Chapter Text
”Remember why you started down this path, and let that memory carry you beyond your limit.”
- All Might
The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die. That is the rule of the death note.
A death note is a shinigami's tool to live off of human lifespans. Shinigami are gods of death, who have long lost their purpose in their long life. They live in a barren land, with nothing to do but gamble or sleep, and occasionally peek at human worlds.
Years ago, a death note fell into the hands of a human named Kira, who brought genocide in the name of justice.
Delighted by Kira's act, the King of Shinigami gave his subordinates an order.
Restore this human back from the dead, and cast him down to a new realm, where we shall observe him much more closely, and deem him worthy of being my successor.
Munching on an apple, a dark being with bright eyes sat atop a cliff, deep in thought.
A wide grin was stretched across his face.
This order sounds very interesting…
Light Yagami- Train Station - 16 years later
There was another villain attack. This time it had come in the form of anti-quirk terrorists who were tried to poison the population.
A young man sighed as he read more depressing news articles. He turned off his phone to look up at his surroundings. He was in the subway, seated next to the door. He took a glance out the window. Today looked nice, he supposed. The sun was rising, covering the city in an orange light. The train shook as it sped through the tracks. He looked at his fellow passengers. They were all crammed together, but none acknowledged the other.
"Next stop, Hamamatsu."
Several passengers stood up, leaving to go to their destination. They all ignored one another, each going and minding their own business. Just like they were yesterday, and the day before. Rinse and repeat. Light Yagami sighed and looked at the contents of his handbag. He pulled out his midyear transfer application. Finally some good change was coming his way.
...
"No way! You got accepted?!" He was in a classroom. Jurojin Private Academy. An exceptional place for those who live on their own. He didn't feel bad about it. Everyone there was in the same boat, some way or another. He turned to face one of his classmates. Seiji Miyasato. One of his closer acquaintances. But an idiot.
"It's only the written application test. Now I've got to pass the real thing. I’ll head out in a week."
"How are you going to pass? Aren't you quirkless?"
Now that was something that ticked him off. Talk about rotten luck in the game of life. But there was no way in hell he would show his frustration. He had worked too hard to allow his pride to be shattered by something like that.
"Yeah... it's not going to be easy, I admit. But I plan to follow through with it." Could he though? He refused to acknowledge his insecurities, but realistically could he pull off such a feat?
"Why not aim for joining the police or become a detective? That sounds easier, wouldn't you think?"
"There's no way I'd be content with being second best." Light tsked. That much was true. But after recently reading articles about police collaborating with villains and terrorists, his view on them had been tarnished. Systematic corruption was truly disappointing.
"Even so, why now? Couldn't you apply before?"
"Of course I did. I scored number one in the written exam, but was rejected. I suppose there were some recent changes in their policies, so I have another chance."
"I knew you were good, but why? Why push forward?"
Light turned silent for a moment, and he shifted his vision to a television on the wall, showing off depressing news again. This time, a small city had mysteriously collapsed. Looking at the state of the world, he already knew the answer.
"I have to make the world better. After that incident in Kamino and the country’s top hero gone... things have been getting worse. I mean just recently we've been seeing a rise in terrorism. Every day, something bad happens. Day in and day out. The same news on permanent repeat. This world is..."
"Rotting."
"Next stop, Kakegawa." Light broke free from his thoughts at the voice of the announcer. The doors opened yet again, and the passengers shuffled again.
A large man pushed his way through the crowd into the train. He held tightly onto a backpack. He started to push past other passengers, while mumbling to himself. The man looked visibly shaken, fidgeting all over. His eyes then shifted and began to look around. Something wasn't right. Light stood, and decided to move to another seat, where he could safely observe.
Izuku Midoriya- Train Station
"I can't believe our training with Endeavor is over." A group of three were gathered at the station, waiting for the next train.
"Well I'm glad it's over, that crap was getting too sappy for me. But I showed him who was the fastest in the end with that stupid stripe villain." The blonde youngster smirked at the memory of showing off his power to punch the hell out of that Ending guy.
"Yes, I guess my old man showed me how to work with my fire better." The half red and white haired boy was deep in thought, looking at his left hand.
"Yeah. We even managed to pretty much save the world back in Oseon. We really learned a lot, haven't we?" The green haired boy sighed at the memories.
"Don't get sentimental with me, damn nerd!"
