Dangerous Wishes (Death Note)

贈り物 - Gift

Near twirled a strand of wavy hair and picked up his action figures. Even though almost a month had passed since the final confrontation, he still felt like it had happened just a few hours ago. He didn't know why he was still thinking about it. Kira was just another puzzle. Now that he solved it, he should be moving on to the next case. But he just couldn't allow himself to.

The girl, U, Temari. She was so unexpected in so many ways. Near didn't know what to think. He'd never met a girl as smart and emotion filled as her. It's no wonder that L trusted her so much. She really was one in a million.

However, there was something else about her that Near couldn't get out of his head. He liked the way that she looked. Her hair was much blonder than in her NPA registration picture, but Near didn't mind. There was something about her appearance that captivated him. He wanted to spend more time with her.

So in order to try to get closer, Near had met the task force several times in past few weeks, but U was never there. Matsuda had said that she was still recovering.

"Temari has always kind of had a fragile mindset." The older man had told him, "She doesn't like to see people die. It always takes her a while to come back to us. But she always does." Matsuda had paused then, "And it feels like we lose a little bit of her every time."

Near didn't understand what he had meant by this. How could you lose yourself? He knew that Matsuda didn't mean that she lost herself literally, but how could it be taken another way? Did she lose intelligence? Or wit? Or bravery?

"Rester." Near said, getting the attention of the man working at the desk behind him, "What can I do to make U come back to work with the task force?"

The sturdy man looked up from his computer, "You can't hurry these things, Near. Some people take longer to pull through. Matsuda even told you that she needs her time. We can't rush her."

"But I want to work with her."

"I know you do." Rester sighed, "But she's not like you, Near. She has emotions. She can't just solve a case and then move on. It's more complicated than that."

Near sat up and twirled a piece of his hair, "Explain it to me."

"I really can't." The man shook his head, "That's the thing about emotions; you can't just explain how they are. You have to feel them." He groaned in frustration, "Look, how about I call up Matsuda and ask him what she likes. We can stop by later and give her a gift of something that she enjoys. I'm sure that would help her feel at least a little bit better."

"And would that make her want to come back to work?"

"Yes. Yes it would."

Near turned around and continued to move his toys around, "Alright. Set up the connection."

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"Hello!" Matsuda cheerfully opened the door to the apartment, "Come on in! I'm sorry that my place is a bit small."

"Don't worry about it." Rester assured him and opened the door wider for the boy behind him, who was carrying medium sized package wrapped in blue paper, "Near, do you want to give her this or do you want me to?"

"I'll do it." Near immediately answered.

Matsuda smiled, "Thanks so much for doing this. I'm sure this will make Temari really happy. Her bedroom is the second door to the right."

The short boy cautiously stepped down the hallway, stopping in front of the door that Matsuda had specified. He placed his hand over his heart. It was beating faster than usual. Near took a deep breath. Why was this happening to him? He didn't understand and couldn't figure it out. He'd never been so anxious and unsure of himself before. U did something to him that he couldn't explain.