Oi, what a week! This chapter's a long one, but I wanted it even longer, if you can imagine that. Anyway, I've had Kid!Mello and Kid!Matt giving me ideas...yes, they talk to me. It happens to you too, I know. _

Well, I wanted this to be close to canon, but I couldn't resist the urge to have redhead Matty, so yes, I gave him red hair. Also, Near's in this chapter!

Near: Yay!
Mello: What?
Matt: Review!

I woke up the next day, rubbing my eyes, and nearly stepped on a sound-asleep kid on the floor. Oh yeah, that's right. He's sharing my room, I remembered.

Carefully I tiptoed around him, and crouched down to get a better look. For someone who'd spent the night on hardwood floor, he looked pretty cozy. It was odd, because he didn't have his goggles on this time, and he looked kind of different without them. I wanted to wake him up, but then I didn't. He was just so...different, or something. I didn't know the word for it, but all I knew was I didn't want to ruin it by waking him. I just left him there and got dressed.

I came back to check if he was still there, and sure enough, there he was, still out of it. I couldn't help but look over at him again. But then I had this weird urge to know what color eyes he had. I'd only seen him with goggles on, and since those were tinted, I couldn't tell from there, so...

"Hey, Mail,"

"Nn..."

"You know you still suck your thumbs?"

"Mm...huh? What? Really?" he squinted a bit, and blinked open his eyes. Green eyes.

"Yeah, really," I said teasingly. He blushed.

"W-wha...how did you know?"

"I saw you doing it in your sleep just now,"

He looked down. "Oh," he said. "Well uh, don't tell anyone, okay,"

"Alright," I said, heading out the door.

I thought about heading to Roger's office, but I decided not to - I think it was already clear I didn't want a roommate. If anyone said anything about him sleeping on the floor, I'd just tell them that he said he didn't care either way.

I headed out to the common room after breakfast, when I noticed him. That kid who always played by himself, who always seemed off in his own little world. Maybe he didn't know it, but I hated him. He always got higher scores on the exams, and L seemed to like him more.

Near.

I saw him, but he didn't notice me. I peaked out from behind a corner to look at what he was up to. Not much, just building a Lego tower. He always stuck to puzzles, games, mostly stuff that needed stacking or building. But it was always alone. Sometimes another kid would come over and try to play with him, but Near didn't want to be with other people. Today, someone came over to sit with him.

It was Mail.

I almost wanted to yell something at him, but I didn't know why. I didn't know which one I was mad at really - was it Mail, because he was somehow taking away from me by being with Near; or maybe it was Near, for stealing attention from me. That's right, I was upset because someone I had barely just met was interested in him and not me...was I really that jealous of him?

He said a few things to him for a minute, but I couldn't hear what it was. No, he doesn't know, about how it is with us two, I said to myself. How could he? Finally, the redhead got up, shrugged, and walked away. That's when he saw me.

"Hey Mello,"

I banged my head against the wall. Now I was mad at him. "Hi...Mail," I muttered.

"Yeah, I guess that kid Near doesn't like to play with other people," he said. "I asked him about you,"

"You...you did?"

"Yeah, you know about him?"

I shrugged. "Not really," I lied. "I mean, I know that he's been here for about a year or so now, and..." I trailed off. Did I really just want to tell him about how I really felt? Yes I did. "and he was left at the front door of Wammy's House in a basket, just like in the movies. So he's probably like a demon spawn...I think,"

"What?"

"Never mind," I said.

"O...kay,"

I pulled a chocolate bar out of my back pocket. I could see Near looking over at us - he probably heard the part about me saying he was a demon spawn - so I turned away and bit into the wrapper. Then I realized I forgot to peel off the wrapper and so I just tore it off with my teeth. Mail giggled.

"Are you okay?"

"Hm?" I said, papery-wrapper thing full of chocolate in my mouth.

"You...you just seemed kind of...oh I get it!"

"Mm?"

"You like that kid, don't you?"

"WHAT!" I spat the chocolate out.

"Yeah, that's it, isn't it? No wonder you're getting all flustered,"

"I-I'm not getting flustered!" I said, choking on the wrapper.

He started cracking up, and my face was turning red. I could've punched him, but I instead grabbed him by his shirt and pinned him to the wall. "Mail," I said, already beet red. "No, I don't like that kid. I hate him. He's my enemy, and that little bastard is always getting ahead of me, got it? It's because of him that I'm not number one, that I'm not the first in line to succeed L. I used to be, but he stole it from me. I can't stand him. He is a demon spawn," I was whispering, but Mail looked kind of scared. I guess I got the point across.

