:D Anyway this chapter kind of does suck... I'm suffering from writer's block but I manged to get this one out. Don't kill me D: the next one will be better

"Let me out and let me in.
Cause you're not alone here, not at all.
Let me belong here, break my fall.
Shelter me from this again.
Dedicated to the end.
Help my break my conscious in,
To free us from our innocence."
-Breaking Benjamin, Break My Fall

It had been one month, they had been living in this place for one month yet it somehow felt longer. Mello sighed and looked back down at his desk, looking at the clean piece of wood. Near was only a few seat ahead of him and he considered throwing something at the albino but some saner part of him talked him against that. He looked back at Matt who was, unsurprisingly, playing his video games under the desk, barely paying any attention to anything around him. And beside him was the black-haired kid, Butterfly. She was staring off into space like usual, and it irked beyond anything. She and Near… they don't even try! But they're somehow at the top! While me, I'm working myself to the brink of sanity! He muttered darkly to himself and looked back at his desk. He'd already finished the homework assignment (but after Near) so he was left with nothing to do except keep thinking.

He was almost shaking with nervousness but he wouldn't let anyone know that he was scared. Since today was the last day of the month, everyone would be reporting to the aditorium after this class ended so the month's rankings could be announced. Mello was both excited and nervous and it made him feel sick beyond belief. He hadn't even been able to eat his breakfast or lunch for that matter and Matt was getting worried about him. He's got nothing to worry about… after this damn assembly I'll eat… I doubt I beat Near…. He sighed and looked back at Butterfly who was watching Matt now; her dull blue eyes peeked over at him. It wasn't in a stalker way, it was more like something was fascinating her about him. Like he was something in a museum… Or a puzzle… That thought made Mello angry. He wasn't going to allow this girl to mess with Matt in any way. She'll pay if she does.

Mello narrowed his eyes a bit trying to figure this girl out. She never spoke, never. Okay he had seen her talking to Near once but that was about it. She wasn't that much younger than him but she seemed too… quiet. And that silence bothered Mello more than anything. He looked away and tapped his pencil on the desk, his eyes going to the clock on the wall. There were only five minutes until the bell would ring. A girl named Linda shot Mello a dirty look and he stopped tapping his pencil after rolling his eyes.

"No… not really," Matt said quietly from behind. Mello turned around to see him talking to her.

Traitor….Mello growled silently.

"Oh…" Butterfly said. "Well it's nice that there's finally someone else who thinks that way."

Mello sighed. Great, this is exactly what he needed. That's when the bell rang and everyone immediately jumped to their feet and bolted, yes bolted, out of the door. Mello got up and turned in Matt's direction to see him bent over his Gameboy and Butterfly was still talking to him. Mello took a step towards his friend and saw Butterfly's eyes widen a bit with fear.

"Um… I'm gonna go find Near, I'll see you… later…" She said quietly to Matt and bolted away, looking for the albino who magically disappeared into the crowd.

"Let's go, Matt," Mello almost growled and stomped out of the class to the auditorium.

Matt easily caught the tone in his voice. "What'd I do now?" Matt turned off the game and ran after Mello.

Mello continued walking. "Oh nothing, just talking to our number two enemy."

"Our? You mean yours," Matt stated. Mello rolled his eyes.

"Whatever…" He pulled open the doors of the auditorium and sat down near the door, all the seats near the front had been quickly taken. Matt sat down next to him and flipped his Gameboy back open and began playing.

Mello rolled his eyes and focused heavily on Roger who was introducing himself and going over how "proud" he was of everyone's effort. Then the man pulled over a table with a Laptop on it with an Old-English L displayed on the screen. L! He thought happily.

"Hello, children," The monotone voice said through the speakers. "I would like to congratulate you all on your work and now I will read off the rankings." Was it just him or did L almost sound saddened by that?

L began giving the last place ranking, which was 108, and working his way backwards. After what seemed like forever he reached the top ten.

"In tenth we have Kenny." The children applauded for the blonde boy who stood up when his name was called.

