Disclaimer: I don't actually own death note. True story.


Near sat back in his chair that was located at the back of the library as he felt the smooth newly made plastic beneath his fingers when he touched his newly made puppet that resembled Mello right down to the scowl he sometimes wore. Near combed his own white curly hair out of his eyes as he wondered what had possessed him to create the puppet in the first place. It was a few months ago to be exact and Near seemed to recall a burning loneliness during Mello's absences from the school, so he'd created a mini replica of the blond haired teen to keep him company through the long two weeks. For some reason he'd vowed to discard the puppet when Mello returned however he felt emotionally attached and could never quite let the puppet slip off his person for the last two months. Some may call it an obsession but Near could never quite really grasp the concept of this.

After the final bell of the day Mello had got up promptly and began walking down the corridors briskly to make sure that Matt wouldn't have a chance of catching up to him when his input wasn't needed. Mello pulled off the leather glove on his hand to reveal a four letter word inked onto his palm with a thick black pen making it appear prominently. He roughly pushed the creaking door of the library open using his elbow and peered into the library, after confirming that it was empty but by the time he'd got halfway across the library he saw a boy in the corner who was curling his mop of white hair with his finger as if he believed that he could make it straighten out.

"Near." He said out loud, drawing attention to himself.

"Mello. What are you doing here." Near replied as he continued to stare at the blank computer screen.

Mello could have sworn that he'd seen Near slip something yellow and black into his pocket but he couldn't be sure as his senses were being thrown off by just looking at Near's pale face and mysterious dark eyes. It seemed like he'd finally got the attention of the dark onyx eyes as they were now staring intently at him willing him to say something more.

"Um.."

"Mello you like Matt don't you?" Near interrupted

"Well um I'm friends with Matt if that's what you mean." stuttered Mello although he knew exactly what Near meant in this context.

"I'm asking if you like him in that kind of way."

"No, no I don't." replied Mello as he returned to his over confident tone.

"Then why do you keep staring at him in maths class." Near replied sharply as if no detail would slip from his ever watchful gaze.

"What. I…" Mello began as he tried to pointlessly deny the statement which Near had laid on the table.

"Near….." The curly haired boy whispered.

"What're you talking about?" Mello asked questioningly with a hint of shock in his voice.

"You should know. It's written on your hand Mello."

Mello gasped slightly as he looked down to his hand and realised the prominent mark on his hand was looking up at him and he looked at it as if he'd just given away important advice on a crime scene. His narrow eyes looked up to meet Nears puzzled gaze.

"Yeah it was to remind me to talk to you, I wanted to ask you something actually." Mello said as a small smile formed on his lips.

He put his hand on Near's head and ruffled his hair making it slick up even more than it already did. Mello turned to leave silently but as he reached the door Near stood up and spoke from the other side of the room.

"What did you want to ask me Mello."

"Oh it was nothing."

As Mello reached for the door handle Near threw the puppet made from rubber and fabric at Mello. He only just caught it in time and Mello was about to say something back to Near when he realised it probably would be best if he left the boy who was once again staring in space plus the fact as Mello walked out of the door he reasoned that the situation was already awkward enough by that point.


A/N: Well here is the next chapter of the story, I hope you people enjoyed it! Thanks for reading and please take the time to review because believe it or not coffee isn't the only thing that gives me the motivation to continue (I don't actually like coffee though...).