A/N: Prepare, my friends, for the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny! ... kinda...
Chapter 6: Tools and Toys
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Rodger had dragged Near out the front of the orphanage, to where their two industrial sized dumpsters stood, and left him there to fend for himself. Near looked up in hopelessness at the dumpsters, which loomed over him, twice his height, threatening and ominous.
"You are to move these undercover and out of sight before they are rained upon." Roger had said. "This is in addition to the confiscation of any games or other such equipment in your possession."
At first, Near had been more upset over the fact that they were taking away his toys. But now, as he grimly looked up at the colossi of waste disposal before him, he decided that this, definitely, was the harsher of the two punishments. He estimated that they both weighed at least twice as much as any truck of the same size. He inwardly sighed, hand going to a lock of his hair as he examined the bases of them. They had no wheels.
… This is impossible.
People started to gather around the dumpsters within about ten minutes of Near's punishment being decided. Occasions for schadenfreude like this were rare at Wammy's and no one wanted to miss out on seeing it. Especially seeing as it was the feared and revered Number One who had it coming to him this time.
They tried to stay out of Near's sight for the most part, or at least appear as if they were doing something else. Some hid behind the corner of the building or peeped from behind curtains in the windows, while others half-heartedly kicked around a soccer ball, all the while keeping one surreptitious eye on the boy in white.
Some of the younger ones didn't even bother to hide their intentions, but just sat on the grass a short distance away and watched, steadily munching on the apples they had brought for lunch, wide-eyed and intent on him.
Near looked balefully back at them for a few moments, postponing that inevitable fist push for as long as he could. One of the braver ones waved to him. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and turned back to the dumpsters. To his disappointment, they hadn't grown any smaller since the last time he had looked.
He glanced two hundred meters down the driveway, past the gates he had tried to climb, down at the make-shift shelter of corrugated iron and wooden beams that he was to move the dumpsters to. His heart sank all the more.
The air was electric from a sudden drop in the pressure and the wind held its breath- like it too, was waiting to see what he would do. Meanwhile black-bellied clouds were rolling in silently and ominously. Quickly. Near had read books on meteorology.
He knew he only had until the storm hit.
The first push was half hearted; only really to see if the dumpsters were as heavy as he imagined them to be. They were. This is the job of five full grown men, not one twelve year old, he thought bitterly. Still, gritting his teeth in determination- he would not give Roger the satisfaction of seeing him give up- he rolled up his sleeves and braced himself for a push with all of his strength. He gasped as a knife of pain shot through his rib in protest and immediately let go, stumbling but catching himself before he fell all the way over. The dumpster still hadn't budged. One of the apple eaters stifled a giggle. Scowling, Near straightened again.
He glanced about him for some inspiration. He needed an alternate solution to this and his first inclination was to build something. Build something that would help him move the dumpster from A to B. All he could see around him was the one big oak tree, a shiny silver sedan- Roger's work car- a ladder outside one window (Near briefly wondered what it was there for) and the soccer ball some of his watchers played with. Not much of an arsenal...
He was jerked from his thoughts as an indignant voice drifted in from behind him.
"...ancestors had intended us to live outside they wouldn't have invented an inside, so why are you dishonouring them by dragging m- … Oh..."
Mello and Matt. Of course. Mello had Matt by the hand and was dragging him down the orphanage's front steps towards where the younger kids all sat on the grass. He sat himself down amongst them.
They all looked at him with expressions of pure terror on their faces, but he failed to notice, pulling a bar of chocolate out of his pocket. While Mello, the Number Two was perhaps a little less revered than the Number One, he was most certainly feared at least four times as much. His loud, aggressive, quick-to-anger nature ensured that. Most of the kids around the House generally stayed out of his way so, usually, he'd leave them alone.
He took a loud bite of the chocolate bar as Matt sat down next to him, attempting a friendly smile to the terrified children sitting around them.
"...Hi." he apologised to them, hesitantly slouching down so as to share his DS with the littlest, Pepe, who tentatively shuffled a little closer, glassy brown eyes fixed avidly on the screen.