They huddled in line for their last train, which should take them back to Musutafu. It was really busy at this hour. A female voice announced the coming trains and their destinations, and men and women lined up to board.
"Attention passengers, a short delay has come with the following trains: Shibuya, Musutafu, Fukuroi, and Tokyo. We are sorry for the inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience."
"You've got to be kidding me!" The explosive hero was fuming. Others in the crowd shared the same feelings about the incident. The people all murmured their disapproval.
"Don't worry Kachan, it won't be too long before we'll get to go!" Izuku tried to calm down his angry friend. They continued to wait in line, making small talk.
"I wonder how the others are doing with their work studies." Izuku tried to imagine the others. He hoped they were doing alright.
A few minutes into this wait, a group of dogs began barking. Izuku broke away from his thoughts to see a hooded man being approached by security, with sniffer dogs on a leash. The man froze up when he saw the guard coming closer.
"Sir, will you please come with us?" He crossed his arms and gave the man a stern glare.
"T-this is just a misunderstanding!" The man stammered. He was shivering intensely. The guard looked unconvinced, staring at his black stained tongue. Symptoms of a drug. The man quickly covered his mouth. The guard spoke into his radio, and began to approach the man.
"We're just going to have a little talk. Please cooperate with us." he took hold of the man's shoulder.
The man responded by punching the guard across the face, and breaking into a run, tightly holding on to his backpack and heading for the nearest train.
"Hey! Stop!"
“Shit! Shit shit!” The man paid no attention to the order, and booked it out of the situation. The trio watched for a second. Bakugo cracked his knuckles in anticipation.
"Well, looks like we found one last job to kill time. Let's get that bastard." He rushed into the scene, and the other two began to follow.
Izuku sighed. One last job before they went home. He wished there weren't so many villains all the time. It really felt like it was only getting worse nowadays. They began to chase after the man, and he quickly took notice. His eyes widened at the sight of three heroes hot on his tail.
"Stay away from me!" The man pushed over a cart filled with bags, and sprinted around a corner. They followed, and found themselves running into a crowd. The trio stopped, observing the people gathered.
“Damn it, he’s gone!” Bakugo strained his eyesight, unable to detect the criminal. He looked down to see a jacket on the floor. Bakugo picked up the garment, glaring at his failure.
The heroes persisted. They pushed through the crowd, but still struggled to see anything.
Deku began to climb up Bakugo’s back all of a sudden.
“Oi, what the fu — ” The blonde was about to explode.
“I see him!” The green one interrupted. He pointed towards one of the trains. The door had just opened, and the man was standing outside the door. His eyes widened as he saw the hero standing above the crowd, and he rushed inside. The trio hurried to reach the train, pushing past the people blocking their way.
“Sorry, excuse me, passing through!” Izuku tried to be polite as he struggled to make ground. They eventually broke through, and sprinted into the train. They came into a dead stop when they saw what was happening, however.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” Bakugo spat out. His gaze was fixed on a terrible scene. The criminal had wrapped his elbow over a little girl, a gun. A hostage scenario. The crowd began to panic and scream at the sight. The man faced the three heroes, pressing the gun into the child's head.
"Don't come any closer! Any sudden moves and people die! Everyone, back off!"
The villain's eyes were wide eyed with panic. They had cornered him and pushed him to desperate measures. There was no telling what he might do. The trio stopped, glaring at the man. The man's sight shifted, noticing guards approaching the train. He walked backwards, approaching the driver.
"Get this train going, or you're next!" The driver hastily complied, closing the train doors. The train began to move, heading on to the next destination.
"You…” He pointed the gun at the heroes. “I want you to take all the passengers away from here. Or I'll kill the kid."
"What should we do?" Izuku turned to look at his friends.
"I can't use my quirk here. Not without hurting her or the others. I'm not that precise." Todoroki's flames died down.
"Yeah, and my explosion will do the same." Bakugo admitted begrudgingly.
"You two get the others out of here, I'll deal with this guy."
"And let you get away with all the glory? Hell no, Deku."
"Kachan, please. There's people in danger."
The spiked blonde took a moment of silence, considering his options.
"Fine, we'll take them to the car in the back."
The people began to follow the two heroes as they led them away.
"Alright, it's just us."
"That's good. Now, let's talk business." The villain smirked.
"What do you want?"
