Boring.

It was just so boring.

How all of these people went about their daily lives; it was an endless cycle. And endless, repetitive, meaningless cycle. The human body demanded its predictable necessities… food, water, warmth. The human mind absorbed what it wanted to absorb, and rejected what it wanted to reject. These silly beings that claim to rule this planet only feel a narrow range of emotions; yes, these emotions had the potential to intertwine, to become nothing more than a complicated mess… but when broken down, these emotions were just chemical imbalances.

And these chemical imbalances resulted in people doing foolish things for their own selfish reasons. Self-interest, self-gain, self-pleasure, self-indulgence. This world was a rotten place; a horrible, no-good, desecrated wasteland of uselessness.

We are all born, we live useless, meaningless lives, and then we die.

Too simple.

Too mediocre.

Everyday, Mitsu Yagami witnessed the same thing. From the humdrum praises of her family, to the fascination of her teachers and students at both her academic skills, as well as her physical beauty, to the constant, worthless studying… there had to be something more, right? There just had to be. If this was what life was all about, Mitsu wanted out.

She couldn't help but yearn for something bigger; surely, with her skills, she was meant to do something great. Something fantastical. That constant, dry thirst made her insides ache for some sort of satisfaction… a satisfaction that she stifled with grace and eloquence. Mitsu lived her life the way people wanted her to live her life out of pure boredom. The only entertainment she experienced was observing these pathetic people with her cold, critical eye… picking each person a part piece by piece, see past their masks, their stupid little behavioral habits, their greedy desires.

Humanity was pathetic.

The day was a normal one… a bit too normal. The sky was that same, industrial gray, emphasized by the thick clouds which tarnished the potentially blue heavens. Sitting in the classroom was nothing new for Mitsu; neither was being called on with the expectation of spouting an intelligent, well-thought out answer without so much as a blink of an eye.

The teenage girl's light brown eyes were fixed on the scenery displayed outside the clear window. With a subtle breath, Mitsu's lips downturned into a grimace. The green grass was marked with a trail of footprints, and the feeble looking trees stood at the base of the buildings, their branches attempting to add charm to the campus. Why did everything have to be so orderly? So common? So cliché? So…so… boring?

The droning words of Professor Okinawa flowed into her brain, a specific, deductive part of it absorbing them and breaking them apart into categories… mental files in which she would access at a later time. In approximately thirty six seconds, classes would end.

Mitsu turned her gaze forward, her lips set in a straight line, her back stiff and her hands folded in front of her in a graceful manner. A quick scan displayed the fact that all of her belongings were already packed away thanks to her frighteningly accurate mental clock.

With the sound of the bell and the dismissal given by Mr. Okinawa, Mitsu stood up in one swift motion, swinging her bag over her shoulder. Her long, brown, slightly curly hair bounced, and her sharp, calculating gaze was fixed forward as she made her way out of the classroom. She did not bother to make eye contact with any of her fellow peers; they weren't worth her time. However, that did not eliminate the fact that she could pick up their laughter, their individual conversations and their different implications… the meandering lack of excitement.

"Mitsu!"

The teen's eye twitched in slight irritation, though, she was very good at masking it…so good in fact that she did not look irritated in the slightest. Pulling one of her warmest smiles, Mitsu spun around to face Sakura Takahashi. A medium-sized girl of about five foot three, a round face, short, black hair that reached to the bottom of her chin, wide, almond-shaped eyes, long limbs, medium-sized breasts, and a dimpled, genuine smile that always suggested overwhelming respect and kindness.

Sakura Takahashi has always shown a great interest in Mitsu, from her accomplishments, to her attitude, to her looks… so, this daily confrontation was expected.

"Hello, Sakura," greeted Mitsu in a bright voice. "I hope that you have had a good day. Have you been studying hard?"

"Yes, yes! Of course! I've been studying really hard, but I know that I'll never be on top like you are, Mitsu! You're a genius!" she responded with bright enthusiasm, the twinkle in her eye brightening.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a genius; and don't underestimate yourself Sakura. You never know what you can accomplish if you believe in yourself."

Mitsu was laughing internally at how these people ate this all up; her sugar-coated, over-optimistic, meaningless bullshit. Did the world really see her with so much reverence?