"What are you doing here?" Near demanded, his voice low and expressionless.
"Isn't it obvious? We're here to enjoy the show just like everyone else." Mello gestured to the soccer-players behind him, who promptly began to play soccer again, looking very busy.
"You..." Near's face was fathomless, but his clenched fists were beginning to shake. "You filthy, lying pathetic excuse for a-" in a few short steps he had crossed the short space between them and landed a hard blow to Mello's face.
"Whoa!" Mello exclaimed, reeling backwards in surprise, eyes watering. One of the girls sitting next to Mello yelped in fear. Matt sprang to his feet- too fast for Near- and after shoving his DS into the hands of a surprised Pepe, pinned Nears arm's behind his back, lifting him partly from the ground. All Near could do then was kick feebly at Matt's shins whilst hurling venom at him for following Mello in everything like some pathetic slobbering little puppy-
"Looks like the Snowbunny grew fangs." Mello laughed, pinching the bridge of his nose a little to clear his eyes. Near could see Matt out of the corner of his eye, grinning at the remark. He wanted to vomit. Then all the more, when Mello punched him hard in the stomach, thankfully missing his broken rib. Not that it didn't still cause a lot more pain than Near welcomed.
The kids who had been playing soccer stopped now, and the ones behind the window and the wall came out to gather and crowd around the trio. While they might have thought twice about showing their intentions before, a fight was fair game. About twenty or so kids now stood around and watched in morbid interest.
Mello leaned in so his lips were at Near's ear.
"But I'm still stronger than you are." he whispered. At a nod from Mello, Matt dropped Near to the ground, where the boy lay gasping for air. Slipping his hands into his pockets, Mello made to leave Near there, but a few quiet words made him stop in his tracks.
"Well at least I'm still smarter." Near was pulling himself to his feet, fingering his rib gingerly. Some of the spectators made appreciative "Ohh snap"s. Everyone in the entire orphanage knew Mello's sore spot. And no one ever brought it up.
No one except Near, it seemed.
Mello turned around slowly. His expression looked as if Near had just hurled dog shit at the back of his head.
"I'm sorry, what?"
Mello looked into Near's unnaturally black eyes and found Death staring out at him from underneath tangled white bangs. A look that promised Mello a lifetime of vengeful antagonism and vindictive hatred. A shiver went unbidden up the blond's spine.
And then Near spoke, his voice quiet and condemning.
"And at least I'm not a coward. A pathetic, snivelling weakling who'll run and cry to Roger with some half-assed story to get my friend into trouble because I'm not man enough to suck it up and just accept the fact that I am not and will never be Number One. Especially when that story is a lie in the first place."
To everyone's surprise, Mello smirked at the words. "You got me," he sighed, throwing up his hands in mock defeat. "It's all that damn inferiority complex of mine." his eyes glittered with a malicious irony but no one saw, they were too intent on the vehement disgust that filled Near's.
"You sicken me." the boy's simple words brought a change across Mello. His eyes turned dark.
"I'm not the one you should be judging." he said quietly.
"Well, I have best cause of anyone here." Near replied. "Who else will if I don't? Not any of the scared and angry kids here that you threaten and blackmail into respect and submission. We're not in second grade, Mello. You don't make people love you by pulling their pigtails. And you didn't make me respect you by breaking my rib and beating me unconscious." The collective group held it's breath. No one talked down to Mello. Ever.
...Right?
"Quit while you're ahead Near. I'm not feeling patient today." Mello made to turn away.
"I don't see why I should. I don't see why I shouldn't give you the chance to beat up on a kid half your size so you can give your pathetic little ego a boost. You didn't care last time-"
The scream that tore from Near's lips as Mello's boot crashed into his rib made every child present cringe away.
"I told you to shut up." Mello informed the shuddering white heap on the ground. The circle of people held it's breath as Near, shaking, began to rise yet again to his feet. The look with which he fixed Mello was a look of damnation.
"You're just proving my point." he said breathlessly, body shaking. "Not that I actually expected you to act like a fundamentally good person, but there was still a chance tha-"
Mello was on Near then, attacking him with a crazed look in his eyes that chilled everyone who saw it to the bone. A girl screamed.
