(A/N: I own nothing. Not Death Note or Kuroko no Basket. I only own the idea to make a Death Note version of Kuroko no Basket.)
Chapter One
~Reawakening~
It was an obnoxiously bright day. Normally, this kind of weather would be the kind people preferred but not to Akashi Seiuro. He would've preferred it to be cloudy or for the skies to at least be a bit gray, unlike the shade of blue the sky was currently. Not to mention, the sun was blinding.
He stared out the window, thinking of how messed up the world had become. He'd seen the news reports, heard from his father, who was a businessman that also worked as the chief of the Japanese police department, and seen the posts on the internet about the vicious murders and heinous crimes that had been going on for a while. It was terrible. How had the world come to this? It's become so putrid. Some people just need to stop existing.
"Akashi-kun," the teacher called.
"Yes, sensei?"
"Please solve the equation on the board."
He walked up to the board and solved the problem perfectly. Well, I wouldn't expect anything less from the top student in Rakuzan High School. He was probably several levels above his fellow classmates. As he walked back to his seat, he sighed, wishing to do something other than just sit in a classroom like a normal teenager, which he obviously was not.
Meanwhile, in a dark, desolate realm, a few particular creatures were lazing around, doing absolutely nothing. To be specific, they were Shadows. And, of course, I'm not talking about the kind that follow you around because of the light. Shadows were sort of like grim reapers. They took the lives of humans.
Now a certain group of Shadows, consisting of Kasamatsu Yukio, Ootsubo Taisuke, Imayoshi Shoichi, Okamura Kenichi, Mayuzumi Chihiro, and Nijimura Shuzo, were fed up with this kind of uneventful lifestyle and wanted a little entertainment.
"Don't you guys think life as a Shadow is boring?" Imayoshi asked.
Mayuzumi looked up from the light novel he'd taken from the human world, "I guess, but there's really nothing you can do about it."
"I wish we had one of those television things they have in the human world, Okamura said.
"Or one of those so called 'basketballs.' That game they play seems fun," Ootsubo commented.
"Honestly, what are we doing with our lives? Have we really taken to envying humans?" Kasamatsu said in astonishment.
"But they have such interesting, dramatic lives, unlike us," Okamura whined.
Nijimura scowled, "Oh, shut up, you gorilla!"
"What?!" Okamura cried, comically, earning a few snickers from Imayoshi and Ootsubo.
"Have some pride! We could easily take the lives of humans."
"But there's no entertainment in that!"
"He's right," Imayoshi chimed in.
"If your so focused on being entertained, go do something about it instead of just whining and complaining all the time!" Kasamatsu said, agitated.
"Well, we can't think of anything better to do," Mayuzumi said.
"Ah, I've got something," Nijimura said. The others looked at him expectantly. "You guys could go drop a Book into the human world."
They gasped.
"Are you serious?!" Kasamatsu said, incredulously.
"Yeah, why not?" Nijimura answered like it was the simplest solution there was to their dull way of life.
"It'd certainly be fascinating to see how a human might use the Book of Shadows," Imayoshi said, smirking.
Mayuzumi dropped his novel and hummed. "It could."
"But only those with two Books would be able to do that. The last time I checked, only Nijimura has two. We wouldn't be able to do it, anyway," Ootsubo pointed out.
Another Shadow joined in. "Whoa, you guys are thinking of dropping a Book? That's crazy!" Aomine Daiki exclaimed.
"I know right!" Okamura joined in.
"And I can't believe that Aomine actually stopped watching that human girl!" Imayoshi said.
"Well, I can't help it. She's too pretty. Like waaaaaaay too pretty," he said.
"You're lovestruck, Aomine," Mayuzumi said.
Aomine brushed him off "Whatever. It's not like it's gonna kill me. Anyway, Nijimura, you're really gonna drop a Book?"
"Well, we're all bored here, and it would be amusing. And I'm the only one with two Books." He shrugged. "It'll be like watching one of those human reality TV shows." He smiled.
"That's preposterous," Kasamatsu said, "but, then again, it would be intriguing."
Nijimura stood up and walked over to the ledge of the Shadow Realm then held up his extra Book of Shadows. "Okay, I'm gonna do it."
He dropped it. The group watched as it fell through the clouds.
