11:38 pm. (Again, a few minutes late. This is getting to be a bit of a joke. xD My excuse this time is that I was watching anime) This one's a little longer. Thanks for reviewing, keep 'em coming!!


Chapter 6 – Marshmallow

'NEAR! Hi,' called L, shouting the first part and muttering the second. He had slipped out of the shadows now, crouching upon his chair in the café where he and Near had dined long ago, 'it's been a while, hasn't it?' The white-haired boy nodded, clutching his knees and smiling shyly. Nervously, he reached out his hand and began to arrange different coloured marshmallows into a grid containing a golden spiral. L watched for a moment, then leaned over and helped him complete it, resisting the temptation to consume the entire pattern. After a few minutes, they had run out of table space, and instead settled to talking and eating sweets. 'I suppose you have a lot of questions to ask me?' Suggested L monotonously, between mouthfuls of sugar-dusted chocolate cake.

'N-not really,' murmured Near, stirring his steaming hot 'soup of the day' with a silver spoon. L nodded, almost with pride, at this latest comment from his protégée.

'I'll fill you in anyway,' said L, not unkindly, whilst holding a huge metal bowl of sugar between his right index finger and thumb, with a look of sheer amazement and wonderment upon his pale face, 'but it may take a while. I presume you have time?' Near said nothing, but nodded once again, still stirring his soup.

'Have you ever heard of shinigami?' Questioned L, his already unnerving stare becoming more intense as he gauged Near's reaction. Near blinked, not looking up from his bowl.

'Yes.'

'They're real.' Near looked up suddenly, his hair falling over his eyes, his face, usually expressionless, conveying the epitome of shock. It was extremely difficult for him to believe that such creatures existed, but even harder to believe that his mentor had gone insane and imagined them. There was always the possibility that Near himself had gone insane, but he dismissed the idea. If he were, then there was no harm in trusting L to be correct.

'What does this mean for the case?' Inquired Near, watching L curiously. He hadn't changed a bit. His long black hair shot wildly in various directions, and yet it had never seen the likes of hair gel before. Locks of it hung about his ears, shaping his face and lantern-like eyes, increasing the wildness of a neglected look that was already magnified by his permanently hunched stance. His skin was as pale as his long-sleeved white shirt, and, coupled with the dark bags under his eyes, this made him seem tired and unhealthy. Equally, his mannerisms had remained the same, down to the way he held even the most robust items delicately, and the way in which he seemed to be eating sweets almost all of the time.

'Kira is using shinigami to kill… well, more specifically, he's using a certain item usually only possessed by shinigami – a Death Note.'

'Death Note…?' Mused Near quietly, twisting a lock of hair around his finger.

'Yes. Write the name of a human – any human - in there, whilst picturing their face… and within 40 seconds, they will die. Kira is also able to control the cause of death and conditions of the death, although, if left unspecified, the victim will simply die of a heart attack. Touch the Death Note, and you will be able to see and hear the shinigami to whom it belongs. It seems to be possible to make a deal with a shinigami in exchange for the ability to see a person's name the moment you see their face. There are other rules, and time limits, but… at the moment, we only need to establish the basics, so that you can understand what I am about to tell you next.' Near sat quietly, taking it all in and memorising it.

'I see.'

'Up until the moment of my death, I had worked out just how much danger I was in, due to the fact that I had touched a Death Note and seen a shinigami. This was undesirable for me in several ways – regardless of whether or not Yagami Raito was Kira, there was an 85 percent probability that the shinigami had a second Death Note of their own. This meant that the shinigami was able to kill me at any time, if they had the power to see my name. They only had to be coerced into it by Kira... therefore, I made arrangements for the faking of my death… there was a trap-door at the bottom of my coffin. Of course, I escaped shortly after the service started; I would not have been able to stay still for that long in a confined space, and, if I had been able to, then I would have been too weary to exit the box before the cremation.' L paused to drink a cup of what could only be described as sugar cubes with a side of tea.

'There's one thing I don't understand,' began Near, neatening up the marshmallow spiral, 'if your life was in danger, how come you didn't die?' L stopped drinking, his eyes, for once, closed. He carefully put the teacup down on the polished wooden table, and swallowed, frustratingly slowly.

'I was able to make a deal with a second shinigami. Ryuk, I think his name was.'

'Well?! What does it say, Light?' Ryuk asked, with a hint of anxiety, scratching his jet black, wild hair with a single, pointed fingernail. Without further ado, Light read, allowing the thin beams of light from the slits of windows in the church tower to fall upon the page.

'Let's see... "I believed in you from the start. Why else would so many people have died by now? You know I am more intelligent than that. Kira is justice! Think about it… it was all an elaborate hoax, Light... no... God. Which is why I am about to tell you a big secret – a private investigator collected illegal evidence proving that you were Kira. Under the current court system, this cannot lead to a verdict, as the evidence is corrupt. However, with such a world-changing case as the Kira one… it might not be too long before this country sees a change in the law. The evidence in question is a video tape of you writing in the Death Note, as your house had been put under surveillance a long time before it was official. It was this surveillance that led me to discovering the secret of your drawer and the pen - that is how these codes have been sent to you. I was able to put the evidence in a safe place, where no-one would find it, so as to protect the legacy of Kira. As the great detective L, I have been allowed to have my way in almost everything. As such, it was easy for me to create a place where no-one would ever be allowed to go. There is a café that I have been to before, several times. But, unbeknown to the customers and staff, there is a secret passageway that requires an activation code to unlock…" it goes on, but it's not that interesting. Just details of the place, and the code.' Light grinned darkly, his hair covering his eyes, his head bowed sinisterly.

'What is it, Light?' Looking up at Ryuk, but keeping his head low, Light gave his reply.

'It's too easy. Really Ryuuzaki… I expected more from you.'


God.