Chapter ten:

Mello manages to get Near out of the area with the room and he carefully starts to make his way down the hall he thinks will lead him to the best path to get out. He manages to spot Rai who does look relieved that Near is safe.

Rai shares a look with Mello promising to keep the path ahead for him clear before she disappears from sight.

Mello continues forth and true to her word the few times that Mello does find guards Rai is quick to distract them so Mello can sneak by. He isn't sure how she gets there so fast since those are the only times that he sees her while traversing this place. He gets out and hurries Near to where the car is waiting. He lays Near's unconscious body on the seat of the car then climbs in by Near to wait for the others.

Soon Rai comes into the car sitting on her knees on the floor to check Near and the man also joins.

The car leaves the area heading for the base now.

"I am so glad we found you." Rai sighs happily.

Mello's head snaps to look to the direction that they were just leaving. His eyes widen as the loud sound is confirmed to be some kind of explosion.

"No one left to put them in danger." The man mentions and Mello looks down feeling slight fear about if Near tells them what he has done in bullying Near.

Mello just hopes that him helping to save Near's life makes them ignore any bullying he has done to Near before this. He didn't think of this group as that dangerous until that happened. He had seen them as a bit too soft to be that dangerous. He slightly tries to mentally brush it off since surely they'll forgive him. He tries to put his focus on Near hoping that they haven't done anything too horrible to him. He finds an urge to reach out to put a hand on the other's shoulder. He also finds that as he looks upon Near's unconscious body he doesn't think that he needs to beat the other anymore. He has indeed found new feelings have grown in their place. He wants something different now from the boy. He just isn't sure how to approach this.

Usually it would be girls confessing to him.

Mello has never tried to confess such feelings to anyone before. He isn't even sure where he is supposed to begin.

"You like him a lot. Don't you?" Rai's words snap Mello out of his thoughts and he looks to her in surprise. Her eyes meeting with his and she chuckles a little. "It is okay. You can try. You did so much just to save his life. You have shown that you really do care. You have won a chance to try to be with him in my books. Though if you do anything to hurt or harm him you will severely regret it." Her threat is clearly not empty making Mello glad that he doesn't have anymore plans to harm Near in anyway ever again.

Mello slightly glances away before letting out a breath. "Thanks. I will see if he even wants such a thing. However." He looks to Near who remains unconscious. "I would like to make sure that he is okay first."

Rai looks a little worriedly to her brother as well at this. "Me as well." She admits and gently brushes some hair out of Near's eyes in a sisterly caring way.

Mello truly hopes that it will all be okay.

Later…

Mello has gotten Matt to explain everything to L including that The Shadows made sure that those people will no longer be a threat.

L hasn't responded yet as he probably is deciding how to move forward with all of this right now.

Mello has decided to not bother with whatever L's answer will be. He goes to the bedroom where Near is resting. He peeks inside finding Rai to still be sitting at his side. He lets out a worried breath as Near hasn't seemed to have woken up yet. He moves closer as Rai spots him and gestures him inside. He stands beside the bed. "How long do you think it'll take for him to awaken?"

"We have a medic under our command coming to check on him. We decided it was needed since he hasn't woken up even four hours later." Rai looks worriedly to her brother. "Mello… What if Near never wakes up? I mean I know that there is such a thing as a medically induced coma. What if that is what they did to him?" She stops her worried rambling to take a breath when Mello places a hand on her shoulder. "I just want him to be okay." She slightly mummers and Mello can understand that.

"So do I." Mello agrees looking to Near's sleeping face. He just wishes that Near would just suddenly open his eyes and make everything okay. He however finds that his wish doesn't come true. He mentally shakes away any thoughts that Near won't wake up. He has to have some faith in that Near is strong enough to be able to get through this. "We will know when the medic gets here. Near is strong though. I am sure that he will find a way to get through this." His words get an appreciative look from Rai for it. He just hopes that he is actually right about all of this and that it truly will be all okay in the end.

The medic gets here pretty quickly and he begins his look over Near.

Rai is staying close to the man who has shown to be the leader of this group looking for comfort like he is a fatherly figure to her.

The other Shadows have been ordered to wait elsewhere to not crowd where the medic is working on Near.

Mello and Matt are actually staying close to each other finding some comfort with each others friend status. They don't even care if L has responded to them about what happened or if there still isn't a response. They just want to know about Near's condition and if he will be okay.

The medic seems to be able to easily focus even with the attention on him from the worried people who just want everything to turn out to be alright. He finishes his check of Near and takes a step back.

Rai is the first to speak out of all of them. "Is he going to be okay?" Her question causes the medic to turn to look to her as well as the others standing there to wait for a verdict.