Innocence (MelloxNear) (Death Note)

Chapter 3 | An Unfinished Past

I've been here too
Many times before! 

-

It wasn't Mello's intention to have sex with his best friend. In fact, it was far from it. Then again, looking back on it, the blonde didn't exactly know what he expected when he ran to Matt shouting for help. For the second time, the only thing to blame was hormones. It wasn't Mello's fault that he pinned his enemy against the wall, nor that he got his brains fucked out by a goggle wearing redhead. But somehow Mello found himself the cause of the recent events. It was his own subconscious act of wandering to Near's room that sparked this entire catastrophe. That set off another question in Mello's mind; Why had he really gone to the small albino's room?

Pacing the hallways angrily, no one daring to cross paths with him, knowing that contact would surely equal certain death; Mello tried to clear his thoughts. Why? Why had he not hurt Near when he had the chance!? The brat was basically asking for his own demise, so what had stopped him? But a stinging memory caused Mello to freeze immediately. He remembered the tinge of fear that had shown in the boy's eyes, the tiniest and most unnoticeable flinch when he had raised his fist. Near... Near showed fear. Even if it barely happened, it was still there!

"Near was afraid... He was afraid of me..." Mello wasn't sure whether this was a good or bad thing. Sure, Near was his enemy, who over the years gone by had thoroughly enjoyed causing him suffering and non stop bullying, but the chocoholic couldn't help but feel some kind of twang in his gut. Fear of having his chocolate removed by Watari? No, he could always sneak and steal some from the kitchen easier than 1, 2, 3. Bored of the same old reactions? Nope, not that. Sure, Near never bothered to show any signs of discomfort or hatred, but it was the rush of seeing his rival in pain that Mello got high off. So that left only one other option. Did Mello just not want to hurt the whitette?

Slapping his forehead roughly, Mello muttered a "stupid" before continuing to walk to some place he didn't know very well; the library. It wasn't possible, it wasn't practical. It wasn't... Mello. It was against his entire output. He and Near were rivals, through and through. His entire existence was revolving around a certain albino and nothing he could do would change that.

If Near got better marks on a test than him (which he always did) then Mello would study for days on end. If Near skipped a meal (which he always did), then Mello would take that as a sign that not eating increased brain power, and missed the meal too. If Near twirled his hair around his finger (which he always did), then Mello would eat some chocolate, because people already thought he was a girl, he was not about to fuel that factor.

On the whole, it appeared that every tiny move Near made was closely replicated by Mello, with a fair few exceptions. And it drove Mello to hell. That stupid kid was infecting his life with that lifeless dull look and distant approach to everything. That delicate touch he gave to anything he picked up, the feather lightness of his fingers not even smudging whatever he grabbed. His movements were never rough, they flowed gracefully, like a river. His childish attitude to everything, like his toys, his dice, his cards... Yet another object came in Mello's path. He had taken such an interest in Near that he had started monitoring his each and every movements... And it scared the shit out of the blonde.

Running his pale slender finger along the spines of many ripped, torn, ancient books with writings from hundreds of years in the past, each cover hiding an entire world. But Mello was never one for reading. A brisk wind swept in from an open window, making the blonde hair upon Mello's head flutter, the cold air sending shivers down Mello's body. But there was a reason Mello was in this specific place, and it wasn't for the quiet, the books or the atmosphere...

A scattering sound filled Mello's ears, and he smiled lightly. It was at this time in the day when Near was in the library, silently building models that just wouldn't fit into the small space of his bedroom. Not wanting to be caught watching the white haired boy, Mello made his attempt at a stealth mission, as he had witnessed several times whilst he had been as bored as to watch Matt play video games. Main objective; Don't get caught.