(Matt P.O.V)

Six months Near had been away. Three or four years since Mello had left. I remained at the Wammy house in wait for either one. However, I hadn't gotten contact with either one of them so I began lose both faith and hope.

Until those men arrived.

It had been another boring day around the Wammy house, and I had been watching over the younger kids when Roger guided in two men into the playroom. They immediately caught my attention, considering they didn't look like regular business men. One was younger than the other as well. Maybe just a few years older than I. The other was a stern looking fellow with a darker skin tone.

Roger led them over to me, which concerned me – though I did my best not to show it – and introduced them.

"Matt, these two gentlemen are from the Japanese Task Force. They've come all the way from Japan to ask a few questions concerning Mello."

'Mello?' I had thought. 'What on earth did they want with Mello? And why go to such lengths?'

I stood up then. Speaking in Japanese, just to help the language barrier a bit, I said, "Good afternoon. My name is Matt. And who may I be speaking to?"

The older man held out his hand. "Aizawa. My partner here is Matsuda. We've come to ask about Mello, and Roger here says you know most about him."

My trust was greatly limited in these two. Besides, what did the police want with Mello? It was all too sketchy to me.

I simply nodded. "Of course. What is it you want to know?"

"Simply who he is. What he's been doing. And more importantly, where is now."

"I'm sorry, but I can't honestly tell you about what he's been doing. I haven't seen the guy in close to four years now."

"But he was a student here, correct?" The younger asked.

I nodded. "Yes. He was the second smartest kid here."

"Next to?"

I debated whether or not to tell them, but decided not to lie. "He was second to Near."

They wrote that down, which made my stomach churn a bit. "Might I ask what this is for?"

They looked at me then, but simply said that it was on a need to no basis.

I scoffed at them then. "Then I'll let you in on a secret." They seemed intrigued, but it didn't last for very long. "If you two are searching for him, I'd think twice about it. Mello isn't someone you want to mess with, and if he ever finds out that you were harassing me without so much as an explanation as to why, he will find you first. I'm not trying to threaten you, but merely trying to help you. So I'd appreciate some answers from the two of you as well."

They looked scared now. And after a quick debate between them, they spilled.

Aizawa explained. "We're here on behalf of L…"

"L? Be more truthful than that. I already know that the real L is gone. Whoever you're working for has to be a fake."

Again, they looked at each other, but I suppose they couldn't help it. Everyone at the Wammy house would be able to get to their truths anyway. So, now came the real truths.

"We work for Light Yagami in the Kira investigation. He was chosen by the original L to succeed him. Or, at least we thought."

"You see," Matsuda began, "we got a call from a certain person who goes by 'N'. He claims to be the real L, and describes Light as a fake. He claims that Mello was from Wammys, so we came here for answers."

"Mello has joined himself in with the Mafia and has been terrorizing us to obtain a special notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it. He managed to only just get a hold of it, and N directed us here for more on his history."

I had clenched my fist to keep my anger from overflowing. N… Near… that bastard! How could he betray Mello this way!? How could he allow them to come here and find out about who Mello really was?! Jesus, did he not care?!

I took a breath. "Well then," I breathed out, "sit down, and I'll answer your questions."

They sat across from me on the sofa as Roger exited the room. I knew the old man wanted nothing to do with this now. He knew I'd be able to handle them.

"Ask away." I said once I seated myself.

Aizawa began. "Alright then. We are aware of what this school truly is, thanks to Roger's obedience. But we'd like to know more about Mello's place here."

I scratched my chin a bit. "Well, as far as I can tell you, Mello was just secondary here. The real star was Near. He always had perfect test scores, whereas Mello usually got at least half a mark gone. Eventually, Near was chosen for L's succession, so Mello left."

"And how long have you known Mello?" Matsuda asked.

I decided to be partially truthful with this. "I've known him my whole life. He was the one who brought me here."

"But you two aren't friends?"

"No, we aren't."

'We're best friends.' I thought, keeping the smile from showing.

Aizawa began again. "And you have no idea where he may be right now?"

"Not a clue. Last time I saw him he had a fit about not being picked as L's successor. Destroyed my room because of it too."

They looked at each other before writing that down. Finally, the last question.

"Lastly, do you have any photos of either Near or Mello on your hands?" Aizawa asked.

"No, I don't. Mello hated his picture being taken, and Near wasn't really interested in pictures of himself."

"Then, can you give us a generalization of what the two look like?"

I thought about that for a quick second. I really didn't want to give them anything to work on. If they found Mello because of me…

"I can draw them for you." Came the small voice of Linda.

We all turned towards her as she had her sketchpad out and ready. "I know the both of them by heart, and can give you something to work with."

I gave Linda a look, but at a second glance I saw her shifting her eyes towards the doorway. The hall behind it led to Roger's office. But why…

'Roger has Near's contact number. I could call him and ask about Mello! More importantly, I can thrash out at him for putting Mello into this dangerous situation.'

