Riddles {a Death Note MelloXOC and NearXOC story}

It's Every Man for Himself

Patience

After Birdie had stopped crying, she talked to me. Of course, she was going to pretend she'd never cried, and Near and I would have to go along with it. God forbid Near ever mentioned that; then there would probably be another murder to solve.

Birdie and I had talked. She had never cared about Kira before. She hadn't cared if he was good or evil or if people obeyed him. She joined the SPK because she had wanted to do something fun, but now, now she knew what she thought of Kira. She hated Kira with every fiber of her being, and she would make sure he paid.

She still didn't care about the countless people Kira had killed beforehand, and she never would. The only reason she wanted Kira to pay was because he'd killed May. May had been someone Birdie cared about. If you messed with someone Birdie cared about, you messed with Birdie. And if you messed with Birdie, bad things would happen.

I was listening to the sound of all the news broadcasters, who were talking about the death of the President of the United States, when Rester spoke up.

"The soldiers were definitely killed with the notebook," he said. "The helmets were taken off because they had to see the soldiers' faces."

"But if they could slice the straps so easily, why weren't the team's throats cut?" Near wondered. "This is troublesome."

"Anyway, I think we can be certain that Mello was there and that he was involved in the soldiers' deaths," said Rester. "But who discovered their hideout and sent the soldiers in?"

"There's no way of knowing, with both the president and the troops dead," Lidner pointed out.

"What do you think, Near?" Rester asked.

"Good question," Near replied, "but for now, I think it's better for us to stay put and watch."

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"The only reason you found their hideout was because you had Kira's help, but you don't know how Kira found the hideout?" I had lost count by then. Near had called L. Again. Now he was pretty much listing all the things L had already told him.

Chief Yagami was dead now. Another death. Mello had gotten away. And for some reason, I couldn't help but be somewhat relieved, but on the other hand, Mello had...

"That's right," L said, "stop being so obstinate. No matter how many times you ask me, it's going to be the same answer. I've told you everything I can." They disconnected. Again. Near went back to his toys. Again. Birdie sighed in frustration. Again. It was routine at that point.

"Near," said Rester, "I think it's about time to tell us your thoughts on the case."

"The new L is too foolish, and Kira is too active," Near answered. "This L knew that every mafia member in the United States was going to die on November tenth because Kira contacted the Japanese Task Force and told them so... what a joke. He doesn't want to tell us why they believed the information Kira gave them, but everybody at the headquarters was convinced by it.
"Kira knew that the Japanese Investigation Team had the notebook, but from the death of certain gangsters, Kira figured out the notebook had fallen into evil hands. And in order to get the notebook back, Kira offered to lend them a hand.
"And they succeeded in getting the notebook back."

"It seems like a pretty consistent story to me," said Lidner.

"No, it's not," Near said. "If Kira was able to directly contact the Japanese task force, then why is Kira allowing them to keep the notebook?
"Kira teamed up with them to get the notebook back—that I can understand. But if Kira wanted to get the notebook back, Kira should have regained possession of it. Kira was able to directly contact the headquarters, so it would have been easy to threaten them.
"Furthermore, there are many rules to using the notebook. It's highly unlikely that Kira would let anybody else have the notebook since it would provide them with information about the murder weapon.
"Maybe Kira didn't know that the task force got the notebook when they took it from Higuchi, but if he knew of its existence before the gangsters got a hold of it, why didn't he do anything? And if Kira found out about it only after the gangsters took it, why is Kira allowing them to keep it now? If anybody other than Kira has the notebook and its existence becomes public, there will be people who will try to get it for themselves. The government and the police could keep the notebook a secret, fearing a panic by the public, but... There are millions of rumors about Kira's methods, and nobody is going to believe in the notebook unless its powers are demonstrated to them. What Kira should fear the most is the possibility they might go to that extreme."