Sam

The TV was too boring. It was the morning and the only thing on was education shows meant for toddlers. She asked Halle to bring her up some paper and a pen, which she obliged, and tried to write. She was drained, though. The words and sentences that used to flow like a torrent of water suddenly trickled to a thin stream, coughing up pebbled words once in a while. She sighed and began to doodle on the paper.

"Great, my only source of entertainment, and I can't think of a single thing to write about." She complained, dropping the pen and placing the paper on the night stand.

Her cuts and rib were healing up. Now, it only hurt if she exhaled too sharply or if she twisted her torso the wrong way. Her ankle was getting better, too, but the fragility of the bone wasn't helping it. It was still too painful to walk, much to her irritation, so she was still bedridden. Then again, she always did have weak ankles.

Sam rubbed her eyes and leaned back against her pillows. Near had bought her the best therapeutic pillows he could find. They smelled like tea leaves and felt like she was resting her head on a cloud. She snuggled herself more under the covers, shutting the TV off. She closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep.

Her door opened and she opened both eyes to see Near dragging himself over to the bed. He carelessly flopped onto it and crawled toward her, She watched him oddly as he rested his head on her lap, eyes fluttering closed.

"I wasn't even this exhausted during the Kira case." Despite the fatigue evident on his face, his voice carried no trace of it.

"Well, maybe you should rest more often. You give Halle and Rester time off all the time." She pointed out.

"They have loved ones outside this building. It would go against their rights to keep them from their family."

Sam shook her head and absentmindedly began to run her fingers through his hair. The strands were soft and some curled around her fingers as she gently stroked it. Near mumbled sleepily, "It's nice feeling a different set of fingers in my hair rather than my own."

She smiled and kept stroking his hair, occasionally twirling a curl once in a while. She studied his face as she continued, observing features she had never noticed before. His eyelashes were long and surprisingly dark, standing out against his alabaster skin. His bottom lip had a sore on it and she lightly touched it with her index finger. Near opened one eye to look at her and she pulled her finger back, blushing.

Before she could apologize, he said, "I kept biting it. I couldn't help myself; I started doing so when I couldn't come up with a plan to...help you. Now, I can't seem to stop biting it."

Sam frowned and brushed her thumb gently across the sore again. "You should stop. Just keep with your weird hair twirling thing."

He frowned as well and seemed to pout. "I don't twirl my hair because I want to. It's strictly subconscious; I only do it when I'm thinking."

"Uh-huh." She rolled her eyes playfully.

Near began to focus on her hand gently sweeping through his hair and closed his eye again. Is this what Mello felt when he was with Cade? Is this what I'm feeling? Lo- His brain forcefully cut his thoughts from uttering that word. His brain began to taunt him and suddenly, he could hear Mello's voice joining in the mockery.

'Ha! You? Loving something other than yourself? Such a stupid notion. You're incapable of it. You aren't human. No one would ever love you!' Mello had said that once when they were younger. It was when he used his words rather than his fists.

I disagree. I am human, I just have a better hold on my emotions than most.

"Mello" scorned him once more. 'You have no emotions! Now, focus on the case. That's all you'll ever be good at.'

Sam seems to love me. I don't know what I feel.

He opened his eyes again and concentrated on how he felt at the moment. Her hand brushed his cheek, the skin soft and smooth. Her lap was comfortable and warm. He felt safe, content. He turned himself enough to look up at her. Her large amethyst eyes stared inquisitively down at her. Her facial features always seemed to soften when she looked at him.

"Sam, do you love me?" His mouth blurted out the words without his mind's permission and both of them looked surprised.

Then, her face turned maroon. "W-why would you ask something like that?"

Near smiled coyly. "You hesitated. And your reaction gives you away."

He sat up and brushed his lips against hers in a very fleeting kiss. He stood and regained his composure, sticking his hands in his jean pockets.

"It's alright if you do. There is roughly an eighty percent chance I feel the same." He turned around and added, "I should get back. It's best to not leave Avon and Noxa unsupervised for a certain amount of time."

He shuffled out of the room, seeming to be more energized, and closed the door behind him. Sam, who was still frozen in shock, snapped out of it. She touched her lips, her face burning, but she couldn't hold back the smile that stretched across her face.

Near

Once he had left the room, Near leaned against the wall, his heart hammering against his ribcage. He wasn't quite sure what had gotten over him, but he placed his hand over his heart. The heartbeat turned smug. He scowled and straightened up, beginning to walk again.

"Forget about the notebook being the worst weapon of mass murder; the heart beats it easily." He grumbled, going down the flight of stairs that lead to the monitor room.

The door hissed open and he stepped inside. The minute he did, he was assaulted by Avon, who punched him right in the jaw. He fell backwards, startled by the blow, and glowered up at the older boy. His jaw was stinging

"That hurt. Care to tell me why you just punched me?" Near got back to his feet, his voice just barely revealing the annoyance he felt.

"Yeah! It makes me feel better." Avon smirked at him and Near thought for a moment, he looked like Mello.

Rester was glaring daggers at Avon, but when he asked Near if he was alright, Near simply waved him off and sat in his chair, pulling his knee up to his chest. He noticed he smelled like vanilla; like Sam. No, focus right now. The case. You must solve the case.

"Near, lemme ask you something." Avon said, face more somber.

"Yes, what is it?"

"What do you plan on doing with the notebook?"

Near glanced over where Halle had locked the notebook in one of the drawers. He himself had the key, but made sure Avon and Noxa didn't know that little fact.

"Nothing. I wanted it away from him should he do anything rash." Near curled his toes over the end of his chair and rested his hand on his raised knee.

Avon scoffed. "What does it matter if he kills her? The whole case would be fuckin' over with!"

Rester and Halle both cringed when they saw Near's eyes flash that deadly shade of black. However, he kept his voice composed as he coldly replied, "The whole case would not 'be over with' if he killed her. No human has the right to use this notebook, especially one as mentally unstable as Inclementia. Now, I'd suggest you keep your opinions to yourself before you say something you'll regret."

Avon's eyes widened slightly at the threat underlying Near's tone, but rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, snorting. "...Whatever."

He turned his back on the others, ignoring Noxa's eyes. "I'm going to go back to that location; see if there's anything there I missed."

"Fine." Near didn't turn around, absentmindedly typing.

Avon didn't reach the door before he let out a strangled gasp, his eyes slowly widening before they grew blank and his body slouched.

Inclementia

He chuckled to himself as he pulled out the scrap of the notebook he had ripped out before Avon had stolen it from him.

"I haven't tried this before. Ryuk, he'll still do what I write down even if the paper is ripped out, right?"

"Oh, yeah. It will." Ryuk automatically responded, having used to being asked that question.

"Good." Garrison began to write, purposefully, and when he was done, set his paper down, grinning triumphantly.

"It's a shame; I would have loved to see this pan out. Unfortunately, I'll just have to wait another hour." He reclined his chair and crossed his ankles.

Ryuk peered over his shoulder at the piece of paper and laughed.

Ambrose Killingworth. Kills L before kidnapping Saxon Leroux and bringing her to Inclementia at 57 Mountain Road before killing himself at 6:45pm.