L continued down the list. "Fifth we have Linda." Linda stood up with her ridiculous pigtails bouncing around. The girl has a hard-on for Near… Mello thought to himself amused. Linda was annoying and always fussing over Near for some reason.

"In fourth, Matt," L said just as bored as before. Matt didn't seem to notice so Mello kicked him.

"Ow! Oh… yeah…" Matt muttered and stood up, still staring down at his game and he remained there until Mello pulled him back down.

"Third in Wammy's is Butterfly," L said with slightly more emotion in his voice. The girl stood up quickly and received her applause which was just as loud as everyone else's but somehow it seemed more sinister. She sat back down quickly and went back to staring at the ground. Wait… that means I beat her… My name hasn't been called yet! Mello realized happily.

"Second we have Mello," L said in a slightly warmed voice from the laptop. Mello stood up proudly, grinning at his accomplishment. The children clapped but he could feel that it was more powered by fear and envy then actual congratulations. He sat back down.

"Congrats," Matt said quietly.

"Thanks," Mello whispered back, but he already knew who number one was.

"And finally, in first we have Near," L said and the pride in his voice made Mello sick with envy. He wanted L to be proud of him one day. The children clapped a bit, but not by much they weren't surprised at all.

L finished up with his little speech and then there was a click as he turned off the transmission. Roger congratulated them half-heartedly and walked away signaling that the kids were supposed to go to their next classes.

Mello leapt up and dragged Matt along with him and he was congratulated by a few of the kids but Mello could see the hostility in their eyes. He shrugged it off though; he wasn't scared of anyone here. As he walked toward his next class he caught sight of her.

Mello shot her a dominating look as she caught his eye and he walked toward her. "Well, looks like I beat you."

She actually smiled and looked relieved. "Congrats, I'm relieved."

Mello was confused. She was relieved? She didn't want to succeed L? "What do you mean?"

Butterfly shrugged her shoulders. "I'm tired of the bullying, I guess. It's not worth all the pain."

Mello blinked then laughed. "That's it? You're just weak, that's why you're letting L down?"

"Mello…" Matt warned but Mello ignored him.

"I'm not weak!" She stated firmly. "I just want to belong for once. You have Matt, I have no one. And here when you're at the top they throw you to the bottom and I don't want a part in this food chain anymore."

For some reason that true answer ticked Mello off even more.

"You're going to let L down…" He muttered. "You're giving up! You're going to give up because you don't have enough willpower to take this!" He looked down at the girl who was growing angry.

"I don't want… to fail L…" She muttered quietly.

"But that's exactly what you're doing!" He yelled, attracting attention from some bystanders.

"Mello, calm down," Matt instructed. But he couldn't. This girl didn't care about L, she was selfish, she was throwing it all away because she couldn't take being picked on.

"You're just like him…" Mello hissed. "Pathetic…" Mello was expecting her to cry again because her eyes were getting watery. But he didn't have much time to react when her arm pulled back and her fist made contact with his nose. He felt a swift punch and something warm was on his face. His hands flew to his nose and he looked down at his hands which were smeared with bright blood. It stung a lot and he looked over furiously at the girl but she was already racing down the hall. Mello kept his hand over his nose and was led by Matt to the nurse's office. Mello had no idea what to say. The last thing he expected was for her to actually hit him! He was mad and a bit shocked still but he knew he couldn't hit her, she was a girl.

"Just like Near, huh?" Matt commented after a few moments of silence.

"Shut up, Matt!"

Butterfly sat at her desk feeling guiltier than ever. She made Mello bleed! Sure he had it coming but she never expected she'd been the one to do it. Matt had came in not too long ago but Mello wasn't with him. Matt was sitting next to her like usually (most of the classes had the same seating chart) and he wasn't playing his game surprising. I guess he does pay attention sometimes… She wondered how Mello was doing, how bad he was hurt. Wait, why do I care? He's just going to make life here worse! Why did I hit him? Now I'm in it for sure! But her curiosity took over and she pulled out a scrap piece of paper and wrote on it.

"How's Mello?" She wrote and passed the paper over to Matt. Matt looked surprised but read it over and wrote something then passed it back.

