(Near P.O.V)

Matt and I were thrilled to have Mello back when we saw him walk into the rec-room with L. We both hugged him tightly and didn't let go for a while. We had begun to worry something had happened to him, Matt was even miffed at me for letting him go alone. It took a while to explain to him that it was Mello's idea to go alone while I called for help. It didn't calm the red-head, but it stopped him from blaming me for his disappearance.

Once we let go of him, he told us all about how he'd tricked the kidnappers into letting him go. The story seemed highly fabricated, what with pistol-whipping one of the older men, but looking into his eyes… I believed him. I didn't think he'd be able to really make up a story like that. Besides, with Mello's anger and hostility, who's to say it didn't happen?

When his story was over, we instantly turned our attention onto the apparent 'mole' in the orphanage.

"Is that really what they said?" Matt asked. "That there's a traitor here?"

"No," the blonde said bluntly, "just that there's a mole. Someone who managed to sneak past L and discover everything about us. Including what we're being trained to do."

L piped in. "But by the looks of it, it may as well be one of our own."

"What do you mean? How would you tell?"

"Well," he began, "take, for example, the fact that the mafia got a hold of you three. Near would be easy enough to pick off from a crowd…"

"What with the blinding ensemble." Mello muttered, making Matt snicker.

I was feeling rather snarky that day. "Yet I still look less feminine than you."

Matt full out laughed when he heard that whilst Mello stared at me in dismay. Instead of hitting me though, like he did with most people when they mocked him for his… ahem… femininity, he turned away.

"Well played."

I grinned widely as L spoke once more. "As I was saying...

"Near would be picked off with no problem. But you two? We have more than one blonde here at Wammy's, male and female…" we all looked at Mello who was slitting his eyes in annoyance. "And more red-heads than just Matt. Even more, they broke into Near's room specifically. But how would they know which room was his? They even knew when I was at the hotel in London, so they knew they'd get their ransom sooner than if they hadn't planned all this. They knew everything, from where Near was sleeping, to which blonde and red-head to find. The only way they could know all this, is if someone was leaking information. I have a feeling they were offered part of the ransom as reward for helping the Mafia."

"But who did it is the question." Mello added. "There hasn't been many new kids here for a while, and those that were new are too young to be involved with the Mafia. It has to be one of the older students."

"Maybe it's Torrik." Matt jumped in. "Come on, the guy hates all three of us, Mello more than anyone."

"We can't jump to that conclusion just yet, Matt." L countered. "Yes, Torrik is a trouble-case. But that doesn't mean it was him.

"Besides, I don't want you three getting into this. We'll find out who's been leaking information, I don't believe it'll take too long. So promise me you'll stay out of this."

The three of us looked at each other, then back to him. We nodded in semi-unison, all agreeing to stay out of his way.

And with that, L exited the room. When we knew he was out of ear-shot, the talking commenced.

"We're not staying out of this… are we?" Matt stated more than questioned.

Mello held up his crossed fingers. "I had to. L wants this guy found and four sets of eyes are better than one."

"But how do we find him is the question?" Matt spoke as he crossed his arms. "This guy got past L. I think it's safe to say he's smart enough to evade even the most difficult of traps. What if he was part of the Mafia that took you?"

"Maybe he isn't part of the Mafia… but was simply given the opportunity to get rid of us."

"But you said it yourself, they only wanted ransom…"

"And if L never got the news of our disappearance? What if he was assigned to tell L we were missing? What if he never told him, simply making it seem like we were just 'out an about'? The Mafia would've gotten angry, then…" Mello pantomimed his neck being cut. "We're out of the picture. L's next inline would then be…?"

"Not Torrik, that's for sure." Matt chuckled out.

"Stephanie?" I spoke up. "She's the one after Matt, but I wouldn't think it would be her."

I remember her well enough, too. She was a sweetheart, never once caused trouble. She was beautiful to boot. Long, bleach-blonde, curly hair, always wore pink dresses. She and Linda were friends as well… how could she, of all people, be responsible for our kidnapping? Last I checked, Stephanie had a crush on Mello as well.

I watched as the blonde himself shuddered. "Please, don't bring up that name. She's even freakier than you, Near."

Indeed.

To show her affection to Mello upon meeting him, she gave him a 'promise ring' of sorts, made from a lock of her hair and a peach pick. She had no idea Mello had instantly thrown it out the window the moment she wasn't looking. He stayed as far away from her as he could ever since.

"Should we talk to her?" Matt suggested.

Mello hid behind me. "You can talk to the crazy girl if you want, but keep her as far away from me as physically possible!"

"Mello, she's a cupcake! Are you seriously still afraid of her?" Matt said through some giggles.

"She a cupcake filled with CRAZY!" He emphasized. "And yes, the fact that I'm hiding behind Near should be evident of my fear of her."

"That's a little sad, Mello." I commented.

He pushed me away. "Why don't you have a freaky chick go crazy for you?! See how you fare!"

I shook my head slowly. "I'm alright, thanks."

"So it's settled." Matt jumped in once again. "We talk to Stephanie."

"Ha! Fuck no." Mello said bluntly. "You can go talk to crazy chick if you want. I'm staying here."

Matt glanced at me. Then back to Mello, who had folded his arms defiantly and turned away from us. He then proceeded to pick him up and carry the blonde over his shoulder. Neither I nor Mello knew Matt was that strong… nor that Mello himself was so light.

He started to struggle. "Matt, please, I'm begging you! Please don't take me to the crazy girl!"

Matt the progressed towards the door. "You coming, Near?"

"To see Mello face his ultimate fear? Wouldn't miss it."

"You son of a –"

Matt swung Mello into a door frame to stop his swear. "Now Mels, you can't be talking like that to a lady. You'll have to woo her with your charm if you're gonna get any information from her."

"I told you, I'm NOT… wait, what? Woo her?"

"You think he can pull it off?" I asked Matt whilst Mello still squirmed in his grip.

"We'll see in a few hours. We have to make him look good for her first."

"Seriously, you guys. This is not funny."

"We have all night, too. I doubt we'll get much sleep anyway… we may have to tie him to a chair though."

"Near, I swear to god, if you so much as TOUCH me…!"

"Good idea. Can I count on you to get the rope?"

"AGHGH!"

Mello squirmed with all his might, but surprisingly Matt was stronger. In the end, we did tie him to the chair, we did primp him up for Stephanie, and he did swear at us constantly as we worked. It took a lot of convincing on Matt's part, but we got him to agree to talk to Stephanie. Albeit because we threatened to eat all his chocolate… but he agreed. I almost felt bad for the blonde… almost.