Chapter 3: Brotherly Love

After a few days of work, it became routine. Work, bicker with Mello, work, trip over one of Near's toys, get challenged to a game by Matt, work some more while having the creeping suspicion that he was being watched the entire time. Ryuzaki and him hadn't seen each other since the incident with the balls, or at least Light never saw Ryuzaki.

Currently Light was mowing the lawn while Matt, Mello, and Near played in the pool. At least Matt and Mello were, Near was sitting on the diving board constructing a card tower.

Light froze when he heard a scream and a splash from behind him. He turned off the mower and turned to see what happened.

Mello was standing on the diving board with a triumphant look on his face while below him Near was struggling to get up. It took Light until Near was fully submerged to realize what happened. He kicked off his shoes and ran to the pool, diving in after the drowning boy. Near was almost to the bottom when Light reached him. He grabbed the boy and frantically kicked to the surface. Once up he pulled the boy and himself out of the water, and then checked to see if he was breathing. He wasn't.

Light positioned Near correctly and proceeded to give Near CPR. After a few tries, Near began to cough up water. His gaze never left the boy as he coughed and gasped for breath. When he was finally stabilized, Light glanced up and his eyes locked on Mello's with a deadly glare.

"Matt." Light growled. "Take Near inside."

Matt nodded and began to help Near up. The younger boy was weak on his feet, so Matt picked him up and carried him inside.

Once they were inside Light turned on Mello. "What the hell were you thinking?" he fumed. "You could have killed him!"

Mello didn't say anything. He just stared down at his feet and avoided Light's accusing glare.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Light snapped. Mello looked up. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"How was I supposed to know he couldn't swim?" Mello countered.

"He's your brother, you should know this by now." Light said. "Besides, he is only eight!"

"He's not my brother." Mello growled. "And what does it matter to you what happens to him?"

"He may not be family, but he is a human. He was going to die if I didn't save him. You weren't going to jump after him, that much is sure, but why?"

"I hate him. I've hated him since I met him in that damn orphanage in London!"

"That's no excuse to do what you did." Light growled and grabbed Mello by the arm.

Mello jerked away and elbowed Light in the stomach. Despite the sudden pain, Light lashed out at Mello, smacking him across the face. He then grabbed a large clump of his blond hair and pulled him towards the house.

"Ow! Let go damn it! That hurts you asshole!" Mello complained, trying to tug free but Light's grasp never loosened.

"Tough luck. Keep moving brat, the more you struggle, the more it's going to hurt." Light drug Mello into the living room and made him sit on the recliner. "You will not move from this spot until Watari gets back, then you'll have him to deal with."

Not too long later Matt and Near came downstairs, both boys fully dressed and carrying a handful of towels each. Matt threw a couple on Mello so that he could dry off. The rest went to Light, who was dripping all over the plush carpet. He asked Matt where the laundry room was, and then shoved his clothes in the washer to wash the chlorine out. He left his silk black boxers on so that he wasn't completely naked, and then wrapped one of the towels around his waist. He then draped one over his shoulders, and attacked his hair with the other.

When Light returned to the living room the boys were watching a TV drama that Light recognized. "I like this show." Light said, now calmed down a little bit.

"What is it?" Matt asked. "I've never seen it before... and neither has Mello or Near."

"It's called Nobuta wo Produce. Its about these two boys Shuji, the most popular boy in school, and Akira, the school weirdo, trying to make this really shy girl, Nobuko, become popular because she is constantly picked on and is considering suicide."

"If her name is Nobuko, why do they keep calling her Nobuta?"

"It's a nickname. I don't want to ruin the series for you, it's really good. Sayu and I used to watch it together."

"Hm..." Matt sounded and they all began to watch it, except for Near who was playing with a few of his toys, although he did look up occasionally.

They were silent the whole time the show was on. When it ended Light got up, went to the laundry room to check on his clothes, and put them in the drier.

"So what happens in the beginning of the show?" Mello asked when Light entered the room. "I don't like the feeling that I'm missing something."

"Are you actually attempting a conversation with me?" Light asked.

Mello let out a sigh. "Soooorry, I'll try to be more rude next time."

"I didn't mean it that way." Light explained. "It's just that you never just talk to me. There's usually some sort of violence involved."

"If that's how you like it..." Mello started. "If you don't tell me what happened, then I will be forced to hurt you."

Light laughed at this. "You hurt me... that's funny." Light paused and flashed him a smile. "I could just bring it over tomorrow. Sayu bought it for my birthday last year."

Mello's eyes lit up. "Really? Sweet!"

"Yes, I have converted yet another to Nobuta's power!" Light said and laughed a fake evil laugh.

It was at that time when Watari entered the house. "You boys seem to be enjoying yourselves." He then seemed to notice that Light and Mello were not dressed while Matt and near were. "May I ask what happened to your clothes?" Watari addressed to Light.

"Do you want to tell him or should I?" Light asked Mello.

"I guess I should." Mello grumbled. "You see Watari, I didn't know that near couldn't swim, so I pushed him off of the diving board." Watari raised an eyebrow at him, but Mello continued. "Light jumped in and saved him. Then he decided to have me sit in here until you got back."

"Hm. I can tell there are a few details that you are not telling me and that you are in more trouble than it would appear. You are restricted from eating chocolate for a week. Light you have the day off tomorrow, Mello will be doing your work."

