Similar
Summary: They were connected by interest. They were quite similar people, except Near wasn't insane with a good cover. This 'friendship' of theirs grew, mainly for their own satisfaction. But halfway, they became real friends, whether or not Near might agree or not. Late!Birthday fic for Near. Friendship!Near/OC.
Hopefully, my OC won't seem sue. I don't think she is anyway, but I just suddenly got the urge to write Near when I was looking at Death Note Mary Sues. I'm not even in the fandom anymore. But I love Near, he's my favourite character. I am so strange. And yes, Tem-chan, I did decide on a title. 'Near and Far' isn't acceptable by my strict title standards. Also, special thanks go to Doro and Sydney for telling me that my OC is fine, to their standards. I TRUST YOU WILL MY WRITING LIFE.
I might make some mistake here and there, since I'm writing this late at night. It just means some of my brain cells are frying. And it's a little vague, I suppose. Near might be a little OOC through not enough knowledge on him (I've been out of this fandom for too long).
Anyway, forget my long A/Ns. Enjoy~
They had similar traits. They were similar people, but with little things about them which screamed to others that they were different also.
She was quiet, intelligent, but could not compare to the likes of him. She only just made it to the top ten, and had lied saying she really didn't care about the succession rankings but really, he noticed the red in her eyes every time she came out of her room after rankings were revealed. Near, himself, wasn't really all that interested in rankings and the like. He would never move from his spot, despite Mello's annoyance.
He could see the slight jealousy in her eyes. Her cold, brown eyes. She was plain. She was an addict like Matt was, always on her laptop, day and night, as though her life had no meaning.
It probably didn't.
Near couldn't help noticing things. There weren't many quiet types around, who were calm and collected enough to really take on potentially being L's successor seriously.
He couldn't help but to feel that she was one of them. He had a feeling that she wasn't really interested in aiming to be L's successor, but every time they had contact with L, she was one of those who either didn't come, or sat, listening, calculating, frozen, unmoving like one of his toys.
Near didn't know why he remembered details of her. Perhaps it was because she stood out, even though she was one of the plainest people eyes could see. Plus, she didn't wear anything remotely flashy like Mello and Matt did either.
Near always thought of her as strange. Her expressions were always tranquil. Her skin was milky from her English descent, and from her habit of staying indoors all the time.
Near wasn't all that surprised the day when he realised she was only living a lie for the rest of them. She wasn't this quiet, timid, intelligent girl that everyone else saw. It was a show.
A show. Huh.
They caught onto one-sided conversation, and Near knew it would happen. He had planned it, after all.
She knew.
Near kind of enjoyed this, actually. Her face wasn't tranquil, that time. It was gracing a ghost of a smile. She peered at him through her framed glasses, and held up one of his toy robots. Its bright blue paint shone slightly in the sunlight that passed through the only window of his room.
He had even left his bedroom door open.
He was sitting on the floor, toys sprawled across the floor. He looked at her with calm, observing eyes. Normal people would squirm at this attention, but she ignored it with class, and didn't show anything that wasn't meant to be shown.
She closed the door behind her and sat on a single bed without consent. Because she knew he didn't care either way.
Why ask something that you already know the answer to?
Her sleek, long fingers just made a slight appearance underneath an oversized jumper she was wearing. Grey. Musty, old, yet classy. She was also wearing her usual black shorts over purple tights.
Yes, quite ordinary, compared to what some of the loud, slightly oblivious gifted children who lived in the orphanage wore. They were only the tender age of ten, but the two in the room knew they regarded each other much, much older than that.
They were different. A childhood of ignorance was not one for some. And it definitely wasn't for them.
She tugged at the shirt collar that peeked through her jumper. She spoke.
"Don't you care for your robot? I could have done anything to it, you know. There are some people who would do that." She rolled her eyes, boredom apparent. Near could tell there was that hidden meaning, and he could see it if he bothered to.
Near held his hand out for his robot. She placed it down next to his other robots.
