Two days later…

Aizawa rested his chin on his hand as he stared blankly at the empty monitors. Light, Mogi, Matsuda, Ide and Soichiro sat around the coffee table at the other end of the room. They'd all decided to take a few minutes away from the Kira case, to simply relax and regain sanity. Though, for some reason, Aizawa's mind kept wondering back to the same subject…

Both Mello and N believe that Light is Kira. Even Ryuzaki believed he was Kira. It wouldn't be a bad assumption to come to the same conclusion…I don't want to believe it…but what if Ryuzaki had been right? Isn't it a little too coincidental that Ryuzaki died moments after announcing that he was going to test the Death Note?

If Light were Kira…then that would mean he would have killed Ryuzaki before he got the chance to prove the 13 day rule was a fake. It makes sense…but…I just…can't believe it myself. Do I really trust Mello over my own co-workers? Do I really trust a murderer over my friends? Perhaps I should consider meeting with Mello myself…

"Aizawa, are you alright?" Soichiro asked. "You seem tense. It's been a long day. You should take a break."

Aizawa sighed, debating whether or not it'd be wise to share his thoughts with the rest of the task force…but in the end, he decided against it. "Yeah, it's been pretty stressful these last few days..."

"But on the bright side, with Mello in confinement, there's no way he can cause any more trouble. That should make our lives easier, right?" Matsuda said optimistically.

"I guess…unless Mello's actually planning to do something radical whilst in confinement." Light sighed, placing his cup of lukewarm coffee onto the coaster by the table. "I know, it sounds hard to believe with the man being chained up and practically unable to move…but this is MELLO we're dealing with. He's practically uncontrollable. We can't be too relaxed with this situation."

Soichiro nodded his head. "You're right. We can't let anything slip by us."


"Matt. If I told you to shoot, would you?" Mello asked.

"Probably."

"That's not good enough. If I say shoot, you shoot. It doesn't matter what situation we're in. From now on, you follow as I do and do as I say. Never question my logic. I need to know you trust me."

"…Okaayyy then."

"…Do you trust me?"

"Nah, not really. But that's all good. I don't need to trust you to follow orders."


Soichiro sat opposite Mello, who had been rid of his restraints. Matt stood at the other end of the confinement unit, playing on his DS with great concentration. Soichiro had to admit, Mello seemed to have gained an ounce of confidence due to being free from his bonds. He sat with his legs crossed and his body slouched into the chair. He also held a chocolate bar within his right hand (that Matt had brought for him.)

"Well Mello, what was it you wanted to—"

Mello cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "I want permission from the NPA to visit N. No offence, Mr Soichiro Yagami but I'd rather work with the SPK than with the Japanese Task Force. Let's be honest here. The Task Force hasn't moved in the past week or so, which is yet another reason why I should suspect 'Light' of being Kira. Furthermore, no one here is actually going to listen to what I say, so why should I even bother? It's not like any of you believe in my theory. At least N took me into consideration."

Soichiro narrowed his eyes a little. "You know perfectly well I can't do that." Mello rolled his eyes as he snapped a piece of chocolate off with his teeth. "You are under the confinement of the NPA and that is how it will stay until your death sentence after we've caught Kira."

Mello stood from his chair and slammed the palms of his hands down violently onto the face of the table that separated them. "Fine, just kill me now and be done with it! I'm tired of this game!"

"Mello—"

"Seriously, just stop, okay. Our deal was that you let me help you on the Kira case, and since that's not happening, you're obviously not a man of your word! So why don't you just kill me?"

Soichiro stared at Mello for a moment, before he sighed to himself and removed his glasses. "You're right. I know you've been excluded from the Kira investigation, but we're not going to kill you. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you're a member of the Task Force now. No one can lay a finger on you until the Kira case is put to an end."

"If you really want to prove that then let me see the Death Note."

Soichiro seemed surprised by the request. "Mello I—"

"You said I'm on the Task Force now, so I have a right to examine the evidence." Mello stated. "I promise I won't try to use it on anyone. I just need to see it."

Well…if Mello truly is one of us now, then I have no choice but to let him see it…but what is he planning to do with it? Why would he…


"What's he doing?" Ide questioned.

"We can't give it to him!" Matsuda stated. "We don't know what he's going to use it for!"

"But we have no choice. He's meant to be co-operating with us. We'd be breaking our deal if we didn't hand it over." Mogi informed.

Light bit his tongue to stop himself from saying something he'd regret. I can't just tell them not to hand it over. That'd look suspicious…but I can't simply let Mello take the Death Note! What is he doing? What does he want? What is he getting out of it? Damn it…

"I think we should give it to him." Aizawa said. Everyone turned to him in shock.

"Are you kidding?! That's insane!" Matsuda shouted.

"Mello wouldn't ask for the Death Note if he didn't think it was important. Maybe he's trying to prove something…I'm sorry Light, but…there's a small part of me that believes Mello's theory." Aizawa explained.

"What's wrong with you Aizawa?! You can't seriously be buying Mello's story!" Matsuda had turned bright red in frustration.

"No, Aizawa's right." Light said. Matsuda turned to him in confusion. "Considering the original L had believed me to be Kira, it's not completely idiotic to believe that Mello could be telling the truth." Light looked down at his feet. "Mogi, could you deliver the Death Note to Soichiro please."


Soichiro stood opposite Mello, the Death Note in his left hands. He cautiously handed it over to Mello, who snatched it from his grasp. Mello turned to the back of the Note Book and read the last rule out loud. "If a person makes this notebook unusable by tearing it up or burning it, all the humans who have touched the Death Note shall die." Soichiro raised an eyebrow at Mello, who shot him one last look, before pulling a red lighter from his back pocket.

"Wait, Mello what are you doing?!" Soichiro bellowed.

"I'm proving my point!" Mello stated. Before Yagami could snatch the book back, Matt held a gun directly to his head. "If you dare try to stop me, Matt will kill you, and then burn the book himself."

"Mello stop!" Soichiro thundered.

"I know this rule is a fake and I'm trying to prove it! Just…trust me." He flicked the lighter on and held the small spark of flame beneath the left corner of the book. The fire then spawned across the pages of the book, and soon enough, it was set to nothing but flames. Mello dropped the destroyed book on the ground and crossed his arms, watching as the flames died down. Soichiro stared in shock as Mello stamped the remaining flames out with the heel of his foot. Mello closed his eyes, as though he were waiting for something. When he opened them, he glanced at his watch on his wrist and smirked. "If that rule I just read out was true, then shouldn't you and I be dead by now?" Matt lowered his gun and placed it in his back pocket. "Do you believe me now?"

"That was…insane!" Soichiro screeched. "You could have gotten us all killed!"

"But I knew no one was going to die before." Mello stated. "I knew no one was going to be harmed."

"So…you really were telling the truth."

TBC