Cho, a death note fanfic

Hey people!

Whoa... Even though I LOVE Death Note and its currently my #1 favorite series, I never thought that I would end up writing a fan-fic for it because I always feel like I would be insulting the series if I made one. But this idea got into my head when I was writing an English paper, and I couldn't resist.

No, this oneshot is only based on the story I wrote (mainly due to the fact that I don't have the paper with me and it had nothing to do with any of the Death Note characters, let alone Naomi Misora.)

I just hope this is a decent story for you people......

Even though I'm shy and get scared when I read reviews, please leave one. Its my way of making sure SOMEBODY is reading this.

--Naomi Hansen

P.S. If you want, this could be an AU (alternate universe for anyone that doesn't know). I wasn't too sure if it should be, so just use your imagination.

Cho

I couldn't wait to start fifth grade. Everyone that knew me then could tell you that I wanted to start going to school again so badly. Sure, call me crazy, but I loved to learn new things. It made me feel like I was growing up, and being an adult was a very exciting thought at the time. I just couldn't wait.

Too bad that it would turn out to be one of the worst times of my life.

---

I remember the first day back. I walked quietly into my first class; Social Studies. There were a couple of other students and the teacher, Ms. Shiba, in the room when I got there.

I sat in the back row so nobody would notice me. Even though I wanted to be back in school for so long, I never liked being noticed, since I was very shy and had a low self-esteem. Before then, I had only one friend, but we had grown apart during third grade after she had started becoming more poular. Then she and her family moved to Kyoto and I never saw her again.

I never thought that I was lonley. And if I was, I had grown used to it. Besides, all I really thought about was my education. Since I was little, my parents had told me that getting a good education was very important if I wanted to live a successful life. Every day, I lived by those words. That was just who I was.

"Um, excuse me?"

I jumped because I was surprised to hear someone talking behind me. I turned around to see two girls standing next to my seat. One of them had red hair in pigtails, pale skin, dark blue eyes, and glasses. The other girl was slightly taller than the redhead, had short brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles.

"Yes?" I said quietly.

"Can we sit here?" the redhead asked.

"Sure," I said. She looks like a foreigner.

They sat in the seats next to me. I ignored them as I pulled out a notebook and started drawing a dragon on the inside of the cover. I loved drawing, and I still do. It was one of my favorite hobbies when I finished homework early, which was very often. When I was younger, I had wanted to become an artist. I think being occupied with drawing was probably another reason why I never really talked to anybody.

"You like to draw dragons?"

I looked up and saw that the readhead was smiling and looking at my drawing. I felt my face start to burn up. I didn't like having people look at my art. Even though I drew a lot, I never felt like I was any good at it.

"Y-yes, s-s-sometimes," I said nervously. I gave her a small smile.

"EW! So you're like some freaky tomboy!?"

That wasn't the redhead or the brunette. All three of us turned around. What we saw was a very thin girl with long and wavy dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a lot of makeup on her face. My first impression of her was that she seemed like the kind of girl you didn't want to upset. Ever.

"What's your name?" she asked me.

She glared at me, and I was almost too scared to answer that simple question.

"Misora Naomi," I whispered nervously.

"Naomi? Ugh! What a boring name!"

"Hey! Girl, why don't you leave her alone?"

When I turned around, I saw that the redhead and her brunnette friend had stood up and stared at the girl that had insulted me.

They're..... defending me? But they barely even know me. I was in disbelief.

But the fact that they were standing up for me made the girl upset.

"Okay, first of all, my name is Cho. Second, I can call her what I want, four-eyes!"

I saw the girl's face turned as red as her hair and her fists clenched. She might've punch Cho if it weren't for the fact that the bell rang at that moment.

"Okay everyone," said Ms. Shiba,"Get into a desk now. Class is about to start!"

The girl called Cho glared at me one more time before she walked to a desk towards the front. The redhead and the brunnette went back to their seats also. The redhead's face was still burning.

"Um, thanks," I said softly.

"No problem," said the readhead,"And by the way, my name is Yamazuki Miyako."

"And I'm Anderson Kokoro," the brunnette said to me.

