Riddles {a Death Note MelloXOC and NearXOC story}

And So It Begins

Patience

We were at HQ; not much was going on. Near was playing with his toys—likely contemplating the Kira case all the while—and the rest of us were working in our own ways. We all stopped when Rester suddenly shouted, "Near!"

We turned to look at the screen he was pointing to, and lo and behold, there was Lidner standing right outside the door. Behind her was a familiar, chocolate-eating blond holding a gun to her head.

"Oh, heck, things are getting violent," Birdie said flatly.

"Wh-what's going on?" Rester asked. "You were right about him making contact, but—"

"—Please let him in," Near said, causing me to stop dead in my tracks.

I walked over to the side of the room, near one of the computers, and sat down so that my face couldn't be seen. I have no clue what I thought this would do, but I was simply acting on the spur of the moment.

"Welcome, Mello," Near said, indicating that Mello and Lidner had entered. I imagined the scowl on Mello's face in response to Near's usual calm exterior even in such a dire situation.

"Drop your gun," Rester said, no doubt pointing his own at Mello.

"That goes for everybody," Near said. "Put your guns down. It's meaningless for any further bloodshed."

"B-but Mello killed the other SPK members," Gevanni argued, "and he kidnapped and killed the Japanese Police Director."

"We don't have any proof of that," Near stated, "and I believe Kira is the one who killed the Director, but that's not important right now.
"Don't make me say it again. Our goal is to capture Kira. There is zero gain for us in killing Mello right now. He got the notebook once and was able to get closer to Kira than any of us. That's something we should respect, and pointing a gun at him is just plain rude."

"Very well," Rester replied after a moment, withdrawing.

"Well said, Near," came Mello's voice. "So everything's gone as you imagined?"

"Yes, though I didn't expect you to come all the way here," Near admitted. "And thanks to you, Mello, I've been able to greatly narrow down my suspects for Kira."

I knew Near had just struck a nerve.

"Near," Mello said, the name followed by a swooshing sound, his gun likely pointed at Near now, "I'm not a tool for you to use to solve the puzzle."

I kind of wanted to disappear forever right then.

"Commander Rester, don't make me repeat myself," Near said, Rester likely having pulled out his gun again. "Mello, if you want to shoot me, shoot."

I heard Birdie snort, and I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Mello, who was contemplating if he should shoot Near... and possibly Birdie. Then Lidner grabbed Mello's gun.

"Mello," she said, "if you kill Near right now, then even if you succeed in capturing Kira, it will be meaningless. And if you shoot Near, we'll be left with no choice but to shoot you. What good is there in both of you dying? That will only make Kira happy."

There was no arguing with her words; she spoke the truth.

"Heh. She's right, Near," Mello said. "I just came to get the photo you have of me."

"Yes," Near said, holding up the photo in question. "This is the only remaining photograph, and there are no copies of it. Also, the surveillance cameras here only monitor; they don't record. I've contacted all the members of Wammy's House and anyone else from the past who would know your face. It's not a hundred percent perfect, but I think it's safe to say that you won't be killed by the notebook."

"Near, I have no intention of joining forces with you," Mello said, stating the obvious.

"I know," Near said, already having been well aware of this.

"But it would upset me to receive this picture without giving anything in return," Mello said, surprising the others. "The murder notebook. It's a Shinigami—a God of Death's notebook, and the people who touch it are able to see the Shinigami."

"N-nonsense," Rester said.

"Who believes in such a thing as a God of Death?" Gevanni added.

"It's a notebook that kills people," Birdie pointed out. A fair point.

"I believe him," Near said, shocking the other SPK members. "What advantage is there for Mello coming up with such a stupid story about a Shinigami really existing? If he were telling a lie, he would tell me a normal, more meaningful lie; therefore, the Shinigami exists."

"The notebook I had belonged to a Shinigami named Sidoh, who dropped it in the human world," Mello explained. "He had to come down to get it back. But another Shinigami had it before."

"That's just queer as a clockwork orange," Birdie muttered just loudly enough for us all to hear. I could tell she was getting on Mello's nerves. Which very well may have been her intention.

"We know that because there were rules written in English inside the notebook for human use, right? It would be odd for a Shinigami to write rules down for humans to use when he wants to get it back."

"And one more thing," Mello said. "There is a fake rule hidden among the rules written in the notebook. That's all the information I can give you."

"Near." "Mello."

"Which one of us is going to get to Kira first?" Mello wondered.

"The race is on," Near said.

"Our destination is the same. I'll be waiting for you when you get there." This was followed by the all too familiar crunch of a chocolate bar.

I could practically sense the grins they each had on their faces. Not that they would ever admit it, but I think they truly were friends in some kind of twisted way.

Then I heard footsteps; Mello had left. I turned around, ready to run out after him. Once again, I had absolutely no plan. I usually thought things through, but I didn't have any time for that now.

"Patience," Near said, sensing what I was about to do, "you won't accomplish anything by running after him."

"I know," I told him. That was all I said because I knew he understood.

"Birdie," I said, looking at the girl who was still grinning. "How could you laugh?"

"What?" she said. "We all knew he wasn't really going to shoot Near."

"If you had said that," I pointed out, "Near might be dead, Birdie."

She chuckled, and I raised my eyebrow, wondering what could possibly be funny about watching someone get shot.

"'Dead birdy,'" she explained, causing me to grasp her warped sense of humor.

"Call Allison," I instructed her, trying not to sigh. "Tell her we found him."

I knew that Near wouldn't care about that in the least. He always knew I would inform Allison if I ever actually found Mello.

"But I lost my cellphone," Birdie said.

"Then use mine," I said, handing over my own, rarely-used cellphone.

"Ew, a RAZR?" she said, holding the phone between her thumb and index finger as though it were a piece of trash. "Really? Couldn't afford any better, Patience?"

I sighed, growing impatient, and whispered "patience" to myself for what was probably the millionth time. "Just call her."

She shrugged, then said, "You do realize he might just shoot you?"

"I know," I said, running off.

"You're not allowed to die, okay?" she called after me, doing her best to hide the worry in her voice.

"Should I adjust the cameras?" I heard Rester ask. "We won't be able to see them with the cameras' current positions."

"No," Near said. "That won't be necessary."

Thank you, Near, I thought. For everything.