Prologue
The world of the Shinigami
Whispering winds caressed the barren grasslands as the trees groaned and creaked in jagged harmony. Dust balls danced across the desolate land in whimsical distress following in unrecognized patterns. The ancient limbs of the once mighty trees raised their pagan arms up to the sky as if in worship of a heathen god. Nothing that was alive walked the dead lands, that is of course, unless one was a Shinigami.
Ribald laughter could be heard as the Shinigami threw their bones, gambling and wasting away the long and drawn out days. The faded hues of the sun barely illuminating on the large crowd of Shinigami, as they joked and cajoled with one another. The same boring and unstimulating routine caused raised tensions among some of the gods, so much that, a battle could be smelled in the withering breeze.
Raven hair shifted slightly as the breeze passed by the lone rocky hill. Large eyes stared out in contempt among the other Shinigami. They swept across the group until they stopped at one in particular.
It was none other than Ryuk Shinigami. The one god that was despised above all others for the raven haired Shinigami. The one Shinigami that he was destined to destroy, whether it be today or in the future. One way or another he would die by his hands.
Striding purposely to the crowd, he made his journey towards the others. Stopping only when he had reached the other god.
"Ryuk…it is time." The raven haired man hissed out, the eyes of the other gods following this new development with glee and curiosity. The prevailing boredom was soon to be dissipated.
"Is it now? I wondered when you would make your move…Lawliet." The scarecrow god whispered back to the other. "Then let us begin."
Bursting gusts of power emanating from both parties started the long awaited battle between the two, as they flew at one another. Screeching and clawing, kicking, biting, anything that would help determine one as the victor. It progressed throughout the day, neither showing signs of stopping. The others watched in abject curiosity some making bets and some taking sides.
It reached it's climax when the raven haired Shinigami stunned the other and forced him onto the ground. He stood above him, straining the last remaining bits of his power, aiming to kill him with one final blow, when another stepped in, knocking him unto his back.
Ryuk stepped up and laughed at the angered and bewildered look upon the raven's face.
"Did you think that I would fight fair Lawliet? That was stupid of you to presume, although I understand why. You, being the so honest and oh so honorable Shinigami would never think to cheat or fight dirty. But I'm not you." Ryuk bit out as he proceeded to kick the supine god.
"I won't kill you. That would be to easy. But what I have planned will prove to be…interesting to say the least." He cackled out, gesturing to one of his subordinates to bring an unknown item forward. Upon closer inspection, L realized that it was an item from the human realm. A violin case in fact.
Ryuk began to whisper and chant over and over, bringing about a strange sensation in the dazed raven's body. He tried to counter whatever it was, but the others quickly suppressed him.
"Don't worry L, its just a small curse. Ku…ku…ku…"
"Raven god falls down from grace,
To begin his ill fated race.
To find the one who could withhold his flame
One that is hard for him to tame.
One that will contain the love of a heart beat,
The love that brings passion and heat
Until then, he remains caged,
To hold him, bound him while enraged.
I Ryuk hereby curse you L Lawliet, Raven Shinigami."
Modern day Japan.
Raito glanced over at the car beside him on the road, more specifically the old woman driving the car. She had a foul expression on her face and a mean attitude. He knew this from personal experiences in having to deal with the shrewish hag. Although he could not fault her on her explicable taste, one that he shared fervently with her; the love of antiques. He found that whenever he chose to go to an antiques show, he would be in a dire battle with this woman.
They fought over the same items, with her sometimes winning or sometimes him winning. It didn't matter if the other truly did or didn't desire the item, they would make sure the other had to pay the higher price. Bidding against one another was always just a warm up for them.
Racing and putting some distance ahead of the hag, he made it to the auction house, but not before he had turned around to smile smugly at the woman, who in turn gave him a lovely little had gesture.
Chuckling lightly to himself, he strolled into the large arena, walking aimlessly through the building, eyeing and weighing his options over the lovely set of antiques.
As he was aimlessly walking through an aisle. he came upon an old man selling a plethora of wares. The item that really got his attention was a beautiful worn leather violin case. It had deep sockets where gems were attached, lovely mahogany patina, and elegant letters scrawled onto it's surface.
All in all, it was a well crafted case. Strolling to the owner Raito began to question the old man about the case.
"How old is that violin case?" He casually asked the man, he wanted to appear interested, but not interested.
"Oh….bout 200 years old, give or take a few. Why does it strike your fancy?" The old man's shrewdly watching the other for signs of interest.
"Oh I was just curious. I doubt it even comes with the original violin. Which is a shame really. I might have been interested." Raito watched the other, letting the man fall into his small trap.
"Ahh…that is where you would be wrong. It does, it also has a tale behind it as well if you're more than curious. It is said that whoever is in possession of this violin they will find great knowledge and great power." The old man cast a winning smile, urging the other to seek out the truth of his statements.
"Hmmm…..I don't really need this, but, it is extremely nice." Raito calmly thought to himself. "Alright, what's the price?"
"25,000 yen." The old man grinned triumphantly.
"14,000 yen." Raito bargained. And so began the bid.
"I'll take it for 14,500 yen." A new voice interjected. Raito looked over and wasn't surprised when he saw the cankerous old woman.
"Oh well that's a nice surprise." The old man was at that point almost jumping for joy. With the way these two were eyeing each other, he would get a better profit than he had originally hoped for.