"His nose isn't broken so he'll be fine. We'll probably hear from him at dinner."

She took a look over at the boy in the striped shirt before writing back.

"I'm glad, I feel really bad for hurting him."

"Nah, he had it coming sooner or later, I mean he was picking on you. I might've done to same."

"Yeah…. I'm not usually like that…."

Matt smiled a bit. "I know that much. You've got guts."

She held back a laugh at that. Her? Having guts? No way! She pulled the paper over and wrote back.

"Unless you're talking about my stomach I have no idea what you're talking about."

Matt chuckled at that. "Whatever you say."

Butterfly scribbled down another message. "Why aren't you playing a video game or something?"

Matt cocked an eyebrow. "You've noticed huh? Well I let Mello borrow it for now while he's with the nurse."

That made sense. "Oh, okay. And yeah, it's kinda obvious."

"Butterfly," called the teacher. "You better not be passing notes over there." The teacher chuckled to himself but the girl smoothly pulled a lie.

"Of course not sir," She responded, every word sounded truthful, her face fixed in the same way it was before.

"Good."

Butterfly cradled her books against her chest as she rushed through the halls trying not to be seen. After the ranking ceremony most of the lower kids would pick on the higher kids like her. And since Butterfly wasn't well liked and had fallen to third place, she was an easy target. She was glad Mello had taken the spot of being number two. In fact she was exuberant at that fact. But she knew somehow someone was going to ruin that mood, and the person just had to be Mello. She was glad she finally had the guts to stand up to someone but still, she didn't hate Mello. In fact she envied him in a way. Mello wasn't afraid to stand up for himself or matt, for that matter, while Butterfly had only managed to remain with her eyes shut tight.

She wished she had found some other way to let Mello know that she didn't want to deal with his insults today instead of socking him in the face. Mello seemed more… human than the others, more believable and more real. He seemed like someone she could easily admire. Now that he's beat me maybe now things will start looking up… she tried to convince herself. But then she remembered her fist making contact with his face and the sight of the blood from his nose. She knew she was going to get it for that. Mello was going to get back at her somehow, she just knew. She was hoping for insults because if Mello hit her she knew it was going to hurt for sure. But maybe he's against hitting girls… that's my only defense; pull the "girl" act…. Butterfly was quickly getting sick of the monthly rankings and the constant battle for a place in the top ten. Well, it wasn't much of battle. Even though she hadn't even attempted to remain on the top she somehow ended up only dropping one place. The only bad thing about Mello taking that place was that no one was going to go after Mello, no one was that suicidal.

As he mind continued its musings, the girl managed to dodge a ball of paper tossed at her by Linda and mange to keep her pace the same.

That was until the foot shot out.

"Whoa!" she cried as she managed to catch herself with her arms.

Whoever tripped had started laughing and Butterfly's blood ran ice cold. She knew that laugh anywhere.

"Having fun?" Striker asked, towering about the little girl.

"The trip leaves something to be desired," Butterfly muttered to no one in particular. Butterfly stumbled to her feet and stared down at her books, wondering if she should bother picking them up or just make a run for it. I'm tired of running…

She bent down and began to collect her books. Then Linda decided to join the fun and kicked the books the little girl was grabbing. Linda didn't like butterfly in the slightest, and not just because she was number three. Linda had a crush on Near that was extremely obvious. So obvious, in fact, it was rather painful. And since Near refuse to talk to anyone except Butterfly, Linda assumed Near liked his roommate. So the girl took out her frustration about this on the black-haired child.

Butterfly gritted her teeth and shot Linda a dirty look but the brunette didn't wipe that smug smile from her angel face. Striker grinned a bit, even though Linda was in fifth and Striker was in thirteenth, the two got along rather well. Butterfly gathered all her book together feeling those eyes burn holes into her back mercilessly.

"Aw, are you ready to leave so soon?" Striker taunted in that sickly sweet voice of hers. The books were knocked onto the floor again. This time Butterfly didn't bother to pick them up. She looked around franticly for anyone to help, anyone at all, but everyone was either looking the other way or at dinner.

