DN: Next Kira; Vol 4: Collapse

Chapter Twenty-Four (PART TWO): Meeting Near

JANUARY 28, 2003

AROUND 8:21 AM

TOKYO, JAPAN

                                                                                           MARIE

"Anna!!!" I heard Mr. Yamamoto shout. I woke up gasping after I heard him shout out my name. "Trying to sleep in my class, eh?" he asked as I looked up at him. I was speechless and didn't know what else to do but hesitate with my words. "It's perfectly fine, Itsuki," I heard Principal Mizuki say as I looked up at him. "Alrighty, class, if you wanna study, work on homework, play on your flip phones, PSPs, take a nap, or whatever, then you are free to do so, but whatever you do please do not disturb the other people around you. We'll try to think about a lesson that we'll give to you tomorrow." Mr. Yamamoto turned around and walked to Principal Mizuki. "You better have my Algebra classes not wasted with free time for the students!" he snapped. "Don't worry," Mr. Mikami assured him. "They can write some haikus for fun." Mr. Yamamoto sighed in annoyance. "Ooh, I would like one!" Alissa said. "Me too!" Osuke said as he held his hand up. "I would like one too!" I heard a girl say. I turned around and saw a girl who had long natural deep red hair and teal eyes who looked like she had come from America too.

"Okay," Mr. Mikami said. "Anyway, for those of you who want to create your own haikus for fun and not for grades, I'll leave the sheets of paper here." "What a cheapskate," Mr. Yamamoto said under his breath. I watched as Alissa and Osuke got up from their seats so that they could get their sheets of paper. I then saw a couple that I hadn't seen before. They were both of African American descent and there was something that was very unique about them...especially the girl. She had her hair braided from her roots to her tips and was dyed a bold red that reminded me of Ariel's hair color from The Little Mermaid. The guy stood out because of his black-to-blonde ombre dreadlocks, but I did notice that he wore a Smash Mouth t-shirt and blue jeans. Right before the girl that I had seen in class which was the one with the deep red natural hair got her paper, Mr. Mikami got the class' attention by clapping his hands.

"Alright, everybody," he began. "Class, I want to introduce you to a couple of new students." The couple that he was referring to turned around and faced us with smiles on their faces. "This is Hailey and Daemon," he continued. "Be sure to welcome them with open arms." Everybody in the classroom whispered and chattered about them as they got their pieces of paper. Right after getting their pieces of notebook paper, they went to go find a place to sit down. "Sit with us," Alissa offered which they accepted as I watched them sit down at the table where she and Osuke were at. I then got up and went straight to the boy who looked like L but had white hair. I sat down across from him and watched as he built something with the Jenga blocks. I was kind of bummed to find out that he wasn't wearing the Link hat anymore, but that didn't stop me from trying to strike up a conversation with him.

"Hi," I told him. He looked up at me after I said that, but didn't answer. "Koni'chiwa," I greeted him again. The guy looked up at me again and made eye contact with me. "I can speak perfectly good English, you know," he responded. I backed away a little bit. "Sorry," I told him. "So...why didn't you respond back right after I said, "hi"?" That's when I heard footsteps approaching me. I turned around and saw a woman with long black hair in a formal suit with a black necktie. "Don't mind him, dear," she told me. "He's just a little shy, sweetheart. He doesn't mean to be rude or anything." I then heard another pair of footsteps approaching me. I looked up and saw Ms. Hirota standing there. "Ah, hello, Marie," she said. The guy that looked like L slightly turned and looked at Ms. Hirota. "I'm so happy to see you today." She then looked down at the guy who looked like L. "Near, this is Marie," Ms. Hirota told him. The guy whose name was Near turned and looked back at me. "Marie, this is Near," she continued. "I'm not so sure if you know this since many people aren't supposed to know this, but the former L passed away over five years ago and Near is now planning to take his place as the New L."