Chapter 5:

"Ah, hello, Ryuuzaki," Lara grinned from behind the wall of snow. Near peeked out beside her, his pale face and white hair only visible because of the bright blue beanie screwed onto his head.

"AH HA!" Mello yelled, chucking a snowball at the siblings. Lara and Near quickly ducked down as it smashed into their small fort.

"Cheap shot!" Lara yelled from the shelter, "We were talking to Ryuuzaki!"

"This is war!" Mello yelled back, "No time outs!" In response, Lara jumped up and hurled her own projectile at the boys. Mello ducked, but Matt simply stared blankly at Lara as the snowball flew several feet over his head. He smirked.

"Ha! You're a lousy shot!" Mello yelled out victoriously, popping up beside Matt.

Lara scowled, her face reddening, then turned to Ryuuzaki. "You're either with us or against us," she said. "What'll it be?"

Ryuuzaki considered for a moment before turning and heading back inside, "I'm for a hot cup of cocoa."

"Bah, suit yourself," Lara snorted, turning back to the game. Ryuuzaki stood at the doorstep for a moment, watching the two teams lobby more insults towards each other. Lara seemed to be completely enthralled in the game, and he slipped inside without further pretext.

After having settled into the room Mr. Roger had provided for him, Ryuuzaki made himself comfortable in the sitting room with a steaming cup of cocoa in his hand. He nestled into his favorite arm chair, legs drawn up, as he sipped his drink thoughtfully.

Well, he was back at the Wammy house on holiday. This would be the first Christmas he celebrated since he still lived here so many years ago. Of course, he was here to further his quest to find a successor, but there was one other reason.

-

"Will that be all, Master Ryuuzaki?" Mr. Roger asked politely as the detective stood by the window, chewing his thumb absentmindedly.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Roger," he replied without turning his gaze.

The older man nodded, "Watari should be here soon with the car, so I'll just excuse myself. If you need anything else, just call." He left as Ryuuzaki watched a breeze sway the leaves of a large oak in the yard. It was a beautiful late-summer day, a time when the very earth seemed to give its all to make up for the coming fall. He scratched his foot idly, moving restlessly to another window. He heard the front door click open, and as the voices filtered into the room he mentally berated Watari for not arriving earlier.

Of course, if he had really wanted to leave without facing the two siblings, he could have made better accommodations himself.

His brow furrowed, his gaze pinned deliberately at the window away from the doorway. He would prefer to be left alone, but he knew a big part of him was really hoping she would walk in.

"Oh, hey, Ryuuzaki."

He exhaled, realizing he had been waiting with baited breath. He turned to Lara, seeing that she was carrying Near piggy back style just as she had done when they went to the park.

"What are you up to?" she smiled cheerfully.

"I'm just waiting for Watari to get here so we can get to the airport," Ryuuzaki replied, looking away easily, "I'm afraid it's about time I got back to work."

There was a moment of silence as Lara looked at him with mild surprise. Near, endowed with a sibling's intuition, fidgeted as a means of asking his sister to let him down.

"I'm tired, Lali," he said, sliding off as she leaned down, "I'm gonna go take a nap." He ran down the hall, hardly giving her time to acknowledge his statement.

She watched him disappear, wondering what had gotten into the small boy.

"Huh," she smirked, "He's rather energetic for being tired, don't you think?" She looked at Ryuuzaki, who only stared back placidly. She exhaled with a huff, crossing her arms.

"Okay, Ryuuzaki," she said, "Is there a reason you didn't happen to mention you were leaving for the past few days?"

He shrugged, "I didn't consider it relevant information." She frowned at him.

"You can be a real prat, you know that?" She glowered. He blinked, keeping his nervousness from surfacing. He really didn't want to leave on bad terms, which is why he was hoping to leave without a confrontation.

"I would have contacted you if I had not seen you before I left," he said, as if hoping to appease her. She snorted, kicking her foot before walking up to him.

"Ryuuzaki," she took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He expected her to be angry, but instead she looked up with a good-natured smile. "Well, I don't exactly know how your schedule works, but you're welcome back for any of the holidays, you know."

She looked up thoughtfully, "Christmas is especially fun here, and there's always plenty of snow." He blinked, surprised. There was an insidious undertone to her statement, and the phrase "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" came to his mind. Regardless, the easy smile on her face was a welcome sight compared to what he was expecting.

He was genuinely surprised.

And he laughed.

Well, it was more like a series of chuckles, but for a guy who didn't often find reasons to laugh it was quite the occasion.

She was grinning at him.

