In Charge
Chapter 19 – Moved
By Threshie
AN: Happy New Year, everybody! :) Here's the second half of the "two-parter" chapter 18 started; this chapter jumps right back into the story where 18 left off, and it's a looong one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
"...I never made a mistake! Never! Perfect records--K-Kennedys—i-it's them, not me...!"
Near listened to Mikami's frantic words, stunned. Everything had been over so fast; the entire fight between Mello and Mikami couldn't have lasted more than five minutes. Am I in shock? Everything felt...unreal. There was the babble of many people talking all at once, and suddenly people were swarming all over the room.
Strangers. At least a dozen of them.
After what had happened to him in the past few days, being with strangers in an unfamiliar place was much worse than being left alone.
The white-haired boy turned his head, hiding his face behind one arm, and bit his lip. It's all right...Mello is here somewhere. He is here...isn't he? After bleeding as much as his wrist had, he wouldn't have been surprised if he had hallucinated the entire fight between Mikami and the blonde...he still felt lightheaded and a bit dizzy, even after holding still for awhile.
No...if Mello wasn't ever here, then Mr. Mikami would still be...t-touching me.
He shivered; just thinking of the man made his skin crawl all over again. No one had ever made him feel so helpless and scared before. He was still shaking.
"It's okay, kid—we're here to help." He ignored the woman who was talking; she seemed to be talking to him, but he didn't want to talk to any strangers at the moment. He wanted to be safe at home, where only people he knew ever bothered him with anything.
Where is Mello?
He flinched instinctively at the feeling of fingers on his wrist. D-don't touch me! The straps kept him from moving far; struggling so much before had left his wrists sore, and now whenever he moved them around too much it stung enough to make him wince. He couldn't help himself, though.
"Hold still—I'm not going to hurt you," the same woman spoke again, sounding irritated. "I'm just trying to get these straps off of you, okay?"
"Takada, forget the straps—his stomach is bleeding," another voice ordered.
"Right, sir," Takada said quickly, switching her attention to the white-haired boy's bare stomach. Shivering at the memory of heat slipping wetly across his skin, Near whimpered and shrank away from her hands.
"S-stop," he whispered, "Stop touching me...please."
"I have to touch you to make sure you're all right," the woman replied shortly, "There aren't any injuries here...why is your stomach all bloody? Do you remember what happened?"
Near shook his head a little, keeping his eyes closed. Do you think I want to remember any of this? Leave me alone...
"I want M-Mello..." He winced, jerking away from Takada's hands again; she was trying to touch his face now. Stop it—stop touching me!
"Listen, kid, I'm just trying to do my job," the woman said pointedly. There was a brief pause, and then she murmured, "What's this...?" Feeling her fingertips on his hip, where Mikami's had been not long ago, Near gave up being diplomatic and struggled against the restraints again. It hurt, but he didn't care—she wasn't listening, and he wasn't going to lie there while anybody else put their hands all over him.
Only when Mikami was safely out of the room did the police release Mello. Huffing at them furiously, the blonde snapped, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I had him! I didn't make him pay yet...!
"Sir, he's in custody now," one of the two men who had been holding him said hurriedly; he was a big man, but he still seemed intimidated. Watching Mello almost strangle someone might have had something to do with it...and the blonde sorely wanted to punch him in the face right now, so his fear definitely wasn't unwarranted.
"Shut the hell up!" Mello shouted at him, balling both hands into tight fists; he was still shaking from fury and adrenaline, and breathing hard from his struggle with Mikami. You don't know what you're talking about--"custody" isn't what he needs to be in, pain is!
He was so furious that he brushed the fact that Mikami could have shot and killed him off like a minor irritation. He didn't care. It only would have mattered if it had been successful, and thankfully for Mello the police had shown up first. Why the hell did a nurse have a silenced gun in the first place?! What is he, some homicidal sick-minded psycho?
"Sir, the boy is asking for you." The voice of a different officer was what finally pulled him out of his fuming. The cop, a short and stocky man with a grim frown on his face, was standing mere feet away by the time Mello noticed him. "The boy on the bed wants you, sir," the man repeated pointedly; he looked irritated at being ignored. "He's giving the medics some trouble—L said you know him, so maybe you could calm him down..."
Near...
Mello nodded quickly, heading for the bed across the room. In his rage at Mikami, he'd forgotten all about the white-haired boy. Near had suffered even more than Matt from this ordeal...probably more than Mello really wanted to know about. Remembering what Matt had said about Mikami being "possessive" about Near, and then how he had found the man undressing the smaller boy, the blonde gritted his teeth.
