Summary: "Ah, so you have obtained a Life Note, shinigami-san?" "Hyuk, yeah." "…I would like to see the notebook, if you may." A Life Note cliché improved. Mello x Near. Written for Flame Rising's July fic challenge.

Warning: Awkward line in the end. Spoilers for Mello's real name.

Life Note cliché (but Near obtains it) for the July challenge fic was to make the cliché work and, somewhat, rational.

Oh, and we had to end the ending line as…well, you'll see. ;)

I tried to make this as general as possible, neh! ;-;

Standard disclaimer.

Thanks to Lady Alionae for betaing!

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Bring You Back

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Mixing red and white creates pink…

Small, feminine fingertips touched the window. The cold surface from the glass stung Near's warm fingers, and yet the boy willingly placed his forehead on the windowpane, shivers running down his spine from the freezing touch on sensitive nerves.

You look good in pink...

Today was the day Mello had died on. The first anniversary of his kidnapping plans failure and the downfall of his life.

Blood and snow makes…

And Near was somewhat mourning over his death in his own subtle way.

"Hyuk, hyuk."

The raggedly and devilish laugh repeated in echoes in Near's mind. His closed eyes slowly lifted half-open, and he turned them to the ground, peering outside the window. Tiny flecks of white snow fell from the light gray sky onto the ground and around the windowsill. Dark eyes followed snowflakes until it dissipated onto the small pile of white building up around the corners of the windowsill or into the depths of its surroundings.

"Why have you come back, shinigami-san?" asked Near. After all, it had been a year since the familiar shinigami had returned to his realm.

"Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk, hyuk…just 'cause. What are you doing there, standin' in front of a window?"

"…I am reminiscing, shinigami-san," Near replied.

Doesn't the color pink look like its saying that, Mello?

"Hn? Reminiscing?" it asked in curiosity. Near slowly let out a heavy sigh, his warm breath fogging the window.

I will come back, he had said. I will come back.

"Yes."

There was a small pause before the creature let out another chuckle.

"Oh…you mean him? Mihael Keehl?"

Ryuk laughed at the translucent reflection of Near's reaction on the glass window.

"Heh heh, you know…I have a little secret that nobody should know about…"

"I can let you bring him back to life…"

Near's eyes widened the slightest fraction, and his small hands curled in more against the cold glass. He, however, calmly let down his arms by his side and turned around slightly at the shinigami, a slight glare running through his eyes. Ryuk's grin widened, revealing more crooked sharp teeth.

"…what exactly are you saying?"

The shinigami laughed some more.

"Like I said. I have a notebook that can bring him back to life."

A skeptic look crossed Near's features. The boy stared long and as emotionless as he could, but illogical occurrences weren't common in the world. Killing someone was easy, but resurrecting a life was impossible…or unlikely, since Ryuk had a device to bring a person back to life. Hearing such a thing as bringing back a life would definitely stir a slight reaction from someone as stoic as Near.

"In the Shinigami World, there are only a few Life Notes, sacred and absolutely prohibited for daily use," Ryuk began to explain. "The Shinigami King and a few other shinigami have possession of these Life Notes. However…"

Pausing on the word, the shinigami chuckled again, the sound ringing around the room. Near still kept his expression the same.

"Because I dropped the notebook and managed to survive in the human world for six years without dying, not to mention making the infamous Kira, the Shinigami King and the council decided to up my rankings in the Shinigami world and also…"

Near's eyes shifted to Ryuk's arm, which reached for a pouch on his belt. Out of the pouch, he pulled forth a white notebook with the black printed title Life Note. Near blinked indifferently at the design of the book.

So what the shinigami is saying is true…

"Ah, so you have obtained a Life Note, shinigami-san?"

"Hyuk, yeah."

White. The Life Note was white. Unlike the Death Note, which was black, the color of darkness and evil, the Life Note was the complete opposite of its counterpart. Its sheer cleanness denoted of purity and life, and the font of the title was lively as well.

I want to stain your purity.

The pale boy blinked. Though his face denoted nothing of the emotion, he was interested in the notebook Ryuk showed to him.

"…I would like to see the notebook, if I may."

Looking up the shinigami for permission, Near raised his hand slowly towards the white notebook…

…only to have the notebook pulled back away from the curious hand. Near took no offense, and he let his arm fall back down again.

"Hyuk, hyuk. Interested, eh?" The shinigami chuckled amusingly at what seemed to be the umpteenth time. Near remained placid.

Disappointed by his lack of reaction, Ryuk attempted to lure him in sadistically.

"Ya wanna see that Mihael Keehl again, don't you?"

There was no response, and once again, Ryuk was disappointed. However, he knew the other boy wanted to use the Life Note.
"I could give it to you…but…" He hesitated dramatically for suspense.

