December 28th
In the morning, Matt has an epiphany.
He looks at the slashes on Henrietta's legs. Four on the leg pointing to the red wall, two on the leg pointing to the yellow wall. He takes the red paint and the yellow paint and mixes them together in the ratio of the slashes.
The colour it makes is the colour of clay. Therefore Gabriel Clay will be the next victim. How simple. Matt wonders if Beyond had intentionally made it easy because he underestimated them. Well, he'd soon realise that they're much smarter than he thinks.
Near's curled up in some kind of duvet nest in the corner of the room. She looks so calm it's almost a shame to wake her up, like so many times before.
He's not unfamiliar with waking her up. One week, back in Wammy's when the only thing they had to fear was not getting good marks, he and Mello had stayed in Near's room every night. Mello had read about some experiment where a rat was stopped from ever getting any proper sleep, and he wanted to try that on Near. Just to see if it would affect her test scores, not to inflict any permanent harm, or at least that was what Mello had said. He'd never actually told Matt what had happened to the rat.
They'd taken turns to sneak into Near's room each night. Matt had set an alarm to go off every minute and inserted it into Near's ear so that she'd never get the chance to sleep properly. Then he'd slept in the corner of her room to make sure she didn't remove the alarm. She hadn't, which kinda scared him.
He doesn't know what Mello did to Near to stop her sleeping. It can't have been pleasant.
During the day, Matt had hung around her and shook her whenever she tried to sleep while Mello studied. By the end of the week, Near seemed too exhausted to even play with her toys. Mello had been sure that he'd finally be able to beat her. And – he hadn't. Near won again.
Matt hopes Near wins this time, but only because if she wins, Matt gets to see Mello.
He shakes her again. "Get the fuck up," he growls, "I figured out who it is."
She doesn't.
He kicks her.
Near limply flops to one side.
"Near, wake up. Stop fucking around. We need to find Gabriel Clay." Matt kicks her again. "You need to wake up right now."
She still doesn't wake up. Something she'd said earlier flashes into his mind: something about how if someone with a concussion sleeps too much, they might not wake up. If that happens it will be because he didn't help her. So Near better just be screwing around - Matt's rather averse to responsibility.
"Wake up."
Silence.
He rips apart ten of her cards. It won't do any good, he knows that. It's more stress relief than anything.
"If you don't wake up I'm leaving."
Near doesn't wake up, but Matt doesn't leave.
January 7th
It's in the morning when Light feels grounded again. The last few days have seemed misty and on the wrong side of real. Here with L – this is real. Possibly the realest thing he's ever done.
Light calls Misa to ask where she went after he'd killed her. She doesn't pick up, which is understandable, he thinks, maybe. After all, he'd written her name in the Death Note intending to kill her. Even if she didn't actually die he'd still killed her. Like L didn't die, even though Rem had killed him, and like Light didn't die, even though Misa had killed him hundreds of times.
Gingerly, he picks the Death Note from the floor and flips through the pages. Light knows he's alive but it still sends a chill through him to see his name written down. Once or twice, both of their names are written together: 'Light Yagami loves Misa Amane'.
Misa must be deluded to think anyone loves her.
Watari's name is written on the top of a page near the middle of the book. Logically L's should be below it, but the rest of the page has been ripped out. Why would Misa want L's name? Maybe she's trying to hide it from Light – yes, that must be it, they must be working together to try and bring him down! Or – no, L loves him too much to betray him – so – so it must be Misa who's betrayed him! She'd tried to kill him. It's obvious. She'd been against him from the start.
Light calls her up again. Still no answer. She's probably just ashamed he figured out her plan. He leaves a message telling her he knows exactly what she did.
L's watching him. How didn't Light notice him? He needs to be more careful.
"Good morning," L says.
Light wants to kill him all over again. "You're alive."
"What did you expect me to be?"
"Rem killed you."
L smirks. "Obviously not."
