AN: Alright guys, I'm sorry, but this might be the last update you get out of me for a little while. MAYBE. I'm not sure... I have a ton of stuff to do, and I'm really starting to feel the pressure of school kicking in... we'll see how long it gets dragged out.

Until then, here's Near's debut!

February 14, 2011
11:06 AM in Tokyo, Japan

February 13, 2011
9:06 PM at Near's Headquarters, USA

"L here," Near said while playing with a set of tarot cards. He was busy building a tower with them in a very significant shape (although it was actually rather small compared to the scale he usually built things on). "What's the problem?"

"L, I'm sorry to bother you, but one of my colleagues claims to have seen someone... well, impersonating Ryuzaki."

Near frowned. He was unfamiliar with the name. "Ryuzaki...?" He absentmindedly flipped a card over. The Chariot.

"He was registered at To-Oh University under the name Hydeki Ryuga in the year 2004. He was friends with a certain Light Yagami, and he never left his photograph anywhere that we are aware of."

The first L? Near flipped over and stacked another card: this time it was the Magician. "I take it you are unable to use my superior's most commonly heard of title at the time?"

"Right."

The Fool appeared next. "Matsuda isn't trying to pull your leg, is he?"

"Good Lord, not from you too!! The entire investigation team is in my office, and believe me, we already went over that particular idea."

Hmm. This was a rather peculiar situation. "And you are certain this is an impersonation and not just a huge coincidence?"

"Positive. He not only dressed the part: he completely used the same habits and eccentricities. None of us are sure how we should handle this, because what this man has done is technically a crime of international proportions."

It was true enough: claiming to be L was like painting a giant target on your back to the authorities of every country. Near flipped over and placed the Hanged Man on his model. The irony of the card wasn't lost on him. "How curious..."

"This goes beyond the adjective 'curious', L!!"

Near paused and looked up from his tarot deck to stare into space. "Yes, I suppose it does." Already a plan was forming in his head. Another card turned: the High Priestess. "I have an idea."

"Really? Already?"

"Yes... There's one thing I need you to do, though."

"Such as?"

"It would help me out greatly if you would take the time to broadcast this to the media."

"...Huh??"

"Give a message to the local news broadcasters saying something along the lines of 'This man is believed to be a criminal,' along with a sketch... But no photographs, both for lack thereof and for reasons I'm certain you understand."

"Oh... 'kay... What will that help us do?"

Justice. "Corner him."

He sensed Aizawa's confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what I said it did."

There was a long silence. "...I give up. I don't have a clue how that's relevant, but I'll do it."

Near smirked. "Alright Aizawa. I'll catch your little impersonator."

There was a chuckle on the other end. "Correction: I'm not the one being impersonated."

"Touché." He hung up. "Commander Rester?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yes, Near?" he replied from a desk on the other side of the room.

"If you were going to catch an extremely good impersonator, how would you do it?"

The commander thought a moment before answering. "I would catch him making a mistake."

"...Interesting." The Empress. "But being more specific, how would you catch someone impersonating L?"

The commander didn't answer for a long time. "I suppose," he said slowly, "the best way to find an impersonator is to ask him something that only the original would know."

"Yes, that was my thinking as well."

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Abruptly Rester turned around in his chair and stared at the detective on the floor. "Wait a moment, Near. I hate to point this out, but the real L is dead. This person is an imposter: you don't have to catch him doing anything wrong, you'd just have to figure out his identity. Why couldn't you just arrest him on the spot? Is it for the same reason you refused to kill Light Yagami?"

"Very good, Commander. You did notice." Near flipped over another card and gave a sour smile at the irony. "Two reasons. One, you are exactly right. I can't simply capture him for the same reason I didn't touch Light Yagami the instant I knew he was Kira: I have to find the proof and make this imposter taste defeat. And second..." Near paused as he lay the card down so Rester could see.

Death.

The thirteenth card of a tarot deck.

"There is a 0.4% chance that something far more sinister is happening," he soberly admitted.

The commanders eyes widened a minescule bit. "Sinister...?" Rester questioned. "Like what?"

"Not even two years ago," Near said, "I learned of a killer notebook. I talked to a Shinigami. And I saw a man confuse himself with God and very nearly damn the world along with himself."

"I'm afraid you've lost me."

"Anything can happen. And I do mean that, with every meaning implied."

"But Near, being realistic...."

Near gazed at the card. "Would you call anything I mentioned before 'realistic'?" He put Death on his tower.

"...I guess I see your point. So do you have any theories about what kind of 'sinister' this could be?"

Silently, Near stood up and observed his handiwork.

It was a tarot card tower that looked suspiciously like an "L".

"No," he admitted, "because in a case as strange as this, one wrong assumption--" he reached for a card on the base "--could be the end of things."

Swiftly, he pulled the card out and sent his tower toppling to the ground.

"To be rather frank, Commander," he continued, unperturbed, "I'm ready for anything short of L being alive again."

AN: Yes, I know, I stole that idea of him making a letter "L" with tarot cards from that end-of-the-series special chapter thing. Sue me. But I wanted him to be doing something with tarot cards, and I just couldn't think of any other good things for him to make.

'Til I update next time (whenever THAT'S gonna be),
CK