A/N: Not much longer to go… -yawns- For those of you wondering, this story will NOT be the entire year. Haha, and also, I cannot PM people giving away plot. So... yeah. For those of you who wanted to know stuff, you'll just have to wait. X3

-

Azure Paler than the Sky.

eighteen.

"… I had a feeling you might say that."

"It's nothing personal, I swear, I just-" Near stopped in mid-sentence, looking over towards the door. It had swung closed and through the small window into the hallway, a tuft of blond hair could be seen. Near glanced back at L, finding him concentrating hard on a lollipop that he had yet to put in his mouth. Near sighed, "I know I'm being selfish…"

L finally tucked the lollipop into his mouth. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I mean you've worked so hard on it and I'm just jumping out. When I had wanted so badly to compete as your apprentice… but… Mello is much more suited for it. He is very eager."

"That's nice to say but it doesn't help much unless you two are twins."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, turning away.

Before he was able to take a step towards the door, L grabbed him by the wrist and stood beside him, turning the boy around to face him. Near made a small noise in the back of his throat as his chest connected with L's stomach and the warmth from L's hand spread up his arm. Near looked up, blushing as he met L's gaze.

I wish I didn't have to stop working on your painting with you, Near thought idly as he soaked in the attention, it really is a lot of fun. Just you and Mello and me. But it's really only supposed to be Mello and me so I…

"Near, is this really what you want?"

Near was shaken out of his thoughts then and sighed, closing his eyes and lowering his head and leaning into L's torso a bit. He inhaled, breathing in the scent of the man's shirt. Near had probably never been this close to L in the past year of knowing him but, he realized, that L smells a lot like one's living room couch would after ten years or so worth of use. It wasn't an unpleasant smell, it was just like coming home.

He clutched at the cloth of L's shirt with his fists and exhaled, finally, not noticing until then that L had wrapped his arms around Near's body. Near pulled out of his grasp and walked towards the door again, opening it suddenly, causing Mello to flail, having his support wrenched away from him.

"Jesus, Near!"

"S-Sorry," Near muttered, heading out into the hallway.

Mello blinked and looked back into the room. L was standing there by his stool, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, and eyes raised towards the florescent lighting above. Mello was about to say something but he heard the squeak of Near's shoes on the floor down the hall and whipped his head around quickly, running after him.

"Hey," he called, cupping his hands around his mouth, "wait just a minute!"

Near slowed a bit but didn't stop and looked up when Mello had caught up to him, skidding to a halt at his side with a confused expression. "Yes, Mello?"

"What went on in there?" he asked. "What's with all the sad atmosphere?"

"There's no sad atmosphere." Near continued down the corridor.

Mello walked beside him, frowning. "Hey, listen here, we're starting fresh, okay?" He put a hand on Near's shoulder, causing him to pause in mid-step. He glanced up at the blond, nodding slightly. Mello continued, "So no more secrets, okay? We'll tell each other everything."

Near blinked a few times and nodded again. "Okay."

"So? What'd he say?"

"… Hmm. Nothing. I just told him that I… I couldn't be his assistant anymore," Near murmured, turning away from the explosion that was about to occur.

"SAY WHAT?" Mello shouted, taking a step back. "What in fuck brought this on? Near, you can't just bail on us, we've spent a hell of a lot of time-"

"Mello, please don't yell," Near said, squinting. His arms were folded over his stomach tightly as if he had a tummy ache.

Mello blinked at his behavior and finally frowned deeply, trying to think of a better way to go about yelling at Near without yelling at him. He exhaled, calming himself and quelling the anger rising in him. "Near," he said calmly, "what's the matter? Didn't you like working with us? With L?"

"Of course…"

"Then why-"

"It has nothing to do with that, though… Think of it this way, Mello, now you're L's only choice for an apprentice. You've gotten what you wanted."

Mello looked completely offended. "That's not exactly high on my priority list right now, you know," he retorted. "I care about you; what happened between you and L? Did he-"

"It's not him. I… I just…" Near closed his eyes. "I don't want to be naked anymore."

