Ah, a one-shot about something that happened when Mello and Matt were kids. Just a little humor/fluff story that I felt like writing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any characters, but other than that, everything is mine! Gah, I hate disclaimers…

Matching Bruises:

Matt couldn't breathe. He hid his face behind his DS and tried to keep his shoulders from shaking noticeably. A small snort escaped his mouth and he tried to make it sound like a cough, but it was too late. Mello narrowed his eyes at the laughing red-head and snapped a piece of chocolate from his chocolate bar.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Mello looked towards the mirror in their bedroom and scowled. His right eye was bruising, giving him a rugged look. Mello sighed and turned his gaze back to Matt.

Matt took a deep breath and gave Mello a toothy grin. Sitting his DS down on the bed, he calmed his self and looked Mello in the eye without fear.

"You're telling me that you got a black eye…because you got hit by a girl!" Matt bit his lip roughly, trying not to lose control again. "Damn, Mello, that's a new one! I would have never thought that you'd let a girl step on you like that."

Mello growled angrily and glared at Matt. "I told you, it was an accident. Things happen! I knew it was an accident! I was perfectly understanding…after I scared her away by yelling at her."

Matt snickered as the scene ran through his head. The image of the girl hitting Mello…and then Mello scaring her away; Matt burst into laughter once more, grabbing his sides.

"You said it was Lyla, right? Mello, she's the youngest girl in the orphanage! You let her hit you and then you yelled at her, knowing full and well that it was an accident. That's gonna make you look bad, especially since she's only four!" Matt snickered hysterically. "You got your ass kicked by a four year old!"

Mello grabbed Matt by the front of the shirt and yanked him close. Matt smiled nervously, worried about what the temperamental blonde was going to do. To his surprise, no blow game, but Mello hissed something.

"You tell no one about this, and if anyone asks, me and you got into a fight, got it?" Mello let go of Matt's shirt and plopped down on his own bed.

Matt saluted and grabbed his game. "You've got it boss!"

* * *

The next day, Mello sat his tray down at the table that he and Matt sat at alone. No one ever bothered number two and number three. They were too different. Matt was already there, shoveling food into his mouth in a careless fashion. Mello rolled his eyes at him.

"Ya know, one of these days you're going to choke and I'm not going to help you," Mello sat down and fiddled with his fork. He was never a big fan of the food at the orphanage.

Matt swallowed quickly and grinned. "Aww, you don't mean that. You know that you couldn't live without me."

Mello smiled slightly. "Of course I could live without you, but then I wouldn't have someone to throw around every now and then."

Matt nodded and continued eating. Mello sighed leaned his face on his hand. He didn't feel much like eating today. He blinked hastily as a small figure quickly passed him. It was Lyla. Mello's stomach lurched as his conscience began to belittle him for yelling at the poor girl. It had been and accident and she was the youngest at the orphanage. He sighed and reluctantly called to her.

"Oi, Lyla!" Mello watched as the little girl meekly turned to him and dumped all of her food onto the floor in favor of shielding her face with the tray. "Come here," Mello commanded.

Lyla fearfully walked closer to Mello's intimidating form, still carrying the tray with her. Mello had been awfully angry yesterday. "Y-yes, Mello…?" she asked nervously.

Mello sighed and looked away from her. "Sorry," he grumbled. "I shouldn't have yelled at you yesterday. I know it was an accident."

Lyla stuttered, obviously surprised by the apology. She gulped and fiddled with the tray nervously. "O-oh, well, um…how's your eye?" she asked, deciding that she should say something else. Mello sighed and turned to her, showing her his eye. Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped her tray. "Eep! I-I'm so sorry, Mello!" She bowed apologetically.

"Its fine," Mello muttered, turning his eye away from her. "Just don't start any big talk on your side, or we're going to have some problems."

"I would never," Lyla sighed and looked at her now empty tray. It didn't seem like she would be eating today. "I'm glad you're not mad anymore." She turned away and began to walk to her respective table, but Mello stopped her once more.

