Hello, my wonderfully fabulous readers! I apologize for the wait, but this chapter refused to be written. I don't even like it all too much, but my opinion as the author is rather biased, I'd say. Whether or not it's good is up to you guys, I guess. I've already started on Chapter 9, so the wait (coughhopefullycough) shouldn't be quite as long, especially since I've actually got an idea of where the story is going. I know I've told some of you that I was going to do a chapter that was Matt's POV of when he released Near from the dreaded locker of doom, but I'm thinkin' it's too late in the story for that. And that was a last-resort, thing anyways. But I have ideas, now! Mind you, however, that this story is only vaguely planned out. So I'm pretty much writing off the top of my pretty little head.

Please enjoy, and tell me if you don't (or if you do. I love to inflate my own head). Now enough of my babbling! Onward, Fanfic!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I have run out of witty quotes from the Death Note plot to use in the disclaimer. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated, but I still don't own Death Note. Thank you, and have a nice day.

Needless to say, Mello made frequent visits during the time that L was gone. After my cousin returned, though, I only received a phone call here and there. And I had to say, I was kind of relieved. Even though I was gradually growing used to it (to some extent), having Mello and Matt in my apartment was kind of strange.

Okay, way strange. And what was frankly kind of disturbing was that sometimes I'd wake up with the 'M' necklace around my neck. I mean, I already had come to good terms with Mello, and he was still pulling this crap? How had he even managed to do it while L was in the house? L only slept maybe five hours a week, and usually they were all at once. Though I guess he might be a little unaware while he was focusing on cases…

Anyways, after a couple weeks of them not constantly being around me (though Mello would walk me to school occasionally, like there was nothing strange about the arrangement at all), I could already feel the boredom setting in. It wasn't like there was nothing going on (because the football team had a pep rally once a week, and there were dances popping up left and right), but it was only stuff that would interest normal teenagers. And as I'm sure you'll agree, my mindset is absolutely not normal.

I was just about to give in to the monotony one morning, when Mello popped up seemingly out of nowhere, and began walking beside me. Honestly, I didn't even notice him until he started talking. That resulted in me jumping at the sound of his voice, and immediately cursing at myself for not paying attention.

"A little tense?" he teased, seemingly pleased that my soul had jumped out of my body. I scowled, not bothering to answer his question. The silence lasted a few seconds before Mello began talking again. I'd gathered in the time that I'd known him that he didn't like silences, and would usually be the first to talk just to break one. "Why are you in High School?" he asked absent mindedly.

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I asked, confusedly.

Mello shoved his gloved hands into his pockets, bringing his left one back out, now clutching a chocolate bar. He tore the wrapper with his teeth, spitting it on the ground (with no intention of picking it up) before he started walking again. I followed him, not realizing that I'd stopped again.

"I mean, why are you in High School?" he repeated, annoyed. "It doesn't seem like that hard of a concept to follow."

I rolled my eyes. "I know what the question means," I responded. "It's just that I figured that you'd know how smart I am, seeing as you've been watching me for a while." I began to twirl a piece of hair as I thought. "Come to think of it, I remember that we talked on the phone once, and I said 'Why am I not surprised?' when I realized it was you. Then you said that if I had been surprised, you would've thought I'd lost my touch. Could it be that your memory is not as sufficient as I assumed?"

Mello crossed his arms. "Shut up!" he growled, his face heating (though it seemed more like anger than embarrassment this time). "I was going to say that you're too smart for High School, but if you're going to be an ass about it—!" He didn't really get to finish the sentence, because out of nowhere, Matt dropped down onto Mello's back, tackling him to the ground. I didn't waver, but inside I screamed like a little girl.

"What the hell!" the blonde choked. Matt gave a satisfied smile before crossing his legs, still using Mello as a chair. I kind of felt bad for my ex-stalker. Matt didn't look that heavy, but that was in relation to his height. Overall, he must've weighed around a hundred and ten, maybe 15, pounds, if not more than that. And Mello definitely looked lighter, probably due to more activity. Like I said before, Matt seemed to be the type to laze around unless absolutely necessary.

