AN: This one's more focussed on Matt and Near, and their views on what's happening. The story definitely flicks back and forth between narrators, but if there's one thing I've learned in English class it's that when you use third person for a story, you can do whatever you want. :)

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Near answered the kiss with a painful feeling building up inside of him. Mello's lips separated from his gently, and he opened his eyes slowly to see his lover's scowling face close to his own. "Fascinating…" he muttered again, and his scowl deepened.

But there was something…intriguing about Raito, and Near knew all too well that Mello felt it too, the strange appeal of him. He did not bother pointing this out to the blonde, who would not accept anything unless it was under his own terms.

And if it meant that he would kiss him again, how could he resist?

Mello stared at him for a few moments before pushing him away roughly. The silver-haired boy felt a rush of disappointment but his face remained composed. Looking over his lover's shoulders, he acknowledged the youth watching them at the window with a deep nod.

"What are you…?" Mello spun around quickly, his stance aggressive, but when he recognized his friend he faltered. "R-Raito?" he said weakly.

The other boy's face, barely visible through the dirtied glass, was shocked. It disappeared and the loud noise of footsteps hurrying down the stairs replaced it. "Raito!" Mello called desperately, and he ran after him.

Left alone on the roof, Near crouched silently, with his arms hugging his knees tightly and his face buried in his shirt.

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"Turn it off."

The redhead ignored him, concentrating intently on the small screen of the Gameboy in his hands. It beeped loudly as his fingers moved over the buttons furiously.

"I said, turn it off!" the voice became more commanding, but he still ignored it.

He didn't flinch when the console was pulled from his hands forcible and thrown against the wall. The man watched without expression as it shattered, the pieces cutting through the air in all directions. "I warned you to turn the damn thing off," his companion said, clearly annoyed.

"Jackass," he muttered and was promptly hit over the head roughly.

His companion and the owner of the voice, a slender blonde man, scowled at him where he sat. "Just shut the hell up and do your job," he hissed.

Without rising from his seat the redhead grabbed his friend's arm easily and pulled him close when he was momentarily caught off-guard. "My Gameboy's broken. Give me something else to play with," he told him, his words suggestive.

Lightly he pulled him closer, loosening his grip so that the blonde knew that he could pull away if he so chose. When their lips were almost touching, he let go altogether. He smirked at his companion, who blushed slightly and straightened.

"Don't screw around," he told him, his voice softer, accepting that he had lost.

Then he left the room without another word to, his friend knew, go buy him another Gameboy.

"Matt!"

The voice was insistent, and damned annoying. Matt opened his eyes reluctantly and was not surprised to see the menacing figure of his uptight teacher, Yagami-sensei, towering over him. "Oh," he said tiredly and leaned his head on his desk again, intent on returning to his dreams.

In one swift movement the desk was moved out from under him, and Matt lifted his head to see that his teacher had pulled it away and was now looking at him with a disapproving frown. "I need your concentration in my classes, Matt," he lectured.

Not paying attention was better than not turning up at all the boy thought, but he kept his opinion to himself. That guy Raito was quickly becoming famous for his disappearing act, but Yagami-sensei never seemed willing to call him out on it. Matt wasn't the only one who thought he might be acting differently if Raito wasn't his son.

Yagami-sensei noticed his pupil's quick glance at the empty desk on the other side of the classroom. He sighed, and gently slid the desk back to its original spot. "Please try harder in future, Matt," he told him seriously and walked back to the front of the room to continue with his lesson.

Really, the man wasn't all that uptight. Not exactly irritating either, despite the fact that he had opted for a job which involved trying to get Matt interested in trigonometry. His problem was that he was too traditional, expecting his students to hang on his every word and follow his orders without question. The man seemed more suited for…well, something else.

Matt yawned loudly and rested his head on the desk, falling asleep in moments. From his position in front of the blackboard Yagami-sensei noticed this but did not stop him.

Finally the bell rang for the end of class and the redhead stirred as the people around him began talking amongst themselves and collecting their things. He stood up languidly and rubbed his eyes with one hand, picking up his books with the other.

