Aww I think I lost some readers from how little reviews I got. I know I waited too long to update . I'm sorry. I'll try to keep the updates reasonable from now on alright? Please enjoy this chapter ^^ I know I had a fun time writing it.
Oh and just so ya know, I made some changes in chapter 2 regarding how the death eraser works.
I just recently found out that there actually WAS a death eraser and that there were rules...but this is a fanfic so I'll make up my own Death eraser rules ^.^ You can find them at the bottom of this page at the end of this chapter :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note...If I did, it would still be going on ^.^
His eyes barely opened. The light above him was way too intense to open them fully. Matt strained to turn his head away from the light. At the moment, his mind was clouded and he couldn't quite remember where he was. He attempted to bring his hand to his face to clear the blurriness from his eyes, but the moment his arm muscles tensed, all of the pain and images from the night before rushed back to him. He hissed in pain sucked in a few breaths through his teeth.
"Damn.." he groaned quietly, afraid that if he said it any louder it would cause more pain.
"Welcome back." Said that familiar monotone voice from the other side of the room. Matt's eyes opened entirely and shot their attention to the pale figure in the corner of the room. Seeing him standing there even after hearing his voice startled him and caused him to jerk upwards. Right then an earsplitting yell filled the room. Near quickly stood, placed the packet of papers he was previously reading and walked over to him. He reached above the medical bed in one of the cabinets. Matt's eyes were squeezed shut again, the pain of his wounds still throbbing. He could hear Near's hands shuffling above him. He was in so much pain at the moment that he couldn't tell what he was doing nor did he care. The pain was just too much.
"Don't move." He heard Near whisper, his voice closer now. Matt peeked up through his eyelashes to see Near glancing down over him. His gray eyes were so defined, clear and piercing. His skin was still paler the the average person but it looked as though he had gotten a little more color than when he last saw him and it looked so smooth. The angle he was bent over Matt caused his hair to slightly drape over his eyes giving him a mysterious look. Matt felt his heart momentarily come to a halt. When did Near get so...attractive? Even saying this mentally, that word still sounded like too much of an understatement. A sharp pain in his left arm snapped him out of his thoughts. Matt let out a grunt that cut short when he saw Near's hand hovering over him. Matt knew he was trying to keep him from moving so he was able to keep still momentarily. Strangely, a part of Matt wanted Near to touch him. He strained to look down at his arm. Near had injected him with something. When he glanced up at him again, Near was already beginning to walk around the bed to do his other arm.
"H-How do you know how to do all this?" He mumbled, watching as Near carefully injected his other arm. Near disposed of the syringe and his latex gloves before answering. He sighed and leaned against the counter.
" Well, when you're in the investigation profession you see this kind of thing almost everyday. Not only that, but you see how people treat these injuries. It's been years Matt. I could join a medical profession if I wanted...Your upper body should start to numb in a few seconds." He pushed himself away from the counter and walked over to the small sized closet across the room. Matt was already starting to feel the injection take affect and he was able to relax. The pain had temporarily subsided. Near pulled out a folded wheelchair and walked it over to the medical bed.
"Until you feel well enough to get up, I'll keep this here." He said gently "It's a good thing you had a bullet proof vest. Otherwise, you would have died." He pointed to the mutilated vest across the room. Suddenly Matt's eyes widen and his head shifted from left to right. What with all the danger and the investigation going on, he had completely forgotten.
" Hmm...looking for this?" Near said showing Matt the packet he was reading while he was unconscious. Matt's eyes narrowed in on the page.
"H-how did you..?"
"It was in the inside pocket of the vest." He said sitting down and flipping through the pages. "Mello wrote this, correct?" He glanced up at him through his pale locks. A lump grew in Matt's throat from the memory of Mello, but he managed to nod. Mello had given the pages to him to keep in a safe place. He remembered saying that as much as he hated the idea, the safest place may be with Near. Matt had planned on reading them, but the time never seemed right.
"When did he write this?" He asked. Matt exhaled.
"When he was in his state of depression. That was when he..." It was difficult to speak the words that had hurt him so much before, but Near waited patiently, understanding Matt and Mello's previous relationship. "When he said...that he may be killed." Matt breathed roughly trying to fight back tears. He was putting up such an effort to be strong that it hurt him not just emotionally, but physically as well. Near looked up at him, his lips parted.
"You don't know do you?" He said gently. Matt looked up at Near, he had closed his eyes.
"Kn-know wha-" Matt stopped midway into his sentence. At this moment, there was only one thing that it could be and he didn't want to hear it.
"Matt...Mello is.." he began, looking at him semi-apologetically.
"Shut up!...D-don't say it. I know what you're going to say..." Matt's voice broke. There was no use in holding back his tears now. He let them spill over and his soft sobs ripped from his throat. Near scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He let the subject go and looked away to give Matt some privacy, then figured the best thing to do would be to leave. Besides..there was something he had to do. He slowly turned and began walking out of the room.
