tampered | (no subject)

When; Sept. 2nd
Rating; PG-13 for gore?
Characters; Near

mildlyreckless
Summary; It must be done.
Log;

The sooner it was done, the better.

With the Death Note, Light Yagami could control him at any given moment. Seeing as how he was the only one left alive...He was the prime target. He could be used to gain information from Mello or L himself for up to 23 days before eventually, he died of a heart attack, unless his death was made more gruesome.

He had spoken to L. Everything was set.

It must be done.

Near was not usually accustomed to feeling anxiety. However, as he walked down the hallway, the cold handle of the knife clutched in his hand, his heart pounded with the adrenaline rush of what he was about to do.

He opened the bathroom door, took a deep breath and walked inside the cold white room.

Stepping carefully into the tub, he looked around. There were better ways to do this but...he couldn't risk going outside of his apartment for fear of being seen, nor could he allow someone to be followed up to his room. He had to take care of it now.

Though his logic told him to do it now, he felt himself hesitate. He looked down at the pristine ceramic of the tub, then turned the shower on. Not much caring for the cool temperature, he let himself soak under the stream, clothes, socks and all. He turned his face upwards towards the source of it, and closed his eyes.

He raised the knife and placed the unfeeling metal blade to his throat. He paused for a couple of seconds, letting his heart beat and his breath escape and return.

Now.

He slashed deeply and swiftly. The blood oozed down his front, staining his clothes before being washed away by the cool water. He cried in pain as he swayed on the spot, the knife falling from his hand with a clang to the tub floor. He fell back against the wall of the stall and slid down...down...the darkness overtaking his mind.

Coughing up some blood, he began to go numb. He would return in 24 hours...He would come back and he and L along with the others would bring down Yagami Light...

He let out his last breath and closed his eyes, the stream of water beating steadily on Near's now lifeless white form.

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L was wearing a cloak as he followed after Vash. It was the same he had had for the donut eating contest. The hood was drawn over his face, no mask today.

He kept close to his bodyguard and hissed for a stop when they came to Near's door.

The young detective slid a hand into his pocked and withdrew his copy of his Child's key and slid into the apartment.

The rooms had scattered toys but were otherwise as clean as any home would be with only one person living there.

"Near?" L asked the apartment. No answer. Then he heard the soft sound of running water and ran towards the bathroom, leaving Vash by the door.

He did not return.

Vash frowned slightly as L darted into the apartment and poked his head in through the open door to take a look around. He intended to wait there until L returned, but something was wrong.

"Ryuzaki?" he called, stepping inside. "Is everything okay?"

L sat lotus style in the tub, under the still running water, holding Near in his arms and watching the blood go down the drain. He did not weep but he felt a stab in his unbeating heart.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

Without taking his eyes from the dead teenager L responded to Vash's call.

"I am in here, Vash-kun. The bathroom."

Vash went over to the bathroom and stopped short, staring at the scene in horror.

Oh, God...

He crossed the room and instantly reached to check Near's pulse, already knowing it was too late.

"Wh-What happened?!" he asked in horror. "Who--"

He spotted the knife in the tub and trailed off, tears already sliding down his cheeks.

"...Why?"

L looked up and held the pale blue pill out towards Vash in the center of his palm. His thoughts were unreadable from his expression.

"He was supposed to take this. He acted too quickly."

Vash stared at L hard through the falling water, sifting through the possible meanings of that statement and not liking any of them. In the end, it didn't matter to him. Someone was dead, and there was absolutely no reason for it. Not in Vash's mind.

"...We need a healer," Vash said, turning off the shower and reaching out in an offering to carry Near. "It'll be better if his body's healed before he wakes up again."

L did not say anything nor did he offer Near to Vash, just sat in the water watching the other man carefully. His hand was still outstretched, holding the pill.

A sadness clouded his eyes briefly but he blinked it back and looked at the wall.

"Yes."

Vash looked at L's eyes sadly and took the pill from him, tossing it in the trash.

"It's..." Vash began, but trailed off again and clenched his jaw. They should have gotten there sooner. Just a few minutes sooner and maybe the boy would still be...

Vash reached up and took the towels off of the rack, wrapping one around Near's neck and draping the others over his body before taking Near into his arms and standing up.

"Ryuzaki," Vash said in an empty voice, "Let's go. We'll take him home and find someone to fix him up. Tomorrow he'll wake up, good as new."

L watched Vash again.

"....Yes," he said again and rose in the tub, ready to follow his companion home.