"I should have stayed in bed this morning, shouldn't I?" I felt worry distil in my stomach as I looked toward the area that I knew Mello sat and I was surprised to see he was already returning my gaze. He gave me a simple nod paired with a smirk and then snapped his head to Matt, momentarily distracted from the conversation he was having.

I gathered something from this gesture; at least Mello didn't think I was a 'complete dumbass.'

––––

Chapter Two / May 2003

'Lead the way.'

Some of the lower ranking students gave up – providing they weren't paired with someone higher – without even listening to the first challenge. In all honesty, there was no wondering why they weren't regarded with much respect by others. During the time that everyone was calming down and Roger was preparing to begin talking once again, Mello and Matt had worked their way over us. Matt plonked himself in the seat next to me while Mello sat on the table; looking sideways towards the old man.

"I would like to thank you all for the display of maturity during that process," Roger genuinely seemed pleased; he'd probably expected everyone to kick off, though most of the children that would be willing to cause trouble had long since gone. "First, I ask that one person from every pair to follow Mr Swift to the grounds outside."

I heard chair legs scraping across the wooden floors and mumbles from students informing their partners that they would be going. I looked to my partner; somewhat confused as to why one of us had to go. He looked back at me and offered a casual shrug – silently nominating himself by standing up and following the crowing crowd. I looked to Matt, ready to ask if he was going too, when I was cut off by Combo. "You stay here, I will go."

Matt didn't need to be told twice, "Alright."

I wasn't surprised that Combo seemed to have decided that he was the one in command out of the two as it was usually a position that he liked to fill. Matt was looking longingly at his handheld game which he had switched off once Roger had began to talk; the fact that it was off at all was an indication that he was interested. I never pinned Matt as the type of person to be excited by such events; but I guess it compelled to his game-induced competitiveness.

"Today those of you here will be tested on your ability to co-operate and trust those you are working with." Mary seemed to be taking over the explanation as Roger's slow speech was really beginning to irk the impatient ones in the room. "You in here will be lead to the maze in the gardens where you will be provided with an earpiece to communicate with your teammate."

Upon having everything explained to us, we began to migrate to our destination. The challenge seemed simple enough – our partners had already entered the maze and were racing to the middle to pick up their own earpiece, which would allow them to get in touch with us. From there we were instructed to meet our partner and exit on the other side. Trivial really; especially for the geniuses in Wammy's. The only thing that made me even remotely worried was the fact that only the first ten pairs would move on to the next round; this was probably an attempt to remove any remaining uncooperative people. I didn't know Mello well at all and the fact that I'd never seen him in action put me off. I was so used to following Combo's instruction and keeping track of his own train of thought, that if I had to act on my own (I didn't think that was a strong possibility considering Mello was second in line to L), made me panic.

It was still raining outside – I can't say I was pleased about that – so the ground would be muddy and slippery. I briefly wondered if Combo had thought to pick up his coat before he left but I received my answer when I saw it hung up beside mine. I sighed at his over-eagerness and forced my foot into my wellington, I can imagine that I looked very elegant at that moment. It crossed my mind to pick up the piece of clothing in the event that I saw him but opted to carry a long black jacket instead.

"Hurry up." Matt interrupted the mental curses that I directed at my feet and I soon realised everyone had left already.

I huffed – hopping forward and successfully managing slip my heel into its place and pulled my hood over my head. "Sorry I took so long. Thanks for waiting."

He nodded before sluggishly catching up with everyone else, they hadn't started yet thankfully but I imagine if I had taken any longer that I would have missed the beginning. It didn't take me too long to get ready; quickly wrapping the jacket around my waist and slipping the earpiece into place.

"Everyone, you may turn on your communication devices now. If you do not receive a response then it means you will have to wait longer to talk to your partner, however, you are still permitted to enter the maze at any time." Mary still seemed to be announcing – I think I remembered seeing Roger slip into his warm and dry office at some point. Every device must have been activated at exactly that moment because there was a hell of a lot of movement in my peripheral vision.

