Little Black Book
The human race is a resourceful species that has managed to survive through floods, typhoons, and a list of maladies a mile long. Doctors work around the clock tending to injuries and sickness with their sickly sweet and foul smelling poultices. Lawyers, judges, and prosecutors tend to wrong doers and bring vindication to the victims with the help of the judicious laws that took centuries to create. Inventors, mechanics, and engineers tinkered with wonders only thought possible in dreams and fantasies. The cotton gin, electricity, the automobile, all created by man and yet…
And yet there was one ailment that could not be remedy by simple herbs or chemicals. The reason so many crimes were committed that the judges and lawyers could not excuse away. And the problem that even the greatest of craftsmen couldn't solve with a simple of gadget.
Yes, boredom rest its heavy, downy wings upon the shoulders of one Yagami Raito, caramel-colored eyes unfocused and ears thrumming with the soft humdrum of the classroom around him. While the teacher should have been the only one talking, he knew for a fact that his classmates didn't agree with this rule and chatted in hushed whispers and flicking little paper notes between each other. He didn't partake in such dealings, instead trying to alleviate the tedium of the day with watching the world outside. Besides, the lesson the instructor was currently boasting on about was one he already understood…
Raito's eyes widened a fraction, following the plummet of a slim black notebook, mind already firing off questions about where it fell from and whose it was. Watching with some amount of interest, it landed with a soft flutter of dust upon the courtyard soil, just begging to be given a new home. The bell chose that opportune moment to ring.
Tearing his eyes from the book, he reached down and grabbed his bag and exited the classroom. It was within minutes that he was stepping out in the warm bask of the sunlight. He sucked in a breath before allowing his eyes to lock on the black notebook he'd seen earlier…
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"…"
A smirk danced on his black-rimmed lips. Sharp, pointed teeth revealed themselves, the demon himself hovering but a few feet off the ground. His wings beat effortlessly against his back, leather-clad legs occasionally making contact with the ground below him. He couldn't suppress the laugh within his throat. His mouth cracked into a sickly grin, laughter spilling out, only to reach his own ears.
"Touch it, boy, touch it!" hissed the winged demon, laughing still. He hadn't had this much fun since … the 1950s. Was it really the 50s? He couldn't remember, but he never did keep track of time…
---
Raito's finger tips closed on thin sheaf and he plucked it up from its resting place upon the ground. White letters blazed up at him, scratched in an almost archaic, chicken scratch. "Death Note?" he read aloud softly, struggling somewhat with the English words. Thin brows dipped elegantly and he opened it with a slight smirk.
"Hehe… 'This is a Shinigami notebook.'"
His smirk grew wider and he looked over a set of rules, all scrawled in the same scratchy font as the front. "It's all in English…" he grumbled softly, "What a pain." Boyish curiosity held him, his eyes continuing to drift over the first rule, his brain working out the English alphabet.
"The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die."
He couldn't help a disbelieving laugh at that. Why were people so big into stuff like this? It was so ridiculous. Nevertheless, he slipped the thin book into his bag and began his trek home.
---
Ryuk's smirk grew wider. Why, wasn't this a perfect plan? A brilliant student – a killer notebook – a perfect plan. The demon chuckled softly to himself. His wings slowly dissolved into his back, his footsteps light as he trailed the boy. Within Raito's hands … was the book – his book. If only Yagami Raito bothered to turn around. Well, it did not matter.
The demon's grin grew wider.
"That's a mighty fine book."
If only Raito heard what he had said.
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Otter: Probably a boring start, ne? Well, don't let this beginning fool you! This is just the prologue after all! There's more to come.
Tapir: ... yes. What she said.
Otter: R&R please. ^^