Well, I know I promised to get back to writing Silent Whispers for Help this summer, but it turns out it was harder than I expected to get into the story again. I am trying though, so before you know it new chapters will be popping up. Meanwhile I decided to post this since I have already revealed that L and Light are going to Wammy's house. Each chapter will basically be a slice out of one of the Wammy kids' lives, and you do not have to read Silent whispers for help to read this.

It was really interesting to immerse myself in each of the Wammy children's personalities and imagine how they would interact with each other while in the orphanage. I have decided to focus on different characters in each chapter, and this first chapter is about Near, and his perspective on things. So here you can get to know the children from Wammy's a little better.

If anyone are curious here are the ages of the main characters in this chapter:

Mello: 11 years old. (He turns 12, on December 13th)

Matt: 11 years old. (He turned 11, on February 1st)

Near: 9 years old. (He turns 10, on August 24th)

I hope you enjoy!

-x-

Date: Friday 16th, March 2001

Rivals

"Fuck!" Near heard from the common room as he walked slowly towards it. He didn't really react much to the loud noise, he merely noted that it was there and walked on. It wasn't exactly hard to deduct who it had been and what it had been about either, and therefore it wasn't worth his attention. It was Friday afternoon, also known as grading day. It was the day the results of all the tests and classes they'd taken during that week were added up and the students were sorted based on how well they'd done. Near was a 100 percent certain that he was number one again. He'd been 99 percent certain until he heard the yell. Despite this there hadn't been any doubt in Near's mind that he'd gotten full marks on all his tests, but the tests weren't just graded by how many answers you got right. They were also graded after how long it took the students to finish them. The curriculum at Wammy's house was difficult, but it wasn't impossible, that would completely defeat the purpose of learning and also discourage the students, which would be unfortunate and counterproductive. This meant that there would always be more than one student earning full marks. It was also exceedingly hard to create a test that couldn't be solved by nearly every single student at Wammy's, because they were there for a reason; they were smart. This was the reason they were timed as well. To make it impossible for the students to abuse this rule however, every mistake they made were multiplied by a number that was determined by how fast they turned their tests in; the faster they'd turned in the test, the higher that number would be. Otherwise, it would have been possible to simply guess, with only minor consequences. Likewise, every correct answer was also multiplied by that same number, which was determined by how fast they finished. Leaving an answer blank was also worse than guessing, and you would lose even more points than guessing incorrectly. This was to teach the students to think logically and creatively, and use what information they had to deduct the most likely answer. All in all, it was a well balanced system that accurately and precisely determined every student's knowledge, intelligence, creativity and problem-solving abilities.

Their intuition was also tested to a certain extent, but it was something that was considered mandatory to have. If you had an inkling about something then it generally meant that somewhere in your mind you knew that something wasn't right. Intuition alone wasn't reliable enough to be taught at Wammy's as an independent science, so instead they focused on teaching the students to actually use all the information they crammed into their heads in practical situations. The usual challenge was solving a puzzle of some sort. It could be everything from riddles to proper murder investigations.

Just as Near turned the corner, he was passed by a black and yellow blur of a person. He turned his head slightly and watched the blonde boy clad in black clothing from head to toe disappear down the corridor in a hurry. Near turned his head back forwards and walked the final few meters into the common room and over to the large whiteboard where the names had been written down in order. His deduction that he once again was number one had been correct. Near allowed a small smile to spread across his lips at the sight; it was satisfying to be right.

"He's so creepy." A voice whispered from somewhere slightly to Near's left.

"I know. Standing there all by himself, smiling like that." Another voice answered.

"Right? And he never talks to anybody; he just plays around with his toys by himself." The first voice said back.

You are the very reason I don't talk to people. Everyone are so judgemental and jealous. I am not even the strangest person in the House, but you attack my unique traits just because I'm number one and you're unable to ever reach my level. Even if you spent your time studying instead of gossiping, you still wouldn't even be near beating me. Near thought as he turned towards the exit of the room and walked back to his bedroom. He never spoke back to anyone though; he didn't see the point.

When he opened the door to his bedroom, he was disappointed to once again find it in a complete mess, with many of his toys lying strewn across the floor, broken into pieces. It happened almost every Friday after the lists had been revealed. The culprit was always the same.

Near walked slowly into his room and proceeded to clean up the mess, only mourning each broken toy for a few seconds as he picked them up, and then threw them away. He'd tried fixing the broken toys before, and knew that it was pointless; they were too thoroughly destroyed to be repaired.

"Again?" Asked a voice from the door, and Near turned around to face Roger Ruvie, the man running the orphanage in Quillish Wammy's absence. Roger was a kind old man, although a bit socially awkward at times; not that anyone really noticed. There weren't many kids at the House with more advanced social skills than him anyway.

"Yes. It wasn't exactly unexpected though." Near said monotonously with a slight shrug.

"I'll buy you some new ones then." Roger said kindly, clearly fond of the white-haired boy.

"Thank you Roger. I will also need some new dark lenses and sunblock for the excursion next week. I really am looking forwards to looking for clues at a real crime site." Near calmly informed Roger.

"Of course." Roger said and made to leave before he changed his mind. "Oh, before I forget; would you like to attempt sharing a room with another student again? It's been a few years since the last time, and I believe it would be good for you to have someone to talk to."

"No thank you Roger, everyone hates me; there's no point in trying." Near said, clearly not bothered by it at all. He'd had two other roommates at Wammy's, and both had been equally unsuccessful. The problem hadn't been that he didn't like them though, they'd simply been jealous at Near's great performance at the House, and therefore wanted to sabotage him as much as possible. They'd even gone as far as bullying him and beating him up. Near hadn't said or done anything to defend himself, and months had passed before Roger noticed anything.

"I suppose you are right. It's still a pity though." Roger said with a deep sigh.

"I don't think so." Near said, his voice completely inflectionless. It made his words so much more believable despite the unlikelihood of it. For a 9-year-old not to care about his peers was really extraordinary in its own sense.

"I know, Near. Will you attend movie night tomorrow? We will watch a French mystery film at 8 pm, and a Russian war film at 10 pm." Roger informed Near.

"Perhaps I'll join you at 10 then, I am considering learning Russian, and so it would be great practice." Near said after a second's consideration.

"Good. I will see you at supper then." Roger said and then he left Near by himself.

Well then. I had better have a look at next week's curriculum; I can't afford to slack off; or else I'll be surpassed when I least expect it. Near thought as he walked over to his desk where his laptop stood; completely untouched. It had never been broken before, and he knew his rival never would go that far. To sabotage Near like that would make his victory so much less satisfactory.

He may act rash and reckless, but he is determined on his goal, and won't be satisfied with a cheap victory in this case, although I wouldn't put it past him to use cheap tricks in real life. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, I predict he'll become very resourceful, and far more formidable when working on real life cases.

Wammy's would have been boring without a rival like him.

-x-

So yeah. Hope you like it.