"Nothing...special..." Matt tilted his head- his jaw slightly ajar in shock.

"Uh... we're coworkers, if that?" Nate asked, before he glanced at their shocked faces and groaned. "Ugh, look! I'm not Near! I can prove it!"

Nancy looked in surprise as the boy moved over to the scale in the corner and pushed up the measuring tape, before setting it on top of his head. He reached around and locked the metal into place and stepped away, before pointing at it.

"Look!" He snapped. "I'm 5'3"! Near is only 5 feet tall!"

"You're wearing shoes." Matt pointed down at Nate's feet.

Nate frowned and looked down. "Why am I wearing shoes? Near doesn't wear shoes... was I going outside or something? Him, I mean. Him! Ugh!"

Bending down, he tugged off the laces and kicked them off, before re-measuring himself. "5'2" and a half. Happy!?"

"Near, calm down." Matt came over and gripped Nate's arm- not roughly, but very gently...very careful- like he was made of Porcelain or something.

"Don't call me Near!" Nate snapped, smacking his hands away. "And don't tell me to calm down, gosh darn it! You're not listening to me! T'm not Near!"

"Ne... Nate," Nancy breathed, slowly. "We are trying to listen... but we are confused. If you're not... who we think you are, then who are you and how did you wind up in our orphanage with his clothes on?"

"How should I know?" Nate snapped. "I was in a closet and next thing I know I'm stumbling into your damn place wearing this stupid outfit!"

"I found you in the closet having an attack." Roger offered. "But...how did you even end up in the closet in the first place?"

"I was looking for my inhaler," Nate mumbled. "My... friend had it and my spare was in my coat. I thought the coat was in the closet, so I was looking for it."

"What friend?" Matt asked immediately.

"Chester Bourdon," Nate informed, rolling his eyes. "He's a photographer. He does all the shoots for the show and he's full of complete shit."

"Photographer...show?" Matt looked at the two adults- who only shook their heads.

"I must have hit my head pretty damn hard if you-" Nate ignored the way all three of them winced. "-aren't caught up in your own fame."

He eyed the three of them for a moment before he snorted.

"Look... you lot know 'Near' pretty well, right?" He said, slowly. Why was he still indulging this idiocy, anyway? At their nods, he continued, "Does he have anything pierced? Anything at all?"

"No," Nancy informed, frowning. "Of course not. Near is only a child and a boy at that... why would he have his ears per-oh gosh!"

She gasped as Nate pulled up the baggy white t-shirt and revealed a dark blue gemstone hanging from his navel.

"...It was better than I thought it was going to be." Roger breathed out a sigh of profound relief.

"WOW!" Matt turned Nate and looked at the piercing. "When'd you get that!?"

"Some idiot," Nate informed. "Four years ago."

Nancy leaned in close, frowning. "This is healed over... there is no way he got this within the last few days."

The door to the infirmary came open, causing the group to jump. Nate blinked in surprise as a young girl stepped in.

She had dirty blonde hair, done up in pigtails, and was wearing a dark blue set of pajamas.

"What is everyone doing up?" She mumbled. "I was having cramps and came to get some pills or something... whose the kid?"

Nancy blinked in surprise, before looking at Nate. "...You don't recognize your own brother, Linda?"

"Uh... sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not my brother," Linda informed, lifting an eyebrow.

"No shit!?" Matt suddenly looked delightfully excited. "Cool...it's an alien!"

"An alien?" Roger frowned.

"It replicated Near...poorly!" Matt burst.

"I'm not an alien!" Nate snapped, shoving Matt. "And fuck... if I'm here, where is Near?!"

"You seem really excited that someone replaced Near," Linda practically growled, slipping over and towering over Matt by a good three inches, her eyes narrow.

"Hehe..." Matt laughed nervously. "Not excited, but a time traveler is really interesting...I'm worried sick about Near."

"Who said I traveled in time?" Nate asked, frowning. "What year is it?"

"2003," Linda informed.

"I'm in the PAST!?" Nate cried in horror, his eyes wide.

"CALLED IT!" Matt burst- almost jumping.

"So you're saying that you switched places with my brother?" Linda hummed, still glaring at Matt.

"Well... I'm here... so he might be there?" Nate inquired. "Wait... when did I ever say I switched places with him?"

