The two orphans sat across from each other, the blonde sending a deathly glare every few minutes to the other. In his mind, it was Near's fault that they'd been embarrassed in front of the infamous detective they looked up to, and it only increased his anger with the white-haired boy. That and the fact he only returned his look with a blank, uncaring stare. If L hadn't been watching them right now, he would have wiped that look off his face in a second.

"What am I going to do with you both?" L said sharply, looking between the two. L was the one person that could make Mello feel guilty about anything, and right now he avoided his gaze, crossing his arms adamantly. He never got angry like this, only sent them away with a disappointed speech on how he knew they could do better. Today, the determined look in his empty eyes was enough to scare him a little.

"Fighting between the two of you is one thing, but to involve another child is unacceptable." L stated, with the same sharp tone.

"It's not like Matt cared." Mello muttered quietly.

"Matt is in the infirmary with a broken arm."

"If he hadn't got in the way he wouldn't have gotten hurt!" He protested.

"You were about to throw Near off of the balcony." L replied calmly. "This is one incident too much. You must face some kind of punishment. One that might actually benefit your relationship." L pressed his thumb to his lips as he thought. Nothing seemed to work with these two. After long, things would just go back to normal and there would be another incident like this.

There was nothing for it. He'd have to do something he really didn't want to have to do. This would either make things better… or much worse.

"Both of you, hold out your arms." He instructed. After an exchange of confused looks, the two children complied. L disappeared momentarily behind the desk, before re-emerging and within seconds snapping two ends of extended handcuffs around their wrists.

There was a short pause, before an expected outburst.

"What the hell is this, L? Some kind of joke?" Mello snapped, tugging at the metal ring around his wrist. Near only examined it, for once complete surprise in his expression.

"This is not a joke, Mello. This is your punishment." L replied with an amused smile.

"Come on, stop kidding around." Mello shot a glare at Near, not daring to take his anger out on the detective. "Are you saying I have to stay chained to this freak?"

"Yes. Let's make it a week."

"A WEEK?" Mello fumed, getting to his feet. "I'm NOT doing this, L."

"Yes you are. I will only let you both go when you've learned to tolerate each other at least." L could tell he might have lost some of Mello's admiration, but that wasn't his concern right now.

"Excuse me, L, but I really have to protest." Near spoke up, looking over at Mello uneasily. "This won't work out. We won't be able to leave in close quarters for that long. We have different classes, for one."

"I'll sort all that out. Near, you can move into Mello's room. You're both boys so you'll have to get used to being around each other. I'll give Roger a key, but strict instructions to only let you out to get changed. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it."

"L, this is the most stupid idea you've ever had. Both of us will probably end up dead." Mello said through gritted teeth, examining the handcuff snapped tightly around his wrist.

"No need to be so melodramatic. If you won't be able to handle something as small as this, I'll have to reconsider having you both as my contenders for successors." At this, Mello and Near both froze. This was a challenge, a test to see if they could get along as well as a punishment. Neither of them were going to back down from an opportunity to show L they were worthy of being a successor, and neither was going to give in. "You may leave. I have things to discuss with Watari and Roger." L popped a small biscuit into his mouth. "Good luck."

The orphans stood, walking back towards the door. Once the door closed behind them, they examined each other, before looking at the chain. There was an ominous silence.

"I'm not sharing a shower with you, prick." Mello scowled and walked off, pulling Near reluctantly along with him. He could tell it was going to be a long week.