Near watched the various expressions play over Mello's features out of the corner of his eye. He had anticipated that Mello would be both pleased by Kira's defeat and irritated that his death had fueled Near's eventual victory. The other's eventual enjoyment of the fact that Near would not have likely won without him was also not a surprise. It was all very consistent with the way Mello tended to view things.
It was satisfying to Near, in a way, to be able to tell Mello this. The other had died before anything had been decided. In their world, Mello would never know what the results of his actions had been. He would never have that sweet moment of victory or see the look on Kira's face as his arrogant assurance of success at last began to crumble. It was fair that Mello have a moment of triumph for himself.
"It is true that we would probably be dead, if not for Mello's actions," Near agreed, giving a slight nod of his head. If things had remained peaceful in the time before he was scheduled to meet with Light Yagami and the members of the NPA, Near would not have been likely to take further action. He would almost certainly have missed the trap set by Kira, and they would have lost.
"As I said, it is only because both of our efforts that Kira will be defeated. I was in the moment of confrontation immediately prior to my arrival here. As expected, x-Kira--Teru Mikami--had arrived to see our names and write them down. In the seconds prior to our expected demise, Light Yagami proclaimed his victory. His role as Kira was made more obvious by Mikami's behavior as well as the fact that his name was the only one not written down in the fake Death Note that I had planted. No one whose name was written down died, and thus we remained alive and with requisite proof. I came here before the encounter was concluded, but our victory was obvious at that point."
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It was satisfying to Near, in a way, to be able to tell Mello this. The other had died before anything had been decided. In their world, Mello would never know what the results of his actions had been. He would never have that sweet moment of victory or see the look on Kira's face as his arrogant assurance of success at last began to crumble. It was fair that Mello have a moment of triumph for himself.
"It is true that we would probably be dead, if not for Mello's actions," Near agreed, giving a slight nod of his head. If things had remained peaceful in the time before he was scheduled to meet with Light Yagami and the members of the NPA, Near would not have been likely to take further action. He would almost certainly have missed the trap set by Kira, and they would have lost.
"As I said, it is only because both of our efforts that Kira will be defeated. I was in the moment of confrontation immediately prior to my arrival here. As expected, x-Kira--Teru Mikami--had arrived to see our names and write them down. In the seconds prior to our expected demise, Light Yagami proclaimed his victory. His role as Kira was made more obvious by Mikami's behavior as well as the fact that his name was the only one not written down in the fake Death Note that I had planted. No one whose name was written down died, and thus we remained alive and with requisite proof. I came here before the encounter was concluded, but our victory was obvious at that point."