Penguin: Aw, well, I'm sorry your day wasn't going so good... I'm glad I made you a bit happier, though...
I'm sure BB gives wonderful hugs; mhmm.

BB: Aw, BB, I'll give you hugs too. At least you have Penguin. (I fear Real-life Sam may get jealous, though~ She really likes you, haha~)
Well, according to Real-life Sam, Sierra, and Anna, what I write affects the relationship of characters with the real thing. If Sam slaps Near in the story, then consequently they believe that Near simply does not like the real her very much either. Similarly, as Sam is paired with L, it is believed in their heads that Real-life Sam is paired with L too.
...So that's why she knows L is cuddly, I guess, haha.
Yes, I can imagine, but... trust me, dear, I don't think you'll be scaring me away anytime soon. Usually I'm the one creeping others out, so...there we are.
Pshh, who could forget that scene? That's probably my favorite episode of the anime, though I'll admit I find that particular scene to be a bit odd. Did you notice that Light's feet are ticklish? Adorable.
...Sorry.
So you're the one who taught L how to give a foot massage, eh? When did you manage to teach him that? I can believe you can massage feet; it's the connection between you and L there that I'm having trouble piecing together, haha.
Ohh, huzzah! It will make for a lovely night, I'm sure~ Oh, BB, you flatter me. Though I'm glad you enjoy each update. Ah, you've even got a scene for yourself at the beginning here!
Pshh, don't worry. I'm not the type to create that kind of relationship anyhow. I'm too awkward, you see. So, yes! We're friends! It does sound nice, doesn't it? Mm, it's always a nice thing to know that someone cares. You know, BB, I think you have a good heart, even if you don't feel it there sometimes.
I...was able to translate bits of it, haha... I got the 'I would be happy to visit you' bit, but the rest is garbled in the translator. Ah, well. I'd love to see you, BB. I'll be sure to save a nice jar of jam for you~

Reader: I...probably did. I do that sometimes. I understand that, at least; the fact he isn't right because he himself is not abiding by law. Yet... he is creating this new law. I think my dad called him a 'vigilante' before, too, if that means anything. But... in a way, you're right; you really can't wash away blood with blood. But... Light knew that. He knew he was tainting himself... and threw himself away; became that dark thing in order to cleanse... But... yeah, in the end, it's all just opinion, I suppose.
It is good to have a bit of Near and Anna, isn't it? Unfortunately, for a long time, I just didn't like Near at all, so it was hard to write scenes with him. Glad you enjoyed the debate, though, too~

Smokeyuchiha: Poor Near indeed. And...poor Roger too, I guess. xD And yes, Anna is thirteen. c:

The Reading Kind: My last day is Monday. ovo ...Then there's exams, but, you know. Oh well.
Yeahh...sometimes even I wanna hug that sheep because of that bit there, and I don't like him as much. I'm getting better, though; really. Though Near looks up to and respects L, though... he can be irritated by him. It's almost like he doesn't like him. xD Terrible, really.
I personally don't like Near because of his smugness and... well, to me he can sometimes be childishly annoying. Mostly it was his smugness, though. I'm starting to like the guy a little more, though, so that's good... But personally I liked Kira, so I can't say I agree with you there. I do believe, however, that justice won out overall...
Weeellllll... Real-life Sierra and Real-life Sam have insisted that at least one of the pairings must have children... ...I actually probably shouldn't tell you that. But I'm going to defend myself and say I don't wanna write it. I really don't.
Oh yes, there'll be another, and another after that! ...But then I think it ends... Yeah.

Here's your extra chapter, dear readers~

B and Sophia sat at a table on the balcony of a costume café, eating their lunch as they looked out upon the many people wandering the streets. There were so many people to choose from; but of course they knew better and would only pick the best of the group. Someone meant to die soon. Tomorrow. And so as Sophia babbled to her supposed older brother, keeping up her façade of a nonsensical and imaginative little girl, B would gaze off into the crowd, his eyes ever searching for the perfect victim. They would find him today. Tomorrow's victim would be decided before sundown.

