He sat in the burnt down, run down, dilapidated old church, waiting for an answer to his text. He stood up abruptly and began to pace. He did not like to be kept waiting. After an hour of only hearing the click-clack of his own boots against the ground, he heard the familiar roar of a Chevy Camaro SS.

The car's engine died down, and Matt stepped out. He had a gun in his hand, and he was looking around suspiciously. "Hey, whoever you are! Come out now and maybe I won't shoot you for texting me from my dead friend's cell phone!" Matt yelled.

"You know..." a voice said from the shadows, causing Matt to point his gun in that direction. "It's not very nice to accuse people of things..."

Mello walked out of the shadows, and the gun fell from Matt's hand. "H-how did you...?" Matt gaped.

Mello shrugged. "After you tell me why you didn't at least spit on Kira's body when no one was looking," he stated. "I mean, just kicking his body in my honor? How stupid is that, after all the things Kira's done?"

Matt blinked. "How do you know about that!?" he asked angrily. "There's no way..."

"Sure there is. You're just number three, so you're a bit slow on the uptake," Mello stated with a wave his hand. "So let's getting going, and I'll explain things."

Matt nodded dumbly as Mello slipped into the driver's seat. That snapped Matt of his reverie. "Hey, that's my car! I'm driving," Matt protested.

Mello cocked an eyebrow as he put his hand out, palm up. "Keys," Mello demanded.

Matt sighed and handed over his keys. "Not like you ever cared if something was mine, why should that change now..." he muttered as he got into the passenger's seat.

"Hey, new kid! That's my bed!" Matt yelled angrily when he found Mello in his bed, on Mello's first night at Whammy's House.

Mello opened one eye. "Is that so?" he asked, not looking like he was going to move. "Looks like it's mine now."

Matt growled then pounced Mello. They proceeded to fight and claw at each other over who would keep the bed. In the end, Mello won out. Unfortunately for Matt, this was the first in a long line of wins for Mello over Matt.

When Mello hit the gas, Matt was knocked out of his memories. Matt turned to look at Mello as he sped down the road. They had a few moments of silence before Mello spoke up. "You still have that DVD player hooked up in here?" Mello questioned, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Well, yeah..." Matt trailed off. "Why?"

Mello took one hand off the wheel and handed Matt a DVD and a slip of paper. "Slip in the DVD. Oh yeah, take off those gloves if you wanna see the Shinigami on the tape."

Matt's eyes widened at the mention of a Shinigami. He looked down at the paper and noticed it looked like the same as the paper from the Death Note he had seen with Near. He noticed Mello's real name scrawled across the paper.

"How are you not dead!?" Matt exclaimed. "Your real name... How did you escape death!?"

Mello grinned as he took a sharp turn. "Luck, I guess," he stated with a slight shrug.

"Bullshit," Matt muttered as he slipped the DVD in the player and pressed play.

"...are you done writing the names?" Kira's voice asked on the DVD.

Matt watched as the events of Kira's capture replayed on the small screen. Matt pressed stop. "I was there. I don't need to see this again," he stated, "but how did you do this?"

"Made Takada talk before she burned herself to death. She told me about the meeting. I had a day or two to prepare, so I thought it'd be best to stay undercover, just in case Near fucked things up," Mello grinned. "I had cameras set up, and since they're models you made yourself, they were undetectable."

Matt grinned a little. "So, you recorded everything? If Near would have failed..."

"I had everything on tape," Mello finished Matt's sentence for him.

"That still doesn't explain how you lived..." Matt said quietly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Mello said as he pulled into a parking spot in front of the apartment that he and Matt had shared for during the kidnapping plot. "I'll tell you the rest inside."

Once inside, Mello noticed the missing table and chairs with broken wood shards in their place. Mello looked over to Matt with inquiring gaze. Matt laughed a bit nervously, his hand scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, I was meaning to clean that mess up..." Matt said as kicked some of the bigger pieces to a corner and out of the way. "...I didn't take the news of your death very well."

Mello grinned. "Aww, did Matty cry?" Mello asked as he wrapped his arms around Matt's neck. "You're hopeless without me; you do know that, right?"

Matt frowned. "I think was doing pretty damn well. I didn't breakdown until I was in the privacy of this shit hole, at least," Matt bit out as he pushed Mello away.

