Kiseki: Hmm...I'm not entirely sure if the name of the town that they all lived in in DN was really said. If so then, eh, just play along. :p lol, jk.

And yeah, the Bleach Movie was good, but it was only in theatres for 2 days, sorry.

Finally, sorry for lack of chapters, but I got summer school, takes up time. :( And even though I'm only 14, I've still got weekend business. BTW, I plan on sending you all the links for the pictures of Soji and Sora, seeing as I won't be able to place them here. Expect something within the next day.

Now...

--

"Brothers..."

Sora was still in a bit of shock from what Soji had said. A part of her almost expected something such as this, while the other part of her was blown away by the info.

"Soji! Are you serious about this?! I mean...are you and Near...are you really brothers?!"

"Shh, I'll explain it all later." Soji said aloud, hoping to catch the attention of Nate.

"Hmm? Who are you talking to?"

Bingo. "Huh? Oh, I'll explain in a minute. Now...wouldn't you like to invite your big bro into your...room?"

"It depends..." Nate muttered, firmly grasping the doorknob. "Do I have a choice?"

"Yes."

Without word, Nate began to close the door in Soji's face. Before it closed, though, Soji put his foot in the doorway, stopping Nate's attempt. With a smirk and a sigh, Soji entered the room, followed by Sora.

Scanning the room, Soji fully approved of what he saw. "Heh, good to see that your doing well, on your own...but some habits never die, huh?" As Soji spoke, he knelt down to a small table in the room, a large supply of 'action figures,' as Near would probably refer to them as, scattered across it.

"W-wait! Don't touch them, their collectibles." He rushed by their side, quickly putting them in their correct posture. "I'm sorry, but you have no idea what I had to go through to get these. I haven't even begun playing with them yet."

Sora chuckled at the boy's care for his toys. "Heh, that's so cute!"

"Yeah, adorable." Soji muttered in a clearly mock of a tone. "Nate, sit down. I need to talk to you about something."

"Yes, yes...would it have to do with Law?"

"Heh, straight to the point, huh?" Quickly sitting down, he began to pull out the Life Note. "So...you've heard of him?"

"I believe you saw the broadcast, didn't you? There must be something wrong with the man who hasn't heard of Law."

"The deaths by heart attacks...kinda reminds you of someone, huh?"

Near was a bit reluctant to comment on Soji's implication. "Kira...I prefer to not bring up the past, regardless of how gallant a victory that was for me."

"Law...he has to be connected to Kira somehow, hmm? Think that he may have been some sort of...I don't know, a successor?"

"Light Yagami was done away with years ago. I'm positive that even he wasn't planning this far ahead." His words shot toward Soji, each one coming with a bit more force than the one before.

"Light Yagami...so, that was Kira's name, huh?"

Near smirked. "Heh, don't act like this is news to you...I believe I gave you this info years ago, didn't I?"

Ding, said something in Soji's head.

"Yeah! About that info you gave me!" The man was quick to jump from his seat when he was reminded of his purpose for coming here. "L Lawliet...for some reason, I don't buy that name."

"What?"

"Was the really the 'great detective L's' name? I mean, there's no parents cruel enough for that."

"Funny." In response to Soji's actions, Near also stood up. "Nope. I assure you that 'Lawliet' is no joke...I have files, if you'd like see them as a sort of...confirmation."

The two exchanged a long glare, although Soji's slwoly began to let up.

"...Do I have your word?"

"Most definitely."

"Alright then." Soji held up the Life Note, passing it to Near.

"What's th..." He read the words "Life Note" printed on the front of the book. "Oh my...god..."

"You remember the Death Note, don't you?"

"Life Note...a note of Life..."

"Now, I can understand if you find this all a bit farfectched, Nate, but I assure you this. Just as the Death Note was no joke, what you hold in your hands right now is real."

"How did you get your hands on this?" Opening the, Nate read the two names printed on the front page.

"...Kiki Shiori, she was a woman that was killed by a couple 'a thugs in the streets. And L Lawliet...an explanation shouldn't be required."

"You tried to revive L...Soji...is this some kind of joke?"

"Not a chance! You have my word!"