"STOP SOUNDING LIKE HIM!" Thud. "YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GREAT DON'T YOU!" Smack, thud. "SO RIGHTEOUS!" Crunch. "YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE! YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN ME!" Thud. Smack. Drip, drip, drip. "YOURE JUST AS MUCH A TOOL AS THE REST OF US!..You're..-" A soft thud. Ragged breathing."A tool... like- me..."
Near laughed a quiet little laugh that only Mello would be able to hear. "So Mello is still sore that L likes me better?"
CRUNCH.
Near screamed in an agony that terrified all of those who watched him. A scream that went on far too long.
"Mello stop it!" The cry came from Linda, who stood just in front of the closest people, held from the action only by a grim-faced Matt.
Linda who wore pigtails, Near vaguely recalled, as his ragged breathing slowed. Linda who sometimes said Hello, who was always drawing. Right now she had her fists balled, tears in her eyes as she looked desperately at the blond fifteen-year-old.
Tears in her eyes? … that was odd... Near closed his eyes and rested his head against the cold dirt driveway, trying to clear his thoughts.
Mello stood slowly, staring at the bruised and bloodied boy on the ground. After a moment he turned and started walking away.
"So sore..."
Mello's blond head whipped around, eyes widening in shock. Near was on his feet, hand clutched to his chest, eyes burning out from underneath his bloodied white curls. There was an appreciative thrum from the crowd, now almost twice as large as it had been before the fight had started. A few even called out encouragement.
Near looked in mild surprise at them, all their faces focused intensely on his own. As he looked into them he realised what he had done. Mello was universally feared and obeyed in the orphanage that was their world. No one had challenged that before... A small, devilish smile rose to his lips as it all clicked into place. He had unwittingly become their champion. An idea took shape in his mind.
This is perfect...
"Aren't you, Mello." he finished, turning to Mello, who looked at him in a mixture of shock and incredulity. Then Mello smiled, shaking his head in wonder.
"You're making this a whole lot worse for yourself." he said. Near smiled disdainfully, lifting his palms in resignation. In beckoning.
"You don't scare me, Mello." he said.
"Near, No!" the desperate cry came from Linda, "You'll just get more hurt!" but her words were lost in the chorus of encouragement from rest of the crowd. There was even a cheer.
Near made no sound this time, as Mello ripped into him. He stayed silent and took each blow as it came. With each punch that fell on Near, the crowd cheered, as if each punch was one punch he was suffering for them.
But when Mello finished the crowd fell silent too. Near was not moving. He lay still and silent, his blood staining the dirt he lay on. Even as Mello stood and turned away, Near didn't move. None in the crowd moved either, even as Mello walked away up the path and Matt, after a moment's hesitation, reluctantly followed him.
Then there was a rustle of movement from within the cluster of people, and out stepped one of the younger kids who had been sitting next to Mello on the grass. The girl who had screamed. She slowly walked to where Near lay on the ground as all eyes followed her intently. She was silent for a moment. Then;
"Get up." she ordered, her big blue eyes reproachful. Near didn't move. There was not even one sound from the crowd as they watched.
She leant over him imperiously, so that her curly chocolate hair brushed his face.
"Get up now." He didn't move. She narrowed her eyes. "or I won't give you my apple." she threatened. Someone watching laughed nervously at the comment.
"Well..." it was barely more than a whisper, what came from his white lips, "I really... can't miss out on that..." he somehow managed to raise himself onto his elbows, and she smiled approvingly, sitting next to him and handing him the apple.
Blue eyes, brown hair, bossy, annoying... second at Languages. Always following around Pepe and talking to him in Spanish as if everyone can't tell what she's saying... Something Blair... Ellie? Ellen? Helen?Hannah...
"Gracias, Hannah." he said softly, opening his eyes and smiling at her. She positively glowed. As if his smile had jerked her to her senses, Linda bolted to the two of them.
"Near? Are you okay? Can you feel your fingers?" she was talking in a long stream, as she always did when she was nervous. It was annoying, so he cut through.
