"Say cheese!"
No one said anything except Charade, who mumbled it under his breath sheepishly. Roger took the picture without flash, and the camera made a long buzzing noise. That was the last picture on the roll of film.
"Arrival, are you sure it is wise to leave pictures of ourselves behind?"
"Fa, someday you'll thank me. Trust me!" She smiled. Roger gave the camera to Arrival. "Do you wish to get the film processed?"
Her eyes widened. "Are you sure? We can go now?"
"If you wish."
"That'd be great!" She turned back to her friends. They sat in a line on the couch, somewhat uncomfortably. "You guys look a little strange... I wonder if the picture really will turn out well..." She smiled again. "Ah well. Do you guys want to meet back here at 9:30? It'll probably take us a couple hours to drive in and out of town."
"Sure." Charade answered, and the others didn't seem to protest.
Energetic with happiness, Arrival sped out of the room with a reluctant Roger in tow. The others watched her go.
"She seems like the happiest person in the world sometimes," Backup said. Fa nodded. "It would seem so." Dwindle watched the doorway for another few minutes.
Dwindle and Fa were the first to arrive, at 9:30 sharp. There was no one in the large library, so Fa sat Dwindle down on the couch and then sat next to him. "I suppose traffic has caused Arrival to be late. We will wait here, then." They both fell silent.
Backup came about 10 minutes later, to find Dwindle leaning next to Fa, sleeping. His breathing was soft, but audible from the doorway, and Backup scowled. "Couldn't stay awake?" He asked, sitting down on Fa's other side. "Dwindle requires quite a bit of sleep to stay cognitively sharp," Fa replied.
"I figured it'd be something like that." He sighed.
Charade came next, around 9:45. "Lost track of time," he mumbled, then noticed Backup sitting on the couch. Dwindle leaned against Fa, seemingly fast asleep, and Fa's head was on Backup's shoulder, also asleep. Backup looked at him as he walked in.
"Rough day, I see," Charade commented, looking at the spectacle. "She hardly ever sleeps."
"Yeah..." He looked at Fa, somewhat awkwardly.
"You don't seem too unhappy about it, though." Charade smirked. He sat down next to Dwindle. "Whatever. She'll be here soon... so we can stay awake, right?"
It wasn't until 10:27 that Arrival got back. Traffic had been really bad. She entered the library, ready to apologize 10 thousand times, when she saw them on the couch.
Charade had leaned back against Dwindle's shoulder and fallen asleep, and Dwindle himself was fast asleep against Fa. Fa's head was tilted against Backup's shoulder, and Backup had leaned against her head in turn and fallen asleep himself.
Roger entered and saw them as well. "Shall we wake them up?" He asked. "They'll be disappointed to know how strange the picture turned out."
She looked at the picture in her hands. Her friends looked somewhat like ghosts, staring at the camera as if they were deconstructing it in their heads. It looked as if they had never been children in the first place.
It looked kinda unrealistic. "Nah," she said, shaking her head. "We'll let them sleep." She stepped forward and placed the picture on Fa's lap.
Groggily, Dwindle opened one eye and saw Arrival looking at them. She smiled at him, and as he drifted back into sleep she left the room and closed the doors behind her.

---

July 7, 2010

Bony, thin fingers hidden beneath beige sleeves softly closed the pages. The folder was flipped back to the front and in neat handwriting was written:

L's Case Files:
On the Acts of Terrorism committed by C, D and F
As collected by Nate River, former student at Wammy's House and currently working under the name of 'L'

There was a chocolate stain next to the writing.
Softly, he picked up the folder and laid it down on the table next to him. Next to it was a picture frame, which he picked up.
5 children sat awkwardly next to each other, staring at the camera and looking a little ghost-like. They would probably look even more ghost-like if the picture had been taken now, here... with the glow of the computer screen and the fact that one was dead and another comatose. The shy girl who herself had taken the picture was long dead as well.
The only thing that remained of them was this... and the case files. He would have to return them to Roger in good time.
A ball rested in his lap. He remembered it, and put the picture down in front of him so he could hold it.
It was time. Kira was dead, and it was time.
"Dwindle."
A young woman walked to his side and looked at the computer screen, a fresh cup of tea in her hands. He looked up at her.
"I see you have done your research." Pictures of Wammy's House, the Kira case and the only known picture of Near in existance filled the screen. He nodded.
"I shall make the required preparations. And..." Taking a pause to sip her tea, she looked back down and met Dwindle's gaze. "He should be waking up soon. We would do well to pay him a visit."
Dwindle stared down at the picture. He smiled at the unfamiliar children, and they stared back at him indifferently. He lifted the ball in his hand towards Fa, and she lay her hand on top of it.
"And so it begins," she said, her blue eyes lit by the computer screen. He kept smiling.
For L... for Backup... and for Arrival...
It begins.