BEFOREHAND AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so this fic here that you've clicked on is a pretty nice one indeedy:) It's one of my favorites (not my actual favorite, but it's a top one) that I've written, in fact. It's about a girl who finds a Death Note^^ Now, this fic takes you on a journey of one year of her life. See, in this one year, this girl grows and discovers things:D Please hear the mock tone in my voice c: Anywho, romance is a bit slow to start, simply because the story begins on November 27th. Tell me what's so special about that date! Do you know? Review! Hehe asking for those before the story even starts x] But anywhoo~~ There is a meaning to this date, however miniscule it might be:) Aaaaaaaannnnd... the first couple chapters take you through her life before the actual canon events of Death Note 'hit close to home' for our little OC in here. I guarantee you'' definitely have something to say about this story when it's all said and done; whether it's "I LOVE IT!1!1!11!" or "go die -_-" is up to you! Ummm... trying to think of anything else... oh! And it's got some mystery, definitely suspense, definitely drama, some romance- but really this story is pretty serious. If you're wanting one of those fics with romance slapping you in your face, then you're out of luck. Sorry, but that's hot how life is, ergo that's not how this story is. This story delves into the psyche of the OC and her best friend, into Light's a bit, I think... aaaaaannnnd... yeah. So, it's pretty serious. Sorta xD But don't worry! The OC's not a bucket of gloom and neither is this sto- oh, who'm I kidding? It's Death Note! That manga has depression and angst written all over it XDXDXDXDXD But, there is a ray of sunshine, do not fret! And everything I'm telling you in this crappin' long A/N (which will never happen again, by the by XD) is void of any big fat spoilers in here. Just warning you about the lack of blatant romance and the other stuffz that shall be in this fic:3 Um... I think I should stop it here... I'm like Light sometimes: I like to hear myself talk ;) But not too often. I'm just being anal now xD So... read on, if I haven't killed you already!
:3
-ChApTeR oNe-
lItTlE oNe
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...
I thought I would have to put up with the filth of the world forever.
I thought there was no way to change the world.
No way to bring justice to the innocent;
No way to prosecute those who got away;
No way to prove that the righteous would not be snuffed out nor defeated by the wretched;
I thought this was the fate the world was doomed to.
Well, I thought wrong...
~*X*~
It was a sunny day in late November. The rays of golden sunlight felt welcoming on my skin, though the bitter wind protested such comfort; not a single cloud in the sky to tell of any raging storms that might blow in later from the coast. It was a lie, and a good one at that, but a lie nonetheless. It seemed even mother nature liked to play tricks on the world. Well, humanity had to get its traits from somewhere, I supposed.
I was walking to a local grocery store, in great need of diner before my roommate came home. My feet quietly tapped against the sidewalk while my body heat started picking up. People were bustling around me, chattering on their phones, clinging to suit cases or purses; some were standing idly, puffing on their cancer sticks, as I liked to call them. I took quick steps, my black converse making muted tamp tamp tamp tamps on the ground beneath me.
I soon left the business end of town, but remained on a busy block. There were many venders and small shops around me. Some were clean, owned by angry shop owners and others weren't so easy on the eyes, but the people who ran the stores were nice enough. The shop I had my eye on was in a squat, run down building located at the end of the road. The man who owned it was called Shugo. He was in his mid-thirties, though he looked twice that age. His wife had died a few years before in a car accident. I never met the woman, but from the stories he told of her she sounded like a lovely person.
"Hero, Rindsey," Shugo smiled at me as I entered his store.
"Still working on your English Shugo-san?" I smiled, speaking in Japanese, and stepped up to the counter, my list of groceries in hand. He nodded his head.
"Yes. I wish to practice for move to America," he took the list from my hand, still speaking in English, and pulled out slabs of meat from the display case.
"Why would you leave me, Shugo? And all alone in such a big city?" I pouted, indirectly challenging him with my British accented English. He looked up, slightly panicked.
"Of course not, miss Stevensu! There is simply more profit in America!" He shook his head, fixing me with worry. "You have friend, yes?" I nodded my head, smiling.
"Yes, yes; I have my friend," he smiled in response and began to cut the meat in the appropriate size for the wanted weight. I turned to my left, moving counter-clockwise around the tiny shop, picking out fruits, vegetables, and sweets that I liked. After I hit the 'four' on the clock, Shugo called me over to the counter, all sorts of different meats in their sacks. "Thank you, Shugo," I handed him the food I had acquired, a small arm full.
"And this, miss Stevensu?" I nodded my head and waited as he punched several numbers in his cash register, sacked them, and called the price. I handed him the money and left with a wave over my shoulder and a smile.