"Hey," Mello called again. Lyla turned back curiously and watched as Mello pushed his tray towards her. "Here; I'm not really hungry today."

Lyla smiled innocently, taking the tray happily. "Ah, thank you Mello!" she said as she walked away with a full tray.

Mello shrugged off the few stares that he felt on him and reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. He snapped a piece off, as he always did, and looked at Matt who was grinning at him.

"What?" Mello snapped.

"Mello has a soft spot for kids! How sweet," Matt said as if he were a parent talking to a baby. Mello narrowed his eyes, reached across the table, and smacked Matt upside the head. Matt whined. "What the Hell?"

"Don't be such a smartass. I did what was right, nothing more," Mello watched as Matt rubbed his head. "I didn't hit you that hard. Crybaby."

"Am not," Matt grumbled. He blinked as something caught his eye. A group of the older kids were coming towards their table. Matt gulped and grabbed the goggles that hung around his neck, situating them over his eyes. "Umm…Mello?"

Mello followed Matt's gaze to the older teens, scowling as they sneered at him and Matt. The older kids would jump on any chance they could to knock down the top students. Chances were rare, however, and it would be rough when the chance was given. To Mello's surprise though, number 5, had apparently sunk so low as to be one of those people. Real Name: Felix; Alias: Fantom

Fantom pulled out a chair and plopped down so that he was sitting beside both Mello and Matt. The others just stood around the table, blocking any possible escape route. Mello glanced at Matt who was staring at his tray nervously, pretending not to notice. That was Matt. He never wanted to be noticed; he never wanted to get involved with danger. He was the happy-go-lucky one.

Mello glared at Fantom, leaning back in his chair casually. There was no point in showing any form of fear. Jumping on the chance to fight…that was fear. Fantom chuckled as he examined Mello's black eye.

"Wow, Mello. Never thought a little girl could hit so hard, eh?" Fantom snickered as Mello gritted his teeth. "Ya know, I always thought you were tough, unlike your little comrade here," he laughed and shoved Matt roughly, nearly knocking him out of his seat.

"Just back off, bastard!" Mello hissed, standing from his seat. Fantom didn't seem fazed.

"And then," Fantom continued. "I hear you got hit by little Lyla. I was wrong about you Mello."

"It was an accident, a complete mishap! Just drop it!" Mello growled warningly. Mello glanced at Matt who lowered his head as if trying to become invisible. Why did everyone have to involve Matt when it was his business?

Fantom snickered and made a slight motion. Suddenly, Mello felt hands on his shoulders. The entire cafeteria silenced, all attention on the scene that was unfolding. Mello's heart pounded as the hands tightened on his shoulders and lifted him so that his feet were no longer touching the floor. Mello winced in pain as he was thrown down, his back meeting the tiled floor rather roughly.

"You asshole," Mello chocked out, trying to catch his breath. He stood up slowly and watched as the five other kids that had accompanied Fantom closed in around him and Matt. Mello scowled angrily and tackled one of them, slamming him into the floor as he had been earlier. He grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head into the floor a few times, effectively knocking him out.

Mello smirked and let go of the teen, glancing back when he felt a shadow cover him. The same teen who had thrown him to the floor before, a rather large, muscular teen, curled his fingers into a fist and swung down at Mello with as much force as he could muster. Mello clenched his eyes shut, waiting, but the only thing he felt was a body fly into him.

Mello looked back with wide eyes as Matt's body slammed into him, taking the full impact of the hit right in the face. Mello caught Matt instinctively and watched Matt cover his nose with his hand.

"Dammit…" Matt muttered, blood already soaking through his fingers. He cursed louder as a second fist collided with one of his eyes.

Mello gently pushed Matt away and stood up, ready to retaliate, but his arm was grabbed gently, forcing him to stop. Mello glanced up, meeting a gaze that immediately made him lower his fist. Roger was glaring at all of them.

