Near twirled a strand of wavy hair and picked up his action figures. Even though almost a month had passed since the final confrontation, he still felt like it had happened just a few hours ago. He didn't know why he was still thinking about it. Kira was just another puzzle. Now that he solved it, he should be moving on to the next case. But he just couldn't allow himself to.

The girl, U, Temari. She was so unexpected in so many ways. Near didn't know what to think. He'd never met a girl as smart and emotion filled as her. It's no wonder that L trusted her so much. She really was one in a million.

However, there was something else about her that Near couldn't get out of his head. He liked the way that she looked. Her hair was much blonder than in her NPA registration picture, but Near didn't mind. There was something about her appearance that captivated him. He wanted to spend more time with her.

So in order to try to get closer, Near had met the task force several times in past few weeks, but U was never there. Matsuda had said that she was still recovering.

"Temari has always kind of had a fragile mindset." The older man had told him, "She doesn't like to see people die. It always takes her a while to come back to us. But she always does." Matsuda had paused then, "And it feels like we lose a little bit of her every time."

Near didn't understand what he had meant by this. How could you lose yourself? He knew that Matsuda didn't mean that she lost herself literally, but how could it be taken another way? Did she lose intelligence? Or wit? Or bravery?

"Rester." Near said, getting the attention of the man working at the desk behind him, "What can I do to make U come back to work with the task force?"

The sturdy man looked up from his computer, "You can't hurry these things, Near. Some people take longer to pull through. Matsuda even told you that she needs her time. We can't rush her."

"But I want to work with her."

"I know you do." Rester sighed, "But she's not like you, Near. She has emotions. She can't just solve a case and then move on. It's more complicated than that."

Near sat up and twirled a piece of his hair, "Explain it to me."

"I really can't." The man shook his head, "That's the thing about emotions; you can't just explain how they are. You have to feel them." He groaned in frustration, "Look, how about I call up Matsuda and ask him what she likes. We can stop by later and give her a gift of something that she enjoys. I'm sure that would help her feel at least a little bit better."

"And would that make her want to come back to work?"

"Yes. Yes it would."

Near turned around and continued to move his toys around, "Alright. Set up the connection."

--------------------------------------------------

"Hello!" Matsuda cheerfully opened the door to the apartment, "Come on in! I'm sorry that my place is a bit small."

"Don't worry about it." Rester assured him and opened the door wider for the boy behind him, who was carrying medium sized package wrapped in blue paper, "Near, do you want to give her this or do you want me to?"

"I'll do it." Near immediately answered.

Matsuda smiled, "Thanks so much for doing this. I'm sure this will make Temari really happy. Her bedroom is the second door to the right."

The short boy cautiously stepped down the hallway, stopping in front of the door that Matsuda had specified. He placed his hand over his heart. It was beating faster than usual. Near took a deep breath. Why was this happening to him? He didn't understand and couldn't figure it out. He'd never been so anxious and unsure of himself before. U did something to him that he couldn't explain.

Gathering up his courage, Near turned the knob on the door and quietly stepped into the room

"U?"

Having received no response, the boy looked over to the bed in the corner of the room. He could see blonde hair and delicate skin. That must be her.

The girl slept peacefully, her upper body rising and falling evenly with her breath. Near bent down until he was at about eye level with the mattress. A wavy lock of hair hung tantalizingly off the edge of the bed. Going against his better judgment, he slowly wrapped it around his index finger.

Temari's nose crinkled. Her elbows tightened as she drew her hands to her chest, exhaling deeply and squeezing her eyes shut.

"Matsu?" She mumbled.

"No." The boy answered, "It's N."

"N? Like Near?"

"Yes."

The girl's eyes opened slightly, squinting to adjust to the light, "Near. Near..." Her eyes widened, "Oh my God! Near!" She sat up and hastily wrapped the blanket around her body, "Uh, what are you doing here?"

"I brought a present." The boy gingerly placed the package on the bed, "I want you to open it."

Temari scooted father back in the bed, "Thank you. But, um, I'm kind of not wearing any pants."

"Okay." Near nodded, "You can put on pants and then open your gift."

The girl's face slowly turned a bright red as she realized that the boy wasn't taking the hint. She assumed that just like Ryuzaki, he was bound to be a little blunt; but the fact that she would have to spell it out for him was just plain embarrassing.

"Uh, Near? Could you step out of the room for a minute while I get changed?"

Near obediently went out into the hallway and shut the door behind him as Temari breathed a sigh of relief. She was lucky to wake up when she did. Who knows what else could have gone on if she didn't.

Temari slipped on a pair of loose sweatpants and walked over to the door. She paused before laying her hand on the doorknob. Why was Near even here? Matsuda had said that he had been asking about her, but Temari never thought he'd go as far as a home visit. Oh well. It's too late to turn back now.

"You can come in now." Temari said and opened the door, inviting the boy back into her room.

Near went over to the bed and handed Temari the present, "Open it."

"Alright."

Temari sat on the floor and tore the wrapping paper. She wondered why Near wanted her to open it so much. The girl lifted three things out of the mess of blue paper; a brand new shogi board, the most recent issue of Shonen Jump, and small container of dice.