"Obviously, no cops when the train reaches the destination. Oh, and don't even think of trying to take me on now that the others are gone. I've got this:"
The man pulled out a syringe.
"It's called trigger. I'm sure you've heard of it?"
"The quirk enhancement drug?"
"That's right. Normally, I’m just like a pufferfish. I expand and crush things. With this baby, I could easily take down this whole train, and all its passengers. So no funny business, alright?"
A young man slowly rose from behind one of the seats, and began to approach from behind. He must have hidden when he saw the whole incident. He put a finger to his lips, asking for silence. Izuku pretended not to notice him. He had to buy some time.
"You know you won't get away, even if we do as you say, right?"
"You'd be surprised. My client won't let his assets be taken so easily."
"Client? Who are you talking about?"
"I'm not stupid, kid. You expecting me to blabber about my business?" Unfortunately, he was probably right. There were likely many organizations that were using the illegal drug. But he just wouldn't let this guy get away. The young man was right behind him. Izuku gave the villain a smirk.
"I was just hoping to keep you talking."
The villain's eyes widened but it was too late. The man behind him wrapped one arm around his neck, and the other to take hold of the needle. They both struggled, but the villain refused to let go of either the needle or the girl.
"Damn it!" He jabbed the needle into the young man, and then he threw him against the wall. He then whirled to the train’s door, kicking it off its hinges. He threw the girl out of the train, screaming.
Oh no.
Deku did not hesitate to jump out after her. His hands reached for her.
Please let me reach her in time.
Light's POV - Train
"Predictable." The criminal watched the open train door, sneering at their possible demise.
"You bastard, you'll pay for that." He coughed. The villain turned to look down on the interloper.
"As for you, we need to teach you some manners." The villain approached the injured teen. He looked puzzled. He had no reaction to the drugs inside him.
"Really no effects from the drug? No, don't tell me-" He laughed at the young man, pointing a finger. "A quirkless nobody tried to stop me?"
He stopped when he heard running from beyond the car door. Three heroes were running alongside the train. One carried the girl in his arms.
The villain took a step back, panicking. He quickly turned back to find another needle in his bag. He began to reach into his bag, pulling out another needle. The student latched on to his arm, refusing to let him use the drug.
"Let go!" The two struggled, and the student yanked, knocking each other over. The villain groaned, standing back up, but stopped when he noticed the needle in his own shoulder. He began to twitch and expand as he began to feel the effects of the drug.
"Ah-" The villain was interrupted as he was rushed by the student and knocked over. He stumbled, approaching the hole in the wall where the doors were. Light had to get rid of the villain quickly, or they would all die. The heroes won't be able to get here to stop him in time.
"H-hey, stop it." The villain's eyes widened when he finally understood his intent.
His request was ignored. He kicked at the villain again. His size was beginning to grow too much.
"Stop!!" The villain's terrified eyes were met with a cold stare. He gave a final kick at the villain, pushing him out the door. One second and a scream later, blood splattered, covering him in it. The young man stood there, processing what had just happened, and he fell to his knees, holding unto his stomach. His hands instinctively went to cover his mouth. He felt incredibly sick.
He finally began to feel the effects of the fight. His body ached like crazy and he felt tired. His vision was getting blurry. He heard a distant voice. Was it one of the heroes? Had to be.
"Hey! You'll be alright! Does anyone have any first aid?!"
Light Yagami closed his eyes, finally sleeping.
Light - 5 hours later - Haibara General Hospital
Light opened his eyes slowly. He was in a bed. A faint beeping sound could be heard. He turned his head to look at his surroundings. He was in a hospital room. Sitting next to his bed was that young hero from before.
"Oh hey, you're awake. You're Light Yagami, right?" The boy noticed.
"Yes, that's me." Light groaned as he tried to sit up.
"Don't push yourself too hard. You went through a lot." Light ignored him and sat up, adjusting himself to get comfortable. He sighed, processing the situation in his head.
"Is the kid alright?"
The hero nodded. "Yeah, you did a great thing back there."
"Back there..." He remembered it now. The whole thing.
"I killed someone."
"I know. But if you hadn't, he would've exploded." The hero sighed. He looked like he had seen a lot.
"Wait, exploded?"
"His quirk's enhancement would have blown up the train. The passengers owe you their lives. And so does Aiko."
"Aiko?"
"The little girl you saved."
Light fell silent. Still, even if what he said was true, to take a life just didn't sit right in his stomach. His gaze returned to the hero. "You're from UA aren't you?"
