Hello, guess who's back. I'm guessing none of you recognize me, so I decided to start things off with a friendly "Let's Get to Know Each Other" circle.

Now, about more important things. This story my have more mature moments, but it could still probably be read by mature children. There will be plot, so if you disagree with plot, you might want to hightail it out of here. Most of this plot will not be authoress induced, however, as the authoress is a lazy apathetic bum, and the other characters will be handling that part.

No, I honestly have no idea where I was going with any of that. Please enjoy.

When I woke up (Saturday, July something or other- it was a Saturday. Trust me.), I didn't bother asking where I was, although the room was rather too clean, had proper walls, and a notable lack of girl's clothes, judging by the open closet. Someone had recently left in a hurry- the computer was still on, and within a day was fairly recent after all. There was an alarm clock near my head (that is to say, within five feet) and someone was doing laundry downstairs.

I'm not entirely certain how I knew that. Probably the washing machine sound. Which was considerably quieter than what I was used to. Come to think of it, I wasn't supposed to have a downstairs/upstairs living situation to begin with. Yes, we had an attic, and a basement, but no, we didn't have proper multiple floors.

Maybe I'm just incurious, but the first thing I do is to stand and walk to the computer, shaking the mouse and opening the web browser to see if there's an internet connection. Yes! Bonus!

Plopping down, I fill in the address to "Death Note Virtual Adoption Agency: Experimentation in Reality". No, I swear it's totally not what it sounds like. I don't obsessively check it whenever I get a not blocked-to-hell internet. . . it's just the curiosity I lack everywhere else. . . something entertaining in a thoroughly dull universe. . .

I was not in any way attached to a Yagami Light virtual simulation. That's just ludicrous. No, I'm serious here.

Oh my god the artwork is just so cute, I wish I could draw like that. But there's not any time for much more than checking up on my simulated character, helping with the experiment and stuff, maybe two days of the week. Three if I'm lucky. And don't get me started on the music. Hmm, music. . .

I hum cheerfully as the loading sign appears, a little black apple with my username rocking back and forth. The server must be having a slow day though, so I check my email. Nothing new. Oh well. I can play with my adopted sim thing. I close that tab, clicking back to the Agency.

File Unavailable

What? Hey, wait a- that's not fair!

For a moment, I feel stunned, cheated and all-out-SD. You know, with the giant elliptical tears covering half my eyes, leaking down my face in a shading that just reeks of "shoujo".

Checking account. . .45% 67% 89% 100%

Huh?

Huh? Huh?

The apples back! Maybe it'll work this time. I almost hum cheerfully, opening another tab and going to google. For a while, I sit there idly, wondering what to look up, then the tab for the Virtual Adoption Agency flashes.

I click it.

Your file is currently on hiatus, a chibi Yagami Light is saying, cat tail twitching behind him as he smiles innocently out of the screen, This is because-

"Okaasan, I'm home."

"Welcome back, Light. How was your school day?"

-you have been selected to be part of the next stage of our Reality Experiments. You will find that you-

Click.

I turned my head, watching the door swing slowly inward. There was a sort-of-tired sigh (you know, like I'm-so-glad-today-is-almost-over) and a man stepped inside, shutting the door behind him before actually looking up. Light cinnamon eyes caught sight of me through pale-coffee hair.

Oh shit.

He seemed taken aback (not that I blamed him or anything) and for a while, no one spoke. He frowned, closed his eyes, and crossed his arms over his chest, thinking.

"So."

Huh? He wasn't going to say anything? Oh well. Whatever. I turned back to the computer screen.

You will find that you have been relocated into the most suitable area for interaction with your new sim. Since this is just a testing phase, you will not have access to extra features, such as godmodding, item shopping and basic editing.

Okay, I didn't do much of that anyway. I mean, sure I glued cat ears to his head (which is probably why they were still on the chibi) but I did that through normal means, using Light's allowance. I assume that's where he got the money. He didn't have a job after all.

"Okaasan, did you let anyone into the house?"

"Huh? No, I didn't."

Footsteps on the stairs. Hoshit. A plumpish woman appeared in the doorway, looking over her son's shoulder, face blank for a moment before she smiled brightly, "Oh! That's your new pet."

Huh? Okay, I knew I was thinking that a lot, but, w t f?

"What?"

Okay, at least I was on the same wavelength as someone. Turning back to the computer screen, I took a deep breath, determined to get all the way through this without another distraction. Blah blah blah, item shopping, basic editing. . . .

In order to avoid unnecessary damage, for the first three (3) days, you will be recognized as the pet of your sim. This may be remedied later, however it is recommended that you do not interfere within the three days. This is a safety net.

FAQ may be found here. Your Yagami Light Sim is currently in suspension, so please focus on the experiment at hand.

Thank you,

Death Note Virtual Adoption Agency

Experimenting with Reality

Pet? PET?
"'It is recommended that you do not interfere within the three days'," I said, pitching my voice in a childish tone, leaping to my feet, "SCREW YOU! HE'S MY PET! I'M THE ONE WHO PUT THE CAT EARS ON HIM, DAMNIT!"

Silence. I looked over at the the two figures in the doorway. They stared back at me, and eventually, Light (my new sim, why was I the pet?) turned to his mother, "Don't worry about that, Okaasan. I'll take care of things."

Then he smiled. 600 kilowatts of charm zapped primarily into his mother's skull, and then into mine when it stopped fitting. I fell back into the chair, covering my face, "Nnn. . . ."

The door shut, and he turned around, still undoubtedly wearing the charm-ray-smile. I could feel the beams bouncing off my hands.

Oh, Kyoko, I know how you feel . . . .

"Are you all right?" there was laughter behind his voice. Laughter, I say. Peaking out from behind my fingers, I snorted.

"I'm fine. Stop smiling like that."

There was a pause, and he did stop smiling, "Is there something wrong with my smile?"

". . . . Just don't do it. Just don't."

Oh gods, it was fine when he was just pixels. IT WAS FINE THEN! Why did this have to get thrown at me? I needed to get things DONE. I needed to . . . okay, so I wasn't really able to do anything at the moment anyway, but. . . .

"Um. . . what's this?" he asked after a long pause, "Sim. . .?"

Actually it came out more as "seemu" because the site was in English. I wasn't even going to begin pondering why I could understand what everyone was saying, or why they could understand me. It was a nice change though. . . .

"Simulation."

"Huh . . ." the mouse clicked and unclicked, "So. . . this is a game?"

"Yes. Sort of. More like an experiment."

"For what?"

". . . .You know, for finding out that you don't really exist, you're taking things quite well."

Pause.

"Um . . ."

Wait for it.

"What are you talking about?"

I slammed my head against the desk.