Chapter Text
The Shinigami Realm was a cold dark place, barren land where the only thing that grew were shrivelled up grey apples that tasted revolting. This Realm was home to beings known as Shinigami or Gods of Death, as the name suggests. Shinigami came in all shapes and sizes, from almost humanoid looking to the downright bizarre. Sat atop a high perch looking over the vast and gray world, was Ryuk.
He was a tall wiry figure, pitch black body with a ghost white face, his mouth was a constant blue lipped grin that showed his pointy yellowish teeth. Wide yellow eyes with red irises stared unblinking across the land. A single silver earring hung from his left ear, glinting in the pale foggy daylight. Ryuk mostly kept to himself, a loner amongst the other Shinigami. Not far away from him were two others playing a game that involved old dusty bones and skulls.
“What? A pair of sleeping skulls again?” one spoke, frustrated at the loss.
The other grinned triumphantly, well, as much as he could without lips. “Guess I’m on a hot streak,” he boasted, “Ryuk.” he called out. “Why don’t you join us for once?”
Before Ryuk could answer, a loud scream came from down below. Confused, the other two Shinigami joined Ryuk at the perch to see what was going on. They could see a crowd forming, surrounding a female Shinigami who was holding a bundle of fabric close to her chest. It was easily deduced that the scream had come from her.
“Whoa...”
“What’s going on?”
“Stay back!” exclaimed the fearful Shinigami, who was now crying and still holding the bundle. Instead, several more powerful Shinigami grabbed her and pushed her down to her knees, at that moment, the Shinigami King made his entrance.
The Shinigami, now identified as Roku, must have screwed up big time, the King hardly ever left his Throne unless a seemingly catastrophic event occurred. For him to be here, they could only imagine what she had done. The King in all his gold and jewel encrusted glory stood before her and without word, he snatched the bundle from her arms, ignoring her pleas. As he undid the bundle, everyone in the vicinity who could see what was going on gasped in shock.
A newborn baby was in his arms looking up curiously at the creatures, not an ounce of fright in it’s eyes.
“Explain yourself!” Bellowed the king.
“The baby is m-mine, My Lord,” she announced to the stunned King, stuttering half sentence. Her admission earned her a hard slap to the face.
“You... mated with a human!? Are you out of your mind!?” he roared, loud enough for nearly the whole Realm to hear. After a brief moment of pure frustration and disbelief, he managed to calm himself down. He glanced at the baby, pondering on his decision.
“Rem.” he ordered, instantly, the called upon Shinigami was at his side “As much as I absolutely despise these circumstances, the heavens will forbid I get rid of this… creature. Take it to the human realm.”
Rem took the baby gently in her skeleton like arms, allowing the King to give his full attention to Roku. She headed for the portal that lead to the human Realm without saying a word to the other Shinigami, all watching her leave. When she was out of sight, all eyes were back on Roku.
“You know what must be done, Roku.”
She nodded in acceptance. Her baby would be safe, so she had no reason to put up a fight. The Shinigami King pulled out his scythe from the holder on his back, a terrifying weapon adorned with precious jewels that instilled fear into the cold hearts of all the Shinigami present. As king, he had the rare power to kill another Shinigami using said weapon, it wasn’t a power taken lightly, but Roku had done the unforgivable in the eyes of their laws. He raised it high, the crowd of onlookers taking a step back.
Goodbye, my child.
Roku closed her eyes, her last thought of her child as the scythe sliced her head from her shoulders.
Upon the perch, the three Shinigami who watched the whole spectacle in silence winced in sympathy. “Damn, what a way to go.” one broke the silence, before heading back to the game.
“It's her own fault,” another added, “...mating with a human, I mean, how stupid can you be?” he continued whilst fiddling with the bones.
“Yo, Ryuk? You gonna join us or what?”
“No,” Ryuk replied, feelings he was forbidden to feel bubbling in his chest “I think I’ll pass.”
Light Yagami, a truly gifted student from Japan, was bored. His life consisted of school, night cram school, studying and homework. Despite the massive workload put on his shoulders, Light breezed through it all with little effort. That meant being bored out of his mind was a feeling he was acquainted with.
Not only was he gifted, he was also handsome and had a charming personality to boot. With striking brown eyes that glinted red in certain lights, light brown hair, smooth features and standing taller than average, Light certainly stood out from among his classmates. He stared out of his classroom window, hand propped up on his chin, the student's whispers and teacher's monotone voice becoming background noise. He was already acing all his, so Light didn’t really need to pay attention.
