Bear with me. This is a combined work (Though I had these guys on a short leash. -smug-). My friends Skelly (Mello) and Matt helped by being their respective characters in the role-play. I made slight variations to it so it would work as a story.

Couple warnings:

1: The plot is slightly cliché at first, but overall very tremultuous and twisted. This could easily have been labeled as Romance/Angst/Drama/Hurt/Comfort/Friendship/Suspense/Horror, but I thought I'd make it easier.

2: It takes place at Wammy's House in October. It's hot, but winter is approaching. Near is 13. Matt and Mello are 14. Lawliet is still alive.

3: It is YAOI. Pairings are MelloxNear and VERY slight MattxMello (one-sided).

4: Story is R-18 for graphic violence, strong sexual content, rape, torture, gore, and profanity.

5: They all have highly out-of-character moments...because they all go insane. Overall, they're pretty IC.

6: Several concepts are based off of real-life experiences, such as my current addiction to puzzles (Near was originally going to be playing with dominos but I stuck with his "L" puzzle), and the real Matt's tendencies to play with fire.

Anyway, enough babbling.

-

Chapter 1: Boredom

-

The orphan worked quietly, clicking every piece of the puzzle into place, his hand never ceasing its movements back and forth. His dark eyes remained blank, and after a moment, he brought his fingers up from the game to entangle them in a loose lock of hair. The laughter of the boys playing soccer outside buzzed in his ears; Linda was squealing to her friends about something she'd seen two of the students doing in the library. Near pulled his left knee to his chest and went back to work.

Behind him, Matt pushed his goggles away from his eyes so they rested on his forehead, reflecting the light as an orange orb on the ceiling. Matt sighed heavily, crossing his arms and slamming his back against the wall; this movement narrowly missed Mello, who jumped back into the doorway he'd come through, irritated.

"Watch where you're going, would you?"

"Sorry, Mello," Matt grumbled. His eyes traveled to Linda, then to Near, still crouched on the floor. "I'm bored out of my skull today. Nothing's really happening and I just don't feel like studying. Ah, here we go."

The last words were punctuated by a clatter of cardboard pieces upon the wooden floor; Near held the puzzle platform before him at eye level. The last corner piece tumbled onto the pile as Linda glanced over, smiling slightly. When she looked away again, Near brushed the pile away messily to set his platform down again. As the puzzle began to click into a whole, Matt knelt briefly to swipe a piece; palming it, he stood, smirking. Near appeared not to have noticed the theft; he examined a border piece that was warped, as though it had gotten wet.

Mello pulled a frozen bar of chocolate from his pocket and ripped the wrapper off unceremoniously. His sharp eyes on Matt, he sank his teeth into the corner of the candy and snapped it from the rest. Teeth still clenched over it, he mumbled to his best friend grumpily.

"What'd you just do?"

"Stole this from him for ya," Matt replied as a quiet whisper in Mello's ear. "I'm sure you can find some use for it. He slipped the small section of Near's puzzle into Mello's free hand.

"He's probably too busy to even notice you swiped it," Mello commented, pocketing the object without looking at it; he traced his fingers along the outside distractedly. Near was working from the border in; Mello could tell this one wouldn't be missed until much later. "When he does notice, he'll go crazy looking for it. Nice."

He smirked at Matt, who grinned toothily. Mello imagined a long, red tail wagging behind him.

"I'm a genius, right? Right?" Matt nudged Mello, still grinning.

"Uh, sure, Matt; we'll go with that." Mello coughed playfully, averting his gaze. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Aw, don't be a bully."

Matt pulled a cigarette from the box in his pocket; the lighter followed. Matt put the cigarette between his lips and clicked the lighter, cupping his hand around the tiny flame and raising it to his lips.

"Matt," Near said suddenly, lifting his head. Matt jumped, and his fingers brushed over the flame. The resulting panic caused him to nearly drop his cigarette. Mello rolled his eyes, but soon turned to watch Near's back. The younger boy continued, his voice emotionless. "Please do that outside. It's not even lit yet and it already smells gross."

"You'll get used to it," Mello growled softly, biting another chunk from his chocolate bar. His gaze lingered on Near's small form, and he almost hoped Near would make an angry retort; of course, he didn't, but merely went back to his puzzle. Mello's fist clenched slightly over the piece in his pocket.

"Nah, nah, nah, Mello," Matt's voice came, snapping Mello from his thoughts. "He's right. I'm being rude." He turned to leave, his cigarette dangling from lips; he clicked the lighter again. "C'mon, let's go out and leave him to finish his puzzle."

Mello repressed a smirk.

"Much appreciated, Matt," Near murmured. He turned his head a little to watch his two classmates from the corner of one eye. "Really."

Mello sighed and pushed past Matt. They left the building without exchanging any words. Once outside, Mello glared back at the window to the common room, scanning for any sign of Near.

