Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of its characters. Nor is this an attempt to sell copyrighted material to the market. This is purely for my enjoyment as a writer and to hopefully imrove where improvements are needed. As all writers are, improvements can always be made, no matter how minute they may be, and mine are far from minute, as I am aware of that. But as the way things are, you can choose to read my story if you like, but I'd like to ask that if you read, please take a minute or so leaving a review. Tell me anything that may be wrong, so that I may fix it later, or a job well done. Those are always appreciated. Thank you for the time in reading this disclaimer, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. (This is a forewarning of spoilers, I believe, by the way)
Chapter 1:
It was a fine spring morning full of beautiful fragrances and joyful forest creatures prancing about. The birds were chirping in the trees. Cherry blossoms were plunging lazily towards the ground. It was lukewarm, a perfect temperature to grow petunias, in which onlookers can enjoy the nearly limitless array of shades of the flowers. Such a plant was conveniently planted in this garden, following a path to the center of the garden, where a large, gorgeous fountain laid. Spread about the fountain were life size statues of famous kings and conquerors.
It was early in the morning, before even any of the early risers who come jogging into the park for a morning stroll. It was at that precise moment that a young man, who couldn't be more than nineteen years old, awakened. Bemused, the man lain there for the longest time, waiting for something distinguishable to occur. Something that would jog his mind of the events last night. Vague memories came rushing to his brain as he waited; Each one overlapped the next, and together they began developing a motion picture inside his head. The memories were coming to him, as if he had dreamt of these ideas. Preposterous accounts of Gods and notes meshed into one entity in the picture and stirred around much like how you'd stir a pot of stew.
The young fellow gasped as he tried to get up, the memories simmering back into the back of his head for the time being. His muscles ached, tense, in protest to his earlier slumber; the ground had not been near as comfortable as a bed. He tried to steady himself, putting his weight on the forefront of his buttocks and his thighs, and he uttered a wearisome sigh. He yawned and stretched, and he took the next few minutes to get a visual of his surroundings.
A grove of hedges were placed next to him, and behind them were trees huddling together on the outskirts of the forest. An eerie absence of light emitted from the forest, and the trees themselves gave of a morose expression. A painful, dark secret was hidden in the forest, something that made even the trees shriek out in terror. The young man had always wanted to know what was in the forest.
The forest in question remained there, as still as it ever will. It cried out to him, pleaded for him to come in and find its obscure secret. The forest has been there in his dreams too. He felt a strong urge to plunge into the depths of the forest and recover his lost memory. He had had only bits and pieces of the whole picture, and even though his mind screamed no, that it was wrong, but his gut told him otherwise. Therefore, he was struck by indecision.
The choice was clear for him when he heard the first signs of life of his own species came barreling in the park. In his state of disarray, he dubbed himself not worth of being seen. That, and the stranger that had come was not dressed for a stroll in the park. He quickly jumped into the hedges, quickly making sure he was not seen, and he watched the newcomer.
It was a young girl, possibly only a few years older than him. But more than that he could not recognize in the little time he glanced at her retreating form. Into the forest she had gone, unaware that she was being watched.
This perplexed the man even more, and finally decided on seeking the forest's knowledge. As the man stepped out of the bushes, he brushed himself clean, as if he were about to be interviewed in the hardest-to-get job around. Then, as skilled as a ninja, he went in, following her without giving off the slightest trace of his arrival, and for the time being, that worked. She continued walking, and he kept on following.
The man could see her now. Short, blonde hair fluttered behind her as she walked briskly to her destination. Her stride was long and frigid, which didn't accompany her dazzling beauty well at all. She had a small frame-could be no taller than 5 foot 4".
The trek through the dark woods was longer than the man had expected. Wherever the young woman was going, this had better be good. The man could count in his head at least twelve other things he could do right now that didn't involve stalking people through weird places. But then he reminded himself that there was something here, something that would answer all his questions. Like, why he woke in the middle of the park? Or, what happened last night?
Finally, the woman halted. He watched her from afar as she glanced back and forth, making sure no one was around. Seeing this as his cue to hide, he concealed himself effectively behind a tree. He had made a sound as he shuffled his feet across the ground, the leaves billowing around his feet. He gulped, feeling stupid for being so clumsy.
The woman exclaimed, "Who's there." And came the moment of silence. He was too shocked to reveal himself. Hoped to high heavens that in these last few seconds of recluse, that the Gods would save him. It appeared that luck had been on his side, as a squirrel scurried up the tree he conveniently chose to hide behind. The squirrel seemed to have been enough to satisfy the woman's suspicions.
The woman turned back around and knelt to the ground. She began mumbling to herself. "Well, this is the right spot." She began burrowing through the soil with her hands. She didn't have to dig far before reaching a fine, black material. Etched in big, blood-red letters read the words DEATH NOTE.
The girl picked the notebook up. For a moment, time stopped, and the girl did nothing. And then she began convulsing. Her body shivered and curled up instinctively. Her breath was hitched, the inhaling and exhaling of breaths growing violent, wild. She let out an agonizing cry, pain evident in her voice. It was as if someone had run up to her and stabbed her. After a while, her cry subsided, and all of her pain seemed to have vanished.
But the man took in none of this. He was to busy recalling memories to notice even her shrill cry. The death note. The one visible proof that his dream had been more than just a dream. All that had happened to him in the dream had truly happened to him in real life. His questions had finally been answered, but they seemed to only bring about more questions. He still couldn't tell why he was here or even what he is supposed to do at this time and age. It was all coming to him so fast that he nearly screamed as loud as the woman near him had.