Mello rolled his eyes as he went into the kitchen to get to his chocolate stash he had left in one of the cabinets. Mello pulled out a bar of dark chocolate, unwrapped it, and took a bite, making the chocolate snap loudly as he chewed then let it melt over his tongue.

"You were in jail, so who told you about my death?" Mello asked, taking another bite of his chocolate bar.

"Near, after he had Lidner bail me out of jail," Matt stated as he sprawled out onto the couch, taking out his PSP.

Mello coughed on his chocolate for a moment. He swallowed then looked over at Matt. "As blunt as ever, I bet," Mello sneered.

"Yup," Matt agreed as he decided to replay the Final Fantasy series, starting with one and working his way up. "The way he said it sounded very much like when L had told me about my parents. Kinda sucked."

Mello took another bite of chocolate, thoughtfully. He made his way to the couch and sat by Matt, looking over his shoulder. Mello tilted his head. "Final Fantasy?" he questioned. "Haven't you beaten all of them already?"

"Yeah," Matt stated as he decided on his characters, "but I haven't tried this one with just White Mages."

Mello did not know much about games, but he knew White Mages were weak. "Wait, your whole party?" he questioned as Matt names the four White Mages Matt, Mello, Near, and L. "Are you seriously naming them that!?"

Matt chuckled. "Yeah, sure," Matt stated as he started the game. "It'll be funny to see if White Mage Mello is as temperamental as you."

Mello conked Matt in the back of the head. "Hey! Ow!" Matt whined, pausing the game to rub his head.

"Maybe White Mage Matt will need White Mage Mello to save his ass all the time!" Mello exclaimed as he pulled the PSP out of Matt's hand.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Hey! Give that back!" a 13-year-old Matt yelled at Mello.

"No way, you retard!" a 13-year-old Mello yelled back, tossing the pack of cigarettes into the toilet.

Matt's jaw dropped as Mello flushed his cigarettes down the toilet. "I needed those! Do you know how much trouble it was for me to smuggle those in!?" Matt yelled. "That was my last pack too..."

Mello waved his hand, ignoring Matt's words. "Yeah, yeah, you'll thank me soon," Mello stated as he pushed Matt out of his way and back into their shared room that the bathroom had been connected to.

Matt followed him out about to attack just before the bedroom door opened to show Roger. Matt's eyes widened before he glanced to Mello who was grinning smugly. "So, are you here to do a room check, Roger sir?" Mello asked with a fake politeness that Roger was used to.

Roger nodded and ushered the boys out of the room. Matt stood still, shocked for a moment. Mello crosses his arms. "So, who saved your ass again?" Mello asked smugly.

Matt sighed, hanging his head. "You did..." Matt grumbled as Mello grabbed his hand and pulled him to play outside.

Mello turned his back to Matt as he curiously pressed some buttons. "Hmmm, why should I? Maybe I wanted to play, ever think of that?" Mello asked as Matt tried to grab the PSP back.

"No, you don't. I don't know what you're planning, but whatever it is, I don't think my PSP will be able to handle it," Matt grumbled as he reached for the PSP Mello kept just out of his reach. "I mean, considering your plans often involve getting blown up or dying!"

"Tsk, tsk, Matt. That was only two plans. We survived both of them didn't we?" Mello stated as he casually dropped the PSP behind the couch, the couch that was against a wall.

"Argh! I'm gonna have to move the whole couch to get that ba-"

Mello cut off Matt's angry sentence with his lips pressed Matt's. Matt protested for a moment before kissing back, hungrily. During the kiss, Mello had pushed Matt onto his back and straddled his hips. Matt did not like this fact very much, so when the opportune moment presented itself, he flipped Mello onto his back, now straddling him.

Mello broke the kiss. "Hey! Who said you could do that!" Mello protested, but that was before Matt ground his hips into Mello's.

"No one, but you've never minded before," Matt stated, finally getting the upper hand.

"Hey! Who said you could do that!" a 14-year-old Mello yelled as he wiped his lips on the back of his sleeve.

A 13-year-old Matt grinned. "No one, but that's my birthday present for you!" Matt stated, still smiling. "Would you like me to give you one for each year?"

Mello backed away. "Hey! I never said I was..."

"Didn't have to. Did you know you talk in your sleep?" Matt asked as he sprawled out on Mello's bed.

