I dreamt of a devil that knew her

20

Spring arrived and it was full of exams and evaluations. Exams where Near scored higher than Mello and Matt.
But not higher than Alternative and Backup. Never higher.

The strange man with the dark eye bags who enjoyed sneaking around eating the pastries disappeared and A was pronounced top of the class by Roger.

But A didn't smile anymore. Not after A broke their foot and couldn't dance ballet anymore.
Alternative had said that they had tripped when the Professor asked them about their foot cast, but Near noticed Backup's reaction when he asked that.
Near had a feeling that Backup broke Alternative's foot, but he never told anyone. Who would he tell? Mello hated Near's guts and Matt was always high, always somewhere nicer.

Near made sure to enjoy Spring. Enjoy the flowers and grass that began to bloom after being covered in 2ft of snow. Near hoped Alternative had enjoyed Spring as well.

~~~~
Summer arrived and the summer heat made Mello intolerable. He had pushed Near, several times, when they were outside running laps under the hot summer's sun. Heat caused aggression and aggression turned to violence.

Roger had to make a special exception to exempt Near from being outside in the sun, so that the bullying could stop.

During the summer, Near spent his afternoons in the library. The dance room was in front of the library and, whenever Near looked up from his books, he could see Alternative dancing ballet through the dance room's huge window.
Near hoped A enjoyed the summer.

~~~~

Autumn arrived and the man with dark eye bags returned. Dead leaves, exams, and bullying came with him.

The one-on-one video calls with L started again for Alternative. But those meetings only lasted a week, because then Backup was scoring the same grades as Alternative.
Just like that. Like if it were that easy.  
Like if Backup just woke up one morning and decided to be top of the class as well.
It had happened before, but in the past months it was Alternative with the perfect score followed by Backup. It was as if Backup wanted A to be first in line, but wanted A to know that he could take that title away whenever he wanted.

In mid Autumn, the mysterious bruises on Alternative's arms started. Near thought it was a coincidence. It had to be a coincidence, until ballet tryouts for an audition started and Alternative had a broken foot again. An accident. Alternative said it was due to falling.

Near hoped more than ever that Alternative was enjoying Autumn.
It was hard with Backup constantly kicking the back of Alternative's chair during lecture.
It was hard with the fact that someone pushed the mysterious man with the dark eye bags off the stairs one night, after he went to go talk to A.
It was hard with all the roses' thorns being carefully hidden on the hall's carpet floor and teacher's chairs.
It was hard, but Near really hoped that Alternative enjoyed Autumn.

~~~~

The accident occurred on the second week of a freezing winter.
Near was drifting into sleep when he heard the fire alarm along with the horrifying screams and running sounds of the other students.

Getting outside was a blur to Near. All he remembered was smoke and  flames on every corner of Wammy's halls.
A firefighter had carried Near outside and placed him in between the orphanage's rose garden and cementery. The freezing snow against his bare feet and penetrating his skin through his light pijamas snapped him back to reality.

"Did you see anything?" Near recognized Mello's voice and turned to look at him. Mello was standing at least 4 feet away from Near. Leaning casually under a tree, surrounded by Linda and Matt.

"Yes." Linda answered, leaning towards Matt who was lighting a cigarette, trying to warm herself. "The fire was coming from Alternative's room. When the firefighter carried me out of my room, I saw four of them going inside Alternative's room. The flames were coming from inside the room. I think Alternative died."

And next thing Near knew was that he was on his knees crying. Near didn't like change. Near didn't want to be in a class where Alternative wasn't sitting next to him. Near didn't like change. Near didn't like change.

"Get it together, sheep!" When Near looked up, Mello, Linda, and Matt were standing in front of him.

"Near get up. You'll get sick." Linda forced Near to his feet and embraced him in a hug. Whether the hug was an attempt to comfort him due to him crying, or to keep him warm, Near would never know. All he knew was that he didn't like being touched but he didn't care. In this very moment that didn't mattered.

"Roger is talking to the police. They think it was Backup who killed Alternative and set the bedroom on fire. Police found these letters and some drawings of A in his belongings."  An older boy ran to Matt waving an almost-burnt paper to Matt's  face. Due to the distance, Near could barely read out 'I love you' phrases before the older boy ran off again to share the information with another group of students.

"That's so sick." Near heard Linda muttered and realized that he was still in her arms.

"How could we have not noticed the warning signs? Anything that could have helped us realize that Backup was going to murder Alternative?" Matt murmured as he blew out smoke from the cigarette.

But Near did notice the warning signs. He should have told someone. He should have told his teachers or Roger everything.
He should have told more students about everything he saw Backup do to Alternative, maybe one of those students would have been brave enough and tell an adult.
He should have told that mysterious man with the eye bags who ate the pastries of the orphanage. Maybe he would have done something.
Near noticed all the warning signs and didn't do anything. He began to sob again.

"Stop crying!!" Mello was frustrated but Near could tell that Mello was sad  too.

Linda cried while comforting Near, Mello expressed his sadness by getting angry, and Matt just suppressed his tears as much as he could and concentrated on smoking his cigarette.
'Maybe they all saw the warning signs too,' Near thought.

"They can't find Backup anywhere!!" Near could hear an older girl yell at a distance.
But, out of the corner of his eyes, Near saw a dark, tall, shadow that resembled B dancing around the dark garden, and running in and out of the burning-in-flames orphanage like if life was a joke.

Near focused his attention on the firefighters running out of the Orphanage, carrying students to the safety of the cold snow. Near waited to see if one of those students being carried outside was Alternative.
But Near never saw Alternative again.

"I hope this stupid competition to see who can become L's successor doesn't cause us to kill ourselves or each other." Matt finally spoke after being quiet for way too long.

"It won't." Mello assured him. His blue eyes showing sincerity.

Near hoped that Alternative enjoyed Spring, Summer, and Autumn, and Near also hoped that this competition wouldn't cause more deaths.