It was only lunchtime, so it surely wouldn't be all that hard a thing to do. It didn't matter how long he spent in public, really, since he was in disguise and no one that knew him would recognize him. Unless, of course, they had the Sight like B did, but if that were so then he would know they were involved with Kira. How easy. Now, currently he was wearing sunglasses (eyes are a good way to recognize a person, and now no one could tell where he was looking), a casual anime t-shirt and jeans (to blend in, you know), and a silver cross necklace (as an added touch). To everyone else, he seemed like an average teenaged otaku, nothing more. Sophia, on the other hand, wore a stylish pink shirt with a black skirt, a single necklace and multiple bracelets adorning her. A nine-year-old already interested in what was hot and what was not, irritated that her stupid older brother had to watch her that day. They were rather good with disguises.

"Shu!" a high voice called, sickeningly sweet. A waitress popped up to the table in a sailor's outfit, her short blond hair flipping outwards at the bottom. Her eyes were a striking blue. Her name was Ami Hayashi.

Right now, B's name was Shu, and Sophia's name was Mizuki. Of course, to make things seem more realistic, Sophia hated that name and preferred 'Mimi.'

"Ami," B smiled, utterly faking his joy, "are you ready to take mine and Mizuki's orders?"

"I told you; call me Mimi!" Sophia snapped.

Ami giggled. "Yes, I'm ready," she said, pulling out her notepad.

"I'll have some miso ramen, and Mizuki here will have the special for today," B informed her, and she nodded, her hair bouncing.

"It's Mimi," Sophia reiterated irritably.

"Alright!" Ami chirped. "I'll bring it to you the moment it's ready!"

"Thank you," B replied, and Ami flounced happily away.

Sophia rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and stirred her sweetened tea with a straw. "Why did we come here, anyway, Big Brother? It's stupid. I don't like this place."

"Whatever," B responded, taking a swig of his own (overly) sweetened tea. He leaned on the table with one elbow, ignoring Sophia (he knew she was only saying pointless things) as he rested his chin on his hand. He watched through his tinted spectacles as Ami came back out onto the balcony to serve a man who was sitting soundly at a table nearby. She was giving him his check. As the man turned – his back had been facing B – B could see his face. His name was Kenta Gakusha; he was a plump young man. His death day… his due date… was tomorrow. B's mouth twitched as he watched the brown-haired bespectacled man converse with Ami. Sophia kept talking to B, knowing full well he'd found a possible target. Ami bowed slightly, then walked away. Kenta stood, fingering through some yen before leaving the money on the table and proceeding to leave. Never taking his eyes off the target, Beyond got to his feet. "Hey, Mimi, I'll be back," he said to Sophia, his gaze not shifting from Kenta.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Sophia muttered, then took a sip of her tea through her straw.

B made his way through the people within the costume café, his eyes trained on Kenta. Possibly his next victim. He calculated other possibilities in his head. Kenta was overweight, it looked, enough to have a heart attack. He needed to check his records; see if he had heart problems. He needed to see if his background fit his next clue. Everything would have to fit… like the next piece to place in the puzzle he was creating for his rival. L. B idly wondered if he had figured out the first kill was B yet. He was sure he knew B was out of the hospital, so he had to be expecting something.

Kenta exited the costume café, B following a bit behind. It wasn't hard to blend into the crowd and look unsuspicious. Kenta wouldn't notice him among the many pedestrians surrounding him. Even if he saw he was nearby, to him, B was just another person wandering among the shops.

Kenta turned into a video game shop, and after lagging behind for a minute or so B entered the store with a ding. He wandered the aisles, eyeing Kenta out of the corner of his eye. Then he rounded the turn and stopped at the same section as Kenta, scanning the products for sale. Seeing Kenta begin to lean, B reached for the same video game he was. Their hands met, and both of them pulled back as they looked at one another awkwardly. "I'm sorry," said BB. "Go ahead."

"Thanks," Kenta grinned, grabbing the video game. "You like Zelda too?"

B nodded, taking the same video game beneath it. "Of course I do. It's one of the best."

"Too bad there's nothing new this year…," Kenta sighed, running his hand through his greasy hair. "What other video games do you like?"