"Perhaps I will," he finally said, still smiling. Her grin widened, and she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"I suppose I'll see you later then," she said, walking away with a laugh as he blinked owlishly with astonishment. "Have a good trip!" And with a final wave she had disappeared from the doorway.

He listened to the sounds of her receding steps, then reached up and gingerly placed his fingertips on his cheek.

On the drive to the airport, Watari kept glancing curiously at his charge from the rearview mirror, wondering why the young man was in such a good mood.

-

"Ahh, warmth!" Lara exclaimed happily as she and Near ran inside, shutting the large wooden doors behind them. Their cheeks were rosy from the cold, making the young boy who almost never blushed look curiously jovial.

After dropping off their things in their room, they walked into the sitting room.

"So," Lara said, settling onto the couch with Near on her lap, "How's work been, Ryuuzaki?"

"Fine," he replied with a shrug. "Although things have been rather dull, really."

"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked.

"Ah, good point."

"Hey, Ryuuzaki," Near said, catching the young man's attention. "Wanna build a block fort with me?"

"Alright," Ryuuzaki replied, obviously pleased with the invitation. Near slipped off Lara's lap.

"We can build it in the second toy room," Near said, leading the way to the door as Ryuuzaki got up, "And if you're around then Mello won't come and destroy it."

"Does he do that often?" Ryuuzaki asked.

"It's okay, 'cause I always beat him at chess," Near replied, nonplussed.

"Ah." Ryuuzaki turned to look at Lara, who was still sitting on the couch, "And you, Ms Lara? Care to join us?"

She smiled, getting up breezily, "I'm afraid I can't; got a couple of chores I need to finish up." She headed to the opposite door that led to the kitchen, "I'll see you guys later, okay?" She slipped off as Ryuuzaki stood with Near.

He was almost certain she would come. She did, after all, seem to genuinely enjoy playing with her little brother, but on top of that he thought she'd be willing to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't make any L-related comments.

"She's had a lot of chores recently," Near shrugged, now running to the foot of the stairs. "Are you coming or not?" Ryuuzaki nodded, then followed the young boy, a distant expression still on his face.

-

"Do you like coming here?" Near asked, building a wall of blocks in front of him as Ryuuzaki worked on the opposite side of the yet-to-be-built castle.

"I suppose I do," he replied. "It's pleasant enough."

"Lali can't wait to leave," Near said.

"Yes, I remember her saying such the last time I visited." Ryuuzaki glanced at the young boy, "Has she made enough money to move the both of you out?"

Near shrugged, "I dunno." Examining a block with peculiar engrossment, he added, "We're having stew tonight, you know." He looked up, almost purposely, at Ryuuzaki, "It's really not that bad."

Ryuuzaki blinked at the sudden change in topic, "Ah, it's good to have something warm after being outside in the cold so much."

"Yeah, especially because of Mello." He wrinkled his nose. "Even after we stopped playing he'd still throw snowballs at us. Lali ended up picking him up and throwing him into the snowman he'd destroyed because it took us a really long time to build it. After that he stopped annoying us."

"I see." Ryuuzaki replied. Although Near had initiated a conversation about his sister, he seemed more than willing to let it wander. Something seemed off.

"Hey guys, it's time for dinner," Lara called from the doorway, wearing an apron. "Come on, Neats, time to wash up."

"'Kay," Near answered, getting up and running out the room towards the bathroom.

Lara smiled at Ryuuzaki, "Coming?"

Ryuuzaki got up, stuffing his hands into his pockets before turning to look at Lara, "Aren't you going to take your little brother out to eat? It's what you do on Saturdays, after all, isn't it?"

"Oh, we don't do that anymore," Lara smiled flippantly. "Ah, if you want a good seat at the table, you'd better hurry. Most of us have already reserved the best ones for ourselves." She smiled at him before leaving the room as the gears in Ryuuzaki's mind started to churn.

At dinner, he observed that even though he and Lara ended up sitting relatively near to each other, she almost exclusively talked only to her little brother. Feeling slightly piqued and put out, he retired back to the sitting room, pulling out the laptop he kept in the bag by the armchair. A little while later kids were still running around inside, playing for an extra hour since bedtime was pushed back for holiday.

He didn't see Lara, Near, or pretty much anyone else for the rest of the night. Working diligently as he scanned the international news, hoping to find a new case of interest, the hours passed by and the house fell quiet.

Around twelve, finally admitting defeat, he shut the computer with a forceful click. Feeling irate at the fact that most criminal masterminds were taking the holidays off as well, he got up and strolled into the kitchen.

Eating a handful of cookies he had picked up, he wandered into the hallway. He was hardly tired, as usual, but felt even more restless than he normally did in his own room.