"Anderson? Is your family from America?" I asked.

"My dad is," Kokoro replied. I could see that Kokoro was a quiet person.

"By the way, what's your name again?" Miyako asked. Miyako seemed to be the oposite of Kokoro. She seemed to be a talkative person.

"Misora Naomi."

"Naomi," Miyako said thoughtfully.

"That's a nice name."

"Yeah, it is," Kokoro agreed.

"By the way," continued Miyako,"don't listen to Cho. Just ignore her. Your problem with her should go away eventually if you do."

I could tell that Miyako was very offended by her. The way that it sounded like venom was dripping out of her mouth when she said her name was enough to convince me that she alread hated Cho. And at that thought, I smiled.

"Okay. I'll ignore her."

---

Remember how I said that I thought I never really felt lonley, even though I didn't have friends? Well, that was before I had friends like Miyako and Kokoro.

All I can say is that I don't know how I went through life without people like them. They could always make me laugh. They always liked to play with me, talk to me about almost anything, and almost anything you could imagine three friends would do together. And I guess it helped for them to have someone like me who got some of the best grades in every class, because they constantly needed help with difficult work that I did in less than a couple of minutes. So basically, during class, I would become their personal tutor. And maybe it also helped that they were in almost every class with me. In other words, they were probably the only reason school wasn't completely horrible.

But just because I had them it didn't mean that school was wonderful. You can blame Cho for that.

Even with good friends, Cho managed to make my life a living hell. She would usually pick on me in the one class that I didn't have either Miyako or Kokoro in: Math. She would be very cruel to me whenever I finished homework faster than most of the class, calling me a "freak," "wierdo," or a "nerd" and would give me an evil-looking glare. It was even worse when I would get one of the highest scores on exams. I won't say what she said, but it did make me cry the first few times she said them. But I was amazed that none of this affected my grades in any of my classes.

Speaking of which, Cho seemed to be in all but one of my classes. I think you can guess what happened in those classes.

And it wasn't just classes. Occasionally, during lunch, she would get behind me and pull my hair. Hard. Sometimes, she would also insult Miyako for her hair and glasses and say that Kokoro was a rabbit (I guessed she thought she looked too ordinary to insult her with her appearance, so she made fun of how quiet she was), but usually she would just make fun of me.

But even after months of this, Miyako and Kokoro always kept telling me to ignore the problem and that it would get better.

Well, they were about to see that they would be wrong.

One day, I was reading a book during our break time. Then, instead of feeling the warm sun on my skin, I felt a huge shadow come over me. I slowly looked up to see Cho--along with three other girls that I knew were her 'friends,' Taki, Momo, and Tsukiko.

"Hey freak."

I just stared at her in fear.

Oh God. They're gonna beat me up!

"Aww! She looks scared," Taki said with fake concern.

"Yes, she does," Cho replied, which made them all giggle.

I tried my best to make sure I didn't cry, but it was hard.

"C'mon, w-why can't you j-just leave me alone?"

When I said that, the girls stopped giggling. Cho gave me the most evil glare I had ever seen on her face.

I squeezed my lips together. I'm dead meat.

"Because its people like you that make this school ugly," she stated angrily. "In fact, the whole school has nerds, creeps, and freaky tomboys. Just. Like. You. Accually, I think you're the worst of them all. You're ugly, you always act like you're smarter than everyone in the class, and you are the number-one freak in the whole school. You don't deserve to live."

I gulped. Cho's words hurt and scared me at the same time. My body was starting to shake as I tried to think of a way to get out of the situation.

"Look Misora! You're just lucky that you haven't messed with me yet, because if you do, I wouldn't hesitate to--"

"Naomi-chan!!"

We all turned around to see Miyako and Kokoro running towards us. I sighed with relief.

"Naomi-chan, c'mon," Kokoro said while she and Miyako grabbed my arms and pulled me away from Cho and her gang. I was more than happy to follow.

"You got lucky this time!" yelled Cho. "You can't have your friends save you every time! I'll get you someday!"

As we walked away, I felt scared. Cho's words gave me a horrible chill, because I knew she was right. But in a strange way, I felt like I was in denial.

