Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened. One evening about a fortnight later, Matt was walking past the corridor when he saw Mello slipping into Near's room. He sighed, once again realizing how well he knew his friend.

He stood there for a minute, hesitating over whether or not to go and fetch the tap in his room. He finished making it only a few days ago and had not since got a chance to test it. Finally he decided not to, for he was reluctant to miss anything. It might be a little difficult to hear them though, since all the doors in Wammy's House were extremely soundproof, possibly due to security concerns; but he would try to make the best of it.

He sneaked up to the door, cautiously leaned himself against it and put an ear to the keyhole. It was a very uncomfortable pose, but he'd have to put up with it. He seemed to have missed the beginning of the conversation inside, and now it was Near who was talking.

"Please take care not to step on anything, Mello. You almost crushed my card tower." Near said, "Now, who told you that?

"That's none of your business. Just tell me, is it true or not?" Mello said impatiently.

"At least you could sit down first – there's a chair over there."

"No thanks, I'd rather stand."

"But then I'll have to look up at you when I'm talking, and it could give me a stiff neck."

"Why don't you stand up then? For the love of God, I can't see why you are still keeping those legs, you never use them."

Despite the acidic comment, a sound of chair scraping against the floor could be heard, indicating that the request was obeyed.

"So, what is your answer? Hurry up, I don't want to be here all night."

Then there was a long and dreadful silence. Matt listened with his heart in his mouth; he feared that Mello could lose it at any moment. Thankfully, the conversation resumed before Mello ran out of patience.

"Mello," Near proceeded, very slowly and clearly, with each word stressed in a strange fashion like a stage actor reciting his lines, "what would you do if all of a sudden I were not here any more?"

"I'll celebrate with a hundred chocolate bars and a whole night of fireworks! – Wait a minute. What do you mean by 'not here any more'? Where are you going?"

"...Anything can happen."

"What the - wait, did L say something to you?" Mello's voice instantly went up an octave, "Could it be - he has finally made a decision? Did he pick you?!"

"L is going all out on the Kira case, I don't think he'd care about us anytime soon." Near said coldly, "But eventually, that day will come. It will be either you or me - and then what will become of us? You know that very well, don't you?"

For a moment, no one said anything. Maybe Mello was at a loss for words. Indeed, he had bragged countless times in front of Matt about how he was going to enjoy his life once he had beaten Near, but not once had he spoken of what he would do after succeeding L. Rather, both of them had been deliberately avoiding the topic – in Mello's eyes, L had always been a saint who was both immortal and ageless, and would definitely last longer than the universe itself; the need for a successor would be so far-off that it shouldn't be worried about in a hundred years. Matt, on the other hand, did not have that much faith in L, but he disliked the idea of successors regardless: he didn't feel like standing face to face with Mello who had become L. Besides, would he even have a chance to meet Mello at all by then?

- And that was what made Near so unpleasant: he seldom said anything that others wanted to hear, and yet was never hesitant to point out the elephant in the room.

"Don't beat around the bush," Mello seemed to have finally found a way to regain control. "I am here to ask you a question, and I'm not leaving without an answer. You are not driving me away with all that nonsense this time! – Are you listening? For God's sake, will you just put down that goddamn book – let go of it!"

A sharp sound of paper ripping was heard, followed by a small cry from Mello, "Oh crap..."

"That's a library book," Near said in his usual flat tone.

"I can see for myself! – It's your fault though. Why did you have to grab it so tight?"

"...But it's fine. I am finished with it anyway. I think maybe you would be interested in it. Would you like to read it?"

"- I'm not reading that kind of book!"

"That kind of book? – So, you have seen it before, and know its synopsis at the very least - "

"I have not! – What's that look on your face? What the hell is so funny?"

"- Which is the very reason why you are here in my room in the middle of the night, I suppose?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Then how about you take it away, find a way to repair that page you torn off, and return it to the library after you finish reading it?"

"...Why the fuck am I obliged to read it?" Mello almost sounded frustrated.

"Of course, it's up to you...but if you read it...you may no longer need to ask me that question which you have kept pushing me for an answer."

That sounded too tempting to ignore, and Mello fell silent once again, as if considering whether it was for real or just a bluff.

"Is that all? – Please shut the door behind you when you go out. Good night."

Matt barely had time to hide himself in the staircase before the door was opened and slammed. He heard the sound of footsteps halting briefly at the door before starting off to the other side of the corridor. When it seemed to have disappeared, he took a sigh of relief and came out of his hiding place – and bumped right into a dark figure standing in front of him.

"Ah, Mello...I thought you were – "

"You'd have to take a good bath and change from head to toe if you don't want to get caught next time. "Mello said with a despising look, "My God, no one smokes like you do – I could smell you behind five closed doors!"

Maybe he should have used the tap, thought Matt. Apparently, he had not been a good enough spy, but that was acceptable since he had only just started. He would just need to be more careful in the future and practice on it more frequently; as older people always said, practice makes perfect. But that could be worried about later. Now he had to say something quickly so that Mello wouldn't bite his head off. Obsessed with forming an adequate sentence, he did not hear Mello calling his name.

"Matt!" Mello raised his voice.

"Oh, what did you say? Sorry I was just - "

"I'll ask you one last time: did you hear every word we said in that room?"

"Well..." Matt instinctively thought of denying everything, but his sense told him it would not work out well, and his best chance was to confess in the most sincere manner.

"Well, almost. I was here when he told you to sit down."

He said, peering at Mello's face: there was more of a look of uncertainty and anxiety rather than fury. Not knowing what to say, Matt reached into his pockets for a cigarette. As he looked down, he caught sight of the book Mello was holding in his hands.

The cover looked familiar. Yes, it was one of the books Near was holding the other day when he walked by in the library, the one with a design too showy to forget. There could be no mistake - it was that "love story".

So Near gave it to Mello for him to read – what the hell was he conspiring? He knew just as well as Matt that Mello had no interest in love stories. That was just typical of Near. Always picking on people, pushing them around by his unfathomable yet strangely convincing reasons, and amusing himself watching them follow his direction like idiots – but why should everyone put up with all this shit? That he was the smartest kid in Wammy's House could not justify all the misery he had imposed on others.

Matt felt a flame of rage burning inside him, and he instantly knew what it was. The mere thought of Mello's obsession with anything related to Near had nauseated him. His dear friend did not deserve to be manipulated by that little prick.

He wanted so much to yell at Mello, to slap the shit out of him and tell him to screw it, but he knew all too well to do that. Past experiences had taught him that Mello would never take any advice when it came to Near-related matters. At last, all he managed to spit out was, "Are you really going to read this book?"

He took care not to let his voice betray him, but something in his words must have gotten to Mello, who looked at him for quite a while with squinted eyes. There was still no sign of anger on Mello's face, but Matt could tell from the way he spoke that he really meant it. "Matt, I have told you to stay out of this – don't make me say it again. Now, it's time for bed."

With those words, he turned and strode off the stairs as if escaping from something, leaving Matt staring angrily from behind. Although it was not totally unexpected, Matt was still pissed off at Mello's stubbornness. He made up his mind not to talk to Mello for an entire week.

TBC