The moment L stepped through the doorway, he was suddenly the focus of dozens of pairs of small eyes. Watari sat in a chair just inside, spectacles on his nose as he peered at a book. He looked up as the door creaked, and L flinched at the screeching sound.

Or maybe that agonizing sound was in his head, rocketing around those inner walls. L couldn't tell the difference, not when there were so many people watching him. Watari sent him an apologetic look, and it boiled L. He knew it would be hard to keep the kids from trying to get a glimpse of the world's top detective, but it didn't seem like he had even tried.

The walls that once seemed so comfortable suddenly seemed suffocating, and his stomach turned. He took a deep breath, in and out. It was fine. L never got flustered. The knot in his stomach eased as Near slipped through the crowd towards him, understanding his predicament. He looked a lot older than the last time he had seen him, nearly three years ago. His hair was longer, but L didn't think that's what it was. He seemed… wiser, almost, than his ten-year-old self. Wiser, smarter, overall just… just more there than he used to be.

"Hey, Ryuuzaki." Both he and L knew the effort of calling him by an alias was futile, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

"Near." He said, dipping his head. He swallowed, praying to god they couldn't see how nervous he was. It was a foreign feeling, but he couldn't help it. It felt as if he was no longer welcome in his childhood home. Watari had made it clear he was, but it was an orphanage, and he was now a grown man. "Could you…?" Near nodded. L didn't have the heart to say he didn't remember where his room was.

Thankfully, no one followed L down the hallway. They all just watched him leave, eyes roaming over him like something they got to eat. A dessert, perhaps.

"It's nice to have you back." Near's voice was soft, as it always was, but it still seemed to reverberate around the house, banging off dark walls. L let a sigh leave his body as the tension started to slip.

"It's nice to be back." L sighed again, longer this time. "Although I can't help but wish it wasn't for this." Near frowned next to him.

"You're back on a case, right?" L wiped a hand over his face. The bags below his eyes seemed even more prominent than usual—even the small amount of sleep he usually got had been dashed these past few weeks. "Are we suspects?" Near asked it calmly, but there was something accusatory in his voice, and he didn't meet L's eyes when he asked. He shook his head, and Near visibly relaxed.

"No," he said, "my main suspect has a connection to BB." Near's eyebrows raised at this.

"Really?" He asked, intrigued.

"Yes." L knew he wouldn't leak the information: if there was anyone he could trust, it was Near. "Has the same pension for gruesome mysteries." He wrinkled his nose. "And jam." Near laughed softly beside him, and the knot eases even more. "I'm going to see how much more information I can get on BB tonight with the files here, but I think I'm going to have to go visit him in the morning." Near paused at the entrance to L's room, his face unsure under the blasé mask both L and Near were accustomed too. L's mask was just a lot thicker than the latter.

"Don't push yourself too hard. BB… well, we all knew him, so it's just more… personal than other cases." He paused. "Do you mind if I help you?" L shook his head, gesturing for the younger to follow him into the room.

"Not at all."

His old room was exactly how he remembered it, to his relief. Same dark walls, same quiet atmosphere. Watari had kept good on his promise to keep the children out. Now, he sat in his chair, knees to chest, to puzzle over a computer screen in the dark. Near sat next to him, a good sport as always. He twirled a piece of white hair around his fingers as he thought, eyes flicking between the papers strewn across the floor and the computer.

"There's a new detective, you know." His voice was a welcome distraction from the line he had been reading, one full of useless information he already knew and didn't need. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere further in this case until he interrogated Beyond, and yet….

"Really?" He blatantly showed the curiosity in his voice: Near would only be telling him this, he knew, if there was some other information attached to it. Usually, a young detective was a common occurrence… but something in his tone made L think otherwise. L liked to think he never relaxed around anyone, but Near seemed to be an exception, for L never seemed to be able to keep that monotone for the entirety of the time he was in the child's presence. He supposed, somewhere in the back of his brain, he saw Near as a little brother. Near kept his eyes fixed on the paper in his hands, scanning it.

