Near didn't know why, but he felt that he just couldn't function without the detective around. He felt sick and alone and…and…and…mostly, honestly he felt afraid. What would happen without him there? What would BB do to him? What would Mello or Matt or A do to him now that the panda-eyed man was gone?

He began to hyperventilate as these thoughts ran across his mind giving dark replies back. Luckily, he was able to make himself calm down enough to think of a solution to this dilemma he found himself stuck in. The solution was easy, so very easy. He did back home before his parents died, so it came natural to him. It was almost instinctual.

He ran down to the basement and hid. For a total of three days he hid down in the basement where it was cold, dark and sort of moist. He adapted rather quickly and survived by becoming nocturnal. During the day he slept and at night he crept upstairs to eat and play and do whatever else he needed to do while nobody was up an about. Not once did he think of how the other boys were taking his sudden disappearance.

They didn't take it very well.

In fact, they were all (except for Beyond) panicking about what L would do to them if he found out that they had lost the youngest, and newest, member to their little family.

~Third Day After Near Disappeared~

"What if he ran away?" Matt asked A, who was pacing the kitchen furiously. "What if he is lost and starving and sad and dying and-"

"Shut up!" Mello snapped knowing he was just stressing A out more. "You aren't helping!"

"We've got to find him before somebody else does." A said pausing in his pacing. He appeared really stressed out over the whole situation. "The last thing we need is someone finding us out." he said knowing how cruel people could be if they found someone like Near. The last thing they needed was to let the traumatized boy become even more traumatized.

Why the hell would a kid like him run off? He wondered and decided to voice this thought, but frustration blocked that and instead he became irritated with himself for letting the albino run off. When L wasn't around it was his job to care for the three younger boys. So Near's disappearance was more his fault than anybody else's, or so he thought.

"We've go to find him!" A exclaimed rubbing his temples to fight off an imminent headache, which was hitting him hard. "Gods, what made him run away?"

"He seemed okay, I guess, until he heard L left." Mello said remembering how odd Near had acted when the blonde had told him that L had left. "He got all edgy and his eyes started to dart around and his tail kept curling around his legs. His ears kept moving around in every direction…and he was acting…strange."

"We've got to tell L." A muttered seeing no other way to fix the current situation. "He may know where Near would go…or maybe he followed L to the airport and snuck onto the same plane as him. That kid is pretty small. He could sneak into places and not get seen, I suppose."

Loud, high-pitched frightened screams soon made the three boys, well, two boys and teenager jump.

"Look who I found in the basement." BB said, holding Near up by the scruff of his neck and smirking. A sighed in relief meanwhile both Matt and Mello exchanged confused glances. BB let Near down and the boy bolted for the living room, diving behind the big, sickly gray colored overstuffed chair in the corner of the room.

To everybody else it was just a worthless peice of furniture, but to Near it was a sanctuary. All four of the others came in and took their seats waiting for the time he'd come out. Five or so hours later, after A and B left, Mello decided that it was time to act instead of just continue waiting, because he was sure that Near could stay hidden all night, maybe forever! Mello instructed Matt to stay where he was while he tried to coax Near into coming out from his hiding place. The redhead nodded with a grin as Mello headed over to the chair.

"Near?" he called softly, hoping his tone would soothe Near. "Hey, Near?"

"Mello?"

"Yeah," The blonde said with a smile, "you gonna come out?"

"No!" the small boy shrieked in fear. "No! No!"

"Huh, you aren't comin' out?" the blonde pouted. "Why not?"

"You're gonna hurt me."

"Huh? No way! Why would I do that?"

"L isn't here."

"Oh, is that why you're so scared?"

Near nodded. "H-he makes sure you don't h-hurt m-m-me."

"Hmm," Mello hummed as he thought of what he should say next. For once he was stumped about what to say to someone, so he just blurted out the very first thing that came to his mind. "But I'm your friend. Right? I'm your friend, aren't I? Near? I'm your friend aren't I?"

"Y-yes." He replied shakily. "Mello is my friend."

"Kay, so why would I hurt you if we're friends? Friends don't hurt other friends. They protect other friends from being hurt. You know that don't you?"

Near shook his head. "Mello's my friend because L wants him to be."

"That isn't true." The blonde pouted. "I'm your friend because you need a friend, because you're fun to be with and you're very weird."

"Weird?"

"Yup. You're very weird, but in a good way though. Not in the bad way. Beyond is weird in the bad way, but you're weird in the good way, the really good way, Near. I like you because you're you. You may be shy; like really shy, but I still like you, lots. I don't care about what BB or A think about you, geez, I don't even care what Matt thinks about you! Look, the point is that I like you, kay? You're nice, smart, unique, and pretty."

"Pretty?"

"Yeah. You're pretty like snow."

"Like snow?" he asked twiddling with his hair. "Dove white?"

"Yeah. Dove white. You're really, really cute."

Blushing Near moved a bit towards Mello. "Will Mello play games with Matt and me?" he asked quietly. Mello nodded. "Yeah," he said smiling happily, "I'll play with both you and Matt, but you have to remember that he's my best friend. You're just a friend." Near felt rather upset to hear this and sniffled. Mello bit his tongue as he realized he had said the wrong thing and made himself sound sorta mean.