Beyond shrugged. "I like various RPGs, like Final Fantasy, for example."

"Final Fantasy?" Kenta repeated. "Oh, I love Final Fantasy! It's probably my favorite video game of all time. Did you hear the news that the fourteenth one is coming out this fall? September; isn't that great?" He sighed again. "Three months to wait… but I can exercise my patience." He looked at Beyond curiously. "Who's your favorite character?"

"My favorite character?" Beyond asked. Kenta was looking more and more like the perfect person for his job. "Perhaps Sephiroth. He gives a nice challenge." Don't misinterpret this; Beyond had never played the video game. He was winging it on knowledge drawn from Anna's rambling and Sophia's research. At that very moment, Sophia was on the computer at the costume café, looking up Final Fantasy in order to help him know what he was talking about. "Who's your favorite?"

"Tifa," Kenta answered immediately, then paused. "…Or Cloud. Cloud is epic."

B was nodding. "That's nice."

Kenta rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, realizing he'd been acting over-excited. "Sorry," he apologized, "these things… anime, video games, that stuff… I'm a little obsessed. I'm a bit of an otaku, can you tell?"

Beyond smiled at him, which seemed to unnerve Kenta slightly. Oops. "It's fine; everyone has their own obsessions," he assured him. "Besides, aren't we all otakus here?"

"Y…yeah, I guess."

"I'm sorry, let me introduce myself," said B in a friendly tone. "I'm Shu."

"I'm Kenta," said Kenta, bowing slightly. "But… please call me Oobi; that's what my friends call me."

"Alright, Oobi," he said kindly.

Sophia, somewhere else, pulled up Kenta Gakusha's files. He still lived at home with his single mother, there were no heart problems, he worked a part-time job, and he was somewhat of a loner.

He was perfect.

"Thank you for inviting me for dinner," Matsuda grinned as we drove to my house.

"No problem," I replied. "Besides, having you means I don't have to walk home," I added with a laugh.

Matsuda joined me in my laughter. "That's true," he agreed, then allowed his laugh to transform into a snicker. "So how are you and Light doing?"

I heaved a sigh, looking out the window. "Sam'll just love having you over."

"Why?"

I made a gesture with my hand. "She takes pleasure in teasing me. But of course, I tease her right back."

He gave a small laugh. "That makes sense. But really! I'm the gossip guy; has Misa found out yet?"

I twitched involuntarily. "No… and I'm not looking forward to the day she does find out. She'll kill me."

He giggled. "Don't worry, Natsumi, I'm sure Light'll keep you safe."

I frowned at him, and he shrugged innocently.

"Hey, even if he can't and Misa's wrath is too much for one man to handle, I'll be there to protect you; you have my word!"

I laughed again at that. "Well, thank you, Matsu."

"Well, no problem." He grinned. "Ooh, Light's gonna be in trouble once Misa finds out," he sang.

"Still, it isn't like Light is cheating on her…," I pointed out. "Light ended his relationship with her soon after he lost his memories."

"That won't matter," said Matsuda. "Misa still loves Light and believes that one day he'll come back to her. It's sad, really…." His eyes darkened. "That stupid Death Note. It really is too bad that she was used all that time…."

I nodded. "At least she's not being lied to anymore."

He giggled again. "But she doesn't know her Light has found someone else, and once she knows…." He didn't finish the sentence, but let its implications hang in the air, unsaid.

"Yeah," I said. "Bad things. Misa's wrath."

He did his giggle-laugh thing yet again. "Hehe, you remember what happened when Takada came into the picture. Hoho, you better be prepared, Natsumi!"

"Don't worry, Matsuda, I will," I smiled.

There was a small pause. "You know…" he said, looking away and seeming slightly awkward, "…you can call me Touta. We've known each other for years by now…."

"Touta," I repeated, seeing how the name felt in my mouth. It was so weird saying that instead of 'Matsuda' or 'Matsu.' It was the honor and respect in Japan that created the whole 'last name' thing, and to call someone by their first name would mean them actually being a friend rather than a business partner or a superior. Plus, by now, Matsuda was just Matsuda to me. It was the name my mind had labeled him with, and Touta sounded like someone completely different. "Hm. Well… Touta… I'll try to do that. I feel special now," I beamed. "Though I do know you as Matsu or Matsuda by this point, I'll make it a point in my mind to try and call you Touta from now on. Though… it is weird after all this time." I laughed.

