The Kanto Region of Tokyo, Japan was always the same. The city was busy, students racing to school with friends and workers heading into their shifts. This was the time of day when everyone lamented their fortune, not many in this city able to relax and enjoy time just hanging out unless they simply had nothing to do, in which case they were bored out of their minds and had already lost.
As each day drones on, it's hard to find something different while humanity struggles on and on to be something better than what they already are. They live for power, to climb the proverbial ladder. They scrape one inch higher and higher until they have reached the top, and no longer know what to do with themselves.
The days were about to change, about to become something more interesting - at least with the higher powers who challenged humanity itself. Students filled the classroom around him, and the normal hum of whispered conversation stayed slightly over the teacher's lecture. He was reading lines from their book, asking students to translate to make sure of whether or not they were paying attention. Most of them obviously were not, and made jokes of it.
Knowledge was power, making knowledge very important to him. He had his eyes on a university he wanted, and the job he would take after the fact. He was going to be a detective, serving with his father to make the world a better place. There were many cold cases that had never been solved, murderers never caught. But he would be able to solve every one of them. He was the smartest in his class, the best detective he could be. He would always find his answers.
"Yagami, are you still with us?" the teacher asked, and Light's eyes turned toward the front of the room. Somewhere, he had started looking at the other students while he had listened to his teacher reading. "Can you please translate the following sentence into English?"
How bothersome. He didn't like being singled out, but at least he had been paying attention. He stood from his seat, as was courteous, and picked up the book to read the Japanese sentence. His mind quickly translated for him, and he began to speak aloud. "Follow the teachings of God and receive his blessings, and so it shall be that the seas shall again become bountiful, and the raging storms shall subside."
After Light had taken his seat once more, the teacher resumed his randomly placed pop quizzes, and Light let his mind wander. He kept enough attention on his teacher's words so that he wouldn't be surprised by a quiz.
He thought about the most recent reports on the local news channel, aired only in the Kanto Region of Tokyo, Japan. The news, like usual, was filled with crime. Stabbings, murders, theft, rape. You name it, the news had it lately. Crime seemed to be getting worse. Day in and day out, the same news on constant repeat with different names, different faces, different details, but ultimately, the same conclusion. Someone innocent was hurt, and someone evil gained immortality while the victim would be forgotten, only remembered by those they had been close to in their living days. This world was rotting, becoming disgusting and filled with those that had no reason to live, no reason to exist, other than to make those around them miserable as they coexist in the same world where lies run rampant and justice is overrun with corruption.
The world around him seemed to go silent and still as his eyes drifted outside, seeing something move from his peripheral vision. He stared, somewhat surprised at the bizarre sight of a black notebook falling from the sky. He couldn't even focus on the teacher's words. All he focused on was the drop of a book with illegible white writing on the front of it into the courtyard of their school.
Class couldn't let out fast enough. He didn't run, nor rush. He didn't want anyone to be suspicious or follow him. He wanted to get the first glance of what this book was that had fallen. Whether it was something special or not, he wondered where it came from. It fell straight down, as if the wind hadn't been pushing it in an angular direction, but there was no way that it could physically fall from there without being thrown from the ceiling.
But then it would have fallen at an angle.
He left the school building through an exit he didn't usually take, finding himself in the schoolyard and crossing carefully to the other side, where he had seen the book fall. He looked around as he found it, making sure no one was watching before he picked it up, reading the cover, which was in English.
Death Note? As in a notebook of death? He snorted, a bit amused at the thought and opening it to look at the inside cover. He found more writing, again in English.
How to Use It
The person whose name is written in this note shall die.
That was pretty lame. Not to mention...twisted. He set it down, shaking his head with another amused snort. He walked away from it. It was just like one of those chain letters you get occasionally. 'The person whose name is written in this note shall die?' Come on. That was more than a little bit impossible.
He paused, looking at the notebook over his shoulder. Still, though…
He set his bag on the bed, pulling the notebook from it and setting it on his desk. He locked the door, turned on his desk light, and opened the notebook to read it.
How to Use It
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 while writing his or her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the 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 must be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
"So depending on the person you have in mind, you could either kill them easily or painfully, huh?" he murmured to himself, propping his chin on the back of his hand while he contemplated the notebook. There had to be something wrong with him to consider this even possibly being more than just a screwed up prank from high-schoolers who had too much time on their hands. "This is pretty detailed for a prank, I'll give them that," he murmured, getting up from his seat to sit on the bed. Something about this bothered him. It just didn't feel right.
He let himself fall onto his back, resting his arms under his head and staring at the light above him. It was off, his room lit by his desk lamp, TV, and the dwindling light from the sunset. "So I write a name and that person...dies," he mused. He closed his eyes. "Like anyone would believe that." He tilted his head just enough to look at the notebook again, lying open on his desk. He got up quickly, walking over to his desk and sitting in his chair, grabbing his pencil from the cup and tapping the lead on the first line. He hummed, tapping the eraser on his chin. On the off chance that someone died, would that make him a murderer? He snorted again, smiling. It was impossible. No one would die from this.
He turned on the news, looking at the TV. He had to know instantly. As if he was being set up, the news was trained on a school building. Listening to the report, he found that it was a hostage situation. It was too convenient that the man's name and picture were then broadcasted. He frowned at the TV, turning to the notebook and quickly writing the name.
Kurou Otoharada
He decided not to do a different cause of death, and leaned back in his seat. He looked at his watch, looking between the watch and the television to confirm the length of time. It was the longest, most agonizing forty seconds of his life. He waited, watching the news as the time passed.
At forty-five seconds, he leaned back in his seat. He snorted with amusement. It looked like the notebook was a hoax. It wasn't like he expected it to, anyway. He turned off his desk lamp, rising from his seat and reaching for the remote.
"Wait! We're seeing something here!" Light felt his expression change into shock, watching on the screen as the kids and teacher ran out of the building. The hostages escaped? No, this had to be a coincidence.
"The hostages are coming out! And they all look to be unharmed! The special forces are taking action! They're moving in!"
On the screen, Light watched as the special forces team forced their way into the building, and there was no fire unleashed. The pause was only a few seconds long. "We don't know if the suspect's been arrested." No? Light sat back down in his seat, leaning forward to see what had actually happened, if they even showed him.
"Okay, we now have confirmation! The suspect has been found dead inside!" He inhaled sharply. Dead? Was this really…? "I repeat; the suspect is now dead!" He turned to the notebook, staring at it in shock. The pages were pristine, the cover neatly kept. Could this be real?
"The special forces are denying allegations that they shot the suspect."
"So it's quite possible that he was feeling cornered and decided to commit suicide?"
"Well, according to statements from the hostages, the suspect just suddenly collapsed!"
A...heart attack?
No way! It had to be a coincidence. If it wasn't a coincidence, he was...he was a...murderer.
"Light!" his mother called from downstairs, "It's already six-thirty, you know! Don't you have cram school tonight?" She was giving him a sweet reminder to the time. He took a deep breath. He had to stay calm, or they'd know something was wrong.
"Yeah, I'll be ready in just a sec!" he called back, quickly grabbing his bag to throw what he needed inside of it.
The Death Note. It was unlikely that this thing was for real. He couldn't just take that little coincidence as proof.
He had to test it one more time.