Hello person who has stumbled upon the world of Gijinka Note! . . .there's not much else to say, really. . .it is the prologue after all. I suppose there are warnings. . .

WARNING: yaoi aka slash aka guy X guy romance~ If you don't like that I have no idea why the hell you're looking at rated M, romance Death Note fanfiction. I mean, come on, it's not like there are any het pairings you could get from this series (yet I manage it in IAJ. . .). So yes, if you do not appreciate the dreams of a yaoi fangirl then please go away and never look back. You won't regret it.

This is rated M. I'm sure you all know what that means *smirks*

Er. . .what else is there. . .swearing? Not excessively in this chapter. . .actually, is it there at all?

DISCLAIMER!!! I do not own Death Note! If I did. . .it would be scary. Also, I do not own the idea of the Gijinka Note; that right belongs to the great mother of Gijinka, Racharae! She's also what I consider a friend, and I am thankful to her for letting me use her bunny~

Now have fun!

Prologue: Setting Stage

Brrriiinnng!

Raito sighed as he bent backwards, stretching, and letting out a series of popping and cracking sounds. The large classroom was slowly emptying out, most of the students reluctant to leave their work. The brunette sent a disgusted look after the few who rushed out the door, leaving all their junk out on the art tables for the teacher to put up. He hated people like that, people who took this class just as a blow-off to get 'easy' credits.

"Come now, love. Don't be too hard on them" Raito jumped slightly and turned to his teacher. She smiled at the teen, a stack of sketchbooks tucked between her arm and chest, and her other hand absentmindedly collecting pencils from the tables. Despite being the teacher and supposedly central character of the classroom, she still had the impressive ability to sneak up on people, and she seemed to enjoy doing so to Raito more than anyone else.

"Sensei" He smiled back to her, a real smile, which the teacher was one of few who it was granted "I really don't know how you can stand them. They treat art like it's a. . .a joke"

"To each his own. They will find their own stone to cast, and their critique of my own stone bothers me not at all"

Raito chuckled slightly, picking up some sketchbooks. He had time to spend chatting with his favorite teacher, since this was his last class of the day "I'll never know why you didn't become a lit professor"

"Hm" Her smile turned slightly, gaining a quality that Raito couldn't name "Perhaps at another time, in another place. Besides, the word 'professor' makes you sound so old" she stuck out her tongue, as if the word tasted bad. Raito chuckled again, and she glanced at her student as he neatly piled the sketchbooks on a counter, not a page out of place "You know you don't have to call me Sensei. Please, call me Mona"

"But you deserve the respect"

She grinned "You are too kind. Yagami-san"

Raito growled and snapped "Don't call me that"

"Oh, dearie, you are so harsh with me. . ." she gave a hurt look. Raito snorted and she laughed, her head tilting back slightly as amusement washed over her face. Her sea-blue eyes slid closed and her pure golden hair almost seemed to float around her features. It was an angelic look that Raito had tried to capture more than once on paper and canvas, but he never succeeded.

Of all the people Raito every wanted to paint, Mona was the one he wanted to the most. Even before she had dyed her hair to the hay-golden shade it was now, she had had a quiet, kind, pure feel about her, that was occasionally broken by a slight mischievous streak. Besides her sweet aura, she had the body any sculptor--no, scratch that, and modeling agency would love to get their hands on. With an--if you put it subtly--over-average bust size and long, slender limbs, delicate facial features and a pianists hands, she was the perfect picture of innocent beauty.

And it was almost painful how much Raito wanted to draw her.

"Raito, you've gone quiet" the brunette blinked and looked up from the book he had been fingering, pulled out of his thoughts "I'm sorry; did I go too far?" Mona's concerned gaze studied Raito's face, searching for any signs of pain.

"No, I was just thinking about something"

"Oh good. So I'm guessing things still aren't well with your father?"