"Robin, you there?" The voice made me jump; I hadn't expected him to speak so soon.

"Ah, yeah. We're just about to be let in."

"I'm currently still in the centre, there are three others too but no one else has gotten here yet."

I absentmindedly tightened the black material around me as I replied, "What do you think would be the best plan of action for meeting up? We could both head for the exit or something?"

"No, that would probably just be more complicated." I was comforted by how certain he sounded. "The best thing to do would be to catch up to me around the centre and then both travel out, that way we won't be too far apart."

I looked to Matt for a second as the whistle was blown to signal our start; he seemed ready to give up. Combo was probably yelling down his ear already. I lagged behind a little as everyone else rushed forwards; wanting to be the first to enter.

I snorted as I watched them, "Some idiots are running in without having any contact from their partners, don't they realise that they're just going to make it harder for themselves?" I could have sworn I heard a brief chuckle as I complained.

"I can explain where I went for the first few minutes, but after that I can't remember." I made a grunt of understanding and finally took off into the entrance. "When you enter, take the first left. There should be a long stretch – it looks as though it's a dead end but you can actually turn right at the bottom. That's why most of the others went right."

I did as he said and was surprised that he went down there in the first place; I wouldn't have even considered it. Although, as I got to the bottom I noted why – it wasn't so much a path as a gap in the bushes. Did he just squeeze his way through? Begrudgingly I side-stepped to a new opening, only being pulled a little by the short branches that hooked into my coat.

"Are we even allowed to cut through like this?" I complained through the device.

"They didn't say anything against it." He paused as though waiting for me to fully get through. "Are you done?"

"Mhmm!"

"You've pretty much skipped most of the trouble; keep going forward until you get to the third path on the left. There's another left turn as soon as you go down it – it's a much narrower passage but don't get put off by it." His way of instructing was a lot like Combo's; clear and concise. I thanked the God's for my luck with this guy.

I did as he said, running as fast as I could the whole time. I think he'd downplayed the narrowness of this new passage as it was just as small as the last squeeze. "Did you just spend the whole time shuffling through small spaces?"

"It got me to the centre, didn't it?" His response was snarky. "Anyway, from here on out you're on your own. I tried so many different paths that I don't remember where I actually went."

"Helpful," I said dryly. "What does the centre look like anyway? Are there any other ways to get out of there?" I was nearing the end of the second awkward side shuffle of the day, glad that there probably wouldn't be any more of that.

"No. There's just the way that I got through." Well damn.

"Well could you at least go back as far as you can? It'll make the whole process much easier for me."

"I managed to do it by myself. It shouldn't be that difficult."

I groaned at his comeback, there really wasn't a need to take it as a personal insult. "That's beside the point though. We're working as a team."

One of the younger children ran past me at that moment, judging by how soaked their hair and clothes were, they were with the first to come into the maze. I watched them subtly – noting how they ignored certain passages – they were probably routes they'd already tried. I had to suppress a smirk though as they slipped in a large pile of mud, falling onto their back. They sat up fine without a word, so I didn't see a need to go check on them; they'd be fine.

"Just do it, okay?" Mello commanded through my ear.

I frowned as I ran, a little wearier than before after seeing the effects of the rain on the ground, straight past the openings I saw the child ignore. "Why are you being so difficult? Just retrace your steps for God's sake. If you're out in the open then I'm more likely to see you and it will save time from trial and error."

It was silent for a few minutes on the other end – I half wondered if he'd turned off the earpiece and was just waiting for me. I powered on, coming back to the same path with the skid mark imprinted on the floor more than once before I eventually came to a new clearing. I allowed myself to catch my breath and looked around – the space was protected by a canopy so there was no need to keep my hood up – there were four members of staff all situated around tables with electronic equipment placed on them. It was when I saw Combo wave to me from the far side that I realised where I was. The place that Mello was supposed to be. I offered my best friend the same gesture before walking back out of the place I came from; he must have done as I suggested and made his way back...

