Slender, strong hands flipped through an empty, black notebook that read "Death Note" on the cover. Brown eyes glinted with excitement as they shifted to look at a woman that was coming in from work. She looked stressed out, and she was the perfect test-subject; the exact thing that the new Shinigami needed to test out his new Death Note. He could see her name perfectly, and pulled out a ballpoint pen from his pocket, bringing it to the paper.
Ayane Marissa
Dies of heart-attack in her living room, caused by stress, at 10:15am on the 17th of October.
The Shinigami grinned, and then shut the notebook, watching eagerly. The clock had just tuned 10:15am, and he grinned as she gasped in pain and fell, her life-expectancy counter splitting in half. He chuckled to himself, then walked off o go back to the dismal house he shared with Ryuk – if you could call it a house.
"Ah, Light. Home already?" Ryuk said from where he sat on the bed lazily.
The Shinigami, formally known as both Kira and Yagami Light, held up the Death Note he'd just used. "Just got it; it works splendidly!" He said happily, and then he walked over and put the Death Note on the table, tossing his silky, brown hair as he looked at Ryuk. "I feel so good, and so much stronger!"
"Well, yeah. That's what happens when you take someone's life-span." Ryuk said, shrugging. "So, what'cha gonna do now?"
"Now?" He chuckled. "I'm going to go take care of some unfinished business."
"Unfinished business?" Ryuk sat up. "Can I come along?"
"If you want." He said, and then walked out of the house. "Let's get some apples while we're out, Ryuk!"
*~*~*
While this conversation was going on, a white-haired young-adult was tossing in turning in his bed, plagued by nightmares he hadn't had in so many years. He clutched at the blankets, his soft cries muffled, and then his gray eyes shut open and he sat up, breathing heavily. His eyes shifted around, and then he looked up at the slightly ajar door. "Who's there?"
"Are you okay, Near?" A soft voice asked as a brown-haired teenage girl came into the room, clutching a sketchbook to her chest. She was in her nightgown, but she was drawing in her room when she heard his thrashing about. "Do you need anything?"
The young adult, Near, breathed out a sigh of relief and brought a hand to his face. "…Water." He said softly, his eyes closing as he tried to compose himself. This had to be the third month in a row that he had that nightmare, and it was starting to show by how exhausted he looked every day.
She nodded, then walked over and poured him a glass of water from a pitcher on the table. "Was it Ryuuzaki again?" She asked, walking over and handing him the glass. "Or, was it Kira, this time?"
"Both." He shuddered and then downed the water in one gulp. "Thank you, Linda." He nodded to her, handing her the glass to put on the table.
"Beyond Birthday and Yagami Light are both dead, though." She walked over and fluffed up his pillow before helping him lie down again. "There's no need to be scared, Near."
"I really don't know about those two…" He mumbled. "The report said that Beyond Birthday died in jail by a heart attack, but there was no picture put out to the public for Yagami Light to see. What if he's not dead?" He brought his hands up, gripping his short hair. "Who knows what he'll do to me for taking L's title!"
Linda sighed and reached over to pull his hands down to rest on his lap. "You don't need to be so scared, Near. And especially not of those two! Just stop thinking about it, and you'll be fine. Yagami Light has been dead for three months now, you know! There's no need to be so scared of a memory!"
Near nodded, then lay down and curled up slightly. "Thank you, Linda. You can go back to sleep, now." He said softly, grateful for the lack of cases big enough to drag him in. 'Still…' He thought, closing his eyes. 'Three months ago is when I first remembered that horrible incident…'
Linda turned and left the room. "Good night, Near." She said as she closed his bedroom door.
Near waited until she was in her room, then sat up and undid his shirt, looking at a scar on his upper-arm. "At least I remember where this came from, now…" He mumbled, running a hand over it. Then he closed his shirt and pulled over a laptop, looking over the news for something, anything to take his mind off of the nightmares. After a bit of not finding anything, he closed the laptop and curled up to fall into a fitful slumber again, unaware of brown eyes watching him as he slept.
"So, this is your unfinished business?" Ryuk cackled. "Why not just kill him in his sleep?"