"Uh-okay, sure,"

"I don't like him,"

"Got it. Now please put me down,"

I did, and picked up the rest of my chocolate bar. This time I remembered to tear off the wrapper before biting into it.

"And...so he's the demon spawn, eh?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing," he said sheepishly. "Hey, uh, I left my Gameboy in your room,"

"You don't need to ask me for it or anything,"

"I can never be too careful around you, Mihael,"

"Well, I wonder if anyone will fix the whole 'only one bed' issue," I said, taking another bite of chocolate.

"Oh, they put a bunk bed in earlier, I saw,"

"What?" I turned to him.

"Yeah, don't tell me, you want the top bunk, right?"

"Wh- no, not that. I mean, did they take my old bed?" I didn't like this - first the new kid, then the adults, all sorts of people going in and out of my room without me knowing about it - I needed more chocolate. "And yes, I'm on top,"

"Hee-hee, that's what she said,"

"Mail, this is serious!"

"Okay, fine," he said. "Well, why is it so important to have your old bed? You mean like, your mattress, right?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded. But I didn't want to tell him why I couldn't have my old mattress taken away. "Uh, you know what, how about we just go look and see if it's there, okay?"

I grabbed his arm and ran up the stairs, down the hall, into my room, busting open the door. Sure enough, there was a bunk bed where my old bed used to be. I quickly dove into the bottom bunk and checked all the usual spots in the mattress...no, this wasn't my old one. It didn't have the pockets I'd made in it...my heart started beating really fast as I tried feeling around all the sides, top, bottom...

"Um, what are you doing?" Mail asked. I forgot he was even there.

"Uh..." I blushed. "you know, could you go in the closet for a sec?" I said.

"Uh..."

"And shut the door,"

"Alright,"

"And don't come out until I tell you to, okay?"

"Can I just have my Gameboy?"

I sighed. I saw the thing lying on the floor, under the dresser. "Yeah, here," I handed it to him.

"Yay,"

"Remember, not till I tell you to come out, okay?"

"Okay," I watched him go inside the closet and shut the door. I checked the hall, quietly closed the door, checked the closet again, and then rushed over to the top bunk.

It has to be this one, I thought. Even though that makes no sense. I mean, why would they put my old mattress on the top like that? Unless Mail told them to, he did ask me if I wanted the top, right? But then, why would he just guess before asking me? No, this isn't the mattress! Dammit!

I crawled to the top of the mattress, sat up, and tried to think. Okay, well, if it's not here, then...Maybe I'll have to tell Mail about it. No, I can't, how do I know I could trust him? No, wait, I don't have to trust him...

"Jeevas,"

I got no answer. I climbed down from the top bunk and walked over to the closet. I opened the door.

"Mail?"

He said nothing. He really got into his game while I was searching for...it.

"Huh? Oh, hey, are you done whatever you were doing with your mattress already?"

"Mail, there's something I need to ask you,"

"Oh, okay. What is it?"

I took a deep breath, and decided to go into the closet with him. "Okay, don't tell anyone about this, alright?"

"Uh, yeah..." he sounded nervous.

"Okay, do you know what happened to my old mattress?" I asked him.

"Mm..." he thought for a second. "I think they took it away. Why?"

"Listen Mail," I said, coming in closer. "It's really important that I have to find it. There was something in there,"

"Money?"

"That too," I said. Okay, it was only a few quarters, really.

"Ooh, what was it?"

"Mail," I said, now really close to him. "I...had a huge stash of chocolate hidden in the mattress,"

"Whoa, really?"

"Mm-hm," I said. "You'll help me find it, right?"

"Uh..."

"And you won't tell anyone, because if you do, then everyone will know you still suck your thumbs,"

"H-hey! You said you wouldn't tell anyone about that!"

"Right," I said, letting out an evil smile. "And you won't tell anyone about the stash, right?"

"O-o-okay, I promise,"

"Good then," I said, opening the door. "Oh, and don't even think about going into it, either. I'll find something else on you to tell everyone in Wammy's House,"

"Hold on, I wouldn't do that," he hurried up to follow me out the door.

From an early age, I had learned the importance of extortion. Also known as blackmail, extortion could get your worst enemy to do what you wanted, if you had the right information. The key was to have a lot of it on a lot of different people, because you never knew how well they could keep a secret.

"Wait, Mello!" Mail was panting after me. "None of us know where it is, right? I mean, I don't know where they took it,"

"Then we'll search the place for any likely sources,"

"Uh, yeah, whatever...but..." he was getting tired out just trying to keep up with my pace. "Sh-shouldn't we ask someone about it? Like, someone who knows the place better?"