"This is what happened yesterday? You announced to the entire JDF that you were reviving L Lawliet? Do you understand what you could have done to him if this had actually gone through?"

"Nate...

"To get him to announce his return to all of Japan...L would be better of dead."

"You don't mean that...do you?"

"He's a man of secrecy. Even if it had worked, he would have came back having a burning hate for you, I'd bet." He closed the Life Note, passing it back to Soji. "A disaster...it would've been."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"Yeah, he didn't really have much to build off of when he tried to revive him!"

Near's head was down when he heard a feminine voice. His head lifted up as he looked at the sight of the floating girl in almost disbelief. "Soji...who is this?"

"Who's...what?" It didn't take long for Soji to guess who Nate was talking about. Although he didn't know how he had gained the ability to both see and hear Sora, it was clear that he had.

"Heh, hello there! My name is Sora, I'm an angel!"

Usually, when a flying girl tells you that she's an angel, regardless fo the fact that she's flying, your gonna be a bit unbelieving. Near, though, was the exception. "An...angel..."

"Uh, yeah, this is Sora."

"I got that part..." Memories of the Kira case flooded his mind as he searched for a reason an "angel" was flying in his own room. "The Death Note...it was originally owned by a Shinigami, a god of death. I guess that, to contradict that, the Life Note is owned by an angel, whom people see as a god of life."

"Nice use of context clues!" Sora said in her naturally chirpy voice.

"So...the Life Note is no joke after all?"

"Man, we're brothers. Mom always said not to lie, right?"

"Ooo!" Sora said, slamming her fist into her palm. "I forgot about that! The two of you...are you really brothers? I mean, what are the chances of that really being true? Kinda unbelievable, if you ask me."

With an arch of their eyebrows, Soji and Nate both looked up to Sora.

"Well...I've got time. How about we let her in on our life story?" Soji said.

"Yes...I see no harm in it. If there's anybody we can trust, it's going to be somebody from heaven, I figure."

Sora curled up on the ground, about to burst with excitement. "This is gonna be a good one, I can tell! Let's start!"

"She's kind of childish..." Near muttered.

"...Said the 17 year old who still plays with 'action figures.' Now, allow me to begin." With a clear of his throat, he was ready. "Well, it all started 28 years ago. I was born."

"Amazing." Sora said, sarcastically.

"Heh, I like her."

"SHUT UP, DAMN IT!" Soji exclaimed, clearly fed up with the interruptions. "Alright, I was born! Had a mom! Had a dad! Had an attitude!"

"Hmm?"

"Alright...picture this. I was a kid...I was misguided. When I was young, you can kinda characterize me as a completely different person than what I am now."

"Oh..."

"I seemed to find trouble everywhere I went. And I said what I meant: I folled trouble, it didn't follow me. It seemed like I was asking for it, even though I wouldn't admit it."

"He was little demon child, I was told. Whether it be at school, at home, or just around the town that he lived, he was a menace. Of course, we lived in America back then." Near added.

"Isn't this my history? Shouldn't the man who lived it, tell it?" Turning back to Sora, he continued. "I guess I regret everything I did back then. Turned out that I was more of a menace than I even knew myself."

"What?"

"There was this one day...I was walking down the street, heading home from school. I walked by this store and saw this one toy...I was 10, so I stilled played with that stuff, and could without being classified as weird." It was clear who Soji was comparing himself to.

Near muttered a few unaudible words under his breath.

"So...I wanted it...back then, I got what I wanted. So I took action."

"No...you didn't!" Sora said, in shock.

"Yes. Wam. I bashed the windows, yep, broke 'em all down. Grabbed the toy, and took off. Of course, the law wasn't so far behind me."

"Soji..."

"What was I to do, huh? I was just a kid against the Law. I was caught in 5 minutes, suprised I lasted that long in the chase."

"This time, though..." Near barged in once more. "...It was a real crime. There was no way that the law would let this one pass, looking at Soji's record. He was too young, though, so it was clear that jail wasn't an option. Instead, his father had to pay the price."

"B-but that's not fair for his father, is it?!"

"Nothing like this had ever happened before, so they had to improvise. Besides, the parents were partly to blame for his actions...he should have been taught better."

