Kira: the name strikes fear in anyone who hears it, but rather than fear, all I feel when the name is mentioned is curiosity. Who is the brilliant person behind the ominous pseudonym? And how does he kill people all over the world? I want to meet this nameless entity? Person? I haven't completely ruled out the possibility of an organization, but I somehow know that it was a single human being. If someone who has killed hundred of people can still be considered human.
Personally, I agreed with Kira. As long as the enigma continues to kill criminals, I saw no problem. Of course, not many people see eye to eye with me, so I keep this opinion to myself and pretend to be appalled and shocked whenever Kira strikes. It was a pain hiding my true feelings, but it would be even more of a pain if people found out my true feelings.
"Jenny! Would you please translate the next passage into English for the rest of the class?" my English teacher asked me with a smirk, obviously noticing my lack of focus in the class.
"Hai, Mr. Kurosaki," I stand up, my long hair swishing behind me, "'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…'" I translate perfectly despite not paying attention in class. After finishing the passage, I ironically realized how well it described the current situation in the world regarding Kira. The crime rate rapidly decreases while hundreds of people die each week. It truly is the best of times and worst of times.
My teacher looks stunned at my flawless translation; he always tries to take any opportunity to embarrass me in front of the class because he seems to hate me even though I have one of the highest grades in the class. The whole class looks impressed with my translation; all except one, Light Yagami, the only person with a higher grade than mine. He somehow retains the top spot in our year while I retain number two. No matter how hard I study or how many cram school lessons I take, he always triumphs. I'm studying to be a lawyer, and order to be successful, I need to prepare myself for hefty competition now. So I a way, I am thankful for the competition that Light provides, since he is the only worthy competitor in this whole school.
"Light, why don't you translate the next passage, since both you and Jenny seem to not pay attention in this class," teacher set his sights on Light, who looks lost in his own thoughts as I just was.
Light glances up at Mr. Kurosaki and impassively picks up the book, "Yes, sir," he translates the next passage with no mistakes. Not very surprising. After he finishes, Mr. Kurosaki praises him repeatedly.
"What? My translation was just as flawless? Why does this guy only get praise…?" I mumble to myself and twist the ends of my long, black hair, for once I am thankful that my seat is in the back of the classroom. I already know the answer though; everyone knows the answer. Mr. Kurosaki favors male students. Even the male students who never try in class and constantly fail are more appreciated in Mr. Kurosaki's eyes.
Ding! Ding! Ding! The bell rings, signaling the end of the school day.
Thank god. I put my books into my backpack, sling it over my shoulder and adjust my skirt as I make my way to the door. Mr. Kurosaki stops me before I exit.
"Oh, Jenny, Light. Please stay after so we can discuss the lack of focus you both have in this class."
Sighing, I turn around and drop my backpack into an empty desk; I know this will take a while. This isn't the first time Mr. Kurosaki is having this "discussion" with us. Several times, he's talked to us, and it always ends the same. He gives us both a brief thirty second lecture on the importance of paying attention, allows Light to leave, then finally reprimands me for ten minutes. The situation is completely unfair.
"Now, we've had this discussion before, so why can't you two pay more attention in class?"
We both stare blankly at him; this is how he always begins his lectures.
He sighs, "Well, Light, you can go. You don't need more chastising; I'm sure you will improve, but," he turn to me, his eyes full if malice, "Ms. Harris needs more of a lecture."
Staring at Mr. Kurosaki is extremely hard when all I want to do is bash his head open, but I made a decision a long time ago to not let him bother me.
Bowing respectfully, Light begins his departure. Before exiting through the door, he says, "Bye, Jenny."
"Oh, Light, before leaving please close the door. Thank you."
Light closes the door behind him.
That was strange and unexpected. Normally, Light never said anything to me. He would bow and leave. Also, who did he think he was calling me by my first name? We did not know each other well enough for that. I called him Light in my thoughts, but when speaking aloud I always refer to him as Yagami-kun. Mr. Kurosaki's request is quite odd too. He's never asked Light to close the door before. For some reason, staying alone in this classroom with a man who obviously hates girls left me in fear. Quickly, I shake it off, not wanting to let this misogynist have any power over me.
