My eyelids slowly grew heavy as the teacher's words ventured in and out of my consciousness. The hand that my head rested on slowly folded over until my head hit the cold desk with a hard smack.
"Mai Yagami, principal's office now!"
I shot up and stared wide-eyed at the teacher at the front of the room before turning to Light, my twin brother, who was currently avoiding my eyes and biting his lip, trying not to smile, "Uh…Sir," I nervously uttered.
"Now! This is the fourth time you've fallen asleep in my class, Mai, and I won't tolerate such disrespect anymore. I have half a mind to get you transferred to another class so you'll be someone else's nuisance," He practically yelled. I tried not to roll my eyes as I began to roughly shove my books in my messenger bag.
"If you were half as good as your brother, you wouldn't be such good friends with the principal," I pursed my lips in an attempt to hold back the sarcastic retort in my head. If you were half the man your wife sleeps with, you wouldn't have to spend your lunch break jerking off behind your desk.
Instead I gave him a deceptively sweet grin, "I hope you have an absolutely blessed day, sir," I curtsied, causing half the class to suppress their giggles, the other half having a stick shoved too far up their ass to possess real human emotions.
By the time I was done being patronized by the school principal and talking to my mother on the phone, the school day was already over and I was let loose, free to roam the world and cause more havoc than I could handle the repercussions of…or something like that.
"Hey Light," I called, waving at my brother who was currently socializing with a few of his "friends". I scoffed at the idea of Light Yagami having friends. Light Yagami didn't have friends, he had followers, worshipers.
I stood afar and watched Light say something to his friends before trotting across the courtyard of our school, "How was the principal's office?" He teased once he reached me. I glared up at him.
"I have to stay after school for an hour every day for two weeks to clean Mr. Shizumi's classroom."
"Ouch," Light cringed as we walked home together.
"And they called mom, who's going to tell dad, who's going to slaughter me," Light scoffed as I noticed a strange black book in his school bag, "What's this?"
I snatched the book as Light pulled it out, quickly flipping through its pages to show that they were all blank. It was made of a black moleskin leather and seemed to be finely stitched together. On the front were white-sliver letters.
"Death Note?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's some kind of prank," Light opened the front cover, reading off the rules, "It says that if you write someone's name in it, that person will die. It's like one of those chain emails or something."
"You wanna try it?" I asked him with a devious smirk, knowing that I could use this book to scare him. I knew fully well that it wouldn't work, obviously.
"Hell no!" Light exclaimed, staring down at her wide eyed.
"Oh come on, you baby," I pulled out a pen from Light's schoolbag, "Let's write Mr. Shizumi's name!" I giggled.
"Mai, that's not funny," He snatched the pen away from me and shoved the book back into his book bag.
"You don't really think that it's real, do you?" I choked out between chuckles.
"Of course not," He defended, "I just don't think that you're funny."
"Shut up, I'm hilarious," I pushed him. When we got home, Light called out his customary greeting while I silently padded up the stairs in a desperate attempt to escape my mother's wrath.
"Mai!" I froze.
"See ya," Light whispered, nudging me aside as he passed me up the stairs. I pulled my skirt back down to a mom length and calmly walked down the stairs with feigned confidence.
"Yes, dear mother?"
"Don't yes dear mother me, young lady. You fell asleep in class again?" She groaned. She looked tired, more tired than usual. I supposed that between Sayu's slipping grades and my constant phone calls home, she was strained, I could tell. I felt guilt, if only a little. It wasn't my fault that Mr. Shizumi was a dull, old perv, "What is it with you, Mai? It seems like every other day we get a call home because you fell asleep or you refused to do any classwork."
I stayed silent and began to chew on my bottom lip, a nervous habit that I could never grow out of.
"I mean, I don't know what to do with you anymore, Mai. You haven't turned in a single homework assignment this entire year."
Okay, now she was overreacting. I turned in some homework during October, or maybe it was November. I wasn't sure, but I remembered turning something in. Yet for some reason, I felt if I voiced this piece of information out loud, she wouldn't be quite pleased.
"I think you need to go to cram school with Light."
"Mom!"
"Or would you rather have your father think of a punishment?"
I stayed silent at that. My father was definitely someone that I didn't want to get on the bad side of. He knew that I had a few issues with school, but usually my mom, out of the pure goodness of her heart, "forgets" to tell him when she gets a call home from school, "Fine." I grumbled.
"Great. Cram school starts in two hours," I stomped up the stairs, running into Sayu on my way.
"Ooooooh, you're in trouble," The preteen teased. I glared at her, wishing that I wasn't an almost-eighteen-year-old at the same height as her thirteen-year-old sister.
"Shut up, dork," I walked past her and opened the door of mine and Sayu's shared bedroom, allowing her to come inside close the door herself.