"Yes. Solved four cases just this week." L's interest immediately plummeted. An attention seeker. He hated them—it was obvious they were only flaunting their abilities, solving so many cases so fast, and it pissed him off. It didn't take skill to solve that many cases, just luck and a few smart words. He rolled his eyes and went back to work, hands clicking on the keyboard. "Mello says he might even be better than you." To his annoyance, this surprised him. His hands froze on the keyboard in front of him, glancing at the boy next to him.

"Mello said that?" Mello may have been an ass, but he was rarely wrong. The first time he had met him, it didn't take L long to realize he was highly intelligent, even for the kids at Wammy's. It wasn't obvious, hidden by a charade of black clothes and a badass attitude. How much had Mello already found out about this new detective that he thought he could rival L? Near nodded, eyes distant, the way they got when he was thinking. He spoke in a monotone, voice soft, like a hum.

"He's not going under one name right now, but you can tell it's all the same person by the way he solves his cases." He said, "All he ever leaves after a case is wrapped up is a paragraph, with step after step of how he found the culprit. Mello's obsessed with it. Wants to 'learn his craft.'" L snorted despite himself, and Near smiled softly. Near never did anything aggressively, no matter what the circumstances were. He was just that kind of kid. "Watari reckons he'll start using one name soon, so he'll get on the more important cases." L hummed in response.

Sighing, he turned back to the work he knew he should continue. But thank the heavens, because just as he got back into it Mello burst into the room, a furious expression on his face. Blond hair stuck to his flushed cheeks, as if he had been running. "Near!" He said loudly, disrupting the quiet in the room. "Watari just told me you were telling L about R!" I turned to Near, slightly confused.

"R?"

"It's the name the internet is calling him." Near muttered. "Mello thinks that's the name they're going to operate under once they go public." He turned back to the papers. "I doubt it, however. It'll seem like they're copying L by using the one letter." Mello waved his arms in the air, stealing back L's attention.

"I bet he will use it! R is one of the best letters in the alphabet!" He said, "Ravioli! Rodeo! Roxanne!"

"Who's Roxanne?" It's Matt who popped up in the doorway, red hair falling into his eyes. L held in a sigh and closed his computer, drawing Near's eye. He wouldn't be able to get much more work done tonight even if he wanted to. He hadn't seen these kids in much too long, and he could tell by their voices that they missed him.

"Nobody." Near said, abandoning the papers as well. "He's going on about that R character again."

"I see." Understanding dawned on Matt's face quickly—too quickly, L thought, for this just to be another one of Mello's fads. What was different about this R than the rest of them?

"Mello?" L asked hesitantly. He knew he was going to regret it, but he pushed for more information anyway. "Tell me, why do you like R so much?" Mello turned to him, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. He wasn't expecting me to indulge him. L mused, a slight smile falling on his lips. It had been too long since he smiled properly.

"Well, um," Matt rolled his eyes at the back of Mello's head, shooting a knowing smile at Near. Near returned it with only half the enthusiasm, as was normal—Matt didn't seem fazed by it, rather he seemed happy his friend had responded at all. L forced his eyes away from the two of them, focusing once again on the boy in front of him. "He just, like, knows about everything. "No, it can't be Calahan, he was eating breakfast, you can see the stain on his shirt, and everyone knows it takes more than five minutes to cook bacon." And he goes undercover all the time—"

"He assumes." Near chimed in. "Mello just has some fan theory R likes to be on the crime scenes." Mello crossed his arms, glaring at Near, who still sat perched on the chair next to L.

"Don't be stupid." Mello huffed. "L, promise if you ever meet him you'll introduce me?" L weighed the options for a split second before letting out a quiet "Sure." and ruffling the boy's hair.

"But you have to promise not to throw a fit when I don't let you come with me tomorrow." Mello furrowed his eyebrows.

"But where are you going?" L turned, climbing back into his chair and firing up his computer.

"Won't say. Pick now, or you won't get anything from me."

"Alright! I promise not to try to tag along tomorrow." L could feel Near fiddling with his hair next to him: without turning, he addressed the boy.

"You're not coming either."