Once upon a time, in a village far, far away, there lived an incredibly intelligent little boy named Near.
Near lived in a small room above the toy store his parents had left him when they were killed a few years back.
The killer had never been caught, but the police believed it was the work of a serial killer that had been roaming the area, codenamed, The Wolf.
Despite being alone in the store, Near wasn't unhappy. He had unlimited access to as many toys as he wanted, and the villagers brought him food and clothes.
Besides, he had never liked talking to people, so living alone really was best. Not that he didn't miss his parents. He just didn't miss talking to them day and night.
One day, Near got a call from his grandfather, who lived in the forest near the village.
The old man had suffered a heart attack and had used up his supply of food waiting to get well enough to gather more.
Since the old man still wasn't well, he asked Near to bring some food to him, as well as, and this was rather strange in Near's opinion, several cakes from the bakery.
Being a good grandson, Near did as his grandfather requested, gathering up a basket of food, as well as several of the bakery's specialty strawberry cream cakes.
After everything was gathered and the toy store had been properly locked up, Near set out. First, however, he wrapped himself in the other thing his parent's had left him, a pure white traveling cloak with a hood.
Near hurried through the woods, not stopping for anything, and he quickly arrived at his grandfather's cottage.
"It's me Grandfather" Near called from the doorway.
"Ah, Near, welcome. Please leave the food in the kitchen and come in here. There's someone I'd like you to meet." The old man replied from his bedroom.
Near quickly set the basket down in the cramped kitchen, then wandered over to the bedroom, wondering who on earth his grandfather wanted him to meet.
When he entered the room, Near quickly spotted his grandfather's guest, who was crouching on a chair next to the old man's bed.
"Near, this is L. He has been helping me around the house since my heart attack." The old man said, ignoring, or perhaps not noticing, that his grandson was gawking quite openly at the man.
L smiled and got up, extending his hand to Near, who was roused from his stupor and shook it, a blush staining his face.
"It is nice to meet you Near." L said, his deep voice sending shivers down Near's spine.
Near quickly returned the greeting and left as soon as possible, heart pounding violently, and features still a rather bright shade of red.
In the weeks that followed, Near made as many visits to his grandfather as was humanly possible so he could spend time with the panda-like helper.
L, Near discovered, was very intelligent, and they spent many an afternoon simply discussing every little thing that ran through their minds. Except for Near's huge crush. That was never brought up.
One winter day, the heavens deposited a good foot of snow on the area, leaving Near with the task of digging out his shop before he could go visit L… and his grandfather too, of course.
Digging out the shop took quite a while, and by the time Near set out, the sun was beginning to set.
Near hurried through the woods, not really paying attention to where he was going, until he tripped and fell face first in the snow.
Near got up slowly, not noticing the shadowy figure that walked right past him, heading towards his grandfather's cottage.
The white-haired boy made it the rest of the way without incident, and was soon calling out his customary greeting while hanging his cloak on the peg near the door.
When silence greeted him, Near grew worried. Even if the old man was sleeping, L always came out to greet him so they could talk.
Just as Near was about to put his cloak back on and run back to the village for help, there came a sharp pain in the back of his head and then, nothing.
When Near awoke, he tried to get up, only to find that his wrists had been tied to his ankles, forcing him into a crouch similar to L's.
"Well well well, it seems the little snow bunny is awake." A voice giggled above him.
Near craned his neck, trying to see his captor's face, but the man was too tall. All Near could see was red-stained blue jeans and the bottom of a black shirt.
Not wanting to show his fear, Near quickly cleared his throat, and demanded, in his most authoritative voice, "Who are you and what have you done with my grandfather?"
The man giggled again before replying, making Near wonder if he was insane.
"Even all tied up, you worry about the geezer. Shouldn't you worry about yourself? After all, he's already weel beyond your help."
With that statement, the man grasped Near by the collar and lifted him up so he could see the top of the bed.
Near almost vomited when he saw what had been done to his grandfather.
The old man's eyes were wide with horror, his mouth open in an eternal scream for help. His finger and toes had been stacked and flung about like a small child's building blocks, and his chest was a mess of random slashes and stabs. His feet had been twisted until they stuck straight out in opposite directions.
