Title: Chlorine

Author: Hitachiin Hikaru

Fandom: Death Note

Rating: K+ for mild language

Genre: Romance

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Death Note, including characters, cities, towns, scenarios, titles, or anything else about it you can think of. I just want to express my creative intent with this fic.

Summary: Summer is here, accompanied by wonderful weather, so Roger decides to take all of Wammy's kids to go swimming. When Near is forced to go along as well, his dislike for the water sets off Mello's curiosity. One Shot MxN R&R Please

A/N: Just random fluff, mostly pointless and silly. What happens when you drink too much chlorine after going swimming I suppose :3. Yay, yaoi! My only concern is that I think Mello is a tad out of character, but I couldn't do a thing to help it; ;.

"I'm so glad it's summer!" The day was warm, not too hot and not too cold, and all of the children in Wammy's House were ecstatic for it. The freezing cold spring weather had almost completely dissipated by this point, making outside a more popular venue for studying and hanging out. One day however, the weather was so warm that Roger decided to give the kids a break and take them swimming at a local pool. At first this notion hadn't sunk in as the so-called genii watched him in surprise, but finally the mayhem started when everyone started to look for his or her own, little used, bathing suits.

Mello ransacked his entire room before finding his own black swim trunks under his bed, and Near watched in curiosity as he grabbed a duffle bag and shoved a change of clothes into it. The white haired boy mentioned, twirling a lock of hair in his fingers, "I don't see why everyone is this excited about going swimming." Mello rolled his eyes and chose not to respond as he raced for the door, looking for Matt so they could walk together to the swimming pool down the street together. Near stood up and prepared to close the door behind Mello, but after the blond flew down the hallway another person appeared in his doorway, making Near release the door immediately. "Hello L," he greeted, sitting back down on his bed and pulling one leg to his chest.

The black haired detective had appeared at Wammy's House with Watari a few weeks ago, his last case solved and put away. And as Near could see, it seemed he would be going with the kids to swim; which struck Near as odd, because he really couldn't imagine L in a pair of trunks, much less actually swimming with a bunch of children. Then again, L never ceased to surprise him. "Are you coming along Near?" the gray eyed man questioned, a thumb pressed to his lips and a curious glint in his large, panda bear irises. The white clad boy was silent for a moment, and then shook his head no, reaching for a puzzle box and preparing to dump it out. L mentioned thoughtfully, "Now that won't do." The genius boy glanced up as he took a bag from Near's closet and put an extra set of white clothes in, and pulled a pair of untouched white swimming trunks from the dresser, stuffing them in the bag too. He smiled at him and ordered, "Let's go Near!"

In shock for a moment, he shuffled after L in his socked feet, wondering what he got himself into now.

…:oOo:…

"Matt!" Mello called in annoyance to the redhead as he sat about ten feet away, flirting with some of the older orphan girls in their bikinis, all of them sitting in the bleachers as they waited for Roger to give the okay to get in. Mello and Matt were planning on getting a couple of the girls to play chicken with them, but knowing Matt's self-styled charm he probably got about half of the female population to play with them. Mello sighed and tapped his foot on the tile, glancing around at all of the people there. Byzantine, Aero, and Linda were all giggling in the corner, looking around at some of the more fit shirtless boys; Mello and Matt both fitting into that description. However, after a few glances around the population of orphans that had filed through the gate into the outdoor pool, he noticed something was missing, and couldn't quite put his finger on it for a minute as he thought about it. Then it struck him, and he felt slightly alarmed. "Near's not here?"

"That's weird." The blond glanced over as Matt threw himself into the seat next to him, leaning backwards onto the aluminum bench behind him. He squinted slightly through his red bangs, a pair of orange tinted swimming goggles on his face. Then he pondered on that statement for a moment before amending, "Actually it's not. Near's not really the sporty type." The blond nodded and grinned, standing up when Roger said they could jump into the pool. His friend cannonballed in, however the gate opening to his right caught his attention, and he glanced to it automatically.

"Near?!" The white haired boy traipsed in, twirling the locks in his fingers and holding his companion's hand as they headed for the pool. He wore a white pair of trunks and L wore a pair of blue ones, both of them looking rather strange in comparison to their normal attire. Only seconds passed after they walked in before L was dragged away by some of the younger children, leaving Near alone. He set his things on the bleachers and clutched a medium-sized rubber ducky, placing himself at the pool's edge and letting one leg dangle in the water while holding the other against his chest. Mello watched him for a moment, wondering why he wasn't getting in. "Hey," he asserted, stopping behind him and putting his fists on his hips. There was a moment of silence as one of the children dived in, getting Near a little damp and making him flinch ever so slightly. "Why aren't you getting in? And why'd you come with L?"

"L made me come," he responded quietly, squeaking the rubber toy in the blond's direction. Mello watched in confusion and cocked an eyebrow, waiting for the answer to his initial question. The genius just kicked at the water with his left foot, waving the toy in the resulting waves, acting just like a tiny child. For some reason, it seemed to annoy Mello to no end. This adolescent, this child two years his junior managed to beat him in just about everything, and the blond just couldn't understand it. The humiliation, the pain, the anger just seemed to hit him all at once, and though he worked to control his temper he just couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the white haired boy, imagining all the cruel things he could do to him right now. "Can I help you Mello?" He turned around to look at him, curiosity set deep in his dark gray eyes.

