Behind red tinted cellophane20

It was over now, nothing could really be said for what was going on in Reject's mind but one thing was for sure, it was broken beyond repair.

She had remained bound to the bed for roughly 3 days until someone actually found her. She really didn't know what to make of Ray Pember other then he seemed a little out of practice for an FBI agent.

When they arrived at the police station, Reject was prepared to face the worse when she was sat down in the interrogation room across Naomi Misora. Even though Reject was ready to confess every last thing that had happened and accept her sentence she wasn't quite prepared for Mr. Wammy as he came morphing into the room.

The old man explained that do to the current events that had taken place, L had place an order to interrogate her himself for risk of revealing classified information. Naomi was furious about this, but it wasn't her place to argue because even though Reject was her suspect it was still L's case.

The 3 hour car ride wasn't too bad even though it was in total silence, but the plane ride however was when Reject found herself quite uncomfortable. The high pitched voices of the flight attendants were almost excruciating and the salted peanuts were stale and unappetizing.

When the plane finally landed Reject breathed a sigh of relief. She slept through the 6 hour drive afterward only to be awoken every now and then from speed bumps and the old man letting out an occasional hum.

It was then Reject finally realized where she was…

…She was back in Winchester.

The old country side which had ingrained itself into her memories and it felt as though she was going back in time, but also brought back painful memories. The car came to a stop in front of a house she thought she would never see again.

There in all its aged glory stood Wammy's House. The orphanage it self hadn't changed much other then there were a few more paint chips on the side panels and the front porch looked a little dirtier then normal.

Once they were inside, Reject found that the house was a lot different in the aspect of it was a lot dirtier then the way she left it. There were some familiar faces along with a few new one including one face that almost immediately caught he eye, a boy with pure white hair.

Reject wanted to get a closer look but was unable when she was quickly ushered up the stairs to the top floor. Both the 16 year old Reject and the old man stood in front of the large oak doors which bared a large L on both of them.

She already guessed what was on the other side before Mr. Wammy knocked once and opened one of the large wooden doors to a large room with a giant wooden desk, a fireplace and a sitting area with a couch and a few chairs.

There sitting on one of the chairs with his back turned, stacking sugar cubes and pinching the bridge of his nose out of stress, was the man who grabbed 90% of BB's attention and got his cohorts to evict Reject from the only home she's ever had, the man was none other then L.

"Sir I have brought R as you have requested" Mr. Wammy spoke up suddenly standing behind Reject in a dainty manner.

"Excellent Watari, you are dismissed, could you bring us some tea" L answered in a quiet monotone voice.

"Certainly sir, would you like anything else sir?"

"No, not unless there is something miss R would like"

The mention of her alias caused Reject's head shoot up and she soon realized she was being put on the spot when she saw the eyes of both the old man and the detective on her.

"Uhh…n-no thanks I'm fine" Reject replied trying to hide the blush that was gracing across her face. The old man nodded graciously and departed from the room leaving Reject alone with L.

'well this is an accident waiting to happen'

"R…"

Reject looked up to see L gesturing toward the couch across from him. She came over and sat down on the couch opposite L, a nervous look causing her face to contort awkwardly.

"Please Relax R, you are not in any trouble" L said in a monotonous tone.

"P-please…call me Reject…" Reject said quietly looking up at L shyly her azure blue eyes staring back at L's obsidian ones. Just then the door opened and Mr. Wammy appeared again with a tray in hand.

He laid the silver tray on the coffee table which was equipped with a small pot, a sugar bowl and two cups. L almost instantly went for the sugar and immediately started filling one of the cups with a large helping of sugar cubes.

Reject was not as enthusiastic as L was when it came to the sugar, despite her sweet tooth. Reject, almost as if she were disarming a landmine, carefully plucked up a small handful of sugar cubes and slowly deposited them into her cup.

"S-So... what would you like to k-know?" Reject asked as boldly as she could. L gazed back at her blankly.