Raito sighed and scratched at a blot of dried paint on the counter "Things aren't well. I don't think they ever will be"

Raito had had a falling out with his father right before his last year of middle school, and that year had turned out to be particularly stressful, for more than one reason. Once he had entered high school, Raito moved out of the family's home and into an apartment. He had managed to. . .convince. . .the high school to let him have a job to pay for it, though his mother did send him money each month, and his sister brought him things she baked whenever she could. Therefore, he was able to afford a rather nice flat.

A hand settled on Raito's shoulder and he looked over into sea-blue eyes. Mona really was long-limbed: she was at eye-level with Raito "Don't think like that, Raito. Just give things time"

The brunette gave a sad smile and nodded "I'll try" he lied.

Mona frowned a little, and sighed. She turned to face the room and looked over it, searching for anything she'd missed. A light bulb suddenly went off in her eyes "Oh right! I had something for you!" she stepped across the room, her long hair flowing out behind her, and bare feet making a soft sound on the tiled floor.

She rummaged around on her desk for a moment (which was a complete mess. The only thing Raito disliked about Mona: her aversion to order), and then beamed. She picked up a book and brought it over to Raito, holding it out to him.

"I found this lying around, and since it was empty and no one has claimed it, I decided to give it to you. That is, if you want it"

Raito perked up. He could always use a new sketchbook, since he went through them so quickly. He took the offered book and looked it over.

It was a descent size, and was wire-bound: Raito's favourite kind. The cover was a foggy pattern of blues and grays. But they weren't particularly. . .happy blues. Something about it was slightly ominous, but that wouldn't keep Raito from a good sketchbook. Flipping through it he could see it was unlined, and there wasn't a single mark on any of the pages. He snapped it closed and grinned at his sensei.

"Thank you. I'd love it"

Mona's face lit up, and Raito felt his heart flutter.

Okay, so maybe he had a little crush on his sensei.

"Well okay then, love; you should be getting home. I'll see you next week!"

Raito bowed slightly and left the classroom. He was just out the door before Mona spoke again "Ah, Raito?" The brunette paused and looked back "You're not dating anyone right now are you?"

Raito blinked "Uh, well I'm going out with Misa--"

"I see" she smiled "That's what I thought. Have a good weekend!" she closed the door and Raito blinked again. He decided not to think about it and he started out of the school.

MeowRoarRibbitCroakElephantnoiseNeighBaaBarkbarkHissSlitherTweettweetMooOinkSnarlRawrWhinnyheeheethatsfun

"I'm home" Raito shut and locked the door behind him. The quiet dark of the flat gave him no reply, and as he slid his shoes off he flicked the lights on. He welcomed the quiet: while he wasn't a particularly solitude-loving person, the collective stupidity of the world got to him sometimes.

He set his school bag on the kitchen table and was greeted by a loud 'mrroooowww~~~'. The brunette looked down and smiled.

His favorite cat jumped onto the table and stood on its hind legs, front paws kneading at his chest, begging to be pet. The teen gave in to its wishes and ran his fingers over the soft shades of brown fur. A low, quiet purring emanated from the creature and Raito picked her up, his thumb scratching under her chin.

The teen walked through the rather bare kitchen to the refrigerator, and pulled out a milk carton--a small one, like they serve at middle schools--and a dish, knelt down, and poured out the liquid into it, placing the treat onto the floor for his mini-companion. She happily curled up by the bowl and began lapping up the creamy stuff. Raito gave the small cat one last pat and stood up, returning to the kitchen table and perching on it.

He flicked through his bag and decided he really didn't feel like doing homework. He could easily finish it all later that night, so. . .

He would draw.

He pulled out the sketchbook Mona had given him, and looked over it again. As he ran his fingers over the textured cover he came across two words written in silver-inked longhand near the bottom right corner. He titled the book back so the light reflected off the metallic lettering. The brunette frowned at the scrawl. Maybe it wasn't longhand, instead just some really bad handwriting.

But no, he could kind of make out the words: Gijinka Note.

Raito snorted. Gijinka? Wasn't that the humanization of animals? This had to have been the book of an otaku.

The teen looked at the 'note' for another moment before shrugging. A book was a book, and free book was a free book. Raito wouldn't let it go to waste, not when most of his money went into his art.

