Summary: Raito finds that Near, in a lot of ways, is a lot like L. Then again, he's a lot different than L too. NearRaitoNear. Some MelloNear. Hints of LRaito, maybe. YAOI

Note: Parts of conversation has been drawn out of Death Note, vol. 8. Kinda reworded some…

Death Note ©Tsugumi Ohba

"It's L…the current one."

A pale boy who was dangling a dart in the air remained impassive as the name of a certain deceased person was spoken. He didn't expect the replacement of who was once his idol to call him at this time.

Another man's face hardened as he connected the call to the transmitter to hear what this L had to tell them. He too had not expected a call from such a person substituting one who was once of high intelligence and stealth. The pale boy carefully placed the dart down. There was a moment of silence as all of this was taking place.

"Director," a scratchy voice said through the transmitter. Across the table, a bald man with a scruffy mustache that added on to his gruff demeanor had all his attention glued to the scrambled voice. It continued.

"I've heard about John McEnroe, I mean agent Larry Conners, from Deputy Director Yagami." A shocked Director Mason, the bald man, listened intently to the statement that was directed to him.

The Japanese police…how did they--?

"I would like you to help us with NPA director Takimura's murder investigation," the voice continued, breaking the director's thoughts in his mind. The director's hands got clammy.

He had no idea what to say. "Well…"

"I'll speak." A firm, deep, but still young voice came from the pale boy. He held out his hand expectedly out at Director Mason, who was still surprised and a bit dazed. The director was bewildered and looked at the nonchalant boy in front of him, twirling his hair and clad in white sleep wear. One would surely underestimate the type of person this boy was. Still, the man complied and slowly handed the phone to the boy. He snatched it.

"L number two. Nice to meet you," he stated, void of any emotion. Ironically, he was not very pleased to hear this imposter of an L. Perhaps bluntly stating the secret only a selected people know will help "L" realize his secret wasn't so confidential

As anticipated, there was a barely noticeable pause. Barely, because it was so short nobody else but the boy would've noticed it. Noticeable, because he had expected it. And he was sure he did not imagine that pause.

"Number two? What do you mean by that?"The second L asked innocently. "And who are you?"

"It's useless to try and hide it," the pale boy answered. He imagined that whoever was on the other side of the line who claimed to be the great L was most likely surprised. "We're a new group called the SPK which has been established to capture Kira without the help of L. And about seven of the top members of this group know of L's death."

Another pause, probably because the second L was contemplating on what to say next. Which wouldn't be necessary.

"I am the head of the SPK," the pale boy stated while twirling a lock of hair with his finger. "Let's see…call me N…"

Raito was a bit taken back. How could this person have known about L's death? "Number two? What do you mean by that? And who are you?" The brunet asked, his voice firm and strong. He would not give out and stutter.

"It's useless to try and hide it," the scrambled voice said. "We're a new group called the SPK which has been established to capture Kira without the help of L. And about seven of the top members of this group know of L's death."

Raito's frown deepened. About L's death? Where had they found out about it? And most importantly, from whom? He had to know.

"I am the head of the SPK," the voice continued. "Let's see…call me N…"

N? Raito's brows furrowed and his grip on the phone tightened. Was this a joke? Or the SPK head's first initial? The familiar feeling of L's mysterious aura swarmed around Raito. N reminded him of L. Was N somehow related to L? Was that how he knew about L's death?

"As I said, we will no longer rely on L. This means that in the States, my orders to the CIA and FBI will be given priority over your orders," said the voice. "But for the murder of the NPA director…I think the case of it may lead to Kira's arrest, so I will give the cooperation you need."

This guy…how is he so confident? Raito thought. Anybody going after Kira should know to hide the fact that they're going after Kira, Raito thought. This N…definitely reminds me of him. I shouldn't be involved with this guy…no, wait, if I go back now, he'll suspect me. And I'll have to play the role as L…

"Is something the matter L?" The scrambled voice broke Raito's trance, and Raito smirked to himself.

"N-no."

