Author's note: alright, I was getting frustrated with all the thoughts on Mello's head and how everything seemed to be from the way he was taking it in chapter 2 so, I'm switching view points. It's Matt's view! I'm actually being spontaneous for once.

I stretched out my fingers, yawning. Man, that test was so stupid! I hate reviews. Annoy the hell outta me. At least it wasn't as hard as it could be; even being in the third position for L's successor didn't mean I was the most capable for the job. I glanced over at Mello, sitting across from me in the library. He seemed… distracted; like he was just holding the book in front of his face as a ruse.

Well, he can't fool me.

"Spss, Mello," I whispered. The blonde looked up at me, eyes cold. "Come here." Mello shook his head, looking back to the book. Dammit Mello; what do I have to do? I looked down at my notebook and smirked. Tearing off a corner, I crumpled it into a ball and flicked it at him, making a little scoring system for my game; ten points for just hitting him, twenty for hitting his face, and fifty for his eye.

Mello glared at me, making me smile. "Come here," I mouthed more forcefully. The blonde rolled his eyes and continued to ignore me. Sighing, I aimed more carefully, pretending this was one of my archery games. With the right flick, the paper landed right in Mello's turquoise left eye. He looked at me with fury, growling.

Achievement Unlocked! Pissing off the blonde!

I smirked once more until I saw the blonde seethe his way over; I imagined steam blowing out of his ears and his face red with rage. Of course, that was just my image of the teen in an absolute anger. Thankfully, I'd never had to experience his intense rage.

"What do you want, Matt?" Mello growled lowly, making sure the supervisor wouldn't hear. I smiled up at him and patted the seat beside, my eyes large and puppy-dog. He rolled his eyes but took the offer, sitting down, as I figured he would. But, his eyes were still lost in his mind, lost in thought.

"So, being thoughtful, I see; was it the test?" I started, easing into an interrogation.

"You mean the review? I'm disappointed in the teachers, actually," he responded, placing the book down open on the table. I ran a hand through my almost light brown almost red hair, watching Mello's face carefully.

"Yeah, that test was too easy; hell, if I'm saying that, you know it was easy," I joked. Mello smiled just a bit. But, I stared at him seriously. "That said, I don't think that's what's on you're mind."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he denied. I leered.

"Mello, I'm you're best friend; I can tell when you're distracted. Does this have to do with the Near situation?" I asked. Mello's eyes widened and he looked away; was that shame I saw in his eyes?

"You know, after this week is over, we could ask Roger about K having the room to himself and me and you rooming together; just so that this never happens again," I suggested softly. Mello shook his head.

"It doesn't matter; the luck of anouther fire in Near's room is so low it wouldn't be worth it," he growled. He seemed… frustrated. Man, Mello, you were so hard to read sometimes.

"Okay, I smell something wrong." Mello turned his face from me, hiding from my judging eyes. That, itself, was evidence enough to suggest something was wrong in the Mighty Mello's perfect world. You know, other than the usual 'I'm second to the fake albino!' angst.

"Mello, you can tell me anything! I've told you all of my secrets and problems in the past, why can't you return the favour?" Mello snorted.

"All of your secrets are video game cheats and all of your problems are about not being able to kill the final boss," he retorted. I laughed nervously.

"Well, that's true. But, it's also true that I told you about it, which I haven't told anyone else. I thought you trusted me?" I asked with puppy-dog eyes. I knew that bringing up the trust issue was a risky thing to do with Mello; if it were anyone but me, he would've had a spaz attack on that person. But, since we're on such a level, I figure bringing the trust issue in once could be helpful.

"Alright, I'll tell you," he sighed with defeat.

Bonus Challenge! Making him tell the truth!

"Does it have something to do with Near?" I questioned. Mello nodded. "Something to do with the whole room situation?" Mello nodded again. "He built an awesome cage of monkeys around your bed, trapping you! So, you took your master sword, sliced through the evil imprisonment, but then Near transformed into the level one hundred boss with three eyes and shot flames from-,"

"Matt, no. Snap out of it!" Mello whispered harshly. I blinked rapidly, and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry; guess I've been playing this one game way too much. That stupid monkey boss," I chuckled nervously. My mind wandered way too much, even when I tried to pay attention; alright, so, we were talking about the room thing, right?

"Uh, I guess I should stop asking; why don't you tell me what's going on?" I suggested. Mello looked away from me again, uncertain, then, his eyes returned to mine, a flame lit.

"I hate Near; I hate him with everything that's inside me," Mello started, venom dripping with every word. "So, I have to make sure he suffers with the knowledge that I am superior. I'm going to make Near grovel in what is left of his will and, when I'm finished with him, that won't be much." Mello paused for a moment, looking away from me out the window. "Something is wrong with me and it's all Near's fault. I hate him even more than before for what he's done to me and I WILL make sure he pays… with the most dire of consequences."

I shuddered in fear. Poor Near… whatever he did to Mello was really bad; bad enough to evoke this kind of rage, too. I could only guess what Near had done because the look in those murderous turquoise eyes told me that asking would result in severe punishment. I picked up my pencil and started to chew on the end of it.

"Well, let's hope that the ambulance will be quick," I murmured with thought and sincerity.

What did the kid do?

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Written by Lucian ~

Yeah, this is kind of a lead up chapter to the larger events; a break, if you will, until the ultimate punishment! I don't know what's going to happen but be afraid for Near.