"Naomi-chan," Kokoro said,"I think you should tell someone about this. I think its gonna get worse if we don't."

When she said that, I felt warm tears on my cheeks. I shook my head, which surprised them.

"Lets see if it does get worse. Then I'll tell."

---

It surprised me that after Cho had threatened me, she stopped picking on me. She still glared at me sometimes, but I could live with that. For the next few months, I felt great. No insults, no threats. Nothing. I had almost forgotten about her threat. All I had to do was avoid her and I didn't have to worry about anything.

---

One day, I had to go to the school's library during break to research information for a project. I was just casually walking down the hallway.

Alone.

And that's when it happened.

BAM!

I sreamed as I felt a horrible pain come from my back. Then I was shoved forward and ended up painfully falling onto the ground. I groaned as I slowly turned around to see what happened, but was pushed onto my back by a foot.

"OW!!"

My vision was blury because the pain made my eyes water. But when my vision became clearer, I saw something that terrified me.

It was Cho. And she had a bat in her hands.

"I told you that I'd get you," she whispered,"And this time, your stupid friends won't be able to save you."

Her eyes showed nothing but hatred as she slowly raised the bat above her head. I was beyond terrified when I realised what she was doing, and I did the only thing I could think of: I begged.

"P-please. Don't do this," I pleaded.

Cho smirked.

"Coward."

I could see that her hands were clenched tight onto the bat as she was ready to hit me with it.

No. She won't get away with tormented me again. I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!

I grabbed the leg on my chest and pushed it off of me. This made Cho unbalanced, which made her topple onto the ground near me. Clank! The bat fell out of her hands and fell a safe distance from each of us. As soon as she fell, I got up as fast as I could. But Cho grabbed my legs before I could run. She started to get up, but I kicked her hands, which made her squeel. I didn't bother to look behind me when I started to run away.

"GET BACK HERE BITCH!"

Even though I was running as fast as I could, I could tell that Cho was getting closer to me. But it didn't matter as long as I could get to a teacher in time before she caught me.

But I yelped when my hair was grabbed from behind, pulling my head with it. I was able to get my balance before I fell. But I was focused on not falling, so I didn't notice anything else until I felt Cho's fist punching me in the face.

"Agh!"

And that wasn't the end of it. After she punched me, she kicked me in the stomach, which made me fall onto the ground again.

"Stop this--"

"NO!"

She kept on kicking me while I kept yelping and screaming in pain, and this time, I didn't feel like I had the strength to defend myself. I even got a bloody nose and I could taste blood in my mouth after she kicked me a couple of time in the face. But after every kick she gave me, I started to care less about what would happen to me. I felt like I knew I would die, or at least go uncontious before anyone could find me. I felt hopeless.

You know....

Cho stomped on my left arm and I could hear a small crack! I screamed.

.... I think death would be better than having all this pain. So God, please....

She kicked my knee. I didn't feel any pain since it must've become numb from all the other times she attacked it.

........ Please..... Stop the pain. Let me die.....

"MINAZUKI CHO!"

Instantly, the kicking stopped. I slowly looked up to see that the person who yelled was none other than the principle, Mr. Kiozume, and he looked like he was beyond furious. But I also saw that right behind him was Ms. Shiba, who looked horrified at what she saw.

"Come," he simply said,"now. Ms. Shiba, take Misora-kun to the nurse's office."

I couldn't see Cho's face behind her brown hair when she followed Mr. Kiozume, probably to his office.

"Do you have anything broken?"

I stared at her as if I was amazed by her appearance. I couldn't believe what had just happened.

"My left arm."

Details about everything else was a blur after that. All I know was that I was taken slowly to the nurses office, where I stayed until they figured out that I had many injuries, so I was taken to the hospital an hour later. I remember that I was told that I had one broken arm, a couple of broken ribs, a broken nose, a couple of cuts, and many bruises all over my body. The doctors said that they were amazed that I didn't get anything worse after the incident. As you could imagine, my parents were a horrible wreck when they got to the hospital and saw me the way I was. I remember seeing Miyako and Kokoro visit me a few hours after that. It looked like they had cried, but I couldn't really tell.

