A cry for help: Chapter 2- The Conversation

Listening to the fading footsteps of Mello and Matt, the darkness engulfed Near's vision and mind as the boy's pure white hair was slowly stained red.

Meanwhile, in Roger's office, a phone started to ring.

Near:

Near slowly awoke from a dreamless, yet troubled sleep. It only took him a small number of seconds for him to discover where he was. The clean, clinical smelling sheets that were surrounding his small frame felt alien and different to that of his own. He tried to open his eyes, only to discover that the left side of his face was bound in a soft, cotton bandage, preventing sight in his left eye. Seeing only from his right eye, he stared up at the pale tiled ceiling. He listened for any signs of movement outside of the empty and seemingly lifeless infirmary. Nothing but the buzzing of the lighting and the gentle whir of the fan.

It was relaxing, the isolation. Well, he would hardly call it isolation, more just peacefulness. However, the silence and the feeling of content was short lived. It was then when the young boy realised the throbbing pain both in his eye covered by the bandage, and at the back of his head near the top of his neck. Sitting up slowly and trying not to cause the pain to become a greater problem, he looked around his bed. Nothing but a glass of water on the small table to his left

After about ten minutes of trying to find something to do without causing further discomfort to his neck and head, Near slowly drifted back to sleep.

Mello

Before Mello left Near's room, he tried not to think about what he had just done. But now, when he was alone in his room, his breath regulating once again from the short sprint to his room he shared with Matt, he realised what he had just done; he punched Near. He punched him…in the face. He knocked Near out then ran away. He resorted to physical violence towards someone first. Sure, it felt good at the time, I mean, hell, mello couldn't have felt better in that instant of directing all of his outrage at one target, then releasing it. But…towards Near? He just couldn't understand it.

However, what he couldn't understand even more was why he felt so…guilty. Mello had thought about finally taking out his anger on Near and he expected it to give him some sense of peace or superiority. But it did the opposite. Mello felt like he had been reduced down to a pathetic, unintelligent idiot who resorts to violence first. He felt like Near was the one who won by getting him to this point, not Mello finally beating his rival at something.

"Shit, shit, shit, fuck! This is all his fault! It is! But once again I'm going to be the one made to feel like a piece of shit! Roger's going to give me hell for this. I hate that little albino bastard!" Mello screamed aloud, not caring if anyone were to hear him. No one would listen anyway, they'll all favour Near's story and feel sorry for him because he's great at everything, and Mello always comes second to him.

The blonde spent a few more minutes pacing his room, muttering about how he would get revenge someday, until he calmed down and was able to think rationally. He tried to think of excuses, no, reasons as to why he got physically violent with Near. All of them sounded petty and pathetic.

Mello accepted the fact that he was going to be given hell for this, but he was going to give them hell back.

Near:

After just an hour after falling back to sleep, Near was awoken by the sounds of footsteps, not heavy footsteps, but it didn't sound like they were trying to sneak up on him. He opened his eye that wasn't covered by the bandage and saw that Matt was standing at the foot of the bed wth his handheld game console in his hand and his goggles hanging around his neck to reveal his eyes. Near had rarely seen Matt's eyes, they were normally under the tinted goggles and at the occasions that they weren't, his eyes were glued to some kind of game.

"Hey… how're you doing?" Matt asked somewhat awkwardly, looking at the ground and shuffling his feet at the sight of the weak looking boy. Near wondered why Matt was acting like this. He probably feels guilty for what Mello did, Near concluded. Matt had always been close to Mello, where Mello went, Matt was always seen within a five metre radius at least. Also, Matt was, in a sense, Mello's sidekick; he wandered around following him and supporting him, yet he was also his own person. It was this fact that caused Near to respect Matt. He thought that getting emotionally involved with someone in any way would result in some kind of loss of personality, like you would identify solely as being involved with that particular person. Of course some people knew Matt as Mello's best friend, but to many others, he is his own person. This was why Near managed to get on with Matt.

"I guess I'm doing good as far as getting knocked unconscious and waking up in the infirmary goes." Despite his comments, Near did feel better after resting a little more; the pain in his neck had subsided to a dull ache and his left eye felt less swollen. Matt smiled a little at his words, but then he was serious again.

"Look Near, I know that he should really be saying this, but I went to see Mello earlier, and he looks really guilty. You, of all people, know how he can get. I'm just asking for you to not make this any worse than it already is." Matt really did care for his friend. He was extremely loyal, but loyalty can be dangerous if you are completely dependent on it.

"I will answer the questions Roger is inevitably going to ask, truthfully and accurately. Nothing more, nothing less." Near didn't want to lie to Matt, even though he was best friends with his rival. He opened his mouth to say something else when he saw Matt's face of slight anger and confusion, before both boys heard the footsteps of dress shoes, the 'click..click' sound they made piercing the silence that had quickly fallen between the two young boys.

After twenty seconds of the sounds getting closer and closer, the person creating the now slightly irritating noise stepped into the infirmary doorway and looked down at Near and Matt.

"Hello there boys. I'm glad you're awake Near, and Matt, please can you leave for a minute?" Matt hesitantly walked slowly out of the room to resume conversation with Near. "Are you feeling any better Near? You suffered a nasty bang to the head there." the man turned his head to the side, asif silently talking to someone. "Well, you sure have enough energy to talk. You appear to have another visitor."

Roger shifted to the side to let a slightly agitated looking blonde through the doorway. Near made eye contact and sighed,

"Mello."

AN: Hello once again! This is a bit of a longer chapter, but I like it. Hopefully the next one will be a bit more eventful though. However, the next one might take a bit longer to be out because I haven't written it yet. (I wrote these first two chapters beforehand so I would have some kind of 'buffer' I guess) Sorry about that but oh well.

Until next time my few readers, Lollylion out.