Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Mello ran the comb through his hair for the hundredth time that day, hoping it would somehow go back to the perfect bob it was before. It was the same everyday, he would only leave his bedroom after resigning to the fact that it wouldn't look right again for several months at least.

He sighed grabbed a bar of chocolate and opened the door, wondering what to do for the rest of the day. They were making no progress in the Kira investigation, the fact that he was avoiding Near like the plague didn't help either. It was hard to talk to Matt when the albino spent most of the time in Matt's room… with Matt… and he was NOT jealous.

He tried to pass by Matt's door unnoticed like he'd done everyday since that incident with Near looking like a normal person. No such luck today though.

"Hey, Mello!" Crap.

"What?" He asked with a glare.

"Gee, that's no way to talk to your best friend, you know?"

Mello simply kept glaring. Not that he didn't agree, but couldn't the redhead see that he didn't want to be there?

"Whatever. Near and I have a plan to…"

"You turncoat! You've been discussing Kira with HIM!" He pointed towards Near for emphasis.

"Dude, you haven't shown your face to me in days. I wasn't going to sit here and wait for you."

He hated it when Matt was right, and that had been happening too often lately.

"What's your almighty plan then?" Mello said, walking into the room and sitting on the extra chair by the computers, scowling the whole time.

"Near thinks this guy" Matt opened a picture of Mikami "is currently doing the killings. Tailing him failed to prove anything and probably got the SPK killed so we're gonna try something else."

Mello looked towards Near, half afraid the boy would start crying again, but he was contently working on his Matt-puppet, seemingly unaffected. What did he expect? It was Near after all.

"And that is?"

"You and Near are going to break in to Mikami's apartment to install cameras there." Matt said proudly.

"Me and… him?" Mello glared at Matt "Why the hell do I need to take him along, I can handle that on my own." He felt like he was fourteen again, telling Roger that he couldn't work with Near and leaving. Except that he couldn't leave this time, not only was he a wanted criminal, Matt would never forgive him if he did that again.

"Mello does not have the patience to handle that on his own. Mikami is very particular about the way he organizes his possessions, if anything is even slightly out of place he will notice." The albino stated, finally looking up from his toys.

"And the damn sheep can't get there on his own, so you expect me to be his bodyguard." Matt was making him Near's bodyguard? Did it even cross his mind how humiliating that was for him? Or maybe it was he that had his priorities reversed all along, shouldn't catching Kira be more important than beating Near? Not like playing bodyguard once would mean defeat anyway.

"Hmpf, what do I have to do?"

"Here's the layout of Mikami's building, these are the areas covered by security cameras." Matt pointed at the areas painted in red "I'll be replacing the footage with dummies, but avoid getting caught as well just in case."

Okay, get in, get out, don't get caught. Even if he had to drag the sheep along that would be easy.

Said sheep was sitting behind him on his motorcycle, arms wrapped around him tight enough that he could barely breathe. He should have taken the car like Matt suggested, but he knew that was what Near wanted too, so he took the bike just for the sake of antagonizing the albino.

He thought it was an amazing plan, until Near started pressing his body so hard against his that he could feel the smaller boy's heartbeat against his back. The problem was that at the same time that made him feel guilty, it also made him want to run faster so he could get more of that sensation.

Mello parked the vehicle a few blocks away from Mikami's place, hidden behind some bushes so no one would see it. Near relaxed the moment they stopped moving, Mello took the chance to get off the bike, all too eager to get away from his conflicting emotions.

Near also got down, albeit more clumsily, and took his helmet off to start twirling his hair. He wore the same outfit Mello had seen him in a few days before, only with a white fluffy jacket on top. It made him even more adorable.

"Put this on, we don't need people staring at your hair" He passed Near a cap and a surgical mask, putting one on himself along with sunglasses.

They made their way to Mikami's apartment in silence. Mello was glad he could only see the brim of Near's cap from his height, it kept him from thinking of things he didn't want to think about.