Walking down the street, I hummed a quiet tune below my breath. I had nothing special to do that day; being a Thursday, I didn't have any classes and I was off from work that night. I worked at a local bar with my best friend and roommate. A yawn interrupted my song and I quickly lost my focus.
I decided to take the long way home (if you could call a squashed apartment in a squashed building a home) through an abandoned park. It was quiet. Birds chirped; I could hear the faint hum of cars in the distance. It was eerily perfect and I didn't mind it a bit. And then, on the sidewalk behind me, I heard a quiet slap. It was the sound of something having been dropped.
I stopped immediately and turned around, looking curiously for the source of the noise, ill-fitting in the scene around me. Only a few steps behind me, I saw a simple white notebook exactly where my feet had been hitting the sidewalk moments before. I readjusted my black messenger bag and walked briskly toward the notebook.
I beamed at the thin and pale notebook and saw on the cover two simple words written in elegant writing: Death Note.
I cocked an eyebrow, looking down my gently up-turned nose at the notebook. I knelt before the little thing, my bag slumped on the tidy ground beside me, propped up against my leg. Turning my head to the side, a strand of burgundy hair fell across my nose and in front of my scrutinizing, brown eyes. My lips puckered as I examined it.
"What are you doing out here, mister random and most curious notebook?" I asked the apparently inanimate and lifeless notebook. "Not much, my dear," I played the role of the notebook with a higher pitched voice than my own, "simply enjoying this lovely day. Gorgeous out, wouldn't you say?" I shook my head. "I quite disagree. I much prefer the rain." I blew out a great puff of air, causing the stray strand of hair to shift and stab me in the eye. I winced, my eye automatically watering, and brushed it regretfully behind my ear with the rest of my hair. I shook my head again, this time slowly. "I'm going mad..." I mumbled quietly to myself.
The notebook did not speak to me again.
I moved a hand from upon my knee and picked it up gingerly between my thumb and forefinger. It was quite an awkward position and caused my hand to cramp, but I thought it prudent; even if this book was a scam, I wanted to be careful about it in case anything else was off other than what the titled indicated. I was cautious as I turned it around in the air and puckered my lips again, thoroughly investigating the outside of the notebook.
It seemed like any normal notebook, save for the... rather unique title upon it. Like I believed that rubbish, though. The notebook itself was slightly cruddy and rough and was covered in a generous amount of what seemed to be dust, the whiteness of it faded-looking because of this. I slid a finger across the lower left hand corner of the notebook and held it in front of my face, examining the minerals. I cocked my head slightly and rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger and sniffed it.
"Smeeeeeells liiiiike... hmm... Dirt, most deffly, aaaaaaannnnnnnd..." I turned my finger over and blew on it. "Aye; that's deffly rust," I nodded curtly and wiped my fingers on my jeans. I then held the notebook at the level of my naval and watched it menacingly. I opened the cover and looked within for about a full two seconds, then snapped the thing shut.
I stood, stuffed it in my book bag, and hurried home.
~*X*~
The lock to my apartment door clunked as I turned the brass key within. The tumblers ground and I moved my hand to turn the rusty door knob. Several flecks of green fell on the carpeted floor of the less-than-beautiful hallway as I slammed my shoulder into the unwilling door. It finally gave in after two attempts, both of which sounded like small explosions. I kicked the door shut behind me, then swung around and locked it.
Better safe than sorry, I mouthed as I tossed my keys onto the slender table within the entry way on my right. They clattered and nearly fell to the floor, but halted to a stop just at the edge of the fake cherry oak surface. I dumped my bag beside the skinny legs and turned for the cramped kitchen at my left, dropping the sacks beneath the sink.
Dishes were piled up on all of the counters and in the sink. Particles of food, whole chunks and slices of pizzas and pies; halves of hot dogs and burgers; and chip bags were scattered among the plates. A few roaches skittered about, disappearing at random back to their hiding places, wherever that may have been. It was at the top of my list to do the dishes, clean the kitchen, and buy insecticide. Obviously, I cared very little for my priorities.
I turned to the refrigerator and opened it, emptying the contents of the sacks into the refrigerator. Fish and ground beef were just some of the meat amongst strawberries, bananas, and a watermelon. I smiled, happy to actually have food in the house. It wasn't every day there was something to eat. Some days, my friend and I didn't have anything to eat at all. Her parents might have gladly sent us a check that would open the eyes of Nobel Peace Prize winning scientist, but she and I felt too independent for accepting such a thing.