Mello blushed for a moment. "I do not! Liar!" Mello yelled as he tackled Matt, which ended in Mello straddling him.

Matt smirked. "Wanna act out your wet-dreams out, darling?" Matt whispered in Mello's ear, who turned a bright red.

Mello jumped backwards, falling off the bed. Matt quickly crawled to the end of the bed. "Mello! Are you okay? I was only kidding!" Matt told him, sounding worried when Mello did not move.

Matt jumped off the bed and knelt to Mello's side. "Mello, are yo-"

A blow to the face cut off Matt's sentence, and he hardly had anytime to block the next punch. "Hey!" Matt yelled as Mello narrowly missed his jaw.

"Shut up!" Mello yelled. "My dreams are none of your business!"

Mello threw another punch, and Matt let it connect, so he could knee Mello in the stomach. Mello rolled off Matt, holding his stomach. Matt moved a safe distance away from him before speaking up again. "I'm sorry! I thought it was my business when you're moaning my name in the middle of the night!" Matt yelled as Mello stood up.

Mello gritted his teeth. "I do not moan..." he grumbled in what could almost be called defeat.

Matt slowly made his way to Mello's side and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Yeah, buddy, you do," Matt stated. "But do you think I mind since I kissed you earlier?"

Mello was quiet for a moment before he pounced Matt, pinning him to his bed. And that was the start of their relationship.

Mello glared at Matt defiantly. Matt looked down at him, still reflecting back on their first kiss. "I'm not protesting, so why the hell are you stopping!?" Mello growled.

Matt brought his mouth back down to Mello's in a crash of lips, teeth, and tongue. They fought for dominance in the kiss as Matt felt the leather of Mello's gloved hand running up his chest. Matt's hands quickly went to unlace Mello's pants, but 'quickly' was apparently was not something the laces understood.

Matt pulled away to complain about the laces when there was a knock at the door. Matt leaned his head on Mello's shoulder, thinking the world was against him getting laid today. Mello, on the other hand, was not one to give up so easily.

"Whoever it is will go away when no one answers," Mello whispered as he began to nip at Matt's neck, leaving a trail of saliva behind.

Matt bit back a moan before another knock persistent knock was heard at the door. Matt grimaced, but Mello ignored it as he bit Matt's neck to get his attention. Matt yelped a little before pulling Mello from his neck and glaring for a moment. The moment was over quickly because Matt brought his lips crashing back to Mello's.

Halfway through this kiss, the knocking was heard again. Matt groaned, and Mello growled. Mello pushed Matt off him angrily as he stomped over to the door, wrenching it open. "What the FUCK do you want, we're bu-" Mello's sentence was stopped short. "YOU!"

Near twirled a lock of hair around his finger. "Hm, you are alive after all," he stated as he walked past Mello, who was fuming. Near turned his head to Mello and looked down then back up. "You may want to lace your pants back up, Mello."

Mello flushed with anger and ignored Near's suggestion. "Why should I? You being here is not going to stop me from getting any," Mello spit out. "Now get out. You're not welcome here."

Near ignored Mello and walked to Matt. "Hello, Matt. Am I an unwelcome guest? I could return at a later time."

Matt straightened out his clothes a bit. "Hey, yeah, maybe your timing's a bit off, but you're not unwelcome here," Matt said with a grin. "Well, you're not unwelcome by me, anyway."

Mello glared at Matt silently. "I interrupted you two copulating, yes?" Near asked bluntly, but knowing the answer was yes.

Matt had the decency to blush while Mello just snaked an arm around Matt's waist, pulled him close, and put his hand on Matt's crotch. "Yes, we were about to copulate, Near," Mello sneered as he squeezed Matt's crotch, who in turn swallowed a squeak in surprise. "Too bad you won't be joining us."

"Who says I am not?"

Mello faltered, and Matt started to laugh. "Man, Near!" Matt exclaimed with another chuckle.

Near titled his head. "I do not understand why I shouldn't. Mello just invited me," Near said with a straight face too, and Matt laughed again as Mello pushed him away.

"What the fuck! I did no such thing!" Mello fumed.

"You kinda did, Mello," Matt spoke up as he fell back onto the couch, arm reaching behind the couch to try to reach his almost forgotten PSP. "I mean 'too bad you won't be joining us?' That's practically asking to fuck him right now."