"Mello?" I spoke softly to the blonde. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah." Was his harsher reply.

"Where did you go? You were supposed to be here! I got to the middle!" I snapped at him, looking in the three directions in front of me, with no idea where I was supposed to be going.

"Don't get pissy with me. You said to retrace my steps; so I did."

"You didn't reply though! How was I supposed to know?" I questioned him before realising that any argument would be pointless. "Look, just direct me to where you are now."

I heard footsteps to my right; turning to see the source, I was greeted with the image of a wet Mello. "No need." He switched off his earpiece before pocketing it, out of the way.

I copied his motion and released a slight laugh at his expense, "Didn't think to grab your coat?"

"I didn't think I'd need one." He half glared at me – the guy really didn't like feeling a fool.

"No worries. Here," I unwrapped the black coat from around my waist, feeling a slight chill upon doing so and held it out to him. "Matt told me which one was yours; I figured you'd need it."

Even though it wouldn't have much of a purpose now other than to prevent any more moisture from sinking into his clothes, he took it from me anyway. Offering a mumble of gratitude that made me smile, he walked past me and to the left. This maze seemed to favour them. We travelled in silence for a while; it was a little uncomfortable, I didn't really know what to say to him because he did not seem like the type for small talk. I noted the fact that the rain had slowed significantly; the change was very welcomed and made the whole ordeal that less difficult. I occasionally skidded along when we hit a particularly muddy section which funnily enough became quite useful; we could tell if we'd been somewhere before due to the carvings I left in the floor.

Mello stopped mid-run, picking up a long stick from under the hedges. "What's that for?"

"We can mark off places we've turned," he explained. "This is taking way too long for my liking."

"Am I really that bad?" I joked as he caught up to me. The look he gave pretty much screamed that I did not want to know the answer to the question.

We made the next right, purely because it seemed less treacherous than any of the other possible routes that were in front of us. There were muddy footprints which had created dips and holes in the ground, making it uneven – thinking about it, I hadn't actually seen many other students; it was kind of weird.

"How long have we been in here anyway?" I dared to ask.

Mello looked up towards the sky; squinting slightly as raindrops fell on his cheek, just avoiding his eyes. The sun was covered by a thick layer of grey cloud with no intent of coming out at any time soon. "I'd say I've been here for an hour." He finished his sentence by etching a cross into the ground, "So for you…roughly forty-five minutes."

Huffing, I started walking beside my companion, dragging my wellies along the floor. "I'm so bored. We've been going in circles for ages!"

"No we haven't; I'd have noticed by now."

"Well why is it taking so long? Surely the grounds don't have enough space for something this complicated." I could tell I was being annoying but I didn't care.

A familiar voice came from the direction we were headed and it was once we turned yet another corner that we discovered who it was from. "Quit your whining; it'll be over soon."

I saw Matt smirking at the two of us – looking a lot dryer and less muddy than myself. He seemed relaxed; his hands in his pockets and walking very slowly.

"Matt!" I yelped and ran towards him. "How're you doing?"

"Slow progress – you know." He replied, nudging me with his elbow. "I just found the exit, making my way to Combo now."

I nodded in understanding; knowing Combo, he'd probably told Matt to find the exit then lead him to it. All the while he could stay warm and dry.

"Where's your partner?" Mello asked and joined us to form a small circle.

"Still waiting for me; he gave me explicit instruction to find where we were going first and then to find him. In the end he got really annoying; so I switched this baby off." Matt laughed and moved his arm, tapping his earpiece a couple of times before putting his hand back to its previous position. "Seriously Robin, how do you deal with him?"

It was typical of Combo to be overbearing and a control freak – but that was just his nature. I wondered if the many years I'd spent by his side had caused me to become immune to such characteristics or if by obeying his every slight whim on a case; that I had encouraged them. To me it didn't seem like such a big deal though, after all, in the long run it would be me putting up with such behaviour and no one else. I shrugged and took the large stick from Mello's hands, he kept a firm grip at first but then reluctantly let it go. "At any rate we should get going – you never know where Near is." Mello watched me draw in the floor as he spoke.

