"What's going on? Why is Near all beat up?"
"What happened to you, Near?"
"Near, answer me!"
So many questions, and the white-haired child didn't answer any of them. Watari had brought him home from Ryuuzaki's – Backup's – place, and the first thing he'd gotten was loads of questions, the most persistent person being Mello. But, after avoiding every question, Watari had taken him to where he could be treated, and then he was put to bed.
Not that being in bed stopped the questions from coming. Mello had followed them in and was now asking him the same questions everyone had been asking him: What happened to you? Even Roger asked that, when he saw all the cuts that were on his body. They'd gotten him a new set of white pajamas and socks, and the bloody ones were quickly disposed of.
"Near, I asked you a question!"
"Go away." Near finally said, and he heard a slight laugh escape from Mello's throat, making him glance over at the annoying blonde. "What?"
"You CAN speak!" Mello grinned, then leaned over him. "C'mon, what's wrong? You can tell me!"
"Get off my bed." Near said firmly, refusing to look at the blonde boy. "Go bug Matt or something."
"I wanna know what happened to—oof!" He was cut off by a pillow being thrown at him, knocking him off the edge of the bed. He emerged with the pillow shortly, grinning. "Oh, you wanna fight, do ya? Bring it on, Near!"
"I want to sleep." Near said, snatching the pillow from him and curling up under the blanket.
"Chicken!" Mello laughed and then climbed on top of him, shaking him. "Get up and fight me, chicken! Chicken can't walk, is that why he was carried? Chicken!" He started to make chicken noises, then yelped as a fist shot out to meet his face. "Owww!" He got off the bed and walked to the door. "Fine, I'll let you sleep! You owe me a fight, though!" He then left the room, holding his face. "Maaatt, he hurt me!"
Near sighed and curled up, trying to ignore the stinging pain in his feet. He didn't want to have to recount the story of the three days Backup, under the alias of Ryuuzaki, had him locked up in his house. It was bad enough to remember it, and each of the deep gashes on his body reminded him of the pain he was put through. The burns on his forehead, under his bangs, were his reminders of the water torture. And his upper-arm still burned from the lemon juice and salt that had been smeared into the wound.
He wasn't a chicken. He just wanted to rest, something Backup had stopped him from doing. Backup…he wouldn't even know that was his name, if L hadn't come in and said it with a cold tone as he carried him out of that madman's house.
Ryuuzaki…
Just that name sent shivers down the boy's spine and his wounds seemed to flare up, burning him. The scene of his own blood…Ryuuzaki's laugh…the memories came back to him as vividly as if they were happened to him right now, and he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping his dreams would save him from the memories.
"Nate Rivers." A smooth voice said as a figure stood in the doorway. He came closer to Near and then pulled him close, pulling out a knife. "I'm your best friend, Nate." He said cooly as he stabbed a knife into his shoulder, grinning. Near let out a cry of pain, and he laughed.
He was then dragged,bleeding, to another room, where he was strapped onto a table and his shirt was torn open, Ryuuzaki's cold, red eyes gazing at the wound the knife had caused.
Pain…He pulled out a lemon and started to spill it's juioce onto the wound, then massaged salt into the open wound, pushing into it with his finger as he laughed that hoarse, sickly laugh. Then he pulled out a glass and started to drip searing hot water onto Near's forehead, and didn't even listen as Near told him to stop.
"Beg, Nate. Beg me to stop."He then pulled out a knife and started to carve a "B" into his chest, and Near let out a scream. Somehow, even without his touching it, the water turned ice-cold and Near begin to beg for him to stop, it was so painful!
"Near!"
Someone else's voice…whose?
"Near, wake up!"
The world was shaking…Ryuuzaki was laughing…
"Near, WAKE UP!"
"Nngh…" Near slowly opened his dark-gray eyes and lookecup to see Roger, Matt and Mello looking at him worriedly. "…Roger…?" Something burned on his cheeks, something wet, and he reached up a hand to wipe whatever it was off, then blinked as he realized that they were tears. He had been crying…
"Geez, Near." Mello reached over and hit his head. "You got us all worrying with your crying and screaming! What the hell happened to you?"
Near didn't reply, just looked away and closed his eyes, grateful that it was just a nightmare. He shivered, then looked at three of them and blinked. "Why are you all in my room?"
"Because we could hear your screaming 'Ryuuzaki, stop' out in the hall." Matt said, playing with his DS as he spoke. "Me and Mello got Roger to see what was wrong."
"Who's 'Ryuuzaki'?" Mello demanded, placing his hands on his leather-clad hips. "And why were you screaming his name?"
"No one." Near mumbled, pulling the blanket over him again. "It was just…a nightmare." He sighed and placed a hand on his chest, on the part of his shirt that covered the biggest gash. He knew that Roger knew about it, and he didn't ask any questions, – Watari told Roger everything he needed to know – but Near knew that Mello would be even more insistant of on knowing who "Ryuuzaki" was.
"He's gotta be someone, if you screamed his name like he was killing you. If is WAS a he." Mello scoffed and stood up, walking out of the room, Matt following.
Roger sighed. "Do you want to talk about it at all, Near?"
"No." He slowly sat up. "Can you carry me to the playroom, Roger?"
Roger nodded, then picked up the small boy, carrying him out of the room. As he was carried, Near thought about the nightmare he had. Would he have even more like those? What if one of the other kids heard him screaming? He made a mental note to gag himself before he went to sleep and then reached for his toys when Roger set him down. He had to get his mind off of Ryuuzaki…