The SPK disbanded immediately after the arrest of Light Yagami, and Near returned to Winchester in the February of that year. Despite the offer, Near refused L's title. Mello declined on the grounds of being emotionally unstable. Matt was deceased at the time of the offer. L's title went the fourth Wammy's child, a girl Near's age who shared Matt's laid back attitude, L's morals, and an overall spectacular sense of justice. The only reason she came fourth was because of her lack of effort on her part. Losing her parents left an impressive depression in R.

Near worked freelance, living in a one-bedroom apartment about thirty minutes from his former orphanage. He didn't keep in contact with any of the children, R, or Rodger. He works best alone, after all.

It was eighty-thirty in the morning and Near could already tell it was going to be a bad day. Not horrible, but still a bad day. For starters, the thunder from the incoming thunderstorm woke him up a half hour early and refused to let him sleep any longer, it was grocery and laundry day which meant he had to venture out into the thunderstorm, and his legs were giving him a lot of pain from the pressure change caused by the storm. Luckily, Near had two modes of transportation outside and three inside. Inside, he could brave the pain and walk, use his crutches, or his wheelchair. Today, he opted for the crutches to warm up his legs for walking. As for outside, Near could walk to his destination or take the bus. Due to the terrible weather, the first thing Near did that morning was pull up the bus schedule on his laptop. The next thing was make himself coffee. Near liked nothing more than a cup of black coffee in the morning.

"Mm." The albino hummed to himself while he curled up in the plush, chocolate brown couch listening half-heartedly the news reports. He needed a new case; it had been two weeks since he solved the Red Hands case in Wales and he was already running low on food money. While he was aware he could always go to Rodger or R for a case, the thought alone made his pride ache. He had a savings account, but that was set aside for a car. He'd rather not tap into it if he didn't have to. He still had coffee, milk, a container of oatmeal that was almost empty, leftover pizza, and a bag of baby carrots. He really needed a new case.

"...the assassination of Palestinian secretary Bilaal Amr has left thousands in distress and a handful pointing fingers at a possible Israeli-based assassination group called 'EYAL'. Amr appeared to have died while trying to escape his bedroom when an anonymous person placed Zyklon B in the AC of his hotel room in Russia…" Near's ears perked up to the conversation on his television, staring blankly at his reflection in the still, black coffee. He turned to watch the lively news cast on his screen, eyes sleepy but curious. "...It appears that this could be an act of terrorism, as it appears that the Zyklon B agent was put into the AC of everyone on Amr's floor, killing a total of sixty three people and putting two, an eight-year-old girl and her forty-seven-year-old mother, in the hospital. Both are likely to live. Among the dead were two other Palestinians who appeared to be accompanying Amr: Boaz Hayim and Tikva Yakira. We wait for more information on the victims and-"

There was a sizzle and then the sound of white noise - the cable cut out. Near rolled his eyes in irony and finished off his coffee. He put the cup next to two others on the coffee table. He wasn't a neat freak nor a pig. Dish day was tomorrow, anyways. He stood up, walking slowly from the pain to the laundry closet, where his washer and dryer were hidden away, next to the closet pole with only his dark grey fall jacket, his navy blue winter coat, and two pairs of his scrubs. Now that he didn't hold his health in that high of regard anymore, he only wore those out when he was going out for longer than three hours. He'd only be gone an hour today. He dragged the laundry bag from the single bathroom and sorted his clothes into three piles: lights, darks, and brights. He put the light load in first and made his grocery list. Since lights went fastest in his washer, he was able to switch them into the dryer and load the brights right after making his list. It only took him so long because he was listening to the newscast on the radio, tracking down how much money he could spend, and making a list all at the same time.

He showered, cleaned up, and got dressed just in time to take the lights from the dryer, switch the brights into the dryer, and put the darks in the washer. He folded up the lights and left the basket in his bedroom before locking up and heading for the bus stop. It was very cold, and the brewing storm wasn't helping anything. The little spurts of rain froze immediately, which made driving treacherous.

He was alone at the bus stop save for a sketchy man much taller than himself dressed from head to toe in black. The skin-tightening feeling of being watched crept up on him almost immediately, and he instantaneously became suspicious of the man standing idly beside him. With no sign of the bus, Near started speaking without warning, his eyes snapping up to the face of the stranger and managed to catch the man - obviously a man by the way he stood - staring at him. The man looked away immediately.

"Where are you heading to?" Near asked innocently.

The man's mouth was hidden behind the collar of his coat, so his voice was very muffled. "Cemetery." Near made out from the jumbled words.

"Ah." Near said shortly, realizing this conversation was of no interest and fished out his bus pass from his pocket. The bus turned the corner and they both got on. Near sat towards the front, because his next stop was in within the next fifteen minutes. The man dressed in all black sat across from him. He paid him no heed. When they came to the center of town, Near got off the bus and that man did not. That was the end of that, though if he was stalking Near for some reason, Near proposed he would get off at the next stop two miles down the road.