"What exactly is relationship with Beyond Birthday?"

Reject blushed a little. "Well... um... it's h-hard to explain..."

"Well... um... it's h-hard to explain..." Reject blushed a little finding it difficult to answer.

"Well according to Naomi Misora, after you spoke with her at the coffee shop a 119 call had been placed at a convenient store clerk and in the surveillance tape footage there were two individuals that were identified, the masked attacker and you, and after the assailant left the convenience store you chased after him and disappeared, Naomi came to the conclusion that your were kidnapped"

"K-kidnapped?!"Reject stammered, eyes wide before quickly covering her mouth.

"Hmmmmm?...Are you implying that you were not kidnapped?" L said blinking owlishly and raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"...I-I was with him...f-from the beginning..."Reject admitted sighing in defeat. .

L sat back, face void of expression, yet an aura of concern could be felt in the air around him.

"Well... that is one answer, I suppose. But in turn, it has raised yet another question. Why did you lie to me, Reject Reborn?" He asked gently, using Reject's true name as if to put emphasis on the question.

"U-uh..." Reject stammered, startled. She froze up and cringed, realizing L was upset with her. Taking a deep breath and mustering her courage, she spoke.

"I-I had nowhere else to go, I was in a position where... I-I just... I had nothing... I couldn't... I couldn't do it"

"What couldn't you do, Reject?"L questioned putting his thumb to his lips and chewing on it a little.

"I... was homeless, L... You me k-kicked out of W-Whammy's house...! I was evicted... by your order... I had nowhere else to go. I was... I was lucky to run into Beyond... He took me in, gave me a safe refuge! He put a roof over my head...." Reject said looking like she was about to break into tears at any moment.L stared at Reject, his thumb probing his lips as if out of curiosity.

"Did you assist him in any of these murders?" He asked, his voice an unchanging monotone.

"Well... not exactly... I-I've never helped him directly" Reject answered sheepishly.

"Directly?" L questioned, raising an eyebrow once again.

"Well... to p-put it bluntly... All I did was look over his homework, but He never let me help him with a-any of the other stuff, he k-kept me around for the h-hell of it" Reject admitted fisting her her jeans nervously.

"So... basically, he kept you as a dog" The word stung Reject more than anything else could, and was enough to fuel her confidence. L's emotionless expression did not show any remorse or any realization that he had offended her at all, but any other person could tell that the green-haired girl near him was infuriated.

"B was my best friend! ...And so was A and I still hold you responsible for his death! But that's beside the point, B is my friend, and has been for years! He does not consider me that, and never has he called me that in the past! I will not let you ruin the last happy memories I have of him!!"Reject shouted but then suddenly recoiled when she realized what she had done.

L sat back a little, his eyes slightly wider now. He then brought his thumb back to his lips.

"Indeed.... Very well. You do realize, however, that there are consequences for your actions," L said, recovering his composure from Reject's little outburst.

Reject sighed and sat with her back against the couch, staring down at her shoes, which had apparently become the most interesting things in the room.

"However, your punishment will be nowhere near as severe as Beyond's, as you have not killed anyone... Correct?"

Reject nodded quietly and L studied her face carefully to see whether she was agreeing or not as she replied negatively.

"But... I am an accomplice, aren't I?"

"...Yes, you are," L said stoically reaching for a sugar cube and dipping it into his tea.

"But technically you have not done anything illegal, and f given a better choice, I assume you would not have done anything of the sort." L finished taking the tea soaked sugar lump and placing it into him mouth while Reject nodded in response, still staring at her sneakers.

L stood up slowly, moving to stand directly in front of Reject. Reject continued to stare at her sneakers as he approached her, giving no sign that she cared about the change.

"I, L, hereby place you under house arrest, to serve in Whammy's house orphanage for gifted children You are not to leave for any reason, but if you do, you are to be escorted, and you must have my written and verbal consent to do so"Reject looked up to stare at L with a mildly confused look.

