Disclaimer: No, I don't own Death Note! Naru is mine so don't steal.
A/N: Someone has requested a picture of Naru (which i've already drawn) but I have to get it on my computer. Chapter 8 is done so i'll give you a link later with the chapter! By the way thanks to everyone who rated! I love hearing from you guys. :)
Sharzade
Chapter 7:
Naru was finally able to return to the SPK at four o' clock that afternoon. She ran the entire way, hoping that Near wasn't going to get upset about her long absence.
"Hey Near, I'm back!" Naru shook off her coat and threw it over her computer chair. Near looked up from the card tower he had been building to find Naru working at her desk. She had been gone two hours; two hours in which he had gotten more work done than he had over the entirety of last week.
He realized to his disdain that the way Naru made him feel was not having a good effect on his concentration.
When she was around, all he could think about was how beautiful and caring she was and how despite the ups and downs they had had, they were still friends. She was the only friend he had ever had, actually. He still didn't understand why these facts would cause him to think of her more than he should or send his heart racing at the mere sight of her. His dreams had begun to feature Naru more and more and he would always awake, drenched in a sweat, only to remember every little detail he had conjured up in his head. Most of the dreams he had made no sense to him at all. They would usually conclude themselves with Naru reaching out her hand to him, her intentions unknown, but before Near could discover the meaning behind it, he would awaken.
Now that Naru was back, he found he couldn't concentrate at all. His mind kept racing between what he was doing and the fact that she was sitting less than five feet away from him. He had been unhappy while she was gone but at least his head hadn't been in a fog of incomprehensible emotion. After a moment of contemplation, he stood up and stalked over to where she was working. Naru noticed him after a second and immediately caught the hint of sadness in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" She asked him.
"Can you…work somewhere else? In your room maybe?"
Naru gave him a disbelieving look.
"What? You can't be serious."
"I am."
She was greatly taken aback.
"Why? What did I do? I won't go out so much if that's why you're mad…"
Near sighed and met the gaze of the desperate girl in front of him.
"No…go out as much as you like. I just can't work like this anymore."
Naru searched his eyes hoping to find an answer to her impending question, why, but it wasn't revealing itself. All she could see was remorse. And there was another emotion there too, something that wasn't quite right to see in Near. She couldn't find the word for it but it scared her and made her feel more alone than she had ever been before. His words stung her through and through and she felt the rejection he had just expressed for her creep up her spine. After a second it had all sunk in and she stood up from her chair.
"Fine, then…I guess I'll be going. I'll…see you around."
She slowly walked to the door, tears threatening to submerge themselves at any moment. She struggled to hold them back.
"Make sure you close the door behind you." Near reminded her. Her attempts had been in vain, she realized, as her hopeless eyes stained her cheeks over and over again.
Naru sat in her room, her mind fixated on Near. There was definitely something that he wasn't telling her. First his strange behavior with his toys and now this! Naru had been getting the impression lately (no matter how much Near had tried to conceal it) that he had actually liked having her around him. Naru found that she was very good at reading the boy, even though he would never reveal any emotion willingly. She supposed it was just because she had known him so long that she was able to use this to her advantage as she did. He was happy when she was around and became depressed upon the mention of her leaving. She wondered why he would possibly put himself thorough this separation when it so obviously gave him pain.
But it was best to just forget about him now, she realized. After all, he had hurt her feelings incredibly and she didn't want to dwell on it. She let her mind wander to someone else, someone who fate had brought into her life only recently.
Mello.
After a lifetime of his cold shoulder, he had saved her life and noticed her for the first time. Recalling her conversation with him made her heart flutter.
He had asked to see her again. Privately.
She couldn't explain in what context he had decided to do it. He had seemed very adamant to speak with her again, but was it just a casual thing between friends? Did he just want to chat? Was it a date? She tried not to get her hopes up on this last note but it was awfully hard not to. No matter what the true purpose, she was going to see Mello again in only a few days time. She could hardly wait one more second. Surely three days would kill her.
Near's pained eyes kept intruding in her mind, however, so she settled back down by her computer and set herself to work. She had a long wait ahead of her, after all.
Matt was depressed.
He had never liked betrayal. It was something he was strongly against and the fact that he had had to betray Naru was killing him. Mello's orders had made it necessary, however, and seeing as how his word was law in the Mafia, he knew he didn't have much choice. He and Naru had been friends at the Wammy's House and lying to her pained him. He could handle lying to her about Mello's and his situation, sure; no one could know they were part of the Mafia, but now Mello was just going to use her for information. Matt had played an important role in deceiving Naru and he let this fact eat him from the inside.
This compassionate side of Matt was one that he hardly ever showed to anyone, not even those closest to him. He found he could loosen up somewhat around Mello seeing as he was his best friend, but around Naru he had always been able to be himself completely. He had never been so comfortable around anyone before in his life. Matt was, in reality, a very caring and dependable person. He was just incapable of showing it most of the time. His personality changed for the worse when he was faced with lying, which is exactly what had occurred during the kidnapping setup.
He absolutely hated what Mello was going to do to Naru now for information on Near. "Any means necessary," Mello had said to him. He racked his brain for some way to help her but came up short. Helping her would mean betraying Mello, something he could never do.
Was there no solution in which everyone could be happy? He set his PSP down on the coffee table in front of him and put his head in his hands. He knew he shouldn't concern himself so wholeheartedly with the situation but he just couldn't help it anymore.
"Hey Matt! Whacha doing?" Mello called from the other room. Matt stood up and tried to empty his mind and conscience. He casually shuffled into Mello's room, his hands in his pockets.
"Sup." He took a seat next to Mello on the couch.
"I'm bored. Entertain me." Mello demanded.
"What the hell, man?" Matt could only sigh, "I doubt there's anything I could do that would 'entertain you.'"
"Whatever. I'm still bored. Wanna do anything?"
"Not really…" Matt put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes as if to sleep. Mello wasn't buying it.
"Wake up, you ass. Let's talk about…girls!"
Of course, Matt thought to himself. Mello always wanted to talk about girls. Even when they were just walking down the street and happened to see a girl, Mello would like to "rate" her on a scale of 1 to 10. If the girl was an eight or higher, Mello would talk about her non-stop for hours. Mello had strange taste in girls, however, as he preferred skinny to voluptuous. Matt could never understand this.
"Fine…Naru's pretty, isn't she?" He offered
"Yeah…she was quite something actually. She's the type of girl who's really easy to fall in love with. I could tell."
"Yeah, she is. Do we really have to deceive her like this? I mean, I want to know where Near is just as bad as you do, man, but Naru's my friend."
Mello snapped off a piece of chocolate loudly and contemplated.
"Hmmm…you always were too much of a good guy, ya know that?" Matt scowled slightly at Mello's words, "Look, you don't have to get involved anymore if you don't want to, but don't tell her what I'm planning at all. And don't go falling in love with her, Matty." Mello started to laugh but choked instead. "S-sorry. You being with her is just too much!"
"I don't think it's funny." Matt murmured to himself. Mello caught it, however, much to Matt's dismay.
"What? You don't actually like her, do you?"
Matt's bright orange goggles hid his blush.
"I dunno…maybe."
Mello stared at Matt as if he had just sprouted a third arm.
"What the hell?"
"Sorry. I can't help it."
"Well you better. Cuz you know she'd just break your heart. She's a heart breaker too, I can tell. Plus you're in the Mafia which equals instant rejection from the likes of her."
"Does it really have to be that way?" Matt whispered to himself, and this time Mello didn't catch it.