"Hey Near, why don't you go for a swim?" he growled, lifting up his foot and kicking the boy in the chest as hard as he could. It took Near less than a second to register that he was about to fall into the deeper end of the pool and reacted accordingly, but it took Mello about a second to realize that Near had a look of the utmost terror on his face, the first expression he's seen on the genius and probably the most disconcerting expression he had ever seen on anyone. The resulting splash wasn't large because of Near's very slight frame, in fact the pale boy didn't even put up much of a fight as he began to sink like a weight, one hand extended above is head as the other tried to cover his mouth. All of this happened in a relatively minute period of time, but it seemed to flow through Mello's mind rather slowly. As time returned to normal however, everyone by the pool was shocked when they heard a voice tear and scream through the serene, playful atmosphere, "Near!"

They glanced over to see Mello diving from the edge deep into the water, and Roger ran over in concern, the only attendee that was fully dressed. L watched the spot where Mello disappeared with a solemn expression, his finger pressed against his lips. The blond saw Near almost touching the bottom, his pale body and white hair looking almost surreal in the cold water. He pushed as hard as he could to get to the gray eyed boy, whether out of guilt or worry or something else, he thought he had to save him no matter what. He reached his hand out, struggling to grab the whitish one inches from his grip. He saw with pain to his conscience that Near… he looked so helpless, so unlike his normal self; strong, proud, intelligent, lucky. Damn it, he cursed to himself, his fingertips barely brushing those of his rival.

"Mello?" Matt called, watching the blond's effort from above the water, trying to decided if the boy needed his help or not. After a long thirty seconds, a splash of golden hair broke above the liquid, clutching the white haired boy to himself as if his life depended on it, as Matt and a few others helped him and the unconscious genius back onto the tile around the pool. His long hair was stuck, soaking, to his head, face and neck and he pushed it away in annoyance, trying to get a good look at Near, removing the white strands out of his face a bit more delicately than he had treated his own hair. The rest of the orphans gathered around, gravely watching the pale boy as Mello did. The blond's face scrunched up into a contorted mask of anger and frustration, mostly with himself and a little with Near, too. Why didn't he tell anyone he didn't know how to swim? He should've just stayed away from the water so this wouldn't have happened! He can't be dead, he can't be dead, he can't…!

A soft hand touching his face caused his eyes to fly open, his blue irises meeting the partially open gray ones of the boy in his arms, a pale hand barely brushing his cheek. "Mello," he whispered and the blond breathed an internal sigh of relief. "Don't cry, I'm quite all right."

He glared at Near and retorted, "I'm not, stupid. It's just the water from the swimming pool." There was absolute silence around them as the rivals just watched each other, not a hint of animosity in their gazes that usually sparked between them. Matt adjusted his goggles as he tried to make sense of the circumstances, however found himself quite unable to do so. What a weird situation, he thought with a scratch to the side of his head.

…:oOo:…

Everyone had gone to bed that night discussing the details of what happened earlier that day. Mello and Near, however, refused to take part in any gossip and interrogation that the residents of Wammy's decided to throw their way. In fact, the blond wouldn't even tell Matt what happened, much to his chagrin. But the redhead chose astutely not to press the matter, deciding that if he really wanted someone to know about it, Matt would be the first person, and probably the only person, to hear about it.

For the next week or so things were quiet, however after that Matt found himself disturbed almost every night as people walked by his room, once around midnight and again around five, though the second time around the steps were slow and lethargic, almost tired. After two weeks of this annoying, nighttime strolling, Matt decided he was going to discern who it was and ask what the hell they were doing. The steps passed and Matt opened his door quietly, seeing… seeing Mello and Near of all people down by the end of the hall! Curious now, he decided to follow them to their destination rather than bother them. The boys were walking fast, Near having a difficult time keeping up, and soon left the compound, though because of the darkness he found it difficult to follow them. Ten minutes of silent walking ensued as the top two genii made their way to the swimming pool they had been at three weeks ago, climbing the gate as they trespassed on the ground. Matt hid behind the bleachers as the two stripped down to their swimming trunks and got in, shivering for the first few minutes before Near turned to Mello as the blond began to demonstrate something. "He's teaching him… how to swim," Matt deduced softly, sitting on the ground watching in awe for about an hour or so before heading back, confused as to why Mello was helping Near.

At four forty-five a.m., Near and Mello started their trip back to Wammy's, and the former glanced to the latter, his wide eyes watching as his "teacher" gnawed distractedly on his chocolate bar. This was the last day of Near's lessons because the younger boy had easily gotten the hang of it, though for Mello it seemed like it wouldn't really be the same without doing something like this every night anymore. It almost became habit for them now. "Mello." The blond turned to look at the genius as he stopped walking, twirling a piece of hair in his fingers. The young orphan stood on his toes and pressed a kiss to Mello's lips, telling him as he pulled away, "Thank you." Night after night, the same routine with Near. The blond never asked for it, yet he seemed to feel it was his duty to thank him somehow, and that's the way he chose.

The older orphan nodded and grabbed Near's hand, the two of them heading back to their room. As they entered, Mello returned the favor a bit more aggressively then Near had, warning him violently, "You're welcome, but if you tell anyone I helped you, you'll eat that rubber duck for dinner." The boy smiled and nodded, crawling unto bed and curling into a ball under the covers as Mello followed suit, falling asleep comfortably knowing that today was the last day he'd have to get up early for Near's sake. Though, Mello recalled with a smirk, a thank you kiss after every session wasn't exactly a bad thing either.