Perceptions
"He's gone" Near poetically sighed. Light Yagami had finally fallen at the hands of justice. More importantly Kira, had finally fallen. Defeated by the one and only heir to L. Now the world could gradually restore it's natural order. It was over.
"Light Yagami, The second L, and Kira. You have been defeated...you lost the game" Near whispered, but his voice echoed through the stuffy wharehouse. The smell of blood filled the air as Light was gasping for vital breath but failing miserably at gaining any. Near, still playing with his hair, uttered the last words Light would ever here. With a faint smile he whispered-
"I win" And with that Kira took his final breath, Ryuuk finished the word "Yagami" with the last stroke of ink then put away his notebook, and everything went dead silent.
"Alright, it seems our business is done here. Truth be told I wish Light didn't cheat and die before I could personally execute him, it was an un-noble act to say in the least, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers." Near looked around with calm eyes, while the others were either heavily breathing or shaking horribly. He decided a goods nights rest for everyone was in order, everyone but himself at least.
"I want you all to go home and rest. You had a long day and could use the sleep" He muttered closing his eyes and twirling his hair. "What about me sir?" Giovanni asked walking up to Near. Near wanted to get back to headquarters as soon as possible, he would have Giovanni escort him back to the Kira investigation building so he could file the report within the next 24 hours. "I wish for you to take me back Giovanni" Near calmly said. But before he could move he looked up to find the Shinigami standing over him. Looking down with big beady eyes, and a sadistic smile. The Shinigami laughed and Near couldn't help but talk to him.
"Ryuuk am I right" He said in a hushed voice not scared, or amused. The Shinigami replied in his husky voice- "Yep, It seems the fun is over. By the way I wanted to give you something." Near only blinked. Then the Shinigami dropped what looked like a little white object. Time seemed to freeze as it started falling to the ground. Near followed the trail it left in the air. Lowering his eyes at the movement.
"I think this will come in handy" The Shinigami said. Then the object hit the ground. And the death god was gone. Near looked around to find no Shinigami anywhere, and then turned his attentions to the object. No, he knew not to trust a Shinigami. Near was many things, but an idiot was not one of them. Yet what damage would it do to maybe hold the item?
Near reached over and picked up the little white rectangular object. Feeling the texture in-between his fingers. It honestly felt like an eraser. In fact, with enough ignorance, one could easily believe it WAS an eraser. And Near knew he would regret this, but he stuck it in his shirt pocket. To look at it one way if this thing did have powers and someone else were to find it, A problem like the Kira incident would probably rise again.
"Take me back" Near said gathering his toys in his arms and standing up. Giovanni put his toys in a "man-toat" he was carrying and took Near out of the warehouse. Only to drive back to the headquarters where L saw his last day.
...
A blank computer screen and then "SENT" appeared. Near reached out to crack his back and then closed the computer window. Two hours of slouching in a chair while typing up deatails on the Kira case could really put a number on your spine. Sometimes Near wondered how L did it.
He proceeded over to the floor where a box of dominoes was waiting for him. Giovanni went home about an hour ago when Near noticed that the poor man could barely keep his eyes open. The albino was cold but he was not heartless. So he gave him the rest of Giovanni's night to himself while Near finished up work. Now work was done, it was time to contemplate.
Looking back on the days events, He had the two Death Notes next to the giant computer screens. In the morning he planned on burning them. Ridding the world of such an evil tool. And forgetting this ever happened. Of course that was only the dream. In truth Kira will if not already had become a piece in history. And children years from now will read about this event in textbooks while having to do reports on the subject. He took a domino and stacked it on it's side, doing this repeativly to start a line. Near was back to thinking so the first thing he did was try to figure out his feelings for this victory, and it's contents.
No, Near was never one to have feelings. Sure, he was human. He felt happiness when he came to victory, he felt the anger in the pit of his stomach when Light killed all the SPK members, and he felt guilt when Mello died. But none of it was strong. No, he has never felt grief. Never has it seemed like an important emotion. The day L died, Near did not weep like the other kids. He only thought of what to do next. Sure, L would be better off not dead. But he lost the game and if you lose, you must pay the punishment. But was he feeling greif now? Or was this simply disapointment mixed with releif. Again, greif was a foriegn concept to him.
There was no need to be sad over death.
Although he would never admit it, not even to himself, Near secretly did wish L was still alive so he could show L what he grew up to be. He was twelve when L died. And now he was 19, and he longed for someone to be proud of him.
But of course he would never ever ever say that.
