Mello dropped a bag full of white clothes on the bed and placed his hands on his hips. His blue eyes scanned every tiny bit of tiredness evident on Near's face with satisfaction.

"What is Mello doing?" The white boy asked. He'd been quiet since the moment Mello oh so rudely entered his room, took a bag and shoved Near's clothes in it. Now the blonde was looking at him and he had to at least acknowledge Mello's presence in his room at… Near looked at the clock. Three o'clock in the morning.

"Taking you out of here." Mello said rolling his eye and making it seem like the answer was obvious and Near was the one too thick to notice. Prick.

"Why?"

"Because we got a case to solve." Mello snapped and stuffed another white shirt into the bag. Dark eyes squinted and he guessed Mello had fit about 7 changes of clothes for him in there. The albino shifted his way next to the bag and reached for his scarf, but Mello slapped his hand away. "Stay out of my way, yeah?" Near rubbed his eyes and stared out of the window. Something was truly off. Didn't Mello yell that he hated Near's guts every moment they were together? Why this now?

"Does Mello refer to the Kira case in which L is working on?" Near tried again. L had always issued him to try talking more, but he wasn't sure if Mello was a good test subject.

Mello rolled his eyes at the boy again and zipped up the bag. "Wow, Near, no wonder you're a genius." Near could hear all the irony on Mello's voice even if he didn't want to and he really wasn't up for Mello's shitty attitude at this time in the morning.

"Why would I go with Mello?" He tilted his head and examined the blonde carefully. He knew his eyes would't give away how curious he really was and how he was secretly hoping to get Mello to burst and tell everything already. Mello was intriguing to Near... that wasn't an important thought. Near shook it away.

That made Mello grin. Oh here it comes the thing that made Mello bother to bother Near. "I have you real name, Nate River and if you don't come with me I'll make sure Kira gets it." Near analysed Mello's face. In the inside Near was actually quite amused. He expected more from his one sided rival but decided to take the bait and figure the end of what Mello planned.

"I highly doubt Mello's capability of killing one of L's successors in such an ironic-"

"Shut up, Near!" Mello pulled Near off of the bed by the collar of his pyjamas and Near stared back blankly, his toes barely touching the ground. "You do not know anything about my capabilities!" With that Mello took the bag with Near's clothes in one hand while with the other he dragged Near through the corridors of Wammy's Orphanage for Gifted Children.

Mello only let go of Near when he had both bags (his included) carefully tied onto his motorcycle and Near hugging tightly onto his back. "If you do let go you'll die." Mello repeated and this time Near's grip tightened. He truly was scared. He had 18 year old Mello threatening him since he woke up and even if he didn't believe Mello would give his name to Kira, he didn't doubt Mello going fast enough to kill who fell off of his bike.

Near was right. Mello darted off and he was nearly certain he accentuated the curves he had to go through just to scare him. Now, Near had a quick reasoning process, but was scared shitless of too many movements so as the motorcycle sped it's way in between houses and whatever came it's way all he managed to do was hold tighter onto Mello and close his eyes. This didn't make any sense and he felt cold, tired and hated. Yes, he could feel Mello hating him. Mello's skin pratically bruning under the clothes where Near was holding on to not fall and die. Maybe Mello wanted him to fall off. Maybe he was kidnapping him to finally earn the first position at the orphanage- no that wasn't possible. Mello was 18. He had nothing to do with Wammy's again until L died. He entertained himself with thoughts of how Mello would shoot him when he felt the speed of the bike reduce.

Near's hold on Mello's waist only lightened when the blonde parked in front of an old house and grinned at him. "Don't tell me I you got scared."

"Don't speak nonsense, Mello's skill in driving is bad." Near muttered and shrugged at Mello's teasing.

"Hey! I'm still getting used to it!" Mello barked back and Near frowned. With Mello's bad temper he might as well get his brain blown off outside the abandond house. "Just let go of me, you creepy little shit." He gestured to Near's arms still around his torso.

Near did so and hugged himself while Mello got off the bike and helped him off afterwards. "Why did Mello ask me to come if he hates me?" Mello groaned and took both bags while pushing Near to the front steps of the house. "Mello?" Near repeated after the door was opened.

"Near, if this iss going to work, we got to make some basic rules." The blond boy shut the door and turned on the lights. "You don't refer to me in third person, you don't make me stupid questions, you do as I say and you take your damn things upstairs." Okay, so it meant he wasn't going to die at this moment. The bag Mello made for Near was thrown at the albino's feet and Near picked it up while Mello locked the door.

They stayed a few moments simply staring at each other before Near spoke again. "Where's my bedroom?"

Mello groaned, rubbed his face and pulled Near by the shirt up the stairs. "It's a small house. You're sleeping with me." When they reached the second floor Mello let go of him, opened the door and gestured for him to come closer. Near did as instructed and walked in. He wasn't that suprised at how empty the room was, even though it was tiny, but for a bed, a dresser and an old waredrobe. Near let go of his bag and looked unamused at the bed.

"Are we sleeping in the same bed?" Near asked quietly.

"Yeah, lucky you."

"How did Mel- you get this house?" Near spoke after a few mintues of awkward silence.

