Chapter Text
Light was bored.
It wasn’t an uncommon feeling, no, more of an entirely unpleasant one. Especially for Light. He knew how to speak, write, and read perfect English, so now the only thing there was to do was stare out the window while his teacher drilled on, and on, and on. I’d rather be anywhere else, even the shopping mall with Sayu. But, just as Light was about to glance at the clock, something caught his eye. Was that… a notebook falling from the sky?
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As soon as the lecture ended, Light practically jumped from his seat, making his way to the school garden.
So I wasn’t hallucinating. Light bent to pick up the sleek black notebook, already noticing that the cover words were in English. Death Note? As he flipped through the first pages, all filled with supposed “rules” he wanted to laugh. What kind of lame prank was this? He stuffed it in his bag (for reasons unknown to even him) and was about to walk away when.. “Light! Wait Up!”
It was Kiyomi, speed walking towards him, her long black pencil skirt restricting her movements. He smiled at her when she finally reached him, “Hello Kiyomi-sama”
She rolled her eyes at the formality, “Yuto and I are planning to go to the udon restaurant near my house for dinner. Want to join us?”
Light wanted nothing more than a good bowl of udon but unfortunately, “Ugh I can’t tonight, I have prep courses. Maybe.. next week?”
“You’re already a genius Light, why do you need to go to prep courses? Save a seat for us ordinary folk”
Light laughed as he slowly turned away, “You know what my mother says,” he raised his voice an octave, “There is no limit to perfection.”
“Oh, shut up” she replied smiling.
“I’ll see you tomorrow Kiyomi”
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Sitting at his desk, with absolutely nothing to do before prep courses, Light pulled out the notebook.
“If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.” he almost snickered as he read the rules aloud. A magical death notebook… sounds like the premise of a manga.
“Incominggg” his tv blared, the sudden sound making Light jump.
“The man who indiscriminately killed and wounded six people yesterday in Shinjuku is still barricaded inside this nursery school. With eight hostages including little children. The Metropolitan Police have determined the man’s identity. He is Kurou Otoharada, 42 years old and unemployed” The mans picture flashed across the screen. Light glanced between the notebook and tv.
“Well, if anyone deserves to be written in this notebook, it is that man”
40-39-38-37, Light couldn’t believe he had actually written the name. Maybe he had hit his head while dozing off earlier that day? He held his breath, 4-3-2-1, nothing happened, the screen staying the same. Laughing a little at the sheer ridiculousness of it at all, Light closed the notebook, about to just throw the stupid thing in the trash when…
“What’s this!!?? The hostages… they are coming out! They all seem to be alright. And now the police are going in! Will they be able to arrest Otoharada?”
No, no, no, it can’t be! Light hovered so close to the tv he could almost see the pixels, the air feeling sort of heavy in his lungs.
“They’re coming back out? But no sight of their captor just yet… This just in!! The captor is inside the nursery school, and he is dead!”
No, Light slowly backed away, this is just a major coincidence. But… what if it wasn’t? Should he.. Light shook his head hard, trying to physically shake away the curiosity. He would not, no he could not even think such thoughts. He was not that kind of per-
“Light!! It’s 6:25 already! You have your prep courses today!”
Glad of the distraction, Light quickly stuffed the notebook into his bag, and practically sprinted down the stairs.
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He couldn’t stop thinking about it.
In the tiny classroom, where the teacher only spouted information Light could recite in his sleep, he could do nothing but ruminate. Even if he were to “test” the notebook out again, would that make him a murderer? Was he already a murderer? No! Light shivered. It was an accident. Even if the notebook truly was the reason for the mans passing. Not that Light felt bad for the man. He was a murderer, a criminal, and a threat to society. Light would almost say he deser- God what was wrong with him! He needed to get out of there.
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As he walked, he decided on what needed to be done. He would burn the notebook and never speak or even think about it again. It is for the best, he told himself as he walked towards the corner store, in hopes of finding a lighter. But.. something else had caught his attention-
“Hey girlie”, it was a filthy looking man on a motorcycle, pulling up with his “friends” to catcall a lady.
“How bout havin some fun with me tonight?”
The woman slowly tried to back away, a terrified expression fully forming on her face as the man grabbed her arm.
“My name’s Takuo Shibumaru, that’s Shibutaku for short. Heh Heh.. Come on, girlie, how about it?”
“I don’t think so…”
At the woman words, Light slowly passed them, pushing the door and entering the store. He had to do something. He picked up a magazine, ripped a piece out of the death note, and scrawled down many different spellings of the mans name, writing traffic accident next to each one.
Light looked up, holding his breath as he counted down the seconds.
“She got away!” one of the men called as the women started sprinting across the empty street. Taku quickly followed behind her on his motorcycle, screaming, “Hey, girlie! I got wheels, remember?”
He didn’t hear his friend’s screams at him to watch out, not that it would have mattered. The semi-truck hit him quite fast, killing him on impact.
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“I- I have killed two people” but I also saved that woman. Light was stumbling down the alley, nausea overtaking him. The death note does work…
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A few days later…
Ryuk was getting quite bored just watching. It had only been a few days, yes, but he wanted to be apart of the fun as well. That’s why he was standing right behind the human, Light Yagami, as he wrote. So, so many names, Ryuk thought it a miracle that the boys hands hadn’t fallen clean off. The thought made him laugh a little, which in turn, caused the boy to almost topple over in fright.
“AAAHHHH”
Damn, Ryuk knew he wasn’t pretty per se, but the boys reaction felt a little bit dramatic.
“Why are you so surprised to see me? You did pick up my death note after all” Ryuks smile grew, “And you seem to like it veryyy much.”
The boy, Light, finally peeled himself away from his desk. There was a spark in his eyes, Ryuk noticed, that he had not seen in the many humans he had encountered before.
“Are you going to kill me, shinigami? Take back your notebook?”
“And ruin my fun so soon? I don’t think so, no”
“Hmmmmm.” The boys shaking was subsiding a bit.. “I guess that’s good. So does that mean it’s mine?”
Ryuk laughed a little, “Yes boy, the moment a death note lands in the human world, it belongs to the human world. And since you’ve used what was my notebook, you’re the only one who can see me. Nobody else can hear me either, of course. It’s sort of like a bond between human and shinigami.” Light visibly swallowed. “So… are you gonna tell me what you have been up to or what?”
With the question, the boy straightened, his gaze becoming sharper.
“I want to make the world a better place. A place rid of criminals that compromise the safety and freedoms of regular people. I’ve been using the death note to accomplish it, by well, you know, writing the criminals names.”
Ryuk picked up the notebook, inspecting it. “Why all heart attacks?”
“Since it’s the default, it saves me the time of writing each individual cause of death. It’s also one of the quickest and least painful ways to die.” Light sighed looking out towards the window. “Just because I’m getting rid of them doesn’t mean I get a high off watching them suffer.”
“But what about you Light? If you get rid of every criminal in this world, you’ll be the only one left.”
The boy smiled sadly before answering. “I want change. If my morality is the price for a world where kids are not taken advantage off, woman can walk out at night safely, and humans can just trust each other, then I will gladly pay.”
Wow, Humans are interesting..