"I'm okay, Linda" he assured her, sitting up further. The throbbing in his chest was getting a little easier to ignore. "Really. Calm down."
A blush rose to her cheeks and she fell silent. Linda... The number one at Vis. Arts. Says she thinks of drawing as a kind of maths equation that has it's own formula. Something about the golden ratio. Wasn't paying much attention; she talks too much. Nervous and stuttering. Pretty. Shy. Insecure. The object of many boys' interests but never seems to be interested in return. Always seems to be around. Always says Hello. Always blushes when-
... Oh ...
A couple more people had started to gather around them now, praising him and joking with each other, reliving the "fight" over and over in their words. Most went back up the steps towards the orphanage chatting amongst themselves, but a few stayed around him, also talking animatedly and excitedly.
Near watched them all, slightly bemused. Only a little while ago these people had been content to watch him suffer as he- "!"
A drop of rain fell on his cheek and he looked at the sky in horror. The dumpsters! He ignored protests and questions of the people around him and struggled to his feet, biting back a cry as agony seared through him when he moved. The apple he had been holding fell to the ground.
"Hey, what're you doing?" a tough-looking redhead asked. Brendan. 14 yrs. Mechanical Engineering. Designed something impressive enough to be accepted here, but hasn't designed anything of interest since. They are thinking of throwing him out. Boring. Acne problem. Blinks too much.
"Oh!" exclaimed a pretty, straight-haired Asian girl. Rei.13 yrs. First in music. Can play every instrument in an orchestra. Also thinks she can sing. Am often kept up at night by her practising. Accomplished, but also very loud. Aggressive and confrontational. Have not complained about practising. "The dumpsters! You have to move them undercover before it rains don't you!" Near didn't even bother asking how the hell she knew about that. This was Wammy's, after all.
"Its going to storm in a couple of minutes," added 11 year old Simòn in his thick Jamaican accent. Third in both physics and chemistry. Often attempts to persuade to people the existence of UFOs. Takes theatre for breadth. Good liar. Suspect he is a scientologist... Freak.
He ignored them, and moved to where the first dumpster stood. He closed his eyes and pushed at it feebly. Then he almost cried out.
It moved.
Startled, he looked to his right. Next to him, with both hands on the side of dumpster stood 6-year-old Pepe, an intense look on his face. For a few moments Near just stared at Pepe in numb shock. Pepe Jacobin. 6 yrs. First in Languages. Fluent in ten. Passable in over twenty. Apparently also has super-strength. Go figure.
A chorus of laughter rose up around him and he looked around him, meeting the eyes of five other people, all of them pushing the dumpster alongside him. Brendan and Simòn were collapsed on themselves, in fits of hysteria that Near actually thought it had been Pepe.
"You honestly thought that we'd let you do this by yourself? In the state you're in? Really now." Rei's tone was condescending, but there was laughter in her eyes.
"You'd just hurt yourself more," added Linda, blushing. How did I not notice?? It's so obvious...
Then; Pepe, Hannah, Linda, Brendan, Simòn and Rei... Seven pairs of hands... Two dumpsters...
This is going to be easy.
For the first time in what felt like a life-time, Near smiled an honest smile.
The first dumpster took a while to push down the hill, and by the end of it all of them were panting heavily, not the least Near, who's eyes were watering from the pain. Still, he couldn't help but smile a little, at the laughing, joking people around him. He nodded when a flushed Linda asked him if he was alright and shook his head when Simòn suggested maybe he should at least sit down for a little while.
By the time they had got to the next dumpster it had begun to rain heavily, and the driveway had become muddy and slippery. They started to push it down the hill but after a few moments it gained momentum and began to slide down without any effort on their part. At that moment, Brendan leapt up, onto the dumpster, pulling Pepe up with him, and they rode it down the hill like a go-kart, as the others ran behind, laughing and calling out.
Near ran with them, ignoring the pain in his rib. So this was what it felt like, to be a part of a group. It was nice enough, and yet, he knew he wasn't really one of them. He was still an outsider looking in. He knew he wasn't like these people- not at all. He and they had next to nothing in common. But as they pulled the last dumpster under the shelter, letting out whoops of triumph and running in the mud and rain, he let himself enjoy it.
