Chapter 1: Apotheosis

"So this is how Kira kills." Misa said in wonder, gazing at the black notebook in her hands. Rem floated by her desk, across the room, and gave her a nod. The young model drew her legs up to her chest, and began reading through the rules.

"So, this can kill in other ways than a heart attack, but Kira kept that secret." A sweet smile played across her lips. "Whoever he is, he's even smarter than I dreamed." With childish energy, she rushed over to her computer and turned it on. Her browser was always open to the most popular Kira forums, but that wasn't what she was after now.

Kira's first judgement was public knowledge, at least what that weirdo L had said was his first, but L didn't know the rules. Misa went to one week before the hostage situation and started looking through regional obituaries. Any mysterious deaths could have been his work, and maybe one of those would give a hint to his identity.

"Misa, I gave you that death note to use for yourself. Why are you so concerned with how someone else is using theirs?" The shinigami looked over her shoulder, her one yellow eye reflected in the glossy monitor.

"Because I believe in what Kira is doing. Rem, if he didn't exist, I don't know what I'd use the note for. I'd have killed that robber, maybe even some of my scarier fans, but that's it. Kira doesn't think like that, he's trying to change the world for the better. Now I have a chance to help him do that; I can thank him for avenging my parents; I can make sure he knows how much he means to people like me."

Rem had no reply. For several minutes the only sounds were the clicking of keys and the rolling of the mouse. As time went on, a mournful expression spread across Misa's face. It was a bit sobering to look at how many innocent people passed on every day. "Is there any way to tell if someone was killed by a death note?"

"No, except by finding their name and the circumstances of their death written in one." She was monotone as ever in her reply.

"Aw, I suppose this will take some time then. I guess I can ignore John and Jane Does at least, Kira needs a name just like me." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flicker go across Rem's features. "He does need the names right? It's not like drawing a person would work." The death god stayed silent. "Rem?" Misa spun her chair around and gazed at her.

"We shinigami never need to worry about not knowing a person's name." She began slowly. "Through our eyes, every human's name and lifespan are visible above their head."

"Oh, so Kira's shinigami, Ryuk right, he could tell him whatever names he wanted to know?"

"No, such a thing is forbidden, however a human may acquire a shinigami's eyes themselves." Rem paused for a moment looking Misa in the eyes. "The cost is half that person's remaining lifespan."

"Deal!" Misa proclaimed without a second's hesitation.

"What?" Misa you can't mean-"

"I do Rem. Those eyes, they'd make no one immune to the death note. If Kira already has them, that means he's even sacrificed half his life for this, how could I do any less? And if he doesn't have them, then I can make him that much more powerful." Misa forced a childlike smile. "Besides, can you imagine me all wrinkly and senile? I'd much rather live short and sweet. Though I don't suppose you'd really understand that."

Rem stared at her, and Misa started to think she could see confusion on her face. "Close your eyes, Misa." The teenager obliged. "Now, it is done." A shiver went through her spine as she opened her new eyes. Nothing felt different, but then she gasped.

Across the room was a picture of her parents. She could see their names floating there above their faces. Then, below those, were two strings of zeroes. Her chair squeaked as she spun around to look at her monitor again. Now, every face there was crowned with a name and number.

Misa tabbed back to the largest Kira forum and navigated to the "requests" section. Every forum had some form of it, even if it was just an unofficial section, but this one was very well organized. Pictures could be provided in the header, they could be categorized by crimes and their legal status. Thousands of faces stared back at her as she scrolled through it, sorting so the worst of the worst would be at the top. Most were mugshots, but some were regular pictures, unevenly cropped so the monsters were alone. There were some videos of crimes, showing criminals with no known name, but Misa knew their names now, Misa knew all their names.

The childish smile her face bore twisted into a devilish grin. Fifteen robbers, twenty-three murderers, eight-teen rapists, and ten terrorists; Kira couldn't do anything about them, not until now. Now a single video, a blurry photograph, even one frame of security footage was enough for Kira's justice to reach them.

Misa was in a frenzy. She wrote and wrote and wrote. Several dozen criminals had their fates sealed before she started dating the deaths. It would arose suspicion if the death rate randomly spiked. Still, she wrote and wrote, putting down weeks of names. By the time she stopped, the night was beginning to fade and spasms of pain wracked her hand.

As soon as Misa returned home, she was at her desk again, awkwardly navigating pages with her left hand while her right wrote names. It took all her willpower to keep under control, she knew that a fervor like last night's would lead to her making mistakes. "Rem, I don't suppose you could tell me how many years I lost?" She asked, somewhat absentmindedly as a terrorist's manifesto played muted on her screen.

"No, it is forbidden."

"Oh well, I guess it's too bad I can't read shinigami time, then I could just look at my reflection to know."

"That would not work. A human with the eyes of a shinigami cannot see the lifespan of a death note's owner, this includes themselves." Rem responded in a flat voice.

"Oh." A pout crossed Misa's lips in the moment before she fully processed what Rem had said. "Wait! That means I can't see Kira's lifespan! He'd be the only other human who owns a death note, so if I can just see his face I will know it's him!"

