"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."

Matt suddenly grabbed Nate's hand and started pulling him towards the door.

"C'mon!" He said as he drug Nate out.

"Matt, we're not done here!" Roger called- to no avail.

"Wh-hey!" Nate called, stumbling after the redhead as he was tugged. "Why do they think Mello will freak out on you, anyway? Aren't you guys like... best friends or something!?"

"Hah!" Matt laughed forcefully. "He...tolerates me for the most part. He only likes me a little because I know my place."

The tore down the halls- this place was like a labyrinth.

"Your place?" Nate asked in surprise, frowning. "What place is that?"

"Beneath him." Matt mumbled before stopping a door with more signs and stickers tacked to it then Nate had ever seen before.

Nate blinked at the door and looked at Matt. "You play Zelda!?"

"Are you kidding?" Matt laughed. "I've played every game twice! And Mario and Final Fantasy and Sonic and Kirby and even Earthbound! I taught you- er -Near how to play Kid Icarus."

"Oh gosh that game was so lame, but Pit was awesome in super-..." Nate paused, before clearing his throat. "Anyways... the... er... 'Matt' that I know had to research shit about games because he had played like, one video game in his life. About the only thing of yours that he bothered to pick up was smoking... and being a redhead."