Title: The Perfect Gift
Author: kathleenrose747
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I have not, nor will I ever own anything relating to the idea, copyright, persons/characters and creation of Death Note. Though I sorely wish I did.
Authors Note: Whether or not this could be considered shounen ai is completely up to the reader. For the sake of authorial intention, however, I am obligated to say that I only wrote this as a one-shot fanfic to show the brotherly/father-son relationship I see between Near and L. Enjoy!
The Perfect Gift
L shuffled down the length of the hall with the box balanced awkwardly under his left arm. He couldn't help but feel like he didn't have complete control of his body, all because his arm was at an awkward angle. 'That kind of comes with being a teenager, however.' The eighteen year old paused in front of an unremarkable door and took a deep breath. He knocked twice and then let himself in.
A small boy sat in the center of the room surrounded by a mess of dominos, toy robots, and dice. He was currently flipping through a deck of tarot cards, trying to discern the meaning of the pictures without referring to the pamphlet that came with them. The faint light from the gray day outside muddled the boys naturally white hair into dull silver. He looked up at L and tilted his head at the visitor.
"Happy Birthday, Near." L walked over to the boy and crouched down in front of him. "Where did you get those from?"
Near looked at the tarot cards spread out around him. He then picked up the Hanged Man card with his left hand and twirled a lock of hair around his right index finger. "Mello thought I would like them." Near turned the card around so that L could get a look at it. "I think he might be trying to make fun of me though."
L chuckled. The Hanged Man was an appropriate card for Mello. The young man had been insisting for years that he was above any god's 'so-called-plan'. He was very resistant to taking the necessary religion courses that the proprietors of Whammy House made all children go through. L knew it was a necessary evil in order to have that small bit of "useless information" that could crack open any case. Many criminals used religious symbolism in their crimes, whether they knew it or not. Mello, however, skipped out on his necessary lessons in favor of being street smart. L could not fault him. Everyone learned at their own pace and in their own way.
But that should not stop anyone from passing on important lessons to the next generation. L looked at his young successor. He was only seven years old, yet he had calmly accepted his fate as the third in line to take over L's place, should anything happen to the worlds greatest detective. If L had anything to say about it, he would have chosen Near as his second in command. But the older generations felt that Near was still too young for such a burden, so they had put Mello in the number two spot. L couldn't argue with their logic.
"I thought I would stop by with my present." L then placed his present on top of the spread out tarot cards. Near stopped twirling his hair as he looked at the box. There was no label to tell him what could be inside.
'Is this a test?' Near was still in shock that L would take time out of his busy schedule to visit, let alone bring him a birthday present. He gingerly reached out with both hands and pulled the top off of the box. Inside were simple, white puzzle pieces. While Near did like puzzles, this one piqued his interest. This meant that he could not simply rely on the images of each individual piece to solve the entire puzzle. He immediately dumped the pieces onto the floor and sorted them according to outside and inside pieces.
As L quietly watched the boy work, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness. He hated leaving the boy to fend for himself. If he could mentor the boy more personally, maybe he wouldn't go through the painful isolation that all children of Whammy's House were prone to. But he knew it was a way of life in this institution. Yes, the children considered the place to be their home. However, social skills were not taught here. It was believed that those skills were self-taught. So, most children taught themselves that silence and isolation were a way of life. 'I say most because there are quite a few Mello's in this place.' L shook himself from his reverie and brought himself back to the present moment.
Near had finished the puzzle and was sitting with a questioning stare pointed at L.
"Yes?" L asked. Near did not reply. Instead, he quietly pointed at the center of the puzzle. The middle piece was missing. "Hm. Interesting quandary we have here. What do you think happened to that piece?" Near began twirling the lock of hair around his finger as he pondered the question. His eyes moved around the puzzle, searching within as well as outside the edges of the puzzle to find the answer. After a few minutes, Near stopped twirling his hair and stared at the puzzle.
"I have three ideas." L tilted his head as he listened. Near held up three fingers and counted down each theory. "You could have removed the piece and could be hiding it on you. Or the piece may never have been put in the box to begin with." Near then looked into L's eyes. "Or you could have painted it the same color as my floor and it is right next to your foot." Here, Near pointed at the piece that would have gone undetected by the normal eye.
L nodded and picked up the piece, not breaking eye contact with Near. He then quietly handed the piece to the boy and Near snapped it into place. The soluble brown spray paint had rubbed off on both detectives' fingers and the piece was starting to show its white edges again.
"This was not a test, Near. Rather, it is a lesson I want you to remember." Near looked up at L, waiting for an explanation. "When solving any case, it is important to look at all singular pieces of information and how it develops into the bigger picture that solves the case." Here, L tapped on the edge of the puzzle. "However, if you ignore the developing picture and only focus on the similar pieces of evidence, you could miss an outlier that could complete the whole picture." He tapped the brown piece in the center.
L then stood up and walked towards the door. As he opened the door, he turned back to the young boy. "Don't ignore the developing picture for the small pieces of information. On the flip side, don't ignore the small pieces of information for the bigger picture. Happy Birthday, Near. I will be in touch." L then quietly closed the door.
Near looked down at the puzzle with a fresh outlook. This was not something he could have learned in his classrooms. Only a fellow detective could have brought this information to him.
"Thank you, L." Near quietly said to himself. He packed away the puzzle and placed it next to his bed. Without a doubt, this was his new treasure. And he would treasure it for the rest of his life.