Sequel to The Art of Isolation. A year after his supposed death, there are copious amounts of questions to be answered, and scraps of broken trust to be mended when Mello reappears in Near and Michael's lives. However, things can never really be that easy, as danger seems to follow on Mello's trail like a bad habit. MxN.

Near knows he's alive in textbook terms, but without the ability to feel real emotions, he also knows he's missing out on a big part of being human. Maybe if he is around the most lively kids at Wammys, something might begin to change...