"Hey Near! Wanna play with us?" Linda asks, like any other day, with one foot already outside.
And like any other day, Near doesn't even bother to look at her. He shakes his head, nonchalantly replying, "No thank you, Linda."
Like any other day, Linda pouts.
Like any other day, some kids roll their eyes and drag her away, telling her to ignore 'that antisocial Near'.
Unlike any other day though, there's a figure standing outside of the door, watching Near play alone. He very well knows of the existence of the watchful eyes, yet he chooses to stay silent, eyes carefully watching the small shadow the figure cast as he or she peeks at him.
How very disturbing.
Perhaps it's a curious newcomer. Or Mello. There's also the unlikely chance that Linda and her posse came back.
No, impossible.
Mello would also most likely not spy on him, as he would have too much pride for that.
A harmless newcomer then? Or perhaps some dangerous enemy of L's that somehow managed to find out about Whammy's?
"I know you're out there," he says calmly, slowly, eyes still on his toys.
"If you mean no harm, then do come inside." He continues to play with the model airplane in his hands.
There is a small gasp, then a rustle.
"Hello! Sorry about that. Am I bothering you?" A female voice asks.
He turns.
A girl slightly taller than him gives him a sheepish laugh. She is wearing a simple, plain dress. Her outward appearance is something Near can only describe as being average. She wasn't ugly, perhaps somewhat appealing, but not eye-catching. Someone you'd pass by on the streets and not even notice.
Was she some sort of test sent by L?
Perhaps not. He was probably over-thinking this.
"Are you mad?" she asks carefully, bowing her head guiltily.
He shakes his head. "I have no reason to be."
She gives a small chuckle. "Near? Was that what your friend called you?"
Friend? Should he try to refine her definition of the relationship between Linda and him? "Yes. Near. And you are?" Perhaps not now.
"I'm Leiko." He doesn't question the abnormality of her name. It doesn't matter, anyway.
"Do you need something?" he asks.
She smiles, taking light steps towards the boy and his toys. Before barging into what he called his personal space bubble, she stops and sits down while giving a small bend so that she was on eye level with him.
Again, she smiled.
He subconsciously relaxed.
"Near, how old are you?"
"Seven."
"I'm nine. But I'm not very tall so forget the '-san' and all that, okay?" He wasn't intending to use formalities but for some reason, those were still welcomed words.
He nods.
"Near, you're very quiet, aren't you? What do you like to do?"
He wordlessly gestures towards his wide array of toys.
"You like to play toys, huh? Can I play with you?" She tilts her head.
He nods, reaching over to grab five Jenga sets. He'd been wanting a challenge, and an opponent was just what he needed. He wished she would be able to last long, though.
He hears her give a small laugh of disbelief.
"Five sets of Jenga? That's really interesting. Any penalties?"
He shakes his head. "I've never made up any before. You can do so if you want, though."
She pauses, thinking. "The one who loses has to have a proper conversation with someone else for at least five minutes." She grins brightly.
Well, it would be a win-win situation either way. If she lost, finding someone she could talk to would be beneficial because she was new. Either that or extremely shy, since he'd never seen her around. He must seem greatly antisocial to her, so she most likely thought it'd benefit him too. Would it really though? Maybe he might lose on purpose to find out.
"So, Near, do you want to do best of 5 or would you rather stack all five sets up?" She asks, gazing incredulously at the boxes, chuckling to herself.
He stares at the ceiling for second. "We'll stack two sets of two and a half. We can go from there," he monotones.
She rubs her hands together excitedly. "Alright then! I've been looking for a challenging game!" It seemed as if she was echoing his thoughts from before, which he found mildly amusing but did not comment on.
"Hey Near! You sure you don't wanna play with us?" Linda's cheery voice floats closer as she walks towards the room, but she stops short when she finds Leiko with him. She raises a brow skeptically.
"Friend?" she asks, sounding slightly sarcastic, with arms crossed, eyes narrowed at the pair.
"Linda?" He's slightly surprised, having had only one sentence interactions with her. He never really noticed how she behaved normally. Was this venom considered out of character for her?
Leiko has her head tilted up slightly, almost arrogantly, at Linda. She stands up slowly, staring straight at Linda in the process of doing so. She takes small, but firm and confident steps towards the girl who had already broken eye contact and was diverting her attention to the apathetic Near instead.
"Linda?" Leiko abruptly stops walking, smiling slightly.
"Yes?" Linda's mouth starts twitching, as if she was resisting the urge to break out into a sneer.
"I'm new. Leiko."
Linda stays quiet, watching Leiko very carefully.
