The Human World

4.

The day started out normally enough, much like every other day as the new L. Near blinked open his eyes. He was lying on the floor, curled up inside a blanket. He'd always found the floor nicer than a bed. Didn't know why. He pushed himself into a kneeling position and blinked for a minute or two. Then he yawned and rubbed a hand over his face, ruffling his already curly-mess of hair. Near ran his hand through it a couple of times and called that good as far as doing his hair went. He then stood and stretched.

He didn't have much of a morning routine. Wake up, brush teeth, maybe eat something, and that was about it. He didn't ever bother changing. He always wore the same thing anyway.

The room where he slept was a small, dark room that was set in the corner of the building. Near pushed open the door into the empty hallway and walked down to the bathroom. He spent about two minutes in there and made his way to his main "base of operations".

He still spent most of his time in the same apartment building that the SPK had set up in New York. However, as of now he was in the building they owned in Japan. Recently, the 18-year-old "L" had solved several cases with the help of the old Kira Task Force, headed by Eriko Aizawa. They were about the only people on the Japanese Police Force that Near actually trusted. He didn't have a very high opinion of those who had surrendered so easily to Kira, which was part of the reason he had kept this base of operations set up in Japan. He didn't have many kind words for the current United States president.

Near opened the door and walked into the room. The walls were covered with T.V. and computer monitors. A mic system was set up in the middle of the room, as well as several Lego structures and action figures.

Rester was in the corner of the room on the computer when Near came in.

"Good morning, Near…I mean, L," he said, turning to the small figure. Near nodded to him.

"Commander Rester." Near sat down in the middle of the room, next to the mic and the Legos. He set the plastic toy robot he had been carrying under one arm next to one of the Lego buildings and began playing around with the Legos. "Anything new to report?"

"No, nothing as of yet," Rester replied, turning back to his screen. "Not that I'd expect anything so soon after your previous success."

"That was nothing," Near said simply. "Breaking up illegal drug dealers is nothing after the Kira case. Honestly, it's been rather boring after Light Yagami—Kira died."

"Are you saying you miss him?" Rester asked, turning around in his chair.

"No, not like that," Near said. "Light Yagami was a murderer and had to be stopped. Not denying that I had personal interests in stopping him, but it all came down to defeating him, if only for pride. But nothing interesting has happened in the whole year after his defeat. It's about time something happened."

Rester gave a sort of snorting sound, like laughter.

"Say what you like, Near," he said, turning back to the computer screen, "but I, for one, am glad that the whole Kira thing is over. And I rather have nothing to do with Death Notes or Shinigami or anything else like that again. It was good we destroyed those things when we did."

Near grinned and shot Rester a look out of the corner of his eye.

"Thought you might say something like that," he said, playing with a strand of his fluffy white hair. "I'd like to say thank you, Rester, for sticking around to assist me in work. Also for being willing to work in Japan as often as you do."

"After all we've been through, it's the least I can do," Rester said. "You saved our lives in that warehouse a year ago, Near. We owe you something for getting rid of Kira as well."

Near was silent as he quietly fit Legos together with one hand and curled strands of hair between his fingers with the other hand. Rester looked at the small teenager from out of the corner of his eye. He was sitting in his usual huddled position on the floor, one knee drawn up for his head to rest on, and the other leg tucked under him. Rester smiled, shook his head in disbelief, and went back to his computer. The crime reports he received from the American government were out, as well as several reports specifically for L and his partners from Japan and other countries, and Rester had to look into solving them. To see if L needed to get involved or not, that sort of thing.

Anthony Rester had been with Near since the SPK had been formed by America around the year 2012. He was a middle-aged man with blond hair smoothed back on his head in a very natural-looking way. He dressed in a simple white button-up shirt, a tie, and black pants and always looked very official, a sharp contrast to Near's usual appearance.

Rester wasn't the only one from the SPK that still came to work at Near's hideout, whether in Japan or America. Stephen Gevanni, the one that had made the fake Death Note which ultimately solved the Kira case, was good for tailing suspects and blending in. He was always willing to be called in and would often come whenever he could to help Rester when the commander was on site. Gevanni, as well as Aizawa and his task force, was currently wrapping up the loose ends of the recent case Near had solved. One other, Halle Lidner, would come around whenever she had time or nothing else to do. Despite the fact that she had been a sort of double agent working with Mello half the time during the case, Near still trusted her and appreciated her help. At the time, she was in America doing work for the FBI, as she was a former member.

