"Sakura?" Near questioned.
"Who's there?" the black haired girl called. Near heard the metal clinking of the steps as Sakura walked up the skeleton. She turned the corner and saw the albino boy slumped against the concrete wall. She looked down at Near with sympathetic eyes. Sakura crouched down next to the smaller boy.
"Are you alright? You look like you are going to cry." Sakura said, noticing that Near's eyes were beginning to well up with tears. She shifted her position and was sitting against the wall with the young detective. Near felt somewhat excited that Sakura was sitting next to him, but somewhat humiliated at the same time because she has to watch him cry. Near tried to stare at the floor so that he would not be lost in her beautiful crimson eyes.
"I'm fine, but thank you for your concern. Sakura, is it?" Near asked.
"Yes, Sakura Mitsuya. My parents named me after the Cherry Blossoms that bloom in the Spring. I was born on March 20th, which is the usually the day of the Spring Equinox. Enough about me, what is your name?" Sakura inquired.
Near hesitated for a moment. Just tell her your name!
"Nate," Near huffed under his breath. Near's eyes widened at what he heard himself reveal. His name. The name that was not just a nickname given to him by L, but by his real parents. The parents that he never knew or will never know.
I am such a careless fool! Why did I just give out my name to her? I didn't mean to, though! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I'd run away but that would be horribly rude. Maybe after school or tonight or tomorrow or- no! That is cowardly. Here, how about I "accidently" fall off the roof. Problem solved. Near, you are not thinking logically! Damn it! She's looking at me. Say something, you worthless fool!
"Nice to meet you, Sakura." Near breathed.
"So, Nate, I think we should talk about why you are crying." Sakura suggested worridly.
Near sighed. He knew that there was a limit to how much he could tell her without humiliating himself. "It's just some of my friends. They were making fun of me for liking this girl and...it got to me. Then, I ran to the auditorium and you walked in and...here we are." he mumbled.
Sakura smiled. "Don't listen to them! They are idiots! 99% of boys are, but you, Nate, are not one of them."
Near blushed at her comment.
"Hey Sakura, can I ask you a favor?" Near asked.
"Anything, Nate." she replied with a bright smile.
Near looked at the ground and twirled his white hair around his index finger.
"Please don't tell Sora and Takumi, or anyone for that matter, that my name is Nate. I wish that they, and everyone else in this school, will know me as Near." Near begged.
"As you wish, Nate. I mean, Near." Sakura agreed. She glanced over to him again.
"If I may ask, why do you wish to keep your name from your friends?" Sakura questioned.
"It's quite a long story." Near admitted.
Sakura grinned. "I have plenty of time, good sir!" She grabbed Near's fragile hand and pulled him to his feet. "Time for a little adventure." she purred.
Near followed as Sakura led him though the door to their right, which led to the first catwalk. There were at least 30 or 40 lights on this level. Sakura didn't bother to turn the lights on. For a moment Sakura stopped and crouched down by a light labeled "21". She picked up a knob and bolt that had fallen off the light.
"Newbie mistake. Me and my friend, Honey, were working on patching some lights into the board when our mentor wasn't here and I loosened this light to move it, but when I tried to make it tighten, it just got looser and fell off." Sakura explained.
"Nate, uh-Near! Get down!" Sakura whispered as someone entered through the stage door. It was the director of their production, who sauntered to center stage and stopped. Near pushed his head down next to Sakura. They peered down at the director who was finishing up the set designs for Kuroshitsuji.
"We're not supposed to be here until after school. She'll kill us if she found out that we're here! She busted me and Honey for running around through the auditorium yesterday. We ran though the skeleton and the cats. At one point he locked me out of the light booth so I had to go all the way to the balcony, through the skeleton, surpass Hikaru's strength so that I could open the door to the spot booth, and go down the ladder to the light booth." Sakura explained quietly.
After a few moments, Near and Sakura saw the director leave and turn off the stage lights. "That's our cue! Onto stage right!" She exclaimed as she grabbed Near's hand and led themselves off the catwalk.
"Sakura, I don't tell anyone my real name because of a little black book." Near started.
