I dreamt of a devil that knew her

1

Near played on the carpet floor with his toy robot.

He didn't make his toys say anything. He only made them move.

A was sitting a few feet from him on the couch reading a book. Exams were coming up.

Everyone was studying hard of course. Except for Near and Matt.
Near already knew the material, and Matt didn't care enough. Matt rather entertain himself playing video games.
However, when Matt studied, at least for a few minutes, he managed to score higher than both Near and Mello. Without even trying.

Right now, A is in the top of the list to succeed L.

A, or Alternative, would always study really hard. All the professors at Wammy's expected a lot.

The exam was on physics.
A sat on the first row and first chair on the physics class.
Near sat on the second row first chair.
He liked this chair. His view was the Professor and A.

A was nice to him. Didn't envy Near like the other kids. Didn't get angry at Near when he would answer all the questions the professor would ask, not giving anyone time to even process the question.
Maybe A liked not being the center of attention for being first in line to be a successor. Maybe. Near would never know.

Like always, Alternative finished the exam first. 
She got up and walked to the front of the desk.
Always standing up straight. Always looking people in the eyes. Smiling.
Maybe A thought that by smiling it would help her grade. Would make the Professors be lenient on her grade.
But A was wrong if she thought this would help.
Professors were harder because she was a woman. They wanted to break her. Didn't believe she was good enough to be first in line to become the next L.

But she was. She was top of the class after all.

Or maybe she only smiled to hide how sad she felt.

A walked out of the class, back straight, head held high, just to lower her gaze after she was out of the classroom and go cry in the restrooms for the next 10 minutes. Near had heard other students saying A always did this after exams. Study all night, be first to finish the exam, go cry in the restroom doubting her abilities, and then eat only an apple or skip lunch for the rest of the day.

Like always, Mello finished second. Near felt his blue eyes glaring at him. If looks could kill, Near would already be dead.

But Near didn't look up to meet Mello's eyes. He rather not.

Matt got up. Him and Near made eye contact.

Maybe Matt had actually studied for the exam.

Near finished and turned in his exam. He went to his room and sat on the carpet and continued playing with his toy robot.
After all, he was just a kid and life was a nightmare.