12The former L, now known as Near, had continued to explain any shred of information his successor would need in order to bring this case to a close. It would be a challenge and he was risking his life; the new Ryuzaki knew this, but he also relished such a thing. Lately, days at the institution were quiet and uneventful. Even the constant competition with Mello had become a chore hardly worth his energy; Mello was still just so…immature. Not that he wasn't immature, but at least he didn't run around flaunting it while constantly chomping on a chocolate bar.
He had asked why he was chosen, despite the fact it was an inappropriate question. The answer had come, however, without ridicule on asking it. The new L had to look and act exactly as the old one and the new Near had to do the same for his own counterpart. Mello wasn't the type of person to be able to do such a thing. That and the new L doubted he would be able to sacrifice eating chocolate for the good of the assignment.
So therefore it was up to him now; there was no room for mistake. 'L' did not make mistakes, not typically anyway, and especially not concerning his thought process or his peculiar habits. The new L had to be a clone, a doppelganger; indeed, there was no room for error.
XXX
L exited the building hours later after being transformed into a completely different person; now he was Near and had to think of himself as such. It took three minutes from the time he called Roger to when the man pulled up in front of the building's entrance; he had undoubtedly been parked a block or two away. Before he walked out the door he stopped and turned to the old man with the newspaper. His dark eyes grew sad and distant as he regarded his former right-hand man, and then against his better judgment he issued a word or two of parting.
"Until next time. This is goodbye, Wammy," he said, his old voice escaping him.
The old man's eyes met his and within them Near could see the promise of meeting again, as well as the promise that he would do everything in his power to keep the new L safe, just as he had with the old one.
With that he walked away without waiting for a response, for he knew this was enough of one, quelling the sorrow in his heart. There was a good possibility he would never encounter the old man again, despite the man's hope, but he wouldn't let that weaken his thought process.
Though he had expected to feel relieved as he stepped through the door, instead the weight on his shoulders set heavier. What he was doing was cowardly; Ryuzaki, no matter how intelligent he was, would probably fail. To be honest, Near didn't expect him to succeed. But these were the measures he had to take in order to bring Kira's victims to justice. Ryuzaki would be sending him information through Watari, so he would still be able to keep up with the Kira case. Now he would just be working on the sidelines, as he had been in the very beginning.
This in mind, he climbed into the car where Roger waited patiently. The man's brow furrowed as he peered at Near through the rear-view mirror and then he sighed wistfully, as if knowing this day would eventually come.
"Hello, Near," he greeted as the boy took his usual position in the back seat; one would never be able to catch the moment of discomfort that crossed his face.
"Hello, Roger," he replied smoothly, his voice now disguised.
As Near arrived at the institution, he went immediately to his room. He passed Mello on the way, but the boy was too busy eating a chocolate bar and openly glaring at his rival to pay any attention to the slight differences in Near's features. But then again, Mello often missed the more important, smaller details when emotion was involved; it was one of the reasons he was disguised as he was.
Now the boy stared at himself in the mirror, wondering if what he did was right. His mind told him yes, that this was the best course of action in order to catch Kira, but his heart wasn't so sure. It still felt like he was running away from death.
His musings were halted as he heard the soft 'click' of the doorknob and then Mello strode in. He leaned against the wall next to where Near was seated, licking his newest treat.
"So, where were you today?" he asked, though his tone clearly gave away the fact he demanded an explanation.
Nonetheless, Near ignored him; he didn't feel like answering. As Ryuzaki, he would have come up with some truthful-sounding joke, but Near would not do this; he would merely dismiss the question.
"Rumor has it you are now L's successor," Mello stated to try a different approach, folding his arms so that his mouth could still reach the candy in his left hand.
"That is incorrect. I was merely called in for another test," Near provided.
He didn't want anyone to know 'Near' had been chosen as the new L. This would increase any suspicion later on that they had switched identities. He had to make Mello believe he was still only a possible candidate or else his plan could be compromised.
Mello sneered at him, wordlessly telling him that he was jealous and that he vowed to outdo his rival when the time came for his meeting with L. Sensing this would be a problem, Near continued.
"L and I did not meet. He had to cancel at the last minute because of the Kira case."
"Then next time tell me when you're meeting him. I don't want to miss anything that would prove I will be a better L."
"Of course, Mello," Near replied, thinking at the same time, 'It's a bit late for that…'
The boy left promptly after making his point. Near relaxed slightly, content to be alone once more; he had always felt safer and more at ease when he was in his own company.
Fatigue ripped through him suddenly, not surprising him in the least; it had been four hours since he'd had any sort of sugar. From now on though, he had to be Near, so sweets were out of the question. He wondered if his addiction would get the better of him; Mello's chocolate had looked pretty inviting. But he knew he could handle any physical downfalls to this sudden change in diet; he had no choice in the matter and it would be healthier for him, actually. His only concern was the effect it would have on his deductive reasoning; already it was down 20 percent due to the fact he had to sit with only one knee to his chest from now on.
Dismissing these thoughts, he changed into his pajamas and took one last look at himself in the mirror. He hardly recognized himself with the silver-white hair, shorter cut, and the lack of eyeliner to cover the bags under his eyes. It surprised him, only making his confidence in playing this role heighten; if he could fool himself, he surmised, he could certainly fool the rest of the world and Kira as well.
He climbed under the covers of his bed, feeling awkward; it had been years since he'd slept laying down, or had decided to sleep. He gathered his knees to his chest, curling up like a cat beneath the sheets. His feet overlapped one another to keep in position, leaving his hands free to rest at his chin. Thoughts ran through his mind, each one even more brilliant than the last, until they blended together and eventually faded into dreams.
