AN: Some of you might want to get a box of tissues. Or bake a cake... It kinda depends.

Because, if I might quote my friend Masq from an IM, this chapter is like this: JOSFJLSKNFLKAHS OPGH;JNLHLANFSL; AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAA

That was her reaction to hearing the extremely basic plotline for this chapter. Not reading: HEARING. Yeeeeeah. And apparently her brain was simultaneously broken.

I hope it's as... erm... as reaction-inducing as it sounds. -.-'

May 28, 2011
6:48 PM

"God dammit!!" Aizawa cursed. "You have to be kidding!!"

It wasn't Matsuda he was swearing at: the officer was just sittign on his knees looking blankly at the form next to him.

Mamoru Miyano, however...

Their main Kira suspect was lying face up on his bedroom floor, staring at the ceiling with eyes that would never close, forever frozen in horror.

Clearly he'd known he was going to die.

Matsuda finally seemed to snap out of the shock he appeared to have been stuck in. Right as the other investigation team members came running in, he tried to stop them. "Get back, you guys!!" he yelled. "I can help!! I know CPR!!"

There was a brief pause where nobody moved.

"...Matsuda..." Mogi put his hand on Matsuda's shoulder. "It's no use. He's definitely dead."

"But-but-but he CAN'T be dead!! This guy is the only link we have to catching Kira!!" Matsuda groaned. Most of them knew how he felt: the prospect of starting from scratch wasn't very motivating.

"Matsuda," Yamamoto said in a surprisingly calm voice, "the best thing we can do now is look around this place for a Death Note."

"And," Aizawa said, "we should call L and try to come up with another plan."

"That, and maybe we should call in the CSIs," Ide added.

Aizawa nodded in agreement as he got out his cellphone and began dialing.

6:49 PM

"Well?" asked Near when he picked up the phone.

"We have a problem..." Aizawa seemed unsure of what to say.

"What's the matter?" Near asked with a frown. L paused in eating something to give his successor a curious look.

After a few seconds of silence, Aizawa responded. "Mamoru Miyano is dead."

For a moment, Near couldn't think of anything to say in response. Dead?? By Kira?! "A heart attack?" he asked, still somewhat calm.

"It looks that way."

Oh no. Near considered how to reply. "Mr. Aizawa," he said slowly, "it looks as though the Death Note must have changed hands."

L, who could hear their conversation, seemed to be deep in thought. "Wait a moment... Near, don't jump to conclusions."

Near frowned and turned away from the microphone.

"Think," L continued, "for just a moment: what are the odds that a person would pick up a Death Note, read the instructions, instantly believe in it's powers, and kill the former owner on the spot?"

Near's frown deepened as he thought the scenario over. "I would say the chance of that occurring is extremely small... about a hundredth of a percent?"

"Exactly," L replied. "Maybe two-hundredths of a percent at the most... But for the scenario you just described to work, that is essentially what would have had to have happened."

Near's eyes widened as he understood what L was saying. If a person didn't kill Miyano, then... One and a half seconds later he got what L was probably hinting at. "So... the only other rational possibility would involve the shinigami attached to the notebook... correct?"

L nodded. "Correct. You told me yourself that the shinigami Ryuk at the Yellowbox Warehouse killed Light to spare himself from boredom: it's very likely that he knew Miyano would be put in prison for being Kira, and he simply didn't want to be bored this time either."

Near slowly nodded and turned back to the microphone. Yes... that has to be it... "Everyone," he said as he addressed the investigators, "it's very likely that the shiniga--"

And then, in the course of only a split-second... his heart stopped beating.

"...Near? Near??"

He couldn't feel anything real after that; his body seemed to be stuck in a fog.

He could hardly hear.

He could only just see.

He could barely even think.

He was only aware of the horrible, flesh-ripping pain in his chest that only a heart attack could bring.

A... a heart attack...?

Near blinked.

He was... falling. In slow motion, he slid off his chair and hit the ground. It seemed so unreal that he barely even realized it was happening at all.

Blink.

L was diving for him, trying to figure out why on earth his successor had just fallen off his chair. Midway through his slow fall, L's eyes got impossibly wide as he apparently figured out what was happening.

"NEAR!!"

Near blinked, in slow motion again.

He couldn't feel L there, although he knew that the detective was holding on to him as though it could save him. Now L was leaning over him, rapidly saying something that Near couldn't hear. He realized he should try to say something, anything, before he finally died.

But it was so hard...

He was almost gone.

There was only one thing that he could think as he lay there on the floor.

"L..." he whispered weakly.

"I hope... I made... you... proud."

With a final shudder, Near closed his eyes and surrendered to death.

AN: Nikki's most favorite chapter ever... Holy crap... I can't believe I actually did that...

(Do I still have to beg for your reactions at this point?)