"I'll be back to check on you later" He said loud enough for him to hear over his crying. Then he walked out of the door, taking the packet with him. Soon enough, Matt's sobs began to fade as he walked down the long hallway. He reached the double door at the end of the hall, entered the pass code and waited only an instant for the doors to fly apart. Inside, he saw that Lidner and Gevanni were on two of the many computer screens. They were sitting in their vehicles talking quietly with Rester, who had just finished straightening out some paperwork. They all looked up as Near came into their view and greeted him.
"Hello, everyone." He said simply and continued to walk. He set the packet down on the table near the computer screens before kneeling down to the speaker he usually used to contact L. Commander Rester walked over to the table to get a look at the packet.
"Whats..this?" He asked picking it up and reading the heading. "Los Angeles BB Murder Cases?" He looked at Near with a confused look. Near looked up at him expressionless.
"It fell out of Matt's vest when we were removing the bullets." He said simply. Rester nodded and opened the packet to the middle, not exactly to read it. Just looking it over.
"That would explain the blood stains...Did you read all of this?" Near sighed and clicked on the speaker.
"Hmm...more like..thoroughly skimmed." Rester let out a brief chuckle, set down the papers and walked over to the computer.
"Connect me to L please." Without hesitation, Rester did as ordered. Within seconds, The letter L in Old English font appeared on all of the screens. Near took a few seconds for the Task Force to acknowledge he was on the line before he started talking.
"Hello L" He said gently.
"Yes?" he answered. Near couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted by calling Kira L. He could never be L. He was inferior to L. No matter...he was aware that it would all be over soon. He was able to shield his annoyance pretty well.
"I don't mean to keep bothering you, but with regards to our meeting...I wanted to confirm that we are still set for the 28th at 1pm, alright?"
"Yes" His tone was lighter now.
"Very well. The 28th...the day after tomorrow."
"Right.." And the line ended.
The room was an awkward silent for a moment longer. Lidner and Gevanni's screens had reappeared and they all seemed to be waiting for Near to speak.
"Gevanni.." He finally said, placing a Kawaii plushie of L onto his index finger.
"Yes?"
"Will you be able to make it in time?"
"Yes. I'll be there for sure." Near lowered his head and smirked. "Commander Rester, Lidner, Gevanni...lets put our best into this shall we?"
"Yes" They all answered in unison. The four of them had grown strangely close during the last few weeks. It was a nice thought that was keeping that smirk on Near's lips. He stood and stretched his arms upward.
"Near.." Rester began.
"Hmm?"
"What are we going to do with Matt?..We aren't going to leave him alone here are we? Remember, he still worked for Mello"
"Of course not...I plan on bringing him along with us. Even if we were to leave him, I highly doubt he'd be any threat to us" His smirk turning into a full blown smile. "The wounds in his legs weren't too severe, so I'm sure he'll be able to walk on crutches. Considering his arms will be doing a lot of the work, we'll just give him a few more injections to soothe the pain for a few hours. He should be fine."
"Wait..you want him in the building for the meeting? Are you sure that's a good i-"
"Commander Rester..." Near interrupted. "I'm pretty sure he knows all about the notebook and Kira from Mello. The two of them were very close after all. I'm sure Mello didn't hesitate to tell him everything." Mello...
Rester nodded.
"Alright...Now all there is to do now, is wait."
"Yes." Near said turning on his heels towards the door. "I'm going to check on Matt."
Near left the room and continued down the hall for the third time that morning. He hoped Matt had calmed down from when he left him last. Near wasn't one to deal with these sort of things. When he turned into the room, he saw that Matt was sitting up in the bed. The bandages covering little areas of his bare chest. He could see light blood stains getting darker. He must have ripped one of his wounds wider trying to sit up. Near rolled his eyes.
"You're really stubborn." He said walking over to him. As he got closer, he could see that Matt's face was recovering from crying so hard. His eyes looked like they were lightening up again from their previous redness. They were still slightly swollen and his cheeks were damp. His breathing was even now.
Near reached the bed then searched in the drawer next to it for some extra bandages.
"I can't just lie down all day. It doesn't really hurt anymore." He cleared throat. His voice still sounded broken. Near flung the bandage around on of the darkening ones. He tied it really tight, making sure to stop the bleeding.
"Yes..but that's only temporary." He said taking a step back and folding his arms. "You'll be coming with us when all of this ends." He said suddenly. Matt snapped his head in his direction. His eyes full of confusion.
"What?"
"The Kira case is as good as finished. The day after tomorrow...this will all be over. You're coming with us." Near wanted him to be clear that this wasn't a request. Matt scrunched his eyebrows.
"I don't get a say in this?"
"No...besides, where else would you go?" Matt opened his mouth in an attempt of a counter statement, but couldn't come up with one. He had been with Mello most of time he was in Japan, but...he was gone. He had no where else to go.
"I rest my case" Near said going to sit down once again in the corner across from the bed. It was then that Matt realized Near's hands were empty.
"What did you do with the packet?..Mello told me to keep it safe." Near sighed.
"I'm aware of that. However, I read a good amount of it and I remember Mello writing and I quote "The first person who will most likely read this first will probably be that big-headed twit Near."... I would have thought he would use a much harsher word to describe me. At any rate, that means he knew that it would get to me somehow. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I held onto it." Matt sat in silence not knowing what else to say at the moment. He glanced over at Near who seemed to be deep in thought. A smile on his lips caught Matt off guard. He didn't even realize he was blushing. Near was just so...
