Welcome to the third story of the It Is series. Because that's an awesome name for a series.

...Not really.

Now, I'm going to say right now that I'm not happy with the first bit of this story. I feel like nothing happens and I had a writer's block at the time of writing it. So... needless to say, I'm not confident in it. But if you bear with me, there will be some pretty major events goin' on here. Speaking of which...

Warning: Later on in this story, there will be some pretty messed up and/or really depressing scenes, on different premises. I'll be warning you, though, at the beginning of that particular chapter.

Because I'm a nice person.

I think.

Well, I'm going to stop rambling now so you can read the first chapter. I hope you enjoy it~

I stood in a dark labyrinth, below murky grey clouds that painted the sky, leaving no spaces. Said clouds swirled ominously towards the center; the center of the web of many paths. In the core of it all, the grey mass swirling around it ever so slowly, was a tall, dark tower. The heart of everything. Pitch black windows against black architecture, and as I took a step into the maze I could hear a loud, echoing sound that one might not be able to place at its first hearing. It was strained; the sound of a clock tower's hands moving. The exaggerated noise of a ticking wristwatch. The sound of time. That tower… the heart of everything; the core of time…. Nothingness.

Tall gates waiting for us at the end of the maze; a welcoming passage to whatever was beyond, whatever was within that tower. But that was at the end, and we were barely at the beginning. We…. My hand was clasping another. The simplest form of connection anyone can give. Together we would wander the maze, always dreading what lie at its end. Together we would walk, our paths tied.

There was another resounding click of a clock hand changing its position. Bracing ourselves, we continued, all too aware of where we were headed, but denying it all the same….

My eyes flickered open. I looked to the clock, nodded to myself, then sat up and stretched. "What do you know?" I said to myself as I swung my legs over the side of my bed. "We can have dreams after all…." I immediately made my way to my closet and picked out my clothes, all too aware of the hidden passageway within that led to the attic. My secret place, where I went once a day for a very special ritual: judgment. I smiled to myself, changed, then headed down the stairs. My mind was not as disoriented as it used to be in the mornings; our minds sorted themselves out far quicker than they used to. We were getting used to the final step….

Downstairs, Sam and Anna were there to greet me. Anna, of course, was my thirteen-year-old, light brown-haired, loveable, innocent niece. Then Sam was my best friend, also on the final step. She was currently nineteen, and in case you can't remember, she has long, dark brown, curly hair. Unfortunately, my other niece, Sierra, wasn't with us. A bright, optimistic, brown- and wavy-haired girl at the age of nineteen, the same age as Sam. But then, she had only turned nineteen the week previous, on May seventeenth. Today was Friday, May twenty-first, 2010; four days after.

Ah, and me. At twenty-one, my brown hair was still short, straight, flat, and lifeless, but I was okay with that. That allowed it to be considerably soft, and I do like soft things.

"Hey, what are you doing up, Sam?" I asked, taking a donut from the box (as was our typical morning ritual: donuts).

She looked at me dully. "L," she explained shortly.

"Did he wake up?" asked Anna, then corrected herself. "Oh, wait…. He never sleeps…."

"The Bond can be annoying sometimes," she sighed. "But it's not too bad, at least…."

I chuckled. "Sure it can be annoying, but nothing's perfect."

"True."

Let me explain. Or rather, re-explain, as this is a new memoir, a new story to read. We were, as you may be able to tell, in the world of Death Note. We'd come here all the way back in 2004, six years ago. We got ourselves involved in the Kira case, and we saved some lives along the way. The Bond, or the mind synchronization, or whatever you may call it, was a connection within the mind between someone from the real world and someone from this world. I was tied to Light, Sam to L, Sierra to Mello, and Anna to Near. The mind sync had a series of steps, or stages, where the connection progressed. From the real-world-person reading their thoughts, to vice versa, to hearing things long-distance, to feeling each other's emotions, and so on and so forth. The final step was an infinite connection between the two…. Even if one is hurt, the same damage will be done to the other's body.

Now, let me remind you of our situations here. If you already remember them, then I sincerely apologize. In March, two months ago now, Light regained his memories and convinced me to start judging for him. He eventually could never get his memories back, and now he and I, along with Misa, Mikami, and Sierra, were all working as Kira. Sierra had been kidnapped by Mello – again – and now traveled with him and Matt. Anna worked with Near in the SPK to catch Kira, and Sam worked with L on the Kira case while occasionally doing some work on the side whenever something interesting arose. Just last month, they'd finished a case that went country to country, all across the world. I'm actually surprised it took as long as it did, though, considering it is L, after all. After it ended, he got right back on the Kira case. Now here we were, a month after it all, and things still seemed to be going on as normal.