"15,000 yen." Raito ground out, knowing the price for the violin case would go higher.
"15,500 yen." The withered old woman countered.
"15, 750." Raito was starting to lose his patience, when he noted the exasperation written on the woman's face. It appears she didn't have to resources to purchase the violin. Grinning maliciously, he waited for the old man to accept his offer.
"15,750 it is then." The old man gladly handed the violin case over and received his cash in return. Gaily dancing all over, he didn't notice the amused look on the honeyed haired man's face, or the angry scowl scrawled across the face of the old woman.
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Raito sighed in exhaustion. It had been a tiring day at work, and then haggling with the man and woman over the violin and a few other items, had surely put a strain on his energy level.
Slipping into comfortable clothing after fixing himself a light dinner, he quickly brought out his purchases of the day. Rummaging through his findings, he picked up the violin case. He found it odd that he didn't even ask to see the inside of it. He had only himself to blame if nothing proved to be inside of it, but he couldn't resist even if the old man's tale was a load of blarney.
Unlocking the restraints he carefully opened the lid and immediately surrounded by black powder. Coughing he waved his hand in the air back and forth, trying to clear the smoke out of his face. Once he was able to see clearly he looked down in vexation at the case, that is until he heard a slight wheezing cough.
Looking up he fell backwards in his chair and hit the floor hard, what shocked him so much was the fact that there was a man standing not more than two feet away from him.
"Who….who…the devil are you?" He gasped out, watching as the slouching man looked over at him with wide granite obsidian eyes.
"I am L. What is it you wish of me?" The pale raven haired man asked, in what Raito would assume as a overly bored tone.
"Uh…..what are you talking about? Look, I don't have any money on me, nor anything of value….so you should probably leave." Raito desperately looked for his phone which was on the other side of the room, which was being obstructed by the cute panda like man in front of him. "Wait cute?….I shouldn't be thinking like that when there is a psycho man in my house!" Raito thought to himself.
"Why are you telling me about mundane things such as possessions? I am only here to service you." The man lifted an elegant eyebrow in question at the sepian eyed man in front of him. He found this encounter to be strange. Couldn't the other tell that he was here for him?
"Look, if you don't leave now, I'll be forced to use karate. Which I might and, I am very lethal at." Raito warned the other, lying quite nicely through his perfect white teeth. "I'll be forced to use drastic measures."
"You are saying you do not wish me here?" L asked incredulously.
"That is exactly what I am saying!" Raito replied exasperatingly.
With what appeared to be a genuine smile the other left with a puff of black powder. Raito stared in astonishment at the place where the man had been before. Shaking his head slightly he purposed that he could have just been dreaming and maybe he had gone crazy.
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A few days had passed since Raito had had that weird apparition or daydream as he was referring to it as, appear in his home or head. Since then he has warily kept his distance from the weird violin case, and went so far as to go back to the antiques show to return it, but he couldn't find the old man anywhere.
Resigning himself to the fact that he was probably stuck with the faulty item, he placed it on his kitchen table. This time he made sure that he had had a nice rest and that he was perfectly lucid and aware.
Once again clicking open the restraints he was once more assaulted with the black powder and the strange man.
"What is it you command?" Asked L, curiosity adorning his features.
"Uh…go away." Raito commanded.
The strange man shook his head and disappeared. Once again the black smoke appeared and vanished.
"Now return." Raito commanded once more. He surmised that he was either losing, lost it, or quite quacky.
"Seize this coming and going it. It is aggravating me." The raven haired male arrogantly told the other.
"Are you real or are you a hallucination?" Raito ignored the impudent demand of the other. Watching as the other rolled his eyes.
"I am real, obviously." L muttered to the other. He found that his new master was quite a lovely specimen. What with his honeyed hair, and his September eyes. He was quite striking.
"Er…so I'm not dreaming?" The aforementioned man asked the other.
"No."
"Okay next question, are you a genie?" Raito pondered the unreal events that lay before him. He couldn't quite grasp what was going on here, but he would eventually figure it out.
"No, far from it. I don't grant wishes. I am in actuality what you humans would call a Shinigami, but as of the moment I am nothing more than a slave." L recited, his voice bordering on monotony.
"Oh. Well, how do I return you to your master?" Raito asked in disappointment. He thought it would have been great if the man named L, had been a genie, but he guessed a Shinigami wasn't that bad either.
"Moron, you're my master." L rolled his eyes at the dim witted human before him. Why couldn't he be the slave of someone with brains?
"Oh. I see. Well I'm not really into the whole master, slave thing. My next question then is, how do I release you from this?"
"You can't its impossible. But that is beside the point. I am here for your pleasure. Would you like me to clean your home, scrub your floors, massage your body? Play chess, pose for you as a model. Ask it and it will be fulfilled." L boredly listed for his new master.
"Uh…None of the above." Raito stared awe-struck at the other. "As I said before not into the whole master slave idea. Look how about you crash here until we find a better solution."
"Pardon, but you do not plan to partake of any of my skills?" L asked amazed. He had seen many masters and had been commanded to do horrendous things, like murder, and cleaning horrible things, but never had he met someone that did not wish to use him against his own self.
"Umm…no…The only thing that I could think of that would be useful would be to play chess. I haven't played any who could match my skill. Everything else seems a bit dull and inhumane." Raito told the other. "You could probably do with some clean clothes first though. And I could make a room for you. You are officially the guest of Raito Yagami."