Near was doing what he usually did on weekdays, staying in the little playroom next to the main entrance and planning. Some would call it plotting, but Near thought that sounded too "evil", so he planned. Usually he could just think in peace because no one would even think of messing with Mr. L's–Number–One–Successor. But today was different apparently. Near didn't know why, he hadn't gotten a memo or anything.

A girl stormed into his playroom, the gust from the door knocking over his card house, which he had worked on for two hours, thank you very much. She reminded him a bit of Mello, and not just because she was a dirty blonde. No, she stormed into the room, very flustered and angry, with a bruised jaw and scraped knees. She had obviously come from a fight, and was very mad. She looked around Near's age, 10 or 11.

Near looked at her as she mumbled to herself and kicked the walls with her muddy Converse. He deduced that this was probably the work of Mello, and that she had come here to ask him to solve her problems or something. Or, if she was as like Mello as she seemed, beat him up.

"Damn him! He has no right!" she yelled, clenching her fists and turning to Near. He looked at her, twirling his hair. If she was going to put up a fight he wasn't going to just sit there.

"Do you know who did this to me! Mello!"

Near twirled his hair. An obvious fact.

"And do you know why? Because of you!" She stepped closer to him, the scowl on her face prominent.

"The idiot thinks that just because you beat him at everything that gives him the right to hurt us normal people! And if you try to stop him, this happens!" she gestured to herself. "You started this, so I am going to make you finish it!"

"What do you suggest I do?" Near asked. This girl was very much like Mello, she obviously hadn't thought her plan through.

"We're going to walk up to that . . . that man-bitch, and tell him to his face that what he's doing is wrong! You may be his competitor, but you're the only real person he respects, Near."

Near looked at the floor processing the information. He had no clue that Mello respected him. To tell the truth, people like Mello were a mystery to him, unpredictable and frankly a bit scary.

"Fine," Near agreed. If this girl was as much like Mello as she seemed, she wouldn't leave him alone until he complied. Besides, she didn't say he had to succeed . . .

The girl grabbed his hand and pulled Near to his feet. Near, a bit dizzy from getting up too quickly, wobbled and almost fell down. He felt a bit embarrassed for acting weak, but he wouldn't show that emotion.

The girl caught him before he fell.

"Wow . . . I'm screwed," she mumbled, obviously talking about the fact that if Near couldn't stand, he must be incapable of doing anything of importance.

She dragged the white haired boy outside. Near, who never went outside unless forced, squinted at the light and looked at the grass under his socked feet. He let the girl drag him to the basketball courts, where he could hear Mello yelling at another kid. Near noticed he did not know this girl's alias. That was strange, he could usually remember every child at Wammy's fairly easily.

"What is your alias?" Near asked the girl. She stopped and looked at him. Near didn't glace up from the grass.

"Zero. Or Z. Because I get the lowest grades here," she stated, then continued to drag Near along. Now Near knew why he hadn't known her – the elite students had a different dorm section than the others. Most homes would separate by gender, but Wammy's was . . . well, Wammy's.

Zero led him through the door of the courts and onto the pavement, which was a tad damp from rain in the morning. Mello, Matt, and a few other cronies stared at the two extremes of Wammy's House. The two kids they had been maiming took this chance to get up and stare as well.

"What do you want, losers?" Mello asked, rolling his eyes. Near finally looked up, in order to defend himself more than anything else. Mello and his gang formed a half circle around the two. The other kids finally came to their senses and ran off.

"To teach you a lesson, queer! We ain't dealing with your abuse anymore!" Zero yelled, her hands balling into fists. Near knew he should begin to speak before Mello and Zero started to fight. Similar personalities tend to conflict in relationships, Near had learned, as well as opposites. A good medium must be found in order to work together well.

"Mello, treating children of a lesser intelligence level like his is unacceptable," Near started, looking at Mello's chest. He had a fear of looking others in the eyes. When he did, it felt as if they could look into his soul, and Near hated the feeling that others could know his emotions.

Mello stepped closer to the boy.

"Is that a threat, you little albino freak? I can treat these idiots however I want to!" Mello raged, a vein in his temple throbbing.

Near was on the verge of backing down. He had seen kids try to stand up to Mello before, and it had not ended well. Near was just being realistic and concerned for his health. He took a step back, but felt a hand on his shoulder.

Near looked up to see Zero glaring at Mello with a vengeance. Even though she had been beaten up earlier today, Z looked like she was pissed off and ready for round two. She glanced down at Near, and gave him a small smile. One that said "hey, I know this is new to you, but kick this jerk's ass".

More important than the look was the fact that they made eye contact. Now, making eye contact, Near knew, actually increased the amount of testosterone in your body, especially if you have an attachment to the person you make contact with. Near used this to explain why he suddenly felt energized and brave. He would deal with the fact that he had no attraction to Zero later.

"Mello, we all know you just bully these children in order to deal with your own insecurities, caused by the fact that I always come in first in Wammy's rankings, which leads to your obvious inferiority complex. We all know that you only do things like this because you are weak mentally so you try to ignore this by imposing your physical strength on the weak. The fact that these thugs assist you in your practices is not because they believe you are 'cool' or because they respect you, it is because they are afraid that if they do not do as you say, they will also be beaten up, which is extremely stupid because without numbers, even your strength won't be of any help when you go up against children like Zero.