But what surprised me was the fact that Mr. Kiozume came to the hospital to see me.

"Hello Misora-kun."

There was an awkward silence for about two minutes.

"Sir, what are you doing here?" I had asked him.

He looked at me and sighed.

"I just wanted to tell you that...... Due to Minazuki-san's actions today, and many others that she had commited over the year........ Well, just to let you know, she's going to be expelled."

At first, I thought that Cho must've damaged my hearing during the attack somehow, because I didn't believe there was any way that what I had just heard was true.

"Expelled?"

"Yes. I had no choice. She had been harassing others also, but what happened you today was the worst of it.

"But don't worry. She won't be bullying you again, so be happy."

He smiled as if to reasure me, and left.

But no. I didn't feel happy. I didn't feel sad, angry, or any other ordinary emotion when I heard the news.

Instead, I felt dead inside.

---

When you're a kid, almost nobody wants to feel like a tattle-tale. I makes you feel horrible, even if it was the right thing to do, which is what I felt like after the 'incident.'

Its probably the main reason I fell into depression.

Yes, you would think that after a bully like Cho was gone, you'd be happy. But no. I just felt horrible. I guess no matter who it was, I didn't like the fact that I caused someone to get expelled. And I felt even more horrible with the knowledge that the last memory that I had of Cho was the fact that she was trying to beat me to death. It gave me nightmares for a long time.

I think I also became depressed when I started to become paranoid. I didn't trust anyone--strangers, aquaintances, classmates, teachers, it didn't matter--because I felt like they would hurt me. The only people that I accually stayed close to were my family, along with Miyako, and Kokoro. In fact, I don't even think that anyone other than Miyako and Kokoro noticed my depression.

But regardless of how I ended up depressed, it happened. I never talked unless it was necessary. I ate less which caused me to lose at least twelve pounds. My nightmares kept me up almost every night. I never thought about suicide, but I always wondered if anybody would care if I suddenly disappeared one day. So in general, I just felt miserable and weak 24/7.

Over the years, my friends always tried to cheer me up, but nothing worked (now that I think about it, I'm amazed that they didn't leave me after being depressed for so long.) The only thing that made me feel better was cutting myself. I had started doing it when I accidently cut myself with a razor in sixth grade. I noticed that it made me feel calm, so I started to cut my arms. After that, I was hooked to it. Well, I was until Miyako and Kokoro got suspitious of the fact that I wore long-sleeved shirts during the summer, questioned me about it, and saw the scars on my arms.

That was when they decided to send me to a counselor. And to tell the truth, it helped a little. After going to appointments for about half the year, I started to feel a little better. I wasn't happy, but the nightmares and cutting stopped, and I thought more positively. If you ask me, that was a huge improvement.

And it was probably because of these positive changes that allowed me to get another friend, Harvey Dillon. He was a foreign exchange student from America. We had started hanging out in art classes and we just got along well. I remember he had blonde hair, green eyes, and a lot of freckles. He was one of the first people in a long time to make me laugh, which was why I got attached to him and became friends.

But one day, he asked me a question.

"Almost every time I see you, you look sad. Why is that?"

We were at my house and had been studying for an exam for a few hours, so for this question to come out of thin air surprised me.

"What makes you think I'm sad?" I asked curiously.

"Well, other than me, Miyako, and Kokoro, you never talk to anyone. Its like you're paranoid. You almost never smile. And anyways, I can see it in your eyes. Something must be troubling you. What is it?"

I gave him a confused look.

So he saw it. Should I tell him?

I sighed.

No.

"Its a bit complicated," I finally replied.

"Don't worry. I've got time," he said.

Ugh! He's always so nosy! Somethimes I really hate his patience.

I closed my eyes and turned my head away from him. I opened my eyes to look out the window. The gray clouds outside told me it was going to rain soon.

I guess I'll say SOMETHING.

"Lets just say I had issues with someone."

I could tell Harvey was staring at me with the same confused look I had given him a few minutes ago. I didn't bother to look back at him since I suddenly became interested in seeing a couple of raindrops hit the glass window.

"What kind of issues? Did you get into a fight with them?"