There was silence.

Mello groaned, "Is that all?"

"What does that mean?"

"… Near," Mello said softly, smoothing some of the boy's hair out of his eyes, "you were doing so well. Why the sudden change? When you were sitting there, you seemed… really confident."

It's because I was… "Did I?" he asked listlessly.

"Yeah." Oh fuck, now I'm going to be alone with L? This is insane… What if I… what if we… "Come on, Near, don't cop out on us."

"Please respect my decision."

"You know, this really isn't like you-" Mello was cut off when Near pulled down on his jacket collar and met him in a kiss. Mello knew immediately this was just a way for Near to get Mello to shut up but hell, it was working and Mello really had missed this. The way Near's lips were always so warm, no matter what the temperature outside. Their eyes slid shut and soon, Near didn't need to keep his hold on Mello's leather garments. His hands slid down the fabric and hung at his sides as Mello's tongue zipped along his bottom lip.

They stayed that way for a while, attempting to make up for past arguments through motions and sighs and fleeting touches on the cheek. That was, until a group of giggling girls walked by and one of them shouted, "Yeah, baby! Trigger that flag!"

Mello and Near snapped away from each other and Mello then moved to shoo the girls away with his colorful language.

-

"This is the Irai noon-hour radio show and I'm Matt! Back again with my BFF and trusted housewife, Mello! This time, Mello promises not to destroy all of my equipment even if someone mistakes him for a two-dollar whore. Right, Mel?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"That a boy. Well, we've kinda been slacking on those postcards but we've got a big pile here today so we'll do our best. But first off, let's all give a big hand to Mello who finally got up off his high-horse and apologized to Near! Paradise is returning, folks."

"Jesus."

"So, Mel, how was that makeup sex? No, no need to tell me - I heard ALL about it."

"Matt, you ass-"

"Haha! Aw, come on, dude, if you seriously expect some privacy, you're gonna have to tell Near to bite a pillow or something."

"I ought to clock you."

"Here, you read the first one."

"… Dear Matt, what's the most awkward situation that you've ever been unfortunate enough to be a part of? If your parents found out, how? Signed, Andy… Heh heh, I know what this one is."

"Aw, someone had to go and ask that. Fine, I'm a man of character, I can-"

"When he was twelve, he was jacking off to a magazine in his parents' bathroom and they came in, kissing and shit."

"That was awful."

"Hell, you might've saved yourself from having a sibling."

"… Well, there's that. Next one: Dear Matt, what are your manly stats? Signed, Hitchhiker. … Ah, I get it. Well, dear listener, I happen to be a very impressive ten inches-"

"WHAT? Where the fuck are you hiding the other four inches?"

The show was over in about forty-five more minutes and when Matt and Mello walked out of the studio that day, Mello stretched his arms over his head languorously and yawned a bit.

"Sleepy?" Matt asked, tilting his head towards the blond.

"No, actually… I didn't stay up too late. L didn't call me over for a session and I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that Near isn't coming anymore. Man, this really sucks…"

Matt sent a small glance Mello's way but it went unnoticed. He sighed under his breath. Aw, Near, what'd you have to go and do that for? he thought as Mello rambled on. Why can't you just tell the two of them, for Christ's sake?

"-and the worst part of it is that when L does call me back, it'll just be us two," he sighed, lowering his arms to his side.

"Heh, but you want that, don't you?"

"You asshole, I told you I don't like L. He's a humorless dick."

"Now you're just making up shit."

"Who's side are you on?"

"Yours, Mel," Matt announced, slinging an arm around Mello's shoulders and leaning his head against Mello's. "But when you're being an idiot, it's my job to tell you. And you're being an idiot!"

"Because I don't want to lose Near, I'm an idiot." Mello rolled his eyes.

Matt ignored this. "You know what I think?"

"Nope."

"I think maybe instead of talking to Near about it, like you're scared to do, you could talk to L."