"…Only if you give me apples."

Near's eyes flashed with mild irritation for a second, but Ryuk caught sight of it and laughed.

"Shinigami, I don't like it that you are playing around…"

"Oh, but I'm not," Ryuk retorted honestly. "I am being very serious about this. I want apples."

Near blinked in annoyance. It was hard to take the thought of exchanging a life-giving object for apples seriously.

However…

"Alright. You may have your apples after I am handed the Life Note," Near commanded.

Surprised by his blunt orders, the shinigami chuckled and complied, raising the white notebook towards Near.

Because Near was hesitant and always learned from his past mistakes, he reached for the notebook only after a couple of seconds passed.

Taking the book from the shinigami's claws, he examined the sleek and clean cover before opening the book to the first page. It appeared that the Life Note also contained rules like the Death Note did.

The deceased human whose name is written in the note shall be resurrected.

The note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name down. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be resurrected as well.

You may also write the time limit of living prior to filling in the name of the individual. The amount of time the resurrected human uses during his/her duration in the living is taken from the lifespan of the writer.

If the time limit is not written down forty seconds prior to the name written down, then the human being resurrected will take the remaining lifespan from the writer.

Those were the first four and foremost rules on the first page, and Near memorized the exact words to it. The rest of the rules he scanned over, reading and understanding the consequences of restoring the dead.

"…So, in order to bring back a person from the dead, I must sacrifice a part of my life as well…"

"Yup. That's just how things work," Ryuk said. Near looked into the book further.

"Explain to me…how would Mello be revived from the dead if his body was burned in a fire?" he asked suspiciously as if to find a flaw in the notebook.

"Oh? It doesn't say in there?" The shinigami reached down and plucked the notebook from Near's grasp, and he flipped through it, checking the pages back and forth.

"Oh, it doesn't! Heh heh, I'll do that later on…" he said before handing back the Life Note to Near.

"The Life Note sometimes resurrects the person's body as well. Meaning, if his body's ashes are still somewhere located on Earth, then his body would be temporarily created…"

Disappointment washed over Near. He was not one-hundred percent sure if Mello's body had been buried, cremated, or even still existed. Not to mention he would have to somehow arrive at the site where Mello's remains were located…

"Yeah, it's pretty complicated to explain it all. I just got this a year ago, and I still rarely know anything about the notebook…"

"That is quite alright," Near said, and he closed the book, clutching it to his chest. Somehow, he deemed the white object precious, and the book blended it with his white clothes.

If Mello's ashes were still existing…

"I might be able to locate Mello's remains once I arrive in Japan for a case I was working on for six months."

And the shinigami laughed, wondering what possible events would occur.

--

A Life Note can only be used once every year.

He did not know the reason why he was doing this. It did not make sense.

Near was not the type to ever so relentlessly and easily do something illogical. He was a realist; he viewed on neither and both sides of an argument; he was justice, and would not attempt violence. Near was not going to mess up human society with his selfish irrational motives. He was L.

And yet here he was, standing in front of a single grave amongst several others that were spread out meters away, ready to interfere with Mother Nature's circle of life and death. White snow covered a corner of the small slab that merely stated a name.

Mihael Keehl.

"Hyuk, hyuk, so this is his grave, eh?"

The pale boy did not reply. Instead, he was analyzing the simplicity of the slab on the ground, wondering why it was so plain and undecorated. Mello deserved much better than that.

Perhaps it was because the Japanese ever so loved their Kira's spokesperson Kiyomi Takada and did not want to give a decent marking for Mello. Mello, who kidnapped Takada in order to get closer to Kira. Mello, who ended up killed by Takada on Kira's orders.

Or perhaps it was because nobody was familiar with him in Japan, and so they felt the need to put him in an isolated cemetery.

Snowflakes swirled down onto Near's rosy nose.

Are you blushing Near?

"Shinigami-san, do you have a pen?" Near asked politely.

"You know that writing in pen in that notebook won't take affect, right?"

"Yes, I am aware of that," Near stated blandly. "I am going to poke my finger with the sharp tip of it."

Only blood may be used to write on a page in the notebook.

"Oh," was all Ryuk said before reaching into the feathers of his wings and pulling out a skull-laden pen.

"You know, you could've asked me to poke one of your fingers for you," he pointed out when he handed the pen to Near, sharp nails grazing the other's soft fair skin.

Taking the pen cautiously because it looked unnerving, he hesitated.

Then he stabbed one of his fingers, hard, with the tip of the pen, slightly wincing at the small sting. A small drop of blood oozed from his finger.

"Hyuk, hyuk. It's like self-mutilation!"

Quickly placing his finger on the clean sheet of paper, Near carefully dragged his finger up, then down, then up again, then down again, leaving a small zigzag stroke of crimson blood.