“Light?” his teacher asked, immediately gaining his attention “Please translate the final passage into English.”
Light stood and did as he was told, reading out loud in perfect English, “The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head. Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things. Some shall be pardoned, and some punished. For there was never a tale more of woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” he sat back down when he was done, going back to staring out the window.
On the way home he passed through the city, hearing the news coverage from that day in the big screens. He listened as he read his book, feeling frustration at the world bubbling in his chest. Day in and day out he would hear about another murder, another crime, another criminal going unpunished. This world is rotten, he thought to himself.
A few days later, Light was again back at his desk staring out the window. Today though, something strange happened. He caught sight of something falling out of the sky and landing in the courtyard. He frowned, confused, and strained his eyes to get a closer look.
Is that a book?
After class, Light was heading home when he remembered the strange book. Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to check it out. There lying on the grass, was a slick black notebook with the words "Death Note" written in a jagged white font. Light was both intrigued and disturbed, A notebook of death? Once again, curiosity had him in it's clutches and he picked up the book, opening it to the first page.
“How to use it,” he read aloud to himself “Whoever’s name written in the notebook shall die...” this time Light was more disturbed than curious, but that didn't stop him from reading the rules, memorising the words without thinking. Once he was finished, Light decided he should probably not be holding this. He set the book down where he found it before turning to leave.
That’s just sick. He thought, holding back a shiver. Who comes up with these things anyway? Killing people just by writing a name? Give me a break.
He gave one last backward glance to the book before silently shaking his head. There was something about that notebook that just rubbed him the wrong way, whoever made it was seriously messed up in the head. Light continued on his way refusing to give that book a second thought, completely unaware that he had just changed his future with that one simple act of common sense. That unfortunately meant that he also did not notice the shadowy figure dart from their hiding place in the bushes and grab the notebook.
He was in his bedroom, sitting at his desk. Downstairs, his mother was baking something sweet smelling while his sister, Sayu, was no doubt watching her favourite show. His father, Detective Chief. Souichirou Yagami was still at work. Light was attempting to finish his maths homework, yet found his mind kept drifting back to that damn notebook. He sighed, giving up on work. he obviously couldn’t concentrate well enough, so he mentally noted finishing it off some other time. After putting his homework away, Light turned on the small television on his desk to watch the news. It was nearly time for him to go to Cram School, so Light listened while he changed out of his uniform.
While he was changing, there was a breaking news bulletin that caught his attention. “...we expect negotiations to begin immediately.” A man had killed several people at a shopping centre in Shinjuku, and was now holding hostages at a day-care. Teachers and children were being held at gunpoint by a man named Kurou Otoharada. His picture flashed up on screen, gaunt and dark hair.
“Damn. Those poor kids.” Light thought out loud in sorrow while putting on his shoes. He could only hope that it ended soon with no further injuries, those poor children would be traumatised enough without further bloodshed. A quick thought of the so called Death Note popped in his head.
If something like that actually existed, he could’ve killed the man himself. He mentally berated himself after letting the thought slip. God, what is wrong with him? He shouldn’t be thinking about that!
He stood up to turn off the television when the scene being broadcast changed. Suddenly, the hostages were running out of the day-care, terrified but alive. Light simply breathed a relieved sigh, at least they were safe. His relief was short lived when they announced what happened. Otoharada was dead. He had collapsed, allowing everyone to flea for safety. The reporters were speculating on it being a suicide, however, there were no more such claims after one of the daycare teacher admitted to seeing him just drop dead, holding his chest as if in pain.
All of a sudden, Light went cold. "Whoever’s name written in the notebook shall die." That single sentence echoed in his mind, Light couldn't take his eyes off the news. It had to be a coincidence. No way that silly notebook could be connected. But then again, just because he refused to use it, doesn't mean someone else hadn't also picked it up and gotten the same idea.
“Light?” his mother's calling from downstairs brought him out of his stupor. “It's almost six thirty, you’re going to be late for Cram School!”
“Uh, yeah. I’ll be down in a minute!” he replied, turning off the television. Still rattled at what he saw, Light quietly made his short journey towards his Cram School. Even there he barely paid attention, too lost in thought over what had happened that afternoon. Common sense told him he was being ridiculous, After all, there was no way something like a notebook could kill. So why couldn’t he stop thinking about it? Why was the notion so ingrained in his mind?
