Author's Note: That's right! Three chapters in one day! And I've even made sure all are over 2,000 words! The main additions to this chapter are percentages I figured... yay for me... and a more detailed experience of what happens to Koree.

Please enjoy.

Footnotes: ¹ Percentages are the estimated percentage of understood information and knowledge known by an individual

Mello and I had always had an odd relationship. Mello acted superior in public (public being when any other humans around), but he knew that he needed me to be there. I admit, I know more than Mello. To compare us, Near knows about 100-(79% x 30% x 96% x 13% x 40%)... 98.816896% of what I do, while Mello knows about 100-(83% x 40% x 98% x 21% x 56%)... 96.173766% of what I do. According to Wammy's House, of course.¹ However, I would never admit to this. Neither would L.

I kept Mello alive, and he kept us moving forward- forward towards beating Near, to finding Kira, and... winning.

I would help Mello achieve dominance over Near no matter what… and I needed to keep him alive, even if I had to do things I didn't want to - such as helping kill most of the SPK and letting Near probably become more traumatized than he'd ever let on; such as letting Takimura kill himself; such as taking my emotions and shunning them so that my judgment would stay unclouded…

But this was too much…

As the police broke in, Mello pulled me up and forced me to follow him up the stairs. He yelled for the others – those left alive – to grab the Death Note, but we had to leave them behind as we hid in the moniter room. I pulled out a black bag from my pocket, and began wiping it with a special cloth I'd brought. Mello sat on the bottom part of the huge wall of screens, and we waiting- a guy named Jose waiting in the corner with a gun…

Finally, Yagami Soichiro crept into the unlit room.

Mello pressed a button, and there was a loud explosion. I covered my head, surprised by the sudden noise.

"Don't move. I've sealed off both exits with that one blast," Mello told Yagami. "That was merely a threat... next, I'll blow the whole hideout."

Oh, we're in deep shit now… But I trusted Mello's moves. He'd vaguely informed me of our plan, should the police become involved.

"Follow my orders."

Yagami was told to remove his helmet and all protective gear, and did so obediently. Mello laughed as the lights from the moniters illuminated the place. I kept my head down, face almost parallel to the floor as I stood beside Mello. I could see Yagami's eyes. I felt guilt flow through my body as I regretted not forcing Mello to cover his face. Hopefully, this necklace wouldn't need to be given to him...

"So it's you again, Yagami." Mello grinned. "I should've killed you the first time. I never imagined I'd be doing a deal for the notebook with you again."

Yes, well… I did.

Yagami studied Mello's face closely…

"Your real name is Mihael Keehl…"

Mello's face showed his thoughts and mine: Oh shit.

My thoughts were erratic as I tried to imagine a plan - he knew Mello's name. He probably even had a fucking way of others hearing.

"Give it up, Mello. If you come along quietly we won't kill you."

"You lie," I said softly.

"I do not- but if I write your name in this notebook, you'll die…"

"You'd do that anyway," I grumbled under my breath.

I wanted to look up - I really did - but I knew I couldn't. He had the Eyes. Looking up meant letting the world behind Yagami know my true name.

"Move your hands away from the switch and raise them in the air."

"Yagami…" Mello started, handing me the switch.

"Don't move! All I need to write now is your family name. It'll take less than a second."

"I'm sorry, I honestly never had any intention of killing you."

Mello truly did seem sorry… but would this family man, this father, really kill Mello? Truly, this man understood why I still stood beside Mello; why I didn't simply give up and surrender myself; why I followed the emotionally-driven boy from a safe haven to this wasteland.

A summary of my early thought were voiced by Mello; "Yagami… I bet you've never killed anyone before."

I saw Jose roll sideways and grab the gun.

"No!" I yelled and started forward but Mello grabbed me and kept his hand over my mouth and his arm around my waist to keep me from moving.

Yagami was shot Kira-knows how many times in the back – which, thankfully, was covered by a vest – and fell to his knees… before sinking completely to the ground. I felt unwelcome tears fall onto Mello's gloved hand as I watched. Finally, Mello let go and I ran over to Yagami. Jose was trying to grab the notebook, and even held a gun to him. I pushed it away and kneeled over Yagami. I told him that I really hoped he was going to be alright, for I knew of his wife and daughter and son – but I told him in Japanese, which I hoped Mello still didn't know. I told him I would keep him safe - whether spiritually or physically. I gave him that necklace, which he held as he stared up at me. I kept my eyes hidden behind my own hand to avoid his seeing my name.

"Koree!" Mello ordered, and I stood. He wore the helmet that had been brought in by Yagami, and he hugged me close to him. I hid my face between his jaw and collar, bracing myself. It was merely to protect me from whatever Mello was about to do, but I still like think of it as a hug.

Mello pressed the button and the place exploded.

My nurse uniform hugged to my body closely, and I continuously tugged at it, cursing whoever decided nurses needed to be sexy. I was too used to the oversized clothing Mello always told me I should wear. I stood in the room Yagami, Soichiro was being kept in, and he was surrounded by the other men from the lair's explosion, and his son, Light.

"Father? Father?! I'm begging you! Please don't die!"

Yagami opened his eyes a bit; "Light… I… I'm so happy."

"You're happy, Father?" Light sniffed.

"Light… I still have the eyes of a Death God. According to the Death God, Ryuk, I can't see the lifespan of anyone who owns a Death Note… Light… you aren't Kira."

At this point I'd learned 3 things: 1) there's another Death God on the loose, 2) Yagami Light is being suspected of being Kira… and 3) I hate myself… So goddamn much...