"I'm not a dork!" She exclaimed as she plopped onto the desk chair that she used for homework and I used for a footrest. I fell forward onto my bed, landing face first in my pillow.
"That's exactly what a dork would say." My retort was muffled by the pillow but I knew Sayu had heard. I heard her scoff a bit before I heard the chair squeak and my mini-tv switch on. I groaned loudly as I recognized the opening theme song to her favorite Hideki Ryuga shit show, "Can't you watch that downstairs?"
"How can you not like Hideki Ryuga? He's gorgeous." I turned over on my back and looked over at her. She was absolutely absorbed in the TV; her nose was practically touching the screen.
"He's not my type. Too pretty and ditzy." I nodded at the blonde boy, who was currently caressing some girl's face and telling her how much he loved her, yet he couldn't be with her, "I would prefer someone who's different, I guess. People are so boring here."
"What do you mean?" Sayu spared a second of her precious show to glance at me.
"Everyone is the same. Their only goal in life is to be perfect. Perfect grades, perfect house, perfect family," I stared up at the ceiling, "It's just too perfect, you know?"
"Yeah I guess I know what you mean," Sayu looked at me with a thoughtful expression before she heard something interesting happen in the show and turned back to the screen. After about ten seconds of silence, save for Hideki Ryuga, I heard Light's voice yell out at me.
"Mai!" I jumped, not used to hearing Light raise his voice, before I walked into his room. Light sat at his desk, wide-eyed at the TV screen with the notebook from before open on his desk. I looked over to the TV to see a live news feed of a hostage situation at a local school.
"Woah, you don't see that too often," I mumbled.
"No! Look!" I turned to the tiny TV and watched the reporter, who was frantically going off about how the captor had just collapsed as they cut to the many children and teachers running outside of the school, "I wrote his name down and then he collapsed!"
I peered over Light's shoulder, reading the name, Kurou Otaharada.
"Okay…" I started, not taking my eyes off the TV, "It has to be a coincidence. There's no way that thing is real."
"But…"
"Light! Mai! It's almost 6:30. You two are going to be late!" Light and I jumped a bit and both turned simultaneously to the door before looking to each other. Light's brows furrowed as he looked at me.
"Since when did you go to cram school?"
"Since I fell asleep in class today." Light chuckled before standing up, towering over my small frame.
"I guess it was just a coincidence," He sighed, "But…just to test it out one more time…" I watched Light shove the book into his backpack.
"You're absolutely ridiculous, you know that? In all our seventeen years of twinnery, I've never pegged you for the superstitious type," I teased once we exited the house and began our walk to the class.
"I am not!"
"And what do you have sitting ever so snug inside your backpack, hmm?"
"Shh! Not so loud," He whispered, causing me to laugh. After about ten minutes of walking and sibling banter we finally reached a building which I assumed to be Light's cram school.
I teased Light about something trivial as we walked inside the classroom. It was a small, cozy room with pastel green walls and various plastic fold up desks laid out together in columns. A few students were already there, going over notes or quizzing each other with homemade flashcards. I rolled my eyes at how hard they tried. These kids spent every waking hour studying for a stupid test that defined their entire existence. It was ridiculous.
I sat down next to Light at an empty desk. He was being exceptionally broody, much broodier and depressing than usual. Just when I was going to pester him into speaking, an annoying, arrogant voice drew my attention away.
"Hey, Ryo buddy."
I turned over to see two annoying looking guys sitting casually next to a dorkier looking kid with glasses who sat alone at another empty table, "Wh-what do you want Sudou?" It was clear that this kid was afraid of Sudou.
"Didn't you say you'd lend me 2000 yen earlier?" The dark haired boy asked with his hand held out, expectant of a crisp bill. I felt my neck begin to grow hot as I watched and I slowly became angrier and angrier. I noticed Light was watching them as well, being more silent than usual. I turned to him questioningly and noticed his honey brown eyes that we both shared were darker and shadowed over. He was thinking and it surely wasn't good thoughts.
"What? Are you saying no?" I turned back to Sudou and the glasses boy and my anger flared up once more.
"Hey!" I yelled from my seat, grabbing the attention of just about everyone in the room. Sudou, his buddy, and the glasses geek all turned to me with surprised expressions as the room grew silent and the air grew tense. I could feel about twenty pairs of curious eyes on the back of my head, but I didn't take my eyes off of the asshole in front of me. He looked to me with a surprised and even confused expression before slowly smirking.
"Hey, baby, can I help you? You look brand new," He stood from his spot and began to walk towards me like a cat stalking his prey, but I refused to back down. I kept my glare on him as he sashayed over to me.
"Yeah, you can help me by not being such a dick in front of me. Assholes like you piss me off!" I retorted. I could feel my cheeks and chest becoming hot and I knew that my skin was flushing red with anger but I didn't care. I was never one to keep my thoughts to myself.