"Mr. Kurosaki, I'm sorry for not paying attention in class," I begin with the same speech, but before I can continue, he stands up abruptly. This is new.
"Cut the crap, Jenny."
"What?" I'm shocked at his response.
"You and Light are both going to continue to lose focus in this class."
"Then why aren't you talking to both of us?" I mentally patted myself on the back, proud of myself for questioning him for once.
Laughing sarcastically, he walks around his desk until he is directly behind me. I quickly turn around to face him, "Um, Mr. Kurosaki, what are you doing?" currently, he was only three inches away from my body.
There was a crazed look in his eyes, "You haven't figured it out yet, Jenny? Shame, you're one of the smartest students I've had in all my years of teaching," he reaches a hand out to grab a tendril of my hair. Slowly, he runs his hand through the curl, and I know what he wants.
"No! Get your hands off me!" I move to the left in an attempt to escape him, but he firmly places his hands on his desk, effectively trapping me. Staring into his eyes, all I can see is lust, pure lust.
"All those times I called you and Light after class was so that I could spend more time with you. I only called Light too so no one would suspect me. The day you walked into my class, I knew I wanted to have you. With your long black hair, and dark skin, and not to mention," he glanced lecherously down my blouse, "your rather large chest. I know your parents are of mixed race. Your mother is Indian and your dad is Japanese. I've never seen a girl like you before. So foreign, so exotic…" he leans down so his head is next to mine and smelled me.
"Stop. Mr. Kurosaki…" I try to plead with him, feeling absolutely disgusted.
"No, Jenny. I've been waiting too long. You can't stop me now," he grips my arms tightly and leans his head closer to mine.
Trying to struggle is pointless. Mr. Kurosaki is nearly thirty years older than me, and much stronger than I. He only smirks at my pathetic attempts and then smashes his mouth onto mine.
My eyes widen in shock. This bastard is stealing my first kiss!
Mr. Kurosaki groans, disgusting me further, and tries to shove his tongue in my mouth. Thinking of a plan, I let him, but once it's in, I bite down, hard.
He screams in pain and backs away clutching his mouth and I spit a mouthful of blood on the ground. Quickly I grab my backpack and run out the door. Mr. Kurosaki makes no move to follow me, too busy clutching his mouth.
Once I'm in the next hall, I collapse, "What should I do? Do I report him? Ughhh," I continue walking down the hallway, "right now, I just need to get home…" Too immersed in my thoughts, I didn't notice when I bumped into a broad chest. Looking up, I saw who I bumped into, Light Yagami. Great, just who I want to see after my incident, "Oh, sorry Yagami-kun," I quickly apologize and walk on, but he grabs my arm. I look back at him, "Do you want something?"
"Harris-chan, I saw what happed with Mr. Kurosaki," he doesn't even look sheepish at knowing this. Watching him say it so emotionlessly makes it more infuriating. How does he even know?
My eyes harden, "How? Were you spying on the classroom?"
"Yes." Another detached reply. "What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know," I sighed. Wait, why am I talking to him about this, "Why do you care? And why did you call me 'Jenny' back there?" I started walking away, not truly caring about his answers, but surprisingly, he walks beside me.
"You should report him," he replies, ignoring my other questions.
"I don't know; I don't want other people to know about this. And, there's only two months left in the semester, so I could just transfer out of his class…" Why am I talking to Light? We went from barely talking to me confiding in him my plans about our pervert teacher.
"So, you are going to keep this a secret?"
"Yes, and you will too, Yagami-kun." I didn't ask him; I told him.
He didn't seem to like that; I saw a quick flash of anger in his eyes, but it lasted for less than a second, "Yes, I will. Would you want Kira to kill him?"
"Kira?" I asked in disbelief, although it seems that now all conversation lead to Kira. "Why are you bringing up Kira?" Normally, I would act shocked and scared, but I felt like I could be more open with Light.
"Well, he's everywhere, isn't he? It just seems like he's all people can talk about. I've also heard somewhere that all conversations lead to Kira." Did he read my mind?
"Yeah, you're right. It's not really my wanting Kira to kill him, it's not my choice. Besides, Kira only kills heavily convicted criminals, murderers, terrorists… Why would he want to kill Mr. Kurosaki? Also, Kira needs a name and a face to kill – as L found out – I doubt he knows about our high school English teacher."