"But Watari, that's not fair!" Mello whined

"I am being lenient with you young man."

"Watari." Light said. "You wouldn't mind if I came over tomorrow anyway do you? I promised the boys I'd bring over a series for them to watch."

Watari gave Light a polite smile. "I don't see why not." Mello's spirits seemed to lift a little.

"I'd better finish up what I was doing. I at least want to fish out Nears things." Light said and headed outside. He noticed that the clouds were starting to grow dark. "Watari, once I finish with the pool I'm going to go home." Light called into the house.

Still dressed only in his boxers, Light leapt into the pool and began collecting Near's cards and the water toys that Mello and Matt were playing with earlier. Halfway through his gathering, it began to sprinkle, by the time he came up with his last armful of things it was poring. Light swam to the edge of the pool and saw Watari waiting for him with an umbrella. Light got out and they walked back to the house together.

"Your father called." Watari said. "He told me that there is a really bad storm heading this way and he doesn't want you out in it. Although I failed to mention that it was too late for that, but i am confidant that you won't catch a cold that quickly. He wanted to make sure it was alright that you stayed here and i told him yes."

"So I'm staying the night here then." Light confirmed. Watari gave him a nod.

"Feel free to take a shower, I will set something out for you to wear to bed and prepare supper."

"I almost forgot to ask, where is Roger?" Light asked.

"His grand daughter is ill and he wanted to check on her. He will be back tomorrow."

"That's good. I think I'll take that shower now." Light said.

Light took a long hot shower and when he was finished he found that there was a pair of black Egyptian cotton pajamas waiting for him in the guest room. He got dressed and headed downstairs. Once he reached the last step he could smell whatever it was Watari was cooking, and it smelt good.

When he entered the dining room, he saw that Ryuzaki was already at the table. He was sitting in the most peculiar way and eating, of all things, cake. His fingers were pinching his fork as if he were afraid the thing was going to eat him. "Light, staring is quite rude." Ryuzaki said without looking in his direction.

Light blinked a couple of times and walked pass Ryuzaki to the kitchen, where Watari was just finishing their meal. The meal in question consisted of baked lemon chicken, stir fried vegetables, and noodles with chicken flavoring. Watari told Light to help himself while he rounded up Matt, Mello, and Near.

Light filled his plate with a reasonable amount of food and made his way to the dinning room where Ryuzaki was still sitting in his unusual position. He seemed to make the terrible decision of sitting across from him, because while he at he could feel Ryuzaki's wide-eyed gaze on him. He glanced up at Ryuzaki and it only confirmed his suspicion.

"It's rude to stare Ryuzaki." Light said mimicking his previous statement. Ryuzaki, unlike Light, continued to stare at him. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, Light's face is perfect."

"Then why do you keep staring at me?" Light asked with a touch of annoyance.

"Light is intriguing." Ryuzaki finished the rest of his cake, saving the strawberry for last, then left the table without a word.

Ryuzaki left light irritated all throughout his supper. The other boys seemed to lift some of his annoyance before he excused himself from the table.

He began to make his way to the staircase when he heard a noise from the direction of Aiber's room. He snuck closer and peered in to see that it was only Watari. Watari spotted light and invited him in. "My apologies Light, i forgot to tell you that i would be in here this evening."

"That's alright Watari." Light said. "Aiber said that you'd be doing inventory. What are you working on?"

"Well, i had just finished with the bio chemicals, all present and accounted for, and now I will be moving on to the weaponry. Would you like to assist me? I usual have Roger help me with this."

"Of course." Light said as he moved closer to where Watari was now standing. Watari bunched in a series of numbers on a keypad on the wall, and then the bookcase pushed out and to the side, revealing an entire wall of various guns.

As Watari and Light ran through the checklist they talked.

"So what's Mello's problem with Near? He said that he hated him." Light asked.

"I'm not entirely certain, but I think Mello has a bit of an inferiority complex." Watari had a thoughtful expression on his face. "I don't believe that Mello hates Near either. He resents that Near has equal or possibly greater intelligence than him, but he doesn't hate him."

"I see." Light said. "What about Ryuzaki? It seems like he is always staring at me, and to tell you the truth, it's kind of creepy. And the way he sits is odd too, and the way he eats... well, he is just a really strange guy."

"There is a reason for his quirks Light, though I'm not sure that he would approve of me telling you them. But I can tell you is that he has trust issues and in a way he's a little paranoid. My guess is that he is trying to decide weather or not it would be safe for him to consider being your friend." Watari flashed Light a smile. "He's also a little germaphobic, that is why he holds utensils the way he does."

"I take it's bad, what happened to him I mean." Light asked and Watari just nodded solemnly.

The two of them continued the inventory check and ended up completing within an hour. Once they were finished, Light excused himself and went to bed.

A/N: Sorry for the lack of L in this chapter... please dont hurt me... I promise that he won't be one of those lame background characters that dwell in the shadows of the other characters. I tried to incorperate Near more too... I even drowned him to give him more attention.

To be honest, I had this written two days ago, but it just took me until today to run it through spell check XD. I'll try to update again this weekend.

Ok, shameless promotion... you must watch Nobuta wo Produce!!! it's a really good Japanese Drama, and Shuji reminds me of Light so much... and Akira kind of reminds me of L :-) You can find it at this site... www DOT crunchyroll DOT com ... It has Movies dramas Anime and a lot more... all in japanese (with Subs)!!!