"Matt, is it safe to go in yet?" The blonde asked through a small microphone when they were a few feet away from the first surveillance camera.

"Yep, everything's under my control." Smugness could be heard in the redhead's voice, he had reasons to feel smug though, his expertise with computers was unmatched.

Mello lead the fluffy albino through the building, making the use of the surveillance system's flaws as he could. Between his and Matt's efforts there would be no indication that anyone ever walked through those hallways that afternoon.

Picking a civilian apartment's lock was child's play, it was amazing Near couldn't do it. He probably figured there would always be someone to do it for him, and maybe he wasn't all that wrong.

Opening the door Mello was greeted with the sight of the smallest place he'd ever been in. He already found their two bedroom apartment too damn small, that anyone would willingly live in a studio apartment puzzled him to no end. Tiny as it was, the place still felt empty, with only a bed, a desk, a couple of bookshelves and a closet, everything so neatly organized that it didn't look like someone lived there. Keeping this exactly as it was indeed a task for Near.

Grey eyes scanned the room, memorizing every inch of it while deciding the best positions to install the cameras, hiding them wouldn't be easy given the sheer emptiness of the place. The desk had to be covered, it was obvious that it was the place Mikami realized most of his activities when he was home, there was nowhere else he could do it.

"We'll install one by the curtain rod and another under the desk, bugs will be placed in the kitchen and the bathroom." Mello wondered why Near even bothered telling him where things would be placed, subtlety had never been his forte so whatever the albino said would work was probably better than what he could say anyway.

Wide grey eyes stared up at him, did he expect some kind of approval?

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get done with this."

Looking satisfied, the younger boy started moving towards the curtains. He pushed the chair that was by the desk to the window so he could reach the spot. After taking his shoes off he climbed the chair, nearly losing his balance when he the chair moved a little, it had wheels after all. Mello rushed to hold it in place. Telling himself it was only for the sake of getting the job done, having Near fall and break something would mess up the whole plan, he absolutely wasn't worried about Near getting hurt.

Once the albino was done there was no way one would notice the camera unless they were looking for it. He placed another one under the desk pointing towards the door, so it'd be easy to tell if someone came in. The bugs were much easier to place, they were smaller and didn't have the restriction of having to point anywhere specifically.

Near was putting every item in the house back where it originally was with machine like precision when the warning came:

"Oh no." They heard Matt say through the ear piece they wore for communication. "Mikami's back!"

"What? He's three fucking hours early! Wasn't the bastard supposed to be obsessed with routine?"

"He's running upstairs, there's no time to get out, just hide! Quickly!"

Mello looked down at a terrified Near, the albino was terrible at dealing with unplanned circumstances. He grabbed the smaller boy by the wrist, scanning the room for a place to hide. If he were alone he could easily escape through the window, but there was no way Near could do that, so he settled for hiding under the bed, there was nowhere else a person could hide in this small, empty place.

He shoved the albino down until he was touching the wall, it was a single bed so unless they hid as close to the wall as they could they'd be seen the moment Mikami opened the door.

Only when the prosecutor opened the door it occurred to him that the most likely reason he came home early, running at that, was that he somehow knew they were there. He tightened his grip on Near's wrist in his anxiety, making the boy wince.

His worries were unfounded, however, as Mikami ran straight into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door.

"Matt?" He whispered. "Can you hear anything?"

"Hmm… yeah, I can hear the most…interesting sounds coming from the bathroom bug. Wanna hear them?"

Unfortunately, Mello could hear them too, all too well. "Pass…"

"Sounds like food poisoning to me, whatcha think?"

The redhead was clearly having fun with the situation, killing him was quite tempting, if only he weren't so far away.

"Fuck you!" A whispered fuck you just didn't have the same impact, but it was all Mello could risk right now.

"Any chance you guys can sneak out?"