"No one's gonna help you, shorty," Striker taunted, taking a step closer to the girl.

Butterfly glared but took a step back. Linda was beginning to look a bit worried.

"You're not gonna hurt her too bad, right? I don't want to get in trouble…" Linda worried.

"Oh come on," Striker laughed. "She won't tell anyone. Like anyone would care even if she did."

Butterfly winced as the dark-haired pre-teen shoved her against the wall. Striker pulled back her fist, complete with her painted pink nails, and Butterfly squeezed her blue eyes shut, ready for the impact. Briefly for a minute she wondered exactly what happened to Striker that got her landed here. Butterfly expected to feel the gash of pain but it never came.

Butterfly hesitantly opened one eyes to see someone had grabbed Striker's hand.

"Mello!" Butterfly exclaimed. Mello had a white pad taped to the side of his nose from his injury earlier and he looked really angry.

"That's enough," he said, his voice shaking with something other than fear.

Striker blinked and Linda was already gone, the minute she had seen Mello, she bolted the other way. Striker's soulless brown eyes flickered with something and she roughly pulled her arm away from the seven-year-old's grasp.

'Well it looks likes the drag queen came to your rescue," Striker spat.

Mello's eyes became blue fire. "At least I don't need a guy saying I'm pretty to make me feel like I deserve the air I breathe," he countered, his voice leaking with venom.

Striker flinched, his words cutting deep. She narrowed those eyes and walked away, following her gang that had left her.

"Thanks, Mello," Butterfly sighed with relief.

"No problem," he said, his voice still a bit angry.

"I'm sorry I hurt you earlier,' she said sincerely as she began to gather her books and papers together.

Mello laughed a bit. "You? Hurt me? Yeah right!"

Butterfly smiled a bit. "So you're not gonna hurt me or anything?"

"I don't hit girls," Mello shrugged and touched the side of his nose.

Butterfly began walking towards the mess hall and Mello followed behind her.

"Wait… you should come sit with me and Matt today…" He looked almost as if this was killing him to ask.

"Uh, sure…" She muttered wondering what was up with his change of attitude all of a sudden. "Why the change in attitude?"

Mello shrugged. "You're not Near."

December 10th 1999

"Matt, what's so great about video games?" The nine-year-old Butterfly asked her friend.

Matt shrugged, not looking up from his game. "They're fun."

Butterfly cocked her head to the side, "Don't your eyes get tired?"

Matt still keep all eyes on his game. "Not really."

Butterfly sighed and watched him play. A few years had passed since the black-haired child developed a friendship between Matt and Mello. It was a very slow progressing one at the beginning but eventually it began to blossom. Mello still continued to stand up for the girl and people began to leave her alone. In fact, her self-confidence seemed to be dramatically raised and she would stand up to anyone that ticked her off.

As the years carried on, Butterfly eventually found herself as number four at Wammy's, much to Roger's dismay. Roger had scolded her for a good twenty minutes on how she had to try her hardest to succeed L.

Butterfly felt bad for Near though. Near wasn't allowed to join in anything between the three of them; Mello said so. Not that he wants to anyway… Butterfly reminded herself. Near didn't show any interest in such activities so she shouldn't feel too bad for it.

Matt looked up at the black haired child after be beat the battle he was playing.

"Have you ever played one?" he asked. Butterfly shook her head. Matt gave a joking gasp. "We'll have to fix that." He pulled out a game case from under his striped shirt after making sure no one was looking.

"How's you sneak that in?" she asked after catching the rating on the game.

"Mello," Matt replied simply and no other further explanation was needed.

Butterfly laughed, understanding.

"Anyway. How about you come by mine and Mello's room at ten-thirty and I can show you how good I am." He laughed. "It'll be fun."

"Okay," Butterfly agreed. "Ten-thirty it is."

Matt nodded and slipped the original Resident Evil under his shirt and continued to play his game.

A/N: I do not Own Death Note, Pokemon or Resident Evil! I do own Butterfly however. Please review and if you do... uh... I'll send you your choice of Matt or Mello! Naked! Ha!

Mello: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!