XXX
Ryuzaki exited his room the next morning, as if he had been there the entire night. In truth, he had been flying back to Japan via L's private jet; after landing he'd reentered the Kira case headquarters by a passage only he and Watari knew about. Well, Near knew about it too; it went without saying.
It was the second morning of his being free from Light. However, this would be the first time he actually met the man. Light Yagami was supposedly free of suspicion, but Ryuzaki, and Near as well, weren't convinced; there were too many factors that didn't add up, such as, why hadn't Kira killed Light and Misa if he was merely controlling them?
That and the abrupt behavioral change that had occurred in the cell…what had Light said before that happened? 'I'll just have to get rid of it…' The sentence had seemed so…dramatic, unnecessary; it wasn't like Light to be that way…unless he said it purposely. If the Kira power could be handed off so easily, with only a well-placed phrase…everything would fit. Misa's behavior had changed abruptly as well, as if she had no idea what was going on. But her words had been different; 'I can't take it anymore…' They could easily be taken to mean the Kira power. The rest of the investigation team thought she had merely cracked, but Ryuzaki wasn't convinced of that. He didn't believe he would have suspected either of them if not for something he wasn't seeing…something subliminal. Perhaps it was just a certain look in their eyes…
If he could find out what that something was, then he could easily catch Kira. The only problem would be evidence. If only he could find a way to prove his suspicions were correct…right now he had a strong feeling that the answer lay within the Shinigami.
So his first course of action was to interrogate this Shinigami known as Rem. A thought occurred to him suddenly, causing his muscles to tense; was the Shinigami able to know a person's name just by looking at them? If so, there was no doubt Rem would notice the sudden name change. Hadn't Near thought of that? What good was his disguise if there was a chance the Shinigami was able to see right through it? Should he even risk contact with the otherworldly god?
No, he reasoned; secluding himself now after being exposed for so long would merely cause suspicion among the rest of the investigation team. Besides that, it didn't seem as if the Shinigami was on anyone's particular side. It wouldn't matter at all to a God of Death if a human suddenly switched identities. Perhaps if they were curious creatures, Rem might have asked, but the nature of the Shinigami seemed to be indifference toward the human race. Even if he did mention the change, he could easily make up an alibi. It would jeopardize the mission significantly, but if it was necessary…there was no other option if that happened.
One thing was certain; he wouldn't know until he tested the theory out and stalling this in order to ponder things he couldn't prove yet would only waste valuable time. So, without further delay, Ryuzaki took the elevator the first floor.
He had prepared himself to encounter the Shinigami, but his resolve fled as he laid eyes on the creature; the black orbs widened at the sight. He collected himself quickly; his mishap had only lasted a second and had avoided detection, but that short amount of time was all anyone needed in order to see through his disguise. Perhaps the others would be fooled with a simple, "I have yet to get used to you, Rem," but Light would not. Light knew 'L' wasn't fazed by anything twice and he had already used up his quota the moment he had touched the Death Note.
He carried this particular item now; he had received it after the meeting with Near and had taken the liberty of examining its contents the previous night. He assumed Light would protest his taking the notebook, for the man's eyes narrowed as he now noticed his presence. But because that would make Light seem suspicious, he kept his tongue; Ryuzaki knew his reasoning revolved around the fact Light had only been recently cleared, or so he believed.
"Good morning, Light-Kun," Ryuzaki greeted, climbing onto the couch with the notebook in hand.
Light paused and his eyes widened to a questioning stare as he watched Ryuzaki climb onto the couch and settle into his normal position. He ordered an ice cream cone from Watari, who had beaten him downstairs, and then called Rem over. The Shinigami stood in front of him, the creature's feet only barely touching the ground. Ryuzaki held the notebook up to the God of Death by his thumbs and forefingers and began the interrogation again. After watching him for a while, Light spoke up.
"You seem…determined today, Ryuzaki," he stated thoughtfully, watching the other closely due to a certain suspicious feeling he couldn't quite place.
"I suppose I am determined," Ryuzaki replied, placing a thumb to his lips in deep contemplation, "I know the clues to solving this case are right in front of me, so I guess you could venture to say…I am excited as well to be so close to winning."
Ryuzaki smiled childishly, but there was a certain seriousness in his eyes. They seemed to give away the fact he was anything but a child and blatantly reminded the investigation team this young man was considered a genius detective. Perhaps the excitement he felt toward breaking into the truth of things gave him even more of an advantage.
XXX
Near awoke feeling, quite ironically actually, like a brand new person. This was the first time in years he had actually gotten a good night's sleep; for the past decade he had slept only when he dozed off during research due to fatigue. He was so used to living solely on the energy he got from sugar that he'd forgotten how good it felt to be this refreshed. His thoughts were clearer than ever; he hadn't thought this well in a very long time.
He spent the morning familiarizing himself with his new room. That however, took only a handful of minutes so he moved on to finishing a couple of the model airplanes whose packages were untouched; Near always finished them in one sitting.
Later on he went to breakfast, making sure he had the timing right. Then he proceeded to the library to work on some of the theories he had encoded on his computer and in various notebooks. That took the better half of the day. At last he returned to his room to incorporate his findings into his computer and then he began on the Kira case. Since no new information was sent from Watari yet, he opted to look over the facts of the case for the millionth time, willing for something new to click.
A/n- so it's getting better, right? Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews would be nice, of course.