He grabbed a pencil, eraser and jacket (he got cold easily these days) and got his wallet from his bag before heading out the door. As he left he called out to his pet "I'll be back later Artemis"

An answering cry echoed out as he shut the door.

ItsNotTooLateTheWorldWontEndNotJustYetDoYouSeeTheShipInTheHarborThatsWhereThatsWhereSheWillBeTheStringsWontBreakHerWillWontDieIKnow

The dull roar of voices moved around the bakery/restaurant, the laughter of high school girls and shouting of families rolling all around the brunette. This was one of Raito's favorite places to go, with so many different people to sketch. It was normally much quieter, but the place was hosting a popular theme tonight, so it was attracting much more people.

Behind the crowd noise music spilled from an unknown source, the voices in it reflecting the most popular singers at the moment. A waitress recognized Raito a moment after he entered the place and smiled at him, letting him pass her to the table he always took while she took a large family off to the other end of the room.

Raito easily navigated through the maze of tables, used to their sporadic arrangement. This building was the oddest in the whole world, Raito was sure.

Take now, for example. Certain tables were elevated as much as ten feet in the air, pillars with other tables spiraling down on platforms like a staircase. Albeit an uneven staircase. There were dents in the wall where booths were slid in for privacy, and if one looked up you could see the second floor's ceiling. It was like a mall, with the huge hole cut out of the center of the room letting a person see over a rail and to down below. God knew what was on the second floor.

And it could all disappear overnight.

Twice already this month the rooms had changed to a different--but just as elaborate--design than it was now. The hole in the first floor ceiling had even been unsealed, sealed, and unsealed again. It was all technically possible though. Just not in the five hours from closing to opening time.

Raito stepped up the six stairs to an elevated table--his elevated table. The first time he had come to the bakery when it held this design, a bored-looking man had led him to the table, and he had instantly liked it. It was in a corner next to the window that took up nearly the whole wall, and had a small table to the side of the square platform. Two sides--the ones against the wall and window--had cushioned sofas, and the one open side had a railing to more or less keep anyone from falling out.

It was the perfect place for Raito. Higher than any of the other tables, he could see almost everything in the place (barring the floor above). He sank into one of the couches and sighed happily, setting the 'Gijinka Note' on the table. He rested an arm on the rail and looked out over the tables, seeing who was there today.

Over by the bar were the chef--Alistair, was his name--and his little sister. She had a unique name: Kira. Just like the serial killer that was out terrorizing Japan. Most of his victims had criminal records, or were suspected of a crime, and were found with their hearts ripped out.

But back to the little girl.

No one really knew how old she was, though she did look about eight years. But she seemed much older sometimes. Nonetheless, she and her brother were very close, and both worked at the restaurant: Kira as a waitress, and Alistair as Chef/waiter. The only time Raito had ever seen the brother smile was when he was with his sister.

While Kira was cute and would be interesting to draw, she moved too much to be able to. The brunette had never been able to catch the little girl holding still long enough to so much as sketch an outline. Alistair was very attractive--for a guy--and gave Raito very good positions to draw, but he was already painting two of the cook, and didn't need any more at the moment.

So now to look for someone else. . .

Families were a pain to draw, if only because Raito tended to find them sickeningly sweet. Perhaps that was a rebound effect of his own family not being able to work out things and stay together. But thinking about that usually put Raito in a foul mood, so he steered his thoughts away from that.

Another familiar face of the staff caught the teen's attention. It was another teenager--they looked about Raito's age--who always seemed to be in a bad mood. Raito didn't know his name though, just his longish darker-than-black hair and oddly blue eyes. He didn't feel like drawing that one though. Raito sighed again and his eyes finally settled on a perky blonde in black.

He froze.

Misa.

QuietNightSilentNightEmptyNightBlackNightSomberNightWildNightSleepingNightEerieNightFoggyNightDarkKnightStarryNightMoonlessNight

So.

Do you think that nothing happened? Well then think again. . .after all, every play has a stage, and every stage must be set. . .

But don't worry! More things shall occur in the next chapter~

Mission for Readers: Tell me your favourite fandom.