"Hi Near!" The redhead said cheerily. I was about to respond, when Mello's rage finally lent him enough strength to shove Matt off of him.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Mello all but exploded. Matt didn't seemed fazed at all, standing up and brushing off his pants. "You think it's funny tryin' to break my spine or somethin' you stupid idiot!"

Matt stuck a cigarette in his mouth, not bothering to light it. "Ah, feeling redundant today, are we?" This only set the blonde off even more. I could practically see flames coming from his mouth.

"You damn bastard!" Mello reached into his pocket, pulling out a gun. I felt my eyes widen as he cocked it and aimed it at Matt, who was still ignoring him, choosing instead to turn his attention towards some form of gaming system. My mind didn't really care enough to pay attention to what kind it was.

"Mello…" I warned, glancing around. Thankfully, the blonde caught my drift, sliding the gun back into his pocket. I gulped inaudibly, giving a tiny sigh of relief.

"Now that your temper tantrum is over," Matt said, already pushing Mello's buttons. "I actually had something serious I wanted to talk to you about." Instantly, Mello was listening with full attention. I raised an eyebrow. Obviously it was a good idea to indulge Matt when he said he was serious. The gaming-slacker personality must not have gone as far as I'd thought.

"I got a tip that Ross has been looking for you," Matt continued. "He's had his flunkies scouring the city because someone tipped him off that you were here." Mello muttered a curse before stopping to think.

"Who is Ross?" I asked Matt, discreetly, hoping that he would keep quiet. It was kind of awkward to ask him that, because really, I was the only one of the three of us who had no idea what was going on. And not knowing what was going on was an entirely new concept to me.

"Rod Ross, the Mafia Boss," the gamer responded, rhyming in a singsong-y tune. Instantly, my brain made the connection, and I started remembering everything I knew about the criminal. He was a bald, middle-aged career criminal who had made a permanent residence of L.A.'s underbelly.

And…he was looking for Mello?

I stared at the blonde, who was still thinking, and nibbling thoughtfully on a chocolate bar. I turned my gaze to Matt, who had a knowing, and expectant look on his face. I thought about it carefully, my mind sliding all the pieces together gradually.

Mello was…a Mafioso? I sighed, acknowledging the truth. Mello, the man who had been stalking me up until about a month ago, and who could now fully be recognized as my friend, was a part of the mafia.

Matt smiled, nodding, and I remember thinking absently that it was the kind of look you'd see on some badass movie character's face right around the time that a hard rock instrumental would start.

…

Hey, I may be a genius, but it's not as though I've never seen a movie before.

Anyways, Mello seemed to come to an epiphany at around the same time, though he didn't look at all happy about it.

"Matt…" he began drearily. "…We're gonna hafta leave, huh?" Matt shrugged.

"I'm just the techie," the redhead said, tapping ashes off the cigarette I'd forgotten he had. "You usually come up with the plans. And I think that if you get a few minutes to do some hard thinking, you'll come up with something."

"That wasn't 'hard thinking'?" I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly. Matt laughed.

"Nope," he said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "You should see this guy when he gets going! He paces, and talks to himself too." I glanced over to Mello.

Needless to say, he didn't seem too happy about Matt's comments. He wasn't in an explosive rage like last time, but he was definitely steaming. His face was red, and I could see a vein pulsing in his head. Vaguely, I thought that if there was an award for the world's highest blood pressure, Mello could win in a heartbeat, provided Matt was there to piss him off.

Then again, a lot of things seemed to piss him off.

"Well, we can't stay in one place for long," Mello said between gritted teeth. "We don't necessarily have to leave the city, but we do need to be on the lookout." Matt rolled his eyes.

"Jesus, Mels, I coulda told you that," he complained. "I think Near is throwing you off your game today." I rolled my eyes, and Mello slapped Matt in the back of his head.

