Chapter Text
Boring, so awfully dull. Wifies glances around his surroundings as his professor drones on about something he probably already knows. There’s not even a window he can look out of, can’t even enjoy nature amidst this stuffy lecture hall. The person next to him… he vaguely recognises? Not really, he barely remembers anyone in this room, everyone is the same. No one stands out.
Maybe he should just focus on what his professor is teaching instead.
Yawning, he continues to type away on his laptop. The pitter-patter sound of his keyboard blended in with the others. His eyes glimpsed at the digital clock at the corner of his screen, just ten more minutes to go, then he can leave.
The professor switches topics, he moves on from teaching to explaining an assignment that’s going to be due in a few weeks. The deadline is a bit away, Wifies knows for a fact that no one in his class will start the work until the very last minute. They’ll panic and rush it, only to hand in a half baked piece of homework, when they could’ve done so much better if they had just started earlier.
How on earth did these people even get into such a prestigious university? A mystery that was yet to be solved. Not that Wifies bothered to try and solve it anyway. They’re not worth his time.
As the lecture draws to an end, Wifies shuts his laptop with a muted click. He rises from his seat, preparing to head straight home.
Wifies trails behind as his classmates split off into their usual friend groups. Chatting and laughing about nothing, asking about plans later in the day. He was just about to deviate from the crowd before he was stopped by someone.
He looked at the person, medium length brown hair with blonde highlights, she wore a dull red cardigan with a cream coloured shirt underneath. She had a small smile, not too exaggerated, but not unnoticeable either.
Had he seen her before? Doesn’t matter, he wouldn’t remember if he did.
“Wifies, right?” The woman spoke, an inquiring tone in her voice.
He nods. “Yes, that’s me.”
How did she know my name? Wifies thought to himself. He doesn’t recall ever speaking to this person before. Then, it hit him. He’s an honour student, that title alone would make him somewhat of a campus celebrity. Guess that’s how.
“I’m Anne, we were just in the same class.”
That’s cool, but he’d really like to go home now. Small talk with a classmate isn’t really on his schedule at the moment.
“..Nice to meet you, Anne. Did you need something?” Wifies inquires, mostly out of politeness.
“Yes, would you like to come to this cafe with me? It’s just down the road from here.” She offers.
“No thanks. I’m busy.” Wifies declines curtly.
She frowns. “Oh, that’s okay. Guess we can schedule another day…”
No thanks. “I apologise. Perhaps we can.”
Anne smiles once again, before turning to leave. A brief interaction, but to Wifies, it was an utter waste of time.
He continued his way out of campus, making it out of the building. Then, he stopped.
On the concrete floor of the university, lay a black object. It stood out against the dull grey backdrop, it called to him. As he got closer, the shape of it became clearer.
Wifies crouched down, taking it as he got back up. It was a notebook, standardly sized, light in his grasp.
The cover didn’t have much, only two words written in white. “Death Note”
Wifies snorted. Surely these people would’ve gotten out of their edgy teenager phase by now, considering everyone here is a university student. Not everyone has grown up just yet, he supposes.
He flips through the pages quickly, noticing that there wasn’t even a trace of ink within. It was all blank. The book was in good condition too, it didn’t look worn down.
No name, no sign of it belonging to anyone. Well, even if there was, he wouldn’t know who to give it back to anyways. Don’t mind if he does then — finders keepers right? At least that’s the phrase people say.
He stuffs the book in his bag and finally leaves.
—
“I’m home.” Wifies calls out as he pushes his front door open. He shuts it behind him with a muted click.
No one responds. Kicking his shoes off, he makes his way up to his bedroom.
While on his way, Wifies runs into his younger brother, Avery. The boy’s eyes were a puffy red, he wore a deep frown.
“..You okay?” Wifies asks, hesitantly.
“Oh, Wifies, you’re back… I’m f-fine, my eyes are just… itchy.” Avery stammers. “I’m going to the bathroom to get a tissue.” He finishes the last sentence quickly before sprinting away.