I took a long sip of milk and stood. "We… I'll be going to work," I told the two.

"You did it again, Aunt Natalie," said Anna. "You said 'we.'"

I smiled and sighed. "Sorry. I'm getting better."

"Yeah?" asked Sam, her mouth full of donut. "That's great." She didn't sound enthusiastic.

I chuckled and shook my head before striding through the living room and out the front door. As I shut it behind me, I took a deep breath of fresh air. I was soon walking down the sloping driveway towards my workplace: the police station. Even before my destination was reached, our thoughts were sorted and as isolated as they could get at the final stage. Light and I had taken Sophia's – she was another girl from the real world – advice of pulling away, and it made all the difference. An individual could zone out again… it's just that the other was always aware of what the individual zoned out about. It was like a part of us that you could ignore or pay attention to however you liked. It was just that you could not forget about it; it was undeniably there, always.

When I stepped into headquarters, Matsuda seemed to be ranting to Light and Ide about something or other by the coffee machine. Light turned to look at me, and Ide followed suit, now realizing I was walking towards them. "Matsuda's got a new theory," Ide told me, pointing with his thumb at the troublemaker.

"No, I'm serious!" Matsuda cried. "Natsumi, back me up on this!" Even now, he called me by my old alias….

I already knew what he was saying through Light's recent memory, but I decided it would be slightly weird that I knew that without being there. Besides, Light hadn't heard all of it, either. "Matsuda, I don't even know what I'm backing you up on."

"Well, think about it!" he exclaimed. "The Kira case stalled for five years because Light was Kira, and therefore we were being led by Kira, right?"

"Yes," Ide agreed hesitantly, glancing at Light.

Light frowned ever so slightly.

"No offense, Light," Matsuda added. "I mean, that, uh, other Light that became Kira and all that. Not you."

"No, Matsuda, it's fine," Light responded. "What happened has happened. It's a fact."

"Okay…. Well… anyway, we were making no progress because Kira was right under our noses. So why isn't the SPK getting anywhere, huh? They don't want us to work with them because they think we're incapable, but they're not doing much better. They did fine last time, though. So then… what's holding them back? Kira must be right under their noses, just like it was with us!"

"Well, that's a possibility…," I told him.

"And Near's their leader, so…. Therefore," he proclaimed, "Near is Kira."

"…Matsuda, I don't think Near would act as Kira," Light pointed out.

"Well, no, think about it! Near was the one who burnt the notebooks, too, so he had the perfect chance to save one. How do we know he didn't keep one for himself so he could judge? I mean, I never trusted Near…. And then he just waited a month for things to calm down, and then he starts it up again! He doesn't want us to work with him because he's afraid we'll figure it all out. It all matches up; there's logic in it!"

Ide pinched the bridge of his nose. "Your logic is screwed up."

"It is not!" Matsuda protested.

"Okay," I came in, "everyone has their own opinions. He may be right, or he may be wrong. I know that Near would have the ability to do it; that's true. He nearly killed Mikami with the Death Note as well. However, we also don't have a motive. He hates Kira; why would he act as him? There are arguments for either side."

"But then, your logic matches up with the rest of the SPK, excluding Anna," said Light. "Rester, Gevanni, and Halle all had access to the notebook after they switched Mikami's notebook, and as Near trusts all three of them, he typically wouldn't think of them immediately."

"Actually," I added thoughtfully, "Gevanni was the one who switched the notebook and forged it. He could have always forged an extra one; he has the potential. I mean, the whole group touched the Note before they went to the warehouse, most likely, so that notebook at the warehouse could have been a fake."

"So it was Gevanni!" Matsuda exclaimed. "It all makes sense!"

"Didn't you just make a claim that Near was Kira?" Ide asked dully.

"Well, yeah…."

I just smiled, laughing softly, and shook my head. You had to love Matsuda…. Of all the things those of us from the real world had messed up in this story, Matsuda was still Matsuda; silly and oblivious. He was able to brighten the mood of a place even when all was serious. He was the child figure in the realm of adults we stood within. Aizawa certainly didn't appreciate him, though….

Nor did L.

But that's beside the point.