After a thoughtful moment in which he finished off his handful of cookies, he decided to head to the toy room. A puzzle or a game of chess with himself could keep him occupied for a bit; at least until he found something better to do.

Heading upstairs, he turned in the direction of the room he and Near had been in earlier that day. Slightly surprised at seeing a light on further down the hall, he decided to investigate.

In the library, Lara was curled up in an armchair with a blanket around her, apparently engaged in a book she was reading by the light on the side table.

Ryuuzaki blinked, standing by the doorway.

"Up so late, Ms Lara?" he asked, making the young woman jump with surprise. After nearly having dropped her book, she looked at Ryuuzaki with a slightly jostled look.

She smiled sheepishly, "Jeez, I thought you were a ghost or something for a second."

"Isn't it irrational for a girl your age to believe in such things?" he asked plainly.

She smirked, but it seemed as if something in her demeanor suddenly changed.

"Yeah, I guess," she shrugged, looking down at the book in her lap, "I was just surprised."

"Ah."

She looked up at him, "So, what's up?" She began to pick at the corner of the book, looking at him expectantly.

"Nothing really," he said. "I was just downstairs working when I got bored. I was hoping to find something to pass the time with up here." He cocked his head slightly, his thumb going to his lips, "Have you been reading long?"

She nodded, "Ever since bedtime." She looked away, "Um, I usually like to read alone, you know?"

"Indeed," he nodded slightly, his eyes blank. "Do you also prefer to do your homework alone now as well?" She paused for a moment, not meeting his eyes, but didn't answer.

He casually slipped his hands into his pockets. "Why have you been avoiding me all evening?" he asked.

She snorted, "I haven't been avoiding you."

"Yes you have."

She looked up at him now, her eyes hard in the half light, but remained silent once again.

"And why are you not allowed out anymore?" he queried, his face as flat as her expression.

"Things have changed," she shrugged, shifting her legs beneath her slightly.

"I noticed," he said. "This time, little Near is the more amiable one; quite the reversal of roles." She rested her elbow on the armrest, setting her chin on the palm of her hand and hiding her mouth with her fingers. She gazed steadily at him with a chilly expression.

"Sorry," she said frankly. He bit down on his thumbnail, his head falling slightly but his gazed still pinned on her.

"Why did you ask me to come back?"

She blinked, "I did, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," he was getting tired of her indifferent attitude.

"Does it matter?"

Frustration mounted within him; he couldn't remember the last time he was so irritated at someone.

Actually, he could, and she was sitting right in front of him. Why was this girl so able to push his buttons?

"I was hoping to come back to find a friend, Ms Lara," he said, a tinge of anger getting through his filter of emotions.

"Oh," she said, leaning back and shrugging, "Shame. What a waste of a trip."

He grit his teeth, visibly angry now.

Glaring at her, he bit back, "It's not a waste. I do plan on finding my successor."

He turned and left the room quickly before he really lost it. Fists clenched, it took a surprising amount of control to keep from stamping his feet or taking his anger out on the furniture. It really had been a long time since he felt such a childish rage.

Lara sat in the now silent library, beneath the unspoken words he had left hanging before her: "And Near is my most likely candidate."

She couldn't concentrate on her book anymore, not only because there was a flurry of emotions bombarding her, but because her shaking hands made the words difficult to read.

Okay, few things to say that are vaguely related to this fic:

Ignore any past references of Ryuuzaki being a teenager, 'CAUSE HE'S NOT! He's 23 years old (in this fic). Can you believe that? Craaaazy! Ah, I don't count this as a spoiler or anything because it really has no relevance to the manga story line :)

Also: Episode 25 of the Death Note anime. IT HAPPENED! SHIT! GOD DAMMIT! You know, you always kind of hope someone will pop in and say "psyche! fooled ya!" in these kinds of situations. Gaah, it was a wonderful episode, although the foot massage and Misa's solo were rather pontless and unnecessary. Anyways, watch it if you haven't. In fact, watch the anime if you haven't, 'cause it's wonderful and is like the manga was animated word for word with random goth music thrown in. Not a lot of extra spoof, although there was some in ep 25...

Yup, I'm digressing.

Hm, anything else? Huh... oh, right: YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! I love all your reviews. Yaaay, reviews! You have no idea how much each one means to me. Regardless of the content (although they're all lovely :D) I'm so happy people are just reading this fic! So, even if you just say "blah, i'm reading lol" leave a review so I can be like "omg thx lawlz!"

Oh, and sorry if this chapter seemed too sudden. I'm trying to keep this fic from getting too long winded, or else I'll get bored and stop writing, and I reaaally don't want that to happen.

Hope ya liked it!