Haunting You
K+
Slight LightNear
"What's the matter, Near? Don't you like games?" The chess board on the table was already set up, black versus white. Light's smile was amiable, and he knocked down the black king boredly. An apple, shiny and red, rested on the table across from him.
Near ignored him. The apparition would go away, along with the apple and chess board, in a few seconds, and he felt mildly relieved when it did as such. He did not tell anyone, as the man did not disturb his work and the others did not need to know. Besides, this wasn't the first time.
The first time he'd almost had a heart attack when he saw the auburn-haired man sitting silently at a table in the house, eating one of his ever-present apples. He had grinned at Near, before slowly disappearing. Now, he ignored it, but it was beginning to become a nuisance, especially since Light had a habit of showing up every five minutes and commenting on something he was doing.
"You should really sleep, Near. It's good for your health." Light seemed to pout childishly when he did not get an answer, which was rather odd for the man, Near thought. He still said nothing. The ghost disappeared after three seconds, he knew. He'd counted.
He had always counted. So far, the longest he'd stayed with Near was ten seconds. Which was really short, now that he though about it, but he always came back.
Something hard hit the back of his head, and Near turned, rather surprised that Light had thrown something at him. It was actually quite amusing, besides the fact that the apple the man had thrown at him was sitting innocently on the floor, to see the brunet cross his arms and pout.
"You're boring." Near contemplated answering just to humor him, but decided against it, turning back to his laptop instead. Five..six...seven...eight, nine? He turned again, feeling breath tickle his neck. Light was standing over his shoulder, seemingly interested in what Near was typing.
"You're the new L?" He chuckled, turning the apple between his slender fingers. Near said nothing, opting to observe the apparition instead. Light looked almost guilty for a second, before it was replaced with sadness.
"You'll never be L." Near was almost offended, before he realized that Light had known the original L for a while. He whispered a name under his breath, before fading from sight.
Near did not see him the rest of the day.
The next day, however, Light was back at his side as usual, this time playing with something on his wrist.
"Have you ever been handcuffed, Near?" He turned, confused, to the brunet. Light's wrist, the left one, was bruised badly; black, green and purple webbing across the thin surface. It did look like he had been handcuffed, but the other wrist was clean, smooth. Near did not answer, only raising a brow at the man.
Light opted not to say a word, flashing him a cheeky smile instead before disappearing. Near sighed, getting up to do his morning routines. Surprisingly, Light did not bother him. He found himself soon padding downstairs, only to stop on the stairs, looking up. The chandelier was swinging again, and he passed it off as Light being annoying. However, a slight tug on his shirt said otherwise.
"Step back. You don't want to die today, right?" Near said nothing, looking away from Light and continued down the stairs. The chandelier crashed down behind him, the glass shards hitting his back gently.
Footsteps distracted him from watching the brunet vanish. Near turned his head slightly to see a panting Halle.
"Are you alright, Near? I heard something crash..." She trailed off, observing the scene. Halle did not see Light behind her, tossing an apple up and catching it, smirking. Near watched the apple while answering, his voice calm and level despite not speaking more than a few words a day.
"I am fine." The fruit moved again, this time tossed at the back of Halle's head, Light letting it roll across the floor. She spun around, bringing a hand to the spot where the apple had struck.
"Strange," She murmured, picking up the fruit. "Be careful, okay Near? Weird things have been going on." She made a small sound of confusion before moving away.
Near said nothing, tuning and making his way back upstairs, not caring if he stepped in glass. He could hear Light sigh somewhere behind him; he could hear him mutter to himself, resting on the banister and watching him.
"If I had known it was going to be this hard, Ryuuzaki, I wouldn't have made that promise..." Near wondered for a moment who Ryuuzaki was, before shrugging it off and continuing to his room.
His feet were most likely torn from the shards of glass, making bloody footprints on the no longer pristine carpet. It stung, yes, but he ignored it. Pain was an emotion. and Near did not feel emotions. The toy train he had been playing with the other night was resting at the foot of his bed, but when he reached to grab it, Light was there.
The brunet blinked, obviously not used to having Near's hand through his face. Near scowled, speaking for the first time to the elder man.
"Move." Light smirked, happy to get a reaction out of him, and tilted his head, resting it on his knuckles.
"Why would I do that, little L?" Near glared but said nothing, removing his hand - repressing a shudder at how cold the air had been - and turning to face his computer. Light seemed to sigh, and he saw him look longingly out the window before fading away out of the corner of his eye.
Near did not see him again until he had eaten dinner. He had wandered downstairs, the glass having already been cleaned up, meandering through the house. Halle and Stephen were no where to be seen, and Anthony was reading in the living room. Roger was in the kitchen, cleaning. For such an elderly man, Near mused, he was rather strong.
He had found Light in a corner of one of the spare rooms they used as a music room, staring out the window. He had not noticed Near come in, and if he did, he said nothing. Near crawled onto the piano bench, fingering the keys. He had always preferred to use the black ones as they made prettier sounds than the others, but that was when he was younger, more innocent.
Back at Wammy's. He stayed lost in thought for a minute, before Light's voice broke him out of his reverie.
"Have you ever been accused for something you did not do, little L?" Near looked over, but said nothing. Light, however, did not need a response.
"I never wanted to kill Ryuuzaki." He was silent, instead watching the brunet with wide, panda-like eyes. Light looked over and seemed to flinch away. Near decided to humor the apparition by speaking, as well as to satisfy his own blatant curiosity.
"Ryuuzaki." It was more of a statement than a question, but it still received the desired reaction. He spun around, cinnamon-colored eyes wide, as Near spoke, becoming almost fully tangible for a millisecond. Light then grinned, settling into a spot on the cushioned windowsill.
"I forget you never heard him use the name," He chuckled here, spinning the apple between his hands again. "You would know him as Lawliet, I guess, but it doesn't matter now, anyways." Near blinked at the new information, committing it to memory. He said nothing.
"Have you ever had someone you'd do anything for, little L?" He let the question trail off, taking a bite of his apple. It made no sound. Light was starting to fade again.
"He made me promise something, as he lay dying. It was a stupid promise, I'm sure, since I died not long after, but after... he smiled." Light was steadily growing more visible, and Near could feel the anger radiating off his form. Suddenly, in a wave of action, he threw the apple across the room, curling into himself, muttering, as the crimson fruit splattered against the wall. He put his next question bluntly.
"L... What did you promise him?" Light faded again, disappearing completely for a minute before reappearing on the bench next to Near.
"He asked me to protect the next L - to make sure they don't suffer his fate." Near hesitated, for once, reaching out a hand to touch Light's, only to have it pass through.
"Why do you stay here?" Light seemed surprised at the blunt question and the hand literally in his. His gaze darkened for a moment, and he looked towards the street out the window.
"Nothingness is worse than Hell, little L, trust me." No more words were exchanged the rest of the night.
Near, however, woke up in the middle of the night to a weight on his bed and his feet out from the warm covers. A slight tough ghosted over his eyes, and he closed them out of habit.
"Go back to sleep, little L, you need it."
"Oh, you finally got your feet bandaged up!" Halle commented cheerfully, holding out a piece of toast to the young boy. Near looked down.
"I suppose I did." Light smiled from his position on the counter, taking another bite of his apple.
"I'll always be here, little L. Don't you forget that." Mentally, Near smiled.
YESH! longest one shot so far, with 1,704 words!~ This actually came to me in the middle of the night, when I was working in Brutal Honesty.
Gotta love those Hurt/comfort!
Chao~
Zezu-chan