Riddles {a Death Note MelloXOC and NearXOC story}

Arrivals & Departures

"That is correct," L said.

"Are there people other than you listening to this conversation?" Near asked.

"Yes, there are," L said hesitantly.

"I think I'm figuring it out," Near said. "The new L... and the members of the Japanese task force... Did you see the original L's face?"

I raised an eyebrow. He didn't seriously think they'd met the first L, did he? At The Wammy's House, we had only ever spoken to L once. Even then, we had just been staring at a screen with a calligraphic "L" on it as the man himself spoke to us. He simply answered our questions, not having anything to tell us of his own volition until the very end. His revelation had changed the opinions of many; some for the better and some for the worse.

It's not a sense of justice.

It's a game, a hobby.

And in order to solve a case, I will do anything.

Despite this truth, my respect for the man had remained, and I still admired him overall. But that sense of wonder I had once possessed was gone. It had changed to one of disquietude, perhaps even fear.

The idea of someone meeting him face-to-face seemed absurd, yet immediately after Near posed his question...

"L cut the connection," Gevanni confirmed.

"They actually saw L in person?" I said in shock, L's disconnection enough of an answer for me.

"Based on that response, yes," Near said.

"No need to hang up like that," Birdie said. "That was just rude." I nodded in dismissive agreement, still trying to wrap my head around this startling revelation.

Then came the clicking sound from before, indicating Near's discussion with L was about to continue.

"It is true that there are some members here who have seen the original L's face," admitted the new L. A lie. Well, a partial lie, at least. They wouldn't add any more members to the task force over the years since there were so few people they could trust. It was most likely that everyone there had met the original L.

"Ah," Near said, grinning, "so you've seen him. Then let's assume—as I said, this is only an assumption—that one of the people who have seen the original L's face is Kira. Then why is Kira, who killed L, keeping you alive? Don't you think it would have been easier to kill all of you along with L?" Well, he certainly knew how to be subtle.

"Near, your assumption doesn't make any sense," said L. At this point, I had to suppress the urge to yell at him to just answer the bloody question. "The task force has been through many situations where we clearly could tell that Kira was not among us. That's why we've come this far together. The fact that we're still alive is the greatest proof that one of us is not Kira. Our assumption is that Kira got hold of L's information by some means and killed him."

"Now, is that really true?" said Near, still grinning. "I believe that the 'thirteen day rule' is a fake. If so, do you think that my assumption doesn't stand?"

"The Shinigami claims that all the rules are true," L pointed out. "Are you saying that the Shinigami is lying?"

"We're supposed to trust the creature that started this whole mess in the first place?" I mumbled, looking at Birdie.

"Yes," Near said in response to L's question. "I believe Mello over a Shinigami. It's a Shinigami for God's sake. How could I believe such a thing? And if my assumption stands, then Kira is among you and is making the Shinigami lie."