Light sighed, forcing himself to pay attention. He couldn’t afford to slack off now, not with College entrance exams being right around the corner.
When Cram School was over, Light walked towards a nearby convenience store. He figured he'd pick up that manga Sayu was going on about. She’d recently aced her midterms and Light, ever the loving big brother, wanted to surprise her. It was no secret that he would do anything for Sayu. All she’d have to do was wobble her lip and he’d be right under her command.
While he was browsing the Manga section, outside a woman walking by was suddenly surrounded by a biker gang. The leader of the group arrogantly introduced himself to her and asked not so politely for her to join them for a ride. When she refused, things went sour. He grabbed her and seemingly ordered his mates to strip her down, judging by how they were tugging at her clothes. Light wanted to help, but knew it wouldn’t be of any use. Five against one would most likely get him killed, and his father always taught him never get into situations you can’t get yourself safely out of. Thankfully, the woman had managed to break free and make a run for it, but the leader was hot on her tail. Revving his bike he chased after her.
That’s when a semi-truck seemingly came out of nowhere and smashed into him, killing him instantly.
Light was so shaken that he dropped the Manga he was sorting through out of sheer disbelief. Wide eyed and trembling, he could only whimper “I’m going crazy...”
“Well,” Ryuk spoke “I better get going.”
It had been five days since Light witnessed that biker get killed. Ever since then, criminals from all over the world were dropping like flies. Everyone, from those already in prison, to those who had escaped justice. All were dying from unexplained heart attacks, or suspicious accidents and all the while Light Yagami was slowly losing his mind trying to make sense of it all. He couldn’t even tell anyone of his suspicions because no one would ever believe him. Hell, Light hardly believed himself. Every fibre of his being screamed that the cursed notebook was responsible, yet his mind kept trying to rationalise that it couldn’t be possible.
It was pouring down by the time he returned home. He greeted his mom at the door, who was holding out her hands expectantly. “Oh, the exams,” he remembered.
“I’ve been waiting all day,” he handed them to her from his school bag, to which she beamed proudly “Goodness! Number one again, these are your highest scores yet!”
Light smiled bashfully under his mother's gaze. At least his grades were still top notch, even if his sanity was going to pieces. “Thanks, mom. I’m going to my room, okay?”
“No problem dear, I won’t disturb you. Oh and, I left some apples on your desk for you. I know how much you like them!”
Light smiled gratefully “Thanks, mom.” he repeated before treading upstairs. As promised, a small basket of plump red juicy apples waited for him on the desk. He’d loved them since he was a child, often turning down chocolate and candy for apples instead. Why he loved them so much was a mystery, he just did.
He took a seat at his desk and took a large bite of one of the apples, humming at the slightly tart taste. For once he didn’t have any homework, and cram school wasn’t until tomorrow, so Light had a rare night off. Usually, he’d spend it studying for the entrance exams, but tonight he seriously needed a break. He threw the core into the nearby bin when finished. After that, he got up from his desk to go to his small dvd collection. It was then he noticed something lying on his bed, something slim and black.
Before he could react to seeing another notebook, his shadow was suddenly eclipsed by a much bigger one. Light could feel cold breath on the back of his neck. Someone was in his room. Taking a nervous gulp, Light turned to face the intruder. Whatever bravery he had was quickly snuffed out at the sight of the hideous creature towering above him. He would have screamed if it hadn’t been for the large clawed hand covering his mouth, muting his panic.
“Easy there kid, I’m not gonna hurt you. But you better not scream when I let go, okay?” it asked, to which Light nodded frantically. The last thing he wanted was to piss off whatever this thing was. It let go, allowing Light to breath through his mouth again. “Greetings, Light. I am Ryuk, the Shinigami.”
“Shini... gami...?” he repeated now terrified. “Am I gonna d-die?” he asked panicking.
The Shinigami stared at him before cackling loudly “Don’t worry kid, you’re not gonna die tonight. You’ve got a lot more years ahead of you. Your neighbour on the other hand...” he trailed off but Light knew what he was implying. Slowly, Light stepped closer, still not believing what he was seeing.