"Him and those damn puzzles."

Matt lit his cigarette and shook the lighter, tilting his chin upwards and staring at the sky. After a long drag, smoke escaped his lips with his next words. "What's wrong with puzzles?"

"Nothing wrong with puzzles, Matt. He just does them all the time. I wonder how long it's gonna take him to realize he's missing a piece."

"Since he can normally do one with a thousand pieces in like an hour, and this is a five hundred-piece one…maybe fifteen minutes." He winked at Mello. "Enough time for a cigarette break."

"More than one, if you smoke fast. You can puff down five of those things in five minutes," Mello snickered. "Lung cancer'll kill ya before anything else can, I swear."

Matt shrugged, grinning. "It's Wammy's. I've yet to see anything dangerous around here to anyone. Kids barely even pick on each other. 'cept Linda, but she's a tattletale, so it's no wonder the guys hate her. But even then, they don't bug her." He cocked an eyebrow. "Got a different example?"

"I don't mean just here; this place is too boring for anything bad to happen. Plus, with Roger on our backs twenty-four seven, it's no wonder nothing bad happens. But in the long run, you never know."

Another shrug. "I dunno. Do you want something interesting to happen? I mean, you do like fights, Mello. Why don't you just start one?"

"Yeah, I could do that, but…with who? Doing it with you wouldn't be fun, 'cause you'd know it was coming. I guess I could always do it with one of the kids who we always play soccer with, but…" He trailed off, jerking one shoulder in a lazy shrug, and tore another piece of chocolate from his bar.

Matt dropped his cigarette and stamped it into the ground. "I have an idea, but it'd probably ruin your rep. Or our friendship. You're number one between us, so you should come up with something yourself. I'm just an accessory to whatever crime you commit. So if I get shot, guilt falls on you."

"...that's real reassuring, Matt. Thanks for that." He snorted in an attempt not to scoff at his playful friend. "I'll never let you get shot, then. And what idea are you talking about? You got me curious."

Matt opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when Mello's keen eyes snapped toward the common room window again. He cocked an eyebrow, and Matt followed his gaze. Near was standing, watching through the glass, one pale hand on the sill for support.

"He's watching us again. Maybe he figured out you stole his last piece?"

Matt glanced back at him. "I dunno. Think he'll fight us to get it back? Wait..." He arched a curious brow. "The hell do you mean "again," Mello?"

Mello didn't respond immediately. His blue eyes suddenly locked with Near's dark grey ones, and the air seemed to vibrate between them despite the substantial distance. Near lowered his chin in a slight nod, his eyes unblinking.

"Mello?"

"...what else does again mean? Obviously, he's done it before, and I've picked up on it, or I wouldn't be saying again." Aware of how defensive he sounded, he rolled his eyes and backed away from Matt a little bit; after a moment, both he and the common room window were in Mello's sight. "And I never thought Near would be the type to fight over a puzzle piece, but I guess you never really know someone."

"I'm not sayin' he should start it." Matt's grin was sly. Near moved his hand to rest it on the doorframe and continued watching.

"...I should start it?" Mello glanced to Near for added effect to his question. Matt cocked his head. "How would I explain that to Roger, though? He's going to want some kind of reason behind his two best students fighting with each other, though he knows I hate Near."

"Well, you beat up all the other boys you hate." Matt snatched the chocolate bar from Mello's hand, bit into it, and handed it back, chewing softly. Mello snapped back to attention in time to watch Matt raise his palms questioningly, continuing. "I mean, 'ow can you star' a pfigh' if yer nah gonna jus' say "Pfelt lick it?" Yer al'wus sayin'..." He swallowed. "…that Near deserves to see how angry he manages to make people, right?"

Mello watched Near toy with his hair for a moment. The smaller boy turned away from him to lean his back against the cool glass of the window, as if thinking. Mello ran a hand through his blonde hair distractedly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll have to make sure everyone sees, though, for added fun. And if you touch my chocolate again, I'll kill you so swiftly even L couldn't find out who did it."

"Aw, I only took one bite! Augh. Okay. How big of an audience? And when?" He chuckled, as if delighted by the prospect of mischievousness. "Should we sell tickets? We gotta make this fun." He glanced at Near's back. "Just dun kill him."

Near lifted his head slightly; he glanced back at Mello and Matt from the corner of his left eye, then knelt out of sight, presumably to slowly disassemble his still-incomplete puzzle. Mello ran his tongue over the bite marks his younger friend left in the chocolate. After a moment, he bit over them and turned the small piece over in his mouth. When it started to melt, he finished the bite and sighed reprovingly. Matt watched, amused.

