Chapter 1

Deal

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"Sayu, what are you doing?" Light Yagami asked as he watched his younger sister slip on a pair of bright blue boots. She was practically vibrating with energy. "You know you can't go outside by yourself, right? Mom said to wait until she got home from the store."

Tears bubbled up in Sayu's eyes, and she looked up at her brother with a frown. "Does she need to know…? I mean, you're here with me, aren't you, Light?" She clasped her gloved hands together and allowed a single bead of water to streak down her cheek.

Light sighed. There was no way he could say no to her now, and she knew that. "Fine. But only for a little while, okay?" He closed his school notebook and began to slip on his jacket. "If we see Mom's car, we run back inside immediately, got it?" He waited for her to nod before unlocking the door.

Without a second thought, Sayu jumped through the doorway and out into the yard, throwing herself into the fluffy white snow that densely covered the earth. Her tears were forgotten, and a toothy grin spread across her face.

"Thank you so much, Light! You're the best big brother ever," she giggled, her voice muffled by the snow. Light couldn't help but smile.

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At first, Light thought he'd been stung by a pissed off bumble bee. A ridiculous assumption, considering the visual cues, but an assumption made by his tired brain nonetheless.

There was hardly any real pain at first; just a small amount of pressure that turned to numbness. He recognized the blood, but, even after that acknowledgment, he felt nothing. Looking back on it, he could hardly say that he was in control of his own actions. He felt stupid, as if he went completely out of control, as if he fell sharply into mania. Desperation and fear, he decided. The primal instinct of survival. In fact, he didn't quite remember what it was that he'd been so set on doing in those last few moments.

It was now, after he'd actually processed the gunshots, that the pain settled in.

A fitting timing, Light supposed. He'd long since stopped gasping for air. The stinging was warm, and it felt almost like a blister would... if that blister's impact was about ten times worse with a reach that extended throughout the entire body. He could tell that he was going to die even without looking at all the blood. All he could do now was to hope to pass out before things got worse.

Of course, Light's prayers went unanswered. He expected as much, even with his current state of lightheadedness. Even so, it was a harsh enforcement of reality. He probably would've kept laying there in that disgusting warehouse, pain resonating throughout his limbs, if mercy hadn't found him first.

If you had told Light years ago, back when he had first picked up the Death Note, that karma could end up being a good thing for him someday, he wouldn't have believed you. As it turned out, he was thankful for the karma that came from his life of murdering with heart attacks. It wasn't a sharp pain in his chest or an invisible force that prevented him from breathing. Actually, he didn't feel anything at all. It simply was that one moment he was living, and the next, dead. In the end, he was content with that.

Except he wasn't dead. Not really, anyways. If anything, it was the world around him that had died, as if nothing else mattered now that he was gone... as if everything had ended with him. All that remained was an eerie stillness.

Light didn't move; not at first. Whether from extreme blood loss or because of a delusion brought upon by the pain, he couldn't tell. Sudden apathy prevented him from even trying, a feeling that came when you realized nothing you did ended up mattering. A swift impulse bubbled up from the deepest corner of his mind, and he opened his eyes on a mere whim.

At first, it appeared that nothing had changed. He was still lying on the same staircase, stuck grounded to the steps. The musty scent of iron hung in the air, aromatic evidence of the blood that had soaked his clothes to his skin like wet paper. He wondered if this was purgatory, if he was doomed to stay still in pain with this unchanging world for all eternity.

What a fool he was, thinking that things would stay the same.

"Hey, are you awake? Don't tell me that you're giving up already." A sigh. "I must say, I'm pretty disappointed in you, Light Yagami."

Under any other circumstance, Light would've actually worried about hearing voices in his head. But here, lying half-dead across an old staircase, covered in blood, he felt no need for concern. In fact, he highly doubted that he could care about anything at all, given his current state.

"C'mon, what happened to the super-ambitious kid who wanted to become a god?" the voice mocked. "Get up."

Get up? Was it morning? He wasn't late to anything, was he? No, that'd be stupid. Pain ricocheted throughout his body as he tried to move his head, and he eventually gave up. Silence followed his struggles, and he almost kid himself into believing he was waking up from a nightmare. That everything would get better, given time.

"Sa...Sayu?" Light asked the empty air around him. He shook his head, a disorientating action he immediately regretted. If he wasn't acting delusional before, he sure was now. How much blood had he lost? Did Ryuk kill him already, or had something else happened entirely? He cursed his wavering train of thought. "Ryuk, that's you, right? Can… can you—"

"No, I'm not Ryuk. And I'm certainly not your sister," the voice sighed. "You're quite pathetic right now, huh?" Light supposed he was, but, then again, there wasn't much he could do to help it. "Wow, I guess bullet wounds really hurt? I wouldn't know."

Light groaned. "Ryuk, stop playing games." He should be dead right now. Why wasn't he dead? He was no fool; even an idiot could tell when they had no more hope of living. He couldn't remember how many times he'd gotten shot, or if he'd actually had a heart attack. It wouldn't surprise him if he was hallucinating at this point. "Why am I alive? Aren't you going to kill me?"

"Kill you? Why would I want to do a thing like that? You've been so fun to watch, and I don't want it to end here. I may not be Ryuk, but I'm still not going to stop playing games."

"So, I guess I'm headed off to purgatory, then, Not-Ryuk?" he asked, voice tinged with curiosity. He curled his palms into fists. "I was told that humans who use the Death Note can go to neither heaven nor hell when they die." Most of the pain was starting to dissipate, and with that came a clearer brain. He was in some state of living, that much he could tell for sure. Why, and how, were two questions he needed the answers to.

