Mello paced about his sitting room, cursing and muttering incoherent phrases to himself as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Pulling it out, he cursed again.

The caller was Near, his main enemy, after Kira.

Mello scowled, gritting his teeth as he answered, wondering how bad his karma was to have deserved such a sucky day. First the damn girl had to run off and I had to play the bad guy to get her and now Near has to call to rub his smarmy kiss-ass accomplishments in my face…What the hell did I do to deserve this? He growled at himself as he snarled into the phone "What do you want now, Near?"

"Oh, I just wanted to know if you were any closer to catching Kira…I've been making a lot of progress, and I was wondering if you were, too…" Near replied, and Mello could almost see Near smirking as Mello said nothing except a growl.

"I'll take that as 'I haven't gotten anywhere…A pity, Mello, a real pity- I was so sure that you were a worthy opponent for me."

"I am a worthy opponent, Near- I've had a distraction. That is the only reason why I haven't been able to put Kira behind bars as of yet."

"Would this distraction be someone of the opposite sex?"

Mello growled at the phone and he knew that Near was all but smugly grinning as he said, a trifle amused, "I thought that was the case. Would she happen to be Beyond's little orphan?"

"I have no desire to confirm or refute that, Near. You say clever things, nonetheless."

"I'll take that as 'Yes, Near, she used to be close to my predecessor, Beyond Birthday.'" Near replied, causing Mello to seriously consider breaking his phone by throwing it against the wall. He opted out for snarling into it, "If you had any part of planting Death in my hideout as a spy, I swear, Near, I'm coming to New York to shoot you personally."

Near let out a chuckle as he asked, "So that's her name? Death…sounds macabre… Is she a Goth?"

Mello sighed angrily, rubbing his temple, trying to fight off the headache resulting from his bottled up anger that was now steadily increasing with quantity as he half listened to Near's taunts about the girl who was asleep in the room next to his own….

...

…Or so he thought. In all reality, Death was in a similar situation, pacing her own room, thinking back on that morning. It was 11:54 p.m. and she had given up all hope of falling asleep after she had tossed and turned and struggled to close her eyes an hour ago.

She sighed as she sat on her futon, rubbing her eyes and glancing at the blank wall, wondering how mad Mello was at her still. "I never meant to get him so peeved… I only wanted to be alone…" Death sat still for a couple moments, sighing and thinking before getting up and going to the door, ready to turn the doorknob. She faltered before turning away, groaning and ready to bang her head against the door.

"I'm not going to apologize to him! Never, ever, ever, ever, ever! He's so pushy, so demanding, so…so…Ugggh! He's such a …such a…Basterd!" Death hissed to herself, sitting against the door, arms crossed as she glared at the opposite wall. She then moaned again, holding her head in her hands as she muttered, " I feel so guilty though! If I don't apologize, I won't get any sleep because of my stupid guilty self!"

She growled at how weak she was feeling as she stood and yanked the door open, marching two steps to her left, hand poised to knock on Mello's door before realizing that it was open. Upon poking her head into his room, she discovered it to be neat (for a teenage boy's room, anyways…) and completely Mello-free. Growling again, she stomped down the stairs and through the kitchen, knowing that if Mello wasn't in her room, he was either on his bike, getting chocolate or in his sitting room. Death made her way to the lounge, knowing that she would've heard Mello's bike driving away.

She approached the door, reaching for the doorknob when she realized that Mello was yelling. Opening the door just enough to peek in, she saw the blond pacing about the room, cursing into his phone.

"I'll catch Kira- distraction or no distraction! I'll prove it to you!" Death leaned against the door a little more, letting out a quiet gasp as it creaked loudly, causing Mello's eyes to snap towards the door.

"Hmmm…." He muttered suspiciously before ending the call, sauntering to the door and jerking it open, making Death tumble in a heap at his feet. She looked up at him, her mouth quirking into an uneasy smile as she declared, "I'm s-sorry, Mello."

He yanked her up by her arm, glaring at her as she took the time to smooth out her gray cotton, knee length nightdress to calm herself. "What the hell do you want?" He snarled, plopping on his couch, cursing under his breath as Death seated herself across from him, playing with the hem of her nightgown.

"Who was that?" She replied, ignoring the fact that Mello's glower increased with intensity as he growled, "You answer me, NOW."

Death sighed as she got up, before Mello rolled his eyes and said, "Never mind- leave me alone, girl."

Death's mouth opened and closed in surprise before she said, "But…But…Why?"

"Just leave me alone, Emily."

Death slightly glared before she thought better of it, going to kneel by Mello's couch, whispering, "I'm sorry if you're mad, but I won't leave you alone. Get as mad as you want- I won't leave."

She then straightened up and returned to her seat, sitting and crossing her legs. "Now, YOU tell ME who that was on the phone."

"Why should I, eavesdropper?"

"That was Near, wasn't it?"