I could hear a few murmurs and a few chuckles but I kept my eyes on Suduo's. He looked as if he'd been slapped in the face; I wished I had slapped him, "Mai." I felt Light's warm hand softly yet firmly grab my arm in an attempt to calm me.
"Yeah, listen to your wrangler," He taunted. I made to stand abruptly and punch his face as hard as I possibly could, but Light's grasp tightened and pulled me back down, completely unfazed by my outburst. Light was certainly used to me getting into situations like this.
"Okay, guys, let's get started," a woman's voice interrupted as she looked at me and Sudou with a single raised eyebrow. With a final glare I slowly sat down and silently fumed in my seat as Light avoided my gaze and paid his full attention to the teacher, his pen inches away from a sheet of notebook paper. Yeesh.
By the end of the session, I had only heard about eight full sentences that the teacher said and before I could realize what was happening, Light and I were standing outside the small building amongst other teens awaiting their parents to pick them up.
"I wanted to write his name in the book," Light uttered quietly, his lips barely moving. I turned to him with an incredulous expression.
"You're still on about that? Geez, Light…"
"Yes, I'm still on about that. Look, Mai, you weren't there. He died exactly forty seconds after I wrote his name just like the notebook said," He was losing his patience, I could tell. Most people would be intimidated by Light as he lost his composure but I never was, perhaps because we were so close.
"Alright fine, whatever you say," I could feel him fuming next to me. As we walked by a convenience store, Light told me that he was going to grab a bag of chips. I knew that was my cue to wait outside and let him cool off before he ended up saying something he would regret later. I leaned against the wall and began fiddling with my phone, flipping it open and closed obsessively, needing something to do with my hands. I had always had little restless ticks about me ever since I was eight and the doctor diagnosed me with ADHD after I threw paint at my art teacher for assigning a boring art project and not letting me draw what I wanted.
As I was in the middle of humming a song that had been stuck in my head for the past few days, I heard the booming roars of motorcycles growing louder and louder. I shot up and turned to the side, only to be blinded by bright headlights. The motorcycle revving had only grown louder and louder until they finally screeched to a stop around me. I opened my squinted eyes to see three gross looking men on motorcycles surrounding me, cutting off any escape route. I felt my cheeks grow hot and I knew that it was visible to the three of them but I didn't care; I was too riled up and, although I would never admit it out loud, scared shitless.
"Hey, kitten! What's your name?" My head snapped towards the source of the voice. A greasy haired man with teeth too big for his mouth grinned dopily at me. He lowered his sunglasses and winked at me with his beady rat eyes. I kept my mouth shut, too scared to speak for fear that I might let something snippy slip out and get myself killed.
"Ooooh…the silent type, hmm? The name's Takuo Shibuimaru," He leaned in closer to me and I backed up, only to slightly bump into another man on his motorcycle, "How about you come and have some fun with me? I'm sure I can get you to talk."
I'd rather hang myself. Instead of voicing that suggestion out loud, I pursed my lips and frowned up at him.
"You've got pretty lips, baby. I've got something you could use them for," I glared up at him and forced myself to hold back bile as he gestured to his crotch. I heard the rest of his motorcycle friends chuckle and lean even closer, "Come on, baby. Don't be like that. Play with us, little kitten!"
I felt three pairs of grubby hands grab at me, pulling my hair and shirt. I let out a screech and violently thrashed all my limbs, kicking and scratching at anything I could. It seemed like the more I struggled, the harder they laughed and the angrier I got. I kicked and cussed for what felt like forever before I felt a sticky hand slide up my thigh under my skirt. I screamed even louder, looking over at the convenience store window and screaming Light's name as I saw him watching idly with a pained expression, looking between me and his watch.
"Light!" I screamed, willing him to call someone, or run out here and scare them off. Something other than just stand there and watch, like he was waiting for something.
As if by divine intervention I felt my bare knees hit the concrete hard as all the grubby hands disappeared. Without a second thought I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the burning sensation in my knees. As I ran across the street, almost falling over again in the process, I heard a few yells and a loud horn. I turned to look over my shoulder at the commotion and froze as a giant freight truck smashed into Takuo and his motorcycle with a deafening crunch.
It was as if I was completely numb. I couldn't hear or see anything other than the quickly spreading puddle of blood seeping out from under a tangle of metal and flesh. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders, but I didn't react. I could do nothing but stare at the mangled body that lay on the ground like roadkill. I felt my feet moving sluggishly across the pavement, yet I didn't have any control over them.
It had all happened so quickly. One second he was breathing, the next, he wasn't. Another life taken in less than a second. He was dead. Just like that.
After what felt like only seconds, I was outside my house with Light's face in my vision, "Mai, are you okay?"
"What?" I whispered, too shaken up to fully respond.
"Just…just go to bed, Mai." I nodded sluggishly as Light turned me around by my shoulders and silently led me upstairs.