Near was sitting alone in the corner, playing with his pure white puzzle he had probably solved a million times. He was so pathetic. I was thinking of walking over to him, but I didn't have a reason to. "Hey, Mello! Come play with us!" Said some other children.

I walked over and stopped observing Near's extremely antisocial attitude. "Sure guys. Soccer?"

I was outside playing soccer now with the other boys. I saw the most annoying girl in our orphanage, Linda, walk over to me. "Mello!" She said, running and waving her hand.

"What do you want, Linda?" One of the boys I was hanging out with said rudely.

Others agreed with his tone. I did too. She had too many people who were tired of her. "I only want to talk to Mello, jerks!"

I wasn't too sure what she was gonna tell me, but I had a feeling I wasn't interested. "Alright what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked, kind of anxious to see if it was about me.

"I wanted to see if you could help me with something."

I sort of scowled at her. "Depends on what it is."

I heard a soft, but still male voice say, "She wants you to help her get a book off the high shelf in the library."

I looked behind Linda and it was Near. He was already starting to walk back into the building. I had never seen him go outside to make any social contact with anyone. (Damn it I should have added Mello seeing L with a cheesy grin in one of the windows and L giving him a thumbs up) Linda walked over to Near. "Well, Mello doesn't want to do it so how about you?"

Near turned around with a blank expression. "I don't think I'd be much help."

He started walking away and I didn't stop him. If he wanted to be a hermit, then he can be a damn hermit! Nobody is stopping him! "Fine, I'll get that book for you, Linda."

I was inside and in the library. "Hey Mello!" I heard a familiar voice say.

Matt was walking up to me. "Hey Matt."

He was kinda sweating nervously. "Do you think you could convince the other guys in here that I'm not technically cheating my games?"

Matt was the guy who had beaten his games a million times. He was also the type to be so good at the games, he could play them backwards. With his eyes closed. I wouldn't be surprised if he had memorized the entire script of one of his RPG games. "But Matt, it is kinda cheating if you know all the endings."

Matt hung his head jokingly. "Heh heh...I have the best friend ever."

I grabbed his head and put it in a soft headlock. "Say uncle!"

"Ah! Uncle! Uncle!" He said, going along with the joke.

I let him out of the headlock. Roger had just came in. "Mello, i'd like to see you in my office."

He then walked away from the library.

Matt looked at me, smiling and said, "ooo you're in trouble."

"Yeah yeah. I don't even know what he wants yet." I told him.

"Mello...that book?" Kinda reminded me.

I grabbed it for her and ran into the hallway.

I was in Roger's office when he came in. "Mello, glad you came." He told me.

I was too curious. I had to find out what this was about. "what did you bring me here for, Roger?"

Roger sat down and smiled. "You and Near will be meeting L in three weeks."

I was shocked. Me, Mello, got to meet the man I looked up to the most? Roger looked behind me and Near was standing at the door. "May I come in, Roger?" He asked.

I hated him so much. He was always going to be number one, and I was always gonna be number two. "Yes, Near."

Near walked in and sat on the floor, sitting with one leg straight and the other up to his chest, while holding onto the knee up to his chest. "Like I was saying, it is going to be a big opportunity to meet L." Roger told us.

I looked over and Near's expression had not changed, even after hearing about the two of us meeting L. Did he hate me just as much as I hate him?