"That's true," he said, grinning along with me.

"Which do you like better; Touta or Matsuda?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, but only close friends can call me Touta."

I smiled. "Got it."

We turned into my driveway as we reached my house. "Here we are," he smiled, and we parked.

"I want that chocolate," said Sierra flatly. Mello didn't respond. There was silence for a few seconds. "…I really want that chocolate."

"Will you be quiet for a little bit?" he frowned. "I know Near is waiting for my move, so I have to figure out how to catch him off-guard instead of help him. Let me think."

"But… but I want the chocolate…."

"You always want the chocolate."

"If you don't give me that chocolate," she said seriously, "I will streak around the house."

Mello looked at her oddly.

Matt snickered. "How do you know that'll be a punishment?"

"You shut up, Matt!" Sierra snapped. "You know perfectly well how awkward it would be if I were just running around this hideout naked."

He seemed to consider this. "Well, yeah, that's true, but wouldn't it be more awkward for you than anyone else? If that's punishment for anyone, it's for you."

Sierra was about to reply, but contemplated this and frowned. "…Oh."

Matt scoffed. "Yeah. 'Oh.'"

"Well—well I'll just take it again then!"she proclaimed, making a move to snatch it out of Mello's hand again. He only lifted his arm so the chocolate was out of reach. "No! My chocolate!" She got to her feet, but Mello only moved his arm back, yet again out of Sierra's reach. "Nooo!" she wailed, pouncing on him to reach the beautiful chocolate bar.

"What the hell—?! Get off me!"

"No! Give me the chocolate!"

"No!"

Matt took one look at their position and snickered again. "Nice pose, there, guys," he remarked, taking note of how Sierra was practically on top of the chocoholic as she reached for the chocolate.

Both of them looked to him, Mello looking incredibly irritated, and Sierra looked down at herself before immediately shoving her hands against the couch to push herself away from Mello. She landed on the floor with a dull thud. "Matt!" she snapped, getting to her feet.

"Hey, hey, I was just throwing in my two cents," Matt said peacefully.

Sierra slapped him square in the face; hard. It left a red mark.

"…Ow," Matt commented.

Mello smirked ever so slightly; Sierra knew he was amused.

"You know," said Matt, "that wasn't even my fault. You got into that position on your own."

"Don't tease me," she scowled. "Besides, I was only trying to get the chocolate!"

"Riiight…."

Sierra narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"Okay," he said, holding up his hands in defeat, "I'll stop."

She smiled sweetly, bouncing over to her spot on the floor. "Thank you!" she chirped.

"Besides," he said, returning to his game, "at some point, I won't even need to tease you. It'll all just happen, 'cause I know it will."

Sierra's fist was flung into his face.

"Hey, watch the goggles!"

Anna sat awkwardly on a chair in SPK headquarters, idly watching Near build some kind of structure; a city of dice. Gevanni wasn't in headquarters; he was watching Misa. Rester was off placing wiretaps in Light's apartment, in hopes of catching him talking to the shinigami or something along those lines. Halle was off getting necessities and new toy supplies at the store, since Rester was doing his own thing. This left only Anna and Near, and after what had happened that Tuesday, it was a little bit awkward. Or, at least, it was for Anna.

"Um…," said Anna hesitantly, "…can I help?" She fidgeted uncomfortably, unable to keep still and still feeling awkward.

"I don't see why not," Near responded, not pausing in his building.

Anna blinked, then slowly made her way down to the floor to aid Near in building his large-scale structure of dice. She noticed a pattern in how the dice were placed, and so made it a point in her mind to follow that pattern. She wouldn't want to mess up his work. They worked in silence, each naturally keeping their distance from the other; for Anna it was out of discomfort, for Near it was just him. The only thing that took up the silence was the clicking of the dice as they were placed. Near would place his down one by one, the clicks following his movements rhythmic. Anna was slightly off-beat; slower, but she still got the job done.