More raindrops hit the window as I stayed silent for a moment. About then, I started to feel like I was going back in time. Back to memories that I never wanted to relive. Memories I kept buried in my mind until now.

I was just casually walking down the hallway.

Alone.

"You could say that."

"But.... Why would anyone fight with you? Or..... Did you start the fight?"

BAM!

"OW!!"

"It would depend on your point of view."

"I told you that I'd get you," she whispered,"And this time, your stupid friends won't be able to save you."

Her eyes showed nothing but hatred as she slowly raised the bat above her head.

"What do you mean by that?"

"What do you think I mean?"

"Oh c'mon Naomi!" he complained in English. "Stop talking in riddles and tell me already."

Silence. Nothing could be heard inside the room except for the rain, which was starting to fall even harder.

Cho smirked.

"Coward."

I could see that her hands were clenched tight onto the bat as she was ready to hit me with it.

I was glad that Harvey couldn't see my face, because I could feel warm tears start to form in my eyes.

I didn't bother to look behind me when I started to run away.

"GET BACK HERE BITCH!"

Even though I was running as fast as I could, I could tell that Cho was getting closer to me.

It seemed like every time the rain got louder, my tears became even harder to keep at bay.

"Stop this--"

"NO!"

The moment that I saw the lightning was when I stopped the attemps to not cry. I silently let the warm teardrops run down my cheeks.

But after every kick she gave me, I started to care less about what would happen to me.

A few seconds after the lightning disappeared, I heard the thunder give a loud BOOM!

Cho stomped on my left arm and I could hear a small crack! I screamed.

I didn't jump when I saw the lightning suddently appeared again, but closer. I did hear Harvey make a sound that sounded like a squeek! when the thunder came faster than the last.

She kicked my knee. I didn't feel any pain since it must've become numb from all the other times she attacked it.

I closed my eyes, which made more tears come down from them, but I didn't care. I felt like I was in a trance.

I felt hopeless.

A blinding light came from the window for less than a second and the roaring thunder could be heard immediately after it as the power suddenly went out in the room.

"Oh my God," I heard Harvey yell.

"Naomi? Are you oka--! AHH!!"

I heard something topple onto the floor and a loud crash! Is sounded like Harvey broke a nearby lamp.

"DAMN IT!"

I didn't feel happy.

Instead, I felt dead inside.

That was it. Those memories were eating me in the inside. If I didn't say anything, I felt like I would go insane!

I decided to finally talk.

"Do you want to know something?" I asked.

"Yes. I asked you why you're always so sad. That's what I asked you about ten freakin' minutes ago."

Even though I felt like I was a horrible wreck, I chuckled at his frustration.

"Fine. I'll tell you."

I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. I knew he wouldn't interrupt, so I went on.

"Its because of a girl. Her name was Minazuki Cho......."

I told him the whole story: The day I met Cho; The insults, taunts, and icy glares she gave me; The times she pulled my hair at lunch, chased me around the playground, and insulted my friends when they defended me; The day Cho and her posse threatened me. And the day that Cho nearly beat me to death in the deserted hallways. When I got to that part, I could hear Harvey make a small gasping sound, and the tears started coming down again. I also told him about the depression I was in afterwards and how I cut myself a lot until I went to counselling.

".... And that's the reason why I am a 'sad.'"

There wasn't anymore thunder and lightning, but just a moderate rainfall. I lowered my head as I silently cried more. I hoped that my long hair kept my face hidden.

"But..... You know why I think I felt tormented afterwards?"

He was silent.

"W-why?"

The rain started to get softer outside.

"I was--and still am--tormented by this question in my head."

"What is it Naomi?"

I raised my head and looked at the window again. The rain was barely audible in the room.

"Can I ever forgive Cho for what she did?"

Ever since the conversation had been brought up, I finally turned away from the window to look at Harvey. What I saw on his face was a mixture of sorrow, pity, and confusion. But that went away when he saw the tears streaked all over my cheeks and my sad eyes.

"Well?" I asked blankly. "What do you think?"

He wasted no time in coming up to me and hugging me. As soon as I was in his warm embrace, I started to sob into his shoulder. I could feel him pat my head a couple of times before he spoke.