Light smiles, but it does not quite meet his eyes, "As always, Jenny makes smart deductions," his casual use of my first name and his compliment causes a light blush to appear on my cheeks. Soon, we reached the end of the street, "But you know… Kurosaki has been hospitalized for heart attacks before. No one would find it odd if he died from one."
I turn to look at him. What is with his fascination about Kira? "Listen, Light. I appreciate the concern (if that is what you are trying to convey), but I'll be fine. See you tomorrow." Quickly, I turn away from him, but he grabs my arm once more, "What is it, Light?" I ask, a hint of annoyance in my voice.
"I'm sure you've been asked this before, but who do you think Kira is?"
His question catches me off guard. Of course I've been asked this question before; I've also been the asker. Kira is all anyone can talk about. "I think Kira is male, and most likely under twenty five. And, I think he's still in Japan, in our region."
Light looks both impressed and amused at my statement, "Why?"
"He has to be under twenty five because of who he kills. It's almost a childish logic of wanting to get rid of the bad guys and only leave the good guys. Someone like that is probably still in high school or just graduated. And since he's young, he most likely does not have the financial means to leave, so that's why he's still here. He must also be incredibly brilliant. Someone like him…" I look off into the distance as if picturing Kira's face, "must be incredibly gifted and smart. Probably even smarter than us combined!" I try to joke to lighten the mood. It seems to work, as Light smiles.
"Yes, I believe you are right. But why do you think Kira is male?" Light looks at me intently, waiting for my answer.
I smirk, the incident with Mr. Kurosaki almost forgotten, "Why, who else could be arrogant and ruthless enough to enact such a plan?"
"I think I have to agree with you on that, Jenny. I too have deducted the same conclusions about Kira. Do you agree with his purpose?"
The other question that always came with the topic of Kira: Do you agree with Kira?
"I have mixed feelings about it. I believe what he is doing is right – getting rid of all the criminals, but his methods are wrong. I don't know if I can completely agree with killing them all off. There are definitely some that deserve to die, and if someone is in hiding and not incarcerated, it would make sense to kill him. What about you Light? Do you agree with Kira?"
"I nearly feel the same way, but I completely agree with Kira in all respects."
His complete honesty surprised me, as did his coldness, but somehow I wasn't surprised to hear this from Light. "Oh. Now Light, I have a question for you, and after answering all of your, you have to answer mine. Why were you spying on Mr. Kurosaki's classroom?"
"Something felt off. Kurosaki had called us up to his desk many times in the past, but his expression seemed different. I wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to do anything."
Light's response surprised me. Did he actually care about me?
"I will see you tomorrow, Jenny." With that, Light turns around and begins walking away, leaving me confused.
"What just happened? Not only did we get on first name basis, that guy just helped me get over the incident with that pervert teacher. Gahhh," I walk home, thankfully I don't live far from the school. Without the distraction of Light's questions, my mind immediately goes back to what happened with Kurosaki, "Why? How am I going to face him tomorrow?" I walk back home with a heavy heart, "And I have to lie to my parents…" Little did I know that I wouldn't have to face Mr. Kurosaki tomorrow.
The next day
"Hey, Sakura. What's going on? Why is everyone going to the gymnasium?" I ask my best friend in the morning. Sleeping last night was near impossible, with my Kira conversation with Light and the horrible encounter with Kurosaki. I feel like a zombie from lack of sleep, and I probably look like one too.
"I'm not sure. I think something happened to Mr. Kurosaki."
"Mr. Kurosaki?"
"Yeah, I heard he was rushed to the hospital last night for a heart attack. This is the third time, isn't it?"
"Yeah… it is." I immediately think of my conversation with Light last night. Did he somehow know about this? No, it had to be a coincidence, "Hey, Sakura, let's sit here," I found two spot near the middle of the room. I take my seat and Sakura sits to my left, leaving the seat to my right open. And none other than Light Yagami takes the seat.
"Good morning, Jenny," he greets me.
"Good morning, Light. Do you know what is going on?"
