Hi everyone, I'd like to thank that one person for reviewing. Everybody else, I know you're there, I don't care if you don't have an idea for a new title (I still need one, even though I've been given some ideas), I just want some word of encouragement to keep this story from crashing. Also, I do this thing now, where I don't update until the number of reviews outweighs the number of chapters, just thought you'd like to know.

The next day, I woke up to find that the sun had long since risen, meaning that I was late. Crap!

I jumped out of bed and ran to my wardrobe, pulling out the first two things I could find: A dark purple hoodie and black tracksuit pants. Different from my usual style, but it was getting colder anyway.

I threw on the clothes and checked the time. Not as late as I thought it was, but I was still late. I then grabbed my messenger bag (which had been found tossed carelessly under my bed) and put my laptop, research notes, and basic school stuff inside it before bolting out of my room and jumping down the stairs.

"Sayu! What are you doing up so late?!" mom gasped.

"Sorry mom, I slept in! Could you write me a note?" I requested as I pulled out the second toaster and plugged it in.

Mom nodded and went to find a piece of paper and a pen while I grabbed four pieces of bread into each toaster, cursing the fact that I ate a lot in the morning.

While I was waiting for the toast, I made a quick cup of tea (hiding the two extra scoops of sugar from mom) and drank it in less than a minute, which had nothing to do with the fact that I was in a rush, I just drank tea way too fast for some odd reason.

The toast popped and I smothered them in margarine before putting them back in on reheat to melt the margarine, just the way I like it.

At that point, I gladly took the time to take a breather, having nothing better to do.

"Did you stay up late again?" Mom asked, referring to my insomnia.

"Not as late as usual; only midnight this time" I nodded.

"That's good" mom smiled, handing me the note, which I stuffed in my bag before the toast popped again.

I took the toast and ate it, finishing two before I even left the house, then another two before I went out the gate, and the last four by the time I had left the block.

When I made it to the school, I headed to the main office and handed them mom's note in exchange for a late slip.

"Oh, and Sayu!" The office lady called as I began to leave.

"Yeah?" I stopped.

"Can you show this boy around today?" She asked as a boy about my age came into view. The first thing that came to mind when I saw his was snow, he was completely white! The idea of him camouflaging when it starts to snow made me hold back a laugh. "He's new, so I think it'd be a good idea if someone shown him around before he could get lost…he's also in the majority of your classes".

I nodded to her and signaled for the snow look-alike to follow.

"So…what's your name?" I asked.

"What's yours?" He asked back, his voice was almost as cold as he looked.

I blinked, surprise at how rude he seemed, but still replied as nicely as possible, "I'm Sayu Yagami".

"Shiro Yuki" he replied, I snickered.

"Seriously?" I giggled.

"…Yes" 'Shiro' replied.

His response made me stop walking. I knew a lie when I heard one.

"What?" 'Shiro' questioned.

"What's your REAL name?" I asked.

"Huh?" 'Shiro' blinked.

"When someone lies, there's always an off tone about it, if you want someone to believe you, you need to believe what you're saying too" I explained, "so, what's your real name?"

'Shiro' stared at me, a hint of shock and amazement showed on his face.

"Tell me" I demanded.

"…I don't have any reason to" 'Shiro' replied stubbornly.

"…Are you a criminal or something?" I asked suspiciously.

"What?" 'Shiro' looked confused at the random change of subject.

"Kira kills criminals" I stated, "so if you're trying to hide your name, you must be hiding yourself from him".

"No" 'Shiro' shook his head, "I'm not".

"Then what's your name?" I questioned.

"…call me Near" he sighed.

I could tell just from the way he said it that it wasn't his real name, but it was very familiar to him, a nick-name, I guess…

"Hope you don't give in to Kira that easily" I laughed.

"I'm not a criminal!" Near argued, "Besides, Kira can't kill without a name".

That was something I hadn't even seen in the police files.

"How-…why do you think that?" I wondered.

"…well…so far, all the criminals that have died have had their names shown, the ones that haven't died haven't had their names broadcasted" Near explained.

"What?" I gasped, surprised, "but then…wouldn't the police notice? Why haven't they figured that out?"

"I think it's because very few criminals are reported without a name" Near replied, making me realize that I had asked that out loud, "wait, how do you know what the police have and haven't figured out?"

"Uh…" I looked around to make sure no one could hear, and realized that we were getting closer to our class.

"Ah! N-Near, here's our class" I said to the snow look-alike.

"You haven't answered my question" Near reminded.

"…" I hesitated, "…I'll tell you during first lunch".

"…Alright" Near nodded, opening the classroom door.

"Hi!" my overly cheery Math teacher smiled, I held back a groan and smiled back, "who's this?"

"I'm Shiro" Near replied.

I looked at him questioningly and mouthed "what?"

"I'll tell you during first lunch" Near whispered back as our oblivious Math teacher read through the roll.

