Takada missed exactly one day of school before she had returned and had thrown herself into her studies. She lived too far away to have made it to Light's school and retrieved the Death Note as she had been listed as attending her classes on that day – not to mention she had been tutoring another student once classes let out and had been listed as present.

"Unless she had someone else retrieve the Death Note for her, I believe she can be taken down from our list of suspects," L had claimed.

Mikami had not missed a single day of University but he had plenty of time to make it Lights school and get his hands on the notebook. Though Light was convinced he would have noticed. "Even if I saw Mello, I would have noticed Mikami," he insisted, "besides, if he thought there was a possibility I knew about the Death Note, he would have approached me instantly."

Which left Higuchi and Misa Amane. Neither had been seen since the day they would have retrieved their memories. Matt had hacked into the system at Higuchi's employer and found the man had called to say he had a family crisis he would need to have time off for, though they had not heard from him since then. Misa Amane, whose parents had not yet been killed, was nowhere to be found. "The entire reason she followed Kira was because he avenged her parents," Light said, looking slightly sick at the thought, "I can't imagine her leaving them knowing what was coming."

For Mello, it felt as if he was repeating things he had already done but was looking for something completely different. Probably because he was reviewing information he had already looked through but trying to see it at a different angle.

"I don't think it's Misa," Light said for probably the thirtieth time, shaking his head as he sat beside L and peering at the computer screen. "She doesn't have any reason to go after our victims-"

"Besides the fact that she killed the police officer the first time," Mello muttered.

"-and she only did any of it because she wanted to get my attention."

"And killing your teacher while you were in class wouldn't have gotten your attention?" Mello asked sarcastically, slamming his papers down and standing with a glare on his face. Near, who had been leaning against him once again in a now familiar position, drew back sharply to avoid toppling over. He stared up at Mello impassively as he twisted a strand of hair around his finger anxiously.

Light glared at Mello, "There is no way Misa could have gotten to the Death Note without me noticing. She's worse than Mikami when it comes to throwing herself at me – there's no way she would have stayed quiet."

"Unless she finally realized that the only thing you did was use her and she wants revenge against you," Mello retorted, his hands clenched at his sides. He felt something tug at his jeans lightly and he didn't even think before taking a small step back toward Near who had grabbed onto his pant leg.

"Then why hasn't she killed me?" Light asked, rolling his eyes as if he thought Mello's suggestion wasn't even worth the effort. "She had the Shinigami eyes. If she remembers everything, she knows everyone's names," Mello flinched at the reminder, his right hand unclenching and resting on top of Near's head. He didn't know if the blonde girl had seen Near but there was no way in hell he would allow her to write his name down. Or Matt's. "And she knows what my family looks like. She could have killed me already, or them."

"According to the original timeline, Misa was able to be the second Kira for quite some time without anyone knowing who she was," Near said quietly, turning his dark eyes on everyone in the room. Mello left his hand where it was on the boys head though he now began to thread his fingers through the other boys hair unconsciously. "In fact, the only reason she came to L's attention is because she decided to admit who she was to Light. In being around Light, L focused on her and came to the conclusion she was the second Kira. It is possible she is more intelligent than she portrays herself to be."

Mello turned challenging eyes to Light but the older boy was already shaking his head dismissively. "You do not know her like I do. The only brain Misa has in her head is dedicated to silly love stories and fashion."

Mello took an angry step forward only to stop as Near grabbed his wrist before he could move his hand away from the younger boy. Mello turned in surprise. He hadn't even known he was touching the other boy…when did his hand get there? He shook the thought from his head as L began to speak. "Be that as it may, it is not a possibility we can just dismiss without knowing Miss Amane's current location. Keep searching."

Light sighed as if to show how pointless he thought the task but he eventually concentrated on his computer screen once again. Mello stood where he was with his eyes burning as he stared at the older teen. He shouldn't even be there. What was to stop him from taking the Death Note and starting again as soon as they found it? He had already tricked L once; it couldn't be that hard to do it again.

Okay, so he hadn't really tricked L. L had known who he was the entire time…but Light had won. They had played a game and L lost.

So had Mello.

Near. Near had won but at what cost? He was left alone. The only people he had ever spoken to at Wammy's had been Matt and Mello, even if it was arguing with Mello most of the time. L had been his hero. He had been left with half a team, most of who looked at him as a stepping stone to get to where they wanted to go. No, Near might have won against Light in a way but in many he had lost.

"Mello should sit," Near said softly, tugging on Mello's pant leg.

Mello looked down at him blue eyes clashing against the dark ones staring up at him. "I should be out there looking for them. I'm better at that type of stuff anyway."

No one replied but Near's eyes flickered over to L before he shook his head slowly. "When there is information available, Mello can go out. There is not enough data yet."

Mello tore himself away from Near's hold and turned toward Matt. Matt merely shrugged at his best friend helplessly. Mello's hands clenched tighter, his nails biting into the skin of his palms. They were wasting time. He knew this was how L and Near worked. Hell, this was how Matt worked unless Mello pulled him away and dragged him out to the scene. Mello had never been able to work like that. Even at Wammy's when they were given trial cases, Near would work (kind of…most of the time, it just looked like he was playing, though he always seemed to get to the conclusion before Mello), Matt would do whatever he did on the computer, and Mello would have to go to the scene, talk to the people. He was useless here.

The thought didn't sit well. He wasn't going to do this again. He wasn't going to be the one that that sat there while the rest of them figured everything out. He wasn't going to be second best.

His eyes wandered over to Near as the words rang in his head. No, he wasn't going to do this again. He had promised himself. Things were going to be different this time. He wasn't going to drown in the jealousy he was feeling. Not again.

"Mello, let's take a walk," Matt said suddenly, jumping to his feet with a grin plastered across his face.

Eyes turned to Matt in surprise. "There is information to-" L began to protest.

"Mello needs air," Near said softly, cutting off L for the first time in Mello's memory. "Mello will work better after his…walk with Matt."

Matt flung an arm around Mello's shoulders and swiftly pulled him toward the door. "We'll be back in a few minutes!" Matt called cheerfully, ignoring the protesting Light was still doing as the door slammed shut behind them.