"Matt," the teacher called from the front of the room when the other students had left. "I'll need you to come with me to my office now. We need to discuss your lack of effort in class." The boy blinked at him as his words took their time to register in his not-yet-fully-awake mind. At last he nodded and shifted his books so they rested in the crook of his arm comfortably.

Yagami-sensei collected his own belongings and then indicated for him to follow. More awake now, Matt stepped obediently after him. Noticing that the older man was struggling to balance his books, he offered to carry them for him, less an act of kindness than him wanting to get their 'discussion' over and done with so he could go home.

They neared his office in silence, both feeling that they were only present out of obligation. Suddenly loud crashing noises and the sound of hurried footsteps reached their ears. "Huh?" Yagami-sensei stepped forward to look down one of the attached corridors, and was nearly bowled over by his son.

Raito looked surprised and red-faced, and he narrowly dodged Matt, who had stopped at the sounds. "Just stop so I can explain, you idiot!" Mello shouted after him loudly, hot in pursuit of his friend. As the two raced down the corridor from which he had came, the redhead looked after them with an amused smile.

"What was that?!" Yagami-sensei appeared flustered by the sudden appearance. Understandable, really. Apparently the man thought his son was all but perfect.

Matt eyed the pages of the book that had flown open with curiosity, coming to the realization that he might be holding in his arms some important documents, maybe even some test results he could forge. "Lover's tiff," he said offhandedly.

"What?!" his teacher looked at him, surprised. When he did not reply, Yagami-sensei put the comment down to a joke and composed himself. "Well, alright then. Come into my office, please." The older man spoke, carefully adjusting his tie to teacherly perfection.

After placing his armload carefully on Yagami-sensei's desk, Matt was directed to sit in the seat across from him. "Now, do you have any personal issues with what we are covering in my class?" Yagami-sensei asked him, elbows propped casually on the desk's surface and chin resting on his interlocked fingers.

"No."

"Do you think you will be able to motivate yourself more in the future?"

"Yes."

"Okay, Matt. You can leave." They had repeated this cycle so many times without any change, that neither even really cared about the whole thing beyond what they did out of politeness.

Silently the boy rose from his seat and stepped towards the door, bowing to his teacher formally before leaving. He had taken no more than a few steps down the wide hallway before he heard the sounds of the two other boys becoming steadily louder again.

Matt turned and neatly avoided being tripped over by Raito, who paused for a moment to nod apologetically at him. These few seconds were enough for Mello to get close enough to grab the back of his shirt. "Stop!" he shouted and launched himself at him, pushing his friend to the ground heavily.

"Oof! Why should I!" Raito yelled back at him, his voice muffled as his face was pressed against the floor. He struggled but could not get himself free of Mello's weight. Matt watched on, enjoying the entertainment.

A door slid open with a faint clatter. "What an interesting welcome." All three froze at the familiar sounding voice, each struck by an odd feeling of recognition.

They looked up slowly, taking in the plain blue jeans and white shirt and finally the dark, intelligent eyes underneath wild black hair. A new student, Matt realized, seeing that a dark blue blazer similar to the one he wore himself had been thrown over his shirt loosely.

"Wha…? Raito?" Mello spoke worriedly and jumped off his friend, opting to crouch near him. The youth turned until he was lying on his back, undoubtedly appreciating the sudden freedom. His friend touched his head gently and pushed a few loose strands of hair out of his eyes. Matt got a glimpse of his face and was surprised by what he saw.

Raito's eyes stared endlessly up at those of the boy at the door, and a single tear fell down his cheek.

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AN: Yagami-san is a teacher!!! I think you'll find some other members of the faculty quite interesting too... Matt was introduced here and I'm very happy that that was able to happen. Near and Mello have a questionable relationship, Matt is either bored or sadistic or both - I'll say detached - and everybody seems to know more than they're letting on. Or at least Near and Mello do, at this point in the story.

To keep up the information, Yagami-san is the same age as in the official Death Note, so around forty-something. Matt is in the same year as Raito and he is seventeen. I'm hoping you'll be able to pick up these little things as the story goes on.