"You act more immature than the smallest child here. You are making yourself weaker than the frailest. And you are dumber than the least intelligent here. So save yourself some dignity and stop hurting kids. Go to a shooting range or something, take a self-defense class. Find something you can beat me at. Just don't hurt another child," Near looked at Mello's left ear, waiting for something. An outburst, a punch to the face, a tantrum.

But it never came.

Near waited for forty seconds. Mello didn't move a muscle. Zero's hand tightened on his shoulder, and Near remembered that she was there. He had been so focused on Mello he had forgotten about her.

Finally, Mello looked up.

"Look at me, Near." He said. Near continued to stare at his left ear. Mello took Near's face and turned it so that his clear blue eyes met Near's lifeless ones. Zero's hand left his shoulder.

"You're right. You're always right. And you always make me feel like a fool. I hate it. I detest the feeling of being inferior. Even though I hate having to say it, admitting I'm wrong . . .

"I'm sorry for hurting those kids. I was stupid. You happy? I won't do it again," Mello whispered so only Near could hear. Mello's eyes held more fluid than usual. Near didn't know what he would do if Mello started crying. He had enough weird things to deal with today, he was outside, he hadn't been outside in months.

"So you and your idiot girlfriend better get off my court or I'll smash your faces," Mello growled, pushing Near back into Zero. Near stumbled into the girl, who righted him and then stepped towards Mello, but Near caught her arm.

"Don't," Near said, then pulled Zero towards the door of the basketball court. She gave Mello one last glare, then followed Near into the building. She tried to ask Near questions about what Mello had whispered to him, but Near ignored her. Not intentionally, he just wasn't paying attention. After a few moments of glaring at Near, Zero stalked off. Near didn't even notice.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was about a week after Near had confronted Mello. He was in his playroom, piecing together a lego castle when Near heard the door open. He turned to see Zero leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed. He noticed she wasn't wearing shoes. Had she been wearing shoes the day they confronted Mello? He couldn't remember.

She kicked a white binder to him. He picked it up and opened it to the first page. The pages were covered in plastic, and had obviously been taped together after having been ripped to shreds.

"Dear Near,

Thanks for bringing me to my senses, I acted like an asshole. Well, you can be an asshole too, but that's probably just cause I hate your guts and will probably mur-"

"Dear Near,

I'm sorry about hurting all those kids, I needed to be stopped. I'm glad you finally told me off, cause I wouldn't have listened to that bitch Zero. What'd you make her do so you'd confront me? C'mon, there had to be some form of payment, I bet –"

"Dear Near,

God writing is hard . . . screw you, you helped me but God I wish you weren't so hard to talk to, oh screw this, this letter isn't coming out any better –"

"Dear Near,

Thanks for bringing me to my senses. I deserved to be told off. I hope you and Zero are happy together. I hope that distracts you so I rise to the top of the rankings. I hope that last sentence didn't make you realize your mistake. Fuck . . .

(the rest of this letter was unintelligible scribbles of fury)"

Near looked up at Zero, who was smiling at him n a crooked, teasing sort of way.

"You really changed Mello, ya know? He hasn't even attempted to hurt a kid since you talked to him. Well, hurt them unless provoked. He won't touch anyone unless they fuck with him," Zero said. She was looking at the wall now.

"There's pictures behind the letters. Of Mello. He bought a gun, you know. Because of you."

Near flipped the pages to pictures of Mello at a shooting range with Matt, Mello shooting and Matt laughing. Another picture showed Mello and Matt just laughing together. Apparently Matt didn't just follow Mello around because he didn't want to get hurt.

"Matt's his best friend. They hang out a lot now. Good job, Near," Zero smiled at him one last time, then walked away. Near wanted to call out to her, to say something, because he knew he wouldn't see her again. But he didn't know what to say. So he let her go.

Near turned the page in the binder, and found another letter. But this one was different than the others.

"Dear Near,

Thank you. You didn't know me, but you helped me anyway. I'm glad you cared, and decided to make a difference. We all have flaws, but doing good is not yours. You avoid people, but you really don't need to. Did you know that by not looking people in the eye, you are actually shortening your lifespan? Did you know that without being held, a baby can actually die, just because of that reason? We all need compassion, Near. You won't find it in me (Mello's an idiot), but you need to find it somewhere. And when you do, you'll truly be happy, and your life will be complete.

Near, this is my last day at Wammy's. I wasn't smart enough, so I was adopted. I won't forget this place, and I won't forget you. If you need me, you know how to find me. I know you won't try to find me, but I just wanted to let you know I'll help you if you need it. I hope you find happiness, Near, and not just by succeeding L. True happiness. I wish you luck.

Zarra Beccard

(Burn after reading)"

(A/N – OK, first I would like to say, WTF with all these Near stories? If I don't like him, why do I keep writing for him. Ugh, I don't know . . .

This is a present for Near0218, who just joined fanfiction, and is my awesome real life friend (who does act a helluva lot like Near). So . . . merry Christmas? Happy fanfiction-warming? I dunno . . .

If you guys really like this and have ideas for a follow-up or a mini-series, review for it! Actually, this can be viewed in many different ways, at least pairing-wise. I mean you have ZxNear, Z and Near friends, MelloxNear, Mello and Near friends, god I don't even know which one to chose! So, merry Kiramas, guys! And a very L new year!)