"Come on, Matt," Mello said finally, licking melted chocolate from his fingertips. "I'm not stupid enough to kill him. If anything, I'll do what I normally do. Either way, he's probably waiting for his puzzle piece back. And in time, Matty, he'll end up doing or saying something totally bad, something that everyone knows will make me mad."

"Near effortlessly says a LOT of things to make you mad, Mello, and everyone knows it. What could he say that's bad enough to start a fight? And as for the puzzle piece..." Matt wrinkled his nose and added a slight whine to his voice. "Well, c'mon, do we HAVE to give it back?"

"True," Mello said after a short pause, "it doesn't take much from him to make me mad. As for the puzzle piece thing, we don't have to give it back. But it'll surprise him, and when he least expect it, we can strike. Make sense, yeah?"

Proud, Matt punched his arm lightly. "You're a genius. Y'know that right?"

"Of course I know it, Matt." He punched back and stepped away from tree, shoving his mostly-eaten chocolate bar in his pocket. "Before he gives up. Come on, let's go inside."

Matt glanced at the window in time to see Near getting to his feet with the box of puzzle pieces.

"Damn, he gave up. He found out too damn fast. He's too damn smart."

"Try fitting another damn in there," Mello challenged playfully, leading him into the building. They entered the common room as Near put the box back onto the game shelf. The boy hesitated, toying with a lock of white hair, staring at the other puzzles and obviously thinking. "And he's smart? Really? Wouldn't've guessed. So Matt, you're just now noticing this?" He laughed, then glanced at Near and pulled the puzzle piece from his pocket almost reluctantly. "Yo, Near. Missing something? Found this on our way out."

Near glanced up uncertainly. "Oh, Mello. Yeah." He pulled the box from the shelf again and opened it for the piece. "I kind of assumed you took it, but the probability of it just having been swept away from the rest was fair, too, so I didn't confront you. Thank you."

"Well, with the way you were flinging them right and left earlier, it's no wonder it landed there. Right, Matt?" Mello nudged his ally and they shared a grin; Mello tossed the piece back into the box.

"Yeah. Near, when you dump them out, they get everywhere. Makes it hard to walk. Kinda rude."

"Sorry," Near said, though his indifference suggested otherwise. He weaved his fingers through his hair.

"So…done with the puzzles for today?" Mello said, his tone trembling.

"Not sure if I'm done. Might go to the library and study for a bit before I come back to finish the puzzle, now that I know all the pieces are there. Since I just put it away, I don't really feel like taking it back out."

"Matt and I were about to go study, too. Wanna come? We can help each other out."

"Yeah, my teachers want me to work like five times as hard. I think they're determined to get me to the point of passing you guys score-wise...I don't really care," Matt whined. "Don't I work hard enough!?"

Near played with a lock of hair and glanced up at Matt introspectively.

"Not really...but sure, I'll come." Mello thought he seemed slightly surprised. "Mello and I have the same assignments right now anyway; it might be useful to contrast our work."

"Being third is still a decent score. Still, the teachers here wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't push you to be better." Mello nodded and crossed his arms self-approvingly. "I just hope Linda isn't in the library…last thing I need is to hear her gossiping about something someone did last night."

"She's such a pain in my ass," Matt agreed in a low grumble, pushing past the other two to walk to the library.

Near tilted his head. "Well, she's not that bad. I mean, I don't really like her, myself, but she's just a foolish girl. We can't expect much less."

Mello went after Matt, and Near trailed behind him listlessly. Mello shrugged.

"People would like her more if she didn't talk so much about other people; she's just stupid." He smiled slightly. "She does give people good blackmail material, though…heh." His chuckle was broken off by his biting into a fresh bar of chocolate.

"Y-yeah, definitely." Matt nodded rapidly, flushed. "Um. So. You guys are gonna be working on your assignments together, so maybe Mello should sit in the middle? Like, so Near can have easier access to the work too? Not that he needs it."

"It would make things easier. Good idea," Near agreed. He quickened his pace to catch up and glanced at Mello. "What did you mean "blackmail," anyway?"

"Oh, nothing Near, it's a joke," Matt said hurriedly. "Linda just has a knack of telling people the worst things about others, so it's easy to use that agai-"

"There's no one else here," Mello interrupted, shooting Matt a warning glance that was returned as a nod of gratitude. "So, anyway, assignments, what should we do first?"

He coughed meaningfully and plopped into a nearby chair. Matt sat on his right-hand side.

"Have to catch up on history, which is fine, because it's my best subject," he said. "You guys should just chat while I go over all this shi...stuff."

He opened his book and turned the pages feverishly, his head bowed as though he was trying to be inconspicuous. Mello marveled at the durability of the pages – surely this force should tear them? – but was distracted. He inhaled sharply in slight surprise as Near slipped into the chair beside him quietly. Grey eyes looked past Mello to watch Matt, and Mello averted his own eyes when Near turned his gaze onto him instead.