"Good luck Mel! Nearly there!" Matt called as he trekked off in the direction that we came from.

"You too." The other boy yelled back.

I took the next left I saw without waiting for instruction from Mello; copying his earlier action by marking the floor. This next left showed a long stretch of bushes; a lot longer than any other I had seen up to then in the maze – the floor only showed three sets of footprints, actually I noted that there had been less and less of these in the last bit of our journey. At that moment Matt's offhand 'nearly there' comment clicked in my mind, were we close? I ran forward – dropping the heavy stick for the blonde to pick up – praying that I didn't fall on my ass. Once again on the left was an archway made of trees; however this particular archway opened up a very different sight to what I had become accustomed to. "Mello!"

He briskly caught up to me, sensing the urgency in my voice, "I think we found the exit."

I marched out onto even ground and took in the sight in front of me; the back entrance of the building was wide open for anyone who had finished, a couple of members of staff were stood by tables with stop-watches to note down the time and names of anyone who had finished. It was so beautiful (well, besides the sudden freezing wind that was able to hit us now that we were out in the open), I honestly had thought that this whole task would have been dead simple; obviously I hadn't planned on it being so boring for the senses. Mello walked over to one of the desks in order to give them our names – the smirk on his face only disappearing after being there for a few minutes. I, on the other hand, grabbed a hot cup of coffee inside the building. I would have gotten one for Mello but I had no idea whether he even liked them and at that moment he joined me inside.

"Hey. You want a drink? The coffee is really nice and warm." I asked politely, holding the boiling drink in one hand while removing my drenched coat with the other.

It was then that I noticed the angry look upon his face as he brushed past me; causing me to spill a little on my shirt. "Ah! What the hell? Be more careful!"

He didn't seem to care much for the burning sensation that I now felt and instead insisted on ignoring me and skulking out – probably to his room to change into dry clothes. What was his problem? I blew on my drink in a feeble attempt to cool it down; taking a small sip as the male that Mello spoke to approached me.

"Congratulations, Robin! A splendid time! The two of you made it back in seventy minutes – what a brilliant feat!" I smiled at the praise he gave me and nodded.

"Thank you very much, sir!"

He smiled back – this old guy seemed lovely, I was slightly disappointed that I'd never seen him around before. "Yes, you were the second team to make it to the end. We're wondering if we should start bringing the little ones back ourselves, it is getting very damp, after all."

"Oh…" I thought I understood. "Sorry, but was Near the first back by any chance?"

The man squinted down at his paper, taking in the name on the list. "Yes, he was! Along with little Jay – they're such a lovely pair."

"Thank you." I said again, "I'm going to get changed now, if that's okay – there's mud all over me." I beckoned down to the splashes of the brown stuff that had risen far beyond my feet and blanketed the backs of my legs. He laughed at my attire and nodded, after exchanging pleasant goodbyes I wandered to my quarters.

––––

It was half an hour later before the rain came to a complete stop; I wondered if some of the students were still in the maze or if they had been taken out. Stretching in my now warm and clean clothes, I stood up – I was headed to Combo's room to see if he was back yet, though there was no doubt in my mind that he was. In honesty I felt quite bad for Mello – every time that he thought he'd gotten one up on the white haired boy, he was shot down again. I couldn't imagine how frustrating a life like that would be – I doubted that I would have had the will to keep trying. The walk to the room was a familiar one; after all it was a trip that I made almost daily, though I embarrassingly admit that I hadn't really taken in any of the ornaments or decorations around at all. I was such an attentive soul. His door was shut and I could hear the soft trickle of the shower inside; he was back and getting sorted. Normally I would have just let myself in and waited until he was done for the two of us to go to our favourite sitting room, but at that moment I just wanted to lie around and relax. Matt and Mello's room was the same, the faint running of water being the only response I got to my knocks.

