Chapter Text
After the adrenaline of solving the kira case had worn off, Near had been lulled by the boredom. Surely, the murder notebook would be making an appearance some time in the future. Probably sooner than one would think, now that the public was more informed. Kira supporters dreamt of achieving something so grand.
However, currently, that was none of the SPKs concern. They had enough time and money to take a few breaths. More than a few, really. Near had been dedicated to collecting all the collectables he couldn't afford (whether because of financial reasons or spacial ones) while at Wammy's.
He'd been mostly preoccupied with organizing them, sorting them, making private video reviews of each and every one of them. He didn't remember exactly when it all started, when his body had started picking up the momentum.
At some point, the food from his favorite takeaway started tasting different. Maybe they hired a new cook? It also started smelling different. Whatever changes they made, they weren't right to Near's taste buds. He mostly brushed it all off, since the highest probability would be that it's a temporary change.
Though the longer it lasted, the more he suspected that his lifestyle choices might be the culprit. Perhaps, he should try out the healthier options. He didn't have plenty of free time... correction, cooking simply wasn't a priority enough to be put on his free time schedule.
He browsed some of the healthy food options that would satisfy his needs. Ordered a bunch of them, and paid Lidner, Gevanni and Rester who would deliver it to him.
He tried eating healthy for a day... which turned out to be too much for his stomach as it was throwing it all up the entirety of the night.
Maybe eating healthy wasn't enough. Many of the websites recommend fixing a sleep schedule. Things that could help with that were certain products, so he went down the rabbit hole of the sleep essential items. So he ordered a luxury pillow. Now he had two pillows, and whenever he owned two of something he felt the need to collect more.
So he ordered more sleep essentials. It was about time when, instead of focusing on good night's sleep and healthy meals he ended up with a bunch of products and an obsession with said products preventing him from achieving the purpose of those products, that Roger (new Watari) recommended seeing a professional.
He added a doctor's visit to his calendar app, mostly so that Roger wouldn't bother him too much. Turns out, Roger had planned on taking a vacation and seeing how the others at Wammy's were doing, which would leave Near unassisted. Not fully though, he still had the SPK, but they obviously also had their own lives.
So, back to the boredom it was. He wasn't usually the one to be interested in other people's private lives but the miserable state of his mind and body got to him, so much so, that he would catch himself asking the SPK some personal questions.
"A friend?" No, he didn't just show interest in Lidner's private phone conversation, that might even be a sensitive topic after the kira case. "Yes, we have known each other since middle school. We used to attempt the ghost summonings together at sleepovers. Who knows, instead of ghosts, we might have ended up with a few shinigami." She smirked slightly.
No wonder she used to be close to Mello, they really had a lot in common, but also she had the guts to approach him. He always admired her for that.
---
Speak of the devil... That night, Mello appeared in his dreams. "What happened to you? You look terrible." Kind as always. "Nothing much, just a consequence of having a job." "Are you calling me unemployed?!" "You're not? Interesting, never imagined there would be open positions outside our world." Mello looked at him shocked and a bit offended.
"Wai - What? Our world? Sorry mr. American, didn't recognize you there. Can't even go to my motherland of Croatia for saving-our-lives purposes without you calling me an alien. And after I showed you why your catching-kira plans suck at that. That's low even for you, Near."
Why would dream Mello say that? He didn't recall having any such thoughts about him that would lead up to this. And he dreamt about Mello a lot. He dreamt about his death. About his body, about their first kiss... a lot. None of those dreams were like this one though, surprising, but also very immersive. Could it be, that his mind came up with a hallucination?
"Oh great, now you're ignoring me." "Why are you here?" "What? What do you mean why am I here? Didn't you agree to collaborate?" Near barely caught those last few words as they were muffled.
"Near?" Mello rested his hand on Near's shoulder which made Near flinch. Before he broke the contact to throw up. His perception seemed to be very off track. How did Mello, who was dead, just touch him? He started recalling all the events prior to his 'rival's' death, desperately trying to puzzle the pieces while attempting not to come across as too rude.
"I... I think so?" Roger might have had a point, he should probably seek out a professional.
Mello continued to talk about something but Near interrupted him. "How... are you alive?"
Mello stopped for a moment but finally seemed to have caught up to Near's question. "The kidnapping? Well-" "Yes." Mello glared at him for a moment. "I thought about the marriage option... changing my surname. Truthfully I'd have rather died but Matt wouldn't stop bothering me about it. I asked him to marry me instead while we were in Croatia, but that TRAITOR came cosplaying as you and printing fake IDs and documents. Thought it was the funniest thing in the world. So, even though I married him, we're now married on paper. However, I'd consider that Croatian village only. Either way, with a different surname Takada couldn't really off me, thus while I escaped, they concluded that my body got burned."
"Why were you in Croatia?" "I found a new murder notebook." Pause. "Why do you think I was in Croatia? I found out my grandparents whereabouts, so I came over at a free place to stay so Matt and I wouldn't miss the local football matches live for cheap. We also tried some incredible food for free. And the music at wedding was so bad that it was good. Turbofolk, I think they called it."
Near was confused. This all felt too unbelievable. "How long have you been working already?"
"Not long." Said Near looking around the room as Mello did the same. "Right. How long have you been playing with your toys?" "It's been a couple of-" "Days." "Weeks."
They looked at each other. "No wonder you look all exhausted. I think it'd do you some good to take a break. I mean you did throw up earlier, someone's probably going to have to clean that." "Right." Near stood up to search for some wet wipes. "What are you doing?" "Trying to find wet wipes." "No, I think what you meant was trying to go to bed." Even though he felt rude for Mello to clean up after him, Near was relieved to have someone else do so, as Wammy's raised him incapable of proper housework.
It also felt out of place to fall asleep as the whole situation was beyond shocking, but his body was so tired, and the sleeping essentials so accommodating that he wasn't sure when he gave in to sleep.