Chapter 1. March, 1996

From the corner of a playroom, a boy watched others of his age, older, and younger, play. Everyone but he had a playmate, but he made sure it stayed that way. He was better off without any of them, and too good for them, too. For a moment he wanted to tell himself that he had been through more hell than any of them, but, considering where they all were, he reasoned that they had all gone through hell at least once. So instead, he told himself that he had been through a little more hell than any of them. Because to anyone, six years old—and barely six years old at that—was too young an age to have been through what all Mihael Keehl had been. But it wasn't Mihael anymore, was it? He is Mello now…

Mello…

Mello…

"Mello?"

The young boy looked up through a curtain of blond bangs to see one of the dorm mothers (Nancy, he believed this one was) peering down at him. She had a kind smile on her face. The kind of smile that made Mello want to smile back at her. So instead, he looked away.

"Mello, won't you play with the other children?" Nancy asked him, but Mello shook his head. He was too good for them, didn't she know?

But Nancy did have reason to be concerned; the boy had been at the new orphanage for a few months, and had yet to make a friend. This had been her umpteenth time trying to get him to play, so with a defeated sigh she stood, and extended her hand to the boy. Mello eyed it warily.

"Come, Mello. I have something for you."

Now curious, Mello took her hand, which lifted his small body from the floor with ease, and followed her down several halls and a flight of stairs, which ultimately brought them to the kitchen. Mello watched as Nancy rummaged through the refrigerator, when she appeared with something rectangular wrapped in foil. She handed it to him, and he unwrapped it hastily, revealing a mysterious brown…something.

"Go on, taste it!" Nancy urged, that smile back on her face. Mello hesitated for a moment, before biting in to the strange food. His eyes widened in delight when he tasted the melody of smooth milkyness and other wonderful, strange tastes danced across his tongue. He looked up at Nancy, wondering what on earth he was eating.

"It's called 'chocolate'," she told him, and saw a smile grace his lips. She was happy to know that there was something he now had to keep his mind off of loneliness.

"Can I eat this all the time instead of all that other yucky food?" Mello asked, taking another bite from the chocolate bar.

"Of course not, silly. Then you'd get sick!" Nancy explained, and took the unfinished bar from his hands. Mello protested, but she held up a finger. "You can have more after you've gone and played with the other children," she bargained, and Mello nodded his head enthusiastically, and took off to find someone to play with.

Mello wandered the halls of Wammy's House for a while. Who could he play with that would be at least somewhat worth his while in order to get the rest of his beloved chocolate? He passed a large window that overlooked the grounds below, and noticed a group of kids playing a game of football. Mello sneered. Excellent. A game he could play that didn't take too much time, and he would be able to push kids down with a reason and not get in trouble. With that decision, he bounded down the stairs and out the front door.

The boy watched the game go on for a few minutes from the sidelines, before flagging down the boy who seemed to be in charge. When he finally got his attention, the boy wandered over to Mello, a somewhat smug expression on his face.

"Whaddya want, Blondie?" he asked with a tone. Mello glared at him, and contemplated smashing his face in right now. This couldn't be worth his chocolate, could it? No, it had to be. He swallowed his pride for only a moment, puffed out his chest a little, and spoke.

"I wanna join your game," he answered. The boy stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether to let him join or not. By the time his answer came, the rest of the boys had gathered around.

"Alright, but you're on the other team," the boy told him, and Mello smirked wickedly, following them onto the field.

The entire course of the game, an unspoken rivalry seemed to be waging between Mello and this other boy, causing the game to become intense. That is, as intense as a football game played by a bunch of kids below the age of ten could get. Mello was happy that he had pushed at least five kids down, and had even scored for his team. But he was formulating a plan in his mind, one that would certainly make his new rival apologize for the snarky tone he had used on him earlier, and spill a little blood. No one Mello's own age bossed him around.

It was then that he saw his opportunity. His rival was headed towards his side of the field (because all his teammates had become irrelevant at this point), ball tucked safely under his arm. He was going in for a touchdown. Not on Mello's watch. Right when the boy thought Mello was going to let him slip passed him, the blond was in front of him, fist flying through the air, which ultimately landed square in the boy's nose. He had hit the ground, blood slowly dribbling its way out of his nose, before he even knew what was going on. Everyone was immediately crowded around, and Mello loomed over the wounded boy, snickering.

"That should teach you who's boss!" he said triumphantly, and stalked off towards the House to regain his prize from Nancy.

Unfortunately for Mello, news of a fight traveled fast in Wammy's House, and Nancy had heard what he had done before the blond even entered the front doors. He had been sent to his room without his chocolate, and dinner for that matter, and was to receive detention for a week for his actions.

Mello made sure to find out the name of that boy, and give him a good beat-down for the trouble he'd caused him.

Bwaha. Unlike other authors, I do my commentary at the end of the chapters! (snicker) Anyway, this is actually the third …er, "take" of this chapter. It first started with L and Watari doing the opening ceremony for the orphanage, but I didn't want that to give off the impression that the story was going to focus on them, cuz it isn't. Then the second was about Mello meeting Matt for the first time, but it just wasn't working out…So here's this. I hope it's okay. I've decided to make the chapters into one-shots, so I don't kill myself over connecting the story all pretty-like. Xx And for the record, the detention is supposed to be like getting grounded. Or something. (shrug) Ooh, can anyone guess who that boy Mello dislikes is?! Virtual pie if you do:D Well, thanks for reading! I enjoy reviews (wiggle)

Spirit-chan