Death Note: The Next Kira

Chapter Forty-Four: An Unexpected Call

FEBRUARY 3, 2006

TOKYO, JAPAN

AT 11:55 AM 

                                                                             MARIE 

I was in the same room with Near as I watched the helping him with his wound. I heard Near wince as the nurses treated his wound. "It's okay," one of the nurses assured him. "It'll hurt a little bit, but I promise you that it'll get better." I continued to watch as one of the nurses placed gauze around Near's wound. "Thankfully, the wound isn't too deep, so you should be out of here in a couple of days," said the nurse who placed gauze around Near's wound. I was really relieved that Near was okay and that the wound wasn't serious enough. "But you could have bled to death if it wasn't for your girlfriend," the same nurse continued. "She's not my girlfriend," Near corrected her. "We're just friends. We went out to eat right before this crazy woman came into the restaurant looking for our waitress. The crazy lady then attacked us and I didn't want her to hurt Marie so I got in the way. Thankfully, the crazy lady slashed me instead of Marie." 

I felt very touched by what Near said. "Okay," one of the nurses continued. "Anyway, how did you guys meet?" "Oh, I..." I tried to give out an answer. "It's complicated," Near answered. "I was at her school before it collapsed. And if it weren't for her, I'd either be dead or in a hospital room with a low chance of recovery." One of the nurses turned around and looked at me. "You," she let out softly. "It was you, wasn't it?" I nodded. "I've read all about that in the papers," the nurse informed me. "I know that the chances of survival and recovery of the people that were in the building when it collapsed aren't great, but we're doing all that we can to bring the survival rate up." I slightly smiled. "Thank you," I told her. Just then, I watched as Chief Matsuda opened the hospital door with Commander Aizawa by his side. As they came into the room, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching our room. Seconds later, I saw Halle run into the room straight to the cot that Near was in. "Oh my God," she let out frantically. "Near, honey, are you okay?" I watched as Near looked at Halle and nodded. 

"Thank goodness," she let out right before she looked up at me. "Thank you so much for helping Near out, Marie. I wouldn't know what I would do if you weren't there to save him." "You still look stressed," Commander Aizawa told me as I looked up at him. "Are you sure that you're okay?" I nodded. "Yes," I answered. "I'm fine, just witnessed someone get run down by an 18-wheeler for the first time right after my friend got stabbed." "That's understandable," Commander Aizawa informed me. "I think what Commander Aizawa's trying to say is that from the moment we confronted you at school after we placed the Death Note alert for all schools in the Kanto Region, you literally seemed a little shaken up when we entered the room," Chief Matsuda added. "I mean, what's wrong?" I scratched my head and hesitated. "Well," I began. "I understand," Chief Matsuda interrupted me. "If you're about to say that the stuff going on with the current Kira has been stressful for you, then I can't blame you. It's usually very common for people to get uncomfortable when it comes to Kira. The first Kira, the second Kira, the third Kira, the fourth Kira, and now a fifth Kira." 

I watched as Chief Matsuda lowered his dead. "We're both very sorry about that," he continued. "It's alright, Chief Matsuda and Commander Aizawa," I assured them. "But I know that your jobs are very important. Knowing the effect that the first Kira has placed on the world just makes me wonder what this current Kira will do." I watched as Chief Matsuda smiled. "Thank you, Marie," he told me. "You're very sweet. Anyway, I really hope that it'll make you feel better now that Near is doing alright and that we're currently investigating the case of the current Kira." "Chief Matsuda," I heard Near call out. We all looked at Near. (I turned around so I could look at him.) "I don't know why, but I had the feeling that the current Kira was in the cafe with us," Near began. "Call me crazy, but I really did sense that the current Kira was there with us in the restaurant. Unless it was just my imagination, then I guess that the current Kira couldn't have been far because the perpetrator got rammed down by an 18-wheeler soon after she slashed me."