Stray Shadows (A Death Note Fanfiction) *HIATUS*

Chapter 3: Sleepless Nights and Soup-filled Conversations

But there, sitting at the island, was Near. His eyes were closed, and instead of twirling his white hair like normal, he was rubbing his temple with the same hand he had his head resting on. His other hand was picking at his nails lightly, not enough to actually do anything to them.

It was rare to see him like this; and despite my usual penchant to give him trouble, I let him be, and tried to daintily tiptoe around him.

"Another nightmare?" Near's quiet voice made me jump and I sighed. "Yeah." I felt pretty ashamed to admit it. Children have nightmares, I'm a young adult for fuck's sake! And yet more and more often I was sent to the kitchen in the middle of the night to get comfort food.

I went to the cupboard and dug behind several canned foods before I reached my stash- soup. I'd been hooked on the stuff since even before Wammy's, and I always made sure I had some on hand in case of a rough night.

"You know you don't have to hide it, it is summertime, most people would think it too hot to eat soup." Near reminded me but my inner Gollum hissed 'my precious' and I shook my head. "It's a thing, Near." He didn't comment on it after that, I supposed he learned by now not to question my motives.

I cranked open a can of chicken noodle and prepared it before popping it into the microwave. I leaned against the counter and closed my eyes, listening to the hum of the appliances.

About two seconds before the microwave went off, I snatched a dish towel and yanked the door open before it could beep. Carefully maneuvering the dish towel and bowl, I managed to set it down on the counter without burning my hands on the hot bowl.

It was silent for a bit as I stirred the soup with a spoon in attempt to cool it down some before Near's voice rang out "Would you like to sit down?"

"Eh?" I whirled around and blinked. As far as I knew, Near loved his personal space, as did I, and this was the second time today that either of us breached it. I mean, it would be unwelcome to nearly anyone else, but alas I shrugged and said "Alright." before taking my bowl slowly to the kitchen island across from where he was sitting.

The silence rang out again, as I tried to not burn my tongue again on the hot broth.

"You're not usually this quiet." Near remarked and I raised an eyebrow. Why was he talking so much today? I mean, Near and I did speak, we kind of had to, being on the same team and all, but it was always about the case. Until recently, actually.

I shrugged. "I'm not usually very loud when I eat."

He mouthed a quiet "ah" and nodded. A few bites later, I sighed and put down my spoon. "Near, can I ask you a question?"

"Alright."

"Do you know what happened to Mello?"

He was quiet for a moment, and I began to feel a little panicky. "Near?" I pressed. He exhaled loudly before nodding a little and saying "More or less." in a quiet voice.

I froze, the spoon hovering over the pool of broth and other things. "What?"

"We have... A few theories of his whereabouts. He's been on the down low for the most part, but there have been possible leads." He took out a picture that I hadn't noticed from the breast pocket of his shirt and looked at it for a moment, frowning slightly. He then slid it over to me. I recognized it instantly- I had taken this picture.

Back when I still believed that I had potential to do something worthwhile in my life, I used to take pictures of things, and then recreate them in my own style. I has tried to get a picture of Mello to paint, but he always turned away at the last second or covered the lens with his hand and told me to fuck off.

But one day, for some reason, he agreed to stay still enough for me to take one. I had kept it hidden so long in my room that I'd completely forgotten about it.

I flipped the picture over to see the words 'Dear Mello' written in regal calligraphy on the back. I frowned in confusion. I hadn't written that, my writing wasn't that good. Had Near written that?

"We've been sending out agents all across the world to search for him. I have the feeling we might not be able to find him unless he wants to be found."

I took a deep breath and stood up. "Come on." He looked at me in slight confusion. "Make yourself some soup and then we'll get to work. We've got a lot to do."

A/N: Hey everyone! Finally, I finished this chapter. I have no idea how long this is exactly since I'm typing this on my 'notes' app to avoid Wattpad from deleting it, although I hope it's longer, because I wanted to make it longer since I've been inactive for so long! I'll try harder to be better at it >n< anyways, thanks for all the views and votes! I really appreciate them and I hope you love this story. Comment 'Campbells Soup' if you've read this, and until next time, hopefully soon! ~S