A/N: Hello to all. I'm Kikay the Shark Girl. But you can call me 'Kikie' or Kikay, or whatever you like. I'd been hooked to Death Note since last year and it was just recently that I got the inspiration to write my first Death Note fic. This idea basically came about when I thought, 'what if Light had some apprentices...? Particularly, those under the age of thirteen. Hence, the creation of this story. Though, it will also include teens snd adults, of course. This is my first attempt at creating a Death Note fic, and it proved to be my most challenging piece ever. Anyway, I hope you'll like it.

Credits: I'd like to thank AngelEyes87 for helping mecreate this chapter. :3 Love ya, girl!

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. It belongs to the brilliant minds of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. However, Nicole 'Nikki' Velasco and a some others are mine.

Child's Play

Chapter 1: Kira and the Switchblade Princess

8:00 am

A black cat alarm clock rang out, signaling the start of a new day. Then, almost immediately, a small but strong fist was brought upon the noisy machine, causing it to fall from the bed stand and shatter into pieces upon making contact with the floor. A child awoke. Little Nicole Velasco greeted the day with no enthusiasm whatsoever. Sure, it's only two days until she turns eleven, but she wouldn't be in the mood to celebrate...Turning eleven meant meant she's getting a year older. Getting a year older meant she's growing up. She hated grown-ups. As far as she's concerned, grown-ups are selfish, conceited bastards who care about nothing but money, themselves and their own personal gain. And she never wanted to be like that...Ever. She sighed, got out of bed and took a bath to get ready for school.

8:34 am

As she brushed her long, light brown hair, moistened by bath water, Little Nicole stared blankly at the girl in the mirror. Her mind began to wander.

This would just be another day at school, when every kid, even from the high school division, will freeze in fear at her presence. She's the the Switchblade Princess, and those who will underestimate her or torment her in any way will inevitably suffer...

Academically, however, she was still a good student; maintaining an average of A's. There were teachers who seemed to like that part of her. She smiled a bit at the thought that there was at least one teacher, Ms. Laurel, who truly understood her and why she was like this...Then she frowned. While there was a teacher who understood her, there was also that one other teacher who treated her like a sinister little witch. She knew for a fact that Ms. Hidalgo hated her from day one of sixth grade, and that she went to great heights to have her expelled no matter what the cost. People like Ms. Hidalgo made Nicole sneer in disgust. She wished the hag would be burned alive and then thrown off a cliff. Or better yet, rot in Hell...That's where she rightfully belongs anyway...The mere thought of Ms. Hidalgo never failed to enrage her. She let out a loud cry of frustration, slamming her hairbrush on her dresser. She took a deep breath, trying not to let the thought of a greedy bitch get to her. Once she calmed down, she proceeded to change into her school uniform.

"Margaret, I'm going to school now." Nicole called out to her stepmother as she passed by the door that led to the kitchen. There, Margaret was gulping down her fifth bottle of wine, and was obviously tipsy.

"Again...?" Margaret asked, her speech slurred from all her excessive drinking."Girl, I don't know why you waste your time doing that...School and all that jazz...Ha! Sooner or later, you'll forget all about that crap! It's much better to live your life the easy way...Like me!"

Nicole didn't comment but just turned away and sneered. It's true that Margaret was supposed to be her stepmother...But what's the point of calling her 'mother' when she never acted like a mother in the first place? Eight years of living with her, and she never changed...She remembered the words that came out of Margaret's mouth when she had first been asked to adopt her.

"Sure, I'll take the kid. It's not like I have anything else to do, anyway..."

Those words stung. A lot. And made Nicole despise her stepmother all the more. She shook her head and went off to school, leaving Margaret in blissful, drunken oblivion.

9:45 am

Light Yagami walked through the streets on his way to university, with Ryuk following him. He couldn't stop the sinister smile from creeping up his face. Things seemed to be going his way lately. He'd found the second Kira. Or rather, she found him. Even showing up at his doorstep. A woman, who would have thought. A woman known as Ms. Misa Amane. And she was wholeheartedly willing to do his bidding. That fact pleased him greatly. Then he thought; maybe he should have more accomplices. That way, he'd know who would be worthy to be at his presence, and who will respect him as the God of the new world he planned to create...Also, it was an advantage for him; a big help in finding a certain L...

His thoughts were interrupted when he passed by a school just a few blocks away from To-Oh University. He'd heard about it. The school had been established by Filipino educators in the 1970's, known as Sacred Heart Academy. A Catholic school. First being established in the Philippines then soon after, different parts of the world as well. Unfortunately, Sacred Heart's clean reputation had been tainted over the years, due to the students' use of drugs, getting involved with gangs and bullying, among other things. A school of 'bad seeds'...

Once again his thoughts were interrupted, this time he saw a group of kids standing in the schoolyard. They seemed to be watching something. Wondering what the commotion was about, he made his way through the little crowd. Looking ahead, he saw what the kids had been watching - a small girl being picked on by a boy of at least fourteen years of age.

"A child being picked on by that boy..." Light thought."I don't know if I should find out his name and put it in the Death Note..."

Both kids unaware of his presence, the young boy continued on tormenting the small girl.

"Haha! What's the matter? Is the little wussy girly about to cry? Why don't you run to your mommy? Oh, that's right! You don't have one, 'cause she died, 'cause she's a drug addict! Haha!"

