"So you know who I am." Came the reply. "But that leaves the question of who you are."

"Nate River," Nate said, rolling his eyes. "Who else would I be? And what the hell are you doing, Lawliet? Are you in on this bullshit?"

"You are NOT Nate River...you've been denying that this whole time." The person on the other end replied.

"Uh, no..." Nate groaned. "I said that I'm not Near. I am Nate River. Near is a character I play in a TV show!"

Nancy turned to look at Roger, her eyes wide.

"That's interesting...what's the show about?" Lawliet asked.

"You and that idiot Light," Nate sighed. There was no point in fighting this shit if Lawliet was going to play along. "He's got this notebook that kills people and he is all, 'blah blah blah, I'm god' about it. You got killed off after season one and they bought in Mihael, Mail, and me to replace you. Man, did that kill ratings!"

"Maybe the target audience just hasn't warmed up to you yet." Lawliet replied. "Did you say I died?"

"Nancy, call up the doctor." Roget said calmly.

With a grim nod, Nancy moved toward the door and pulled it open, only to look in surprise as a redheaded teenager - who had been pressed against it - stumbled in.

The redhead looked up and blinked at all of them before grinning.

"Hey...this isn't the bathroom." He offered.

"Mail, thank god!" Nate cried, shoving the phone into Roger's hands before he hopped off the bed and came over. "Can you tell these people that... what the fuck are you wearing?"

"Did you just say 'fuck'?" The red-haired boy blinked up at Nate in surprise.

The redhead was dressed in a striped shirt with green shorts and long, striped socks. Over his eyes, he wore goggles that were mirror polished with orange lenses.

"...I know they pay you a lot, but... they couldn't pay me enough to wear green with orange," Nate commented, looking baffled.

"I bought these." The boy frowned.

"No wonder your agent dresses you," Nate scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Mail, can you please tell these two nut jobs that I'm not Near so we can go the heck home?"

"You're...not...Near?" The other boy frowned. "...Did you just call me Mail...in the OPEN!?"

"Uhh... its your name?" Nate asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Matt," Nancy cut in, stepping forward. "Did Mello... do anything to hurt Near? Hit his head or anything that you know of? We know that you wouldn't hurt him, but if Mello did anything... you can't cover for him, Matt! This is serious!"

"I didn't hit my fucking head!" Nate snapped, glaring at her. "And... wait, why wouldn't Mail hurt me? I'm no one special to him or anything."

Nancy's frown grew dark and she looked at the redhead. "As I said... this is serious."