I stood up then. "Well, I'll leave it to Linda to give you a general idea of what Mello and Near look like. I have to go tutor some kids right now, so," I bowed, "excuse me for my rudeness."

The two men stood and bowed back. Once I was free to leave, I looked back from the hall and saw Linda look up at me slyly, then winked at me.

I couldn't thank her enough as I made a run for Roger's office. When I' burst through the door, I demanded that Roger get me in touch with Near right away.

He didn't hesitate to get me in contact with him, either. I suppose even he wanted to know what Near was doing right now. It made me feel just a bit better to know Roger was being kept out of the loop as well.

Thankfully, it was a video chat on Rogers laptop and I was able to scream right at the albino bastard.

"Matt?" He seemed surprised. He took a twirl of his hair then. "Why on earth…?"

"NEAR, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" I screamed at him. "THE POLICE ARE HERE ASKING ABOUT MELLO! THEY SAY YOU WERE THE ONE THAT SENT THEM!"

"What? I did no such thing. I've been trying…" he paused, stopping his hand in his hair. "Unless… L… the second L…"

"What's he got to do with this?!" I calmed down just a tiny bit. If anything, to keep my voice low.

Near seemed to tense up now. "That bastard. He actually went to Wammys. I guess I can't blame him, though. I should have never said anything about Mello."

"SO YOU ADMIT IT!" I screamed again.

"Please calm down, Matt. Anyone can make a mistake. Besides, Mello is well hidden right now. It'll take a while now before he's caught. At any rate, the main reason I told the second L about Mello was to see how far he'd go for information. If he really wanted Kira caught, then why go through the trouble of finding more about Mello? I guarantee you, Matt, that whoever is portraying L right now is more than likely to be the original Kira. Why else would he want Mello's head? He beat him in his own game, he used his task force against him."

"Wait… so Mello's investigating the case?"

"Well… in a sense. It's more for his own gain than any. But I'll tell you what, I'll fund for you to head over to L.A. I know Mello is still there, and I know you've been dying to get a hold of him."

"How do you know he's still there?"

"Since he's part of the Mafia, he really has nowhere else to go. Being surrounded by morons, he won't flee the country because they're too stupid to see that it'd be best. Still, I believe his hiding spot will keep him safe."

"Do you know where it is, though?" I asked frantically.

"Matt," Roger suddenly stepped in. "I don't think this is a good idea. Mello probably doesn't even want you there. You know how protective he is of you."

"I have to, Roger. I need to tell him about the second L. How he's being hunted down." I looked at Near then. Anger carved on my face. "And also how you betrayed him!"

"Like I said before, Matt. This was to prove a point. As to your last question, no. I don't know where Mello is right now, but I'm sure you of all people will be able to find him. The most I can tell you is that he's in Los Angeles. Maybe in a remote area."

I backed away from the desk then. "Fine. I'll take your offer. Get me to L.A. and get me enough money for a hotel room and a car. I don't care if it's used or new, or even if it's a shit-stain. As long as I can drive over ninety."

Near nodded. "I'll assign you with a credit card under your name. No limit. I promise to pay off any debt you make with it. You should have it in a few days."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

"As for the car. One will be waiting for you at the airport in L.A. You should know it when you see it."

I nodded to him. "Alright then. By the way, you were right to have Linda burn those pictures. But I'm afraid she's offered to draw these men sketches of both you and Mello. I don't know that this is a good idea."

"Leave Linda to her work. Knowing her, I can guarantee Mello will be safe. At least for a while."

"Gee… how reassuring."

"None of us are safe right now Matt. The fact that those men spoke to you puts you in danger too. No matter what, even if you tell them lies, you can be killed. So be careful… and get to Mello's side."

"Right. I'll find him, Near. Don't worry about it."

"And when you do, give him a message for me. Tell him he's more than welcome to join me. In fact, I think his help would be greatly appreciated right at this moment."

I sighed a bit. "Alright. I'll tell him. Goodbye Near… and thank you."

The video conversation ended there, and I quickly composed myself. I couldn't think about what Mello was doing in the Mafia at this point. I just had to focus on finding him. My questions would come later.

I caught up with the men before they left and was able to take a look at the sketches that Linda had given them. True to his word, Near knew Linda wouldn't disappoint.

The Near and Mello she drew were much younger than what they would look like right now. Finding anyone who matched these two perfectly would be difficult. Even better, I doubted the fake L could even work off of these. But I had to keep in mind that this fake L was going above and beyond to find Mello for some unknown reason. So I had to find him first.

Thankfully, being third in line wasn't so bad. Those two men had left without even knowing my true connections to the orphanage. I felt almost giddy about all this. I never knew how important I could truly be to the two successors of L.

Maybe, had I not slacked off so much and actually did my homework more, I would have been a pretty good L myself.

Then again, it meant that I'd have to give up some time with my video games…

And no television…

Plus lack of sleep…

…

Fuck that, I'm glad I was third.

A/N: Matt never really seemed like the guy who would care about being last anyway, so. XD

Anyway, hope you all are enjoying.

Reviews Welcomed. :)