A/N: and i can't believe this took me 394793743 years to update. i'm sorry guys, i get distracted easily ;.; but i'm sure you'll all be happy to know we're almost finished! yaay. hope you've all enjoyed Cupidity so far, and i'll see you next update!
--
and
if you come to me
and if you touch my hand
i might just slip
away
i might just disappear
--
Near feels self-conscious in the jeans and the button up shirt Giovanni has insisted he wear for the occasion. The air is damp and heavy with rain, and the wooden steps leading up onto the Yagami's veranda is slick and wet, soaking the hems of his recently acquired pants. The albino stands slightly stooped in the doorway, feeling anxious and apprehensive as he waits for someone to answer the door.
It's Sayu who ends up greeting him from the other side, and Near feels a thrilling surge of excitement and dread at the sight of her lovely face peering at him keenly. For a moment a wide range of emotions flicker across her face, as though unsure what is the appropriate reaction to greet Near with. She finally settles on a 'slightly accusatory', and the fingers clutching Optimus Prime to his chest wobble threateningly, causing Near to almost drop it.
"Hi," Sayu says, sounding vaguely suspicious at Near's sudden appearance on her doorstep.
"Hi,"
Near says quietly. "I... I wanted to say sorry."
Sayu
looks as though she has a speech prepared for this, but apparently
changes her mind at the last second. "Apology accepted,"
she says, and pauses. "I just wanted us to be on the same page,
that's all."
She starts to close the door on his face, but Near's free hand suddenly lashes out in alarm to stop her.
"No,
wait!"
She's never seen him move so fast. The dark-haired
girl looks slightly dumbfounded by the display, but she is no longer
trying to put up a physical barrier between them. "What?"
Sayu asks, and her tone is curious now, slightly surprised.
"You misunderstand me," Near says quietly, as his hand drops down to his side again. "We are on the same page." When Sayu simply stares at him expectantly, he looks down at his feet, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I want to get to know you better, Sayu."
When he looks up Sayu still looks a little unsure, although her features have softened considerably. "I don't want there to be any strings attached," she says. "I don't want this to be about Mello." Near flinches at the name, takes a step back. "Those are my terms, and if you can agree to them, then you're welcome to come inside."
"I... what?"
"You're supposed to be a genius or something, aren't you?" Sayu asks mockingly, but her eyes are kind. "For some kind of child prodigy, you sure are slow on the uptake. Why don't you get out of this crappy weather?" She looks beyond him, regarding the gloomy sky with distaste. "It looks like it's going to rain." And she steps aside, providing room for Near to do exactly that. He slowly trods forward, coming into the brightly light, cheerful looking living room. Sayu shuts the door gently behind them and locks it before turning around to face him.
"I'd introduce you to my mom, but she's away right now," Sayu explains. "She's visiting my aunt in Osaka."
"Oh. It's fine." Near slips out of his shoes, revealing socks that are slightly damp underneath. He looks down at his feet as he wiggles his toes experimentally, as a way to avoid looking Sayu in the eyes. He can feel her watching the top of his snowy head critically, evaluating him.
"Are you thirsty? Do you want coffee or something? Tea?"
"No... I'm fine, thank you."
But Sayu wont take no for an answer; she ends up leading him to the kitchen, producing two cartons of ice cream and a bottle of milk from the refrigerator. "Chocolate or strawberry?" she demands suddenly, before dramatically turning away to rummage through a nearby cupboard.
"Um, strawberry," Near says slowly.
She pulls out a blender and plugs into the wall, before brandishing an ice cream scoop. She turns on the faucet behind her and leans against the countertop while she waits for the water to heat up.
"So," she says. Nobody speaks.
"Isn't it kind of cold for ice cream?" Near asks finally, when it becomes clear she doesn't really have anything to say.
"Actually," Sayu says, raising her index finger as though imparting some kind of divine wisdom. "I'm going to make us milkshakes and the answer is no, there's no wrong weather for milkshakes. Milkshakes are... universal."
Near simply stares, and Sayu continues on, nonplused:
"So Near, tell me: what's your favorite kind of milkshake in the whole wide world."
Near continues to gape at the other girl, but eventually he decides to humor her. "Banana."
"Really?" There is steam rising off of the faucet in waves now, and so Sayu dips her scoop under the scalding water to warm it up. Then she wrenches open the carton of strawberry ice cream and starts transferring it from the container to the blender, wetting the scoop again at random intervals. "I'm rather partial to green tea, myself."
"I wasn't aware they made green tea shakes," Near says.
"You can turn any kind of ice cream into a shake," Sayu insists with a grin, shaking her head ruefully. Apparently satisfied, she drops the scoop into the sink and flips the faucet over, reaching for the bottle of milk in its stead. She pours a generous amount into the blender, puts the top back on, and flips a switch on. The blender roars to life, and for a moment no one can speak over the noise of the appliance.
"Go get me two glasses out of that cupboard behind you," Sayu instructs after it's over, and Near sets his Optimus Prime down before obediently handing over the cups. Sayu pops the top off and fills each of the glasses to the brim before dumping the rest of it into the sink. Then she puts the ice cream and the milk back in their respective places in the fridge.
