"He would've chosen you, Near. Just so you know," Hana whispered softly while staring at her hands that were curled into fists on her lap. Despite sitting in an armchair, she chose to sit cross-legged with a slight slouch in her posture, apparently an influence from her brother's habits.
Currently, Near had been stacking a tower of dominoes, absentmindedly, but his hand paused before he added another layer onto the masterpiece. "What?" he asked.
"My brother. He would've chosen you to be his next successor," she said with a little more confidence.
Hearing her repeat exactly what he thought he heard made him smile slightly as his hand continued adding layers to the stack of dominoes, but he still said nothing. After hearing Hana's confession that she was related to L, Near had decided to keep her around to pump her for information on the identity of Kira. First, of course, he had his staff complete a thorough background check to confirm her relation to the late detective and found the results to be exactly what he'd hoped for. Apparently, this girl had been on the inside of the case and made contact with pretty much every investigator on the Japanese task force. She could provide detailed descriptions of every lead, every suspect, every dead-end and every discovery that the group had encountered during their investigation, a helpful tool that would bring them one step closer to catching Kira. Although her powers of perception were not quite as great as her brother's, or Near's for that matter, her IQ was still well above the norm which would prove useful as the case would progress.
First, however, he had to make this timid girl feel comfortable with trusting him before questioning her. She obviously hadn't forgotten the ghosts of the pasts or her brother's untimely death. On top of that, she had to have realized by now that one of the people that she knew and saw every day may be the psychotic killer, Kira. Obviously, that wasn't enough to stop her seeing as she was here, though.
As Near reached for the last few dominoes, Hana uncrossed her legs and stood up from the armchair. Folding her arms over her chest as if she was cold, she strode over to the white haired boy and leaned down to his level to meet his gaze with her dark eyes.
"So, are you going to start asking me questions or are we just going to sit around while Kira keeps killing more people?"
Near's hand slipped slightly, causing his domino tower to topple to the floor. He sighed in defeat, then met her gaze, annoyed with her constant desire for eye contact. "Alright then, Hana. We can get started any time you like."
"I'm ready when you are," she said with an almost uncertain tone.
Near cocked his head, then gestured over to one of the nearby agents assigned to keep an eye on them. The male agent nodded and walked over to hand the boy a small tape recorder. When Near obtained the device, he glanced at Hana, observing her reaction. She didn't display any signs of immediate panic or discomfort, so when she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded encouragingly, he pressed the red RECORD button and set the device on the ground next to them.
"Alright, let's begin."
What questions will Near ask? Will Hana help in in his investigation and is there possible chemistry between the two characters? Well, the more reviews and comments I get, the more compelled I feel to write the next chapter….just saying.