"Shut the hell up, Matt," he said annoyedly. "I'll think of something soon! I'm just not in a good mood right now, and you're not helping."

"When are you ever in a good mood?"

"I said shut up!" Mello's face and neck were a brilliant shade of crimson by this point, and I had a feeling that Matt was hiding bruises all over from constantly subjecting himself to Mello's wrath. "I've had a lot to deal with lately, and you know it, so shut up!" Matt basically went into standby mode right then, turning away from the blonde and devoting all his attention to his game. Fortunately, Mello's color started to lighten a bit.

"Hey," I said, drawing attention to me. "I hate to break up a lovers' quarrel, but I really need to get to school." I ignored the rant that Mello went on after my last statement, walking away from the two and towards the school. Surprisingly, neither of them followed me.

"Um, you're Near, right?" I looked up from the lunch table, where I was stacking dice. I gave the girl standing in front of me a look that clearly said "You must be stupid if you're asking me that."

Even though she'd just said something unfathomably dumb (at least in my book), I took a moment to look at her. She had thin, mousy brown hair that was pulled down into two pigtails. Her eyes were a startling shade of turquoise, and she wasn't very tall. She looked very plain, and not that confident.

Once I'd taken a good look at her, some part of my mind registered that I didn't know who she was. She must've either transferred schools, or was just really, really good at hiding.

Anyways, she obviously got the meaning of my stare, which made her blush heavily. "I-I mean, uh, I just—!"

I cut her off. "Miss, I would appreciate it if you would end your senseless babble as soon as possible." I didn't really care that it was rude; it was true all the same. The girl blushed even harder, but shut up nonetheless.

"I-I'm sorry…" she said quietly, looking down. I rolled my eyes. She sighed, seemingly defeated, before starting over.

"Um, my name is Louisa Vasquez," she said. I blinked, which she must've taken as a sign to continue. "I—uh…can I sit here?" she pulled out the open chair next to me. I raised an eyebrow, but gave a nod anyways. Louisa hurriedly sat down, and began fiddling with one of her ponytails. I wanted to ask her what her problem was, or why she would want to sit by me. However, before I got the chance, she started talking again.

"Um…" she started. I opened my mouth to tell her to quit saying 'um', but she cut me off again. "I was wondering…if you didn't already have a date…" I raised an eyebrow again. Where was this conversation going? "…if you'd…like to go to the upcoming dance with me…?"

I felt my eyes widen infinitesimally, and I think I actually might have blushed a bit. I stayed silent, my mind reeling.

Wh-what! Was what I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue, knowing all too well how that would pan out.

So instead, I thought about it. Why would some red-faced sputtering girl come and ask me on a date? In any case, wasn't it usually the guy who instigated such a thing?

But…why?

"Uh…What?"

I mentally facepalmed as the word made its way out of my mouth, betraying all of the shock and confusion I felt at the moment. The very thing I didn't want to say had come spilling out of my throat like vomit. It tasted about as vile, too. At this point, I actually felt my face heat up.

A few tables away, I heard loud, flamboyant laughter coming from some of my biggest (and I mean that quite literally) tormentors, the sports teams. Now it wasn't just the typical cliché football jocks that I was talking about. That included the soccer, volleyball, and basketball teams as well. And for a total, that was a lot of people.

"The little freak is red as an apple!" shouted one kid. I ignored them to the best of my ability, though every comment made my usually pale skin turn a shade darker.

"Oh!" Louisa fretted, throwing her crimson-stained face into her hands. "I knew I should've done this somewhere else!"

Then why didn't you, you idiot? I couldn't help but think. I kept my gaze low, making it so that my hair covered the majority of my face.

"U-uh, I'll think about it," I muttered, standing up. I collected the dice I'd long since abandoned, stuffing them into one of my pockets before grabbing my backpack and exiting the cafeteria at a harried pace. My hasty retreat must've been funny, because I don't think there was a person in that damned cafeteria who wasn't laughing.

