Please keep in mind this was done on Wordpad. No fancy 'typo-error' fix command, or spell check, or whatever other nifty stuff Microsoft Word has. It's a Windows ME. Yeah yeah, no complaining but just so no lynch mobs form in front of my house.
I've tried to keep the details on the Notebook as spoiler free as much as I could, but there may be mistakes or a few spoilers.
Disclaimer: Death Note and anything related to it are all owned by their respective owners, which means not me. I wish I owned a Death Note though. Er... yeah.
Chapter 1 - The Death Note
Nobuhiro Raiga, the 16 year old guy living a mediocre life in a mediocre town, packed away the last of his belongings. An old MP3 player. How nice, he thought, throwing it hard down into his suitcase. He zipped up his two suitcases, swung a small backpack onto his shoulder, and trudged to the moving van with his parents moving.
Raiga detested the town he had lived in for all his life. Constantly picked on, getting shut down by all the ladies, picked on by teachers, ripped off by numerous charlatans, getting grilled by his parents over some small deal. Those were only the few things that contributed to his life. When the sht hits the fan... well, for him, the fan was giant and there was a rapid-fire turd machine gun in front of it. And they say unlimited ammo cheats don't exist in real life. Whoever said that is a liar, Raiga often thought
However the eneasy feeling that the next town would be just as unforgiving made him a bit reluctant to go. Well, no backing down now. The blonde haired teen shoved all of his belongings into the back of a cheap FedEx truck, hopped inside the back, and knocked on the walls to signal that he was inside. The truck started. It ran smoothly except for the occasional bumps and manholes on the ground. Still, Raiga felt himself falling asleep.
"Uh..?" He awoke to the giant jarring noise of the back of the truck being opened several hours later. The hinges were so rusted it looked like a push would make it crumble. Guess that's what you get for 15.99 a day, he thought.
Still half asleep, Raiga crawled to the end of the truck with his belongings trailing close behind. He yawned and stepped outside.
The guy quickly shoved his hand on top of his head in response to the blistering sunlight. It was a cloudless day; the sun beating down hard onto him. This only corroborated his theory of the place being worse than before. Now he had one more factor to deal with: the heat.
"How do you like the place, dear?" Raiga jolted upright to the sound of his mother's horribly shrill voice. "Oh, well, there's our house, over there." She pointed to a one-story house made entirely of wood. "We bought this place for so cheap, do you like it?" Raiga couldn't say no to the poor woman. She was in her late 40s but could still make a lawyer cry with her nagging. When she got happy though, she was impossible to disagree with. And when she got sad... it was best not to go there.
"Sure, mother. It.. uh.. reminds me of..er.. Abe's log cabin." Raiga shot another glace away from his mother to the house. It was actually neat, the vegetation pretty controlled. However he almost groaned at the thought that such a small wooden house surely has no cooling system on every room. "Er.. are you sure there aren't any termites? Buying this place cheap seems a little.. risky." He added. His mother's smile turned into an uncertain frown.
"Well.. I don't know." She replied.
"You don't know? Oh, so when our house comes crashing down tomorrow mornin' and little white stuff are crawling on you, don't.." Raiga gave a look of apprehension.
"Oh, don't be so negative."She nagged.
"I have the Constitution on my side, I have the right to feel however I want." He spat back. "At least.. I think."
"But.. oh... I'll never understand you. Go. Go inside and you can be the termite inspector, sir." Raiga's mother mocked.
Raiga stormed off into his house, his hand reaching for the doorknob. It had no lock and it swung inward instantly. He muttered something about insecurity; shaking it off, Raiga stepped inside.
The interior had the smell of those Christmas tree selling tents. The teen frowned in disdain. Ugh. He hated the smell. Had it not been for the little black object on the table, Raiga would have been out of the door. But there was a black object on the lone table in the middle of what he thought was the living room, the giant room where the 'main corridor' led.
"The hell is this..." He muttered. Curiosity (and other things men docough) kills the cats, but Raiga inched closer. It was.. rectangular. He took a few more steps. A.. notebook?
Indeed it was a notebook. A pitch-black notebook with the words "Death Note" scrawled in horrible handwriting which reminded him of his own in white on top. There was an envelope with the words "To anyone who sees this. Read before taking up the notebook." written in neat but hurried handwriting. Raiga tilted his head. Termites were not even on his mind anymore. Cautiously, as though expecting a bomb to explode, he reached for the envelope and ripped it open.