Mello sat up, his initial shock being drown in his piercing glare as he hissed, "How did you know?"

Death didn't get to answer as Mello crossed the 4 steps that separated the two, trapping her in the chair, him being too close for Death's preferred comfort. "HOW DID YOU KNOW? ANSWER ME NOW!"

Death gasped a bit as she answered, "I thought it was only because you said, " I'll catch Kira..." and then, "I'll prove it to you!" Plus, I saw his picture in the Wammy's House brochure… The man from Wammy's House who came to see if I'd live there mentioned that some children competed to be number one, to prove himself or herself superior…you…were one of those children, weren't you…?"

Mello scowled, but didn't answer- he didn't have to with Death. She was smart enough to figure him out. He stepped away from Death and began to pace the room like a caged lion. He stopped for a moment when he saw Death's eyes watching him closely, knowing that she expected an explanation.

He sighed angry, gritting his teeth as he declared, "I've always been second- no matter how much I worked, no matter how hard I tried…Near has always been first. I hate him! I deserve to be first- not him! We've always been rivals, but he keeps one-upping me! I now have the chance to prove that I deserve to be number one- I can't allow mistakes because of it! I'm so close and I can't give up now!"

He was brought out of his rant by Death clucking her tongue in dismay at him, shaking her head as she chuckled sadly. "WHAT?" Mello shouted at her as she looked up at him, trying to stop chuckling at him.

"I find it sad…you, Mello…someone with so much potential is willing to risk his life because he is jealous of someone better… you're acting just like Beyond when he was trying to one-up L…he didn't want mistakes…and yet, despite his being careful, he messed up and got caught…and now he's dead…that may happen to you, Mello…just because of your goal…that's what's sad…You're merely jealous."

"I'm not jealous!"

"Yes you are. If you're not, then please explain your logic of why I can't call it jealousy, when it clearly is because you're coveting a status only God can reach."

Mello was silent as Death continued, "Maybe I don't see it your way because I've never understood wanting to be #1…I've never had any desire to have that status…"

"Never? You never were jealous…of anything?" Mello asked, surprised- no, shocked- before he saw Death's lips quirk into a smug little smile when he realized that he had just admitted to being jealous.

"Oh, whatever!" He muttered, heading for the door, glaring, before he felt a tug on his gloved hand.

He looked back to see Death holding it, looking up at him before she said slowly, "I have been…jealous… per se… I'm jealous of people with a loving family and caring friends…You see… My dad died near Christmas when I was one, and my mom died two years later on New Year's Eve and my big brother, Ryan… he ran away from the foster home and I haven't seen him since…and I never was able to befriend anyone 'cuz they thought I was weird…kinda like that game of "Emily has cooties" …and now…" Death stopped, closing her eyes as she sighed, knowing that Mello could finish the rest.

Now whenever I see a little girl laughing in the park with her family and playing tag with her friends…I think "What if that was me? What if none of my life had happened and I could've just been a little child who never had to grow up, who never had to lose their innocence too early…? What if I had friends like her's? What if I had my family back?" And I start coveting what she has, what she's holding onto.

Death looked up at Mello, and tried to smile and hide her tears at the thoughts. "But I usually try not to be jealous when I remember the song my mother sang to me…I can't be jealous when I think about her singing it…"

"How does it go?" Death looked at Mello, surprised as she mumbled, "What? You want to know how the song goes?" She stared at him skeptically, wondering if it was a joke, a sick joke, wondering if he was only feigning interest in her mother's song as he nodded quietly.

She took in a soft breath as she sang gently,

"Come here and cry upon my shoulder,

I'll hold you till it's over-

I'll rescue you tonight.

And while you're here in my shelter,

Your hiding place forever,

I'll love you more than life…"

She slowly let Mello's hand go as she stood and walked to the door, looking back at him as she rested her hand on the door frame and whispering, "You should try to be happy instead of jealous, Mello. You should at least try- you're taking years off of your life by being jealous and bitter."

"You're one to talk!" Mello shot back, hiding his uncertainty on where he stood now- to take her advice or to ignore it.

Death smiled and winked at him, a quick, non-flirty wink that Mello would've missed if he hadn't been watching carefully. "Heh, heh…I guess you're right about that…But I'm trying…Goodnight, Mello."

"Wait, Emily…" He said, desperately

"What, Mello? I'd kinda like to go to bed soon…"

"Were you ever jealous of your brother? For being able to get out?"

Emily turned with what appeared to be tears in her eyes and Mello knew that he had hit some nerves accidentally, but she smiled at him and murmured, "No…I'm happy for him… He didn't have to get hurt like I did…I was never jealous of Ryan…I admired him…I want to find him one day and tell him that. Goodnight, Mello- sweet dreams."

She climbed the stairs and collapsed on her futon, not caring about the open door as she fell asleep, hot tears clinging to her cheeks, naïve to what she gave Mello to think about.

I dedicate this chapter to Elle XVI