"OH! You're the new kid!" she gasped happily, "welcome to my class! I'm Miss Natsuko!"

I ignored her and slipped into the classroom before heading to my desk at the front.

I watched as Near was instructed to sit down wherever he wanted, and then blinked in surprise as Near chose the one at the very back, when there was also a place next to me that was empty, well that was rude.

I sat there bored for the entire class, it was probably the easiest thing out of my entire "be a normal teenager" act, since I really was bored, and all I had to do was sit and wait for the teacher to get to me so she could "help".

After class I stayed back and waited for Near. Once he'd finished packing up his puzzle (how he had managed to hide that from the teacher still eludes me), we left the building and I proceeded to head into the forest area of the school. Near stopped walking and I turned to him questioningly.

"Before we continue, where are you leading me?" Near asked.

"An abandoned building" I replied simply, "I'd rather not let anyone overhear what I tell you, and I'm sure you feel the same".

Near hesitated, but nodded and we started walking again.

Once we'd reached the building, I pushed the heavy door open and let Near inside.

"How did you find this place?" Near wondered as he looked around.

"I was looking for a place to study in peace" I shrugged.

"In a forest?" Near stared at me.

I nodded, "I had heard about a school building that was abandoned because it was too far from the main part of the school, so I found it and cleaned it up a bit. I haven't really told anyone except my aunt about it".

"Your aunt?" Near repeated.

"One question at a time" I laughed, "don't you want your original question answered?"

"Yeah" Near nodded.

"Alright" I smiled, "come on, I usually sit in the old teacher's lounge".

I lead Near through the maze of hallways and entered the teacher's lounge.

"Alright, so you wanted to know how I know about the Kira case, right?" I started, sitting down on a brown couch.

Near nodded.

"Okay, first thing's first, have you heard of Dawn? The one who hacks into the police files and helps them when they're in a tough spot?" I asked.

"Vaguely" Near replied, "but a lot of people know Dawn, since that incident two months ago was broadcasted worldwide".

"Oh yeah! The hacker! That was a fun case" I laughed, "after the broadcast, the hacker tried to get to the police, since he thought they sent the message. He was busted strait away!"

"So you're saying that you're Dawn" Near said.

"Yup" I replied, "I've recently started trying to work out the Kira case, too…unfortunately I haven't figured anything out yet, heh, heh".

"But shouldn't you be focusing on your schoolwork?" Near questioned.

"Ah, no. You see, I've already graduated college" I explained, "I just want to stay in school now for my friends".

"…That's pretty impressive…" Near complimented.

"Thanks" I smiled, "now, why did you call yourself Shiro if your name is Near?"

"It's something my orphanage insists" Near replied.

"Wait, you're an orphan?" I gaped.

"Yeah" Near nodded.

"Oh…well…sor-" I found myself cut off.

"Don't bother" Near said, "do you have any more questions?"

"Um…yeah…you know how I know about the Kira case, but I want to know how you know about the Kira case? I know Kira is a big topic right now, but I don't think too many people are willing to dig that far in" I wondered.

"As long as you swear to never tell anyone" Near compromised.

"I wasn't even planning to" I laughed lightly.

"Good." Near approved, "I came here to investigate".

"You mean you…want to join the task force?" I blinked, a little confused.

"No. I'd prefer to stay as far away from them as possible" Near shook his head, "I'm investigating Kira on my own".

"Really? Like me?" I gasped.

"No, you're going off information that the task force already has and dropping some ideas where needed" Near explained, "while I am gathering as much information as possible from what the task force has now, I will eventually branch off of that and come to my own conclusion. I'm sure that this'll make tracking down Kira a fair about easier, not to mention faster".

"Ah, I get it" I nodded, smiling, then an idea came to mind, "oh! How about we work together!?"

"What?" Near stared.

"If we work together, then I won't be risking myself as much, because I won't be dropping ideas and theories to the task force; I'd be helping you instead! Two minds are better than one and the task force has L anyway" I explained, "so we should work together to catch Kira!"

"…I think that's a pretty good idea…but how do you know that L's working with the task force?"

"Ah! Two days ago, L had that direct confrontation with Kira. While he didn't drop any major hints, my dad did, he-" I was cut off again.

"Your dad?"

"He's the head of the task force. When he comes home he usually talks to my older brother, Light, about whatever case he's stuck on, since Light is known for helping out the task force in a rough situation" I told the snow look-alike, "he said the person in charge of the investigation told them that the times of death pointed to Kira being a student. A fast conclusion like that is similar to the ones that L came up with during his confrontation. Another thing is that dad described him as the person in charge, there's rarely a person other than my dad in charge" I paused, and a realization made me turn genuinely sheepish, "I hope that makes sense".

"It does" Near replied, I sighed, relieved.

"Good" I laughed.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review if you want to see the next chapter!