" You're so cute." Matt clapped his hands over his mouth, not realizing he had said it out loud until Near gave him an awkward stare. Instead of commenting, Near stood up and started to head for the door.
"Wait Near! Don't leave! I'm sorry..." Near stopped halfway out the door. He never planned on actually leaving. He was just trying to prove his point. He HATED being called cute. That's probably a fact you can see without even having to be told. Matt couldn't see his face anymore from how his pale strands shielded them., but he knew he was probably glaring under them.
"You don't like being called cute." Matt breathed. It wasn't a question. "I get it."
"..."
"It was a compliment y'know..." he grumbled glancing to the side and leaning back into his pillow.
"It's not a compliment to call a man cute." Matt bit back a chuckle from the thought of Near referring to himself as a "man".
"Near..you're still a teenager."
" I'm nineteen...I am a legal adult. Even with that...calling a guy cute...it annoys me." Matt sucked his teeth and folded his arms.
"What if it was a girl that said it to you." Matt observed Nears expression carefully and waited for his answer. He was silent for a while and finally...
"It would make no difference."
"Near...you're a downer." Matt scoffed. Near rolled his eyes and walked back into the room.
"So does that mean you haven't met a girl yet?" Matt said with a grin. Near glared at him.
"Have you met another guy." He countered. Matt's grin fell. Got him back good. Matt shook it off and continued.
"Near..it's just a question." He pressed. Near sighed and pulled the chair in the corner to the bed and sat.
"Yes, I've met a lot of girls. There's Lidner, there's-" Matt threw a pillow at Near's face cutting him off.
"You know that's not what I meant dummy." Matt said with a smile. He almost forgot about Mello for the moment, but the thought slowly creeped back making his smile fall slightly.
Near noticed this small change in Matt's attitude and realized the reason immediately. Near sighed not wanting Matt to break into tears again. It would just make the situation even more uncomfortable than it already was.
" I know what you meant...romantically, no I haven't met anyone. But as in an acquaintance...yes I have." He spoke the words so low that if Matt had made a sound, he would have drowned it out and missed it. It worked, it got Matt's attention.
"Is she hot?"...Blunt. Near shot him a look.
"This conversation isn't something that interests me Matt. Matt glared at him for a second.
"Near..can you not be anti-social for once? No one is here, I won't tell anyone, just tell me." Right at that moment, Near heard three faint, but still audible beeps, which was the alert that someone was waiting in the lobby. They already heard someone rushing in that direction. Near wanted to use this as an excuse to leave and avoid this unnecessary conversation, but Matt knew him too well.
"Don't you dare...let your servants get it." He joked.
"They aren't my servants Matt." He said in his signature monotone voice. Matt grinned and scratched the back of his head.
"Well, they do everything you tell them to."
"Only when it regards the Kira investigation. Otherwise, they do almost everything else on their own." Matt chuckled.
"Yeah, almost everything." Suddenly Gevanni entered the room with a small box in hand. He hadn't realized he'd returned. Near knitted his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting anything anytime soon. He stood while Gevanni handed the box to him.
"More plush toys?" He asked with an amused smile. Near took the box from him and sat back down in the chair.
"To be honest...I have no idea. Thank you Gevanni." Gevanni nodded and left the room.
"I never understood your fetish for toys..." Matt said when he was sure Gevanni was a good distance away from the room. Near ignored him and began to open the box. It was from Kawaii Plush as usual, but he was certain, he hadn't ordered anything. He tore through the tape with ease, making a loud ripping sound. He slowly unfolded the card board to reveal two objects protected in bubble wrap along with a cream colored envelope on the side. He took the biggest of the two first and unwrapped it. Soon enough, he pulled out a six by six rubics cube that had a letter on each of the colored sides. P.U.Z.Z.L.E it spelled. Near felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards for only an instant, when he had forgotten the other object. He balanced the cube on his lifted knee and reached for the other item. Once unwrapped, Near held the bottom of the bag and let the smaller object fall into his palm. He had already known who the person behind this delivery was from the moment he unwrapped the rubics cube, but she just had to make it too obvious. Near placed the finger plushie of the brunette on his index finger and reached in the box for the last thing. He used his free finger to open the envelope and pulled out a small note.
~Now you can never forget my face no matter how long it will be until we meet again.~
Set a record for me to beat the next time we do ;)
~Brooke
Near didn't realize he was smiling until he looked up and saw that Matt, from his position, was reading the note upside down. (Another one of his talents other than hacking and gaming) After reading the note for himself, he glanced up at Near with a grin.
"Yeah...acquaintance my ass"
So that was the next chapter! I hope you liked it! Please review :D
Death Eraser Rules:
How To Use It:
Depending on the hours the human being brought back has been deceased, those are the minutes it takes for them to be brought back times 10.
This also depends on the condition of the body. The Death eraser heals anything that has happened to the body that happens over time (Decomposing)
If the person has been dead for over a year, it takes 9 months exactly for them to be brought back.