M…

He squeezed the cut finger again, pushing the blood out to prevent clotting in his finger. A small trickle of blood dropped onto the snow, a blotch of red dotting the pure white.

Blood and snow makes…

Ryuk watched amazingly as the calm and logical boy willingly let himself do something unethical in nature. His large eyes traveled to the small drop of blood that had melted a small circle in the snow.

It had already become a small shade of pink by then. Ryuk looked back at the page of the notebook and caught sight of the red.

Mihael Keehl. Resides in the living world for one year.

"You may have your notebook back, shinigami," Near said, handing the open book back to the shinigami. He eyed the neat strokes of blood on the page.

"Hehe, I never took you as the type of person to do something as drastic as this…" he said, observing the other boy's deadpan expression.

"Oh well."

His claws pinched both sides of the book, careful not to make the blood drip down the white page, and flapped his wings.

"Well, thanks for the apples! I'm going back to the Shinigami realm." And with another flap and extension of his elongated wings, he flew up toward the sky, and Near watched him until the shinigami was all but nothing.

Near suddenly felt very lonely and cold in the deserted graveyard, the gray skies clouding around the place, and the white snow on the ground.

It brought back many memories of Whammy's…

Blood staining your pure whiteness…

"Near."

He stopped breathing, and a cold rush of stinging wind blew onto his face.

Mello…

"You brought me here, did you?"

Near slowly let out a shaky breath. What was the jumbling feeling in his heart?

"Answer me."

Slowly turning around, unsure of the unexpected visitor, Near braced himself for the surprise. Perhaps there was a flaw in the Life Note, and only Mello's soul would be resurrected. Maybe the Life Note only resurrected the human's soul rather than their body and—

—and he saw a man with blond hair and turquoise eyes and a burnt scar that ran across his left part of the face…

"Mello…" Near whispered. The urge to twirl a lock of his hair was suppressed.

You're so white Near. You need color.

He was naked, and obviously freezing, in the cold, although Mello tried his hardest not to flinch from the stinging numbness seeping through his toes. Seeing Near in his typical white pajamas, standing without any problems, Mello was determined to act the same way.

Then he went to refresh back on his memories. What had happened? He could not remember anything on how he was brought back alive or how he even got here.

"Near, why did you bring me back?" Mello asked again, this time more commanding.

The boy turned to look at him with those glaring dark eyes. He took a step forward. Then another. And another.

"Tell me dammit!"

Near paid no heed to Mello's orders and walked closer to him.

I will come back, he had said.

"Near, what are yo—" Mello started to say before the tiny boy in front of him practically leapt into his strong bare chest. Mello, needless to say, was incredibly shocked and taken aback.

"What the--?!"

His embrace was warm, and Mello's cold skin relaxed on contact with Near's warm body.

"Mello…"

I missed you.

This was not Near, Mello told himself. This was not Near. Near wouldn't do this sort of thing. He was a bastard. A cold hearted bastard who would never do anything like bringing a person back from the dead—

And then Near kissed him. Just when Mello thought he couldn't get any more surprises, Near kissed him.

Mello's turquoise eyes were practically bulging out now. His heart was beating fast against his chest.

Near was kissing him.

I…

With no hesitation, he kissed back…

I hate you.

…before pulling his lips away, flustered by his own actions. Suddenly, he didn't feel as cold as before…

Mello saw a flicker of something in Near's eyes before the pale boy presumed to his emotionless state. He timidly looked away from Mello's intense stare, reaching his hand up for his hair.

There was a small pink blush on his cheeks.

Doesn't the color pink look like its saying that, Mello?

"I brought you some clothes, Mello," Near said, his voice soft and deep but feminine at the same time.

He still sounded like a woman.

"And why didn't you give it to me in the first place?" Mello asked impatiently. Near did not reply. Instead, he reached for his bag that was lying on the ground and pulled out clean clothes.

Mello gaped at the folded attire in disbelief.

It looks good on you, Near.

That bastard…

"I'm sorry, but these were the only spare clothes I could find fitting your height," he said plainly, handing the clothes to Mello. He did not take the offering and continued to stare with a killing intent.

A small smirk played up on Near's face.

"What's the matter? Aren't you going to take these?" He asked. Mello narrowed his eyes at him.

The bastard was teasing him purposely.

"I thought you were cold," Near blandly stated.

You look good in pink.

"Yes, but why in the world did you make it pink?"

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.:.eNd.:.

Oh dude, I fail so badly. It makes me want to cry. DX Was it confusing?

I HATE MY WRITING SKILLS ARGH. Imma go flail now.

Vote for me in the Fireplace? Mehbeh? (OH YES IMMA WHORE.)