In any case, it was here where, after a month of idle investigation, things began to happen again. Sure, now the four of us – Light, Matsuda, Ide, and I – were only discussing the Mello case, but it was in this time, there and then, that the third chapter of this story took hold. Around here, anyway.

Let us begin on a lighter note….

"Sierra, get up," said Mello, looking back on a Sierra who was lying on the floor. "We're leaving soon."

"I'm lazy," she replied, staring up at the ceiling. "And mad."

"I know you're mad; you don't need to tell me that," Mello responded with a frown.

Matt looked up from his packing. "Why're you mad?"

"Anna let slip that peoples were having a get-together tonight at my house, but I can't be there because I'm here. I'm slightly irritated about it." She breathed a sharp sigh, then sat up and looked at Matt as Mello left the room. "Matt," she asked, "do I look different to you?" Sierra had made it a point in her head to not get corrupted from the use of the Death Note, and had therefore decided to ask Matt every once in a while if anything had changed about her.

He looked at her through his orange-tinted goggles. "What do you mean, do you look different?"

"Do I act different lately, is something different in my face, something like that."

He continued gazing at her – she couldn't tell the expression in his eyes because of the goggles. "You look more tired," he offered, then looked back down at his bag and continued to pack all of the wiring to his computers. "Am I supposed to notice a good change, or what? 'You look lovely.' 'Did you do something with your hair?' 'Ooh, you look nice today;' is that what you're looking for?"

"Uh… no."

"Okay. What, are you worrying Mello is starting to rub off on you?"

"…Yeeaah…."

He chuckled. "Alright. I won't tell him that."

"I can hear you!" Mello called in his half-irritated way.

Matt laughed. "Well, looks like he knows anyway."

"Yeah…," Sierra agreed.

"Near," Anna announced, "you will be coming to the party tonight."

He looked at her dully. "What party?"

"Me and Aunt Natalie and Sam are all having a get-together tonight at my house." She looked back at Gevanni. "You're invited too."

Gevanni blinked.

"It's rude to invite people to an event in front of people who aren't invited," Near informed her.

"It's fine," said Rester.

"Well, wait, what is it all about anyhow?" asked Halle.

Anna shrugged. "I wanted some fun."

"Why aren't Halle and Rester invited?" Gevanni asked blankly.

"They're boring," Anna responded, pursing her lips.

He laughed as Halle crossed her arms. "And Near, of all people, is invited?" he asked amusedly.

"Of course he is!" Anna snapped.

"Is now really a good time to host a party?" Near put in. "Kira is still loose, as is Mello. Also, your sister isn't present because of her kidnapping."

"That's true too…," Gevanni agreed.

"Well, it's just a few people getting together," Anna defended. "It's just to catch up on things and such."

"Who'll be there?" Gevanni inquired.

"Well," said Anna, squinting pensively as she began to count on her fingers, "there's me, Aunt Natalie, Sam, L, Light, Near, Matsuda, you… that's it."

"I'd rather not go," Near stated, twirling his hair.

"Why not?" Anna cried. "You meanie poop; I'll drag you there!"

"Please don't."

"Well, you went to the get-together back when Sam came back from India or wherever she went! Why can't you come to this one?"

"He's not really a people person," remarked Halle.

"I'll get Sam to bring you, then. Unless Gevanni helps me…. Gevanni, can you get Near to come? Please? We can feed him so that he doesn't die of starvation, and… and it'll be amusing! The thing in general, not feeding him…."

Gevanni glanced at Near, and Near glared at him pointedly.

"It's not like he'll fire you," Anna pressed. "He needs you!"

Gevanni pursed his lips.

Thus was how Near was to come to the get-together.

The get-together was a nice thing; a spot of fun in serious times. (Kira is back; danger is ahead – but of course we don't know the latter….) My only regret about the thing is that Sierra and Matt couldn't come; they would have been fun to have and, quite frankly, I felt bad for Sierra, not being able to be here. Oh well….

It seemed that Gevanni and Anna had gotten Near to come along, and home with me from the NPA came Light and Matsuda. Now we needed only to wait for Sam and L's wonderful entrance. Matsuda certainly knew how to keep the place lively, and it amused me to watch the people of separate groups mingle. Near kept to himself, mostly, but Gevanni enjoyed talking to Matsuda. Although, I did notice that he seemed to be amused just by the sheer stupidity of him…. In his opinion, anyhow. Anna ran around, talking to every person, particularly trying to hold a full conversation with Near. Near, unfortunately, remained stubbornly blunt.

