Curate, connect, and discover
crack AU where L gets fed up with the task force complaining about him being chained to Light, snaps, and just brings in Near with the explanation that the issue is clearly that L is too old and Light should be supervised by someone within his age range. Cut to Light being absolutely livid for being demoted to a babysitter and getting chained to said baby (he doesn't know that Near is actually 13 and not like... 6. this also means he feels utterly insulted by L by calling Near "someone within Light's age range"). Fast forward a bit and Light and Near are actually getting along, which results in Watari overhearing L muttering "it should have been me..." more than once, with a depressed expression.