(Near P.O.V)

I can't say I felt sorry for Mello and Matt. But I guess I should have.

While I had been trailing a new suspect who may well have been X-Kira, the one who now held the notebook, the two were trailing Misa Amane as a suspect of being the once second Kira. Ever since, the two were being… tortured, in a sense.

Matt was the first one to call me, and it had barely been a day.

I had been packing up for my flight to Japan when Matt appeared on the screen. The only man to have ever been able to hack my computer in hopes to talk to me sooner.

"Near, you little bastard! You sent us on a shit-mission! There's no way this girl could be the second Kira!"

Considering Matt didn't swear too often, he must have been tortured. "How so? Is everything alright?"

"No! This dimwit, ditzy, over-pampered, brat has to be the most annoying, the most stupid, and the most ear torturing thing to ever happen to this planet! I literally threw my DS across the room the moment she started up about lip-gloss and which would be... what was it Mels!?"

I only heard a groan. "The most 'glittery and kissable lip-gloss for my Light'." Another groan. "Please, leave me to my suffering now."

Matt looked back at me. "You see what you did! You broke him! He'll never recover from this!"

With all honesty, I pitied them greatly. I had heard that Amane was… not Wammy house material. I'm surprised L managed to endure it for as long as he did. Poor Matt and Mello were probably losing their brain cells by the second listening to her drone on.

I convinced them to keep going and keep listening in on her, and it landed me a cry of pain from the blonde in the background.

"You'd better get to Japan soon, freak!" Said the blonde, completely out of sight. "I have a few punches you deserve for all this!"

And with that, the conversation ended. And, just so you know, I did get those punches. And I didn't dodge them either. It was my fault after all.

But, before then, I had to make my way to Japan. Matt had given me his coordinates, so before I went to my new base of operations I would have Rester take me to them. If only, to be able to catch up with them once more.

Plus, there was the matter of Mello's birthday gift.

On the plane ride to Japan, I could almost feel the tension Rester was putting forth. He had been restless ever since I'd told him about meeting Mello and Matt in private. I knew why, but it was better that he told me himself.

I didn't look at him when I spoke, but kept my eyes on the toys I had with me. "If you are uneasy about me meeting Mello, then please say so now Commander."

He didn't question how I knew, but simply spoke his mind. "I think it's a bad idea. The guy's a nutcase and don't forget that he tried to kill you beforehand. Just because he's cooperating now, doesn't mean he can't snap in an instant."

"There's no need to worry. Mello won't…"

"You always say that about him. 'He won't do this', 'he won't do that,' but I'm beginning to think that you're just taking guesses with him."

"And haven't I told you that taking guesses is what being a detective is about?"

Silence. When he wouldn't speak, I continued.

"Yes, I admit that more times than not, I'm taking a guess as to what Mello would do in certain situations. But, at the same time, I've learned from past experience about just how much I can ask of him. I'm not exactly an authority figure to him, you understand."

"Yet he treats you like a child most times. Why would you allow that? You barely allow your own team members to make a move without your say-so."

"Because, to me, you're all too incompetent to catch Kira on your own judgements. I mean, look at all the people who tried to catch him. They wound up dead. And the only reason we're alive is because we know how to out maneuver him.

"However…" I said quietly, putting down my toy. "To Mello, I'll always be a kid to him. And it's because of a certain incident that happened at the Wammy house nearly ten years ago."

Rester seemed interested to hear this. "What do you mean? What happened?"

I paused for a moment to fully recollect what had happened that day. "I had been asleep when someone broke into my room and carried me away from the orphanage. When I was put into the backseat, the men who'd kidnapped me were suddenly having a scuffle. No more than five minutes later, Mello and Matt appeared on either side of me. Matt had been knocked unconscious and Mello was raving and cursing like a lunatic."

"Near, this doesn't explain…"

"I was terrified."

The words made the commander fall into silence. Considering I never showed any emotion to him, and that he just learned that I had emotions, this was the perfect reaction.

I continued. "When they tied me up and gagged me, I almost cried from the fear. I was even more scared when I saw just how easily they'd subdued Mello. It wasn't until they began driving that I began to think that it might have been the end for me. It was the first time in my life where I was just a mere child, with no way of knowing how I would escape this. And I suppose Mello saw this fear. So, even though it may have been a grasp at straws to begin with, he constructed a plan to get Matt and myself free from them. He did what I couldn't, because I was just a kid."

"So," Rester spoke up, "he treats you like a child…"

"Because that's what I am to him. A child. Because he knows that I can't do everything on my own. But, make no mistake. I will only ever allow him and Matt to treat me like that. They're my family. My older brothers, of sorts. And only family can treat each other in that aspect."

"I see." He commented. "Still, he's not exactly to keep to one emotion…"

"No, he isn't. And I take careful steps around him most times. However, like I said before, the Mello I know and grew up with is the one I trust the most. When he lost L, he lost a part of his sanity. When he almost lost his life, when he almost lost Matt and his chance for revenge on Kira, he gained it back."

I looked down at my robot again, feeling a mix of pain and sorrow. "I almost feel sorry for him. He seems to be held back by chains stronger than his own will, but he keeps putting one foot in front of the other. No longer living for himself anymore, but just to finish what he started. I wonder, just how far can he go before his body finally gives in, and his mind becomes dead to the world."

"Near?"

I heard him, but I didn't answer. I just listened to my own mind. My memories.

How many times had he saved us? How many times he'd come to our aid? How many beatings did he take, for Matt, for his mother, for me? How long had he truly been suffering? I always thought that being ignored by my parents, by my sisters, by Mello himself, was painful. But, when I thought about it, I never had bruises anywhere on my being. None physical nor mental. I had always been lucky enough to escape those kinds of bruises. But Mello and Matt? Every day had been a hell for them. The only difference, was that they never showed how much they truly suffered.

And I admired that.

I turned to Rester. "Please, do not worry for my safety. If anything, you need to focus on Gevanni and Lidner's well-being. Kira wants my head, and he'll go to any lengths to get it. Mello and Matt will protect me, but they won't have the time for you three. When Matt and Mello are dead, then you can worry for me."

Rester sighed, but nodded. "Those two must have done something extraordinary to get your trust this easily."

"You would think, but no. They merely just adopted me into their family. Or rather, L adopted all of us. Like I said, we're brothers. Brothers have a special kind of relationship."

"And the present you got for Mello? You don't think it was excessive?"

"Not one bit. In fact, I think he'll appreciate it more than you believe."

"Still, to spend so much of L's fund…"

"L would have bought it for him, too. He spoiled us constantly when we were children. Besides, I got Matt his car, so I believe Mello deserves something as well."

Rester huffed out a chuckle. "Well, I wish I had a brother like you to spend cash on me."

I ignored the comment. I'd drifted into silence again, thinking about the Kira case once more. I had the strangest feeling in my stomach about it all. As if there was more to unravel. But I'd have to wait and see when I got to Japan to see what it was. Perhaps this would all end sooner than I'd hoped.