And that's the problem, isn't it? L's alive because Rem didn't do her job because Rem loved Misa so much because Misa did something and therefore it's all Misa's fault and Light really needs to find a better way to kill her so that she won't come crawling back like L did and god – he didn't even realise his thoughts were this disorganized.
"Good morning," L says. "What did you expect me to be? Obviously not."
Light calls Misa again. This time she answers.
"Good morning," Misa says.
He didn't plan this far ahead. But he's good at adapting to unexpected situations, such as having dead people come back to life.
"I don't understand how you managed to survive. You don't deserve to."
"Obviously not," L says.
"Obviously not," Misa says.
"Stop doing that."
"What did you expect me to be?"
"What did - "
"No, stop, no, both of you, stop - "
"Good morning," they say, their voices so sweet - "good morning -"
Light throws the phone across the room and L stares at him and Misa is still talking -
"Stop, stop, stop - "
"What did you expect me to be?"
Light screams.
"Are we still friends?"
"How are you real – how can you still be alive – how is – no, stop -"
"Good - "
Someone's knocking at the door.
"If I'm your friend, why did you try and kill me?"
"No – I – I didn't try and kill anyone – I - "
"Light, are you alright in there?" It's his mother's voice.
Light goes to the door and tries to ignore L and Misa and their shrill voices and the constant repetition and the constant repetition.
"Yes, I'm fine, I'm just having an argument with someone over the phone," he hisses. He doesn't open the door. If he did, she might see L.
"Be a little quieter." Light hears footsteps – she must be gone.
At some point, Misa and L must have stopped talking. He doesn't know when but at least it's quiet now.
"What was that?" he asks L.
L stares at him blankly. He starts chewing on his thumb. "I think you must have just imagined it."
December 28th
The shifts in the shop must be really messed up. The skinny boy and the blond kid are there again, the younger one hiding his face behind the till. There are also several other customers here. Matt skulks by the fridge, intending to go talk to them once the shop is empty.
He picks up a bottle of milk and inspects the small print on the label.
"Hey," someone purrs from behind him.
Matt turns his head. It's the older shop assistant, grinning at him. His teeth are strangely white.
"I found you the addresses of those people you talked about yesterday. I thought you'd want them." He places his hand on Matt's shoulder.
Does he think they're friends or something because he's helped Matt once or twice? "I didn't ask for that," Matt says gruffly. He would have done. He doesn't know how this man can answer his question before he's asked it.
"But you'll need it." The shop assistant makes a great show of pulling a scrap of paper out his apron and offering it to Matt with bowed head and closed eyes.
Matt takes it and leaves while the assistant still can't see him. He returns to the apartment. Near's asleep like she has been since late last night, curled up around one of her toy robots, the one he didn't smash. He decides to smash this one too. He doesn't, though, because as he tugs it out, Near grabs his hand and holds it gently. After a few seconds Matt pulls away.
He assumes it's like what babies do in their sleep. He's never seen a baby, but Near is the closest thing to one that he's ever seen. He tucks the robot back into her arms.
"I talked to the shop assistant," he says. Just for the sake of having something to listen to. It's too quiet in here and Henrietta's body is creeping him out. "I'd think he was the murderer but that would be too easy, so it's probably the blond kid. I know what you said yesterday, about how if we confronted him before he wants us to he'll kill us. And yeah, I understand, but still, it's frustrating."
Matt takes out his lighter and flicks it, over and over. "He gave me the addresses of the people we talked about yesterday. So it's obvious he knows who all of them are. You know, while I'm sitting here talking to you, he's probably already sharpening his knives or... oh, I dunno, whatever he's going to skin that poor kid with."