Damn. He had been nervous about this N suspecting he was Kira that he had accidentally slipped. He wiped off the small smirk on his face.

"To tell the truth, after the director was murder, deputy director Yagami's daughter was kidnapped supposedly by the same criminals. They have contacted us to make a deal in L.A."

"A deal? The exchange of the girl for the notebook, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Very well. I will gather as many agents as I can in L.A. without telling them the details of this case…and use a satellite to watch over the L.A. area." There was a pause.

"Actually, I'll just let you have total authority of this."

"L." There was a click on the other end, signaling that N had hung up. Slowly, Raito hung up as well, the last words lingering in the air for him to hear. It was obvious N had stressed out "L" as if to mock him. If it wasn't for Raito's logical composure and his coworkers around him, he would have immediately screamed in fury.

That bastard…

Near had noticed when he had truthfully and confidently told the second L of his decision, there was a pause on the other line. He concluded that the second L was a hesitant person who carefully chose their words since he or her always paused after a long list of information was given to them. Perhaps this L was contemplating of what was being said to him? Or maybe it was because this L had something to hide and was careful not to accidentally tell him, Near, something confidential about himself?

Interesting…

"Is something the matter L?" Near asked. Although it sounded as an innocent question, truth be told, he really asked the question to intimidate the second L.

"N-no."Ah. He was right. Well, Near assumed he was right. The second L was most likely considering the fact that he, Near, obliged to his request.

"To tell the truth, after the director was murder, deputy director Yagami's daughter was kidnapped supposedly by the same criminals. They have contacted us to make a deal in L.A."

"A deal? The exchange of the girl for the notebook, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Very well. I will gather as many agents as I can in L.A. without telling them the details of this case…and use a satellite to watch over the L.A. area," Near listed. As he unfolded his plan, he wondered how the second L would react and handle the situation of this case. All of L's problems…well, the original L would have never called in the first place because L worked alone. However, the new L was just an amateur. He or she could not handle the priorities of being the top detective in the world well, and therefore needed other people's funding and assistance in order to continue their job. So what if…

"Actually, I'll just let you have total authority on this." Just to taunt this "L" and the Japanese police. And then he nonchalantly ended the call. It took a lot of willpower to keep himself from smirking smugly.

When he had hung up, Rester handed Near a cup filled with darts and Near took one.

"Near, are you sure about this? This fake L hasn't succeeded at all in bringing down Kira," Rester asked, setting the cup down on the table close to where Near would be able to reach it.

Near fiddled with the dart and dragged his dangling leg on the floor, swiveling him left and right. "So much the better," Near replied. "There's a chance we can take advantage of him. Of course, we must place saving others full priority. However…" Near aimed for the dartboard, positioning the angle of his dart.

"Our first and foremost goal is to get the notebook and to…" He threw the dart at the dartboard effortlessly.

Fwik!

Thunk!

"Catch Kira." The dart fell into a pile of darts, scattered under the dartboard.

"And to be truthful, I think the notebook better belongs in someone else's possession other than the Japanese police."

After the conversation with N, Raito felt like he had just spoken with L. The familiar but not cocky confidence when he talked, the intellect behind his words, even the mysterious alias—it all reminded Raito of him. Six years later and the insomniac was still haunting him. Six years of finally being able to freely lead the Japanese police around in circles while trying to catch Kira, not knowing that it was actually Kira who was throwing them off; six years of freely killing off criminals and stopping crimes in the world…his plan of a perfect world was going to be foiled.

All because of N.

But Raito was not afraid. No, he, like N, was going to fight back.

He was not going to let some anonymous SPK leader to stop Kira from making the world a better place.

He was not going to let N to stop Kira from putting justice on the world.

But most of all…

He was not going to let L win again.

A/N: So…what do you think? I know this is short, but trust me…the other chapters won't be. The first chapter is just the prologue; I want to see if you guys like the idea of…this. Yeah.

Please comment! Tell me what to improve, what you liked, whatever. (Or you can just fav, heh. :D) Appreciate it!

P.S. This is like, my first DN story, so…yeah.