"… What?" Mello stopped and turned to look at Matt like he was crazy. "Do you know what you even said? Talk to L. Right, okay, just go up to him and tell him I could possibly… that I want to…"

"Well, you have to be able to say it first."

"Shut your damn mouth," Mello shouted in more of a whine than he meant. He glared at Matt's laughter. "I'm not doing it."

"Fine, don't listen to me."

"I won't."

"Okay."

"All right."

There was silence then as they walked down the halls. Matt still had his arm around Mello which the blond didn't mind and sent glares to anyone who looked like they did. When they got to the door at the end of the corridor, Mello raised his boot and kicked it open, causing the metal door to swing back against the brick wall outside. Mello hugged his jacket tighter and as the sidewalk parted ways, Mello took one direction and Matt stood at the mouth of the other.

"Hey, where're you going?" Mello asked, an eyebrow raised.

Matt jerked his thumb at the building behind him. "I promised Lisa I'd treat her to lunch."

Mello scrunched up his nose. "Isn't Lisa that hippo you've been dragging around campus?"

"Yup! See ya later, Mel."

Matt started off in his direction and Mello called, "See ya," after him. He stood there for a moment and looked around him before muttering, "How can it be so fucking cold with no snow?"

-

More than a week passed and no matter how hard Mello tried to get Near to change his mind, nothing worked. Near was tight-lipped on the subject too which only fed Mello's suspicion. He would've sworn on all that was leather that Near had loved the attention given to him by L. He certainly had basked in it when L touched him, when he dragged his pale hands down Near's equally pale chest, the boy's eyelids would flutter and his body would tense.

Mello had to admit… thinking about L touching Near like that was pretty interesting. When the two of them saw L in class, L giving instructions and Near trying his best to ignore the professor, Mello wondered what in hell could have happened. He caught L's gaze sometimes right as the man was looking away from the two of them and Mello found a strange emotion there.

One day during class, L got up from his stool on a rare occasion to give a demonstration. He turned back around just as Mello and Near had pulled apart from a kiss, they caught him staring. Mello swallowed over a large lump in his throat and Near's cheeks reddened as his gray eyes scanned L.

The room was quiet as L had stopped in mid-sentence. The three of them looked at each other and out of the corner of their eye, Mello and Near watched each other's expressions. God, if only-

"Is it just me," a student called out, interrupting the moment, "or is there advanced sexual tension in this classroom?"

L looked at him sharply. "Perhaps you would like to illustrate your sexual experiences on canvas."

"N-No, sir…"

"I didn't think so."

Unfortunately for others on campus, their love lives, instead of flourishing or wavering were coming to a halt altogether. Such as Mikami's. Where he was once catching Raito's mischievous side in its most riled moments up against darkened hallway walls, he was now having trouble even getting Raito to his apartment. He would call Raito to try to get him to stay after class but when the brunet didn't make excuses, he just blew him off.

Mikami suspected he was still sore about the incident with the kiss in the classroom and Matsuda holding the water buckets. He didn't know for sure but something was different… for instance, when Mikami brought him flowers or wine or jewelry, Raito wouldn't gasp or gawk and half the time, he didn't even except the gifts which was a harsh blow to Mikami.

The professor watched in jealously during class as Raito would help Matsuda understand what was going on or, if they were sculpting that day, he would help him with angles or proportion.

On a Monday, Mikami watched as Matsuda clumsily gathered his belongings in his arms and followed Raito out of the room. Raito, usually, would walk at a pace where Matsuda had to jog to catch him. Lately, though, Raito would walk at just the right pace to be a little ahead of Matsuda for a while and it would almost look like a puppy following his master around. Raito kind of liked it and Matsuda didn't mind at all.

That night, Raito was sitting down in Matsuda's living room on the floor. The couch had been pushed back towards the kitchenette to give them some room to work. Books and papers and notebooks were spread all around and one of Matsuda's socks were cast carelessly onto the floor.

