She is walking home when she hears the mewling cry from the alleyway. Quietly, she peers around the corner, and is met with the sight of a young girl from her school, perhaps a year or two beneath her, surrounded by two older girls. Their voices are raucous, like crows or vultures, and the younger girl has tears in her eyes, glistening on her lashes. One harsh shove and she falls, dirtying her hands and scraping her knees. Red anger bubbles in Rem's stomach and she steps around the corner completely, her shadow falling across the scene, far larger than she truly is. The two girls turn abruptly, sneers and narrowed eyes morphing to fearful submission. Rem imagines she poses a fearsome image, the slowly setting sun framing her muscular form in a halo of sorts. Hands on hips she walks slowly forward, the two frightened girls backing up with each step she takes towards them. She orders them to leave, her richly deep voice rumbling past her lips in almost a growl. In a moment the alley is clear of the bullies and Rem turns her gaze to the young girl on the ground. She extends a hand , keeping her expression neutral. Shaking fingers reach back, and Rem helps pull the girl to her feet. She asks if the girls is alright and is answered with yes, everything is fine, thank you. The girl wipes the mud from her hands onto her pants as best she can and then fidgets uncomfortably, twisting her fingers together. Her downcast eyes lift briefly to Rem's before darting back to the ground. Why. Rem jolts slightly and stares at the girl. She asks what the girl means and she replies quickly never mind before walking past Rem with her head down and her shoulders hunched. Rem heaves a sigh, lamenting the fact that a simple act of kindness has suspicion cast upon it in this world she was born into. She turns slowly back to the mouth of the alleyway when a glint of brightest white catches her eye. At first she thinks it merely to be the suns fading rays reflecting off the rain puddle, but as she approaches the edge of the small pool she is surprised. It is a notebook. A black cover with white writing. Death Note. A small shiver runs down her spine. A light wind blows across the surface of the puddle, distorting the notebooks image somewhat. Rem stares a moment longer before continuing home.

Rem sits in class the next day, attempting to pay attention to the voice of her teacher. However, due to his habit of ending his sentences in a whisper and Ryuk very diligently attempting to get her to lend him the answers to next classes homework from the night before, this is easier said than done. She breaths in through clenched teeth before turning her gaze to Ryuk's. His eyes are wide; too wide and too far apart, and his mouth is also too large for his lean face. He cracks a smile that could make him almost handsome if he weren't smiling at her irritation. She narrows her eyes, and he chuckles before turning around to bother the student behind him. Rem turns her attention back to the blackboard but finds herself continually distracted by the writing of the white chalk so similar in color to the shimmering, distorted letters on the notebook.

She looks down at the notebook. Biting her lip she glances around. Surely, if it mattered to someone they would have retrieved it by now? Is it really stealing if no one wants it anyway? She rolls her eyes at her own foolishness. If Ryuk could see her making this big of a deal over a silly notebook he would cackle his annoying laugh and tell her to stop being so dumb and boring. Rolling her eyes she gingerly touches the cover, shivering at the chill of the water. She pulls it out, sopping wet, the pages sticking together in large clumps. She closes it and gazes at the cover, now unsure what to do. She can't possibly put this in her schoolbag, the water would ruin her books. Sighing, she lifts her eyes and chokes back a scream. The damp notebook falls from her hands splashing back into the puddle and drenching her socks and shoes. Shaking, she feels her legs go out as she slides to her knees. An apparition stands before her. Tall and white, pure white. The body is distinctly female, slender but well endowed. Long arms that end in long-fingered hands, bright red claws tipping each nail bed. Waist length hair flows in ever-changing, swirling patterns. And the face, the face is nothing but bright red lips and bright red eyes staring straight into her soul. Her breath comes in hitched gasps, and is unsure if she is so arrested by this image before her because of it's terror or it's beauty or both.

Rem is unsure how long she kneels upon the ground, but it has to have been after the image stopped speaking because when those red lips parted and words were formed of the most enchantingly haunting voice Rem has heard poured forth she was barely able to keep enough mental clarity to focus let alone will her legs to a standing position. But she is walking know, nearing home, natural light not from the moon but from the nearly blinding white glare of the apparition that walks beside her. Her name is Kuromisa, and she is a shinigami, a word foreign to Rem's ears. The notebook belonged to her but now it is Rem's and she is free to do as she wishes. What exactly she is free to do with it has been yet to explained but once the notebook dries Rem intends to inspects it's pages thoroughly.

Kuromisa follows her down the hallway of her school, gently assuring her in a soothing voice that no one but she can see or hear her. Rem has left the notebook at home, drying under a heat lamp that she usually reserves for her plant cultivations. The cover, upon further inspection was inscribed with English as well as another language Rem did not recognize. Upon hesitant questioning of Kuromisa, she reveals it is Japanese. Slipping into her seat, Rem turns to Ryuk and taps his shoulder. He turns to her with a smirk and a questioning look in his too large eyes. She asks is he recognizes the word. His eyes widen more and she would have laughed at the fact that she had seemingly fazed the unflappable if the situation weren't so strange. Ryuk recovers after a moment before rolling his eyes and asking where she heard a word like that, that a shinigami was a god of death, and why she cared in the first place. She snaps that it's none of his business and takes slight satisfaction as his jaw drops at her tone. The lecture begins but her head is buzzing and it is all she can do to stop herself from staring at Kuromisa or shaking from this newfound realization.

A/N: Oh, I've been excited to write this! I haven't tried writing like this before but I've always admired people who master it and I thought it would fit with this story. In case you were wondering for some physicals of Ryuk and Rem, I am headcanoning their human forms as such. Ryuk: Lanky, tall, of Japanese descent. Rem: Shorter in stature but muscular, African-American, dreads. Also, in this universe the story takes place in America. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and feel free to leave a comment or a critique, I'm always open for tips on improvement!