Wifies raises an eyebrow at his response, he doesn’t press further though.
Once Wifies puts his bag down, he recalls the black notebook he took from his university floor. He had no idea why he decided to keep it, but he just did.
He opens the notebook once again, this time, he notices the writing on the inside cover.
“How to use it… The Human whose name is written in this note shall die.” This thing has a set of instructions too?
Whoever made this must’ve been bored. Seems quite elaborate for a joke though, nevertheless, Wifies read on.
“This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject’s face in mind when writing their name. This is to prevent people who share the same name from being affected.”
A lot of effort really was put into this, whichever genius that came up with this thought of everything.
“If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of the subject's name, it will happen.
If the cause of death isn't specified, the victim dies of a heart attack in 40 seconds. However, the rule can be delayed for 23 days, meaning you can write down ‘dies by heart attack in [xx] days."
"After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be entered within the next six minutes and 40 seconds."
"If the time of death is specified within 40 seconds after writing the cause of death as a heart attack, the time of death can be manipulated and can go into effect within 40 seconds after writing the name."
"The conditions of death will not be realized unless they are physically possible for that human or could be reasonably assumed to be carried out by that human. Although it is possible to control a person's actions, if an impossible situation is written down the person will simply die of a heart attack.”
Wifies chuckled to himself as he read the instructions, the book clearly wasn’t real but he’ll commend the effort. The ominous appearance of it and the detailed set of rules was certainly creative.
Oh well, I should probably get started on some homework. Wifies thought.
He turned on his laptop to tune in to some random live broadcast the government had on today. Mainly for white noise while he worked.
Looking at the man speaking, his appearance seemed awfully familiar. Where did Wifies know this guy from…? Grey eyes, brown hair, but what made him truly stand out was the snorkel on his head.
Oh, that’s Nufuli Wisp, or commonly referred to as Mr. Nufuli in his household. He is a leading member of BAT and his mother’s superior, or co-worker, one of the two.
Wifies has never really met him, nor does he know much about him. All he knows is that he is a leading official in BAT, which is closely partnered with the government, also known as ‘LAW’. His mother is always singing his praises, whether it’s deserved, he can’t answer.
Glancing at the black notebook beside him, Wifies suddenly gets an urge to do something really funny.
He writes out a name on the first page of the book, Nufuli Wisp. It’s all fun in games, just like this “Death Note”. Absolutely nothing will happen, because all he did was write down a name. How can someone possibly die from a notebook of all things?
40 seconds had passed, and sure enough, Wifies was right.
Then, a scream coming from his laptop was heard. Wifies turned his head and- Nufuli had collapsed?
A man in a suit, with white hair tied into a ponytail immediately rushes on stage, cradling the collapsed man in his arms. “Nufuli! Can you hear me?!” He shakes him hard to no avail.
The man frantically checks Nufuli over, tilting his head backwards and looking for chest movement. There is none. He placed his index finger on his wrist, and to his horror, he couldn’t feel anything.
“..Fuck. No pulse, and he isn’t breathing either.” The man murmurs under his breath. “Get him to a doctor now!” He frantically yells out to anyone who would listen.
Immediately, people rush to take Nufuli away, the panicked man follows after.
Someone else takes over to finish the broadcast. “Not to worry, Mr. Wisp will be okay.” They reassure the audience, without a care with whether their statement is true or not.
No way that actually worked. Wifies had just murdered someone. Wifies, top student and perfect son had just murdered someone, a high ranking government official no less.
Surely, that must’ve been a coincidence.. A notebook couldn’t possibly be used as a murder weapon. That’s insane!
“I-it was just poor timing.. No way that’s possible.” Wifies whispers to himself, his hands shaky as he shuts the notebook close.
“Was it poor timing though?” A voice from behind him asks, though it appears they already know the answer.
