Haunted

(Noteage- AU. D8)

Chapter one: The Meeting of God and his Follower

It wasn't that he didn't want to know- goodness, no. He wanted to know who the man he was pledging his life to was- it was that he couldn't know. He couldn't know because nobody could know. What would make him so special that he got to be the only living person who knew? Nothing could make him that special, not even the black notebook that resided in his briefcase.

"Shinigami?" he asked quietly, his steps not faltering one bit. He had a schedule to stick to. The black creature looked up, tilting its hideous head to the side.

"Hm?" the Shinigami hummed in response, staring anywhere but him.

"Are you aloud to tell me who Kira is?" he fished his keys from his pocket and unlocked his door. He still didn't stop doing what was natural for him. He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it over his arm, and then untied his shoes.

"Of course not," the creature spoke in its strange fashion of opening its mouth and letting words emit from the gaps in its teeth.

"I see…" he muttered, plodding to his room. He hung up his jacket and then set his briefcase next to a chair. He pulled aforementioned object out from under the polished desk and sat down on it. He reached down, opened the briefcase, and daintily pulled a black notebook from it. He set it on the desk's surface and stared. 'Death Note' was written in sloppy letters (much to his great disdain) at the top.

"So this is Kami's power…" he whispered, eyeing the notebook skeptically.

"Yup. Say, kid. You got any apples?" Mikami Teru turned to look at the creature that had intruded his house. He raised his left eyebrow- it had to be his left- at the creature.

"Apples?" he inquired, spinning the swivel chair around so he was facing the Shinigami.

"Yea," it grunted. "Y'know; big, red, juicy." Teru didn't even want to question the emphasis on the last word, he only shook his head.

"No, I don't have any apples," the Shinigami's bulging eyes got even wider and he seemed to convulse. As if that creature wasn't strange enough. The Shinigami sunk down into the corner, muttering about withdrawal. He glanced at the clock and sighed.

"I'm going to the store in an hour, Shinigami. Can you wait?" Teru asked, turning back to the desk. A gleeful- or at least, that's what he believed it to be- noise came from the creature's mouth. "Now," he began, eyeing the notebook again. "This really works?"

"Hyuk hyuk. Would Kira send it to you if it didn't?" the black creature sniggered. Teru glared over his shoulder.

"I suppose not," he murmured, thumbing through the 'How to Use' section.

- A month later

Despite having been with the Shinigami a month (technically), Teru often found himself confused by Ryuk's actions. None the less, he could deal with it.

A cool July morning was what he was met with when he woke up at precisely 5:13:42. The sight he awoke to was familiar, but still highly disturbing. Just as he sat up, Ryuk ghosted through the wall, gnawing disgustingly on his favourite fruit.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon. You usually can't get Kami alone until after a few days," Teru remarked, rolling out of bed.

"He was alone at the time I decided to visit," Ryuk replied, his trademark 'hyuk, hyuk' leaving his open mouth as he held out a piece of paper. "A message." Mikami practically tore the paper from the Shinigami, hastily unfolding it. He read it with shaky hands, then threw it down and ran to his closet. Ryuk was surprised, seeing as the 'third' Kira never acted like that. He picked up the note, read it, and then chuckled.

"Meet me at the coffee shop next to the Shinjinku hotel at eleven o' clock on Monday, July 22nd," Ryuk laughed as Mikami struggled into his clothes. "You've got six hours, Teru, calm down."

"Five hours and thirty-seven minutes, actually. Not to mention I have to call work and request a day off, eat, shower, and plus, the train ride to Shinjinku from the nearest train station is two hours," Mikami snapped, his words flying out faster than Ryuk could compute, as he jumped up and down to try and get his pants on quicker.

"Uhm… okay," the Shinigami shrugged and ghosted through the floor as Mikami ran down the stairs and buttoned his shirt at the same time. "Why get dressed and then take a shower?" Teru stopped half-way in both activities

"Shit!" the rare swear left him as he ran back up the stairs. After a quick shower, Mikami was in his kitchen, fixing himself something to eat. He tossed Ryuk an apple and wander about, looking for a phone. Once he found said object, he almost slapped his forehead, for his cell was in his pocket. He dialed the office and waited impatiently.

"Hello?" a voice on the other line said.

"Hai- this is Mikami Teru-" however, the woman on the other line cut him off.

"Mikami-san? Why are you calling? You have the day off." He paused, then smacked his forehead.

"My apologies. I'm having a strange day. Good-bye." This ended the conversation. "Stupid…"

"Something wrong?" the Shinigami asked, who was, surprisingly, still munching on his favourite fruit.

"I have the day off, apparently," Mikami hissed through his teeth, removing his eggs from the stove.

- July 22nd, 2009, Monday, 8:53:17

Teru tapped impatiently on the side of his briefcase. The train was three minutes and thirty seconds late today.

"Perfect," he muttered harshly. Ryuk, who was the only person (though, Shinigami were hardly people) that accompanied him, hummed in response. "The train's late," he growled. The Shinigami chortled cruelly.

When the train finally came, Teru boarded hastily. The compartment was fairly empty, so he could talk to Ryuk without being noticed. That is, if it was needed, of course. The two hour train ride was silent, for the most part. Ryuk would chuckle now and again, but he always did that.

- July 22nd, 2009, Monday, 10:56:24

Mikami rushed from the station, thankful that the hotel was fairly close. He checked his watch as he entered the coffee shop. 10:59:08. Perfect. He was early

"Yokatta…" he muttered, sitting down at a table near the back. Mikami stared intently at his watch, seeming to be lost as the seconds ticked away. The jingle that signified someone coming in ('11:04:43…' he thought absently) caught his attention. He looked up and was met with a man probably in his early twenties.

The man was attractive (not that Mikami was attracted to men; he just knew a good-looking man when he saw one), to say the least. His hair was short and chestnut coloured- clean cut, well groomed, and over all very professional. His eyes were generally the same shade of brown, if not, slightly more reddish. He was wearing a tan suit with a red tie, and a calm, passive look (much like Mikami's) was situated on his face.

"Raito!" Ryuk chirped, swooping from behind Mikami to pester the handsome man. Mikami froze up. 'If the Shinigami knows this man… he must be Kami!' he thought as the man sat in the chair across from him.

"As you could've guessed by now," the man- 'Raito' was what Ryuk had called him- waved a hand to dismiss the waitress that was heading towards them. "I am Kira." The single sentence sent a shiver down Mikami's spine, and his lips twitched upward.

"Yes… I had guessed."

A/N: Uhm… well… I was basically told to upload this. ..

I began to write this on a whim to attempt a better Teru for a role-play; since… uh… I pretty much fail. I also wanted to give a shot at Ryuk, considering I'm playing Raito also in said role-play. Uhm… overall, I'm not proud of this. It's… just not really appealing to me for some reason.

cough But anyway, I hope you enjoy? Review with tips on a better Teru? Please? ..