Rival or not, I can't stand somebody doing what Mikami did to him...even a lying, cheating little brat doesn't deserve this! He thought the put-downs half-heartedly. Maintaining his rivalry with Near in this situation would be petty; kidnappings and abuse were a lot bigger than that. That "nurse" shot Matt, kidnapped Near and was torturing him! I wish there were two Mikamis so I could kill one for each of them!
That desire only grew when he reached the bed and got a good look at Near.
The smaller boy's pale hair was spotted with red, his pajama shirt bloodied and wide open in the front and the hem of the thin white shirt beneath it was slid up around his chest. Crimson contrasted starkly with his pale skin, smeared across his stomach and one hip.
Mello stared, too shocked by the sight to speak. All sorts of horrible and nightmarish things were going through his head, things that could have happened before he arrived...
What had Mikami done to him?
"D-don't...!" A female medic was standing beside the bed, leaning over Near and trying to assess his condition. Each time she tried to touch him, though, the white-haired boy would cringe away from her hands. With the straps still on his wrists and ankles, all he could really do to resist her prodding was to plead with her not to.
"Please...j-just get Mello..." The blonde blinked at the sound of his name; the cop hadn't been kidding about Near asking for him. He must trust me more than anybody else here, he realized uncomfortably. It would take a pretty horrible experience for Mello to beg for anybody to call for Near, so he assumed that the opposite was true as well.
Again, he wondered sickly, what had Mikami done?
"I don't know who Mello is," the female medic, who was trying to get a good look at Near's stomach, said sharply, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Just hold still and we can get you patched up--"
"I'm Mello!" The blonde interrupted finally, stepping forward. The woman and Near both froze, glancing at him quickly. "Takada", as her nametag read, looked a bit irate about a punky little teenaged guy interrupting her work, and Near looked almost frantic.
"Mello," he whispered. His voice was faint, filled with a shaky mixture of relief and disbelief. He was about to say something else, but flinched instead, wincing. Takada had tried to examine the thick white bandage on his right wrist, and he had immediately tried to yank his arm away. "H-help me...!"
"Don't touch him!" Mello told the medic sharply, frowning. Can't they see he's scared? After being tied down and having Mikami... He silenced the thought hurriedly, shaking his head. Anybody would be traumatized--having medics touch him is probably his worst fear right now. And they didn't even bother to take the damned straps off, either!
Takada straightened and turned to face him, crossing her arms with a pretty little frown on her face. She was young, maybe 25, with short dark hair and slanted brown eyes, and reminded Mello of a Japanese supermodel. I don't care if she's pretty, though—she's not doing this right.
"Who are you and what do you have to do with my patient?" The medic asked pertly, still frowning. Mello frowned back.
"I'm the one in charge of this police team—in other words, your superior," he told her darkly, "And I'm ordering you to stop touching Near—you're freaking him out!"
"He could be seriously hurt—I have to examine him, sir," Takada said firmly, undeterred. Mello looked very unlike the leader of a police team...
I don't have time for this...
"Then I'll do it," the blonde shot back, propping his hands on his hips and leaning forward to stare her down. Hasn't Near been through enough without having to deal with you? Obviously you've never treated anybody who was abused before!
"Sir, you aren't a trained medical professional," Takada said, standing her ground. "And we don't have time to argue about this! He's covered in blood—obviously he's injured somewhere."
"I can recognize injuries when I see them," Mello glared, coming over to stand right beside the bed. "Listen, a 'medical professional' just kidnapped and hurt him—you think he wants any stranger taking his clothes off and looking him over?!" Without waiting for a reply, he waved a hand at her dismissively, "Just get out of my way, dammit."
He turned to Near, ignoring her pouty look as she stepped off to the side at last. She won't understand even if I try explaining it any more. What's wrong with people? Dr. Lidner's the only worthwhile medical professional who's been involved in this! Then again, Mikami couldn't exactly be counted as an example of the typical nurse...
Near had shrunk down into the pillow during the argument, eyes downcast to the side of the bed. He was very quiet, and didn't seem to notice when Mello sat on the edge of the bed. The blonde glanced at his stomach, which had blood smeared across it. No injuries there except for the stitches... Mikami's hands had been all bloody even when he'd first arrived—were the smears from them? That means he touched him everywhere that's red...