"Why should I be so dishonorable? He beat me fairly, so I will be just as fair to him." He grinned. "I'll wait until he's doing a case that will make him beg for death. Then I'll give him what he wants." Light moved over and moved a hand to brush aside Near's bangs, so he could see his face. "Sleep well, Nate Rivers." He said softly, looking up at the name above the young-adult's head.
Near shifted in his sleep, feeling something move his hair, and Light moved away, watching as the young-adult albino went back into his deep slumber.
The next morning, Linda came into the room to find Near already dressed for work – which was baggy, light-blue pants and a white pajama-top, but that was Near's style – and leaned over to see what he was looking at. "Anything to work on today?"
"No." He continued typing something up, not even looking up at her.
"Want some tea?" She smiled.
He glanced up at her. "Sure. I'm good with any flavor."
She nodded, then turned and left the room, but paused. "Near, can we go out to the park today?"
"Do we have to?" He looked up at her.
"We haven't gone in a long time! Pleeeeaaaase?" She leaned against the doorway, her big, brown eyes looking at him pleadingly.
"Linda." He lowered the laptop's lid slightly.
"Yes?" She came in again.
"How long have you known me?" He put the laptop aside.
"…Most of our lives? About 14 years, I think." She stood in front of him as he moved to get off the bed.
"And, in those 14 years, have I ever given into pouts or begging?" He raised an eyebrow.
She sighed. "Is that a 'no', then?"
He thought a bit. "Well, there are no cases…" He reached over and shut the laptop fully. "Alright, go make the tea while I find my boots."
She nodded, and then ran out of the room. Near sighed and shook his head as he walked over to closet and reached in to pull out a box. He took out a few different items, and then pulled out white boots, pulling them out with a roll of the eyes. Then he closed the box, putting everything back in it, and put it back in the deep depths of the closet.
"I don't know why I let her talk me into this…" He mumbled. "I haven't been outside in months." He reached over for a hat and pulled it on over his face, hiding himself from prying eyes. "Watari never made L go outside as much as she tries to get me to, is it a girl thing?"
"Near, the tea's ready, come on down!"
He stood up and walked out, grabbing a robot toy as he left the room. Who knows, maybe something will come up while he's gone? He went into the main room of the house he and his assistant, Linda, resided in. While Linda wouldn't be his first choice for an assistant, Mello had taken Matt with him to the grave about four months ago, and no one else in Whammy's House was good enough. Linda would have to do.
She looked up as he came down, smiling as he sat down on the couch. "Near, lookie! I got a new apron!" She said, spreading her arms wide so he could see it.
He stared blankly at her, then reached over and grabbed a book, as if to say "I'm not interested in that" to her. He heard a slight huff, but didn't look about – this silent treatment was something she was used to, so he didn't wanna bother changing it.
"Here's your tea." She handed him the cup, and Near took it, taking a sip. "How is it?"
"It's tea." He said calmly, and then went back to his book as he drank his tea. The sound of a cartoon caught his ear and he looked up to see that Linda had turned on the T.V. and was just flipping channels. "What are you doing?"
"You're not talking to me, so I'm trying to—oh, geez, you'd think they'd just accept the fact that he's not coming back." She stopped flipping and listened to Kira worshippers rant about how Kira, their Savior, would return and save the world from criminals--blah-blah-blah.
Near stood up and set the book down, sipping his tea quietly as he listened to the rants. While Kira was gone, he still wanted to see how much longer people would worship him before they accepted that he was gone. The world leaders were told of his death, but the world was not planning on giving up on him yet. He scoffed and set the tea down before he walked over to grab the remote and shut off the T.V. "Pathetic." He mumbled.
"They're not gonna give up, are they?" Linda stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go pack a picnic lunch, Near!" She skipped off to the kitchen, humming as she set to work. "Near, you want jam?"
"Not strawberry." Near said, looking over at her.
"I know!" She said, closing the fridge. "Geez, we don't even HAVE strawberry jam, Near! Why would I put it in the sandwiches?"
"Just reminding you." Near said emotionlessly as he looked out the window. It was sunny, too sunny, and he was glad for the hat he'd grabbed. He then walked over and sat on a chair, one leg up to his chest while the one hung down to the floor.
Linda came out a bit later with the basket. "You like fruit, right?" She looked at him, aware of one of the apples being grabbed and eating by thin air.