"All of you, to my office, NOW!" Roger yelled, walking out of the cafeteria, while making sure that the other kids followed. Two of the teachers assisted the teen that Mello had knocked out to the nurse's office, much to Mello's satisfaction. Mello carefully grabbed Matt's arm and helped him stand, leading him to Roger's office.

* * *

"Damn, I've never seen Roger so mad before," Matt commented as Mello sat him down on the bed. Roger had watched the video cameras that showed the scene unfold in the cafeteria and declared that Mello and Matt were certainly innocent. Roger had immediately demanded that Mello take care of Matt's injuries while he punished the teens. Mello was happy to oblige.

"Well, I've never seen you take such a hard hit before," Mello commented, grabbing an icepack and gently pressing it to Matt's bruising eye. "We've gotten into a few fights with one another, but nothing like that. I didn't think you had it in you."

Matt winced as Mello applied pressure to his eye. His nose had finally stopped bleeding, and by some miracle, it wasn't broken. Matt grinned slightly, trying to act as he usually did. "Hey, now we both have black eyes. Must be karma, since I was making fun of you yesterday, right?"

Mello smiled slightly, sitting on the bed beside Matt. "Guess you shouldn't tease anymore," Mello glanced at Matt, allowing Matt to take the icepack. "Roger said I should stay close to you. Getting hit like that…that could do permanent damage."

Matt blinked, pulling the icepack away from his eye long enough to look at it in the mirror. "I'm sure I'm fine, other than my eye and nose, of course," Matt laughed quietly. "Our bruises match."

Mello blinked, looking at the mirror as well. Other than being on opposite eyes, their bruises did indeed look similar. They had the same coloration and were swollen to the same degree. Mello bit his lip and looked at Matt once more.

"Why did you…let yourself get hit like that?" Mello asked finally, looking at Matt curiously. Matt's face flushed and he laughed nervously.

"Well, there were so many of them!" Matt rubbed the back of his head. "I couldn't just let you take them all."

"Matt," Mello muttered, looking at Matt seriously. "What's the real reason?"

Matt flushed more and looked away. "I-I just…didn't want to see you get hurt," Matt laughed nervously.

Mello moved closer to Matt and Matt closed his eyes tightly, half expecting Mello to smack him in the head for the sappy confession. However, to Matt's surprise, he felt lips lightly touch his bruised eye. The lips slowly retreated and Matt opened his eyes in surprise, meeting Mello's gaze.

"Oi, you lazy ass. Get up and check the monitors!" Mello yelled, rolling his eyes as Matt groaned and rolled away from him.

"Mm…what time is it anyway?" Matt asked, glancing at the clock. His eyes widened slightly. "It's four in the morning! There is no way I'm getting up this early!" Matt felt a weight on the edge of the bed and glanced over at Mello. "You're not going to leave me alone until I get up, are you?"

Mello smirked and crossed his arms. "No, I won't. By the way," Mello looked over at Matt. "What were you dreaming about?"

Matt blinked, thinking carefully. He grinned, the memory returning. "Ah, remember when that girl accidentally gave you a black eye and then those boys started a fight with us?"

Mello seemed to think for no longer than a minute before nodding his head. "You were dreaming about that? What do you mean those boys started a fight with us? They started a fight with me and then you got your ass kicked by them." Mello smirked and nibbled on his chocolate bar thoughtfully.

Matt smiled, looking at Mello. "Yeah, but I saved your ass," Matt muttered, wrapping his arms around Mello and pulling him down beside him.

Mello looked up at Matt and chuckled. The memory was a fond one. "I suppose," Mello muttered.

Matt grinned again, nuzzling his face into Mello's hair. "I did it out of love," he grumbled, closing his eyes again. "Even if they nearly broke my nose."

"It wasn't that bad," Mello laughed quietly. "It could have been worse. Besides, you proved that you could be a badass when you wanted to be."

Matt smiled slightly and sighed contentedly. "Any chance that I can get you to stay in bed with me and sleep?"

"Not a chance, lazy ass."

Well, there it is. Enjoy and review if you will!