"To whom it may concern..." Raiga read out loud. "Hello. You do not need to know me by anything other than the initial owner of this book. I've ripped out all the pages I've used, and will give up ownership of it as soon as I am done with the letter. Keep in mind that every word in here is true, no matter how absurd." Raiga raised his eyebrows but continued on.
"The object underneath this letter is what is identifyable as a Death Note. With it comes a companion known as a Shinigami, or Death God. The one who touches the notebook first will gain ownership of the notebook, and only the ones who have touched it may see the Shinigami." The teenager laughed. What a joke.
"What is a Death Note, you ask? It is the ultimate weapon, which may be used for good or evil. It may lead to your own peril if you do not use it correctly. In any case, the Death Note is a notebook, where, the human who's name is written on this will die. If only the name is written, in exactly 40 seconds he or she will die. You may also have another 6 minutes and 40 seconds to specify the location, cause, and every little detail about the death. However, the acts which is written must be humanly possible. For example, you cannot instruct a man on Earth to die in space in five minutes. It is impossible, and thus he will simply die of a heart attack." Raiga let go of a giant sigh. Such a deep prank.
"Also, while you are writing the name down, you must know the person's face. It can be a photo of their past, or seeing them in reality. However it cannot be anything drawn, no matter how good. Without the face in your head accompanying the name, it will not work. False names and masks do not work either." Raiga stopped again, suddenly realized he was thirsy, but went on.
"There are many other rules of the Death Note, but keep one thing in mind. It is a great power to be able to control life. You may end up like me, someone that has suffered so much under it that you're forced to give it up. If you have the willpower and the brains, you can easily be on top of the world. Now, pick up the book, burn this letter, and let your Shinigami fill you in on whatever I have forgotten. Best of luck to you, unknown stranger." There was also a small note at the far bottom. "And do not try to find me. The me with the Death Note in the past will no longer exist by the time you are reading this. No, I'm not dead. If I relinquish the Death Note, then my memories of it disappear."
Raiga crumpled up the note and the envelope and stuffed them into his pocket. Yeah, he'll burn them. Such lies. Although... his hand was itching to see that maybe, just maybe, the Death Note was real. His curiosity like a drug, Raiga's hand gently caressed the edges of the note book and finally grasped it.
A giant, monsterous creature appeared from the air. He was like a human, arms, legs, and body, but his face was absolutely abysmal and he had wings. Chains hung from his waists and its claws looked like it could kill someone in one swing.
"Who the FU ARE YOU?!" Raiga, stunned for a split second, fell back. The guy forced himself into the wall, unable to move any farther backwards and now crouching down.
"Didn't you just read the little note? I'm Ryuuku. I'm your Shinigami, mister Nobuhiro Raiga. You are the new owner." Ryuuku's face turned into a smirk.
--
In another place on Earth--
Inoue Kazuki was so bored in his home. His band members were out of town, and his hair was alright. There were things the twenty-year old guy could do, but they weren't the least bit enjoyable.
His boredom ceased that day, though, with the arrival of one lone package.
No mailman. No knock on the door. Just a THUD from the other side of his door.
"Better not be the kids with their eggs... mattaku mou.." The neighborhood kids were always throwing eggs at people's houses. Especially in this sunny weather and the time of the year. Kaz hoised himself from his chair in front of the computer and opened the door, expecting a fresh egg to peg him in the face. There was no egg.
"Those kids are quick to stop... I'll catch 'em one day. Hm?" His gaze turned to the black notebook on the ground. It had some indistinguishable writing on its cover that looked...Korean? No. Not Japanese either. More like the Wingdings font you have on Windows.
Yawning, Kaz bent over and picked the notebook up. He quickly dropped it when something materialized from thin air.
It was a human, except it was a human with wings. He (Kaz assumed it was a he) had blazing red hair and a distinctly asian face. With a body of a guy that was at the zenith of his life, he towered over Kaz. Kaz stepped back and closed the door, taking deep breaths.
"Heey..." The flying human floated in through the door. Kaz took another few steps back. "Why did you close the door on me, man?"
"B.. b.. er.. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot it was completely normal for things to pop out of nowhere."Kaz managed a little sarcasm. The red haired guy laughed.