Soji didn't even waste time thinking of halting Near's explanation. He had hit the nail right on the head, no doubt. "I was devastated, my mother even more so. My family was broken...there was no fixing it."

"Then...I came along, right?" Near asked, sporting a bright grin.

Soji couldn't help but smile at Near's comment. "Yes...then Nate entered our life. For one reason or another, my mom took a chance and adopted a kid, hoping that he would help refill the lost 'something' in our family. Turned out, though, that it had more than one effect."

"So...Nate is an adopted child?"

"Yes, I am."

"Anyway, I was 11 years old when Nate entered my life. By age 12, everything had changed for me."

"Yeah...I was only a kid back then...regardless, even I could see how you were slowly beginning to alter...when I met you, you seemed to always be wearing that dirty old pout, didn't you?"

"Yeah...one year later..."

"Bright smiles...you used to light up the entire room with them. You were a changed boy."

Soji gave off one of those bright smiles before continuing. "All because of you, man...all because of you, bro...I don't know, I guess having a brother kinda thrusted a new sense of responsibilty upon me. It took me a while to get used to it, but I adjusted...I changed."

"Awww!" Sora said, touched by the brotherly love. "That's so sweet!"

Soji and Near both gave Sora a bit of a glare, but not for obvious reasons.

"But...things can't last forever...something had to give." Soji muttered.

"The thing is, I was a genius. An intelligence such as mine, at such a young age? Word was soon to get around."

"Years passed. I was 18, and Nate was about 11. Sure, it was embarassing that my little brother was 10 times smarter than me, but I wouldn't have changed anything if I could...turned out, though, I didn't have a choice."

"One day...we were visited by a man." Near, his eyes moving away from his company.

Soji store at Nate, who clearly wasn't prepared to return the glance. "It changed everything..."

--Flashback--

A younger Soji and a younger Nate were in the living room of their house. While Nate layed down on the floor, messing around with his toys, Soji was doing homework.

"Choo choo!" Nate said, moving a town train across the floor. "Whoosh!" A toy airplane flew across the rooms' airspace, guided by the boy's hand.

"Damn it...Nate? Mind cuttin' the noise down just a little bit?"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"A genius little boy can't state the obvious? Doin' homework."

"Well...maybe I can help you?" He stood up quickly, walking toward his brother.

"I can do it on my own, thanks."

Nate stood over his shoulder, scanning the answers on the paper. "Eh...your so sure?"

There was a ring at the door.

"I'll get it!" Nate said, walking toward the door.

"Don't think so, sorry." Soji picked up the boy and sat him on the couch before walkign twoard the door. As he did, Nate picked up his toyed and continued to play.

"Who is it?"

"Is this the Rivers home, sir?"

"Yes...it is...why?" Soji slowly began to open the door out of pure curiousity.

"Hello, sir. My name is Quillish Wammy...may I ask if your mother is home?"

--End of Flashback--

"Quillish Wammy, better known as Watari. He was a man of pure genius, a great inventor back in his day." Near complimented.

"I don't give a damn how much of a genius that man was! He ain't nothin' but a..."

"Soji...please try and contain your emotions."

"Um, going to finish the story?"

Soji turned to Sora, his fierce expression not yet faded away. "Gladly. He wanted to meet with my mom to talk about Nate and his genius...ness."

--Flashback--

Inside his mothers', she and Quillish are meeting with each other. Nate was still in the living room, obilvious to what was happening as Soji rested his ear upon his mothers' door, listening on the conversation.

'Mrs. Rivers...I'm sure you know that your son is quite gifted.'

'Soji or Nate?'

'Nate. He's quite the young man. Boys such as him, they were given their abilities for a reason.'

'I'm sorry Mr. Wammy, but I don't believe I follow...'

'Well ma'am, what I'm trying to say is that your son is special...and have interest in children of his stature.'

What Soji heard next was simply something he couldn't take.

'I'd like...I'd like to have your permission to...no, I'd like invite your son to a place called the Wammy House. Simply put, it's a orphanage for children such as your son. I'd like...your permission to relieve him of his spot in this family.'

Soji was quick to burst into the room as he heard those words. He instantly caught the attention of his mother and Quillish.

"Soji?"