"Yes. I believe Mr. Kurosaki died last night from a heart attack after being admitted into the hospital at about twelve a.m."
I gape at him. How did he know so much? Before I could ask, our principal entered the stage to address the crowd, and told us everything Light just told me, just in more sympathetic terms. Finally, our principal dismissed us after a lengthy speech about how counselors would be available and other stuff that I don't care about. Turning quickly to my right to question Light, I find that he is gone, "Damn him. I'll just have to wait until last period."
"Did you say something, Jenny?" Sakura asks me
"Oh, no."
"Isn't it sad about Mr. Kurosaki? You had him for English, right?"
"Yeah I did; it is kind of sad…" How could I tell her I'm actually happy that that pervert is dead?
The rest of the day passes by in a blur, the teachers too concerned about Kurosaki's death to actually teach us anything. Finally last period English arrived. Since it was Kurosaki's class, the school required us to go to the media center and talk to the "readily available counselors" as the principal said. I only want to talk to Light, although the chance of him actually knowing something is very slim. It's not like he's Kira. I laugh quietly to myself at that thought, not wanting to upset any of the students who are genuinely upset at Kurosaki's death.
"What is so funny, Jenny?" I hear Light's cool voice behind me.
Quickly I turn around to face him. "I need to talk to you. Come on." I look around to make sure no one is watching us, but as I thought, everyone is too caught up in the commotion of Kurosaki's death. This time I am the arm grabber, and I drag Light out of the library and into the hallway.
"Where are we going, Jenny?"
"Girls' bathroom on the third floor. No one uses it because a girl killed herself from jumping out of the window five years ago. No one will find us there, and I need to talk to you in private."
Looking back at Light reveals an amused expression on his handsome face. What is his problem?
After a few flights of stairs, we finally arrive in the girls' bathroom.
"Do these toilets still work?" he asks curiously.
"Yeah probably. I know the sinks work. Listen Light, the fact that we talked about the possibility of Kira killing Kurosaki with a heart attack and then he actually dies from a heart attack cannot be a coincidence," I start bluntly.
"You are very blunt, Jenny. That's a very admirable trait."
"Thank you. Now what do you think about that?"
"It's just a coincidence. What else could it be?"
"Come on, we both know that' bullshit."
"Really? I don't feel that way at all, Jenny."
Shit, that was my whole plan. Now I feel like an idiot for dragging him up here. Wait a minute… "How did you know the time of his death, Light? Even the principal didn't know. We only officially found out at the media center. How did you know before everybody else?"
Light grins and looks in the mirror, "Now that's a good question. How would I know what time Kurosaki died? Wouldn't I have to be Kira to know that?" His eyes flash red.
"Light, you can't be Kira."
"Why not? You even said so yourself yesterday. Under twenty five, most likely still in high school, still in our region of Japan male, smart. Those qualities all describe me," he walks closer to me and traps me in between his arms and the sink, similar to how Mr. Kurosaki trapped me yesterday. Light's face is cold and impassive. When did he start looking so evil?
"Yeah, they describe you and at least a million other boys in the region. And at least a hundred in this school."
"I'm offended, Jenny. Do you really think those other boys in school beat out my talent?"
"No, they don't. After all, you are number one in our year," I look away from his smirking, evil face, but he grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. "Hey, let go of me," and then I remember.
One night, about a month ago, I was shopping late at night for some vegetable when I saw Light looking through some magazines and holding a notebook and pen. Outside, a local hooligan was harassing a young woman, and it looked like he was about to rape her, when she ran away. He ran after her and got hit by a truck, instantly dying. I was shocked; someone had just died in front of my very eyes. Then my gaze traveled to Light, who was looking even more shocked, almost to the point of collapsing. He kept glancing at his notebook then the splattered remains of the man who just died. I managed to see some writing in the notebook, but I was too far away to read what he had written. I could partially make out the word "truck," so I just assumed it was a diary, but now I know.
I stare up at Light in shock, "You really are Kira… And you use that notebook, don't you? To kill?"
Light looks surprised, "How do you know about the notebook?" he asks coldly.
"I was there that night when that guy drove in front of that truck on his motorcycle and died. I saw you freaking out with your notebook. I was far away, but I saw the word 'truck' in your notebook. That's it, isn't it? You really are Kira?"