The trail started at Near's chest, where the edge of the undershirt was stained crimson, and dragged in a slow, broad line down across his stomach, before splitting into two; one slipped off toward the smaller boy's side, stopping in the vague, sloppy shapes of fingers just below his ribcage, while the other led all the way down to the waistband of his pants.
Mello gritted his teeth, telling himself that being furious again wasn't going to help. Still, how dare he... Following the blood trail had made him notice that Near's pants were pulled down low on one hip. There was a faint smear of crimson there, as well, leading down off the side. If I hadn't gotten here when I did...hell, what if this isn't the first time he's done something like this? He's had Near for a day and a half—that's enough time to do a lot of things. Ugh--I don't even want to think about it!
The bad feeling from the hospital was nothing compared to the knots that his stomach was in now. Thinking about somebody like Near, who looked and acted so childish that it was hard to remember he was really a teenager, being subjected to such things...it made him feel sick. It is sick! How could that bastard enjoy doing this to him...?! Even Near doesn't deserve this—nobody does!
"Somebody cut these straps off," he said heavily, trying not to sound as disturbed as he felt. He's shaking...nobody's moving fast enough. Dammit—why can't you guys see what needs to be done? It's right in front of you! Snatching one of the scalpels from the case, he started quickly slashing the straps himself. I would have gone insane...being tied down like this...
"S-sir! Those are evidence," one of the cops nearby said incredulously, of the scalpel he'd taken.
Not looking up from removing the last strap, the blonde replied shortly, "They weren't bloody—he obviously didn't do anything with them." Even if he did, I don't see you hurrying to bring me something else to cut these straps with.
Mello was cutting the straps off; Near could feel the pressure on his wrists and ankles loosening one at a time, and saw glimpses of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye. He winced softly, hugging his arms to his chest, and stared off to the side still. He really came for me...he's really here...it's okay now that Mello is here... No matter how many times he reassured himself, some part of his mind refused to accept that everything could be over this easily. He felt like he hadn't done anything to help himself escape—he hadn't fought Mikami off, he hadn't managed to break out a window and crawl away...
It was like a book or a movie; nobody ever really got rescued in real life like this, did they? All of the similar cases he had solved told him that they didn't. Victims who didn't somehow help themselves were usually murdered long before anybody found them...
"Near...? Hey, listen to me."
Mello's voice. Suddenly painfully aware of his disheveled condition, the white-haired boy couldn't bring himself to even look at his savior. I...am half-dressed. He must be assuming the worst... He would have been embarrassed to be seen in such a state, but he was so relieved that Mello was there with him now that the thought never crossed his mind. He felt more ashamed than anything. Ashamed that the blonde had had to save him...that he couldn't save himself. Who knows what would have happened to me...if there was truly no one to take care of me like I believed before.
He heard a small 'clink' as Mello sat whatever he'd cut the straps off with onto the table.
"Near, talk to me! Did he hurt you? Mikami?"
He...didn't, did he? The white-haired boy shook his head mutely, not meeting Mello's eyes. He could see out of the corner of his eye that the blonde had turned to face him again. I pulled the IV needle out on my own—all he did was...t-touch me. Just thinking of it had him trembling again.
"Okay," Mello said quietly, tugging his gloves off one by one, "I'm gonna check and make sure all of this blood isn't from an injury you aren't telling me about. I'm not going to hurt you—okay?"
He has to touch me to do that... I trust him, but I am not hurt--he doesn't need to... His thoughts were confusing; they all jumbled together. Am I safe? If Mello is here, I should be...I should be happy, but...Matt... Maybe that was why he couldn't accept that things were over so quickly and easily—Matt wasn't there. How could things be over and go back to normal without Matt?
Things will never be the same again. Matt...I-I don't want you to be dead.
He flinched automatically at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder. Seeing that it was Mello, he bit his lip and relaxed a little. The blonde quickly looked over his stomach, frowning at the blood dried darkly onto the pale skin there. He doesn't understand—I am not hurt. All of this blood...it only looks this bad because...
"I pulled the needle out," he whispered, trying to explain. He looked up at Mello finally, locking black eyes with slanted blue ones that were dark with concern. The blonde had been examining one of his wrists, where the straps and his struggling had resulted in red marks. Near pulled his arm away, hugging it closer to his chest so that the older boy couldn't touch it again. "I f-fell off of the table. I bled, h-he bandaged me, and...I t-tried...I tried...." I tried not to think of Matt.