"See, a little family." She smiled slightly. She wasn't bothered by this one sided conversation, but to her, it didn't feel like a one sided conversation. She was doing it again, hiding her real intentions and what she really meant to say.
"Oh yeah, if you were wondering what to call me, just call me Andrea. I like that name." She grinned, a total contradiction to his information. She didn't have a name. He knew she was taken in my one of the orphanage's staff and got here by chance. That member of staff did name her, but she never stuck by that name. Near was sceptical about that story. It sounded too convenient. That story could well be just a well used cover story.
But did a past really matter? Was it part of the mystery?
One thing he did know – the girl skimmed by names. People who lived in the orphanage called her 'Lucy'.
Near didn't mind her company, he noted, weeks after. She was still a mystery. She would come and visit him from time to time and have their one sided conversations. Sometimes, Near would add in a sentence or two. It became a chance to learn about her, this human mystery. She was studying him too, in the only way she knew how.
Observation. She was quite good at it, and could even pick up slight tensing in the muscles, which explained why she could, as a human, be so still. It was unnatural.
However, she was interesting. Her statements and questions, or a mix between the two, weren't at all ordinary, despite the way they sounded.
"Why do you wear pyjamas all the time? I know white's your colour, but you know? It's an overdose. I know I wear mainly the same things, but at least I have variety."
Translation: This is too much, like an overdose of drugs. You think you're justice. You're boring. You're always the same.
Sometimes, when he spent time in the lounge room, she would come and join him, just because everyone else would have been somewhere else because of his perfect timing. Near's mind noted her every pause, her every wondering expression, the duration of her typing. Things like that came natural to him, and it wasn't every day he was presented with a good puzzle. He knew she had odd objectives, and her viewpoints of things were similar to a mental patient. Andrea was distant, hesitant, and not at all steady. She would behave abnormally, and the logic behind this was piecing together quite nicely.
The reason why? She couldn't help it. Every day watching a different person behave, a different person's reactions, drove Andrea to a point of well hidden insanity.
He realised he was noting her with the name she gave him. Andrea. It was oddly fitting.
Andrea.
She was smiling at him.
She wasn't hiding her words one day, which lead Near to wonder why.
"I'm almost jealous of you, Near. You're always level, detached, and so, utterly sane. My sanity left me too long ago, like you know." She paused, and eyed him, checking if he was listening or not. He was.
"You already know everything about me that you want to know. As expected, even if my roots are well hidden, it only took you half a year to find out. I bet you're disappointed."
Near pressed his lips, but didn't stop playing with his robots. He was feeling the smooth paint finish with his hands. He recently got some new ones from Watari. They were satisfactory. He nodded a little at this thought.
Andrea didn't misunderstand.
"But, can I be selfish?" The purity that was in her voice was odd, something he had never heard from her lips before. Before, they were always taunting words, words of jealousy, curiosity, and judgement. "Can I be friends with you?"
"Why?" He turned a robot's head around 360 degrees. That was new.
"You're interesting, and I like you."
Near didn't say anything.
Friend.
Near didn't really understand it. He understood the general meaning, but it didn't make much sense for him to have one. He was always alone, and he didn't really mind it that way. He didn't hate company either; it was just something to be accepted.
He agreed to give it a go though, and soon a year had passed by. His life wasn't changed much, he just had company. Andrea, like him, was always alone too, but she didn't look like she was uncomfortable that way. But he did notice the brief looks of jealousy aimed at the more cheerful gifted orphans, who had many people around them.
After this whole year, he strangely began to understand Andrea a lot better. She was jealous of the other gifted children because sometimes, she would love to be normal. She was jealous of him, because her intelligence and her exceptional ability to notice little things were the only things she was good at, but she felt that she wasn't best at either of them. Near didn't really say he understood this feeling, because he was used to being at the top. But he could understand why she wanted to be the best. It was so she could aim for something in her life. She used her laptop all the time to type up little things she noticed. Andrea herself mentioned that if she typed it down, she could slowly let it flow out of her brain. Information and details were always logged in her head, and she said it was easier for her to sort things out if she typed things up instead.