Near nodded, then raised an eyebrow and walked over to look at the basket. Was that just…nah, couldn't be. That Shinigami had no more business with him, and he wouldn't come here just to steal an apple. He was seeing things. "We'll go when you're ready." He said dully.
She nodded. "Do you need the hat, Near?" She pouted.
"As the new L, I have to hide my face at all times." He said, repeating something he'd said to her several times already. "Besides, it's bright outside." He added, walking over to the door and opening it.
She smiled. "So, are we walking, or do we need to take a taxi?"
"I think you need to stop failing the driver's test so you can drive the car." He walked down the sidewalk, and Linda quickly locked up before skipping along after him, the basket in her hands.
They got to the park, and Near sat down on the blanket she'd spread out for them while she went to go play with a puppy. He amused himself by counting how many apples were devoured while she was gone, and then he looked up at her as she came over. "You didn't bring apples."
"Wha—I did!" She looked in the basket, and only one was left. "What on earth is going on?!"
Near shrugged, then grabbed the last apple, cutting it into pieces that they shared. "At least the ghost that took the other apples doesn't eat sandwiches."
"Just to be safe, let's eat." She said, handing him the food she'd made for him.
Above them, Light was looking at Ryuk with an expression of disbelief. "You alerted him to your presence, you idiot!"
"Why not?" He grinned. "You're dead, why would I be following you around anymore?"
Light grumbled, but left the argument and looked back at Near. "Who's that girl, anyway? He's not calling her by her real name, is she from Whammy's House?"
Ryuk shrugged.
Near stood up and helped Linda clean up the picnic site before he followed her over to the playground. "Linda, how old are you?"
"I'm fifteen." She grinned. "I can still get on a swing, can't I?" She skipped over and then sat on a swing. "Neeeaaaar, come over here and push me!"
"You have legs." He sat down by the picnic basket and started to take apart the robot toy, ignoring her whining as he carefully put it back together.
"C'mon, Near! Stop playing with the robot and play with me!" She pouted and kicked her legs on the swing.
He stood up and picked up the basket as he walked over, then set the basket down to push her, backing away so she wouldn't hit him as she came back towards him. "This has no point." He mumbled, twirling a lock of hair with his hand, his eyes half-closed in boredom. "Let's go home, something may have come up."
Linda dragged her shoes on the ground and got off the swing. "Okay." She said, obediently following him back home. "I wonder where all the apples went?"
Near looked at the basket. "Who knows, maybe a ghost ate them."
"A ghost? Did you see it?" Linda blinked.
"No, I didn't see anything." Near half-lied. True, he hadn't seen the Shinigami, but he had seen the apples get eaten.
"Hm…" She unlocked the door and then they went in, Near going back up to his room to go to his laptop. "Near, bring down the laptop, okay?"
"Right." He nodded, then walked over and started to unplug the laptop so he could move it downstairs. '"Ryuk", I think his name was. What does he want with me? This is the second time I've seen him today, within the space of an hour!' He thought, carrying the laptop out of the room. 'This is…unnerving.' Despite his thoughts, though, he looked as calm and composed as ever.
On the way out of the room, though, he suddenly cried out and dropped the laptop case with a THUMP, attracting Linda's attention, and he looked at his hand, which was bleeding. "…"
"Oh my gosh, Near!" Linda ran over and looked at his hand. "What happened to your hand?!"
"…I don't know." He knelt to pick up the laptop case with his other hand, following Linda to the bathroom so she could clean the wound and look at the damage caused. "I think I'm going to take nap after you get this cleaned up. Let me know if anything comes up."
She nodded, cleaning the wound and blinked when she found what looked like a stab wound. "Near, when did this happen?"
"…I don't know." He said, looking at it with wide eyes. In truth, he did know, but to tell Linda would be to tell her of his past, which he had never told anyone. She seemed to buy it, though, so he let her bandage his hand before he went back to his room, leaving the laptop with her.
*~~**~~**~~*
Okay, so this is the sequal to "Wounded Pride" and takes place when Near is 17, shortly after the Kira case. As you can see, there will be some Light invovement, as well as a few extra things I made up for Near's baskstory.
And he's living with Linda. Oh joy, she's almost as bad as Misa with how excitable she is.
Review, please! If you do, I'll make you an imaginary cookie!