I've kept my eyes on the Death Note archive here the past few days (a week or so maybe) and there's been a ton of self insert OC kinda fics and ya girl wants in. I'm literally making an account for fanfiction for the first time since 2009 because I've been bitten by this sudden love for SI fics and I want to write one. I haven't really written in a while, also it's been a while since I read DN, so I'm going to be using the wikia and TV Tropes a lot probably, so if you notice anything that doesn't fit with canon or culture or anything feel free to point it out, or any other errors.
I'm just writing this for my own enjoyment but I'm posting it for your enjoyment so also feel free to offer up any suggestions too, I will consider them. I haven't decided yet if there will be romance or anything, if I keep this going for a while I might do a poll or something. I hope you enjoy.
(P.S. I know hardly any Japanese at all so I won't risk it in this fic, but I am tentatively using Japanese honorifics in dialogue because I like the tone it sets in regards to personal relationships. If I screw up let me know, also I might just decide to drop them and edit them out in a few chapters who knows.)
"Ms. Midfield? Ms. Midfield, the doctor will see you now."
Her eyes fluttered open and she shot a Look into the surrounding darkness.
"Ms. Midfield, you have a very important appointment today. Come along, I'll help you get up." Phantom hands wrapped around her arms and tugged her up to stand on a floor she couldn't see.
"I didn't know I made an appointment," she mumbled sleepily as she shuffled in the direction the hands pulled her.
"You didn't, dear," the voice said gently. "There's been an accident."
"Oh, no." She stopped walking. "Was anybody hurt?"
"Just you, dear, and you only died, we'll get that fixed up in a jiffy."
"Of course," she agreed, starting forward again. "I only—wait. I only what?"
"Died, dear, come along, you haven't got all day," the voice replied, brittle professionalism with frustrated undertones.
"But I don't remember dying. I wasn't even doing anything that could kill me? I was just, I was just taking a walk, I don't understand?"
"You had an extreme allergic reaction to a bee sting," the voice snapped impatiently, "and you suffocated on your own tongue in the woods."
"But… I'm not even allergic to bees."
The voice huffed. "Have you ever been stung by a bee before?"
"Well…"
"Then how would you know, hm? Come along, now."
"But if I'm… if I'm dead, like you say…" she ignored the insistent tugging at her upper arm, "then shouldn't I be… you know, dead? Or on fire or wearing fancy robes or something? This isn't adding up."
"Oh my God… just because it doesn't fit with your idea of a proper afterlife—no, I'm not getting into this again. Listen, I'm going to be straight with you."
"Ew."
"I don't mean heterosexual, dear, now shut up and listen. You're being reincarnated, more or less, because you weren't really supposed to be allergic to bees or die, there was a bit of a filing issue back when you were born, with an intern. He's my cousin's boyfriend, real nice guy, honest mistake, so I'm doing him a little favor, but we're going to get caught if you don't hurry."
"Hey! Why should I help the guy who got me killed anyway?" The pressure on her arm let off and she got the distinct impression that if the darkness had physically manifested arms they would be crossed.
"Well for starters, you could be a decent fucking person, but more than that, he's not an intern anymore. He's certainly not the big boss, or we wouldn't be going through all this to keep him out of trouble, but when you die again he can arrange a very nice afterlife for you regardless of how good or bad you are."
She loosened up a little. "...How good are we talking?"
"The saint works, dear, the VIP treatment, whatever you want, as long as you get out of here in the next 90 seconds."
"Oh… oh, I don't know," she wrung her hands, literally wrung her hands, in stress, "it's such a big decision, this is a lot, to decide I mean, in such a short time, I-" she pressed her hand to her chest and was unsettled by the lack of the normal panicked racing heart did in moments of anxiety.
The darkness shifted and she felt phantom hands on her arms again, comforting pats this time, and the darkness hummed gently. "I know dear, but really it's all for the best. We've done everything we can to make things as easy as possible for you, and it ought to be fun, anyway. And," she got the impression that the darkness was smiling, "I promise you're not allergic to bees this time."