“Okay. If you're not here to kill me, then why are you here?” the question didn’t seem to register as Ryuk caught sight of the apples on the desk. Light watched as Ryuk garbled up the rest of the fruit, core and all until he burped in satisfaction.
“Oh that was good!” Ryuk sighed. “Apples from my Realm are disgusting, these are nice and juicy!” Light shook his head. Not only did he have a bloody Shinigami in his room, it was a glutton at that. Ryuk noticed this and hummed in thought. “I suppose you’ve noticed the deaths recently. You’ve probably figured out how they're killing them.”
Light gasped “I knew it. That Death Note, it was real!” he groaned in frustration “I knew I should have taken it home. None of this would have happened if I had just-”
“It would have still happened.” Ryuk explained. “Just that you would be the one writing the names instead. You see, the Death Note comes with a sort of compulsion to use it, when a human touches one they are driven to use at least once. You’re the first human ever to refuse its power. I have to say, I’m impressed. That takes some massive willpower.” he now held up the other death note in his hand, “I suppose you’re not interested in this either. Can’t tempt you to try it out just once?”
Light couldn’t believe it. There was no way he’d be capable of something so heinous. Yes, he thought the world needed help, but this wasn’t the way to do it! Whoever took the Death Note really was insane. “Absolutely not. I refuse to become that person.” he told Ryuk, glaring into those unblinking eyes.
The Shinigami stared back “Huh. I wasn’t expecting that. I guess... you really are different.” he murmured mostly to himself.
“Now that that’s out of the way, why are you here?” Light demanded. Ryuk pocketed the second Death Note.
“I came to find my Death Note that I dropped. Since you held it first, it’s still in your possession until you relinquish ownership. When you do, you’ll forget everything about it. You can go on living life as normal never remembering me or the Death Note.” he explained “If you don’t, you’ll remember everything including me.”
He’s offering me an out? Just like that? I could just take it and forget this whole nightmare even happened... But criminals would still be dying by the hundreds. If I give up this information, then the killer might never be caught. No, they’d catch them. A killer like this, every cop on the planet would be looking for them. I could just ask him for their name though...
“Any chance you could at least tell me his name?” he enquired
Ryuk shook his head “Sorry kid, doing that is against the rules, and I don't wanna get on the big guys bad side again,” he explained.
*But dropping the damn thing wasn't?* I guess there's really no other option.
“No,” Light announced “If I give up the Death Note then I’ll forget critical information about the killer. If I do that then who knows how many more people will die!”
“Oh, I was hoping you’d say that!” Ryuk laughed almost excitedly, “Things are going to be so much more interesting now. I’ve been so bored lately!” he then sighed, “I think it’s time I left now. Gotta go find my book and all,” Finally, he’s leaving, “And you get to take a nap!”
“What, nap? I can’t just–” Ryuk placed one clawed finger on his forehead and Light dropped like a sack of potatoes in a dead sleep, Ryuk caught him before he'd hit the floor. He placed the sleeping teen on his bed with gentleness unheard of in his kind. With Light still in a deep sleep in bed, Ryuk made his exit, phasing through the wall. A few hours later, Sachiko checked in on Light. Her son was still wearing his uniform, but he looked so peaceful that she didn't have the heart to wake him. She just readied his spare uniform for him to wear in the morning.
Ryuk arrived at the home of the person who now carried the original Death Note, the one Light had left behind in the courtyard. The apartment was dimly lit, one sole table lamp illuminating the hunched figure writing furiously in the Death Note.
“Delete... Delete... Delete...” he muttered writing name after name.
Ryuk chuckled “That’s a lot of names you’ve written down,” the man had the same reaction as Light. He let out a scream, nearly falling out of his chair at the sight of the Shinigami.
“A God of Death!” the man gasped, quickly standing up, “I’ve been expecting you,”
“Oh? Have you now?” Ryuk asked with a tilted head.
The man nodded “Yes. God granted me this gift to rid the world of evil, but he knew I needed a guide so he sent you. I had thought myself unworthy till I saw him place the book on the ground and leave it there. I knew then he wanted me to do is bidding!" he was downright giddy at the memory. Seeing Light leave the Death Note for him to find had only solidified his belief that Light Yagami was indeed sent from above. “And when I’ve finished cleansing this blighted world, it will finally be pure enough for Light to take his rightful place on the throne. Light Yagami... will be the God of this new world!”
Just as I thought. Humans are so interesting!