"Well, I'm gonna go see who picks it up. See you guys later," Nijimura said with a mischievous smile on his face. Black wings sprouted from his back as he jumped off the ledge. He followed the Book to see it land on the grounds of some school called Rakuzan High.
It was after school, and kids had club activities. As if it were fated, red-headed boy with heterochromatic eyes noticed it and picked it up. And it just so happened that the person who picked it up was… some random kid with red hair. I kid, I kid. It was really Akashi Seijuro from earlier.
"This ought to be fun," Nijimura muttered to himself, smirking and thinking about what this kid might do with the Book of Shadows.
Akashi looked around to see if anyone had dropped the notebook. The other students payed no attention to it. He observed the cover, "The Book of Shadows?" He opened it to check if it belonged to anyone, and, to his surprise, there were a set of rules written in it.
"If a human's name is written in the Book of Shadows, they will die," he read. Is this for real? Akashi scoffed. Of course it isn't. Why would anyone die after writing a name?
But what if it is?
Akashi put the Book in his bag before heading to his basketball practice. He decided to check it out later. He couldn't be late to practice.
~Book of Shadows~
After basketball practice, Akashi locked himself in his room, took the Book out of his bag, and read the rules.
1. If a human's name is written in the Book of Shadows, they will die.
2. The Book won't work unless the writer knows the person's name and face so people that have the same name don't die.
3. If the cause of death is written in the proceeding 40 seconds, it'll happen.
4. If the cause of death isn't described, the person will die of a heart attack.
5. Once the cause of death is written, the writer must describe details in the proceeding 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
This has to be some kind of prank. A really, really sick prank. But, then again, what if it's real? The only way to find out is to test it. He turned on the eighty inch flatscreen TV he had in his room (his family was very well off) and tuned it to the news channel where they were broadcasting about a murderer who was on the loose. If anything, some people should just stop existing, he thought. If he were to test it, it would be on a criminal.
He went to his desk, took out a pen, and wrote his name. It's not like he'll really die. He kept track of the time with his phone.
"News flash: the murderer Masaki Juuzo has just died," the reporter said. "We've received news from the police department that he's died of a heart attack."
What?
Akashi looked at his timer. It's been exactly 40 seconds.
Holy shit. He'd just killed a man.
It's not some kind of sick joke.
It's real. The Book of Shadows is real.
Holy fucking shit.
His train of thought, or rather profanities, was broken by the call of his little sister. "Nii-san!" She knocked on the door. "Open up!"
He opened it. "What is it, Seika?"
"Have you forgotten? We're having dinner with Dad today."
"I knew. I was caught up in studying."
"Oh, okay. I should've expected that."
"Thank you for reminding me." He smiled.
"You're welcome. Go get ready. I'll see you at dinner." She left, and Akashi closed the door again.
He glanced at the Book again. He tried it one more time with another criminal that was being reported and received the same result.
Fuck.
I need to stop talking like that, he thought. He was starting to sound like his teammates.
He got ready for dinner with his father, hid the notebook in a locked drawer, then walked downstairs with one thought in his head:
With that kind of power, I could rid the world of crime.
~Book of Shadows~
After dinner, Akashi turned on his TV, his laptop, and any kind of technology he had that could access information about criminals.
He wrote down quite a lot of names in the Book with the mindset of ridding the world of crime. He would obtain ultimate peace! He would bring judgement to the heinous criminals! Once he was satisfied with the amount of written names, he smirked. His smirk turned into a smile, and he laughed.
He laughed for the first time in years. But it wasn't the kind of laugh you'd expect after a joke or anything of the like. It was maniacal, crazed, demented, mad. Put simply, it was psychotic.
As soon as Akashi calmed down, he sighed. He was going to do this. He was going to make the world a better place by killing off the criminals. He was going to bring peace to the innocent. He was going to make a life where the innocent didn't have to live in fear of criminals.
"So I see you like my Book, Akashi Seijuro," Nijimura said from behind him.
What the fuck? He turned around quickly to find the Shadow there dressed in black jeans with chains hanging off of them, an ebony tee shirt, a charcoal leather jacket, and spiked leather bracelets. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Why haven't the guards detected him? Akashi held the red scissors he had in his sleeve behind his back. "How did you get in?"
"I'm Nijimura Shuzo, I'm here to talk to you, and I got in from the wall," he said, answering all the questions in order.
"The wall? That's ludicrous."