"They go to MU," Not-Ryuk corrected, "and that applies to all humans, not just those who use the Death Note. Lucky for you, though, because you are alive. No need to concern yourself with the idea of an afterlife right now." A pause of consideration. "Can you stand, or are human bodies really that weak? I thought I'd healed you all up, but you still seem in pain."

Light wanted to yell out, 'No shit, Sherlock,' but held back his tongue. He slipped his hands under himself and stood up with care, wobbling as he stepped down from the staircase. There was no one nearby, and he started to believe that he really was losing his mind.

"The pain is going away, I guess," he commented, resting his hand against the wall to stabilize himself. His clothes were still filled with holes, dusted with gunpowder, and saturated with blood... but otherwise, he was feeling much better. Well, as good as he could be in his situation. "What's MU? Better yet, why don't you tell me why you've spared my life?" And how, he thought, but that could wait until later.

He'd heard of shinigami lengthening human lifespans before. It was what Rem did for Misa when she killed L... it was a fact he had relied upon to set his plan into motion. He'd never imagined a shinigami doing that for him before, but it must've been what Not-Ryuk did. After all, how else could Light's death have been prevented?

Yet, for some reason, Not-Ryuk wasn't a pile of debris.

"MU is MU," Not-Ryuk replied, as if that answered everything. "And, I didn't save you. I stopped time. That's a lot easier than changing fate or nullifying a Death Note, you know." Full of disbelief, Light turned to look out the window. True to those words, even the crows had stopped fluttering through the sky mid-flap.

"So you aren't a shinigami?" Light inquired, brows furrowing in thought. He didn't recall Ryuk mentioning anything about shinigami being able to freeze time. Although, it wouldn't be odd if that bloke forgot to mention it. "What are you, then..? My crazy personified? Am I dreaming all this up while I lay choking on my own blood at the brink of death?"

"At least you acknowledge your insanity," Not-Ryuk laughed. "You aren't dreaming, and you aren't dying anymore. As for me, I'm... Call me Dai. Anyways, don't go thinking too hard right now, what with your frazzled state of mind. It would be awful if your little brain went into override right now. We have a lot to talk about, and I don't like repeating myself."

"Wait… Dai? As in the kanji for 'topic' or 'title'?" It was after he said this that he realized how pointless it would be to try and figure out the spelling of a name that belonged to someone who could stop time. It's not like he could kill a being like that, even if he were to have the Death Note on him. "Nevermind, just… habit."

Not-Ryuk... Dai hummed. "Yes, let's go with that. 'Title'... Makes me sound important. Rightfully so."

"Well, Dai, what do you want from me? You wouldn't have gone through the trouble of stopping time for a lowly human such as myself if there wasn't anything in it for you," Light said. He lay his back against the wall and slumped down to the floor. His head still ached, a pain worse than when he attempted to explain math problems to an unwilling Sayu.

"It's nothing big. Just a favor, if you will," Dai said. "And you aren't exactly 'lowly', now are you, Mr. I-Will-Become-The-God-Of-The-New-World." At this, Light rolled his eyes from under his lashes, which caused the time-stopper to laugh. "You aren't one for small-talk, I take it. I'll cut to the point, then. Light Yagami, I have a proposition for you. That is, if you're curious and willing enough to listen."

Light thought for a moment, trying to choose his words with care. "Do I have any other options?"

"There's always MU, if you aren't interested in my offer," Dai teased. Of course, Light was interested. He was very interested, and it appeared that Dai knew that fact all too well, judging by how there was no wait for an answer. "I want to give you the chance of a lifetime. Of all lifetimes."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't fix your past self, but that doesn't mean you can't change everything else," Dai explained. "Don't you agree?"

"Yes..?" Light replied, unsure of the direction this conversation was heading in. This seemed to make the time-stopper frustrated, and Light was set immediately on edge. He really didn't want to die again.

"What I mean is: I'll give you the chance to start over, to go back and change the way things were… granted that you abide by a few new rules. It'll be fun, I promise." A pause. "Do we have a deal?"

"I..," Light began, debating his options. "I don't have a choice, do I?" He wondered if he actually did. But, the thought only crossed his mind briefly, and he didn't have enough incentive left in him to latch on. He was curious, so much so that he doubted he'd even enjoy the other options if there were any.

"I need you to say it aloud, Light Yagami," Dai requested, speaking the way a patronizing teacher would to a misbehaving student.

"Fine," he sighed. "Deal." He wasn't happy with the way things had ended at the Yellow Box, and that was a severe understatement. If he was going to be given a chance to change things in his favor, you better believe he'd take it.

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"Why'd I do it? Oh, come on, guys! The Old Man used to always mention how interesting humans were. Sometimes wouldn't even shut up until someone said something. I wanted to see the buzz for myself. It's boring here. It's not boring there. The answer is obvious, you dumbasses."

~Ryuk, June 7th, 2004

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A/N: I have big plans for this fic! Although a majority of it is outlined, I have yet to type it all up. I currently have two chapters on reserve, but I take a very long time to write. We're talking 2-3 hours spent on a couple hundred words, and that's only when I am able to find time in the first place... yikes!

So, regarding updates... Once every other week seems to be my goal. Any changes (early update, chapter rewrite, real-life issues, etc.) will usually be warned of ahead of time. I'll update my FFN profile (same name: SinisterSnowflake) with more information (maybe with a schedule of some kind?) if you really want to know something.

Also, keep in mind that I don't have a beta reader, and, even though I edit like crazy, some things can slip under my radar. If I have any typos or if something is worded oddly, please let me know and I will fix it asap!

...In hindsight, I should've prepped more chapters ahead of time, but I'm impatient. Plus, a friend of mine really wanted me to swallow my nerves and post, so I did. I hope you enjoy this work even if the updates take me a while! Best wishes~ :)

(Side note: I will be removing all A/N's besides this one and that of the latest chapter with every update.)