I pulled the notebook from my waiting bag as I walked into the living room, to the left of the kitchen. I sat in the chair before my computer desk, white lap top sitting shut in the middle. I pushed the computer to the very back and set the Death Notein its place. I held my hands nervously in my lap, curious about the rest of the contents. If the first thing -no, the first 'rule'- of the notebook said, 'the human whose name is written in this note shall die,' then what did the rest of it have to say? I opened it slowly and read through the rest of the rules written within in a similar hand of writing as was on the cover.
"'This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his or her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected...' 'If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen...'" The rest of the rules carried on much in the same fashion, describing all of the specifics of how to kill a person with the notebook. I was left with a feeling of foreboding and a chilling anxiety upon finishing all of the rules. I couldn't one hundred percent believe it, but... the thought of what if? kept dancing circles around my mind. I thought long and hard about the whole thing... I thought of the different ways I could use it; I thought of all the people I could kill... That notebook... it was the most dangerous weapon on Earth. Any person could use it for personal gain, for the betterment of the planet, or for the absolute destruction of it. Someone could recreate the Holocaust with it- do worse, in fact!
I was left staring at it with wide, terrified eyes.
This book could get you anything you wanted.
I shut it and sat there, watching it curiously for what felt like an eternity. I was completely and utterly disturbed by the prospect of such a thing existing. I then looked down at my hands and saw they were shaking. Upon this realization, I laughed aloud at myself and the notebook. It was a hollow, mocking laugh with no real sense about it. I let out a shaky breath.
Did I really just believe such a thing? Was I really scared by such a preposterous idea? This was a hoax! A simple prank by some group of stupid kids that wanted to get into somebody's head! That was exactly it and I was playing into their hands- whether they knew it or not. In fact, I decided, they were probably laughing at me this very moment. But a quiet voice in my head queried, "but what if it's real?" And I stopped laughing immediately, again entranced by it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three loud explosions behind me caused me to jump out of my skin and the chair. I looked around, clutching the notebook as a shield to my chest.
"Hello? Lindsey! Are you home? I can't get this bloody door open, d'you mind helping? Helloooo~" Eyes wide, I quickly understood what had happened. It was Tatum, my roommate. She was home from her classes and was simply trying to open the unopenable door. I laughed out loud again and took a few trembling steps toward the door. "Lindse-"
"Y-yeah, I'm here! Gi... just gimme' a second, eh!" I called to the door and heard her chirp her compliance. I walked the threshold of the small living room and into the entry way. Just as I held out my hand to open the door I saw a glimpse of the white notebook in my other hand. I immediately panicked, not wanting Tatum to see such a thing. What was I to do with it? She was right there; where could I hide it? I felt dread and stupidity fall upon me. How come I hadn't though of it before?
"Lindsey, hurry! My bag is killing my back," she moaned from behind the door.
"Uh, sorry!" I chucked the notebook into my messenger bag and pulled the door open, with great struggle at that. Tatum came bursting in, short and pink spiky hair and all. She was your classic punk rock kid, though she didn't have the personality of one. She was much like a chihuahua in all honesty, though not nearly as feisty.
"Ahhhh! What took you so long, Lindsey? I was dying out there, blimey!" She dropped the bag onto the floor next to mine. A corner of the Death Note poked out and I squeaked, "look-y what I bought today! It's why I'm late," she pulled a little square book -a manga, I think they were called. I held my hands behind my back as she threw off her shirt and tossed it onto the couch in the living room, going to put a lounge shirt on, as she called her tattered, worn, and faded band-T's. I kicked the notebook down and breathed a sigh of relief, thankful for her ignorance.
"Oh, really? You haven't picked up a book since highschool, I don't think," I laughed.
"Words hurt, Lindsey. You're always so cruel to me..." She called from the bedroom as she slipped on a shirt with a creepy looking 'S' on the front of it, stepping into the living room. I sat at my computer. "Anyway... it was referred to me by a friend,"
"Ah, that's nice. What's it about?" I turned on a game of Tetris.
"Mmm... a guy named Rin Okumura. He's the son of Satan. Gets into this school called True Cross Academy as a cover for being in training to become an excorcist so he can kill Satan. Pretty interesting," she opens up the manga, seated on the couch with her legs crossed.
"Yeah... interesting," I laughed again, hitting the left arrow on my keyboard, totally screwing up my game.
"How was your day?" Tatum asked absentmindedly, flipping open to a page in her book.
"Oh, you know... boring," I shrugged and pulled open the lap top, hitting the power button. She cocked her head, catching my anxiety.
"Are you sure? You look a little... off?" For some reason, the 'direction' of the conversation seemed to catch Tatum's interest.
"Bad cheesecake?"