"Take your milkshake, and let's go," Sayu says, waving him one handedly out of the room. Near obediently shuffles after her and into the hall, just in time to see Sayu already rounding the banister.
"Come on," Sayu says as she trots up the stairs, one hand covering the top of her glass to not lose any of her milkshake.
Is this is what it's like to be a normal? Near can't help but wonder as he slowly makes his way after her. Do people our age really do these kinds of things? Stay in on rainy days, drink milkshakes... He is actually a little envious of Sayu for a moment; his whole life up until this point has been focused on either becoming L, or being L. He has never once considered staying on a rainy day, not to work on the latest case, but to relax with someone his own age and goof off. The only outings he had ever been on that weren't business-related (or in order to acquire another toy to keep his mind sharp, his hands occupied) have been with Sayu. He has never simply had free time before now. It is a novel idea, and refreshing and awkward, all wrapped up in one.
There are three bedrooms upstairs, and one the farthest away from them has double-doors. Sayu's is the one at the top of the landing, side-by-side with the other room. Hers is messy, the floors covered in piles of clothes and the walls covered in posters; the one directly beside it is tidy, with a desk, bookshelf, and bed with a dark navy blue comforter. It looks like it might be a guest bedroom, but Near instinctively knows that it isn't.
Sensing his gaze, Sayu reaches out and seizes the handle of the door leading into Light's room and pulls it closed. She gives Near an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Near, my mom, she--"
Why are you apologizing?
"I understand," Near says, because he does. He recalls Mello's bedroom back at Wammy's, and how it remained untouched for many years, even long after the blonde had left. He is fairly certain that it is still there, captivated in eternal statis--no one wants to touch it.
Sayu nods once, and shows him into her own room, immediately setting off to clear it of debri. "I'm sorry," she says again, as she scuttles about the room, picking up every last stray garment and shoving it into a hamper behind the door. "I wasn't expecting company."
"Here, you can sit on the bed if you want," Sayu says, smoothing out the vivid pink comforter before gesturing for Near to sit down. Near does, scooting back onto it so that his back is pressed against the wall that the edge of the bed is touching. Something feels uncomfortable underneath the seat of his pants, and he reaches in-between his legs to pull out a brilliant red thong with tiny white hearts on it. He blinks owlishly at it, before offering the garment to Sayu.
"Is this yours?"
Sayu shrieks in surprise at the sight of it, snatching it out from between Near's fingertips and slam-dunking it into her hamper before yanking the lid shut on top of it. Her face matches the color of the covers on her bed. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay." Near tries to smile reassuringly at her, and Sayu smiles too, although hers is considerably more wobbly than his own. She goes over to her window, where a boombox is perched upon the sill.
"You like music, right?" she asks, and Near's smile widens a little.
"Yes."
"You're British though, right?" Sayu asks as she fumbles through an enormous stack of CDs directly to the left where she's standing. "The orphanage was in Winchester."
"Correct."
"I have the Beatles," she says, frowning back over her shoulder at him. "But that's all. I'm only really familiar with Japanese pop stars, sorry."
"Anything would be fine," Near says dismissively, but Sayu ends up putting on the Beatles anyway. Then she grabs her milkshake and sits down on the bed beside him, Indian-style. She takes a drink from her milkshake, eyeing Optimus Prime beside Near over the rim of her glass.
"You like the Transformers?" she asks.
"...Yeah."
Near reaches up, capturing a strand of ivory and twirling it between
his fingertips. "Do you?"
"My brother used to
watch it, when he was little." Sayu smiles that same little
wobbly smile again, but the subject of Light's childhood is evidently
too painful to pursue further, and the two of them lapse into
silence.
They end up listening to the Beatles CD twice through, drinking their milkshakes but adding little. Near doesn't mind. It isn't exactly a comfortable silence, but he likes that they are spending time together, so close to one another that their shoulders are almost touching. He likes Sayu - and maybe that's a dangerous thing, or a wrong thing, but if Lidner thinks it okay, and moreover, if Sayu thinks its okay, then it must be.
"Okay, if I have to listen to 'I am the Walrus' one more time, I'm going to puke," Sayu announces suddenly, as the music begins to start up anew. "Let's listen to the radio for a while, okay?" Near simply nods, and Sayu presses the FM button.
"--And there have been fourteen more deaths announced today, all presumably to be the work of Kira's," filters in the DJ's voice, and Sayu frowns. Near feels annoyed at the insistence of referring to this new killer as Kira again, but then he sees the expression that Sayu is wearing, and he forgets what he was irritated about. She looks so impossibly sad suddenly, so small and weary and tired. It pulls at something within Near, and the albino boy clears his throat.
"Sayu."
She turns, and Near leans forward, his hand reaching out to take her by the shoulder in what he hopes is a comforting gesture. She glances down at where their bodies meet, and when looks back up Near again, he very gently kisses her on the mouth.
"Don't be sad, Sayu," he murmurs.