To his dismay, his voice seemed to shrink with each word, until he could barely even hear himself. His throat felt choked when he thought of Matt collapsing to the floor—it was as clear in his mind as if it was happening over again. The blood and the shock rushed back like a slap in the face. Matt...
Talking about the things that had hurt him recently only made his mind relive them—suddenly he was scrambling away from Mikami again, slipping in his own blood and thinking desperately that he had to get away.
He was falling roughly to the floor, stunned and helpless as arms wrapped around him from behind.
He was cringing away from a hot, wet touch, forcing himself not to cry. He couldn't cry in front of Mikami.
He couldn't think of how Matt was gone forever.
He couldn't think of anything else...
Near didn't seem to realize that he was crying. He struggled to sit up, flinching slightly when Mello reached to help him, and sat sideways on the bed staring down at the floor with tears streaming silently down his face.
Mello was at a loss for words. He had no idea, absolutely no clue, how to deal with a distraught Near. He's crying. He's really crying. It was such a bizarre thing for Near to be doing that the trembling boy beside him seemed like another person entirely.
Who knows what that bastard did to him... It wasn't right to just leave him upset like this...but the blonde boy wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't like he and Near were close or anything...would he even accept comfort if Mello tried to offer it? ...I've got to try, at least. He probably wouldn't if it was me, but...I can't sit and do nothing, dammit...
Comforting...what would be comforting? Impulsively, the blonde pulled the blanket off of the bed and wrapped it around Near. This usually helps people who are in shock—which he's starting to resemble, so maybe it'll do the trick... It wouldn't be enough on its own, though; Near didn't even seem to notice that the blanket had been draped over his shoulders.
Dammit...I don't know what the hell I'm even doing, Mello thought, frustrated. Saying anything at this point would be beyond awkward...and there really wasn't anything he could say that would do any good, was there? He thought of Matt's face when they returned and he saw the condition Near was in, though, and knew he had to try. ...I've got to do something...if not for Near, then for Matt, since he can't come take care of Near himself.
So he was Matt's stand-in...
He sighed. When Matt freaked out at the hospital, hugging him seemed to help. He glanced at Near, who looked even smaller now that he was swathed in the blanket, and frowned. He didn't really want to do this, but...
A bit hesitantly, he slipped an arm around the white-haired boy's shoulders. C'mon, go back to being the cold emotionless person I'm used to...? He blinked, hugging the smaller boy closer when he realized that he could practically wrap his arm all the way around him—blanket and all. Near seemed so small...since when was he this small? Even on their best days, Mello had never been on good enough terms with the white-haired boy to hug him before, so he'd never really realized...
He's tiny! Like a little kid... Which was why Mikami had decided to take him, the blonde figured. It made him sick to think about it, so he tried his best not to at the moment.
"It's okay, Near," he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone of voice; he was bad at these kinds of things, really he was. Matt would've understood that he was trying his hardest to be sincere, but Near wasn't Matt, and to anybody else it would've looked like a clumsy attempt. Awkwardly, he patted the smaller boy's back, rocking the two of them gently back and forth. "It's okay now...shh, you're safe..."
He doesn't even seem to hear me... Just as he finished the thought, Near disproved it by turning and leaning against him, hiding his face in the front of the blonde's black quilted vest. Mello stiffened slightly, caught off-guard, and stared down at the boy in his arms.
"N...no it isn't..." The words came out as a little whimper, muffled slightly by the blonde's vest.
Seeing how the medics and police were staring with pity at the two of them, Mello shot them a glare that said clearly to give them some space. Silently, the crowd around them shuffled off to the other side of the room, glancing back over their shoulders as they went.
Mello glanced down at Near, who had one cheek pressed to his chest and his eyes closed, and sighed a little. What do I say to him? What can I say that would make him feel better...? There wasn't much he could possibly do to remedy the situation, short of assuring Near that it was over now. I've never seen him cry—I wasn't even sure he knew how to...
"Mikami's gone," he assured the smaller boy, patting his back gently, "You're safe now, so it's okay."
"No," Near insisted, sobbing a little, "M...Matt...he died believing a lie."
"Matt died"...?
Mello blinked, realization dawning.
He still thinks Matt's dead!
Now that he thought of it, of course Near thought that Matt was dead—he had thought that Matt was dead when he found him on the floor in the hospital, himself. Near had been gone since Mikami had shot the redhead, so he had no way of knowing that the bullet hadn't been fatal...