I turned and stood at the doorway, facing the hallway, and tried my best to keep from crying. I cry too much as it is. Mello's told me so before.

I could hear bits of what Yagami Soichiro said; "I couldn't kill him…"

"Father! Use the last of your strength and write that bastard's name down! You want to go down beaten!?" My eyes widened, and I turned, hoping that Yagami would recognize me enough to understand why he shouldn't follow his son's demand.

"Light… before I went completely unconscious… I saw someone…"

My face relaxed and I watched him carefully.

"I think she was an angel… she seemed so… bright… even though all else was dark… she gave me this…." He handed the necklace to Light, who stared at it for a few moments, before looking back at his father. "And she told me she would keep me and my family safe..."

"An… an angel?" one of the other men echoed.

Soichiro began closing his eyes….

"Father!?"

"Light..."

I pulled myself out of the room and stalked down the hall. I needed to get back to Mello, anyway….

Mello lay on the bed, breathing softly. He had recently been trying to get up and go around the hotel room I'd gotten us, but I'd persuaded him to stay down… I'd actually held a knife against him, but I think that's still persuasion without duress.

As I entered, he rolled onto his back, looking at me.

"Hey Mello…" I greeted quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"Why is it that you… can go around but… but I… can't?"

"Half my face isn't gone," I answered smugly.

He grimaced, and winced. "Why didn't you get hurt? I had the helmet and shit on."

"Mello, stop moving around so much…" I would probably never answer his question.

He stared at me for a second, and sighed softly; "Thank you, Koree."

I stopped taking out the things I'd gotten from a Walgreens down the street, and looked at him…

"You're welcome… but what for?"

He hesitated, and looked up at the ceiling; "Everything… I guess…"

I stood in front of Near, who was playing with the toy I'd brought.

"Near, I'm not going to turn on Mello."

"I know that."

"Obviously… but I want you to know that I will never choose you over him. It'll always be his safety above… anything else. However, you will always be a priority beneath him."

"I understand," Near said thoughtfully.

"That being said… I will agree to work with you, but should you and he ever need to go against each other, it'll be his side I choose."

"Thank you, Koree-chan," he said.

"I'll see you later then. I need to go check on Mello…"

"Goodbye, Koree-chan."

Mello and I had gotten to Japan a few hours ago, and he was hopefully at the hotel. Only an hour ago, we had met up with Matt…

God, Matt. I'd missed him nearly as much as I'd missed Near.

Matt was supposed to be watching Mogi, and I was supposed to meet up with Mello a little later at the aiport where Mogi and Amane Misa were.

I began to walk out, but Near told me to stop.

"Hide, Koree-chan," he said.

"What…? Why-?" I looked at the moniters and saw Mellow walking down the hall with a gun to Lidner's head.

"Oh crap…." I muttered.

The door opened, and I stood, facing a somewhat surprised Mello and a casual Lidner.

"Koree…?" Mello growled.

My eyes softened, and I cocked my head slightly; "I have nothing to hide, Mello."

He looked away from me and at Near.

"Welcome, Mello," Near said.

"Why is Koree here?" Mello asked.

"She's come to question me. I had assumed that you had sent her - apparently, I was wrong." It was a rare sentence for Near to allow; something seemed shallow about it.

"Throw away your gun," Rester commanded.

"Lower your guns, all of you, not only Mello," Near said. "It's useless to shed blood here."

"B-but Mello killed our fellow… he murdered the Director of NPA," Gevanni replied.

"We don't have any proof of that. The murder of the director is supposed to have been done by Kira. Besides, it doesn't matter. Don't make me repeat many times: our goal is to arrest Kira. And in any case, Koree has already explained to us that Mello is her top priority - it would be a grave loss should she be forced to turn on us."

I moved to walk down the hallway, my throat constricting.

"Near!" I heard Mello yell. I ran back and stood next to him. He'd pulled the gun back on Near, and continued yelling angrily; "I'm no tool for you to solve a puzzle! I'm not some fucking carrier for your information - and neither is Koree."

"Mello…!" I said.

"Stay out of it, Koree," he ordered, deciding not to look at me.

The SPK men raised their guns again, but Near intervened; "Please stop making me repeat myself. Please lower your guns… Mello… you can shoot me if you want. My only true purpose, currently, is to finish Kira's case; I believe we are both well aware of Koree's complete qualification for taking my place."

I saw his finger about to move. I grabbed his wrist and moved his arm, and...

FUCK.

My fingers twitched and I clamped my jaw so tight, the sides of my head ached; however, this was no comparison to the explosion of pain in my shoulder. My skin felt as if it were set aflame, and my hand slapped wetly to where it burned. I could feel the muscle beneath my fingers as blood spread from beneath my fingers, seeping out from between them.

Rester and Gevanni went for Mello, but found that I was holding his gun real tight to my chest… and I found myself on the floor on my back. Damn damn damn damn damn damn damn damn, was the only thing in my head right now. I felt seasick suddenly, and felt an unfamiliar taste overwhelm my mouth. My lips parted and I coughed hard, feeling the liquid drip down from the corners of my mouth, flooding onto the floor.

Near had even turned to look. But I knew that it was my fault Mello shot. He wasn't expecting me to grab his wrist, and he wasn't going to shoot Near. He couldn't.

Everyone moved in slow motion; Mello's mouth opened slowly, his eyes widening at the same speed; Lidner stepped back and Rester ran to protect Near.

Near closed his eyes, the time creeping by dramatically.

"Kore! Kore?! Koree??"