"What do you want to work on? I seem to have procrastinated a bit today. Have you started yet?" He pulled his left leg onto the chair and placed his hand on his knee, thinking. "And about Linda...most of the things she blabs about are just rumors. Using that against people is just spreading rumors back." He arched a brow inquisitively. "So if you're planning something, you need a better source, I think."

He opened his science book and flicked through to corners carefully, seeking the right page. Mello stared at him for a moment until Matt bumped him with an elbow.

"Agh. Um, I…I know for a fact some of the stuff she spews isn't just rumors, so…" He snorted, gathering himself. "Plus, who said I was planning anything?" He grinned innocently, which made Near cock his head, widening his right eye in utter confusion. "What kind of a person do you think I am, Near? Anyway. I haven't done much today, either, so I think it's safe to say we're both a bit behind. Better to get Science out of the way first, since it takes the longest."

Near agreed with a small nod; Mello grabbed own science book and flipped it open, resting his chin in his palm and glancing at Near's textbook for the page number. Matt looked up in an attempt to meet Mello's eyes and smirked.

"Sorry Mello. I meant no offense." Mello's eyes widened slightly at the sincerity in Near's voice, but when he turned to meet the boy's eyes, he saw the grey gaze fastened to the books. Near fiddled with a strand of white hair. "Someone really ought to tell Linda to cut out the rumor-spreading before someone...well, sees fit to abuse it." He turned a page idly. Mello turned back to Matt, smirking.

"None taken, Near. And yeah, she should. But she'll never do it." Sighing, he scanned the page. "So what's on the agenda today? I haven't had a chance to look."

"Um, here," Near replied, placing a small finger down on the bottom of a page. "He said we needed to work with acids and bases again. Like we haven't learned this already. Many times over."

"Teachers work in mysterious ways, Near. But they obviously want us to learn about them for a specific reason..." He checked Matt's book. "What are you stuck with?"

As if he'd been holding it in the entire time, Matt suddenly slammed his fists down on the book, making Near look up quickly. "Why the hell do I need to know who killed Abe Lincoln? I mean, he's already dead!"

"It's always useful to know the methods killers use, Matt," Near pointed out. "It'll help us become better detectives. L learned these things too."

"Near's right, Matt," Mello said, frowning at his friend. "It may not seem important, but in the long run, it may even help you solve a case." He shrugged his left shoulder and turned back to his science book. "Alright, acids. Joy. I doubt they're gonna ask us to cover the basics again, so obviously, they want us to dig a bit deeper."

"If you think I'll need to know this stuff, you're ON acid...more proof is that you just agreed with the albino..." Matt grumbled.

Near ignored Matt, toying with his hair. "They said we have to analyze ten things with red and blue litmus paper to find out which are acids and which aren't...we've done this before. I guess this is review. That's...kind of stupid."

Despite himself, Mello paid Near's words little attention and instead used the brief distraction to elbow Matt.

"Shut up!" he hissed into his ear. "Remember the plan!"

Matt fell silent, smirking, and continued taking notes. Mello coughed, turning back to Near.

"Well, I always thought our teachers never made much sense. Least it's easy, though, and we can get it done fast."

"Also true," Near said. He smiled a little. "Then we can go back to just lazing around. Though technically that's what we're doing now. This is very simple work."

Mello glanced to Matt before returning Near's grin. "Lazing around is something we do well, eh? Anyway, let's just get this over with." He flipped through the science book again. "I'm sure by the time we're done, Matt'll be dying for a cigarette break anyway."

"Damn straight," Matt growled.

"It's sad that such a smart kid is gonna die of cancer someday," Near said coolly, staring down at the assignment. "Vinegar, laundry detergent, mayonnaise...this is the same project we did two years ago..."

"No surprise." Mello leaned back in his chair and yawned. "Well, what else? I'll go get whatever we don't have for this."

Matt glanced up at Mello. "Want me to come?"

"Matt, I should go," Near reasoned. "You work on your own homework. I should help Mello with ours."

"Yes, Matt, you should work on your homework," Mello laughed. He stood, stretching with a slight groan. "We'll be back in a bit."

"Oh, sure," Matt sighed, "Leave me all alone. You guys goin' to the storage room?"

"Sounds about right," Near confirmed. He stood silently, lifting the chair so it didn't scrape the floor. He grabbed his assignment sheet and met Mello's eyes briefly. "Come on, then."

Mello cast Matt a last glance while Near headed out. Matt lowered his head just quickly enough to hide his smirk.

"Have fun," he murmured. Mello tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow curiously. When the soft rustle of Near's oversized sleeves brushing past each other made him turn again, he saw Near had waited for him in the doorway. Mello caught up with him and they walked to the storage room, each matching the other's pace.