Disclaimer: I'd be rich is this belonged to me and would not be trying desperately to come up with 20 dollars for a plushie…

K – King

The checkered board sprawled lazily before him on the floor as he fiddled with a piece the size of his hand and sucked lazily on the piece of chocolate that he had just popped into his mouth. He sprawled across the floor in a way that made it easy to go to sleep, but he had somehow become somewhat immersed in this stupid game and couldn't. Surely he had mentioned, once or twice or a thousand times, that he hated this game, but nobody really seemed to care. Instead, they were doing this as a freaking lesson in class!

Even Matt was ignoring his hatred of it in favor of sitting on his lower back and peering over his head at the board, eyes roaming paths where nothing was on or would go at the current moment, making Mello wonder if Matt was having difficulty seeing, even without the goggles which had been pushed up onto his forehead for the moment. Finally he replaced his knight on the board, only to have Matt shove it a square over and grin at him helpfully. He would have sighed, but Matt's weight was making it sort of impossible.

With a soft sound somewhere between a moan of desperation and a growl of hatred, he pushed the piece forward and sideways and then hesitated before removing his fingers from it. When he did, his opponent, a girl about a year or so older than him who was somewhere in the top ten of the house, didn't hesitate at all. He shoved a castle across the board in a straight line, taking out a Pawn that the Knight had been protecting without Mello's notice and glanced at Mello before cautiously, "check."

"God fucking dammit!" Mello sat up sharply, causing Matt to topple over and land on another board, sending the pieces sprawling across the carpeting. "I hate this game!"

His footsteps echoed as he stomped out of the room and the girl he had been playing scowled and shook her head. "I woulda thought he was good at chess…"

"Naw," Matt replied, hands maneuvering to right the pieces he had spilled. "He's actually really bad at it. He can't see the harm in sacrificing his pieces and then gets mad when there aren't enough left for him to do much with. He usually only keeps the Queen and King somewhat safe."

"His queen's gone…" she muttered, frowning at the Queen which was set up amongst a ambush of pieces.

"Yeah, well. He doesn't think far ahead anyways, so he almost always loses. You shoulda seen him when he played Nea- oh… hey, Near," he grinned at the approaching boy, his expression freely happy now that Mello was gone form the room and wouldn't try to slap him across the face for being kind to the boy.

"I was wondering if Matt would like to play a game. I see that Mello has gotten mad about losing," Near murmured softly, and Matt had to wonder if it was coincidence that the albino boy smiled shyly at him at the same moment as his toes kicked over the King that had been left standing from Mello's game.

"Sure, why not?" Matt said, waving at the board he had finally reset. Near sat and they began to move pieces swiftly, seemingly without conscious thought. Finally, Near sat back and stared complacently at the board. With a deliberate movement, he stretched across to the board and moved his Queen swiftly away from danger to protect the pure white King.

Matt gnawed on his lip and sat back as well, eyes roving the board and then cursing softly. He moved his Castle and his Queen was captured by Near's own almost before he had even settle the piece into its new place. Two more movements and two pawns fell, Matt sighing at the loss of each piece. Then, softly, subtly, as Near captured a Bishop, Matt moved his piece and muttered, "check."

Near had an escape route, but his queen would have been destroyed to even them up. Instead, Near tipped his King with one hand, laying it carefully onto the board like laying a person to rest.

Matt frowned. "Wha-?"

"The King is usually unlikely to survive without the Queen," Near mumbled, sitting up. He tugged on Matt's jeans with his foot and Matt nodded as if understanding, though in reality, he was completely confused.

He stood nonchalantly and followed Near out of the room before querying, "Okay, so why'd you give up. Really."

"I was playing a game. Mello was the Queenside Bishop. I was the King. Matt…"

"I was the Queen, right?"

"Yes. Matt was the Queen."

"Right… well, I think you'd survive without me," Matt said awkwardly, shuffling feet across the ground, eyes flicking up to check where Mello was. Really, he should be getting back to him, But Near was still staring at him.

"I disagree," Near said and Matt, attention diverted, was suddenly fully focused on Near as the younger boy stretched up and kissed him ever-so-briefly before turning to the stairs and beginning to climb towards the playroom.

"Wait… what?" Matt was dizzy, but he too began to trek up the stairs. "That was a really stupid move." Near looked hurt for a split-second and opened his mouth, an apology starting to slip out, but Matt continued, "I'm going to have to play you again when I'm not one of the pieces. I could have seriously hurt myself!"

Near gave a brief smile and ushered Matt inside the playroom, but stopped as the golden-haired boy who had starred as the Queenside Bishop started to exit the bedroom Matt and him shared. Matt smiled apologetically at Near and instead moved towards Mello.

"Mels, you suck at chess," he called teasingly.

"Shove it, Matt," the blonde growled and headed back inside. Matt grinned at Near and gave a dorky salute to the younger boy before strolling after Mello to slip into their room, his laugher echoing down the hall.

Near frowned and entered the playroom alone, accidentally knocking his own chessboard aside as he walked towards a set of action figures set up in the corner. The jarring movement sent the pieces rolling in all directions.

Near quickly rescued the queen from rolling away.

End of K

Um… not much to say today… Just the usual, really… Read, Review, offer ideas, etc. Also, if anyone, I'm serious, anyoneat all, wants a giftfic, tell me, k? I really want an idea for a story, cuz I'm bored and my chapter stories are evading me.