"It's been a while hey kid?" B asked staring down at Near
How was this even possible? I knew from the moment Ryuk asked me if I was concerned about one of the boys that something was not right and B was confirming it. He had obviously at some point in Near's life met him, but when?
"I don't know you" Near whispered pulling himself closer to L's leg.
"Sure you do, it's been quite some time but you remember me, I am after all the one who created you"
B looked up Lawliet and then to myself, I had to be hearing things surely what B was saying was a lie, he couldn't have been Near's father, there was no way that it was possible. I was sure he was just saying what he was to get a rise out of us at least that was what I had hoped it was.
"What? don't look so shocked, hasn't it ever crossed your mind why he looks exactly like Lawliet? See all this time you have assumed that I am stupid, you have been thinking that I do not match intelligence to my brother but you see that's where you are completely wrong. I may not think as logically or as deductively as him but I am a master at one thing, DNA manipulation" He let out a laugh
"Ryuk? Is this true can you sense Shinigami DNA in Near?" I asked what was an invisible Shinigami to everyone else in the room except myself and Lawliet
"Light Yagami you have finally lost your mind at least I accomplished something, talking to nothing like a crazy person" B laughed hysterically again
"Well yes it is true if the small one with the dark eyes, is the one you call Near then yes he has Shinigami blood, I can even tell which Shinigami bloodline he comes from" Ryuk replied
Lawliet turned around to face Ryuk, who he could see because he had touched the paper from the Death Note
"Tell us" Lawliet said quickly and sharply
"Ha ha I don't think so, I don't give information for free or because I care if you want information I need something in return"
"What do you want?" I asked him
"I will give you the information if you agree to me killing you two years before your expected life span, which of course I cannot tell you when that is, those are my conditions you want to know about that kid, you will agree to it"
"There is nothing else I can do?" I asked
Ryuk shook his head, his wide smile becoming even wider in anticipation to my answer
"Fine" I replied
"Light! No what are you thinking? That's an unreasonable request" Lawliet barked at me
"Law' this is Nate's well being that is at stake here, if we know how he is connected to B then we can find a way to protect him from any evil Shinigami gene he may have. He is our son Law' we both deserve a right to know and so does he" I argued back, it had been the first time I had called Near by his real first name
"I don't want to know, I don't care who this stranger is and I don't care where I came from I just want to go home with my family. I want this to be over, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH" Near replied loudly
"This is so entertaining" both Ryuk and B had said at the same time, both following up with the telltale deep Shinigami laugh
"I can see either way you intend on killing me so I may as well leave you with this. Near is not my child, he is yours. Biologically speaking, which is rather a coincidence that he is your custody, that I never saw that coming" He looked straight to his brother
"Perhaps you remember some time ago, before I left Wammy house you had woken up to find me taking your blood?"
"I don't recall that" Lawliet replied
"Don't fucking interrupt me, Once I had become well aware on how to manipulate DNA I was able to take the DNA from a female, perhaps you remember a Samantha Dansk-Willard, she was one of the top scientists in Japan once upon a time and then suddenly died? Well turns out some mad man killed her after getting what he needed from her. After I had what I needed I simply found a woman who was pregnant, then I was able to manipulate the DNA of the child and nine months later, that kid was born. I dropped him off at Wammy house after I murdered the women, knowing that you would be there and I knew that you would be connected to him. He was nothing more than an experiment"
"STOP!" Lawliet yelled in his brother's face
I could see the anger and the hurt in his eyes. He started to write the name on the paper, Beyond Birthday, and placed it back into his pocket
"This ends now" Lawliet growled through clenched teeth
This had all felt like a dream, everything that was said it was like something out of a science fiction novel. Could have B really done that? Was it even possible that someone could be able to create a perfect human by a process of DNA manipulation? I didn't know if B was telling the truth about Near or it was some story that he made up, if Near and Lawliet couldn't remember what B was saying then surely it couldn't be true. I looked down at my watch; this was the longest forty seconds of our lives
"Go to hell Shinigami" Lawliet said quietly
B's eyes widened and he clenched his teeth, growls and screams escaping him as he furiously rocked in the chair trying to escape, tears poured down his face and he struggled. He paused and looked up to Lawliet and smiled evilly before his head dropped and he became lifeless. Lawliet pressed his fingers against his neck and checked for a pulse. He shook his head and removed his hand.
"What do we do with him?" I asked Lawliet
"Leave him here to rot, he deserves nothing better" he replied
We walked out of the room and out of the building to the car, we had piled in and started our journey back home.
"Tomorrow we are moving" Lawliet said
I nodded in agreement and started the engine.