"Matsuda said that you liked manga and shogi." Near explained, "I added the dice myself. They limited edition and have stars instead of dots. Also, Commander Rester and I didn't know what kind of manga you liked; so we just got you the one that we liked the best."

The girl managed a small laugh, "Thank you. Don't worry, you picked the right kind of manga. I like shonen even though I haven't read it in a while." She pushed the shogi set back towards the boy, "But I don't need this. I already have a board."

"I know." Near nudged it back towards the girl, "I can see it in the corner. But this one is better. It's newer and has extra pieces in case you lose some. Take it."

Temari shook her head and pushed it back, "I don't want it. I like my old set."

"But this one is better." Near insisted, "That old one is all stained and has cracks. Don't you want new pieces to play with?"

"No! I don't want it!" Temari snapped and clenched her fists, "Just leave me alone!"

Startled by her sudden change in attitude, Near backed up. He didn't understand why she was so insistent on keeping her old shogi set. But he did understand anger. U was angry at him. That was last reaction in the world that he had wanted out of her.

"I'm sorry." The girl apologized, "I didn't mean to yell. It's just, my old shogi board holds a lot of memories that are precious to me. Replacing it wouldn't feel right. I'm sorry."

Near looked up and anxiously twirled a piece of his hair, "I forgive you, U. I apologize for insisting that you take it. I didn't know that you already had a set that was special to you." He stood up, "Now that you have the gifts, I have no other purpose to stay here. I'll take the set and you can carry on with your business."

"Wait!" Temari grabbed the boy's sleeve just as he was turning to leave, "Do you want to play some shogi? I don't think it should go to complete waste, you know?"

Temari let go of his sleeve and wanted to slap herself. Why did she invite him to play with her? She still felt tired from the night before and good shogi games could take an hour or more. But Temari still did feel kind of bad for yelling at him when he was just trying to be nice. But it was too late for her to change her mind now; Near had already opened the box and dumped all of the pieces out on the floor.

"I've never actually played shogi." The boy admitted with a sheepish smile, "Could you teach me?"

"Sure." Temari answered, a smile of her own slowly spreading across her face, "Do you know how to play chess? Shogi has a similar concept."

Near nodded, "I do know how to play chess."

"Good. That makes things a lot easier." The girl handed him a small booklet, "Read the rule book while I set up the board."

Loud knocking on the door startled both of the kids from their focusing. Matsuda popped his head in the room, "Hey kiddos. Whatcha doing?"

"We were going to play shogi." Temari said cautiously, "What do you want, Uncle Matsu?"

"I was just checking on you two." Matsuda answered hastily, "Also Near, your other detectives say that you have to get back to headquarters soon."

Near nodded and stood up, "What a shame. I was looking forward to playing with you, U."

"Me too." Temari said, "And forget what I said before. You don't have to call me by my letter. Call me Temari."

"Alright. Enjoy your gifts, Temari."

Matsuda escorted Near to the living room where Rester was waiting. The two got their coats and headed out to the curb where Lidner and Gevanni were waiting with the car to get back to headquarters.

"Did she like the gifts?" Rester asked Near, who nodded and pulled his knees to his chest.

"Why did we need to get back to headquarters so quickly?" Near looked to Gevanni and Lidner in the front seats, "I thought you said that I could stay as long as I wanted to."

Gevanni raised an eyebrow, "Get back to headquarters? I didn't say anything; did you, Lidner?"

"Nope." The blonde woman shook her head, "Who told you that we needed to go to HQ?"

"Mr. Matsuda did."

Rester chuckled, "I guess Matsuda is still a bit overprotective."

"Oh, Gevanni?" Near said, "Mr. Matsuda also told me to tell you that he said hello."

The blue eyed man nodded and self-consciously pulled his bangs down over his forehead in an attempt to conceal his reddening cheeks, "I see."

"Gevanni? Is there something wrong? Do you have a fever?"

"No!" He pushed the radio button, causing the car to fill with the sound of electronic beats, "I'm fine, Near. Listen to some music. We'll be back at headquarters shortly."

Halle smirked, "I always wondered which side of the fence you were on. I guess the case has been closed."

"My sexuality has nothing to do with wrapping up the Kira case. Can we please move on to more important matters?" Gevanni said through gritted teeth, "Near, is there anything you would like us to get for you?"

"No. But what is sexuality?"

"Your sexuality is who you fall in love with." Halle explained, "I'm a girl and I'm attracted to boys; so that makes me heterosexual. But Gevanni is a boy that is also attracted to boys, that's why he blushed when you mentioned Matsuda. He's homosexual. Isn't that right, Steven?"

Gevanni stopped at a red light and laid his head on the steering wheel in exasperation, "Halle can you please stop talking about this now?"

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well it wouldn't be one of my fanfics if i didn't slip some gay in there somewhere

QOTD: favorite LGBTQ+ characters?

canonicly, my favorites are yuuri katsuki from yuri!! on ice, yuki from hourou musuko, and shima nishina from kiss him not me