"Where are your friends, little Linda?" Leiko grins crookedly.
"Outside. Why?"
"Do your friends know why you treat Near so well?"
Linda's eyes widen. "What are you talking about?" she asks defensively.
Near is amused.
"Well," Leiko sings coyly. "You don't own Near, if you get what I'm talking about." She gives Linda a wink, as if they were just friends sharing an inside joke.
Linda's face reddened. "What is wrong with you?" she seethes, then spins to find Near. "Don't ever count on receiving my help again, you ingrate. I won't forget this."
Stomping outside, multiple whispers immediately greet her. At the very least though, Linda was refusing to speak anything about Near or 'the new girl'.
Near offhandedly wondered how Linda was going to take her revenge on him. The Linda he had just seen seemed to be the type that would delight in murdering him in his sleep. He'd rather she not do that though.
They continue assembling the blocks, as if nothing had happened.
"Is Linda normally this unfriendly?" Near gingerly picks up the last block in this set, putting on the topmost level, then grabs another box of Jenga blocks.
Leiko dumps the last box of blocks in her messy pile of unstacked blocks. Carefully picking out a few, she starts to lay the bottommost level.
"I wouldn't know. I'm new."
He raises a brow. "You sounded as if you knew her well."
"She doesn't know me very well, if you couldn't tell." She chuckles.
"Can I ask something?"
"Shoot."
"What were you doing just now?"
"Helping my only friend get a fox off his back."
He looks to her. Friend? Interesting. " 'You don't own Near'. What did you mean by that?"
"Hmm? I was guessing."
Leiko stops what she's doing and beckons Near closer to her with a gesture. "Come over here. I'll explain everything I did."
Near drops the blocks in his hands and scoots closer to the girl, an edge of eagerness in his actions.
She smiles. "Firstly, why don't you tell me what happens on an average day with you?"
And that's how Near ended up telling this newcomer, this average-looking girl with a questionable name and even more questionable actions, his life story – so far, anyway. Which he thought was extremely mundane, but she still wanted to hear it anyway.
And she told him she had merely assumed that Linda felt that Near sort of belonged to her, because Linda gave Near a couple of kind words or two and expected him to be in his debt. She did it for the popularity, most likely, because who wouldn't like the girl that tried to talk to 'antisocial Near'? And she felt that she owned Near, because he was her popularity tool. She said it was how Linda had asked Near in passing, never really tried to persuade him, and gave in much too easily to her friends' persuasion. She'd also acted possessive, so Leiko said she merely guessed.
An intelligent one, if Near must say so. Perhaps he should observe people more.
She'd called him a friend, and perhaps that was what they became. He really didn't know.
As days passed, he watches her become acquainted with Mello. He assumed they had become "friends" as well. He wished he'd know the proper definition of 'friend', instead of just the dictionary definition. He didn't quite like not being sure about something. But in Mello's case, maybe it could not be helped either way. Rather than describing Leiko as intelligent like Mello, he would describe her as sensitive and observant. She most likely decided Mello would not take kindly to him, despite Near's liking and respect for Mello's ways.
Linda would ignore Near and Leiko quite plainly, but she never replied when anyone would ask her what Leiko had done to her or why she was ignoring Near.
One day, while Leiko was playing with Near, someone called for her over the PA system. They had looked to each other, and Leiko had shrugged, smiling apologetically. Mouthing, 'be back' over her shoulder, she rushed to the office, before she was given an earful for being late.
When she returned, she had the most upset expression on her face.
"Near." Her voice sounded slightly hollow.
"Leiko? What did they say?"
She sat down, staring into his eyes. "Near. They said they wanted to give me a proper experience of the outside world, so they're sending me to a public school."
Near nodded. "A lot of people would like that opportunity."
Her head drooped. "I know. Maybe it's because I'm not intelligent and can solve logic puzzles like you can. They're trying to push my strengths to the maximum, and I'm grateful for it, but they told me I can only visit you guys once in a while." Her voice rose up an octave.
He shook his head. "It's alright. It's for the best, really."
"I know."
Silence engulfs the room.
"Leiko." Her head snapped up.
"Leiko, judging based on my interpersonal skills, you will be my only friend for some time."
Her eyes widened and her mouth curved into an 'o'. Suddenly, she lunged forward and hugged the boy, breaking into small sobs.
He stayed immobile, watching her cry.
He hoped he correctly used the word 'friend', and that she isn't crying of sadness. But then she sniffed, broke away and laughed, a hand wiping away her tears.
Maybe he really understands now. The definition of friendship.
A/N: And I started yet another story. All my chocolate should be taken away because I'm so irresponsible.