"Mom...what the hell is this man talking about?!"

"Soji, you should know better than to eavesdrop on an adult conversation!"

"Tell me, damn it! He wants to relieve Nate of this family...are you trying to say your going to take him away from us?!"

"Soji, is it? Please, stay calm. I assure you that..."

"I don't need you to assure me SHIT! That kid...you think can just take away because he's smart?!"

"Soji Rivers!" His mother yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"That boy out there is my mother fuckin' brother! Whatever the reason, I don't care! Nobody on this earth...nobody! I'm not going to let NOBODY," he yelled, aware of his grammar, "TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!"

Smack.

It was clear that, lost in rage, Soji hadn't noticed his mother walk up to him. She slapped him across the face, leaving half of it beet-red.

"Soji, you know better than to act this way in the presence of a guest...you were raised better than this!"

"...No...I wasn't."

Leaving his mother in shock, he walked out of the room. He ran through the house, making his way to the living room where Nate was still playing with his toys.

"Soji? What was all that yelling just now? Is something wrong?"

Soji dashes toward his brother and wraps his arms around him in a hug. Tears pour from his eyes, his body not able to contain all of the anger, despair, and fear he felt.

"Soji...what's wrong?"

"Nate..."

"..."

"I want you to know...lil' bro...whatever happens...I love you...little brother."

"Soji..."

"Whatever happens..."

--End of Flashback--

"That day...that was the last time I saw Nate for years. That Quillish man was quick to take Nate away from us, and my mom didn't do a damn thing to stop her."

"Oh my god..."

"That's when I changed once more. I wasn't able to forget everything Nate had taught me...the love I had learned to give. But a part of my old self came back...and there was no getting rid of it this time. So, that's what I am today."

"Soji, it's not like I didn't have a good life at the Wammy House...there was no reason for you to go ballistic!

"Nate was gone, and my mom didn't give a shit. And I didn't give one about here, either...I wasn't a genius, so I didn't exactly get a chance to guess where this Wammy House was, but I best bet was right here, in the land of the rising sun. I mean, he looked Japanese enough, don't you think?"

"Turns out it was actually in England. Soji, although, didn't know that."

"All those years...they were wasted. But Japan was the sole reason that I was reunited with Nate, truthfully. The Kira case."

"Kira! So, he did do some good, I guess!" Sora yelled.

"When I had learned that the greatest detectives from all over would be coming to help, I just figured that Nate had to be doing something over those years. I actually highly doubted that what I said was the truth, but I was desperate. I went to every official building that I suspected was working the case that I could find...all in hopes of finding my lil' bro."

"One day, I got a message that some guy was being escorted from the building after repeatedly demanding to meet those on the case. Spiky black hair. Obnoxious, ignorant, stubborn, determined." It was clear that he was exaggerating.

"Bottom line, Near wanted to that man see him out of curiousity."

"Everyone feared that I was walking into some kind of deadly trap, but I had a sense of assurance. Who knows?"

"And we met up with each other again. It had been 6 whole years...6 god damned years."

"Oooh! You have to tell me, how was the reunion?"

"Eh, my jaw's gettin' tired from talkin' so much...and look at the time, I think it's time for us to be on our way!"

"Hmm...yes, Soji, I agree."

"What?! But I still haven't had my fill of story! And you didn't even gain any info from this meeting!"

"Actually, I did. I learned that I could completely trust Near to give me the right info...and got relive a few bittersweet memories. I call that a success."

"B-b-but the story!"

"Heh, I almost feel bad for refusing to grant the wishes of such a cute face, but I'm with my brother on this one." Near commented.

"Ya know...you've changed. Anyway, I'll talk to you later. I know there's a bit of things that we never really got to fully discuss, but it can wait, right?"

"Yeah...definitely."

"Alright, let's go, Sora." The angel, her hopes crushed, flies ahead of Soji.

"Yeah...whatever..."

"By the way! Nate!"

"Yes?"

"I'm not sure if this is just my eyes' own misonception...but I think you may have gotten a bit taller." With that, he was out.

Nate stood there, a warm smile on his face. "Let's hope." Afterward, he returns to playing with his toys.

...L...could you really be alive?

He looked at the phone.