She took a deep breath. She could do this, right? Better than the alternative. Death had always terrified her, what kind of idiot would she have to be to turn down a chance to escape it? And the clock was ticking. "Okay. Okay, I'm ready, I'll do it."
"Excellent." The phantom hands left her arms again, and she felt a strong push to her back that sent her tumbling down into nothing.
"Good luck, Ms. Midfield. I hope you don't need it."
She blinked and came to in a doctor's office, sitting on a table opposite a poster of a migraine factsheet. She was alone in the room, with a bag at her side (containing, among other things, a wallet, a book of poetry, a file labeled C. Midfield, and four different flavors of chewing gum) and a flip phone clasped in her hand.
The phone buzzed, and she flipped it open (So retro, she thought) to look at her new message.
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Get it now? When I said the doctor will see you now? And now you're at the doctor? Get it? ;)
She sent back an unimpressed emoticon and looked up at the turning of the doorknob. The doctor who walked in was a handsome Asian man, probably mid-thirties, with kind eyes and a cowlick in his hair that he had obviously tried and failed to keep flat with hairspray.
"Everything is sorted, Nakamura-san, your new prescription is ready to be filled and the agency sponsoring you is footing the bill. You're free to go." He handed her a page from a prescription pad as she stood up and smiled. "I hope you recover quickly, Nakamura-san, please come back to see me if you ever feel under the weather.
"Of course," she said, smiling. Why the hell is he calling me Nakamura? I've got to check out if there's a background in that file. "Thank you, doctor." She glanced at his tag. Hikaru Arisaka. I wonder if that's a common name? It's always interesting to know what names are common from other languages or cultures.
He held the door open, reminded her to grab her bag (lucky for her, she would've forgotten otherwise), and ushered her out into the lobby. Her phone buzzed in her hand again and she plopped down in a chair to take out the file she had found on herself in her bag to look over while she answered it.
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Surprise! You're in Japan. :)
Me: yeah i figured that was prob how it was from the names on signs and posters all over this office and also the fact that literally everyone ive seen is japanese
Me: like not to sound racist here but buddy there arent a ton of asian people in my area and definitely not dozens of them all hanging in the same dr office so i can kinda put 2 and 2 together
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Yeah, well you're going to be staying here. :)
Your Mysterious Benefactor: And you have a Japanese name now! :)
Me: y do i feel like this is gonna go like im afraid its gonna go
Your Mysterious Benefactor: I don't know what you mean. ;)
"Oh, God," she whispered, "I'm totally going to be in a fanfic. This is the most ridiculous and undignified way to be dead." The receptionist shot her a Look and she smiled sweetly back.
Me: i changed my mind im ready to die
Me: im in some hellish anime without smartphones and also where am i gonna find a banjo in japan my music is gonna suffer from this
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Your music will also suffer from you being dead. :)
Me: ok holy shit gonna have to ask that u stop putting emoticons after every sentence because that was unnerving af
Me: where do i go from here anyway
Your Mysterious Benefactor: You just live your life and see where it takes you! :)
Me: no i meant like
Me: how do i get home. if i have one i mean
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Oh! Haha. There's a green car outside with your luggage inside waiting to take you to your host family. :)
Me: host family as in im a transfer student or host family as in a family of hosts for parasitic aliens i would rly like some clarification
Your Mysterious Benefactor: ;)
She made a face at the screen, closed the C. Midfield file and returned it to her bag, and shoved the phone in the pocket of her black skirt, noting that there was in fact a green car parked outside the building. She shot the suspicious receptionist (who carried the faint smell of the doctor's cologne, ohoho, intrigue) another sunny smile as she passed her desk and strolled outside to tap on the window of the green car.
"Hello?" She bent down to make eye contact with the driver, a bored-looking man with cat scratches all over his forearms. A new kitten, maybe? "I believe you're meant to drive me to my host family?"