Near still kept close contact with Eriko Aizawa, Touta Matsuda, Kanzo Mogi, and Hideki Ide from the Japanese police force, as well as anyone they decided to admit into their group as trustworthy. The former Kira task force was always willing to assist the new L in any way possible. Near also had a few Japanese and Americans who would come in from time to time and work with him and, though he didn't have complete faith in them as with the others, he had found most to be relatively trustworthy.

All things considered, things were going pretty well for the new L and his team.

However, Near thought as he clicked two Lego blocks together and narrowed his eyes, something has to happen; it's been a little over a year since the incident at the Yellow Box. Even if it's a small something, something's bound to happen soon.

It was evening before the something happened, before the day stopped being like a normal day. The day had been pretty uneventful. Near had gone through several potential cases, from murders to theft, but hadn't really seen anything that particularly sparked his interest. The one he had found the most interesting had been the murder of some American, but the name had seemed familiar. It had seemed an insignificant thing. However, Near thought there was probably more to it than surface level. He had often found it to be a good idea to follow up on this intuitions.

Anyway, he'd look into it later. Right now, he felt like getting some fresh air. He made his way to one of the balconies of the large building. It looked like any normal office building from the outside. Inside was a collection of living spaces and technical rooms.

Near leaned against the railing, staring out over the city as the sun set in the distance. The world was bathed in oranges and purples, as well as blacks and greys. A warm breeze ruffled Near's hair and clothes. He closed his eyes and breathed in. It was peaceful out here, and he could stand out here and think. He'd found that going outside on the roof or one of these balconies helped his reasoning at times. It could also trigger certain memories as well: his time at the orphanage, time spent sitting inside playing with puzzles while Mello and the others ran and played outside, the rare times he'd see L. Near was always the smartest child at the orphanage, next to Mello. Though Mello had seemed to find himself inferior, Near had never seen him as anything other than an equal. He genuinely liked Mello and even went as far as to consider the older boy his only friend.

The day that L died was imprinted in his memory as well. Near had learned long ago to hide his emotions from others, and he managed to do so on that day too. Everything always showed on Mello's face, and that day was no exception. The moment Roger suggested that Near and Mello work together on the Kira case, Mello's face showed his disgust and fear at the idea. That was the same day Mello left the orphanage at age 14, leaving Near as L's chief successor.

The following years saw the founding of the SPK, the introduction of the new L, and the start of the race between Near and Mello to end the Kira case. Mello had actually come close to shooting him at one point in time, but that had been avoided. The fact was, no matter what Mello had done, Near still considered him a friend and didn't want to have Mello end up dead. Ultimately, it was Near who unmasked and defeated Kira, actually Light Yagami. However, as Near himself admitted, it was Mello who had led to Kira's defeat through his last desperate action. And it really had been his last. Mello was killed by the Death Note, and the vehicle and building he had been in had gone up in flames.

And Near was left alone. And though the events were over a year ago, L's and Mello's deaths still haunted him.

Near shook his head and turned his gaze up to the sky. Better to think about the present now. There was nothing he could do to save the ones who were already gone.

The first stars were becoming visible in the sky. Near focused his dark eyes on them.

And it was in doing so that his eyes caught movement across the street. He turned his head and focused. There was something falling—no, floating—towards the ground, and it looked like it would land in the patch of grass outside the building Near was on. As he watched it, his eyes widened.

No, it couldn't be. There's no way, not at this time, almost exactly a year after, there's no way.

He turned and ran for the stairs, because that thing outside looked all too familiar to him.

Near pushed open the front door and stood out on the grass. The object on the ground at his feet was exactly what he thought it was. His hands started trembling.

"How?" was all he could get out in a strangled whisper.

He leaned down and picked up the thing with both hands. It was a notebook with a beaten black cover and the title printed in strange, white letters across the top:

DEATH NOTE.

"What the heck is this doing here?" he whispered. He quickly flipped through the pages. There were three or four pages in the front filled out, but other than that the book was empty. This definitely wasn't one of the books he had seen before.

So those are definitely burned and gone forever.

Suddenly, he remembered one of the rules he'd read in the book, about the conditions of finding the note. And about what was supposed to show up after.

Near's head shot up. In the dusk, in front of him, stood a human figure. His faded blond hair blew softly as if in the wind. The black jacket hung loosely on his trim frame. The scarred face was all too familiar to Near.

"Mello!" Near breathed and, for once, was at a loss for words. Mello gave a sad half smile.

"Hey, Near. Did you miss me?"