Combo and I usually spent our Saturday evenings in the sitting room to the far left of the large orphanage; this was mostly due to the fact that it tended to be the one that was out of the way and undisturbed by the younger children. I disliked them with a much fierier intensity, Combo liked their company and would often spend time reading to them or playing with them. I didn't know how he put up with it – but then again I'm easily irritated. Combo has one of those complex personalities; you'd expect him to aggravate you, rub you up the wrong way, but he always knew when to stop. I couldn't remember a time when I'd been seriously angry at him because he'd always worm his way out of it; I was thankful though, because I hated myself after an outburst.

Before I knew it I had arrived at the large oak doors to my preferred room, due to the fact that it was severally overcast, it was quite dark – the royal blue's of the curtains and chairs seemed a lot deeper than usual. I stumbled inside; about ready to collapse and go to sleep despite the fact that it was only midday; however I was surprised to see a figure in my usual spot. His blonde hair glowed due to the bright yellow flames in front of him; his back was hunched forward as he watched them dance. Mello still seemed to be down from earlier today and I wondered just how long he usually sulks for; Matt always seemed to leave him be when he was like this. Not wanting to disturb him, I moved forward, taking a seat relatively close to him and leaning back on one of the mahogany tables. Although he did not say anything to me, I could tell he at least noticed my presence; he looked toward me slightly and then returned back to his previous activity.

Staring out of the window I unconsciously pulled my jacket closer towards myself; I could see a few leaves being blown around and the whistle of the wind against the window seemed to grow louder. This was a place that made me feel safe – the plethora of antiques, old style lamps, wooden walls and the brilliant roaring fire gave an oddly comforting atmosphere. I sighed and joined Mello in watching the crackling flames; enjoying the peace until my loudmouthed friend would interrupt.

"I like listening to the wind." I heard faintly. I wasn't entirely sure if he'd spoken at all; maybe I'd imagined it.

"Hm?"

"Sitting next to the fire and listening to the horrible weather outside. It's nice." He mumbled; obviously trying to ease some form of tension that he felt.

I grinned and nodded, still not taking my eyes away from the fire. "It is."

Then it was silent again; I was mentally thanking Mello for at least making an effort with me, it was surprising how much I seemed to value his approval. Not a good sign. I took a sneak peak towards him from the corner of my eye, his hair was still slightly damp from earlier, and it looked as though he had not bothered trying to dry it. His fingers were laced together, his thumb running alongside one of the others to comfort himself – the slight frown on his features suggested he wasn't in the happiest of moods still. That was when the guilt kicked in.

"Mello...I'm sorry about the task." I said earnestly, he gave me his full attention – facing me fully now. "I should have just done as you said straight away rather than making you wander off – we'd have probably saved time otherwise." I felt stupid, honestly. When I thought about it, I did a lot to slow him down; complaining about meeting in the middle, stopping to walk every now and again due to my weariness of the ground, turning down ways I had already been down in the hope that they may actually hold the real path and stopping to talk to Matt... To some people it may have seemed trivial but in the end it all added up, Near may have only beaten the two of us by a couple of minutes (though I did not know this for a fact), and it could have all been down to my insubordinate behaviour.

He didn't seem to respond very much to my apology; probably assessing what would be the best response to give. However, before a word could escape his opened mouth he was cut off.

"Found you Robbie!" Combo burst into the room, full of all the vigour that I seemed to lack. "I went up to your room but you were not there. Did you not want to wait for me today?"

"I just wanted to come down here straight away, sorry Combo." I shuffled closer to Mello to make space for the brunette on the other side of me.

"It is okay. Today was quite interesting, don't you think?" He took the space straight away and as usual, hooked is arm over my shoulder, snuggling close to me. "You are so warm!"

"And you're wet!" He grinned and I realised what he was thinking. Disgusting.