It wasn't too long before the door burst open – of course Sam was making a dramatic entrance – and announced, "I brought pocky!" This, of course, shifted everyone's attention to her instead of whatever individual things they were doing.

"Wait," said Gevanni, turning to look at Matsuda. "What's pocky?"

"Oh, right!" Matsuda laughed. "You're from America! Pocky is a delicious treat, like candy."

"It's like a Kit-Kat, but Japanese, and better," I explained.

Gevanni cocked an eyebrow. "Better than a Kit-Kat, huh?"

"I wanna play the Pocky Game with every person here!" Sam grinned.

I blinked. I'd completely forgotten about that game.

"What is the Pocky Game?" Near asked dully. He didn't look very happy about being here. Meanie poop.

Sam heaved a sigh, and explained it so everyone knew what she was talking about. I don't need to explain it here simply because I already have, in the memoir previous to this one. "Okay," she said when she was done, "who's first?"

"I wanna play!" Matsuda exclaimed, running over.

"Of course you do," I sighed, smiling as Sam held up a pocky stick between them and L shut the door behind him and Sam.

"He's lively, isn't he?" Gevanni remarked.

Light nodded. "Lively and enthusiastic."

"And idiotic," Gevanni added.

Light chuckled. "That too, sometimes."

I watched intently as Sam and Matsuda drew closer, but at the last moment, Matsuda pulled back. Realizing he'd lost, he let out a cry of, "Darn it!"

Sam replied with a triumphant smile and cantered over to the next closest person: Near. She looked at him a moment, and Near looked at her. Then she just frowned and gave a flat, "No," before moving on.

Matsuda laughed, then attempted to strike a conversation with L as Sam continued on her rounds. Near stared quizzically after her.

Sam shook the box. "Does anyone else want to play with people?"

"No, thank you," Anna frowned.

"Aw…!" Sam cried. "Meh!" She moved on to Gevanni. "Gevaniii… wanna play the Pocky Gaaamme…?"

He shrugged. "Sure," he replied, taking the stick of pocky. Matsuda came over to talk with Light, as L hadn't been very satisfying conversation-wise. I watched as Sam and Gevanni reached the middle, but the moment their lips touched Gevanni pulled away.

Sam's face lit up. "I'm awesome at this game!" She held out a pocky stick to Light, who raised his eyebrows but obliged and took it. Before even making it near the middle, Sam pulled away with an, "Okay, no."

Light chuckled, and I smiled. "I figured something like that would happen," I remarked.

Sam sputtered. "Yeah. Why don't you play with Light?" she grinned, waving a pocky stick in front of me.

"Because I don't want to play the Pocky Game," I replied simply.

She frowned. "You're no fun. I'll play with L," she offered.

"I'll play," said Anna, holding out her hand.

Sam gave her a stick. "With who? Near?"

"Matsuda," she corrected, pouting.

I sighed as Anna walked towards Matsuda, who was now holding a conversation with Gevanni again. "Fine," I agreed, holding out my hand.

She grinned impishly and handed me a stick. I heard a yelp from Matsuda. "She tried to eat me!" he cried. Anna was laughing hysterically. "I don't think you're supposed to go that fast…." She continued laughing.

While most everyone's attention was shifted to Matsuda, I grudgingly offered the pocky to Light. He took it casually and leaned down to be at my height – I, even after all these years, was still short. Drawing from Light's calmness so I didn't die, the Pocky Game commenced. Matsuda noticed, and laughed. "I guess it's a good thing that Misa wasn't invited, huh?" he asked joyously.

"Huh?" asked Anna, looking over. Sam was giggling madly by the time the middle was reached, too, but there was a problem: neither of us wanted to lose. Light raised his eyebrows as my face grew steadily redder, until eventually we decided mentally to pull back at the same time.

At the same moment, we both straightened up and said simultaneously, "Tie."

"Aw, poo you guys!" Sam frowned.

So the get-together was enjoyable and filled with jokes, light-hearted remarks, laughter, ranting, and all-around happiness. No tickle fights this time… but it was still a good time. Sam kept her end of the deal and played the Pocky Game with L – Sam lost – and eventually all was over and darkness filled the sky. A good beginning, I think, to a bit of a distressing story.

There's the first chapter for ya~

Fun Fact: I didn't know how this story was going to be distressing when I wrote that last sentence... xD But that's how it ended up, so we're good.

Review? For Matsuda's silly theories? :D