SPOILERS for the whole Death Note series.

“Watari?” L inquired into the microphone in front of him as he held down the ‘W’ button.
“Yes, Ryuzaki?”
“I want you to send me the three top students at Wammy’s House. I have a job for them.”
“…As you wish.”

The other line went dead, and L looked out the window at the steadily falling rain. Involving children in this case was the last thing he wanted to do… But it had to be done.

To catch Kira.

To save the world.

---

Three Days Before - L’s headquarters.

How did you trick me into this, Yagami Light? thought Rem. Now I’ll have to kill Ryuzaki, Watari, and myself…all to save Misa.

The Shinigami glanced at the picture of Watari sitting on L’s computer desk, memorizing the name – Quillish Wammy. Then her gaze fell on Ryuzaki, and she added his name to her memory – L Lawliet. She glared one last time at Light, who had an air of smugness around him, before sinking through the wall at the back of the room.

Alone now, she opened her Death Note, flipping to a blank page and putting her special Shinigami pen to the paper. But before she could write anything down, she realized her hand was beginning to turn into sand.

Wha –

She hadn’t –

Oh, no…

She didn’t even have time to write the first - and last - letter of Ryuzaki’s true name. Her pen slipped from her disintegrating hand, falling into the pile of sand accumulating at her feet. Her body was turning to sand. She was dying.

The pages of Rem’s Death Note fluttered as the Shinigami’s soul left the pile of sand and bone that was her only remains. Light’s last chance to kill L Lawliet had just disappeared into thin air, or, rather, a pile of dirt, with the Shinigami who hadn’t written down the name of a human for a very long time.

---

Winchester, England – Wammy’s House

“Mello, please give that back to me.”
“No way! Why do you even play with these stupid toys, anyway?”
“They’re not stupid.”
“Yes they are!”
“…”
“Ha! You admit it! You don’t need this. I’m going to go throw it out - ”
The blonde fourteen-year-old holding the robot up in the air over a small white-haired boy was cut off when an elderly man grabbed his wrist.

“That’s enough, Mello.”

Mello stuck his tongue out at Roger childishly, wrenching his hand easily out of the man’s grasp and dropping the robot on the ground so that one of its arms popped off.

Roger frowned at him and said, “I would punish you, but you are both needed by Watari.”

“Watari?” gasped Mello, completely forgetting about what had just happened. “He wants… us?”

He glanced over at Near, his aqua-blue eyes narrowing.

“Both of you… and Matt, too,” sighed Roger, “Could you go fetch him for me, Mello?”

“Sure,” said Mello, perking up at the mention of Matt. The two of them were the best of friends. Bringing the gamer along would surely make up for having to also bring Near.

Before the blond left, however, he made sure to kick the recently retrieved robot out of Near’s hands as he ran by. Cackling, he ran off to his room to find Matt.

Near recovered the robot yet again, also grabbing the discarded arm and snapping it back into place. He was completely emotionless as he did so, not looking upset or angry, as he must have felt inside. He got up slowly, standing, slightly hunched, next to Roger, waiting for Mello to return.

In a few minutes, Mello was back, a redhead wearing goggles and clinging to a DS following right behind him. As he approached Near, the white-haired boy clutched the plastic robot to his chest protectively, fearing it would be snatched up and destroyed again. But Mello ignored Near and his toy, instead walking straight past him and Roger, heading towards Roger’s office. Roger quickly walked after Mello, side by side with Matt, who somehow managed to play his game and walk in a straight line at the same time. Near took up the rear, still hugging his robot.

Mello stopped by the door to the office, waiting for Roger to catch up and open it for him, then marching through like he owned the place. Matt and Near entered behind him, each taking one of the three seats in front of the desk. Mello on one end, Matt in the middle, and Near on the other end, twirling a lock of white hair in one hand and cradling his toy in the other. A small ‘crack’ sounded from Mello’s side of the room, meaning that the blond had brought a chocolate bar with him. No surprise.

Roger sat across from the children at his desk, looking at them through his glasses. “As you all know, Watari called for you earlier.”

“Yeah, we know that. Why are you telling us again?” mumbled Mello, annoyed. He took another bite out of his chocolate bar, rolling his eyes.

“Thank you for the rude interruption, Mello. May I continue?”

“Feel free,” drawled Mello.

Roger’s fingers twitched. Mello was, basically, his worst nightmare come to life. He was irritating, disrespectful, and altogether just nasty. Roger could not stand him. Thank God he would be leaving very soon…

“Watari told me,” he went on, “That L wanted all three of you to come and visit him. You all know about the Kira case, which is probably L’s biggest and scariest case yet. He needs your help to solve it. But, as it is going to be very dangerous for you to help out, he gave you the choice of coming or not.”

All three boys were stunned. Matt had actually paused his game and looked up. Mello’s eyes were round with amazement. And Near… well, Near looked exactly the same… but he must have been feeling some sort of emotion… if the boy was capable of feeling at all.

“Will all three of you do it?”

…

“Yes,” said Near simply, the first one to speak after the awkward silence.

“Sounds cool,” said Matt, looking down at his game again.

“Yeah, why not?” said Mello, looking excited and just the slightest hint scared at the same time. But, if Matt was going, he had to. There was no way he was letting the redhead out of his sight.

“Good. You will board the plane tomorrow and head to Japan. That’s where L is currently stationed. He will meet the three of you alone and tell you what you are to do. Go pack your things.”

Mello, grinning, nudged Matt’s shoulder. “This is gonna’ be fun, right?”

“Yeah, lots of fun,” said Matt excitedly, glancing up from his game for a second to meet eyes with Mello.

Near said nothing.

The three boys exited the room, closing the door behind them.

And, though he looked just as somber as usual, Roger was ecstatic to see them go.