Near knew she was still keeping things from him, but that was just Andrea.
She was insane under a mask because of the fidgets, the movements, the habits, it all overwhelmed her. She was on her edge, and Near had personally seen her snap. His bedroom was literally turned upside down.
But Andrea was Andrea. Andrea wasn't Andrea without her little quirks and the way she was. Andrea wasn't Andrea without her odd red-ish brown shoulder length hair, without her seemingly cold brown eyes, without her long, thin, sleek fingers.
Andrea was different, like him. They were similar.
But free days like these were numbered. A fact he knew well, and he accepted. He couldn't have it any other way.
The Kira Case.
L had his life taken by this case.
It could only turn out to be an excellent mystery.
It was fun while it lasted.
That was it with games. They would always end. That one that ended broadened his mind though. Told him more of human greed, human ugliness, sins, lies, and everything else that was disgusting about humans.
Yagami Light, a worthy opponent.
The one who ended L's life and created this case, this case that lasted long hard years, some of which Light had roamed free without restriction. For only too long.
But that had ended.
He would just have to wait for another mystery to come under his radar.
Insanity. Reality. What was real? What was fake? What are lies? What is real?
It reminded him of the girl he had met, who had eventually left Wammy's, to be set free. Last time Near heard of her, she was apparently playing games with the law. How expected. He wouldn't expect anything else from Andrea. She was that kind of person, always looking for the next best thing, the next thing that would interest her, widen her knowledge.
They were alike. He remembered thinking that a couple of times in the two years he spent with her. If he could remember correctly, she hated losing; she kept everything that interested her in sight, valued results more than anything –
Definitely.
Except Near wasn't insane or crazy. And he didn't live a lie.
"Near, there's a box for you. Looks like a cake box. It says it's from a person called Andrea."
"Bring it in please."
What good timing. He would have it checked for poison and the sort later.
The cake box was brought to him by a subordinate of his. It was simple, and white. It reminded him of past conversations. The box was passed to him by hand, as a metropolis of dice towers were starting to take shape and anyone knocking anything over was only going to suffer the consequences.
He placed it on his knees carefully. He lifted the box lid with two hands, wary, but he knew the box would he been checked before presented to him.
Inside was a cake, as expected. It was covered in cream, and decorated with fresh strawberries at the side of the cake. In the middle was a flat piece of chocolate, with the words 'Happy Birthday Near' iced on in fancy English. It looked like a cake the late L would have loved.
A pack of candles were placed beside the cake, and it was a wonder how the candles didn't damage the cake in any way. There was a piece of paper, folded many times, and then was stuck to the candle pack with clear tape. He was passed a pair of scissors and cut the tape, being careful not to damage the paper.
Hay, it's me, Andrea. You remember me right? It's been a few years.
It was nearing your birthday so I felt like getting a cake for you. You should try this type of cake, it's nice. It's not too sweet, and not at all tasteless. I wasn't sure what you liked, I'm sorry.
Are we still friends? You're still my friend, if you're asking.
I somewhat heard of your newly ended mystery. It's too bad for you, isn't it? Although it's a little too complex for me to understand. Not really my cup of tea.
Anyway, enough with the rambling. I ordered the cake and I got it delivered so it would arrive on your birthday.
Happy Birthday, my first and only friend.
Happy Birthday Near.
PS. Haha! I'm in the information business now. It's fun. We should meet up some time. I'm leaving my phone number with you.
Near sighed. He sent the cake off for examining, and started staring at the box. Andrea, Andrea, Andrea. He knew from the moment he met her she was weird, insane, and different. But getting a cake delivered to him was quite a feat, if he did say so himself.
He felt the corners of his mouth twitch.
He carefully peeled the sticker that was the entire area of the inner box. Sure enough, a phone number was scribbled there with blue ball-point pen, with an extra line scribbled there in Andrea's lacy writing.
He could almost hear her say it.
Have a very Happy Birthday, Nate.