"Wow, Jenny. I'm impressed that you know this much."
"Why did you kill Mr. Kurosaki?"
"That was a favor to you. I've wanted you on my side for a while now, Jenny. And after our discussion last night, I thought you would make the perfect edition. So what do you say? Will you help me rid the world of criminals?"
Light's hand is still holding my chin, but I break out of his grasp and turn away from him and the mirror, having an internal struggle. It is still hard for me to think of Light as Kira, but now that I really consider it, it all makes sense. His father is head of the police. I bet he managed to gain access to classified information through hacking. And light is a genius. While I want to rid the world of criminal, this is not how I want to do it. That's why I want to be a lawyer, so I can put those bastards away for life; killing them is not the answer. And I had more questions about the notebook. It couldn't be from this world. It had to have some supernatural power, which for me as a logical person was hard to accept. It must have been the same way for Light.
"I understand that this is a lot, Jenny, but please realize all the good we could do together for the world if we teamed up. Remember yesterday you said Kira must be smarter than the both of us combined? If you join me, we can test that theory. I won't ask again." Now he was angry; I could tell.
"Light… I can't do this," I turn around to face, his ever expressionless face greeting me. "While I think ridding the world of criminals is a good thing, this is not how it should be done. I care too much about the law to join you. What you are doing is incredibly illegal. It's a bigger crime than any of the criminals you've murdered have committed. And for that, you have to go to jail. I want to be a lawyer for this reason: to put criminals away forever. Criminals like you. You've given me no choice; I have to report you to the authorities."
I walk away from him, about to exit the bathroom when Light says, "Wait, Jenny."
"What?" I turn around to see him holding a picture of my little sister. "Where did you get that?"
"Julia Harris, correct? I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this. After our discussion last night, I sensed some resistance to Kira's methods, but I thought I could convince you to join over, but your legality morals too strong. But as you said yesterday, Kira is incredibly smart, so I have a back up plan. If you don't join me, I will write your sister's name in this book, then I will write your family's names, and then yours. My notebook allows me to decide the manner of their death, so rest assured, I will make it very painful. I don't think a cute little six year old could handle too much, do you?" he smiles, his eyes a malignant red.
Trembling, I walk over to him and snatch the picture out of his hand, "That's okay, Jenny. I already know her face."
"I'll join you. Just don't hurt my family, please." It was idiotic of me to think he wouldn't write my name in his notebook.
"Good, Jenny. I see you finally understand, now," he pushed me down onto the bathroom floor, "let me tell you about the other part of our arrangement."
"What are you doing to me?" I whisper. His hands pin my hands to the ground. I attempt to close my legs, but before I can, he shoves his knee in between them, forcing them to stay open. My skirt rides up a few inches, exposing the bottom part of my thigh.
"I want you, Jenny. You're the first female that I nearly consider an equal. You are the only human being that I would consider doing this with, and even though I am the famed Kira, I still am a high school boy, and I still have the normal needs of one." My eyes widen in shock; I know what he wants. "That was the real reason I killed Kurosaki. I was angry that he touched what was mine," he whispers into my ear, his warm breath sending chills through my body. "But it's ok," he moved his lips over to my neck and planted a kiss, "we have plenty of time to erase his existence from your body." Light begins leaving a trail of kisses from the base of my neck until he takes my mouth. I kiss back, afraid of the consequences. He begins to unbutton my blouse, and then the tears start to fall from my eyes.
The final bell of the day rings, signaling the end of the school day, and the beginning of my new life in hell.
Hey! I suddenly got this idea today even though it's been a while since I last read/saw Death Note. But oh well. Hope you enjoy my one shot! If enough people like it, I might make it a story because I'm pretty interested to see how Jenny's life will be after signing a deal with the devil!
Did anyone catch my Harry Potter archetype? Unused girls' bathrooms ftw.
Fun fact: You've probably heard that quote before, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." It's from the one of the few classic books I can stand, and one of the best: A Tale of Two Cities. Truly an amazing book - Dickens was a man ahead of his time. I should keep in mind the similarities between Death Note and AToTC for a future essay that is bound to happen :D