"Lovely, isn't it?" Near's captor giggled. "So much blood for such an old man. And where's his pretty little helper now, little bunny. Just where has the raven gone?"
Near finally lost his battle with tears at the thought of L lying in the forest, dead or dying, just waiting for the animals to come and pick his bones clean.
The killer seemed to grow bored of watching the albino cry, for he dropped the boy on the ground again and took a jar out of his pocket, scooping out a handful of the red substance within and consuming it greedily.
Near watched with horrified fascination. He had never seen someone eat like that, not even when L was going through a piece of his favorite cake.
The killer noticed his stare and grinned, wiggling his sticky, strawberry-scented fingers in front of Near's face.
"Does the bunny want some jam?" the killer giggled. "Come on now, open up."
Near refused, moving his head as far away from the fingers as possible, which angered the killer.
Grabbing Near by the collar again, the man yanked him up so they were eye to eye, making Near gasp.
The man looked just like L, except for his eyes. His eyes were blood red and held insanity in their depths.
Near tried to scream, but the minute he opened his mouth, the man shoved his jam coated fingers in, moving them around to get the sticky substance off.
Near closed his eyes, feeling the tears slip down his cheeks, as the fingers were removed from his mouth and moved to the buttons on his shirt.
"I think I'm going to have some fun with my little bunny before I let you see Lawli-pop again." The man smirked, dropping Near on the bloody bed and cutting the ropes so he could pull the boy's shirt off.
Near tried to kick the man off, but his legs were weak and tingling from lack of circulation, and they had no effect.
The red eyed man made quick work of Near's pants, shredding them and throwing them off to the side.
Just as he was about to start on Near's underwear, the door burst open and a voice yelled "FREEZE!"
The local police swarmed into the room, cutting off any means of escape the killer might have had.
"We have you surrounded. Step away from the boy." the police chief commanded.
The killer just giggled, not moving from his spot over Near. "Who's going to make me? You, Chief Yagami?"
"I will, B." Every head in the room shot around to find the owner of the voice, and Near almost cried out in delight.
Moving through the ranks of policemen blocking the door to the bedroom, L quickly walked over to the bed and pulled the killer off of Near, throwing the man to the floor before scooping up the shaking boy and wrapping him in the cloak Near had hung by the door.
Near clung to L, hiding his face in the familiar pale neck, while the police quickly surrounded and arrested the crazed killer.
L rubbed Near's back in soothing circles, not liking the way the boy trembled or sobbed silently against his neck.
Finally, the police cleared out, taking the struggling, giggling B with them to be executed for his crimes.
L stood in the bedroom with the sobbing Near, not entirely sure where to go, until one of the straggling policemen tapped him on the shoulder and, after extracting a promise that he would take care of the boy, told L how to get to Near's toy shop.
After they had exited the cottage, Near sniffled quietly that he could walk, and L set him down on the ground, keeping one of the boy's hands in his as they made their way back to the village.
Near trudged along beside L, keeping his eyes trained on the ground so the sugar-lover wouldn't see his tears.
When they arrived at the toyshop, Near quickly ran upstairs to take a shower and find some clothes.
To the albino's surprise, when he came out of the bathroom, there was a fire roaring in the fireplace and an L on his couch.
"I thought you might like an explanation." L said quietly, patting the spot on the couch next to him.
Near nodded, sitting next to L and resting his head on the raven-haired man's shoulder.
L stared at the fire while he talked; telling Near of his past, and how the boy he had once thought to be his little brother had slowly grown obsessed, and then insane, finally taking to slaughtering people to prove himself better then L.
Realization hit Near, and he sat bolt upright, looking at L with wide eyes.
"You mean that man was your brother? Your brother was the Wolf?"
L nodded sadly, still refusing to look anywhere but the fire in his shame. His own brother had killed Near's only family and almost raped the small boy.
Near brought a hand up to L's cheek, cupping it and turning the insomniac's face towards his own.
Once L was looking him in the eyes, Near leaned forward and brushed his lips over the other man's gently.
"Thank you for saving me L." he said quietly, leaning forwards for another kiss.
L smiled against the boy's soft lips, before pulling the albino into his lap and holding him close, running long fingers through pure white hair.
The two stayed like that long into the evening, finally falling asleep together as the sun began to rise.
And they all lived happily ever after. Except for B. But that, my children, is another story.