"You know, I have Gabriel Clay's address. I'm just waiting for you to wake up before I go and talk to him. Apparently he's like seventeen, and to be honest, that's fucking terrifying. When I'm surrounded by nine year olds, it's really easy to forget that I'm fourteen. I don't think even Mello could fight Gabriel if he got angry. I mean, this is if Gabriel was actually fighting. If he wasn't fighting, just kinda threatening to get vicious, Mello would probably, like, stick a knife in his ear or something. Kill him before Beyond Birthday gets the chance to."
"I'd suggest that we do that, but, like, then we'd be arrested for murder. We're probably already gonna be suspected for Henrietta. It really wouldn't help us to kill someone else."
God, being on the run from a murderer sounds so fun. It sounds like the type of thing that would be made into the biggest movie of the century. Or an action novel. But then those are all blood and fear and mutilation. They don't talk about how boring it is.
He's never read a book where the hero can't figure out how to work the shower so they just sit in the bath and stare at the tiles on the wall. He's never read a book where the hero coughs so much they almost vomit on their wonderful companion. Obviously Matt's the hero here – Near isn't even good enough to count as a companion. He thinks that one of the conditions to be a person's companion is that the person has to like you. And he doesn't like Near, not at all.
"I don't like you," Matt tells her. "But I think you're my third favourite person."
He watches her sleeping. The rhythm of her breathing is surprisingly peaceful.
"I mean, you're only my third favourite person when you're asleep. When you're awake you're far too annoying to be that high up on the list. When you're awake you're like," he pauses for a moment, "my fourth favourite person."
Matt smokes three cigarettes while talking to Near.
"If you're still not awake by three in the afternoon, I'm going to go find Gabriel Clay. I'm going to tell him he's in danger. He probably won't listen, but I hope he does, because if he dies it will be our fault for not protecting him."
He puts his cigarette in his mouth, thinks for a moment, then takes it out again.
"Nah, it'll be his fault for not listening to us."
It's one in the afternoon when Matt starts begging Near to wake up. He was the one who gave her the concussion. It's his fault she could be dead. He doesn't want to be responsible for her death, that's all, it's not like he just wants her to be alive.
His lunch is the biscuits Near bought a few days ago. As far as Matt knows, Near hasn't eaten at all since buying them. The chocolate bar he'd tried to give her yesterday is lying on the ground untouched.
January 7th
Light calls Misa again after work.
Today they had met up in a hotel room, like it had been in the early days of L's investigation. Light hadn't wanted them to use his bedroom any more – it was too dangerous for L. If the task force were to be in there when L felt like visiting, it would be over. Light hangs back in the hotel lobby and waits for all the others to leave before he does. Once he can't see them on the street, he takes out his phone.
He thinks the other members of the task force might be starting to doubt his judgement. Matsuda keeps giving him strange glances and then whispering to Soichiro. Aizawa's been carefully avoiding looking him in the eye. It must be because Light isn't as good as L. The case has barely progressed in the last few months. The excuse that Light's in mourning is stale. He's running out of ideas to stall them. That's the only reason they're looking at him like he's mad.
Misa picks up on the first ring.
"Nobody's died today," Light says. He leans against the bare bricks of the hotel wall.
"That's because I haven't killed anyone today."
"Well, why not?"
"Because I'm not working for you any more."
Light's world shifts out of focus. "What – yes, you are!"
"I've framed you for killing me. And they'll find you soon."
He looks for a way to escape. There isn't one. He's standing in the street and Misa isn't anywhere nearby. She could kill him at any moment. Why isn't he dead? He isn't breathing. He can't figure out how to escape.
"They'll figure out you're Kira after a while, and then you'll die."
"But you love me," he chokes out. His throat is so tight it's hard to get the words out. It's hard to keep inhaling. The cars in front of him blur into coloured dots. "You love me, you can't betray me. You can't do this. You can't. You love me."
She giggles, sharp and staticky. "No, I don't."
The call ends. Light falls to his knees.
December 27th
Near makes sure that Matt is asleep. She leaves quietly, and returns after an hour with a pointed grin. Revenge isn't as far in the future as she had feared.