Raito looked around, scratching at the back of his head. "Matsu, have you seen my pen? I swear, it was just here…"

"No," Matsuda called from the other room. He came out, having changed from heavy jeans to gray sweatpants. He plopped down beside Raito with a sigh and then brightened at seeing his other sock laying a foot away. He grabbed it and slipped it onto his naked left foot.

Raito looked back and saw his pen had been laying underneath the sock. "There it is," he said, giving Matsuda a look. "You're almost as bad as Lawliet with disorganization, you know."

"Almost. That's not so bad, right?"

"… Well, I guess optimism is a good thing."

Matsuda smiled. "So what's first?"

"Everything," Raito groaned. He picked up Matsuda's notebook - it was so sloppy and actually had footprints in it. Raito guessed that came from Matsuda dropping his belongings so often and people stepping on them. Raito had tried to read Matsuda's notes earlier but they were illegible. "We'll have to start from scratch. What's the last thing you remember?"

Matsuda thought hard.

Raito watched.

Seconds turned into minutes.

"Okay, forget that. We'll start from chapter one in the textbook," Raito said, pulling the book onto his lap. He flipped to the very beginning and noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Matsuda was at his side, his face practically buried in the book in Raito's lap. Raito nearly jumped. "Don't do that, you'll ruin your eyes!"

Matsuda withdrew with a worried expression on his face. "I can't help it. I have to learn this stuff or I'll fail my midterm!"

"It's less than a month, Matsu, how could you learn all of this in that short time…?" Raito asked.

"Aw, are you saying I have no chance?"

"No… you'll learn the majority of it, it's just…" Raito looked back at the book confusedly. How in the world can I teach him all of this in such a short amount of time? If it was Near or Mello, or even Matt then I…

Matsuda sat back on his heels and sighed. "I wish I were smarter."

Raito looked over his shoulder. "What's that mean?"

"I wish I was great at sculpting like you or even like the other students in our class," he murmured, clearly distraught.

Raito shook his head. "The other students are far from great, Matsu."

"But at least they're not stupid," he cried.

"Matsu! You're not stupid, okay, you can be just as good as the rest of them…" Raito slowed to a pause. He lifted his hand and placed it on Matsuda's shoulder. "You'll do just fine. That's what studying is for, after all, right? To help?"

There was a silence during which Matsuda just smiled a bit and looked down, picking up a pencil to fiddle with. "S-So, let's get started," he said.

Raito blinked. "Right."

-

A little after midnight, Mello was climbing the stairwells of the painting building to the third floor. He was going slowly and rubbing at his right eye on the way. L hadn't called him in for a session in over a week and he had grown accustomed once again to actually sleeping. However, he had noticed, that everyday he saw L, he seemed more and more lethargic and eating more than his usual amount of sweets.

Maybe he still hasn't been sleeping, Mello wondered as he reached the third floor. The bare light bulbs swung overhead and Mello self-consciously ran a hand through his hair to smooth it down a bit. Either way, walking down here like this is sort of lonely… I wish Near would tell me what's wrong so I could punch L and we could carry on with the damn project. What's the point of even calling me down here? I can't substitute so…

Mello used the key around his neck to open the door and walked inside, shutting it behind him. For once, the lights were on in the room and Mello squinted away from the harshness of it. The curtains on the large window in front of which Near usually sat were closed, blocking out the moonlight. L was standing next to it, leaning back on the wall and straightened when he saw Mello scratching his head.

"What's up with this, huh?" he asked, coming further into the room.

L walked towards him, smiling dazedly. "Ah, well, we can't do much painting tonight because Near has gone AWOL but I figured other things could be done."

Mello blinked. "Other things?"

L nodded and took one hand from inside his pocket, flashing a wrench at Mello.

"… What the hell?"

"I have purchased a heater for the studio," L explained, rolling his eyes upward. "But I'm afraid I'm not much of a handyman so I require assistance."

"Heater?" Mello looked around rapidly and then over on the other side of the room, a large, clunky machine caught his eye. Part of the vent had been taken off and wires were everywhere. Mello groaned. "Fucking hell, that's a big ass heater!"