"I-I just mean that Matt was my friend before you so he's a lot closer to me. That's all I mean. You're still my friend, though." Near rubbed at his face with the back of his hands before looking at the blonde who was hoping he'd finally said the right thing.

He really didn't like to see Near get sad.

Coming out from behind the chair he winced when Mello grabbed his hand and led him over to Matt, who had been watching them from the couch. He jumped down and stood in front of them smiling a friendly smile, trying to appear as nice as he could. Nevertheless Near cringed and hid behind Mello, who sighed. "You don't gotta be scared of Matt." he said to the smaller, paler boy whose ears were twitching slightly. Near whimpered keeping behind him. Matt frowned, but then looked to Mello who was suddenly smiling.

"Well, at least I got him out from behind the chair." He said with a gleeful tone. Near tapped his shoulder making him look at the boy behind him. Near's eyes appeared glassy and blank, but he still held a bit of cuteness about him. "What game?" he asked so quietly that his voice was almost inaudible.

"Huh?" Matt was dumbfounded. He looked to Mello who was biting his lower lip. "What is he talking about?"

"Mello said we'd play a game." Near mumbled tightening his grip on Mello's hand.

"Oh, well, I want to play hide-and-seek."

"Near will win that for sure!" Matt complained.

"There isn't anything we can't play then."

"What are you talking about?" the redhead demanded huffily.

"You'll win at video games, I'll win at sports, and Near will win hide-and-seek, so smart guy what do you think we should play? Huh?"

"N-no! We'll play hide-and-seek I was just saying he'd win and you hate losing." Matt said as he blushed shaking his head. "You'll be angry at him."

"I will not!"

"Yeah you will you're so competitive Mels!" he said in a whiney tone. Near whimpered quietly tightening his grip on Mello's hand again. He really didn't like the way Matt was fussing about the game. "Shut up you're scaring Near!" the blonde snapped wrapping a protective arm around the smaller boy's waist. Near didn't like making the two elder boys mad at each other. It just made him feel sick inside. Matt pouted silently, but smiled as soon as Mello said that he could be the one to count to ten, apparently he liked being the one to count.

As soon as they had explained the rules of the game to Near Matt began counting. Mello led Near to A and B's room, neither of the teenagers were there at the time making the small albino wonder where they were. That thought vanished as soon as they stepped into the center of the room. His tail twitched with confusion. "Mello why are we here?" he asked warily. Mello ruffled his hair playfully. With a kind smile he led Near over to a closet and opened the door.

"You hide here, until Matt finds you. It shouldn't take too long, but if it does don't move, because then you'll lose the game. Oh, and if he doesn't find you then we'll come looking for you together, kay? Trust me." Mello said ignoring the look of distress Near had. He closed the door a bit leaving it slightly ajar.

"O-okay Mello." Near whispered as the blonde sprinted out of the room to find a place to hide. "I trust you."

He kept quiet and laid himself out on the floor of the closet. After a while he began to feel sleepy, so he fell into a deep sleep that was disturbed by the feeling of somebody poking him in his face. He opened his eyes and let out a cry of fear upon seeing Beyond was the one poking him. In all honesty he was terrified.

"What ya doin?" BB asked smirking.

"P-playing."

"Oh? Who are you playing with? Dumb or Dumber?"

"Mello and Matt."

"Oh, so you're playing with Stupid and Stupider."

Near sniffed rubbing his eyes. "I-I don't kn-know." He whimpered. Near felt his tail twitch fearfully. "Where is Mello?"

"Dunno. Stupid is hiding someplace I guess. Stupider has been running around for two hours now."

Near sniffled.

"What the hell is your problem now?"

"Y-you're gonna beat me up."

"Why would I do that?"

"You hate me."

"Says who?"

"Me."

Beyond rolled his eyes. "You don't know me kitty, so don't act like you do." He hissed threateningly. Near winced a bit. BB then smiled a sick, demented smile. "Why don't you go find that little blonde snot and I won't beat you up, is that a deal?" he said pulling the small fluff ball from his closet. Near shook his head. He was intending to be loyal, docile, trustworthy, and a virtuous friend so that Mello wouldn't hate him.

"I believe what Mello said to me, so I can't move from this room until Matt or Mello find me." Near protested. "Mello told me to stay here." He added firmly.

"So, what? Am I stuck with you until that redheaded freak finds you?" he groaned obviously not thrilled by that. Near nodded stubbornly. Sighing Beyond strolled over to the bedroom door and opened it. "Hey, Mail!" He then yelled. "Nate is hiding here!"

Near's eyes widened. How did BB know his name? But more importantly how could he tell Mail, who Near guessed was Matt, where he was hiding? Not wanting to be caught the boy bolted for the door, but collided with Matt who had headed for the room immediately after BB gave away Near's hiding place. Near let out a small cry then looked at Matt who was giving him a goofy smile despite the fact Near had caused a bump to form on his head. "Ooh, that looks like it hurt." BB chuckled.

Near looked to Matt apologetically hoping deep down that the redhead wasn't angry with him like . The redhead said nothing before he ran off to find Mello. Tears of anger filled Near's eyes. Beyond had ruined the game and he wasn't about to forgive him for that. Then again, he wasn't beat up, so he found himself forgiving BB anyway. It was very nice of the scary, bunny-eared teen to not beat him up, well, he thought so anyway. He found himself wandering about after that little event occurred.

He eventually found himself in the living room, which was vacant.