"You're Nevada Nakamura?" the man asked. She froze up for just a second, then smiled nervously at him.
"Yessir. My things are in the car?"
"Mhmm, your last driver moved them over." He smiled a little. "Your host family doesn't live very far from here, and the agency tells me the father is a police officer, so don't feel nervous, young lady, you ought to be safe with them."
She smiled back at him painfully and slid into the backseat at the time as she slid her phone back out of her pocket.
Me: nevada. nakamura.
Your Mysterious Benefactor: I thought it would be best to choose something related to your real name. Carson CITY is the capital of Nevada and Midfield and Nakamura translate into sort of vaguely the same thing. Do you not like it? :(
Me: the dad… is a cop
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Ohhh! :O
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Well done dear! You figured that out really fast. :)
She (Carson? Nevada?) clenched her phone in her hand so hard she thought she might break it. She opened a new message to send her so-called benefactor a scathing message when the car slowed down and came to a stop.
"Here we are, young lady." The driver smiled at her in the rearview mirror and she tried to look like she wasn't having an anxiety attack. "The Yagami household. I'll help you with your luggage. Why don't you get out and then we can go to the door?"
She obeyed shakily, adjusting the strap of the messenger bag already on her shoulder and silently accepting the large duffel bag and guitar case he handed her, following him up to the door.
Oh God. Oh no, Oh God. Oh God oh God oh no oh God no.
Sachiko Yagami opened the door, and she noted Sayu Yagami practically bouncing eagerly in the background.
"You're Nevada Nakamura? It's so nice to meet you, you look even lovelier than your picture." What a kind woman, she thought. How could anyone bear to do anything that would break her heart?
"It's nice to meet you too, Yagami-san. You have a lovely home, thank you for opening it up to me and taking care of me. And, please feel free to call me Nevada." Oh, God, I sound like I'm about to cry. "I apologize if I sound upset, I'm a just little jetlagged, and still a little nervous from some rough turbulence and the doctor's appointment the agency arranged for me to attend upon my landing."
"Of course." Sachiko smiled understandingly. "Please, come in, my daughter will help you carry your things to the guest room. This is my daughter, Sayu."
"Hello Nevada-chan!" Sayu rushed forward like a puppy that someone had let off of a leash. "It's so nice to have another girl in the house! You have such pretty hair, is it wavy like that naturally?" Sayu chattered at her incessantly (against her mother's warning to "go easy on the poor girl, she's had a rough flight, I hear") as they fetched the rest of her luggage from the car and carried her smaller bags up the stairs, the driver following with two large suitcases. "I think your name is pretty, too. Mom says that even though you have a Japanese last name and you speak Japanese, you don't actually have any Japanese family, how does that work?"
"Um," she scanned her memory of halfheartedly reading the C. Midfield file. The driver placed her suitcases by the door and started down the stairs to leave. "My dad was adopted by a Japanese family, but they died before I was born, so I never really knew them." She carefully placed her guitar case on the bed and dropped the duffel bag to the floor. "Same thing with my Cherokee—that's a Native American tribe name—heritage. My mom's parents died when I was still little and my mom has never been around much, so I don't know much about that aspect of my family history either." The second part was actually true. Shout out to the mysterious benefactor for research.
"Oh, wow, that's so sad!" Sayu looked genuinely devastated, as if they had been friends for ten years and Nevada's grandparents had just died that morning. "My grandparents aren't alive anymore either, but at least I live in the country where they lived and I have mom and dad for stories. I'm sorry for bringing it up, Nevada-chan."
"It's fine, Sayu-chan, I've had a while to get used to it. Is that your room across the hall?"
"Hm?" Sayu looked up from the keychain on one of Nevada's duffel bags that she had been admiring. "No, that's not my room, mine is just on the other side of the restroom. That's my brother Light's room."