"The logical assumption is that, since you were in his clothes and these idiots all mistook you for him," Linda informed, finally looking the boy over. She stared at him for a moment, before turning toward Matt. "I would think you would know my brother well enough by now to not mistake someone else for him. Or maybe you just spend too much time staring at the back of his head."

"Staring at the... oh god!" Nate shrieked, his eyes wide.

There was a moment of silence before Linda cleared her throat. "Matt has had a crush on Near for almost a year. A crush. He hasn't even told him. They're just friends."

"HEY!" Matt snapped. "Thanks Linda!"

He crossed his arms and frowned bitterly at the girl.

"What?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow. "This is clearly not Near. are you afraid he's gonna tell him or something?"

"I always thought you had a thing for Mello," Nate admitted, lifting an eyebrow. "...So does most of the fandom."

"Huh!?" Matt blinked at Nate- his jaw falling slack as he was dumbstruck by the information.

Linda snorted, before she started to laugh. "Yeah, right! Those two!? Seriously!?"

"Why not?" Nate asked, frowning even more. "Its kind of hot."
Linda's laughter stopped instantly.

"...Uhh..." Matt stared- his face pale and his eyes large.

Roger cleared his throat loudly.

"This is VASTLY inappropriate." Roger murmured. "Anyway, what do we call you? Nate then?"

"Well, that's my name," Nate snorted. "But y'all don't go by names here, right? So you can call me Near, I guess." He sighed a bit. "Chances are I'll wake up from this in a little bi- OW!"

Linda pulled her hand away from where she'd pinched the younger boy. "That hurt, right?"

"Yes!" He snapped.

"Then you're not dreaming, are you?" She snorted.

"Actually, isn't pain interpreted by the mind?" Matt tapped his temple with his finger. "I'm pretty sure that even in a dream you can feel sensations like pain and pleasure."

Linda rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay... well, he'll figure out this isn't a dream eventually."

Nate eyed the girl again, before looking at Nancy. They weren't written into the script... and this Matt was younger then the one Mail played. On top of that, he had no idea where the ideas for 'Linda' and 'Nancy' would come from.

Was it... possible that he was...?

No, it couldn't be! Because that would be admitting that Wammy's house was real and that things like Death Notes did exist. And that was impossible!

"Okay, in the meantime we have to keep things quiet and get everyone tucked away." Roger said.

"I'll hide Nate in my room." Matt offered.

"I don't think that's appropriate," Nancy informed, her face stern.

"What?" Matt whined.

"Mello wouldn't look for him there," Linda reminded. "And you both know that if Mello finds this kid and figures out he's not Near, he'll freak out."

Frowning, Nancy looked at Roger.

"He'll be able to tell even faster than Linda did." Matt breathed- his eyes going wide.

"L could too." Roger nodded. "Yes, Mello would know the difference instantly."

"Uhh-" Nate started, but Nancy cut him off.

"Alright, he can hide in your room," She informed. "We'll feed the student body a line saying Near's away from sickness again... its only half a lie. He is away."

"And he certainly succumbs to illness and disappears, but Mello will be a fit about it...again." Roger sighed. "Tell to staff to do everything in their power to keep him from Near's room- that Near's quarantined until further notice."

He nodded firmly before turning to Matt.

"Matthew, if you pull anything-" Roger began.

"What!?" Matt waved his hands- blushing lightly.

"Uhh-" Nate tried again, but was cut off once more.

"And if Mello tries to bully you into going in there and checking on him, we fake you getting sick too," Linda told Matt. "Because we all know you can't lie worth shit."

"But I'm not prone to getting sick." Matt replied. "Why would he buy that?"

"It's easy enough...maybe we should just set that up and keep Matt from class." Roger suggested. "Someone should keep an eye on the boy."

"I'm not a criminal!" Nate cut in. "You think just because I have a few things pierced and tattoos, I'm going to get into trouble!?"

"...A few things?" Linda breathed, one eyebrow lifted.

"Tattoos?!" Nancy cried in horror, looking as if she was about to fain.

"...Huh?" Matt blinked- blushing a little more. "We're not locking you up or anything. If people see you around, it'll cause all kinds of problems."

"Sure," Nate scoffed, turning his face away with a pout.

"Trust me... you don't want to meet Mello," Linda sighed.

Remembering the recent scene they were shooting - in which Mello pulled a gun on Near - Nate slowly nodded. "Alright, fine."