"Oh," she groaned, "just tell me! Was it a guy? A teacher? Tell meeee!" She was sitting on the couch, bouncing up and down as she begged to hear of the woes of my day. Damn it, why did she have to be ignorant about the Death Note itself, but not of how I felt? Were we really that close that she could practically smell my lies? I inwardly groaned. I was a great liar though, so this situation wasn't too much of a snag. It just hurt my conscience to lie to her.
"I...I... I got a B on a quiz in my psychology class..." I lied, putting up a good face. She believed me; obviously, for she looked at me as though I were a complete idiot. I turned and faced my computer, blushing. I didn't really act this way about getting a B. It was a B! Not the end of the world... but, I had to go along with it, or else I would be caught.
And I would not be caught with a murder notebook.
"Seriously? D'you know how jealous I am of your grades already?" She went on into a rant about how perfect I was and I smiled and nodded the whole time, inserting false complaints about myself occasionally. After about half an hour of this she stood up and popped her back.
"Okay, Lindsey. I've got to head off to the bar. It's about my shift now. I'll see you tomorrow!" She chirped and went into her bedroom to change again. I waved as she left and jumped up, crossing the living room once more to my messenger bag. I pulled out the notebook and went to my computer desk, repeating my actions from earlier.
I watched it for a couple seconds, half-expecting it to attack me, maybe. I bit my lip nervously and took a deep breath. I decided it was time to wear my big girl panties, and so I put them on and opened it up to the first blank page. The only thing about that was, it wasn't entirely blank. Right smack in the middle, it read:
Misa Amane
My finger played at my lips again as I screwed them up, a bell ringing inside my head; however, the lights inside were not on. The name sounded so familiar... I opened up my lap top, moving the notebook to my lap. The screen asking for the password popped up and I obliged.
OfcourseIdon'trequireapassword.I'macollegestudent,youinsufferablegit!
Simple enough, I smiled.
The browser loaded and soon enough I was on the internet, typing in the girl's (her gender was easy enough to deduce) name. Within moments my question was answered. Misa Amane was a model and an up-and-coming actress of only nineteen. The key word being "was." She apparently died of heart attack a couple hours before I picked up the notebook. I gasped and looked down at her name written within.
"That was not me!" I told the notebook. Thoughts were flying through my head as realization dawned on me: this notebook was not a joke at all. "'The human whose name is written in this note shall die...'" I felt like crying for some reason at that moment. I didn't want something so terrible in my hands. It killed an innocent girl. Who would want to kill her? And why? Surely she hadn't done anything to upset anyone. Then again, that in itself wasn't totally true. She might have done something petty to upset somebody, they killed her and dumped the notebook, maybe hoping for another person to stumble upon it and be blamed for the crime.
"The bloody git! Trying to make me the scapegoat?" I shrieked at the notebook. I sighed and looked down at it, not knowing what to do with it. "Well, it's not your fault, now is it?' I sighed and stroked the page with Misa Amane's name written upon it. I actually felt bad for the poor thing. Surely it didn't want a life of unjust murder. But then, what was I to do with it? I puckered my lip, completely stumped.
"This isn't fair," I whined, "but that's just my luck, now isn't it? Only I could stumble upon such a ludicrous thing..." I began twiddling with my lips again, still staring at the notebook. I looked at the bottom right hand side of the computer screen and saw it was a little after five, which gave me a sense of relief. That was a reasonable time to take a shower, something to get my mind off of the notebook. And so I stood up and put the notebook on top of my computer.
"I'm going to take a shower. I'll be back shortly, little one," and entered the bathroom, stripping my clothes as I shut the door.
lItElE oNe
-EnD cHaPtEr OnE-
A/N: So that's the first chappie^^ Any British people want to help me out and give me a schooling on the vocabulary and/or grammar of Lindsey's talkage? I would much appreciate it TT^TT All the stuff here I got from Harry Potter, so... XDXD But be nice and review for me! It'll make me feel good and upload faster:D
Also, I quoted Near and Mello in this^^ Anyone care to guess which two lines were used? :D
Merci~
EDIT (9.7.11): So, I decided to rewrite the first couple chapters I had posted. This needed to be so, so the rest of everything could make sense xD Anywho. I like the way I wrote this one better xP AND DID SOME PEOPLE CATCH THE REFERENCES? I changed it to where she went to a shop and talked to a guy named Shugo. Anyone ever hear of .hack? Jah^^ And then Tatum got a manga? Blue Exorcist anyone? Ao no Exocist? AnoE? AnE? Whatever you fannerds of it call it xD Anyway ;3 just thought I'd have fun with that. Anywhoo~~