Thunder pulsed through the damp earth they stood on. Simòn and Brendan were congratulating themselves, and then Near, too. Rei planted a kiss on his cheek, which left him numbly surprised. Pepe and Hannah dished out hi5s. Something about their smiling faces brought with it a warm kind of feeling so alien... but Near let himself enjoy it.
For a little while.
xXx
By the time they all headed back to Wammy's together, the feeling had worn off, and Near felt himself stop caring. Had he, even, to begin with? He pondered this thought as they walked together, as Rei and Simòn clapped and sang some foreign song they had learned recently in Music: Advanced.
Had he cared about them? Even just for a moment? He wasn't too sure. If that was what caring about someone was like, he didn't know why so many people found it so important. He had actually found it rather anticlimactic. Nothing so special as to spend a whole life striving for.
A hand went to his hair. And yet he was so sure he had cared about Mello... but that hadn't lasted either... It seemed that all along Mello had hated him anyway, and if there was one thing Near had learned in the very few works of fiction he had read, love had to be mutual, or it was as good as dead anyway. Eventually he came to the conclusion that it hadn't been as real as he had thought at the time. Anything that was broken so easily couldn't have been.
No. He didn't care about anyone anymore. He took a moment to examine how he felt about that, and after a while decided it wasn't so bad. After all, it wasn't as if friendship accomplished some purpose that couldn't be accomplished by some other means. And it could lead to all sorts of disasters, like betrayal, or blackmail. No, it was far more trouble than it was worth, Near decided.
Besides, unhindered by other people's wishes, he would be able to do whatever he wanted. He would be able to fulfil his own ideals and desires, and not have to take others into account. Just like Lenin... Near thought, Or L... What was it Mello had said earlier? Tools. L used people as tools.
Mello was stupid. People weren't like tools. They're too unpredictable, too erratic. Much too complicated and unreliable.
No. People were much more like toys.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Near was jerked from his musings by a high-pitched voice and wide blue eyes. Hannah stared up at him, and he noticed now her hand tightly held his own. How annoying...
He hesitated a moment, then smiled again, a small, odd smile.
"I'm just happy you're here." he said, which wasn't a complete lie. She beamed.
He knew wasn't one of them truly, but they thought he was, and he wasn't going to correct them of the fact. Why would he? When they had proven to be so helpful? Besides, he had no other toys to play with right now. Roger had confiscated them all.
They laughed and smiled as they crossed the threshold, and Near smiled with them. But his smile was directed towards the discreet camera above a painting. His was a smile that said. "Look at my new toys, Roger. Aren't they cool?"
A/N: Now I know what you're thinking. Near??? Friends??? Ha! It'll never last!
My answer? Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaah. *shifty eyes* But really, I have not finished causing this boy pain. Not by a long shot.
And to all of you going "NEAR AND LINDA??? WHAAAAT???" Fear not, she does have a crush on him in my version of events, and yes, he is now aware of it, but being Near, he finds it difficult to feel anything more than disdain towards his fellow human beings. Except Mello, once upon a time, but I figure he's completely stopped thinking of Mello as a once-friend by now. Good God, he has enough reason to...
The whole reason behind Near thinking nasty things in his head about all the new characters is that I wanted to portray just how much contempt he holds them all in (and they kinda needed to be introduced. 2 birds with one stone, so to speak). Plus, I don't really like them either *guilty look*, being OCs and all, but they're necessary for the plot. Oh well, at least I get to have my fun with them later *Slasher smile* but I shant give that away yet. You'll have to wait and see. ^^
Oh! and for anyone who cares, the song Rei and Simon are singing (in MY mind- In yours it could be something different ^^) is "Sham Rang Bar Do" by A R Rahman from the soundtrack to the movie "Water" . I dunno, it kinda seemed to fit the feeling of that moment.
Anywho, that's all from me for the present. So long my pretties!! *cackles* and thanks for all the fish!! ^_~
~CANDY