"Oh, yes, they told me there was a son, too." Stay nonchalant, pretend there is not a murderer going to be sleeping across the hall from you, you'll be safe, you'll be fine, your asshole benefactor probably has to keep you alive so their cousin's boyfriend doesn't get fired or whatever anyway. "Where is he now?"
"Cram school, or studying at the library, or curing cancer or something. He's like, a literal genius."
"Oh, wow. My best friend from back home is one of those too but she likes to spend her time playing video games instead." She shot Sayu a wink and pulled her bag strap over her head to drop it on the bed next to the guitar case. "I'll miss her a lot, but I bet having such a fun and nice girl like you around will ease the pain! I hope we can be good friends." She made a mental note not to bring up Sammy if at all possible, talking about her hurt to even think about now that she couldn't see her.
"Aw, Nevada-chan! You're so sweet! I hope we can be good friends too," Sayu said. "But I think for now I'll leave you to have some time to yourself to get settled in, okay? I have to go do homework." She made a face, and Nevada laughed.
"Good luck. I'll just check in with the agency sponsoring me to let them know I got here alright and everything's going smoothly. Thanks so much for the help Sayu-chan!"
"Anytime," Sayu called over her shoulder, pulling the door shut behind her.
"I really ought to read that file thoroughly," Nevada muttered to herself. "But first, a more pressing matter."
Me: How could you
Your Mysterious Benefactor: I'm sorry dear, it was the only opening and I really did think you would be more excited! Most people are. :(
Me: Yeah well do most people DIE
Me: Becasue I'm going to
Me: Im going to die Im goig to die again oh my god im panic king oh my god
"Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas," she recited to herself. The guitar took up most of the bed, she had to lay down on the floor. Her shaking legs couldn't support her.
Your Mysterious Benefactor: I don't know if you'll be okay
"California, Colorado, Connecticut…" She pressed her hands to her chest and ignored the buzzing of her phone.
Your Mysterious Benefactor: But you're a smart girl and we've given you a lot of advantages here
"Deleware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii…" Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. You'll be okay. You already died once and you were okay.
Your Mysterious Benefactor: So I have faith in you! I think you'll be okay.
"Idaho, Illinois, Io—Indiana, Iowa…"
Your Mysterious Benefactor: I don't see the big deal about death anyway. It happens ALL THE TIME. Hell, I'd be out of the job if no one died, haha!
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Nakamura-san?
Your Mysterious Benefactor: Nevada?
Me: if i die
Me: i dont even know what you are or if its possible but im gonna kill you
Me: actually, even better
Me: if i die in some painful humiliating manner which is basically all the death note universe has to offer
Me: afterlife be damned im going to find that big boss you mentioned
Me: and im gonna make sure they know every detail of how i got in this mess
Me: so dont let me fuck this up if you want to keep your stupid job
Me: i doubt you actually did everything you can to help me just for one measly favor for your dogwalker's great aunt's massage therapist's secret lover or whatever
Me: i want the rest of that effort on my desk monday morning, four pages double-spaced
Me: you owe me
"Kansas," she reassured herself. "Kentucky, Lousiana, Maine." She pushed herself off the floor, brushed herself off, and started unpacking.
She heard the front door opening downstairs and set her shoulders. She could do this.
If she couldn't, her little benefactor would have hell to pay.
Yikes, I think it definitely shows that I haven't written in a while. Maybe writing this and getting more practice will help me?
Anyways, I just banged this out in a few hours and totally haven't edited at all and I'm pretty sure there's gonna be major formatting issues but if I don't post it now or tomorrow I probably never will, also it almost 3 AM and I'm tired. Please review if you can, but if not any sort of fave or follow is all the go-ahead I need from you guys to let me know you're interested!
Also, if you're confused about the character reciting U.S. state names in alphabetical order, reciting things is a pretty common anxiety coping method, and state names is what I do, so when I decided four words in that she would have anxiety I also decided to give her my calming technique.