Mello tilted his head to the side, waiting, as Near fidgeted some more.

"Well?" He finally burst out, jumping slightly in his seat. L smiled at him and lifted his drink.

Matt looked up from his PSP as a knock was heard on his door.

"Yea, come in." He called. The door opened as Matt went back to his game. "That was fast. What did L say?"

"Lawliet is informing Mihael and Nate of the scores." Matt looked up and blinked.

"Oh, Beyond. How've ya been?" Beyond smiled.

"Fine, Mail. And yourself?" Matt rolled his eyes.

"Just got my damn PSP back from the dynamic duo." He muttered sarcastically. "Damn Near got Mello to team up with him."

"This is a good thing, yes?" Beyond asked, pulling a chair up and sitting in it in his usual crouching position, much like his brother's.

"I guess." Matt blinked. "Since you mentioned the test scores..."

"You have placed high, as usual, Mail." Matt blinked.

"How high?" He asked suspiciously. Beyond grinned.

"Second." Matt blinked, then groaned.

"DAMMIT!" He yelled. "And we had gotten so far, too..."

"The purpose of the tests are to moniter how much you know." Lawliet said. "There are the usual subjects: mathamatics, science, language, etc., etc." He drank from his teacup and continued. "There are the more...unusual subjects: past cases, police and FBI files, newer cases that are exceedingly simple."

"We know this, dammit!" Near yelled. "Just tell us who's number one til next year!" Lawliet smiled his mysterious smile.

"Well, your friend Matt has been bumped to second this year." Near froze and, after a few seconds, fell back into his seat with a shocked look on his face. He didn't even hear what Lawliet had been saying afterwords. Six words repeated in his head.

'Matt has been bumped to second...Matt has been bumped to second...Matt has been bumped to second...'

Near was unaware of the shaking he was doing until a pale hand covered his own. Blinking out of his stupor, he looked down at big, bright blue eyes. Bright blue eyes that had been a depressing dull a few months before...

'Is this my price?' Near thought stupidly, still staring at Mello, blinking again when he saw faint tendrils of concern lacing the albino's eyes. 'I'm forced to help my crush---' because by that point pretty much everyone at Wammy's knew and it was pointless to hide it from himself '---and I get dropped from second to third? What a sick joke.'

"L was still speaking, Near." Mello said softly, not moving his hand. Near blinked.

"I know." He said softly, his larger hand covering Mello's. Lawliet watched silently, fascination in his eyes. Near sighed. "I suppose it goes without saying then, that Mels---Mello," he corrected when Mello's hand tightened slightly on his, "is number one again this year?"

"That assumption would be---" Near ignored him, ruffling Mello's hair playfully.

"Congrats, kid, on the test... and on actually getting me to like you enough to not beat the crap out of you." He said, forcing a smile. Mello frowned lightly and reached up, taking his hand and pulling Near to sit down again. Near had not realized he had even gotten up.

"L was still speaking, Near." He scolded softly. "It is rude to interrupt our mentor." Near smirked.

"Right. Sorry, L." He addressed the pale insomniac before him.

"As I had been saying, the assumption that Mello is once again number one, while correct, is not entirely accurate." Lawliet said. Near frowned.

"If it's correct, but not accurate---" Near started, frowning. "That means..."

"For the first time in Wammy's history," Lawliet smiled. "Mello and Near have had the same scores of 99.99% on every subject." Mello and Near simply blinked at first.

"So, what?" Near said finally. "We gotta do a retake?"

"No, that would require too much effort, both on the two of you and the rest of Wammy's staff." Lawliet said, waving a dismissal. "With the way the two of you have been getting along lately, I'm sure there's no problem in sharing the number one position for a year, don't you think?"

Near couldn't think. He faintly heard Mello say something to Lawliet, but he couldn't hear what was said.

He and Mello had tied? Like, same score and everything? A small part of his brain thought back to when they studied together...

"We tied?" He gasped out. Near realized that they were in the hallway headed to his room when Mello's hand began to shake. Concerned---if he could barely think straight, how must Mello feel?---Near turned to him to find Mello's blue eyes hidden under silver locks of hair, his free hand over his mouth. "Mello?" Mello didn't respond and Near's eyes widened. "Mels?" Mello looked up, and Near saw amusement sparkling in the blue eyes of Wammy's prodigy.

Correction, one of Wammy's prodigies.

"Near, you have the strangest responses." Mello said, biting his lip to hold back a smile. Near noticed this, and couldn't help what he did next.

Maybe it finally sunk in that he and Mello were now equals. Maybe he had lost his mind---lost it when Lawliet mentioned that Matt was second. Maybe he was just excited. Maybe he was ready for something he hadn't planned. Maybe it was because, as Near, he felt that physical was the best way to get things across for a majority of things.

Whatever the reason, in the middle of Wammy's hallway, Near pushed Mello up against the closest wall, and proceeded to stick his tongue in Mello's mouth as far in as it would go.