Except possibly Louisa Vasquez…

I don't think that "hellish" would accurately describe the rest of my day. Ever since Mello had threatened everyone in my school into submission, no one had physically harassed me, but that didn't stop them from attacking me verbally after the little scene Louisa had caused at lunch.

If not for the total and utter humiliation, I might've cared less. In fact, I may not have cared at all. But today…today just couldn't get any worse.

At least that's what I thought.

By now, I have officially deduced that I am no longer a virgin, because life has screwed me over more times than I can count.

I was walking back home, just wallowing in self-pity when it happened (though why everything seems to happen on my way home, I'll never know). All I really thought as I found Matt sitting on top of me, having flown down from nowhere, was that this gave me a horrible sense of déjà vu.

"Jesus, Matt!" I exclaimed. "What is wrong with—?" and then his hand was covering my mouth, forcing me into silence. I struggled against him until I heard the whizzing of several bullets flying by. That made me freeze where I was.

Seemingly all in one motion, Matt had gotten off of me, picked me up, and thrown me piggy-back style onto his back. I clutched his shirt desperately, trying to not get thrown off with the amount that he was moving. Bullets were still soaring by, and I actually felt one brush dangerously close to my hair. I actually yelped at that one.

A black van was waiting for us as we rounded a corner. The door flew open, revealing Mello, and Matt didn't even slow down before literally jumping inside the car. As soon as we were in, he dropped me into a seat, slamming the door shut. Before he managed to close it all the way, though, he let go of the handle and his now free hand flew to his left arm. The only reason the door closed all the way was because of the momentum. I gasped as blood started to leak through Matt's fingers.

Mello, however, was more preoccupied with the task of getting us out of shooting range. Before the door had even closed, he had floored the gas pedal, sending us into a dizzying whirl of speed. Matt hissed in pain as we were jolted to the side, putting strain on his new wound. I actually sat there, frozen in fear for a few seconds.

"M-Matt?" I stammered eventually. The redhead successfully managed to prop himself up against one of the seats, positioning himself so that he had a good view of his still bleeding arm.

"I'm fine…" he said, sounding incredibly strained. "Shit…" He must've realized that there was no exit wound, meaning that the bullet was still lodged in his arm. I watched in morbid amazement as the redhead thrust two fingers into the wound, fishing around inside his own flesh before yanking out the foreign piece of metal, casting it onto the floor. Needless to say, more and more blood began to seep through the wound.

"Near!" he cried painfully. "Get the bandages from under that seat!" I jumped, doing as I was told before helping him wrap the wound. It didn't really help too much, but the bloodflow had reduced significantly. Desperately, I tried to recall a solution.

"Uh…Matt!" I cried, having an epiphany. "Take off your belt, we can make a tourniquet!" He fumbled with the buckle before yanking it part of the way through the loops. When it was obvious that he couldn't continue, I yanked the piece of leather the rest of the way out.

I looped it tightly around the upper part of his arm, above the bullet hole. I was sure that it would be highly uncomfortable, but even with the lack of relationship between the two of us, I'd rather Matt have been uncomfortable and alive than dead.

"Mello!" I cried, hoping that he was still paying attention to the road. He sure was swerving through traffic quite a lot… "What the hell is going on!"

"I'll explain later!" he yelled back. "I'm a little busy right now!"

So I just sat and pulled my hair out next to Matt, there being nothing else I really could do.

Life? Hey, it's me, Near. I freaking HATE YOU.

I also apologize for any spelling/grammar errors that you may notice. Please point them out if you spot them. I feel like I should also apologize for the reduced word count.

...sorry.

THIS IS IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ: I also just remembered that this story is going to be getting a new title. The current one was really not thought out, and only meant as a placeholder until I could think of a better one. I'll let you know before it changes, though. THOU HATH BEEN WARNED!

~Mista Benz