Chapter seven:

"Wait! Does that mean that someone might have put whatever that illness was into the teachers?!"

"It looks like it." Near breathes out almost as if in as much shock that this is happening as Mello is.

"Who would…" Mello pauses as he thinks of something.

Both Ra-Ra and Near were in that town when it all happened though one hand more of an unintended hand in the spread than the other. They also both had a falling out after what had happened there, not to mention that one was trying so hard for so long to figure out some sort of cure… And that only the teachers seem to be affected with so far nothing happening to any of the orphans…

Mello almost doesn't want to think about it however it is possible that Ra-Ra could have some hand in this. He does have a few ideas on why she might do something like this.

Ra-Ra might be trying to show Near that she has a cure now and hopes to mend their friendship. She also could have lost a part of her mind in her guilt and planned to get back at Near for what happened to her after their village was lost… Even though Near was in no way responsible for any of that.

"It seems that you have the same thoughts as me." Near speaking causing Mello to blink remembering where he is. "However we cannot confirm anything yet. We need proof before we throw accusations. Not to mention that we need to be able to stop any spread of this illness."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Mello raises an eyebrow actually being curious on Near's plan for this.

"Well I will take care of the whole trying to stop it from spreading." Near twirls a strand of hair around his finger though a bit faster than Mello has seen him do before. He almost seems anxious about all of this. "I will be more believed than you." His words make Mello want to be annoyed however he is completely correct on that. "So I will do the talking about this. You need to get Matt to try to distract Ra-Ra so you can sneak into her room. She is smart enough that if she is involved then she wont leave the evidence in an obvious place. Look for hidden compartments. Start in places one wouldn't think to look for any. Then expand your search from there."

Mello wants to question if Near really thinks that this will work. He however decides that right now he needs to trust the other in what he is doing. "Okay. I'll let Matt know the plan right away."

"Great." Near approaches Mello and hands him a small piece of paper. "Here is how you can contact me."

Mello glances to it realizing that it is a phone number. "You have a phone?" He blinks in surprise at Near since phones are not allowed at least under normal circumstances.

"A secret one." Near tugs on the strand of his hair that is wrapped around his finger. He lets Mello stop him getting that strand of hair free before it is pulled out of his head. "I got it for myself without anyone knowing and under a fake name. The details aren't important right now. We need to hurry to help stop any of the spreading. This thing could spread quickly and it is possible that it is enhanced to spread faster. I am aware that you have one as well. I figured it out by going through possibilities due to your friendship with Matt. Not to mention how you two arrange meet ups at times. So don't worry about that."

Mello wants more information though he agrees that it can be saved for another time. "Okay. I'll go tell Matt then I'll let you know over text when done and we can arrange a meet up."

Near nods his head to this then hurries to go do his part.

Mello watches him go. "Don't get infected." He whispers to himself before pulling out his phone to text Matt the plan. He gets a text back pretty quickly.

Ok. Sounds good. Investigations sometimes have to start with the obvious. I've got Ra-Ra covered. I will keep you updated if anything changes. Go ahead to her room and I'll find her location. Her room number is two zero eight.

Mello thanks his friend before following his advice. He quickly finds the room which he is glad that none of the girls seem to be in their rooms right now. He does move quietly just in case. He carefully cracks open the door to peek inside. He doesn't see anyone so he sneaks inside quietly closing the door. He glances around seeing that the girls rooms are the same design for the male rooms. He had admittedly never been in one of the girls rooms before. He starts his search with the bed checking for anything around that area. He finds nothing and doesn't even feel anything when pressing in the mattress. He doesn't see any damage repair so he leaves it alone for now. He tries the bathroom looking over every inch though not even a single tile is loose there. He keeps searching the room even moving any furniture to check behind it and under it. He checks the drawers trying to make the bra drawer a quick search as he doesn't feel comfortable checking that. He doesn't find anything so he stands in the middle of the room glancing around wondering what he could be missing.

After all surely there can't be nothing here…

Mello decides to check the notebooks and school binders for any sort of information like recipes or anything written down. He picks up a binder only to blink as there was a notebook hidden right under it. He picks up the notebook which is pretty skinny. He opens it finding that it seems to be notes about the illness, possible causes, and some brainstorms on cures. He looks closely at the cures just in case it is the disease in disguise. He finds that most of these follow ingredients of other medicine for other illnesses. He lets out a breath figuring that there isn't really much here. He takes a photo of each page then puts everything back how he found it. He wants to discuss his findings with Near before they do anything. He does a final quick sweep of the room just in case. He leaves after that and sneaks out of the girls rooms area when Matt texts him that Ra-Ra has gotten away from him. He gets an idea and hides to wait for the girl. He watches her go towards the rooms so he follows. He figures that this might be helpful to get it from the source. He lets her go into her room then approaches the door opening it just enough to listen in. He leans close careful to not give away his position.

At first there is silence then something is knocked over followed by hurriedly flipping of papers.

Mello keeps listening silently begging her to share her plan or any information that might be helpful to them.

"This can't be right." Ra-Ra finally speaks which gets Mello's hopes up. "That illness can't be showing up here. Why an orphanage of all places when it was never reported to be seen anywhere else than our town." Her words confuse the blonde who continues to listen in on her conversation to herself. "Unless…" She gasps as the notebook sounds like it was dropped to the floor. "They were able to figure out that survived and are trying to kill us as well as anyone that might know something about what happened? How!? How could anyone have known that the two of us are here let alone that we know about what happened!? Unless… They followed me and I lead them straight to Near… Oh no! What have I done!?"

Mello blinks as he comes to realize something after hearing the sincere anxiety in Ra-Ra's voice as well as that guilt in her tone too.

Ra-Ra is not involved in putting that illness into the teachers.

Mello decides to do something about this so he opens the door stepping inside after fully standing up.

Ra-Ra gasps looking to him with genuine shock and crying eyes. "M-Mello?!"