"Well, I suppose I came out a little blunt, didn't I?"It shrugged.
"A little?"
"Ok, er, sorry. Let's start fresh, then. My name's Monte. I'm a Shinigami. What-" Monte the Shinigami started, but Kaz cut him off.
"Wait, Shinigami? Like, Death God? What's this about?"
"Calm down. Let me explain. Alright. What you've got there is something called a Death Note, ok? The guy who owned it last told me to throw it at someone's house far away. You won the lotto, man. Er.. whass your name?"
"Call me Kaz."
"Alright, the Death Note... it's special. You get to be one of the guys who get to control life and death. See, you write someone's name, that guy dies in.. I think 40 seconds. You can also write down all the things that lead up to the death in 6 minutes and 40 seconds after writing down the name. How easy, right? Well, you kill lots of guys, people get suspicious. Simple enough? Well, you can take this power, or... no. I'm tired of throwing. Take the power, Kaz." Monte pleaded..
"Fine. Fine. I'll take it. And.. uh.. what's your role in this?"
"Me? Well, I am a Shinigami. I am kinda like your companion, dude. I, like some other guys in the realm of Shinigami do, have two Death Notes. No one can see or hear me right now except you and the previous owner. Usually if you give up ownership of the Note, you forget everything, but in this case... the previous owner never said he gave up ownership. But he's sworn me to secrecy about everything about him. However if someone touches any part of the Note, he/she can see me."
"I see. Well... since you're here.. I guess this isn't some sick joke. I still am kinda skeptical though.." Kaz turned around and walked toward his living room. "Oh, do I get wings?" He asked,
"No. Sorry dude." Monte answered, trailing behind. "So what'cha doing?"
"Testing it out. The first name I see on TV, I'm writing it down." Kaz opened the notebook on a table in front of the small television.
"Oh yah, I forgot. You also have to know the person's face. It prevents unneccessary deaths." Monte said as Kaz searched around for a pen.
"Really? Well... whatever. I'll find a face. Here we go." Still suspicious of the deadly powers of the Death Note, Kaz turned on the television and flipped to a news channel.
"...in other news, the new Space Shuttle Arthritis- - I mean sorry, Atlantis III, is ready for launch. The launch is expected in a few minutes. The head captain of the three man crew, Arthur Bangs, has a -" here, a middle-aged American's face came up on the screen.
"Perfect" Kaz murmured. He slowly wrote down A-R-T-H-U-R B-A-N-G-S on the notebook.
"Are you sure? He's innocent. In about... 30 seconds, you're gonna be a murderer."
"I'm sure it won't work. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm in a dream." Kaz replied. He looked at the clock.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
A few additional seconds passed. The newscaster droned on about how this would be the first human expedition to Mars.
"See that? Nothing. But Monte, you can't be here if this wasn't a Death Note, but.. what kind of elaborate trick... huh?" Kaz's attention was quickly taken by the TV, where the announcer began to frantically shuffle around papers and grab at his ears. Someone was shouting in the background. Many others murmuring could be heard.
"There.. there has been a problem. This just in, but.. Arthur Bangs... yes? Yes? Ok. It has been confirmed that Arther Bangs has just died. Reasons are unknown, his co-astronauts say it looked like a heart attack. I repeat, the mission is at an unexpected halt. Arthur Bangs is --"
"-Dead." Kaz finished. He turned off the TV.
"You went an did it, dude. He's dead. It's no dream." Monte whispered, his wings making a swooshing noise.
Kaz began to chuckle and sit down. His face got paler; in a minute he was throwing up in the bathroom.
"Hey. It takes some mental stability, man. Put yourself in OJ's shoes. Feel comfortable. Take it in. You killed him, and from the way you killed him, you're possibly gonna kill more. It's addicting. Trust me, I've been doing it for years." Monte said, trying to be helpful but not really helping. Kaz cleaned up a bit and turned around to him.
"Just a little shock. I'm... this... this is brilliant. Boredom is nothing now." Kaz walked back to the table, picked up the Death Note, ripped out a page and grabbed a pen.
"What're you doing?" Monte asked. Kaz grabbed a brown coat.
"Come, Monte. I feel much brighter now. I gotta see what this thing can do." With that, he walked out the door.