I picked up the notebook that was left alone, and slightly wrinkled from the previous rainfall, off the ground.

"Death Note.." I mumbled aloud to myself.

The scrawl of the title of the little book was something you'd find in a horror film. It made me grin with amusement. Whoever lost it was sure to miss it, but they'd never find it. Not after I did. I was keeping this.

I opened the cover and took a look at the first page. I stared at it, perplexed, and smiled in a way that would disturb someone.

1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die

2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected

3. If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen

4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack

5. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds

At that moment, I could think of only two people that I would love to write in the Death Note. I figured that it was just some game someone made up, but it wouldn't hurt to play along. After all, it would let out some bottled up anger, and I probably wasn't the first person to find it and use it. However, to my surprise when I flipped the page, there were no other names. I flipped through the whole notebook. No names. I was puzzled but shrugged. What did it matter that no one used it? It made it a lot easier for me. So I wrote down the names Minami and Kei Rin, my parents who had abandoned me.

Murder Suicide.

Kei takes out a gun and shoots Minami in the back, the bullet penetrating her heart. After Minami is dead, Kei writes a note on how awful he felt for abandoning their daughter and how she wouldn't let him go back for her. He also writes that he is afraid their daughter is already dead, signs the note and then shoots himself in the head.

I smirked at the page and looked at the nearby clock for the time. Only 40 seconds and my wish would be granted, supposedly.

When the final second passed, I felt a pleasant feeling wash over me. It was almost like a small part of me knew that they were dead. I liked that feeling. They deserved what they got.

I stared at their names and what I had wrote. I closed the Death Note, hugged it to my chest, and turned around to walk home. But to my surprise, and slight horror, a figure with outstretched wings stood directly behind me!

"Nice choice," he remarked. "Why did you choose them?"

I stared at the... well... he wasn't really a person. He had a human like face and features in parts, but in other places he looked... unusual. Inhuman-like.

He sighed. "I'm Shinigami the Death God. That's my Death Note."

"Death God?" I asked.

"Yes, you know, like one of those Angel of Death type things?"

"Oh.." I replied.

"So, who were those people you wrote down?" he asked.

"No one special," I replied. "Anyway, this Death Note is real? It wasn't some kind of game someone came up with?"

"No, it's not a game. Did you write the names thinking it would be?"

"No. I had intent to kill."

"Well, they're dead now."

And that was how I met my Death God, Shinigami. Though, I prefer to call him Gami. It's shorter. He doesn't like it much, but his name is too long for my liking. And besides, the nickname is cute.

Anyway, I'm Hitomi Rin. I was abandoned by my parents at a young age and was forced to live on the streets. I learned to fight, to defend myself, from a trustworthy old man that doesn't look, act, or seem that old. He was known for teaching all the young kids, like me, how to fight so they could survive. However, he died of a heart attack, which I soon learned was Kira's fault. I guess the old man had several assault charges, petty thefts of pick-pocketed money, and a couple DUIs. Compared to other criminals I'd heard of here and there from the TVs plastered everywhere, I knew he wasn't as bad as them. I hated Kira. I hated him the most out of all humans. He murdered the one guy, the one person, who really seemed to care, even if it was only a little.

"Hey there Hitomi," he greeted me casually.

I wiped my eyes and sniffled, looking up at the man I knew as Old Man Kin. He immediately sat down on the ground in the alleyway with me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He didn't smell so great, but then again, no one in these parts did. Even I smelt pretty bad.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Everyone is picking on me again Old Man Kin.. It gets to me sometimes.." I muttered miserably.

He sighed and flicked my forehead. I flinched and rubbed it a little with my small fingers.

"What was that for?"

"For caring about what those dumb kids say and do to you," he answered. "What they say about you don't matter."

"It still hurts.." I said, curling into a more compact ball, shaking a bit from the crispy cold autumn air.

I noticed from the corner of my eye that the old man smiled. He pulled off the sweater he was wearing and handed it to me. I sat there, stunned.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"You need it more than I."

Still surprised, I pulled the huge sweater over my small body and instantly felt warmer.

I smiled up at Old Man Kin. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, smiling back.

The backs of my eyes stung and I looked down a moment at the desk I was sitting in. I wasn't quite sure how I was able to get schooling, or why I cared, but I was here. I wanted to leave. I didn't.

"What's wrong Hitomi?" asked Gami.

"Just remembering old memories Gami. I'm fine," I whispered quietly, making sure the other kids couldn't hear.

"Okay.." Gami replied. He seemed unsure of my added on 'I'm fine' statement, which he should be. I wasn't fine, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was homeless. I had no one. Gami was the only one around that cared, and only I could see him. I reduced my life span by receiving the Death God Eyes. At the time, I didn't care if I died any sooner, but I was questioning that now. I could see when anyone could die and who they were. It made it so easy to kill, which was great for revenge purposes and when I got bored, but I wanted something more meaningful. For once, like the energy I had back when I was young, I wanted to search for it. I wanted to give finding my happiness one more try.