How to Make the Deadpan Boy Cry
Rating: PG-13
Pairings/Characters: Near, Mello, Aizawa, Mogi, Matsuda, Roger (with mention of Matt)
Warnings: Mild disturbing imagery. MxN implied. Not beta-ed.
Notes: Set shortly after Book 12, last chapter.
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Japan, March 2011

It was a sickening month of horrid weather. A warm gust of wind blew through the heat wave as the sirens of the ambulances and police cars rang through the morning air. Rushed footsteps, angry words and confusion lingered in the morbid atmosphere of the quiet neighborhood while passer-bys stood around. Some were murmuring, some stretching their necks trying to get a glimpse, some shedding their eyes and a couple of others who could not withstood the scenario, barfed up their breakfast.

Two police officers, who had first arrived at the scene earlier that morning, shuffled to the three man who had just stepped out of their car. Aizawa, Mogi and Matsuda were slightly disturbed by the half hysterical and agitated expression on their faces while they were reporting to them. When another small warm gust of wind blew through, they nearly threw up at the stench.

They had expected the murderer to show off yet another of his sadistic creative execution that would make them experienced a whole new level of downright disgusted again. And the murderer did not disappoint.

A vertical row of five individual skewered children stood, side by side, like statues on the grass patch beside the playground. Four boys and one girl, ages between three to five years old. All dressed in white and impaled with a long bamboo stick. An estimated 30 frenzied blows using a hard object crushed all their skulls. Random needle holes were found throughout their bodies. Blood on their clothing had dried and turned into a dark red color, almost black. And none of those can triumph the eerie peaceful look on their faces. Just like the previous two cases.

Mogi could not look at the children any longer, turned to face Aizawa and calmly asserted the situation with him. From the intolerable rotting stench, Aizawa deduced that they had been dead for around five days before being impaled. "I'm thinking of asking Near for assistance since we have not seen any progress in these child murders up to this point..." Aizawa said, eyebrows furrowing. Mogi let out a defeated sigh before nodding his head. Aizawa gave Mogi a pat on his shoulder and saw Matsuda examining something on the other end.

Matsuda had noticed a kite on a tree near the playground and out of curiosity, took it down to examine. It was a badly tattered kite with some nonsensical writings on it. Matusda's eyes widened when he saw the signed off name. He felt a lump in his throat and an uneasy feeling in his stomach and he could hardly contain himself.

"You guys won't believe what I just found!!" Matsuda's sudden outcry earned him quite an eyeful of furious and quizzical stares. "It's... Mello!!"

Aizawa and Mogi thought that the sight of the skewered children had been a little too much for Matsuda to handle. The latter had vomited right on the spot the second he saw the horrifying scene and staggered off to the other side of the playground to calm himself down.

Matsuda ran over to them, clutching the kite tightly in his hand, and panted excitedly. "This... Mello... alive... can't be- be... dead...!"

Aizawa ignored his incoherent statement and took over the kite from him. He squinted at the jumbled alphabets, which does not seemed to make any sense, and when he flipped over, the entire side of that kite was filled with a non-breaking repetition of 'HATE' in full capitals. Though at first look the whole thing seemed like nonsensicality, there was some sort of pattern to it and he did not ignored the fact that it might be a cipher. Mello's signed off bugged him. Unfortunately, he does not know how Mello's handwriting looked like and could not resolve the mystery on the spot. Also, there could always be another person whose name is Mello...

It was puzzling enough how the kite landed on the tree near the crime scene in the first place. Since he had decided to request assistance from Near, he would passed the kite to him.

...

England, Winchester, The Wammy's House, July 2000

Roger had been surprised when Near agreed to participate in the first annual kite flying event. As far as Roger could recall, Near rarely joined in any of the House events which required human interaction. The first annual kite event required all the children to team up with a fellow housemate to create a kite. The best design would gave its creators a chance to choose their Christmas present at the end of the year. Roger did not believe that was the factor which could have attracted Near. It would also be quite a task to team Near with a house mate since everyone else had their own best friend and the fact that Near was a loner didn't helped either.

Ironically, Mello had forsaken Matt and volunteered to be Near's team mate. Matt had been annoyed and Roger reluctantly agreed since he was aware that the blond boy had never been too fond of the loner. Still, he had hoped the teamwork between the two prodigies would not turned out to be an epic disaster of some kind.

"You shouldn't divide the kite in this manner." Near stated, breaking the silence.

"Say what?" Mello looked up, his hand still working on coloring the black for half the kite. He had thought it would be good to separate the kite into two halves, black and white. Near could work on the white side and he would take charge for the black.

"Mello-" Near paused for a moment, twirling his hair and stared intently at Mello's moving hand. "Why did you choose to be my team mate?"

Mello stopped his coloring and let out a snicker. "I just want to see how it feels like to work with the person you hate."

"I see." Near knew that he was asking the obvious and his gaze moved to stare at the kite. "So how does it feel?"