The kind thing to do would be to admit the truth—that Matt was all right and waiting for them back at the hospital—but what Near had just said had piqued the blonde's curiosity. He lied to Matt before Mikami shot him, huh... Near lies all the time, but it's pretty rare that he feels bad about it afterward. I wonder what he lied about?
"What do you mean?" He asked quietly, trying not to sound as smug as he felt. For once, he knew something that Near couldn't possibly know.
Quieting, the smaller boy still had tears in his voice as he whispered miserably, "M-Matt asked to be my friend...but, I couldn't accept, so...I told him I would rather be alone." He pulled away from Mello's arms abruptly, hugging himself tightly instead. The blanket slid down off of one of his shoulders, tugging that side of the pajama shirt down his arm with it. "I l-lied..."
Mello listened silently, shocked at what he was hearing. What...? But he was trying to get Matt to be his friend! I know that he was! Why would he turn him down? He didn't understand this at all.
"Why couldn't you accept?" He asked a bit too quickly, leaning forward slightly to peer at the white-haired boy's face sidelong. It was very strange to see Near crying...and the tears were only half of it. The fact that he had an expression beyond smugness or blank indifference was just as startling.
"...Because he could only h-have...one best friend." The words were steadier...a ghost of the usual Near was returning to the mannerisms of this tearful person who had suddenly taken his place. Mello's mind was attacking the words from every angle, puzzling over them rapidly. Why didn't he jump at the chance to be Matt's one best friend...? It's not like he'd care about ousting me...
...Would he?
"...Now, Matt is gone," Near concluded quietly, eyes downcast again. Mello blinked, attention snagged at the sound of the redhead's name. This is the part I wanted to hear about. Near hugged himself a little tighter, voice hitching slightly as he explained, "H-he was hurt when I turned his friendship down. I thought...'better to be hurt a little now than a lot later'...but, M-Matt didn't get any 'later'. Mr. Mikami..."
He hung his head, shaking it slightly. "...N-now Matt will never know that I did care about him...a-and, I wanted his friendship more than I've ever w...wanted anything..." He buried his face in his hands, crying softly again.
The bad feeling was back in force.
So Matt really cares about him...and Near actually wants to be his friend, too, Mello assessed flatly. But Near turned Matt down...why? Because he thought Matt already had a best friend—me? Obviously Matt's got other plans—all he can talk about lately is Near! He couldn't argue with that. Even if Near really was trying to respect his role as Matt's best friend, if Matt himself wanted Near to be that friend instead, that's how it would be.
Apparently Mello was the one who no one had any room in their lives for now...
A bit numbly, he stared down at the floor. He takes everything from me. It doesn't matter what it is...if someone can be better at it than someone else, he'll beat me at it. Why can't I be the best at just one thing? Why can't I be Matt's best friend?
Green.
He blinked; the bright green object on the floor looked familiar. Climbing off of the cot, he stooped and snatched it up, realizing that it was the toy dinosaur that Near had kept beside his bed at the hospital. Matt gave this to him. He felt a little jab of hurt in his chest. Near seemed very attached to the toy...was it because Matt had given it to him? It seemed to comfort him—in the ICU, it had been the only item that Near had asked Matt to bring him.
Hurt as he felt about being ousted as Matt's best friend, the blonde couldn't blame Near this time. Blaming Near for things usually had some truth to it...but the fact of the matter this time was that Matt was the only one who could choose his best friend. If he cared about Near more than Mello...what could Mello do about it, really?
He glanced at Near, who looked like he'd forgotten where he was. The white-haired boy still had his hands over his face, and was almost perfectly silent, even in his distress. He's been through hell and back this week...and it's really Matt's fault for being so damned likeable. He smiled bitterly at this last thought; it was true, everyone liked Matt. Even complete strangers always seemed to get along with him. He could have his pick of all the friends in the world...so of course he'd choose Near, who's "better", over me.
Maybe it had always been hopeless. Maybe he'd deluded himself from the start, thinking that he could possibly be better than Near or have something that Near didn't...or someone. Just one little thing...that's all I wanted. Is that too much to ask for?
Near didn't seem to notice he had ever moved. Seating himself on the edge of the bed again, Mello defeatedly turned and offered the dinosaur to him. If it makes Matt happy...fine. Fine. You can be friends with him...but you better take damned good care of him! He's the best friend anybody could want—if you don't appreciate that, you don't deserve him!
Looking at the toy, and then up at him with such pain in his eyes that Mello wondered if he really had lied about being hurt, Near reached out and took it with both hands. "Mello," he whispered, staring down at the dinosaur's toothy grin sadly, "Matt died...for nothing. I lied to him and hurt his feelings...and after I pretended not to want to be his friend, h-he died defending me. Why? I was cold to him—wh-why did he do it?"