"Hm? How did you know that?"
"I saw you on TV a few times."
"Oh yeah. Heh, still hard to get used to. It's true. Anyways, when we brought you over, I tried to recover your belongings, and couldn't help but notice this."
The boy pulled out a paper. His application.
"You were trying to transfer over to our school?"
"It was more of a hope, really. Sure, I've been trying to train myself, but it's unlikely I'll get in anyway."
"And why's that?"
"Because I don't have a quirk."
There was a long silence after that.
"So what?"
"What do you mean so what?"
"That didn't stop you from rushing in there, did it?"
Light opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't find what to say. Instead, the hero put both his hands on his shoulders, giving the hospital patient an intense yet determined look.
"Please, don't give up. You too can be a hero. I'm sure you could join if you try. The last semester's going to start soon. I'm sure you can do great."
The boy had left him speechless. What could he say?
"I've gotta go. My friends are waiting for me."
"Wait! I don't even know your name!"
"Huh? Oh yeah..." The green haired boy gave a smile.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya!"
...
A nurse entered Light's room. "Pardon me..."
Light lifted his head to face the newcomer. "Hm, what is it?"
"Mr. Yagami? I believe there was a package here for you."
"A package?" He hadn’t been expecting anything.
"Yeah. Our hospital allows for gifts for patients." The nurse handed him a sealed folder, which Light stared for a moment in confusion. "Who is it from?"
"It was sent anonymously. Probably just a get well soon card. Take care of yourself." The nurse walked off. The hospitals were busy in this day and age. Light stared at the folder for a long time. He took a deep breath and tore the seal open, revealing its contents.
A notebook?
He felt a sudden gust of air. He turned his head to see the source, but the room was still empty. Must have been the wind. Strange. How’d a gust of wind reach him all the way within the confines of this building? He observed his room, trying to make out any irregularities, but he could see nothing wrong. He glanced back to the strange present. What kind of gift is this?
"Death Note?"
Is this some sort of stupid joke? Someone pranking him for almost dying or something? Why would someone give him this? But at the same time, looking at it made him feel strange. It gave him a strange sense of familiarity. But that was impossible. He had never seen something like this before.
He pulled the book out of the folder. The book was smooth, the leather texture brushing against his hand. The black cover felt cold. The cold sensation spread throughout his whole body.
A flash of images erupted from his mind. Hundreds of faces he had never seen before all looked at him, and he saw lists of hundreds of names. A vision of pain and misery. Nothing but death.
The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die.
He was back in his bed, shocked. His face was downcast and empty, and he breathed heavily, trying to process what had just happened.
A rough and croaking voice then spoke. "How have you been, Light?"
His eyes wandered, and he found his face lifting up to meet the gaunt and always smiling face of his former companion.
"Ryuk..."
The shinigami towered over Light, casting a shadow on him. He remembered everything now. "Say something Light. It all turned out exactly as planned."
Light remained silent. He had lost everything... he had killed and pushed everyone who had been to him. Didn't he promise Sayu and mom that he was going to visit them next year? And his new world must have collapsed long ago. Everything he had done was for nothing. But he still had one thing left. And it was right in his hands.
He struggled to not burst out laughing, breathing heavily. He slowly regained his composure, taking careful and steady breaths, and with a dark look in his eyes, raised his head to face Ryuk, the shinigami. His mind began to calculate the way it used to.
"That criminal's death... was it you?"
"Me? No way. I can't write a death that far in advance. The 23 day rule exists, after all."
"Then who-" Of course.
"The King must have done it. The rules do not apply to him."
The shinigami laughed in affirmation. "The King is definitely smarter than I thought." Light stroked his chin in thought.
"I still don't get how the old man would know to kill this guy." The shinigami scratched his head in confusion.
"It was because I didn’t get into that academy. I’m sure that’s where I was supposed to go. But because of my lack of this so-called ‘quirk’ I didn’t make it. I guess he knew having a hero witness me saving someone would definitely give me a boost. To think that I've gained the favor of the King of Shinigami and the gods of death... it really is amazing. Wouldn't you agree, Ryuk?"
"Eh, I guess so, hyuk."
"We're back to where we started. Me and Ryuk. Just the two of us."
"That’s true, hyuk. It’s gonna be a bloodbath."
The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die. That is the rule.