She closed the video she had been watching, it could wait. "So let's see, he's a resident of the Kanto region according to L's broadcast, wait no, I shouldn't assume Kira is male. Oh, what am I thinking, the police will have a list of suspects, probably a few thousand at most. There's a good chance Kira isn't on their list, but there's no better place to start."

The next hour was spent going through her old haunts. Almost every Kira message board had posters trying to identify him. Some sites shut those down, even making any theorizing about Kira's identity against their rules. Still, there were plenty of sites (very possibly set up by the police she knew) that permitted or encouraged it. The majority were stupid theories, usually centered around some celebrity (one even suggested she was Kira in the wake of the judgement of her parents' killer), or a politician. Then there were "leaks" claiming to be from any group, usually the police. Stupid or dumb, real or fake, all of them were worth looking through.

The first few posts were pointless, the most basic variety of conspiracy theories. Next were batches of alleged suspects, including people who had gone to the police claiming to be Kira, in the end it was equally as useless, though the concept of Kira turning himself in to divert suspicion was an interesting one. She finally hit gold with another theorizing post, this one rather competently put together.

It outlined all the indications that Kira had police contacts of some kind. It was a rather simple deduction, but the thoroughness with which the author backed up their claims convinced Misa it was worth digging deeper into. Next it talked about the FBI agents, asking why L would have involved foreign law enforcement unless he wanted to investigate the local police themselves. Then it suggested that, given Kira's well known moral compass, the FBI agents wouldn't have been killed unless they posed an active threat. It made some more tenuous leaps in addition to that, but what caught Misa's attention was the sources it listed.

First was a series of archived web-pages, showing that the number for the Kira hotline belonged to the NPA headquarters, rather than some obscure espionage agency. She tried to read over it, but eventually she gave up and took it at face value; investigative work of that kind wasn't her strong suit. Next was a link to other websites, some taken down, showing the identities of various current and former officers of the NPA and other government employees. A few more citations helped narrow it down to officers working in the Kanto region, and then, specifically, Tokyo.

Seventy-three officers working in Tokyo. None of them were Kira. Next, she looked over the other employees, janitors, forensics, doctors, anyone that would be let into the building, but none of them were Kira either. Lastly were friends and family, the former would mainly be former officers or private investigators, she knew, but even after half an hour of looking through possible candidates, none of them were Kira. Now Misa was starting to get impatient, she pivoted to finding family members by simply searching officer's surnames. The deputy director would be a good place to begin, it is unlikely many would have a name that unique, and he was old enough to have a wife, maybe a son-

"Light Yagami!" She suddenly burst out. His eyes were staring at her from the first result, amber hair crowned in that beautiful name. It was a schools honors ceremony from a few years ago, he had managed a perfect score on the nationwide tests that year. Kira stood there on a stage, stuck in a handshake with some kind of politician as he gazed at the camera, an artificial smile on his face, and a distant look in his eyes.

"I never expected Kira to be this young, or half as amazing. This says he got perfect scores on every subject for the To-oh entrance exam! It's too bad there isn't footage of his speech, I bet it was amazing." Misa smiled sweetly, opening a new tab for every article on the young genius she found.

It wasn't long before she found herself saving pictures of him, but sadly there weren't many to savor. Despite how handsome he was, every photo she could find was from some kind of obligatory event, the latest being his high-school graduation. That one was the one she savored the most, it was six days after he had judged that robber guilty. That was a picture of Kira, and she treasured it. "It's like a dream, don't you think Rem?"

"I am not sure what you mean Misa."

"I mean the fact that Kira is my age, and he's so smart, and so handsome, it's like destiny. He really is like a god, so maybe...maybe I can be his goddess."

Rem put a hand on the young girl's shoulder softly, but stayed silent. Her yellow eye softened as Misa rested her head on the bony claw. "How do I contact him though? I can probably find his address and phone number online, but he's a suspect already. His phone might be tapped if I try calling him, and if I just walk up to him out of the blue it will be so suspicious to anyone watching him."

She let out a long sigh, that slowly turned into a deep yawn. "I suppose that can wait until morning, I'm too excited for my own good right now." Misa began shutting down her computer, wiping all the history of her searches, but despite herself she kept that one picture of Light saved. Rem picked up the death note and floated upwards, placing it in the designated hiding spot among the rafters.

The young girl flopped onto her bed casually and smiled. Rem took her own customary position, sitting weightlessly at Misa's side. It didn't take long for sleep to overtake the young model. Soon enough a pure smile crossed her lips as she dreamed of Light Yagami.

Rem silently watched from her post. She wondered if giving the girl the note had been the correct choice. Sometimes it seemed like the book had turned her into someone else, but every night she could see what Gellus had seen. She saw that sweet smile, those eyes all to quick to love, and the pure joy Misa seemed to exude, and she understood her friend.

The shinigami silently pulled a blanket over Misa's shoulders when she shivered. Light Yagami, I do not know you, but if you ever dare hurt her, I will kill you.