"No, the bastard never closed the bathroom door…" The blonde whispered, twisting his face in disgust.

"Eh, I'll be here, call me when you get the chance to escape."

Mello sighed, what were the chances that a person would go out in that state? He might have to hide there until tomorrow... with Near. He blushed when he finally remembered the boy sandwiched between him and the wall, it was a rather suspicious position to be in.

He loosened the grip on Near's wrist, the albino relaxed at that, it must have been really uncomfortable. He could feel the smaller boy's accelerated heartbeat against him for the second time that day.

"Scared?" He whispered.

Near tried to reach for his hair, but Mello still wouldn't let go of his wrist.

"We shouldn't be talking." Right, Near never, ever, gave him a straight answer. He would normally want to hit him for that, but it was obvious that Near was scared, so he felt like beating Mikami up instead.

Hours passed, the prosecutor spent the rest of the day between lying in bed and rushing to the bathroom. It was pretty sad to watch. Not that Mello felt sorry for him, couldn't the asshole have picked a better day to eat bad food?

In the meantime he'd taken to observing the albino. The white top of his head was a little sweaty from the heat, Mikami had turned the heater on when he got there, but they hadn't had the opportunity to remove their coats, though Near did take his cap off in an attempt to cool down. Mello couldn't help noticing how the coat Matt had picked was perfectly suited for him: white and fluffy like his hair.

The albino glanced up, quickly looking away once he noticed he was being observed. He tried to twirl his hair with little success, unused to it being sticky from sweat his fingers kept getting stuck to the locks. It was adorable to watch.

Mello was more than glad his face was hidden, and not because of the murderer lying above them. He couldn't imagine what kind of expression he had, he hadn't found something to be adorable in a long time. Adjusting his position he had to fight the urge to wrap his arms around the smaller boy, he was so much more huggable when scared.

Lately, rather than trying to get feelings out of the albino, the blonde simply tried to keep their contact as unemotional as possible, a Near with feelings was someone wanted to protect, not defeat. That went against everything he worked his whole life for, so he chose to pretend he still thought Near was a robot, but in situations like this it was impossible to do.

He tried not to think too much, or the heat and sweat between them would lead his mind to places that were less than appropriate. He would NOT think of Near that way.

Morning came quickly for Near, they'd had the privilege of listening to Mikami's nightly "deletion" ritual which would have been creepy if not for the constant interruptions by food poisoning.

After that it really hadn't been so bad, the prosecutor fell asleep almost as soon as he was done, so they didn't have to be as close: there was no one to see them anymore. While being close wasn't necessarily unpleasant, Near wasn't used to physical contact, and being squished against a wall, under a bed, while sweating from the heat made it hard to breath.

Mello had been incredibly considerate, he was sure the blonde could have climbed out through the window easily, it was only the second floor after all, yet he stayed without even cussing Near's brains off. He smiled a little at the thought.

The prosecutor was finally going out again, 7:45am, exactly as Gevanni had said. Mello started dragging himself away the moment they heard the door shut, Near would have felt offended if he didn't need the space just as direly. He was hungry, thirsty, sweaty and just in an overall sad state.

"Matt?"

"Hun? Oh, right, you need cover to get out right?" The redhead replied sleepily. Probably the only one who had got any sleep last night.

"Yeah, yeah, do it quickly." Mello said dryly. He wasn't the sweetest person on a good day, after a rough night he would certainly be willing to kill at the drop of a hat.

"It's done boss."

Near was led through the hallways of the building and out, Mello held his hand the whole way back to the bushes the bike was hidden in. The younger boy wasn't looking forward for another ride, the blonde drove like a madman, even though the events from the night before at least made him confident that he wouldn't be thrown off the vehicle intentionally.

He held himself tightly against the familiar body, expecting the same speed he had experienced before. Instead, the bike moved just fast enough that he could feel a gentle breeze through the sleeves of his coat. He could almost fall asleep that way.