"The only people who know this place better than me are either adults, or the older kids, or Linden Benson*, and believe me, you don't want to tell her anything,"

"Who's Lin- " he had to stop to catch his breath, "Linden Benson?"

I stopped and turned around. "Linden Benson is one of the younger kids, but she has a great memory and so she might be able to tell where they put the old mattress. The problem is she can't keep her mouth shut, so anything you say to her is like blasting it on a megaphone hooked up to amps from the roof,"

"Oh,"

"And you've gotta get out more," I said, "Really, no offense, but you're kind of out of shape,"

"Am not! You're just going too fast!"

I wasn't about to lose my chocolate. Not now! God, come to think of it, ever since this new kid showed up, all sorts of horrible things were happening to me. And now this?

"Mello! Please slow down!"

"Keep up with me, Mail,"

I suddenly realized that I'd only been pacing up and down the hall. That's when I stopped, and Jeevas did a facefault behind me. He moaned.

"C-could we just take a break or something? I can't go on anymore,"

"No Jeevas, we have to find it,"

"Mm," he moaned again, but he wouldn't get up.

I grabbed him by the hand and dragged him across the floor. "I'm not letting you back out of this, Jeevas! I don't care if you're tired! It's not my fault you're out of shape!"

"How come you're the one who's always eating chocolate but I'm the one who's out of shape?"

"Life's not fair,"

"I hate you,"

"Same here, now get off your butt and move!"

"Hey, what are you doing to him?" asked Linden.

"Linden! Good, I need you right now!"

"He's abusing me! I've fallen and I'm too lazy to get up!" Mail said with his face to the floor. I facepalmed.

"I can't believe you would - Oh hey, aren't you the new kid?" she asked.

"Y-yes,"

She ran up to him. "Aw, sorry about him! Oh, he's your roommate, isn't he? Oh, I'm so sorry about that. I'm Linden Benson, by the way,"

"And I'm Mail Jeevas,"

She smiled. "I really hope you're liking it here, Mail,"

"Eh, kind of," he giggled. "Oh, hey, there's something me and Mello need you for,"

"Huh? What is it?"

"It's nothing. We don't need -"

"He's got something he needs to find, and you're the only one that can find it, I guess. You have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay,"

"Or," I walked up to her, since Mail Jeevas had so nicely pulled her into this, "I'll tell the whole house about your crush on Nate River," I whispered in her ear.

"No you wouldn't! You promised!"

"And you won't tell, right?"

"No, but..."

"I won't tell anyone if you don't, okay?"

She was turning beet red. "F-fine,"

Like I said, have a lot of blackmail on a lot of people, you have the power.

"Oh, tell what? You got dirt on her too?" Mail said.

"Yeah, can't tell you what it is, or else it's pointless,"

"But I don't talk to anyone but you, really; c'mon, who am I gonna tell?"

"Nobody because I won't tell you,"

"Aw,"

"Now, what do you need me to find?" Linden asked.

"My old mattress," I said. "There's a massive chocolate stash hidden in it,"

"Oh, okay,"

"Can you think of any places where they'd keep it?"

"Hm..." she thought a moment. "Well...I know they keep a sort of storage room for things like spare beds and stuff, but I don't think we're aloud to go -"

"Linden, do you really think I care about that right now?"

"Um..."

"Just take us there, okay?"

Dun-dun-dun! Cliff hanger! If you're wondering, the whole "Near is a demon spawn" thing and the part about him being dropped off at Wammy's door in a basket...that was Mello's idea. XD

For whatever reason, I felt the need to put in a yaoi joke. I regret it, but it's still funny.

Matt...yes, I realized that in the "official" art, his eyes are dark blue, but c'mon, he's got red hair, and green eyes go so well with it. ^_^

LOL, yes, I think we all suspected that Mello had chocolate stashed in his mattress. And I always thought he'd be the one to know about extortion at the age of seven...he took over the mafia at fifteen, after all. :P

Poor, poor Matt. Why do I insist on torturing characters I like?

Matt: Yeah, why?
Aw, it's only cuz I care.
Matt: How did I become friends with this guy anyway?
Mello: Am I ever gonna see that chocolate again?
I dunno. If we get more reviews...
Mello: alksljjdlkjsjfj REVIEW! PLEASE!
Matt: Yeah, really.

Oh, and on a sidenote:
*Linden Benson is not an OC; she's actually Linda, but I decided to come up with her "real name" for this story, since she's not given a codename just yet.