Then, "You know…," Anna said, her voice quiet so as to not disrupt the silence too abruptly.

"Yes, Anna?" Near replied. The rhythm of the dice did not falter.

"Um, Tuesday night… don't take that personally." She looked down at her hands and frowned deeply. "I get mad sometimes, and I hate it. You're still my favorite and I still like you. I just wanted to let you know that." She continued staring at her hands, her eyes fixed on a single point. Then she noticed that the clicking had stopped, and she looked up to see Near looking at her with that creepy smile on his face.

I mean, the one that supposedly made him look like a cute monkey.

"I appreciate that," he said eventually, his smile gone as he resumed in building his city.

There was another pause where only the clicking permeated the stillness.

"Near?" Anna asked.

"Yes?"

"Er, do you remember… what happened when you went to the hospital?" She had never been sure if he remembered that; after all, he'd been kinda loopy from the sedatives and he'd never mentioned it afterwards.

"Yes," he said easily, like it was nothing, continuing in his building project.

Anna was the one who faltered, blinking a few times before she asked, "You do?"

"Yes. I was out of it, but I remember." Then he paused in both speech and movement, tilting his head slightly. "It's odd," he said, carrying on the motion. "I didn't think I was the type to do anything like that, in any circumstance."

She blinked again. "…Yeah. But then… people can change…. Right?"

"Yes. That's true."

They lapsed into silence again, and Anna eyed his dormant hand, which was resting on the linoleum floor. Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out for it. Paused. Then placed her hand on his as she recommenced with her building. She tensed slightly as she did so, however, fully expecting Near to move his hand.

He didn't pull away.

It could be B…, L thought to himself as he scanned through the police records of Sayuri Sakamoto's case. In fact, it's most likely B…. It was late, and Sam sat right beside him on the couch, determined to stay up as late as he did. (Though, it was too small to be a couch; it was more of a loveseat.) I mean, Sam knew she could pull an all-nighter. Right? So what if she knew everything that happened to L while she was sleeping? It was more of a dream than anything, and was therefore harder to remember. She wanted to think right along with him when it came to B. B had tried to kill her more than once, and almost succeeded the first time. It would be a lie if she said that she didn't want him caught. Or dead. Dead would work too.

So they scanned the files together in silence; looked at the map of Tokyo that was in Sayuri's hand, contemplated the meaning of the note, read through the results of the interview of her twin sister, conjectured as to why B might pick a girl named the same as Sam's alias…. Then they tried to figure out some sort of pattern he was following, or a clue left behind. She was found on the thirty-first…, L thought. Could it be that he's using the same pattern as during the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases? But… no… that would be too obvious…. He sighed lightly, then eyed the covered platter on the table on the other end of the room. His cake sat beneath its cover.

He looked at Sam. She was sound asleep. The corners of his mouth curved upwards ever so slightly at the peaceful look on her face, then the expression disappeared again as he carefully began to get to his feet while also trying not to disturb Sam. His goal was the cake. His obstacle was the sleeping Sam. He wouldn't want to wake her…. So, very slowly, he got to his feet. Sam stirred. L froze, halfway to his feet, as Sam shifted. Her arm reached out and grabbed his, pulling him backwards. He sat down again because of this, actually sitting like a normal person, as Sam cuddled into his arm in her sleep. She breathed a small sigh.

L looked out to the cake, calling to him. He looked to Sam, snuggled against his side. He sighed, leaning back on the couch-thing. He rested his head on the back cushion and decidedly stayed that way, hoping in vain for Sam to move. Oh well, he didn't mind it anyway. It just meant no cake for him….

Later on, very early in the morning, Roger entered the hotel room to find Sam and L on the couch, both of them sound asleep. Sam was snuggled into his side, and L's head was resting on Sam's shoulder. Roger just sorta looked at the two of them a moment, silently surprised that L was actually sleeping. Then, he smiled slightly and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Fluff everywhere! ...Yeah.

Fun Fact: Kenta Gakusha reminds me of the adorably weird, childish genius from the anime movie Paprika...and I don't know why.

Review? For fluff. ...Or Final Fantasy~