Wifies quickly turns around. “..Who’s there?”
A non-humanoid looking creature stares back at him with wide eyes and a freakish grin. It’s floating in his room like it’s the most casual thing in the world.
In a panic, he falls out of his chair. His butt hitting the ground and he scrambles backwards to get away from the ..thing.
The monster laughs at his reaction. “That will never be old.”
“What do you want from me?”
The creature points at him. “You, Wifies Paragon, have my notebook.”
Wifies takes the book off his desk, waving it at the thing. “Oh, this?”
“Do you want it back?” Wifies adds.
“No. I dropped it in the human world intending for someone to pick it up. It belongs to you now.”
The monster shrugs then continues. “Unless you want to give it back, I can take it off you, you’ll just lose all your memories of having ever possessed the Death Note. No big deal, I’ll just go find someone else.”
So, this book can even tamper with his memories? That thing said it so casually too.
“I see.” Wifies replies, cooly.
“Are you keeping it or?” The creature extends its arm out, eager for a response.”
“Give me some time to think.”
It huffs indignantly, clearly impatient. “Don’t take too long.”
Wifies rests his hand on his cheek, his index finger gently tapping his skin. A notebook capable of killing is something too powerful and dangerous to be left to the public. By picking this up, the amount of power that is now in his hands is immense.
At the same time, him passing on that weapon that killed a government official and forgetting its existence would exempt him from guilt, if the true cause of Nufuli’s death was ever found. Oh, wait no, his fingerprints are on it. Dang it.
Actually, realistically speaking, no one is going to find out. A notebook capable of murder? That sounds absolutely absurd. Even he didn’t believe it at first. As long as no one finds out about the power of this book, he is getting off scot free.
It’d be a useful tool to keep anyway. He’ll never be at the scene of the crime to get caught, there will be no evidence it was him.
“I’m keeping it.”
The creature grins. “Very well. Saves me the trouble.”
Then, it seems to suddenly remember something. “Oh right, I should probably introduce myself now.”
Wifies nods, gesturing for it to continue.
“I’m Dabria. A shinigami, the one who dropped the notebook.”
“Are you going to take my soul in return for using it? Such power doesn’t usually come for free.”
The shinigami cocks its head, looking at him confused. “Huh? Some fantasy you humans came up with? I’m not going to do anything to you. The moment a Death Note lands in the human world, it belongs to the human world. You are now the owner of this Death Note.”
“There’s really no price for using it?”
“Not exactly.. but there is the terror and torment that only humans who’ve used it will experience, I’ll also be the one writing your name down when you die and lastly, don’t think that any human who’s used the Death Note can go to heaven or hell. That’s all. You’ll find out about that after you die.”
Wifies has never once believed in the existence of heaven or hell, that makes no difference to him. Although, the terror and torment does sound concerning..
“Wait, what do you mean about the terror and torment that only humans who’ve used it will experience?”
The shinigami ignores his question and continues explaining.
“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. The Death Note is the bond between Wifies the human and Dabria the shinigami.”
“The bond..” Wifies muttered to himself before speaking up again. “Okay, one more question. Why did you choose me?”
“Huh? I didn’t choose you. You just happened to be the human to pick it up. You’re not special or anything. That’s why I wrote the instructions in English. From what I know, it’s the most popular language in your world.”
“Why did you drop it? I’m sure you’re aware of how powerful this book is.”
“Why did I drop it..? Because I was bored, that’s why. Believe it or not the shinigami realm is painfully boring, there’s nothing to do there. I figured it would be more fun here.” The shinigami explained.
“Well then, Wifies, do you have a plan on how you’re going to use it? I’m looking forward to some good entertainment, I might just kill you if you bore me.”
Wifies shakes his head. “I’m not sure yet, but if it’s fun you’re after, I can definitely think of something.”
Wifies smiles at the shinigami. After all, it has been a long while since something interesting has happened in his awfully dull life.