Mello flushed, whether with anger or embarrassment, no one could tell. It was probably a bit of both. "W-why would I want to fuck him!?" Mello asked angrily, pointing at Near while he looked at Matt who had finally retrieved his PSP.

Matt placed his PSP on the side table next to the couch, hoping it would be safe there. "Because you have had a boner for him since you met him?" Matt questioned lazily as he made himself comfortable on the couch. He wanted to game, but he did not want to go through finding all the pieces of his PSP after Mello decides it is perfect for target practice, again.

"You have a boner for the new kid, don't ya," Matt said while playing his Game Boy as Mello entered their room.

Mello froze mid-stride. He turned to Matt who looked up from his game. "W-what the fuck!?" Mello yelled. "I hate him!"

"You say so now... I think you totally want him."

Matt had enough sense to put his Game Boy on the nightstand just before Mello pounced him. Mello punched, kicked, and scratched while Matt tried to dodge before punching, kicking, and scratching back. By the end of the fight, Roger had come in, told by Near, the new kid, that there was a fight happening. Roger broke up the fight, and they both got detention for the week. Mello proclaimed he hated Near more, and Matt kept silent when he wanted to say 'the lady doth protest too much.'

Mello growled. "Matt..." Mello grounded out. "You are treading dangerous waters."

"Am I really?" Matt asked as he pulled up his goggles to his hair, so he could look Mello straight in the eye. "Maybe I am, but you have to get over this complex you have. It's not healthy. It was okay before because we were so sure we were gonna die, so it didn't matter but now? It matters."

Mello looked like he was about to pull out his gun on Matt when he felt a small hand stop him with a strength Mello did not know Near had. He looked at Near and glared. "He's right. This grudge is futile. Alone, neither of us could become L. I realized this at the end of the Kira case. You must know it too, but do you accept it?"

"Accept what?" Mello snarled as he pulled his hand away from Near's.

"That we work better together," Near stated. "And not even the just the two of us. Mello and Near equal L together, but Mello, Near, and Matt surpass L together."

Matt grinned from the couch, glad for once he was included. Really, he could have done better at Whammy's, but he never really tried. Once he had become Mello's friend, he had had more incentive not to try so not to bring on Mello's rage upon himself.

Mello was quiet for a moment, his rage slowly simmering down. Near took advantage of this moment of silence, and he pulled Mello's mouth down to his. Matt watched the kiss with the fascination he usually saved for a really awesome game as Mello started to kiss Near back. Near pulled away from the kiss, panting and leaving Mello breathless as he pushed Mello onto the couch, into Matt's lap.

Mello's face was slightly flushed as he looked up at Matt who was grinning. "Why hello there," Matt said as Mello ripped off his goggles. "Hey-"

Mello tossed Matt's goggles behind the couch before pulling Matt down for a hungry kiss. Near took a seat on the couch, twirling a strand of hair as he watched Matt and Mello kiss passionately. When they broke apart, they were both gasping for air. Matt glanced at Near. "I knew you were a voyeur, Near, but come and join in," Matt murmured before Mello grabbed him for another kiss.

Near hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. Logically, he knew what he was supposed to do; he had read up on such subjects when he had hit puberty, for curiosity's sake, but this was different. Near was not self-conscious, but he was used to being number one and knowing everything. He lacked the experience Mello and Matt had, and they were supposed to be lower than him. The kiss earlier had been an experiment to see if he could catch Mello off guard with such a maneuver; it had been a total fluke.

Matt had nudged Mello to the side for a moment, who did not seem about the kiss being ended so abruptly, to yank on Near's shirtsleeve. "Hey, you scared?" Matt asked, his eyes showing concern.

Near hesitated to answer as Mello snickered into Matt's shoulder. Matt punched Mello in the side, and pulled Near in closer. "Okay, not scared, but apprehensive, right?"

Near nodded as Mello looked up to Matt. "Oh, c'mon. This is going to take forever if you decide to take it slow for the virgin over there," Mello said impatiently. "Come here, Near. I'll show you few tricks."

Near was about to protest since he did not trust Mello when he got that malicious glint in his eye, but Mello had yanked Near into fierce kiss. Mello's tongue pushed into Near's mouth, licking the roof of Near's mouth then pushing at his tongue to push back. Near was a quick study and quickly picked up the fine art of kissing. With Mello, it was all about dominance. When Matt pulled him into a kiss, it was more of a languid dance than a harried battle as it was with Mello.