It was too much. Everything...all of the pain and panic and fear he'd felt over the past few days, the confusion and happiness and guilt from dealing with Matt, and finally the aching loss that he felt every time he remembered that the redhead was gone...it was all too much.
Near wasn't an emotional person. The few people he knew didn't seem aware of 90 percent of his feelings, and the other 10 percent were very mild. The secret to being so apathetic, though, was that he really didn't care about very many things. Matt was different...Matt was his first real friend.
And by way of thanks, I hurt him, then let him die without ever telling him the truth. I am awful... He couldn't remember a time he had ever fallen apart this much. He was sobbing again, hugging the dinosaur tightly and numbly acknowledging that Mello was talking to him. He didn't care what the blonde was saying; it didn't matter, did it? Nothing anybody said or did could bring Matt back.
Matt... He felt sick. His stomach hurt; not the stitches, just an ache from sobbing so hard, but it made him feel even worse. I deserve it—I am the reason that Matt died. Why did he have to be so kind...? If he had left me alone and gone with Mello, Mikami wouldn't have shot him!
He barely noticed when someone scooped him up into their arms, cradling him against their chest. Through blurry tears, he saw a splash of red glass, and there was the smell of leather. M-Mello. The blonde was the one who was carrying him... He continued to cling to the dinosaur like the last remaining reminder of Matt that it was, squeezing his eyes tightly closed. Maybe Mello and I have switched emotions—h-he seems so calm, even though he knows what happened to Matt...
"Let's get back to the hospital," the blonde murmured gently beside his ear. Near turned and hid his face in Mello's shoulder, offering no reply. I am not hurt...why bother to go to the hospital again? I-I just want to go home...
Even home would seem empty without Matt, though. Everywhere would now...
--End Chapter 19
AN: You guys have NO IDEA how much trouble this chapter gave me... I must have written and re-written the whole first half a dozen times, outlines and all, and the last half at least four times itself. It doesn't help speed the scenes along when Mello's reluctant to even try comforting Near and Near barely speaks so he's not interested in explaining what he has to explain in any particular scene! x.x;
Mello's being a meanie and not telling Near that Matt's okay yet...and while that might seem pretty horrible, remember that Mello thinks Near's pretty much emotionless. He can barely believe that Near is upset, even with it happening right in front of him. As selfish as Mello seems at the moment, he was mad at Mikami for hurting Near, not just for hurting Matt, and that says something I think.
As for Near...the way I see it, somebody who's as flat as he usually is could only get upset in one of two different ways. He would either be crying and still look flat and emotionless about it...or he'd really lose it, because he barely ever expresses emotion that much at one time. I went with the latter, I admit, just because this way it freaks Mello out more, which was amusing for me to write. =P
Matt's back next chapter—and L, too!
Trivia: The title of this chapter has a double meaning! It stands for Near being moved to tears (an extremely rare occurrence), and also stands for Mello moving Near to take him back to the hospital. I guess if you want to look at it this way, it could also stand for Mello REmoving the straps from Near.
Hope you had a good read...see you in...dun dun dunnn! Chapter 20! :D
-Threshie
In Charge Akugi! Volume 19
Akugi #73
Narrator: With the straps still on his wrists and ankles, all he could really do to resist her prodding was to plead with her not to.
Near: (Twitch) Not necessarily... (Waits for Takada to bring her hand close to his face; CHOMP)
Takada: O_O "Your blood I can handle, but MINE? Uh-uh." (Faints)
Near: u.u "Now Mello, will YOU please untie me?"
Mello: (Crosses arms) "No, I'd rather watch you try and solve the strap problem with your teeth, too." (Smirk)
Akugi #74
Mello: "...you think he wants any stranger taking his clothes off and looking him over?!"
Near: ; "...For the record, I don't particularly want you to try that either, Mello."
Akugi #75
Narrator: So he was Matt's stand-in...
Mello: (Shakes fist) "What the hell?! I've been demoted to number 3's STAND-IN?! My grades aren't as good as Near's, but they're not THAT bad!"
Near: (Smirk) "It's because you are blonde."
Akugi #76
Mello: That means he touched him everywhere that's red...
Near: (Has a big red smily face painted on his stomach, with a neat "SAKUJO" in Japanese below it) -.-; "Please stop gawking and untie me, Mello."
