Alright, so... this is the long one that I've been working on. I hope you enjoy it! Please comment! I don't know what to fix if no one give me feedback!

--

Near sat precariously perched on the handrail of the stairs, making his toy airplane fly never endingly through the open air above the first floor. Below him children were running around the foyer and he took in their existence mentally, but not emotionally. Their little world had always carried on without him so why should he intrude now?

No one is this place seemed to mind him. In fact it seemed to most that he was merely decoration. His existence known only as a smear of white on the playroom floor and a name that appeared at the top of every list. Beyond that…

There was a noise from behind him and he took note that someone had just entered the hall. He listened carefully, but after a moment where he heard no crunch from a hard bar of chocolate he let himself relax.

"Ah! There you are, Near. I've been looking for you."

"Hello Roger," the boy said as the plane did another dip through imaginary clouds.

"Hello. Listen, can we talk?"

Near propped the toy up on the end of the banister and turned toward the man, "I'm listening."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Ah, Mello! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

The boy, whose back had been turned, instantly slammed his book shut and dropped it to his side. He hid the cover with his hand, trying to make it as smooth and relaxed as possible.

"Hey Roger."

"Well, what are we reading today?"

Mello was sure that the man was just making conversation, but he still turned toward the voice in such a way that he was almost sitting on the book, "Oh nothing. What did you need?"

The obvious cover up and conversation deflection went right over Roger's head and he continued on, "Well then, I'd like a word with you, if you don't mind…"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"He what!?" Matt shouted. The shock must have been too much for him because the game in his hands had just made a sound obviously related to utter failure and death, but it went unnoticed. "You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm frikin' kidding?!"

Matt knew better than to even begin to try and answer that. He took this pause in conversation to save and shut down his game. He grumbled inaudibly about his character's unfortunate end, but only for a moment. There were more important things to be dealt with right now. Like subduing Mello's urge to kill.

"Alright, so let me get this straight. Roger's sending you…"

"To some stupid isolation camp," Mello said forcing clothes into a suitcase that needed more than a little convincing to get closed.

"Right… What?"

The blonde scowled, "I'm supposed to be alone in a cabin in the woods for an 'undetermined'amount of weeks. Sounds like fun, huh?"

"But why?"

"Roger says that it's some kind of lesson on patience and solitude."

"…Well maybe it won't be so bad. I mean, you get to go away from here. Be free, no school, no chores, or homework. You can't tell me that won't be awesome. When was the last time you left this place anyways…?"

Mello looked down as he picked up the last item to be packed. The tattered book felt cold in his hands. He shoved it into his bag. It had been a very long time since he'd left these walls. Wammy's was where he grew up, where he stayed. There was no where else in the world that seemed to welcome him. Why should he want to go anywhere else?

"Matt shut up."

His friend fell silent. Mello obviously wasn't going to agree with him. So, in a last effort to cheer him up, Matt opened the drawer on his bedside stand and pulled out a few bars of chocolate.

"Back up reserves. I'd been saving them in case you went into withdraws and started to go insane. I've learned that these are the number one sedatives for killing your anger… and I think you should take them with you."

"Thanks," Mello said, taking the candy, "I'm gonna need them."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Good morning, Mello."

"Don't talk to me," the boy grumbled. He was already in a bad mood and the last thing he needed was Near bugging him.

The younger boy walked further out onto the front steps of the orphanage and sat down, unfortunately, too close to Mello. Without looking up the blonde put one hand on the boys shoulder and pushed, causing Near to slide off the steps and down a few feet into the bushes.

"Ah!"

"Don't sit by me either."

There was a moment's pause in which Mello took a few more bites out of his chocolate bar and wondered vaguely if he would have enough for the whole trip. Matt often referred to him as a chocoholic. This was nothing new. His chocolate was like a drug. If he ran out… be somewhere else.

"What's this?" Said a voice and Mello turned to see Roger looming above him, but he wasn't looking in his direction. Actually he was looking off the side of the steps, "What happened here?"

Mello felt the corner of his lip go down. Shit. He took a chance to look over.

Near was still laying sprawled out in a rather large bush; one leg up right, one sunk in, left arm out and right hand, as always, twirling a lock of stark white hair.

"I'm stuck."

Roger didn't bother looking at Mello. There was no need to fix the boy with a hard glare; he already knew what he'd done. Instead the man clambered down the stairs and took Near by the hand, pulling him roughly from his twiggy prison.

"Ow," Near said, pushing up the sleeve of a shirt that had been perfectly white a few moments ago, only to see that a few new scratches had formed on his arms. How a scratch can occur through the clothes was beyond his knowledge, but he would be sure to fill in that gap later. "That was an experience that I'll have to be sure not to repeat."

Mello muttered curses under his breath.

"Alright then, you boys ready?" Roger asked calmly.

"Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean 'you boys'? He's not…" Mello pointed harshly at the boy to his left.

"I'm ready," Near said robotically.

Mello began to grind his teeth, "No, Roger! No. I'm not going anywhere with him. No! Out of the question!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\