Since Matt had pulled Near away from kissing Mello, Mello had decided that he would take a bit of revenge. Mello went for Matt's belt, yanked it off in one quick jerk, unzipped the jeans, maneuvered Matt's boxers, and... "Shit!" Matt cursed, pulling away from Near with a jerk. "Mello..."

Mello's name had come out in more of moan since Mello's mouth, having been neglected, was now working on making the moans louder. Near watched curiously as Mello's head continued to bob. "This is a blow job, yes?" Near asked quietly which elicited a laugh from Matt and caused Mello to choke.

"Yeah, and Mello here's really good at it. Maybe we can talk him to giving you one too, Near," Matt said before he yelped when Mello's mouth left its previous spot to bite the inside of Matt's thigh angrily. "What the fuck, Mello!?"

Mello glared up at Matt. "Be glad I didn't bite your cock," Mello sneered, getting up, leaving Matt unfinished.

"Aww, Mello, not faaair!" Matt whined while Mello sat on the couch by Near, grabbing him for a kiss.

Near kissed back, but he had a feeling Mello was up to something. Unfortunately, Near noticed too late that while one of Mello's hands was buried in his hair, the other one had managed to slip into his boxer, cupping his balls. Near pulled away from the kiss immediately, gasping at the sensation.

Mello chuckled as he continued his ministrations. "If you make such nice sounds now, I wonder how you'll sound when I fuck you," Mello whispered into Near's ear, just before giving Near's cock squeeze, eliciting a moan from the virgin.

Matt watched as Mello quickly removed Near's underwear and pajama bottoms. After successfully removing it from its confines, Mello slowly pumped Near's cock making him bite back a moan. Mello bit Near's neck, making the moan come through.

"Do not hold any noise back," Mello hissed in Near's ear as he quickened his pace.

Just when Near was on brink of orgasm, Mello's hand disappeared. Near whimpered and opened his eyes that he had not notice he had shut. The first thing he saw was Mello on his haunches, grinning. It was short –lived since once the grin appeared, Matt decided to hit Mello in the back of the head.

"Hell!" Mello helped as he fell on his ass. He turned, glaring at Matt who was now standing. "What the fuck was that for?"

Matt glanced at Near who was now pulling a knee up to cover himself, his body flushing pink. "You were just going to leave him hanging, weren't you?" Matt asked unhappily. "You're being an ass."

"I was not! I would have finished him off!" Mello lied, pushing himself off the ground to stand face to face with Matt.

Before Matt could retort, Near's pants started to move. Near scrambled to the floor to grab the cell phone that was going off. "Yes?" he said just after he slipped the cell open.

"Near? You sound strange… Where did you go? What happened?"

"Lidner, I will be returning in-"

Matt quickly snatched the phone from Near's hands. "Hey, Hal. No, he won't be returning for a few days. Near, Mello, and I have some catching up to do," Matt said off-handedly.

"How dar- Wait, Mello!? He's alive!? What's going on!?"

"Mello's fine. We were about to have some hot, sweaty sex before you-"

"WHAT!? You were going to have sex in front of Near!?What the he-"

"Oh no, you got all wrong, Hal-"

Hal exhaled in relief into the phone. "Oh thank god."

"-we were going to have sex with him."

Before Hal could blow out Matt's eardrums with disapproval and shocked screams, Mello snatched the phone from his ear and snapped it shut. As the phone call had happened and Mello's attention on eavesdropping on said phone call, Near had managed to pull all his clothes back on and regain his composure. When Mello noticed the emotionless mask had slipped back onto Near's face, Mello's face contorted into a grimace.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Mello asked angrily as Near seemed to quietly shuffle closer to the exit.

"I came to see with my own eyes that Mello was alive. I have done that, so now I shall take my leave," Near stated.

Mello would not take this as an adequate answer. He quickly picked up Near and tossed him over his shoulder. Near flailed in protest, but there was no way he could overpower Mello to escape. Near sighed, reluctantly resigning to his fate as Mello carried him towards the bedroom with Matt following in suit. Before entering the bedroom, Matt ruffled Near's hair.

"Don't worry about it. I'll make sure Mello's not a total prick, we'll make sure your first time is memorable, to say the least," Matt said with a grin.

Near smiled back before Matt pulled the bedroom door closed behind them.