"I don't like the sound of this...He has no right in taunting her like that...He shouldn't be alive..."Light thought, giving the boy a death glare.

A small squeak made him look down. A young girl looked up at him, terribly frightened for some reason.

"What's the matter?" he asked the little girl.

The girl quivered in fear. "It's not the big guy we're scared of...It's...her..." She looked fearfully at the small girl before them."She could snap at any minute..."

Light was taken aback by this. All this time he thought it was the boy they were scared of...And what exactly did she mean by "she could snap..."?

He focused his eyes on the little girl being subjected to the boy's taunts. He couldn't quite read the expression on her face. Her tiny hands balled up into tight fists. She looked like she was about to cry, but she also looked infuriated. And all the while, the foolish boy was still laughing...

And then it happened..The little girl snapped. She pushed the boy violently against a tree and took a switchblade from her pocket, placing the blade merely inches from the boy's throat.

"Damn, she's good." Light thought, both surprised and shocked by what he was seeing.

The boy, still backed up against the tree, stood in petrified silence. He tried to speak. "W-wha-?" He was cut off when she suddenly thrust the blade even closer to his throat.

The menacing look in her eyes brought chills down his spine. "Now listen, smart-ass..." the seemingly innocent little girl said coldly. "If you don't shut your stupid mouth, I'm gonna slice that big, pompous head of yours right off your shoulders, got it?"

Trembling, the boy nodded.

"Good." the little girl said as she put her switchblade back in her pocket. "Now, BEAT IT!" she shouted, kicking the boy in the bum. As soon as she did so, he ran off, but stopped briefly just to shout out, "You're weird, Velasco!" and continued running off.

"So are you, Ramon..." the little girl countered casually. She looked behind her and saw the group of kids who had been watching her. She narrowed her eyes at them. "What are you all looking at...?"

The kids didn't answer. They merely walked away with frightened looks on their faces.

Light smirked, thinking this could be his chance.

"You have certainly impressed me." he said, approaching the young girl.

She simply ignored him and walked off. If she hadn't turned her back to him, she would've seen the WTF expression on his face.

Ryuk snickered. "Another challenge for ya, Light"

Light followed the little girl. The moment he saw her snap, he knew she could be the one to help him. Was she going to listen to him? Was she going to believe him? No matter what the case, he had to get her to work with him. There's no way he'd let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

"Say, you and I can be a team." Light told her. "We will work well together."

The girl looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What the heck are you talking about...?"

"Hmm...Well, you're tough, and you seem to be a great believer of justice. I share the same values as you."

The little girl just looked at him like he was an alien from Mars.

Light tensed up a bit. He knew there was only one way to make her believe him...And by the looks of things it seemed he had no choice...

"I know you might think I'm odd in my approach, but...I control a notebook that can destroy everyone."

The girl snorted and walked away from him. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. A rather forceful hand at that. She looked up and saw a sinister smile curled along his face. She was definitely creeped out...Not that she would admit it...

The tall man got down on one knee and whispered in her ear. "Tell me...Do you know about the man who died after he hijacked a bus?"

The girl shrugged. "I heard about him in the news. What an idiot..."

"Well..." He sounded quite proud. "I killed him."

She looked up at him, confused. "Say what...?"

"Can I tell you? And please don't revert any information beyond us two."

"Ok...?"

"I have this notebook, and it's from the Shinigami Realm..." He took out the notebook but didn't let her touch it.

Her eyes focused on on the lettering on the front of the notebook. "Death Note...?" She looked up at him questioningly.

"It has these rules. Different rules on how to use it." Light told her. "Basically, I can can put any name in it and within forty seconds they die of a heart attack...I..I am Kira..."

The girl looked at him in disbelief. "No...way..."

"It's true." Light said. "I could've written the name of that boy who was giving you trouble...Ha, but you've already taken care of him."

"Yeah, that's true..." the little girl said. Though Light could see she still wasn't convinced.

"Well...To make you believe me...I could do it right now."

The young girl crossed her arms. "Go ahead..."

"As you wish." Light replied. "His name?"

She looked over to her left and there he was. The smart-ass who insulted her. He was talking with one of his buddies.

"I tell ya, man! That Nicole Velasco is a freak! A certified FREAK!"

Little Nicole narrowed her eyes at him and turned to Light. 'Frederico Ramon..."

Light nodded and proceeded to write the boy's name in the Death Note. Frederico continued on with his rant and then...

All of a sudden he started gasping loudly and breathing heavily while clutching his chest. "What the heck, man?" his friend exclaimed, clearly alarmed by what he was witnessing. The boy collapsed. A crowd had gathered to see what was wrong with him. Too late. Frederico Ramon, fourteen years old, had died of a heart attack.

Nicole turned to Light, clearly astonished by what she had seen. "Woah..."

"Now do you understand?" he asked her, a smirk playing out on his lips.

"Fine, whatever. I believe ya." Nicole said.

"So will you join forces with me?" he asked.

Nicole looked at him, thinking for a full three seconds. And then...

"Sorry. But I don't do other people's dirty work. Even if you are...who you say you are..." She replied, pushing past him and continuing on her way.

She walked away, leaving Light inwardly astonished. Ryuk couldn't stop laughing...