Author's Note: This story has been a stubborn plot bunny that refuses to leave my mind for a very long time. Basically in this AU Light never picked up the Death Note and Ryuk never dropped his Death Note in the human world. I am not sure if shinigami even exist in this AU. This is the story of how he becomes a crazed vigilante serial killer anyway. This chapter is kind of short, but it is only the prologue. I hope you like it.

Warning: This chapter involves suicidal thoughts and a brief rape reference.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did then L would be perfectly healthy and alive today.

Prologue

LIGHT'S POV

English class was redundant and boring as always. I already know everything they are teaching. I thought this was supposed to be an advanced class. If this class room went on a field trip to an English speaking country and a few students were accidentally left behind, I guarantee you they would die within three days. I admit that if I was stranded in an English speaking country I would have a lot of communication related issues, but I wouldn't die because of it. Idiots. I am surrounded by idiots. The view outside this window that I stare out of every single day is more interesting than my peers are. They all get obsessed with the newest clothing and the latest gossip. They ignore the fact that the world is rotten. Rotten because of all the rapists and murderers and burglars and kidnappers. Rotten because of a justice system that doesn't work anymore. I want to fix this world, but I cannot do it alone, and nobody is going to help me. If there is a god, he has been dead for a long time. I hate this planet. I don't want to live here anymore. I've actually already planned my escape: the shotgun dad keeps locked in a box in the hall closet.

I felt a thump on my head. Probably from a flying eraser. The teacher yelled, "Hey, Yagami! You are the number one student in Japan! Don't space out! We need you to make us look good!"

I bowed my head apologetically, "Yes. Sorry about that sensei." I was not sorry. It wasn't as if I was ever going to learn anything new in this class anyway. Will he be at my funeral? Probably. A lot of people will be there. I am almost sure that most everyone in this school will cry when they find out about my death. The only interaction I ever had with any of them was either a failed attempt at intelligent conversation or them talking my ear off as I tried to run away. Still, in their simple minds I am a friend. They think I relate to them. I bet all of the girls (and hopefully a few guys too) will declare their undying love for me during lunch on the day after my death. My teachers will all make heartfelt speeches about how only the good die young and how much I will be missed. Within a month everyone will go back to the newest clothing and the newest gossip and it will be like I was never there at all. I already know exactly how this rotten world will carry on without me. It will stay exactly the same.

The bell rang. Finally. This boring school day is over.

~~~~~~~Timeskip~~~~~~~

I sat in my room thinking over the details of what I will be doing on Friday. Only four days away. I can't wait. First, I am going to write a note. Notes are normally for people who don't really want to die, but I want them to know my reason. I want to leave something behind in this rotten world. Then when everyone is sleeping I am going to-

There was a pounding on my door. I had better go get that. Sayu probably wants help on homework again.

As I expected it was Sayu, "Hey Raito, can I come in?"

I smiled, "Sure. So is it quadratic equations or absolute value inequalities that you need help with today?" I really don't know if she will be able to pass math once I'm gone. Mom stopped being able to help Sayu with her math after her fourth year and dad is never home. I guess she will really have to pay more attention in class.

She stepped past the threshold and shook her head as she closed the door, "Actually I want to talk to you about something."

"You know you can tell me anything." Sayu has always seen me as the person she could come to for everything. I wonder how she is going to react when she finds out that I killed myself. I would expect her to cry, but it is completely possible that she will feel a little numb. It is completely possible she will be the first person to see my corpse. If that was to happen I think she would scream. I am (she would never admit this to my face but we both know it is true) her best friend.

Sayu stared at her toes as if a great novel was written on her feet, "Yamamoto has been making fun of me recently."

I gulped, "Why would this Yamamoto person do that?" Sayu is such a sweet and innocent girl. So easy to break. So easy to victimize. This rotten world is not safe for her at all. How would she hold herself up in a fight with a rapist in an alleyway? The sad truth is that she wouldn't. She wouldn't be able to defend herself or escape. Don't think she wouldn't try though. Oh, she would try as hard as she could. She would kick and hit and flail and bite and scream at the top of her lungs, but it wouldn't be enough. It is never enough. In this world the innocent and good hearted people like Sayu get hurt. They try not to, but it doesn't matter because the fight isn't fair.

Sayu bit her lip, "Yamamoto tried to ask me out a month ago. I said no. I liked…" Sayu paused nervously as if she was afraid I was going to eat her before continuing her explanation, "Nakamura instead. Yamamoto found out and he doesn't approve. He has been calling me names and telling people lies about me."

I smiled in an attempt to comfort her, "Yamamoto is just jealous. He is too much of a selfish little boy to deserve any of your romantic attention, so he is trying to get any kind of attention he can get. You do not need a classmate's approval about who you chose to like. You can like whoever you like… that is until dad decides he isn't good enough for you. I do not have a clue who Nakamura is, but he has to be a great boy." I wasn't completely sure what I was saying was right, but it is what Sayu needed to hear.

Sayu grinned like the teenage girl with a crush she is, "Nakamura is great." It is nice to see Sayu smile. I wonder how long it will take her to learn to smile again after my death.

I ruffled her hair, "And I would love to meet him one day." I really do want to meet this boy, but that will probably be just one more thing on my list of things I won't be able to do before Friday. The list so far: get married (I never cared about love anyway), have children (I would have had to live in constant fear of something bad happening to them. I already do that for Sayu.), visit a foreign country (I have seen pictures), go to To-Oh University (my parents can use the money for something else now), become a police officer (the police is sort of useless in my eyes now. The criminals might as well have already won this fight), meet an intellectual equal (I gave up my search for one a long time ago), and meet Nakamura. Oh, well.

Sayu mumbled, "Thank you for listening."

I laughed, "I have always and will always be here for you Sayu." Lying is considered a sin in a lot of major religions, but lying was really that bad then it would not be so easy.

Sayu turned toward the door, "I am going to be leaving now."

I waved, "Bye." She left without another word. I wonder if we will ever have a talk like this again. Probably not.

I went back to thinking about Friday. In the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping I am going to get a key that I keep in my desk (I stole it from my parents room). I will open the hall closet door. In side that closet, as I may have mentioned before, is a padlocked box with a shotgun in it. I will use the key to open the box. Finally, I will put a bullet in my cranium. I've already mentioned how I think my sister will react, but not my parents. I know that mom will be a sobbing mess for a long time. I'm not quite sure dad is going to want to believe that I actually wanted to die. It is kind of hard to swallow. Denial is just what dad does anyway. When he finishes his denial (if he ever does) he will probably end up giving off a gloomy vibe for the rest of his life. I don't want to hurt them, but it is the only way. If I could die without it affecting anybody, I would do it, but I am too great of a person. I mean a lot to a lot of people. You may ask yourself: Why would a person with so many who look up to and love wish to die? I explained earlier that this world is rotting, but that isn't my only reason. I've been terribly bored lately.

Author's Note: Although Light didn't pick up on the implications I put in his conversation with Sayu, I hope you did. If you did: That has always been a head canon of mine for many reasons. If you didn't: Don't worry about it because it will show up again later. If you were wondering why I made the choice of having Light being so suicidal, it is because he sort of seemed that way to me in the first chapter of the manga/the first episode of the anime. Maybe, I am just weird. I hope you enjoyed this prologue. Please feel free to tell me your opinions on it.