"What doesn't matter?" Missy asked.

"It's the only thing that matters," Near informed.

"Is this why Near has bruises on his shoulders?" Missy tried to cut in again.

"What bruises?" Mail frowned.

"What will it accomplish?" Mello asked. "As it was...Nate talked me out of the mafia...he was dead set on trying to make things better for us."

"Mello doesn't know what it wil- hey!"

Near jumped as Missy pulled down the back of the jacket Near had on, revealing his shoulders.

"Don't you remember he flinched a lot when you touched his shoulders?" She asked.

Mail and Mihael blinked in surprise.

"...I thought he was just...I thought he didn't like touching." Mihael breathed.

"I specifically remember him saying, 'Mello is a bully', when asked about them," Missy hummed, tapping her lips.

"They shouldn't have even touched you." Mello frowned.

"...It wasn't Mello?" Mail blinked.

"Mello was a bully," Near confirmed, shooing Missy's hands off. "But I never said he was the one that caused these."

"And let me guess, you never told Mello that they didn't hurt you either." Mihael muttered.

"Oh no, I did," Near hummed, ignoring the looks on their faces. "As I said... I'm a liar."

"...Is he autistic?" Missy asked Mello.

"Something like that." Mello replied. "And he's an asshole."

"And Mello is a bully," Near informed, looking at the blonde. "...I missed you."

"Did he just say 'you'?" Missy whispered to Lawliet.

"Why?" Mello smirked. "You've only been gone...twenty-four hours max."

"Thirty seven hours and fifteen minutes," Near informed. "Adding in the time that I didn't see Mello before I was sent here. And I was supposed to be meeting Mello as it is, remember? Mello told me to meet him there because he had something to give me."

"...The photo." Mihael suddenly breathed.

"Photo?" Near asked, frowning at him in confusion, before he looked back to Mello.

"Yeah, the photo." Mello sighed. "I think that was the first thing that got changed."