Then he remembered, the little white object in his pocket. Should he burn that too? At least he could see what it did first right? Of course, that's what L would do. But Near ran things differently. Still, it wouldn't matter would it? This was the gamble. Not knowing what it did drove his curiosty to new hights. Yet, it may be putting even the world into danger. Unfoutanantly Near was again human. And curiosty, along with selfish-ness, was part of the package.
As he got up and retrieved the Death Note on the counter, Near pulled the little white object out of his pocket. He sat back down and opened it to a random name and, before he could read it, started rubbing the object like an eraser. Truth is it was an eraser. The little shavings spilled on the paper as the black words faded away with every rub and stroke.
This, was when Near started regretting.
Did the Shinigami want him to use it? Or did the Shinigami know Near wouldn't use it? Or did he- Near shook his head. Although it's unwise to underestimate your oppponents, Shinigami didn't seem very smart. But what did he know about Death Gods? He didn't think it was an elaborate plan, giving him this item. From what it seemed like. The Shinigami was only following Yagami for entertainment.
"So perhaps he gave me this to pro-lounge the game." Near thought not even looking at the Death Note. When he did look down though, he noticed that the name he erased was all gone and yet he was still brushing the item back and fourth. The page was filled with little white shavings. So he stopped erasing and brushed the white things off.
That's when he waited for something to happen. Looking around, he expected something to pop out on him and slaughter him from any direction. Then he turned to the computers. Waiting for an email from someone saying disaster has struck.
But nothing came...
Near waited, looking around in paranoia for about a half an hour.
But still nothing...
So he decided to do something a bit more productive. Putting the Death Note and the item back on the counter by the computers, he walked over to wear Giovanni left his toys. After sitting down he took out a few dominoes. Stacking each one rhythmically as he thought of what he just did. Honestly right now? He was pretty comfy. Each domino stacked one after another. He decided though, that he would rather stack dice. So after putting the dominoes back in the bin he grabbed his dice and began a wall.
Hour after hour, stack after stack. Near began building a dice empire. A giant wall curled around him. He could have sworn he was sitting there for about four to five hours. But patience was Near's specialty. He was very happy when he was building his giant barricades of toys. He sat there in solitaire comfort until a giant wall surrounded him in white, black-spotted dice. Bliss surrounded him as he let a smile escape. It was okay, he was alone after all. Everything was at peace. The only light was the flashing computer screens. And he liked it that way.
Then he heard it
BOOM CRASH!
STOMP
STOMP
STOMP
Near froze. It couldn't be Giovanni. No, Giovanni would't enter like that. Plus Giovanni seemed too tired to come in the middle of the night like this. Kira was gone right? Yeah, Kira was gone. He lost and...and...YOU DON"T CHEAT LIKE THAT. He can no longer cheat anyway! Right!? Near had to calm himself because, even though his body was still at peace, his mind was going hysterical. Although his breathing did not quicken, his mind did. After he calmed some he went over his options. More or less what the sound could be.
No, it couldn't be the equipment. This building was too new, too high tech, and too high quality to make such noises. He had no one hunting him. In fact, no one should know he was here. That means that the intruder should most likely not know he was in that room. So maybe if he stayed behind his dominoes-
BANG
The door flung open as someone kicked it. And a familiar voice called into the room. Near stayed silent and calm. As he was always good at controlling his emotions. His breathing did not quicken, his heart did not pace, and instead of panicking or freaking out, he simply went over a way to get out. But so far he saw no way out. If the intruder had a gun. One wrong move and he would be out like a light. It's as simple as that. Nears best option was to stay behind his barricade and hope with all his heart that the intruder doesn't spot him. Near did not feel like dieing today. What would dieing even be like? He thought letting his mind get off track, but now was not the time to go soul searching. And he realized that when the intruder started talking.
"You thought you could beat me Light Yagami!? Heh I knew it, I knew you were Kira. Well guess what? You shouldn't have left those infrared cameras on. Made it easy to find your room." Near still just sat, looking through the cracks of his dice wall. Near knew that voice. Oh yeah he knew who it was.
"So that's what I did" Near thought. Yeah the voice was hoarse and dry but there was no denieing who the owner was. And his suspicions were confirmed when the figure walked by. He saw it. The familiar blue baggy jeans covering most of the owners feet. The lack of shoes and socks. The dirt between the toes. The idea scarred Near. But still...
All his dominoes flowed down as the figure slammed them to the floor. Each swiftly falling in union. Near's blood turned cold "That's right...He thinks I'm Light" Near thought. The anger the intruder had for Light was about to be taken out on Near. Near was completely vulnerable to the intruder. He knew the intruder did not have a gun. But strength wise he was outwitted.
The last thing Near saw was the face of his mentors anger,
and then confusion...