Near took his list from his pocket and checked things off as he put them in his basket:

Eggs x

TV Dinners x

Cereal x

Oatmeal x

Sugar x

Bread x

He was in luck, having just enough left over for a treat for himself. He never liked candy, but he held a better kind of liking for one thing in particular: chocolate. He hated it before Mello introduced him to it again.

His face fell in disappoint and curled in confusion when he saw all the chocolate bars had been bought. Curious and having nothing better to do, Near turned and half-ran to the cashier despite the pain in his legs. His mistake was rushing, he later realized, when he turned the corner back to the front of the store and unexpectedly collided with a tall body, his face bouncing off someone's chest and his rejected inertia sending him falling onto the floor. His head bounced off the linoleum and he grunted in pain, the sound of his basket and someone else's crashing making him wince.

Today is a bad day, indeed, he thought dryly to himself.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows, already beginning a polite, pre-scripted apology. "I'm sorry, that was my fault. I was run-" He froze, staring at the basket - filled with probably every chocolate bar in the store - tipped over with no one to account for it. He righted the basket and picked up his own, continuing his pursuit to the cashier.

"Hello sweetie! What can I do for you, are you lost?" The cashier, probably a sixteen-year-old local high school junior trying to pay for her college applications and newly-needed gas money, cooed to him. He really detested his appearance in times like this.

"Cute." He said blankly, pulling out his wallet and showing the woman his detective ID. She looked very confused and a little embarrassed at assuming his age. "I need access to the security camera footage as soon as possible."

She seemed to fumble at his words. "I'm not supposed to-"

"Bring me your manager." He demanded.

A man about the same height as the cashier with balding grey hair and a salt-and-pepper mustache assessed Near with skeptical eyes. "ID?" Near showed the man who leaned in to look over it, eyes immediately rounding when he recognized the alias on the ID. "Oi! Didn't you solve the Red Hands case a couple weeks ago?" The man had a thick cockney accent, which Near wasn't expecting at all.

"I did." Near nodded with acceptance, his face still blank of all emotion.

The boy gave a firm nod and shook Near's hand. "Alrighty then, follow me back. Rose, keep working." He said, patting the girl on the back and leading Near away. The security room was dark with eight monitors, each showing a continuous stream of video feed from each camera in the store. "Eight cameras. How far do you need to go back?"

Near shook his head. "Please return to your business, I am well trained with handling security camera footage. I only need to find a face from about ten minutes ago, so I won't be taking anything with me, Mr…?"

"Arbor. If that is what you want, I will leave you to it." He said, closing the door and leaving Near with only the light of the monitors to illuminate the room. He put in the desired time he wanted in the camera towards the front of the store pointed towards the back of the store. He watched himself seeking out candy bars and then running and then…

"Shit." He heard himself say, expert fingers pausing at the precise moment the man he ran into turned and ran out the door. "What the hell are you doing in Winchester? Mello?"

Near brought the two bags of groceries in, dumping them on the counter. He was very shaken up by his encounter with his former rival. He put everything away without a thought until he came to the bottom of the last bag with the chocolate bar he bought. He threw it to the back of his pantry, forgetting about it immediately.

He still had to finish the laundry. He turned the TV back on, hoping the cable had reconnected. To his surprise, it had despite the storm that was raging horribly.

Near was halfway between folding his last load of laundry when he remembered why Mello would be in Winchester.

"Oh my god…" He felt the biting urge to curl in on himself. It was nearly six in the afternoon and Near had completely forgotten about Matthew. It was his anniversary, right? He died a year ago today, just like Mello was supposed to before I stopped him. It explained everything in Mello's shopping basket: chocolate, flowers, and an I Miss You card with a bag of Reece M&M's, Matthew's favorite candy. Near put his clothes away numbly before collapsing on the couch and mentally taking notes of the news.

He felt something warm nuzzle his back and he turned over. He smiled sleepily at the German Shepherd mix that cocked her head at him with what could possibly be concern. "I'm fine, Rita." He said gently, putting a hand on her head. He realized he forgot to feed her this morning and jumped up to refill both her food and water bowl. Rita was Near's service dog, she was there for him on his really bad days when he couldn't move too much.

"Good girl," He mumbled to her, petting her gently while she calmly ate. He returned to watch the news, now actually taking down notes of what was happening. He had the choice between the assassination of the Palestinian secretary or the possible hijacking of a plane destined to land in the Netherlands this morning and didn't. Like normal, he would track both cases until L picked one and he would take her unwanted case. It's how he liked to work: without competing with L.

He watched the news the rest of the night, only stopping twice to eat or use the bathroom. It was around midnight when the lights continued to flicker from the storm that he was interrupted by the sound of someone pounding on his door. Rita growled defensively, only quieting when Near called her off guard. He was well prepared with cameras set up inside and outside the house. They recorded continuously and the only person with access to the footage was L herself. He also had a handgun on him at all times, as well as a Louisville Slugger right behind the door.

He opened the door, preparing himself to grab the bat.

"Near?"

Near's hand fell from the door handle, shocked. "How did you find me?"