"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.