Suddenly I felt very conscious of the blonde beside me; the rambunctious personality of the boy that had just entered would surely disturb him from his relaxation. I was about to say something to him when Combo cut in again.

"Hey, Mello! How did the two of you get on today?"

Mello didn't seem to listen and ignored him; I guessed that the dislike between Matt, Mello and Combo was very much a mutual thing. Combo however, didn't seem very pleased with this response and pressed the matter further.

"Did you beat Near by any chance?" He tried to coax an answer from the boy beside me and as I expected, got no response once again.

I took it upon myself to answer for the both of us; the slightest bit pleased by the fact that Combo was making an effort to be friendly, "Actually we came second." I hoped that wouldn't jab a sore spot with Mello. "It took us 70 minutes."

Combo whistled and smiled gleefully, "It took gamer-boy and I 93. You two did very well." He leaned around me, once again addressing Mello. "Are you okay with losing to Near? I suppose that you have the other two challenges that are coming up..."

I wanted to rub my forehead due to his downright obliviousness – no – stupidity, feeling the temperature in the room start to rise, but he continued;

"I am guessing it was Robin here that slowed the two of you down! I saw her come into the centre of the maze after you had left," he turned his attention to me by squeezing one of my cheeks. "Was she not following orders? Robin, you cost this guy his win. Naughty." I knew that he was only joking and didn't mean to upset me but that fact didn't stop the twisting feeling in my stomach.

"Hey!" I cried, pushing his hand away from my face.

"It wasn't her fault; it was one of those things." Mello finally offered us some form of acknowledgement. "It couldn't be helped."

To say I was shocked was an understatement – was this Mello's way of saying that it was alright? That I didn't need to feel bad about the two of us losing to the younger pair? I forced myself to believe that it was due to the fact that he wanted Combo to be quiet about it more than anything; I'd be more than embarrassed if I took it the wrong way.

"At any rate, I'm going elsewhere. See you around." He directed the last statement at me and swiftly exited the room; I watched his back until it was completely out of view.

Combo took this opportunity to rush to the spot that Mello previously occupied, laying back to stare at the ceiling. "The two of them – Mello and Matt – they are very strange." He scrunched up his face as he said it.

I looked to him and nodded, poking his cheek. "I guess they are, but they seem nice enough..."

"Now that I think about it," he pouted in my direction. "Can I sleep in your room again? I have not spent much time with you lately!"

I rolled my eyes, "It's been a day and no doubt we'll be together until bed time."

"No, no! Not enough!" He shook his head and decided that he had won the discussion. All I could really do was offer a slight smile and give in.

I was such a push over with this guy.

––––

A/N: Hurray! So part chapter two is done, this one was a little more of a pain than the first thought that was mainly because of the explanation of the task (which I ended up just cutting out and summarizing through Robin). Other than that it was fun – I had exams on Hamlet last week so it was a nice break from studying and I was even happier that I was tested on a scene I know well.

I'm hoping to put in a bit of history soon and actually begin moving on to the main bits, yay! Sometimes I wonder if I should have started further along in terms of the timeline and then referenced back to times at Wammy's house. This next section of the task is going to kill me, I can feel it. I don't know if I should regret making this a tournament; even though there's an important point to it...Ah well, I'm still loving it so far, let's hope it keeps going that way.

I thought today (February 2nd) would be a good day to post this chapter as it's between both Matt and my OC Robin's birthdays. Happy Birthday to you two! Really, that was the only reason I pushed myself to finish today, otherwise it would have probably been up next Monday or at the earliest, this weekend. One other thing that made it quicker was the ambient 'Wind and fire' I had on a loop; it really made me feel snugly and warm to write the end – hence why the setting was how it was.

Limegreenwordmachine: Thank you for your kind words; I agree I need to add a bit more depth to the two but I'm trying to do it gradually. We'll see how it goes.

I hope to hear what you guys thought of it! Thank you for reading.~

'Till next time!

-Rai.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note in any form or way, sadly.