𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄

四十三 | 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐄

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄
𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐄

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Near sat alone in the main room.

The monitors beeped around him, the glow of the computer light cast eery shadows on the metallic walls, the ventilation system kept up a steady stream of air that chilled the space.

He shouldn't have been alone, but he was.

Matsuda and Gevanni were out on a coffee run since it was so late. He didn't know that their bodies were lying in a hallway only three floors down. Lidner was in her room taking a shower. He didn't know that the water had long since turned cold with her body resting lifeless against the tile floors, blood hair matted to her face while her blood mixed with the liquid. Mogi was resting in his room. He didn't know that he was propped against a wall bleeding out. And then there was Aizawa who had just called it a night so he could return home and spend some time with his family. He didn't know that his body was right outside the room.

Near didn't know any of this.

Because, unknown to him, Arata had killed them all with the help of having had all cameras disabled remotely beforehand.

So, he was vulnerable.

And, too caught up in his own thoughts to realize the situation he was in.

Fiddling with a strand of his hair, Near thought back to the last couple of weeks with (Y/N). There were times when he had seen a more vulnerable side to her than he expected, and it usually revolved around her parents. When he had dug up any information he could about her, he learned that she had had an older brother named Ken who she had watched died, resulting in several years of therapy to get over such a sight.

And she blames her parents for that.

It never changed.

He could see the loathing in her eyes whenever he brought them up.

See the hatred.

The absolute detest.

Of course, this didn't erase the chaotic and raging force that she was, he having never expected her. And, for the first time in his life, someone was able to warp what was his world.

She evoked emotions out of him not felt before.

Thoughts not thought before.

Wantings not needed before.

Because of her, everything was skewered and messed up, and he couldn't control such a factor.

Glancing down at the figurines before him, Near picked up the one that he had dubbed as Kira-S, turning the small piece around in his hands with amusement. If he were being completely honest with himself, he knew that (Y/N) had to be Kira's Successor, for there was undeniable evidence that she had no qualms about taking someone's life. The only problem was that he didn't want that.

He hated her.

She confused him.

But he knew.

Knew that no matter how much she drove him crazy, he would still want her.

"I wonder..." Near exhaled softly as he stared at the figurine in hand, his gaze intense and one filled with a type of emotion that couldn't be fully identified. "...what was it about you, (L/N)(Y/N)? I despise people like you who murder others to justify their own twisted view of the world... but why can't I despise you? I've tried to incorporate you into this investigation just like the late L did with Light Yagami, hoping you would reveal yourself... but you don't adhere with my plans at all. It's frustrating... aggravating... yet..."

He stopped himself.

He recalled that day when investigating schools due to the times when criminals were killed.

The day when he first caught sight of her.

Of (Y/N).

She had been the only one out of thousands of students to pick out the security cameras that he had set up, the only one to look so at ease during those checks, the only one that caught his eye. Maybe he knew from the beginning that all along, she would ensnare him in her web, and that he would willingly let himself be trapped. Now that he was truly thinking about it, he had always been interested in her case.

In the murderer who killed criminals.

Not with a notebook.

But with a knife—with a single stab wound to the neck to finish them off.

Near scoffed.

A murderer and a detective...

Such a cliche and stupid theme... but one that I'm willing to accept if it's her.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Near pictured (Y/N)'s face so clearly detailed in his mind. He pictured moments with her, emotions because of her, and questions about her.

Yeah...

There's no doubt about it.

Standing up, his back slightly hunched to allow a shadow to cross over his face because of his messy white hair, Near approached the computers all around him. Clicking a button, images upon images swathed the screen, all being of one singular person. Sitting, standing, in school, with her friends, sleeping, studying, reading, drawing, at home—every picture was of her in various positions. He didn't know when this obsession for her started, when he began to spiral further and further downward, but all he did know that he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

Just as he was about to leave not even three minutes after Aizawa, he stopped.

His hand hovered over the keyboard, something tugging at the corner of his mind. Clicking around a few keys and typing in a few codes and numbers, his eyes widened when watching the security cameras come back online to showcase a gruesome sight: all of his men, slaughtered. His jaw worked when catching sight of Gevanni, Mogi, and Matsuda being among the fallen. He assumed Lidner was already gone, too

Siphoning through the images and screens before him, he stilled upon a certain one.

Aizawa.

Dead.

Sprawled out only feet away from the door to the room which he was currently in.

When Near clicked to the screen of the security camera of said room, his eyes widened when seeing himself. And behind him, a man with a machete raised with the intent to kill, ready to bring the blade down onto his neck. 

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To be continued...