"Aaah! You both are too heavy, get off of me!"
Despite the two boys on his back, he was laughing just as much as they were. It had been a month or two since Near had arrived here, and he loved being around Mello and Matt. They were the only two boys that he played with, and they didn't mind when he liked to do his puzzles…but he was always taken away from them by the adults, so they weren't able to see him as much.
"No faster! Right Near?"
Near wasn't much for talking, but he giggled and agreed with Matt,
"Yeah, faster!"
Mello groaned in a much observed exaggeration. A smile was still on his face, he loved this as much as they did, and he charged through the big play room with the two of them still on his back, being their horse. It continued on like this for another ten minutes before the horse couldn't take anymore and collapsed. Matt and Near laughed and got off of his back. Matt ran to the other side of the room and Mello watched as Near ran after him, laughing and squealing. Mello rolled over on his back and laughed as he tried to catch his breath.
"Matt, come here."
Mello turned his head and saw one of the teachers at the door, she was smiling and Matt ran over to her. Mello arched an eyebrow, what did she want? She said something to him that Mello couldn't hear and Matt's eyes widened and a small smile was on his lips…what was going on? Before Mello could get up, the two of them were gone. Near seemed just as confused and walked over to Mello and laid down next to him and wrapped his small arms around Mello's waist and snuggled into him. He must have been tired; he always got tired after running around. Mello smiled and wrapped an arm around him, letting his other arm stay at his side. Near's small voice reached up to him,
"Where's Matty going?"
His eyes faltered for a moment,
"I'm not sure…I'm sure he's all right though."
Near closed his eyes tight and nuzzled closer, clutching onto Mello's clothes,
"Are you leaving too?"
Mello's eyes widened and he smiled,
"No I'm not leaving. Matt will be back soon, you'll see, and then he'll tell us what was happening."
Near still clutched to his clothes, but after a few minutes, his fingers relaxed. His breathing slowed down and his body felt heavier since it was limp now: he was asleep. Mello smiled and stayed as his pillow, despite the children buzzing around playing in the room. How was Near able to block out their voices so well to fall asleep like this? He couldn't be that tired…
An hour passed by and the door opened and Matt came running in and laid next to Mello, giggling. Mello had almost fallen asleep himself, but now he was wide awake. He was careful not to move too much so that Near wouldn't be disturbed,
"What did you go do?"
"They just wanted to watch me do a bunch of stuff! It was fun! We played games, and they let me pick whatever food I wanted, and told me that I'd get to go to big school with you next year!"
Mello didn't say anything…what were they doing? Were they more tests? He wasn't sure, but it made him a little uneasy…would he have to take tests too? The woman was soon at their sides and bent down, taking Near away from Mello. Near's fingers instinctively closed on Mello's shirt and pulled it up with him. He mumbled in his sleep and Mello glared up at her,
"Why do you always take him away?! He's sleeping, he doesn't want to go!"
She merely smiled,
"You don't need to worry about it."
Matt spoke now,
"But you never let him play anymore!"
She only smiled and walked out of the room with the sleeping boy in her arms. Mello sat up and looked at Matt, the other boy obviously irritated that he had been ignored by her. Mello smiled and tussled through his hair,
"We'll see him again, come on let's find another car."
Matt was still frowning but he nodded and went with him to the ever popular toy box that already had about five other children around it…but neither of the two boys were really thinking about the car…
