Riddles {a Death Note MelloXOC and NearXOC story}

L the Second

A/N: You will have noticed in the previous chapters and will notice in this chapter and chapters to come that certain terms shift. Near might call Aizawa simply "Aizawa," but when he talks to Mogi, he calls him "Aizawa-san." Someone might be called "Mr. X," but when Lidner talks to them, she says "X-san." You might see Soichiro called "Chief Yagami" at some points, but at other points, he'll be called "Yagami-jicho." These switches indicate which language is being spoken: English or Japanese.

If Near is talking to Light about Mogi, he would say "Mogi-san." Then the conversation ends, and Near talks to Rester about Mogi, but he'll say just "Mogi" instead. These are shifts you'll probably notice the most. Changes in conversation partner. That means either a new conversation or a conversation on the side. (e.g. filling someone in, translating)

In some cases, you may see this shift throughout conversations. This means they are switching languages throughout the conversation. It was never actually addressed which languages are being spoken during conversations in the series. I'm making it 100% English if the speakers are all native English speakers, obviously. The ones I had to really think about were conversations between Light and Near (both of whom had people listening in on their conversations). The SPK was trained for the case, so they'd understand Japanese pretty well. The task force doesn't have that training, so unless Light's the one who called first as is talking to Near alone (such as throughout this chapter), they're probably going to speak Japanese.

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Patience

The next day, Birdie was rubbing in the fact that she had been right about being unable to track down Mello (even though I had told her I wasn't going to try to in the first place). Bragging about being right was something she did whenever the opportunity presented itself. I had already known it, but Birdie was the one who had said it aloud: I wouldn't be able to find Mello. It was impossible; there was just no way whatsoever. That wasn't going to stop me from finding him in the end, though.

"If it's Mello, he's bound to come get his picture back," I said. "I know that much."

"Agreed," said Birdie.

If this was Mello we were dealing with, then he would definitely come to get back his picture, and if that ended up being the case, I would tell Allison. However, if he came, then he would also find out I was working with Near. I doubted he would be very welcoming if he learned that.

We walked into the room where all of the SPK members were. Near and one of the others were in the middle of a discussion.

"Are you saying the one who killed Takimura was not the culprit, but rather, Kira?" one SPK member asked.

"I am merely saying that such a line of thinking is also possible," Near said. "If that were so, it would mean that Kira had obtained the NPA's information."

Suddenly, Mason's phone could be heard ringing. He picked it up, knowing exactly who it was.

"It's L," Mason affirmed. "...The current one."

The phone was quickly set up so that we could all hear it. Birdie was grinning from ear to ear; she clearly had a hunch that the following conversation would be entertaining.

"I have heard the story from Director John McEnroe—no, Investigator Larry Connors, regarding Deputy Director Yagami," said the voice. "Would you lend us your support in the investigation of the murder of Police Director Takimura?"

"Let us see," said Mason on the phone.

"Phone," Near demanded. He plugged in a voice modifier, and then he finally spoke up. "L the Second, it's nice to meet you." He was so casual saying it that it almost seemed shocking even to me.