"The consequences, if you disobey these rules, will be very severe, Do you understand?" Reject nodded a little still looking incredibly shocked.

"And look at the bright side... We've been missing a decent janitor for years and we could certainly use your services"L let out a little half-smile, which of itself was a rare phenomenon, considering that he almost never expressed Human emotions.

Reject nodded again and a smile that she just couldn't hide ghosting across her lips. She almost felt... happy. Disappointed, yes,but the house, although it held unhappy memories, held some memories and comforts that she just couldn't live without. And that was worth smiling about.

"I guess I'm going back to my closet, eh?" Reject chuckled a little, now that she had lost her stutter she began to show more confidence.

"Well... about that, I do apologize, but back then Roger had not informed me that there was a new orphan when you first came to live with us and had I known that at the time, I would have given you a room" L answered in a monotonous tone that had a sprinkling of sympathy which could barely be seen.

"Oh, no, L, it's quite alright, You've done enough for me, I don't mind the closet." Reject said smiling.

"I have a room for you, but you'll have to share it, are you alright with that?" L said ignoring Reject's selfless comment.

"I don't mind, I have no real problems with the other orphans.... Well, some of them used to pick on me..." Reject said with a nod.

"Don't worry, This one is not like that at all now Please, follow me" L said showed another strange smile as he continued leading Reject down the hall.

Reject followed L out of the room, almost... giddy. There was a slight bounce in her step that she just couldn't hide, and it was quite clear to L and everyone that saw them walking through the halls, that she was very excited. This in turn made L smile once more.

At the end of their walk, L stopped at a large white door. The door was very plain, unlike all the others. There were no patterns, markings, or scratches on this door; it was quite unusual, and so completely white that it seemed to resemble a wall of perfectly smooth, clean snow.

L reached forward and opened the door to reveal Reject's furture room. The interior was just as plain and white as the door, and resembled a room out of an institution, except there were no beds with restraints or padded walls. It was white...too white though there was, however a few boxes of toys which were the only colorful things in the room. Other than that,the walls were white, the bed was white, furniture was white, absolutely everything was white.

"I shall have a bed brought up to you soon, Feel free to explore or wait here, You shall meet your roommate soon, I have work to do, I shall leave you to do what you want" L said as he turned to leave.

"Thank you, L, but, who is my roomma-"

The door shut before she could finish, and she was alone, surrounded by plain, white walls on every side.

Reject looked around for a few seconds before settling herself down on the floor. Almost immediately, though, she felt something strange. like there was another presence in the room...like she wasn't alone.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she thought she saw something move a little.

She quickly looked to the side and did not see anything right away, but soon saw the outline of someone sitting beside her, almost completely camouflaged against the white interior of the room.

She recognized him as the boy she saw earlier. The boy, much like the rest of the room was also completely white and the room seemed to have a snow-blinding effect in that way.

Now, any normal person would have almost immediately cried 'ghost' and ran, but thankfully Reject's with ability to see said spirits she knew instantly that this person was in fact alive.

Reject stared at this person. She was unable to tell how old he was and at first glance, he appeared quite young, but upon a second glance, he seemed to have a much sturdier build than a normal child would.

"H-h-hello, N-n-nice to meet you M-my name is R-Reject..." She greeted, as politely as she could even though she was stuttering again, and it clarified that she was as nervous as all hell, she was scared of offending someone so... different.

The white haired boy gazed back with obsidian eyes, much like L's. He remained silent as if no words seemed to be necessary for him. He went back to playing with what appeared to be dominoes, lining them up on the floor with an almost obsessive compulsive nature.

Reject tried to talk to him again, gathering her courage.

"Um... S-so... what's your name?" Reject asked timidly, smiling in a friendly manner.

The boy looked up at Reject again, and looked back at his dominoes. Without looking again, he answered in a quiet voice…

"…I am Near"