"My parents had this house when I was little- It's mine now that I'm 18." Mello's fingers drew circles on the wood of the door. So this was Mello's house before the big fire? He could make out where the craddle had been, next to the window- Near bit the inside of his cheek. Maybe Mello would answer other questions now.

"Why… Didn't you ask Matt for help?" He started. "Did L request your help? Will Mr. Wammy still consider you an option to take L's throne after kidnapping me?" Near felt anxious. All the questions he had been holding flew out of his mouth out of his control. He needed answers. Mello was too difficult to understand.

"I said No stupid questions, Near. Get your things organized and then get your ass down to the living room, we got to start doing… Something." He rolled his eyes and closed the door as he left little Near looking around the small bedroom. The boy glanced at the old wardrobe in the corner and sighed. Oh well.

/-/

"Mello took another bite of his chocolate and looked at the clock. How much time could Near take to get a few white pyjamas organized? He was about to go upstairs and bitch about it when Near came downstairs looking blankly past the blonde. Mello cringed. That was the thing he most hated about Near. Of all things. He threw his chocolate bar at the boy who barely dodged it, picked it up and handed it back to him.

"You dropped your chocolate, Mello."

Mello hated the brat's attitude too.

"Fuck you." Mello turned his face at the chocolate in a childish manner.

Near sighed and looked at the table full of reports and data. "You'll have to be nicer if you want help." Mello gasped and lifted his hand to Near's face before hesitantly bringing it down and crossing his arms. "Did Matt hack L's computer?"

"You don't get it? You're a hostage. You're only going back to Wammy's when this case is finished, I really don't need your help if you're just going to make questions. That means I have no problem in digging a bullet through your stupid big head. I'm setting the conditions."

Near sat next to Mello and picked up a file on one of the suspects. "I think that is barely the case, Mello, you don't really want to hurt me, do you?"Mello stayed quiet. Blue eyes prepared for anything the younger boy could pull up. Near turned to Mello and put the file down. "Do you?" He repeated- And then it happened, Mello's hand going straight across perfectly white skin. Near gasped and Mello stood up.

"Don't test me, Near, I will kill you if I have to, you're not as tough to break as you pretend to be."

Near felt the sting of Mello's hand on his cheek and stared. "I need my toys." He whispered.

"I left them at Wammy's." Mello grinned evilly and Near crossed his arms in a gesture of arrogance which only worsen the mood "You. Will. Fucking. Die. If you keep provoking me."

"I can't work like this." Near insisted and looked away.

"Stop being a wimp!" Mello hopped off the couch to look down at the smaller boy.

"I'm not the one who kidnapped someone with no plan whatsoever on what to do!" Near's voice echoed through the living room, they stared at each other for a few seconds before Mello showed him his middle finger and left the living room. The door making a huge "thud" when Mello walked past it. Near waited a few moments, making sure Mello wouldn't come back before lifting some of the stacks of paper into his lap and reading through them.

This was no use, was Mello even sure these were L's only suspects in the Kira case? Just reading files wouldn't get them anywhere, even if they were as good as people told them they were. They needed evidence too and that's not something you find in this sort of files. Near looked at the door once more and sighed twirling a lock of white hair on his finger. Think. What did Mello wish to achieve with these… Near took the pen Mello left on the coffee table and took all the notes he could possibly get out of the scarce information. When Mello got back Near was covered in the middle of perfectly round handwriting on notes, files and photos of people, rereading his notes and drawing spirals on a blank piece of paper.

"What is this?" The blonde asked and Near looked up at him. Boy he looked like the younger version of L. Soon he'd be seventeen and he still looked like his baby self- except for the bags he was developing under his eyes, because like L, Near didn't sleep well. The kid didn't even eat right! He was getting thiner and even though his pyjamas were big and made him seem chubby and in his dad's clothes it was apparent he wasn't healthy like the boys his age. Wammy' was a hell on Earth.

"All the information you can get out of these files. I want to go home now." Near interrupted Mello's thinking and stood without looking at the blonde. His face was trying to give away some emotion, but Near's face was weird, he was only ever slight something... slightly angry... slightly unhappy- Why did he "agree" to go with Mello anyway? He knew it wasn't a good deal. Mello heard the albino curse to himself and that made him straighten his eyes at the paper on the ground. Did he really want to leave? Bugger.

"This isn't your choice. You do know what a hostage means, Near?"

"...It means-" Near started, but gave up. It really was his choice and Mello wouldn't be able to keep Near there if Near didn't want to be there. Both knew that. He'd need to convince the albino and the curiosity of how he'd do that had kept Near woking for the whole morning. "I'm not workimg for you like a dog, Mello, I'm not Matt. I'm working for you as a..." Friend? He couldn't bring himself to say it. Let Mello figure it by himself.

Mello frowned at him and the way he talked about Matt but took two deep breaths instead of exploding and creating that whole scene again. "Fine. Put the title you want." He sighed before throwing a package next to Near's feet. "Lunch'll be ready soon, get the things cleaned up."

"What's this?" Near glanced at the package and Mello turned to look at him over his shoulders.

"Lunch'll be ready in ten minutes." He repeated and left the living room. Near looked the large package and grinned to himself. Could it be? Mello was sorry? He opened the package and found another box inside. He opened two other boxes before finding a key chain with a small magic cube. He glared at it. Mello wasn't even trying to make him stay. Prick.