X
The car ride back had been completely silent, nobody had even breathed loudly, it was a horrible silence. I don't think anyone knew what to say, everything that had happened would have been a lot that the boys had to process and Lawliet and I were still trying to come to terms with what was said
We arrived home and we had all got out of the car, each one of us sadly dragging our feet, hunched over and completely mentally worn out, I opened the front door and the kids walked in.
"Go get cleaned up boys, I will fix you something to eat" I said
They disappeared out of the room and into the bathroom
Lawliet walked to me and collapsed into my arms. I wrapped them tightly around him, holding him close to me. His whole entire body was trembling against me. I felt sudden wet patches form on my shirt.
"Hey, look at me" I said to him
He raised his head and looked into my eyes, tears had formed and were running freely down his painful face, stinging the cuts and abrasions he had suffered at the hands of B.
"Everything he said, what if it is true?, what if Nate is really just an experiment made from my DNA? I don't believe that it is possible but after everything, I don't know what I should believe anymore" He said softly, his bottom lips trembling
"Listen to me, Near is our son, he isn't an experiment and he isn't some abomination, he is our boy. We are his family; he has us and two brothers that love him very much. It doesn't matter anymore, we don't know if B was lying about him but in case he was telling the truth at least now we can try and make sure that we push so he doesn't turn out anything like B, I was willing to make the trade with Ryuk because I wanted to know how to protect Near, and the other boys. But now we know, we just have to make sure that we give him all the love a parent can give to their child and make sure he knows he, Mello and Matt mean everything to us, the only thing you need to believe now is that we are all a family, we will get through this together"
Lawliet rested his head against my chest.
"You need a shower and sleep Light, you are exhausted, I can make sure they are fed. Please you need to rest" Lawliet begged me
"Don't feed them cake" I said smiling
Lawliet looked up at me again and pressed his lips against mine. It was so soft and warm. It was like kissing Heaven. I did as he requested and made my way to the bathroom. I had a quick shower to wash away the sweat and blood, pulled on some clean clothes and collapsed into the bed.
X
It was daylight when I awoke, the warm sun filling up the room. I was completely alone in the bed and I could hear the boys laughing and enjoying themselves in the lounge room. I sat up only to be greeted by Ryuk
"What are you doing here?"
He laughed loudly and handed me something, a book with a black cover and some writing in the same Shinigami language that was on the Death Note Misa had.
"That is my note book, there is a time and a day written in it, all it needs is a name. Time's up Light Yagami" He laughed and pulled the book from my hands
"What!" I yelled at him
"We made a deal I got to kill you two years before your expected time of death, today is that day"
"Wait no! the deal was revoked, you didn't tell me anything" I begged him
"You said fine to the deal, there was nothing more specified that Shinigami human simply made my job easier for me. The deal was still in play. I am more than glad I get to do this Light, it's been great kid, you kept my entertained"
"Ryuk no please this is hardly fair"
"Fair? I am a Shinigami what do I care about what is fair and what isn't I came here only because you found that Death Note, I didn't come here to be your friend or condone anything you did. You used that Death Note as you did and now I will use mine as I will"
"Ryuk isn't there something I can do, something that I can say to change this. I have my life back, I have everything that I have ever wanted. There has to be something"
I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and streaming down my cheeks
"Let me ask you something Light, did anyone you kill get a second chance?, did you take into consideration what they had? I guess you know now how they felt"
I watched as he wrote in his Death Note. My eyes widened and he disappeared. I tried to struggle to get out of bed to see Lawliet but I was completely paralyzed, I could feel my body going into complete shock, my throat was closing up, sweat had dripped down my face, my body trembled with fear.
"This..can't..be…it" I panted to myself
I grasped my chest with my palm, ripping at the shirt I had on. I wasn't sure what that was going to accomplish but I couldn't stop myself, I needed to somehow survive this. I could feel everything that had happened flashing inside my mind, everything from mine and L's fight, to kissing and making love to him the first time, to the kids coming to us and even the death of B. Everything that was significant was flashing by me
"LAW!" I yelled loudly. With as much strength I had in me
The door had swung opened and Lawliet came rushing in and raced to me, sitting on the bed and placing his hands on my cheeks and lifted my face to meet his.
"Light! Light? What's wrong, what is happening?" He panicked, his dark eyes penetrating my heart, he was so scared and so worried.
"My time is up" I whispered to him
I could see the pain spreading from his eyes to the rest of his face
"Light, no, come on this isn't funny!" He yelled at me
"I am so sorry L, I am so sorry I couldn't make the rest of this journey with you, I love you, I always have"
"Light! No! come one please don't do this to me, LIGHT!" He began to cry, his tears leaking from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks and dripping down onto me.
"It's been great sweetheart" I smiled at him
My heart stopped and I collapsed.