The other girl's eyes were literally glowing. "Thank you! You are so wonderful, Mitsu! Maybe sometime, you can help me study? And maybe…maybe you can help me with my hair. Yours is so beautiful; I'm extremely jealous!"

Oh, please. Despite her growing irritation, Mitsu managed to let out a natural, good-natured laugh before responding, "When I have time, of course. As you know, I am extremely busy. But I can always find time in my schedule; you know my number, right? Contact me, anytime. See you tomorrow, Sakura; my mother is expecting me home."

"Of course! Goodbye, and have a wonderful evening, Mitsu!" Sakura waved a bit too enthusiastically, that grin on her face never wavering before she spun around and literally skipped off; in a disturbing sense, it was almost as if she were on cloud nine.

Of course, it wouldn't be uncommon for both men and women to desire Mitsu; after all, she was considered to be the most beautiful and talented girl at Daikoku. She was very small and fragile looking, yet she managed to obtain that strong sense of grace and authority with just one look. Her serious, calculating, yet charming face seemed to attract many admirers. Not only that, but many of the women were jealous of her hair… her long, curly, acorn-colored hair. Mitsu wasn't oblivious to this; she knew that she was beautiful, envied, desired. But none of it mattered to her one bit… except for the fact that she could use her physical beauty to her advantage when need be.

The smile slipped off of her face as quickly as it had come. Mitsu made her way outside, the damp, slightly chilly air wafting over her skin. In all honesty, it was a bit of a relief compared to the stuffiness of the classroom.

What a long, uneventful day. Mitsu had to admit that she was a bit tired of smiling, being called on, and stared at as if she were some sort of goddess. It was just all the same. Nothing to look forward t—

Oh?

What's this?

The small teen saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she squinted, focusing her attention on something small and black laying in the grass, not even six feet away from her. Deciding that she had nothing else to occupy her time, Mitsu made her way toward the object, craning her neck so as to keep her gaze focused on the ground.

It was a notebook. A black notebook. She bent over carefully, her hand gripping it firmly as she picked it up. It was warm at the touch.

On the cover were the words DEATH NOTE. Hmm… interesting. Mitsu turned turned it around to examine it… there seemed to be nothing else on the surface of the notebook. With a soft scoff, the teen realized that a foolish, irresponsible student with strange, dark taste in style probably dropped it while hurrying off to his or her next class.

However, something about the strange notebook seemed to fascinate her. Looking over her shoulder with a sense of precaution, Mitsu flipped it open, flipping through the white, blank pages. Of course. It was just an empty notebook. Nothing more, nothing less… but…wait.

There was something there… written on the inside of the front cover.

Mitsu paused, holding the notebook open as her eyes scanned the words with the utmost care.

DEATH NOTE

HOW TO USE IT I

-The person whose name is written in this note shall die.

-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.

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

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

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

xX

Mitsu rose an eyebrow as she read over the instructions of this "Death Note" once again. There was no possible way that this could be real; unlike many others, she did not allow herself to be a superstitious person. Superstition was a ridiculous waste of time.

The girl huffed, a skeptical tone coating her breath as she snapped the notebook shut. It would be best to just set the notebook down back on the ground where she found it. It would be of no use to her. However, just as she was about to do so, a strange, unexplainable feeling shot through her; it was warm, deliciously sinister. Something about it both repelled and drew the Mitsu in, like a honeybee to a brightly-colored flower.

With a small shake of her head, Mitsu's grip on the notebook tightened before she carefully opened her bag and placed it in among her other schoolbooks.

It wouldn't hurt to test this so called "Death Note" out, would it? After all, it was just a simple, black notebook… designs and tastes these days were strange… it shouldn't be odd for a company to construct "Death Note" notebook, would it? It would definitely appeal to a specific group of teens.

But, say that it did work. What would be the possible consequences? According to the book, unless Mitsu wrote down the cause of death of a specific person, that person will simply die of a heart-attack. There would be no possible way that a death like that could be investigated for possible homicide… no possible way for a innocent, high-school student like Mitsu to be convicted of murder.

No…no. These were ridiculous thoughts. It was just a simple notebook. A bunch of lined paper bound together. The most harm that this "Death Note" could do would be to give someone a paper-cut.

Nevertheless, Mitsu's facial expression darkened ever so slightly, her hands clenching at the idea of holding a possible weapon of mass destruction. It was this feeling… this warm, hungry feeling that would not go away.

It would never go away.