"Is that why Near and Mello fight so hard for the top spot?" Nate pressed, pulling back and looking down at Matt. "Does the top student get treated better then the rest?"

"You have no idea...they're treated like people." Matt looked up at Nate.

The white-haired boy frowned down at him.

This place... it didn't seem anything like the one in the show, now that he heard all this - then again they never really got into what Wammies was about in the show... focusing mostly on the Kira case and L's struggle, then his two successors later in life, after they'd gotten out of the orphanage.

But it had to be some place to turn Near so cold and Mello into a mafia member...

"I'm going to get you out of here," He said, suddenly.

Matt blinked.

"...What?" He leaned back a little.

"You don't like your home and I don't like mine," Nate informed. "So I say fuck 'em both."

"You have to get back to where you belong...what about the others?" Matt asked. "Don't you care? About your friends? And then Mello's left here to pick up all the slack now that Near's gone...don't you see why Near's important?"

Nate pulled back a little. "I thought... he was important because he was your friend. And they don't care about me back there... I'm just a kid who acts in the same show..."

"But they have to!" Matt burst. "And yes, Near's my friend...sorta...it's weird like me and Mello, but he's needed by everyone."

"And if he doesn't come back, it falls on Mello... Mello leaves and it falls on you," Nate whispered - remembering Matt freaking out at the thought of Mello leaving. "And if you leave then its the next person..."

"Near can do it...sometimes- even though I know he doesn't want to be L -I think he wants to be the person to keep it off everyone else." Matt said. "That's why Near's my friend...he cares."

"No wonder that kid is an empty shell," Nate mumbled, looking away. "He's got the fate of like a hundred people resting on him... he's never allowed to be normal, is he? Always smart, smart, smart... the next L... so he closed himself off. Man, Mail's gotta be having a hay-day with him..."

"...You think he's closed off...but it's not true." Matt blinked. "Near, he's...he's selfless to a fault."

"The Near that I play in the show," Nate sighed. "He's willing to step on anyone's toes to get to the end... he watches most of his team die right before his eyes and doesn't bat an eye..."

Matt stared at Nate before his face became sad.

"...Maybe...it's not because he doesn't feel anything." Matt offered. "Maybe, it's because he can't do anything about it...and to save everyone else, he can't let how he feels get in his way."

"Either way... its really sad," Nate whispered, resting his forehead against Matt's and letting out a sigh. "Most people just think he's an asshole... no one gets how complicated he is..."

"...That's terrible." Matt blinked. "...Will they treat Near like shit?"

"They are very loyal, even when faced with their own deaths," Nate assured, gently.

"I mean the real people." Matt clarified.

"I... honestly don't know if they really exist," Nate admitted, laughing nervously for a moment before he sighed. "Matt... If I can't ever return home... will they make me leave Wammy's?"

"No...you're a civilian and you know too much." Matt shook his head.

"But you said that... if your grades aren't good enough they don't keep you," Nate reminded, his frown growling.

"No, they don't." Matt shook his head.

"Then what would they do with me...?" Nate inquired, only to jump as the door came open and Mello slipped inside, having returned from Roger's office.

Mello closed the door before he leaned back against it a moment. Matt sat back and looked Mello over. The blonde boy was quiet a moment and then hobbled over to the bed and flopped on it with Matt.

"You okay?" Nate asked, having calmed a little bit as he crawled over from where he was seated on the other side of Matt.

"I'll live." Mello's mumbling was muffled by the mattress.

With a frown, Nate reached out and placed a gentle hand on Mello's shoulder.

Mello tensed at the touch before looking up.

"Matt's been taking care of you?" Mello asked.

"Taking care of me?" Nate asked, frowning.

"Yeah." Mello sighed as he pushed himself- with some effort, it seemed -up on all-fours before seating himself like Nate and Matt.

"Why are you moving like that?" Nate pressed instantly - unlike the rest of the kids at Wammy's he didn't seem to know what privacy meant.

"Like what?" Mello replied with a frown.

Matt looked down a moment before looking up at Nate.

"You gotta be hungry, by now." Matt offered.

"Food doesn't distract me," Nate scoffed. "Did they hurt him too? Near, I mean."

"Near?" Mello blinked and looked at Matt- who suddenly seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else but right there for questioning.

Nate groaned, flopping back on the bed. "Will one of you just be forward and tell me what the hell is going on!? I already know too much so what is the god damn secret!?"

"That maybe you're safer NOT knowing something!" Mello replied sharply. "You know so much right now that they'd never let you leave!"

"Then what's the harm in telling me more!?" Nate cried, sitting up and glaring at the blonde.

"What's the point in telling you at all!?" Mello shot back, leaning his face close to Nate's. "You're not Near and you don't need to know anything! We're trying to get you back home!"

"What if I don't want to go home!?" Nate yelled, his face turning red from anger.

"You're going home!" Mello shot back at him- face going red as well. "You don't belong here and Near doesn't belong there, he belongs here!"