A/N: Credit for the story idea goes to fouloldron, who kindly passed it on to me. I now nom all over it like the incredible idea it is. xDD

Summary: Good Idea: Teaching Mello to control his temper. Bad Idea: Sending him away from Near to do it. MelloxNear!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: Oh Snap!

There had been a lot of 'last straws' when it came to Mello.

There had been the 'last straw' of the laxatives in the punch bowl at the halloween party. There had been the 'last straw' of cutting Linda's hair while she was sleeping because she'd referred to Mello as not having nice enough hair (The impudence! His hair was much better than hers!) to maintain that style. There had been the 'last straw' of locking Near in his bedroom from the outside by switching the doorknobs (it had been an alarming amount of time before anyone noticed). And of course, the infamous 'last straw' of being caught drawing mustaches on the portraits the art student children had drawn of themselves.

However, this time when Roger found Mello attempting to set fire to the gardens some of the children were allowed to grow in the backyard, there was an all new level of anger. And when Roger, for what was either the twentieth or the thirtieth time said: "Mello! This is the absolute Last Straw!" Somehow Mello knew that this time, it was.

He was right.

"Brat Camp?" Matt asked incredulously. "They actually have something like that?" Half an hour later, up in the room he shared with Matt, Mello was furiously hurling clothes into a suitcase as his method of 'packing neatly and anyone who disagrees with this term can go fuck themselves.'

"Apparently so." Mello grumped, taking a large and vicious chunk out of his chocolate bar.

"Well, knowing you I'd say that they have another thing coming if they think they can actually make you go." Matt observed. Mello stared at him with eyes full of frustration.

"They said if I don't then I won't be allowed to compete to be L's successor anymore."

"Oh... Well..." Matt paused his game in order to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess you're pretty screwed then."

"It's not like I was even using an accelerant!" Mello exploded.

"Dude, I doubt that's the point." Matt shrugged. Mello turned to his friend, his temper rising at Matt's maintaining such a cool head.

"Don't you get it? THEY ARE SENDING ME AWAY TO SOME STUPID CAMP FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG!" The blonde hollered. Matt almost dropped his game, but years of practice saved the device from slipping out of his grasp.

"Geeze Mel, I'm right here." The gamer rubbed his ears painfully. Mello just huffed and went back to packing. Or shoving clothes and other necessities haphazardly into the suitcase, either phrase works. It was at this point that a gentle knock sounded upon the door of the room. Mello whirled from his suitcase and stomped over to the door, yanking it open with all the finesse of an enraged rhinoceros.

"What the hell-...Oh... Near." Mello blinked down at the small pale boy. His anger levels fluctuated, torn between the usual jealous ferocity and a subconscious anxiety at the knowledge that in a very short time Near would no longer be two doors and a flight of stairs away. Or more accurately, Mello wouldn't be. Near stood there in the doorway, twisting a lock of hair around his right index finger and looking up at Mello blankly.

"I heard you were setting fire to the gardens." He said monotonously.

"So!?" Mello growled defensively. Near shrugged, then seemed to take in the background of the room.

"Why is your suitcase stuffed with your and Matt's clothes?" He asked. Matt glanced over at Mello's suitcase upon hearing this.

"Hey! Some of those are mine! Were you even paying attention to what you were pushing in there!?" Matt hastily began extricating his articles of clothing from the pile. Mello rolled his eyes.

"Not that it's any of your business, but apparently I have to go to some 'Behavioral Correction' Camp." Mello stated, preparing to slam the door on his rival, but then he saw the look on Near's face and he just couldn't.

"You're... leaving?" Near asked looking, for just a moment, utterly thrown.

"Er... yeah." Mello replied. "Just for a few months though."

"Months." Near echoed. Mello raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I just said." The blonde pointed out. Near's somewhat dreamy gaze suddenly refocused on Mello.

"I don't want you to go." He said firmly. Mello blanched.

"Say again?"

"I don't want you to go." Near repeated.

"Well it's not like I have a choice." Mello explained. "Besides, why should you care?"

"I... would miss you."

"You'd miss me?" Mello was shocked. "But you hate me! I break your toys all the time!"

"No, you hate me. I don't care about the toys, I can always get more. But there's only one Mello." Near answered. A long silence followed this statement, the only sound was Matt's occasional cursing as he continuously dug through Mello's suitcase for his own things in the background.

"You're crazy." Mello finally broke the silence, but he didn't shut the door yet.

"Why do you say that?" Near asked seriously.

"Because... because...! Why wouldn't you hate me!?" Mello snarled, he was getting confused, a great deal of mixed feelings were swirling around his chest and not all of them were familiar or welcome.

"You're interesting. You are special." Near shrugged, as though it were obvious. "I like you. Sometimes, I think I..."

"Shut up! You're crazy!" Mello cut him off, panicking a little. "Stop saying that stuff! It's weird!"

"I know. I still don't want you to go." Near suddenly locked eyes with Mello, emotions were revealed there that Mello had never seen before. The smaller boy's usually empty eyes were suddenly so full that Mello couldn't even try to look away. Something connected between the two, some part of Mello instinctively reacted to what was in Near's eyes. For a moment they were just there, just existing, together in a harmony neither had previously thought possible. Mello recognized what was going on, what his heart was telling him had been there all along.

Near gazed at him, trapped as much in Mello's eyes as the blonde was in his. He saw the response he wanted, hadn't dared to hope for. Near leaned up, stretching, saw Mello start to bend down...

Then Mello slammed the door shut so hard that a picture hung a ways down the hall suddenly jerked and fell, crashing to the floor with a shattering of glass. The spell was broken, and both boys were left staring at their respective sides of the door, wondering what would have happened if it hadn't closed.

"There, I found all my stuff, and I packed your stuff properly... uh... did I miss something?" Matt finally looked up from the suitcase. Mello just shook his head. "You slammed the door pretty hard there, what happened?"

"...Something didn't happen. And I'm not sure I should have stopped it." Mello said dazedly. "But shit, it was really freaking me out." Matt stared, uncomprehending.

"Ooookay... maybe you should cut down on the chocolate a little Mel." Matt suggested, recovering his gaming device and going back to zotting the bad guys. Mello didn't bother to set Matt straight. Some things couldn't be explained.

"I don't think you should send Mello away." Near said, walking into Roger's office unannounced for the first time in recorded history.

"...What?" Roger blinked up at the small boy standing in front of his desk, tugging at a white curl blandly. Near briefly wondered why no one could seem to grasp what he was saying the first time that day.

"I said, I don't think you should send Mello away." The pale boy replied.

"Frankly I think it should have been done years ago. Two or three months at a correctional camp will do that boy some good." Roger said sternly. "I don't know why you would be arguing his case, you have always been one of his main targets. However, regardless, I would not make a decision such as this lightly. Mello is going, and that's final." Roger watched Near with eyebrows raised, not sure what to expect. There appeared to be no reaction from the young genius. For several minutes, in fact, there was no movement at all.

"I see." Near responded finally. "I apologize for having bothered you." Without another word, Near turned and exited the room at a pace unusually fast for the boy. Roger went back to his paperwork, confident that the affair was settled and done with. Oh how very wrong he was. You see, Near does not give up. Ever. Despite his placid exterior, he is simply not the sort to concede defeat. Even at that very moment, a plot was developing in Near's analytical mind.

If it was not an option to prevent Mello from going... well, Near would just have to go too. And apparently Roger 'would not make such a decision lightly.'

Look out Whammy's, Near had several years of misbehavior to catch up on.

TBC...

A/N: First chapter of DOoooom! Review pleeeease! Please!?