"Not too bad... And if you'd actually start cooperating and do something for your side of the kite, it might lessen my hatred for you."

"Mello, teamwork involves discussion. However, you have planned everything and assigned tasks for me without listening to my suggestion."

"And then I bet we'll end up doing things your way."

"..."

"Okay, I'm regretting this whole teamwork thing with you." Mello dropped the crayon onto the table and picked up some kite materials and a new box of crayons. "I'm still insisting on the same kite layout, whether you like it or not. You can do whatever you want for the white side. I'm going back to my room now and will be back later to finish my side of the damn kite."

With that, Mello stomped out, leaving Near alone at the project room.

Back in his room, Mello threw the kite materials and box of crayon onto his bed. He was aware of how ridiculous he had turned that situation into. It was a silly attempt to work with Near. He could not even figure out why he would be bothered to in the first place. Probably he was sick of his behavior towards Near and wanted to change things? However, Mello had always stood by his belief that his hatred for the white-haired boy would never ceased... On second thought, does he really hate Near just because he was always first...?

Mello sat down on the bed and started to make a kite. When it was completed, he reached for the box of crayons and wrote a string of random alphabets on the kite. After he was done, he let out a heavy sigh and flipped it to the other side, scribbling a string of 'HATE' which extended all the way to the bottom.

You see it soar, delighting in its escalation
And when it soars, oh when it soars
You ride upon it, any way it soars

Near held on to their kite, lifting it into the air to catch wind while Mello ran with its string. When the kite took flight, Mello maneuvered it only for a while before handling it over to Near. Near studied the kite while giving it a soft tug and pull every once in a while.

When the kite was in his hand, Near felt indifferent about it. It was a kite done by two people, not a team, and certainly not worth any compliments for its design. However as he watched the kite soared, he felt himself soaring with it. At times the kite threatened to dip when the white clouds distracted him and it would always bounced back when he gave it a tug. And there was no need to run; just a brisk walk and the kite would rode on the wind easily. It was as simple as that and yet it was not easy because of the wind's unpredictability.

Another kite came into his view and even though it was almost a tiny speck in the sky, he could roughly made out that there were wordings on it. His gaze followed the kite's string down and he was not surprised to find that it was Mello, who was standing about six feet away.

"You made another kite."

"Yeah..." Mello answered, eyes still focusing on his kite. "It's teamwork after all so you can fly our kite since I ruined your opportunity to present your suggestions."

"Is there a need?"

"For my frustration, yes."

'Frustration?' Near knew that it was not a foreign emotion for Mello even though it was interesting, the way he had scowled.

Just then, Mello's kite string snapped and both of them saw, just in time, his kite caught in the wind and moved to a new course. "Well, who knows it might find us again someday."

Near was slightly taken aback by that comment. He had expected Mello would snapped and walked off with angry words.

"Mello, there's no logical relation in that statement."

"Oh, shut up, Near... Seriously, you need more emotions in your life." Mello said and walked up to Near, stopping about a feet away. "Maybe you'll see the logic to it... that is if it ever finds you."

Near watched as Mello walked back to the house. He tried to make sense of what Mello had told him and it just confused him even more. And when Near had realized, their kite had dipped and landed onto a nearby tree.

You see it descend, lamenting at its plunging
And when it descends, oh when it descends
You fall with it, any way it descends

...

United States, March 2011

Roger left Near's room quietly after he had placed the bar of chocolate and a courier package on his table. Near stopped his typing on the laptop and grabbed the chocolate, peeled off the wrapper and took a bite. He took a brief look at the courier package before taking it and settled himself down in the middle of a pile of toys.

When Aizawa told him what they had found, Near was stunned. It was a miracle. If Shinigamis existed, so should miracles. So Near did not felt the need to give them the benefit of the doubt and now that the package laid in front of him, it felt surreal. Slowly, he pulled the kite out of the packaging and the sight that greeted him made him smiled a little. The way in which the word 'HATE' was scrawled throughout that side of the kite was all too familiar for Near. It was something which Near had grown used to. And it was also the thing that had made him felt a little empty and restless ever since the end of the Kira case.

Flipping over to the other side of the kite, the nonsensical arrangement of the letters immediately dawned on him that it was a cipher. He recalled how Matt used to be addicted to cipher related games right before he was given his first gameboy. Mello and he were no strangers to Matt's favorite ciphering method, even though it was much of a child's play, and they used to pass notes around in that manner during classes.

Hence, it was with ease, that Near deciphered the message...

[I guess I did like you, somehow. You are always so conveniently predictable and calm while I am the opposite. We would make good teammates, seeing how we could make up for each other's flaws. But I just could not bring myself to admit it. That is just not me. So hating you is the best way to keep up with this competition...

You know, your predictability scares me. If only you have an idea just how many times I have been saving your ass these years. But even if I am going to keep on hating you, you will find me always next to you, no matter where we are. And I want you to keep working on what you are doing because I will always be watching. Always.

Mello]

...And it was with ease when tears formed in his eyes for the first time since forever.