"It's not ludicrous at all. By the way, I know you're holding a pair of scissors behind your back. Just try to stab me with them."
Akashi gave him an incredulous stare then walked up to Nijimura and lunged at him with his scissors. The scissors went straight through him, but didn't wound him. It was like he was a hologram. "What? How?"
"I am a Shadow."
"In what context are you using the term 'shadow'?" Akashi tried touching him with his hand. He could feel him, but when he tried to punch him, his fist went straight through him.
"I can't be hurt or wounded by humans," Nijimura said. "Shadows are beings that take human lives. Anyway, I'm the former owner of the Book of Shadows in your possession."
Akashi's eyes widened. He picked up the Book. "This is yours?"
"It used to be but not anymore. It's yours now." He smirked in amusement. "I can't believe you've already written so many names in it."
"I will rid the world of injustice and crime."
"That's an interesting notion."
"There has to be some kind of consequence or penalty for using this kind of power. What is it?"
Nijimura hoped the others were watching from above because this human was very, very interesting. "You can't go to heaven or hell when you die. You'll be stuck in purgatory. And when the pages run out, you'll die."
"That's it?"
"Yup, pretty much."
"That's a very small price to pay."
"You don't care if you never get to go to heaven or hell?"
"Not at all."
"You're doomed to an eternity of boredom."
"Then it's not very different from your situation, is it?" Nijimura looked at him, keenly. "After all, you're probably here because being a Shadow is evidently monotonous, and you dropped the Book of Shadows because you and some of your Shadow friends wanted some entertainment so you decided to see what a human would do with it."
Nijimura was astounded. Akashi had practically described everything that had happened in the Shadow Realm earlier. This human was perceptive.
"So what else did you want to talk to me about?"
"You'll also be stuck with me as long as you are the owner of that Book of Shadows. I'll be possessing you," he said as he fiddled with his bracelet.
"I can deal with that."
"By the way, I won't be helping you or anything. I'm not particularly on your side, but I'm not anyone else's side either. And in the end, I'll kill you." Nijimura looked straight into Akashi's eyes albeit intimidatingly, not that Akashi was intimidated the slightest bit. "By writing your name in my Book of Shadows."
"I thought as much." He sighed. "Very well then. Good doing business with you, Nijimura-san. I hope we get along." He held out his hand, asking for a handshake while smirking.
Nijimura shook Akashi's hand. "Same here."
"Can I ask you one thing?" Akashi said. "Why me?"
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Akashi opened it. "What is it, Seika?"
"Here. I sliced up some apples. Dad brought them home."
"Oh, okay. Thank you," he said, taking the bowl from her. He felt Nijimura resting his arm on his shoulder. He stared at her, wondering why she wasn't saying anything about him. He closed the door, quickly.
He shook Nijimura's arm off his shoulder. "Can you not?"
"I wanted you to figure out that other humans can't see me."
"Then I can because I own the Book of Shadows?"
"Not exactly. It's because you've touched the Book. Each Book of Shadows is connected to a Shadow. When you touch it, you'll be able to see the Shadow."
"I see."
"Hey, why do you want to pass judgement to criminals?"
"Some are just better off existing. But I guess I was just bored too."
People would eventually realize someone was passing judgement on these criminals then he would be seen as the savior of this messed up world.
Akashi thought about why he did it. He wanted to rid the world of injustice, pain, suffering. If he killed off the evil, then people would stop committing crimes in fear of their own lives. Even if this was bad, he was sacrificing himself for a reawakening of the world. He figured no one else would be able to pull this off so he was practically chosen.
"You know I can read your mind, right?" Nijimura said. "Don't be so full of yourself. It was merely coincidence. Anyway, once you do reform the world, you'd be the only evil person left."
'You can read my mind?' he thought.
"Yeah."
'So you can read all humans' minds or just mine?'
"Just yours, Akashi. Shadows can only read the mind of the first person they possess."
'Alright, then. I'll keep that in mind.'
"About what you mentioned earlier, that wouldn't matter because then I'd already be the god of the reawakened world," Akashi said, confidently.
He sighed. "Whatever you say, kid." He pointed to the bowl of apple slices. "Can I have those?"
"Knock yourself out." He handed the bowl to Nijimura. "I'm gonna write down more names." Akashi sat down at his desk and opened the Book of Shadows.
Nijimura chewed on the apple while smirking. Humans were not just interesting. They were fascinating.