L nodded. "Yes, glad I won't be doing this by myself."

"You jerk-"

"Come on, Mello," L hummed, tossing the blond the wrench. He turned on his heel and headed for the heater with Mello in tow, grumbling.

When they sat down in front of it, Mello on his knees and L in his usual sitting position, the blond looked across his mentor to see a red box full of assorted tools. He pursed his lips together and then held out a hand to L. "So, where are the instructions?"

"It didn't come with any," L said, obviously deep in thought with his thumb in his mouth.

"What? No instructions?" Mello wailed. "But how are we supposed to-"

"We could play it by ear?"

"…" Mello turned around, frustrated. "We're artists not fucking electricians," he grumbled and took a look at the back of the machine.

It took a long time but soon, Mello was operating on the heater, attaching wires and screwing in bolts and trying his hardest not to get electrocuted. He had deemed L extremely illiterate when it came to machinery and so he just asked L to pass him certain things.

Once Mello found his footing and was working at a good pace, he kept light conversation with L. Consciously, Mello would have preferred not to talk at all. The slight touches of their fingertips when handling the tools was quite enough and sometimes, when there would be pauses in the conversation, Mello would glance over and find L staring at him.

Fucking hell, does this guy have no shame?

"Okay," Mello sighed, sitting back. "There's two wires but only one port left… did we go wrong somewhere?"

"I have done nothing, shouldn't you know?"

"Yeah, thanks." Mello looked at the two wires with indecision. "Well, we can't just sit here. I'll just try one and then the other."

"I'll stand by in case you get electrocuted."

Mello rolled his eyes. He leaned forward again to test the wires. "Hey," he said from behind the machine, "just why are we installing this thing anyway? It was for Near but since he won't be joining us any longer-"

"You don't think he'll come back?"

There was a pause. Mello peeked from behind the machine, an eyebrow raised. "You do?"

L shrugged lightly. "Well, you do know him better than I do."

"…" Mello sighed and leaned back into his sitting position. He scanned the heater and nodded. "I think it was the yellow wire after all. Well, let's turn it on and see if it explodes."

L watched as Mello reached over and flicked on the switch. For a moment, nothing happened and Mello was about to start cursing but then there was a sound in the depths of the machine and it made a whirling noise. It stopped and then got louder and out of the top of the vent blew thousands of shreds of paper and dead bugs. Mello scrambled away and to his feet while L stood slowly, kicking away the debris.

Mello coughed, shielding his face. "Well, it's working," he said, semi-proudly.

"Yes, you're actually very good at this."

Mello nodded. After a few minutes, random things stopped floating out of the heater's vent and Mello felt the warm air coming through. Near really would have liked this had he been there. Mello turned to look at and said, "Hey, why do you think he quit?"

"Perhaps he doesn't like me."

Mello rolled his eyes. "He likes you, L, he adores you."

"Then maybe he thinks he shouldn't."

Yeah, well, that makes two of us, Mello thought, agitated. "We'll find out something to do for you gallery, L… It's the end of December, isn't it? Ugh, this is the worst timing…"

"Ah, you're concerned?" L smirked.

"W-Well, yeah. You've been working so hard on it," Mello said, looking towards the ground. "I'll get him to come back, okay? I don't care if I have to have Matt help me drag him here!"

L laughed a little and took a step towards his student. "You don't have to do that, let him come back when he's ready."

Mello snorted, "You have a soft spot for him."

"I do."

Mello hadn't noticed but they were practically standing toe-to-toe after L took that last step. The blond looked up and frowned at those large, obsidian eyes engulfing him. This is fucking ridiculous, he thought as he closed his eyes and leaned forward. When his lips met nothing but air, he opened his eyes quickly and was staring straight into L's neck and felt L's lips, coated with a fine sheen of sugar, against his forehead. L pulled away then, smiling, and said, "The heat's probably getting to you."

For the first time in a while, Mello laughed and said, "Yeah, probably."

-

to be continued.

-

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please send thoughts!