"Naomi, that's a decision for you to make. But if you want my opinion, its this: If Cho truly feels sorry for what she did.... If she really regrets the action she commited, then you should forgive her."

I stopped sobbing a few minutes afterwards and pulled away from him, giving him one of the first genuine smiles I had in years. We jumped when the light in the room suddenly came back on. We both laughed at our jumpiness.

"Thanks," I told him.

I looked out the window. The rain had stopped outside, and I could see the stars and a beautiful full moon in the sky.

---

After a few more years, I went to live in America. With all the many different cultures, races, ideas, and food there, I quickly learned why many people loved the country. It made me feel at home there. And I got a wonderful love for one thing: Leather jackets.

I decided to live in Los Angeles because I heard that Harvey lived there after he moved back from Japan. I was accually going to visit him when someone tripped and accidentally bumped into someone while taking a different route through a park. We both fell onto the dirt trail.

"Oh, I'm so sorry ma'am!"

"Its okay."

We both got up and looked at each other--and she looked strangely familiar.

That face. Those eyes.... She's not wearing makeup, but...There's..... No way....

"Cho?"

"Naomi?"

We just stared at each other, wide-eyed. Neither of us could believe what we were seeing: Naomi Misora and Cho Minazuki, together, after almost two decades, in the same place at the same time. It seemed surreal.

"I'm sorry!" Cho suddenly said.

"Wha--"

"Please," she quietely interrupted. "Let me speak for a minute."

As she said, I fell silent.

"As I was saying, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I said your name was wierd. I'm sorry I insulted your friends constantly. I'm sorry I insulted you for nearly everything you had and did. I'm sorry about the threats I gave you. I'm sorry that I pulled your hair constantly during lunch. And......."

During the time she spoke, Cho's eyes started to water an her head was bowed down, so I couldn't see her face. I gulped.

".....I'm... I'm sorry for trying to kill you," she sobbed.

"I was a maniac. I was self-centered. I felt ugly. I hated my name, I felt like I was stupid all the time,"--at this point, her crying started to get uncontrolable--"and I hated not having any real friends. S-sure, I-I was popular, but they didn't fell l-like people I could trust."

Cho got some tissue out of her purse, wiped off her tears, and blew her nose. She breathed in and out for a while before she started talking again.

"That's why I always acted so cruel to you. You were everything I wanted to be: You had a nice name. You were smart and talented. You had friends you could accually trust.--"she looked up at me at that point"--And you were beautiful. And I can see that you still are..."

I didn't know what to say. So I just waited to see if she said anything else.

"After I was expelled, I was sent to therapy. The treatment seemed to work because after a while, I became horrified at the fact that I nearly killed someone just because I was jealous of them..."

Cho lowered her head.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't forgive me," she said. "After what I did to you, I wouldn't be surprised at all....."

I just stared at her. Then I remember what Harvey said to me years before.

So I touched her shoulder. She immediately looked up to me in shock. I smiled.

"Don't worry," I told her.

Cho's eyes became very wide.

"Naomi.... W-what...?"

"Its okay," I said.

"I forgive you."

OKAY!!! Now my back hurts. Even though I said that this was based on an English short story I wrote, it took me four days to write this (mainly due to the fact that I added A LOT more dialogue and I had too much homework.)

Speaking of the dialogue, I had no idea that it would make the story so much longer. My original was about 5 1/2 pages long, which I think would be about half of what this story is (minus the notes I put into it.)

Like I said before, I didn't like the idea of making a Death Note fan-fic. But the story was too good to resist. I'm just happy that I used a character like Naomi Misora. She's my favorite!! Even though she wasn't in the series for long, she's the character that officially got me hooked to the series (maybe it was because I love characters with her personality and appearance.) Speaking of her, I just had to add that part about the leather jackets.

I'm so sorry if you got annoyed with the length of the story, but it happens. And if you hated it......... Well, its your fault for reading it.

But at least review this story. NO INSULTS OR FLAMES!!!!! If you hated it that much, just don't bother (Its a bit of a pet-peeve of mine).

HAVE A GOOD DAY!! :)