Hey guys! Chapter 5! I don't have much to say, except this chapter almost didn't make it this week, because I've become a fan of the creepiest form of MLP. If you wanna hear more (you really should), review, I'll reply and tell you all about it.
Three days passed, and the stalker finally stopped following me, leaving me very relieved. Near had questioned me in search of a reason why I was being followed, but neither of us came to a proper conclusion.
"Do you think it's been long enough yet?" Near wondered, we were in the abandoned school building again.
"Hmm?" I had zoned out.
"For us to start 'dating'? Do you think it's been long enough?" Near clarified.
"Hmmm, I guess...give it another day so we can show some 'interest' in each other" I replied.
"Alright...how do we do that?" Near's question caught me off guard.
"What?" I stared.
"How do you 'show an interest' in someone?" Near rephrased.
"You mean you've never liked someone? You've never had a crush or anything?" I worried.
"I was raised in an orphanage for geniuses, I never really thought of admiring someone in that way" near explained.
"And...You've never admired the people smarter then you?" I tried to understand the situation as best I could.
"Smarter than me?" Near blinked.
"Yeah...uh..." the conversation had turned confusing for the both of us.
"At Wammy's House...there's ranks" Near explained, "the smartest was at number one...that was me".
"So you're the smartest out of everyone in the orphanage?" I gawked.
"Yes" Near nodded.
"Huh...I can see why you've never admired anyone" I stated.
"I never said I didn't admire anyone" Near cut in, "there was one person; he was second in the ranks".
"Really? What was so great about him then? I you're not gay or anything like that" I said, then I paused for a second, "...right?"
"No, I'm not attracted to guys" Near laughed, I felt relieved, "no...His attitude...he always tried to pick a fight with me, because he wanted to be number one, it was really all he cared about, and he'd do anything to take my place".
"That...isn't really something you should admire..." I hesitated.
"Yes, but he could have anyone as his friend if he wanted too, he has two close friends, one is ranked third, and the other is ranked fifth" Near explained.
"Yeah, but you had to have friends too, right?" I smiled.
"Nope, people tried to be my friend" Near sighed, "and I think there's one girl that has an attraction to me, but I was never able to fit in".
"Oh..." I then understood what Near meant, as well as how much our form of friendship meant to him.
"Anyway, how do you show an admiration for someone?" it was almost too obvious to me, Near had pushed all thoughts of friendship under the rug in an attempt to forget. I let it happen, it was clear that if I tried to pressure him on it, he'd break down. I wasn't sure how he'd break down, anger? Or sadness? Whichever it was, now wasn't the time.
"...I'm not sure...these things are usually left to instincts..." I tried to think of a way to explain it to him.
"You act, don't you? How do you feign attraction to someone?" Near wondered.
"Ah, well it's different for me, girls and boys have different ways of showing it..." I told him.
"Is there anyone you could ask?" Near suggested.
"Well I don't really have any male friends besides you, and I'm not going to go to my brother or dad, nope, too weird...the only person I can really trust is my aunt...her boyfriend has helped me out a lot in the past few years" I said, "yeah! My aunt! We can go visit her after school today!"
"Alright" Near nodded.
The school bell interrupted us.
"We're getting better at making decisions so fast" I laughed as we left.
After school finished, I called mom and told her where I was going, and then lead Near to the train station.
"How far away is your aunt's house?" Near wondered.
"Not far, about half an hour's train ride" I shrugged.
"Soooo…pretty far" Near concluded.
"Yeah" I laughed.
Forty minutes later, we had arrived at aunt Miyo's house, and Near stopped me as I went to open the door.
"Shouldn't you knock?" Near questioned.
"It's fine, I practically live here" I grinned, opening the door and calling out, "I'm home~!"
"Sayu! You surprised me!" aunt Miyo laughed, "what are you doing here?"
"What? I'm not welcome anymore?" I pouted jokingly.
Aunt Miyo had long waist length black hair, green eyes, and an obvious obsession with the goth look, which is what she always wore.
"No, you're welcome" aunt Miyo grinned, I had played the double negative trick on her before, "what's up?"
In response I pushed the door open further so she could see Near.
"Oh. My. God. YOU'VE BROUGHT A BOYFRIEND!" aunt Miyo squealed excitedly.
"He's not my boyfriend yet" I laughed.
"Yet?" aunt Miyo repeated as we walked inside.
"Yeah, that's why we're here" I replied, confusing my aunt even more.
We found ourselves lying on the ground in the lounge room, which might have looked a little odd because there were three available lounge chairs.
"So, care to explain the situation?" aunt Miyo pressed.
"Yeah" I nodded, "you know I'm working on the Kira case right now, don't you?"
"I'd be surprised if you weren't" aunt Miyo responded.
"Well so is Near, here" I pointed to the snow look-alike, "and we've decided to work together".
"Well that's surprising for you" aunt Miyo butted in, "last I checked, you preferred to do it yourself because of your habits".
"Habits?" Near looked at me.
"Later" I replied to him before getting back on topic, "anyway, after we decided to work together, we realized we wouldn't get enough opportunities to do it in the first place, so Near got the idea to pretend we're in a relationship to get more time for work".
"That's…actually a pretty good idea" aunt Miyo approved.
"Yeah, and it would work, but we can't just randomly get together" I explained, "we have to show an interest in each other, which is easy for me, but Near…he doesn't know how".
"Seriously?" aunt Miyo gasped, "you've never liked anyone before?!"
"No" Near replied, "it was never necessary before now".
"Oh…well I can see why you brought him here…I'll go wake up Nate" aunt Miyo said to me.
I was surprised when I saw Near jump, he also looked a little frightened, but that might have been because another person joining the group.
Nate was a nice guy. He had grown his hair longer then aunt Miyo's (because of a bet his brother made: If he got a girlfriend after he hit thirty, he'd have to grow his hair longer then her's), he had red eyes (which always creeped me out), and an obsession with cats. Thanks to him, aunt Miyo has eight cats, and a huge secret cat walkway going around the house.
Nate walked into the room, still sleepy from his catnap, with three of his cats in tow. The cats names were Hiyo, Rio, and Moshi. Nate had made a little joke when he got his first few cats, and now all their names rhyme with aunt Miyo's.
"Hey Sayu" uncle Nate greeted, "what's up?"
"My friend Near needs some help" I replied.
"With what?" Uncle Nate asked curiously.
"They're going to pretend to be in a relationship so they can have more time to work on the Kira case together, but Near has never likes someone before so he doesn't know how to act" aunt Miyo summarized for us.
"Seriously dude?" Uncle Nate gaped.
"Yes" Near nodded.
"Wow" uncle Nate stated.
"Everyone's been saying that" Near sighed.