He bit his lip. It wouldn't do any good to get noticed now. He had to wait. If he was correct in his assumptions, then being discovered by her was the worst possible scenario imaginable. 'But.. If I can't get near her, then how should I get the death note? I must get it from her somehow, or more people will die. A lot more people, and I can't allow that to happen.' It was decided. He would have to somehow obtain the note from the woman.
Her movements snapped him from his ruminations. He watched her stand upright and clutch the death note to her chest. Then a figure flew down from the shadows of the forest. He recognized the creature. 'Ryuk'.
"Ryuk." the woman said. "Misa would like to make the deal again." The man stood stock still behind that tree, unbelieving that she'd go so far, even though he already knew she would. She'd do anything as the servant of Kira. Her little spectacle with the videos proved that much.
Ryuk responded, "You do realize this is the second time you're going to be making the deal, and your life will be divided again by two, right?"
"Yes, Misa understands the conditions. Misa would do anything of Light." 'As suspected of her'. She was predictable as well as stupid.
The two underwent the procedures for the shinigami eyes. Once it was completed, she smiled and turned. She proceeded to travel back down the path they took, towards the park. She was drawing closer to him and, as the guy looked down, to not one, but two sets of tracks. 'Shit!'
In his preparations of keeping a low profile while following the girl, he'd forgotten to take in the account of her taking the same path back out of the forest. 'I don't have long to plan. Once she passes this tree and sees the tracks, she's going to find me, and then my cover will be blown. Whatever I should do. I have to do it now!'
She drew nearer still, and as she passed him, he got his idea. 'Oh, it couldn't be more perfect. She walked right by me without even noticing. I can use the darkness to my advantage. If I tackle her now, she won't have the chance to see my face.' She stopped, and glanced down to the two sets of tracks. Shock was evident in her eyes, having suddenly just realized her situation. 'Now!'
He rushed up to her, jumping on her. The two of them flailed in a sea of leaves, both struggling in a heated battle. One struggling to keep his identity secret, and the other struggling to escape the assailant. The man elbowed her across her cheek, cracking one of her teeth. Her mouth filled with blood as he came back in with another attack. He punched her on her other cheek.
She didn't get the chance to retaliate, so she was subjected to whatever the attacker had in store. In a desperate attempt to stop the man's strikes, she held up her arms in defense. As the attacks came in incessantly, she felt herself begin to drift off, as if the scene was but a distant speck in the background. Unconsciousness approached her, and she accepted it, despite the dangers that would result from it.
'She's out of it, now. Now all I have to do is take the death note from her and run.' As he took the discarded death note, he thought, 'But where to? Where will I go?' He realized that even if he had the death note, he wasn't any closer resolving the conflict than he was ten minutes ago. 'At least the deaths will end…For now.'
He was on his feet again in no time, and his head drooped, eyes falling on the unconscious girl. "Farewell, Misa Amane. We might see each other again in the future, but the next time might be the last time." 'Yes, I'll end this once and for all.'
Ryuk observed this event with the slightest smile transfixed on his face. The man turned to Ryuk and asked him, "Why are you still here, Ryuk?"
The god of death in question brought an apple to his face. He chomped down on the delectable, and before answering the man's question, he gobbled it up. One he was finished stuffing his face with the shiny red sweet, he said, "Why, to see the interesting turn of events. It's not every day that I get to see a brawl over the death note after all."
"Well, I plan on keeping this note away from the hands of idiots and people with god complexes. The last thing I need is for this whole thing to blow up in my face. If Kira is to ever be caught, I must keep this death note."
"But why fight for such a noble cause?" Ryuk asked.
The man decided against answering Ryuk's question. Mainly because it was, regardless of how you defined it, pointless, and the unconscious girl below was starting to stir. Consciousness would return to her soon enough, and it was best she didn't hear out his whole story. After all, it was bad enough that Kira would find out as soon as Misa returned to him without the death note. The man was sure of this fact.
"I'll see you soon Misa, and hopefully, for the last time." he said agitatedly while glancing down at Misa's shuffling body, partly because she annoyed him to no end, and partly because she aligned herself with Kira. And anyone who aligned themselves with Kira was evil. Or just stupid.
Returning his gaze to Ryuk, and announced, "For now, call me R." 'Hopefully Misa caught that. It might shake Kira to know that there is possibly another detective out there somewhere. That, and this way Ryuk won't accidentally blow my cover. Not that I didn't expect him to, but none-the-less…It couldn't hurt to be cautious.'
At his exclamation, Ryuk chuckled knowingly. This just kept getting better. "Well then, R." he began, conveying to R that he understood the terms of their unvoiced agreement. He continued, "What do you plan on doing now that you have the death note in your hands?"
R hadn't been planning on telling Ryuk everything, but the little that he would tell him would have to come later. Misa was definitely going to discover R's true identity if he stayed around any longer. She slurred, "…Where am I?" And, as she opened her eyes, they were met with woods. The voice she had heard was completely gone. She could have sworn there was someone near her before. He had called himself R. But she neither knew his face nor his name. And even if she did it would not matter, for he had the death note.
He seemed to a detective of some sort, with a one letter alias similar to L. Ryuuzaki. The genius of geniuses who could crack any case. If R was anything like L, they would have a major problem on their hands, and without a death note, it was impossible to carry out the demands of Kira. They might even become suspicious because of lack of criminal deaths. She needed to get back to the station and tell Light right away. He'll know what to do.
Mean while, not even a hundred feet away, R was making a mad dash out of the forest, and out of the park. It didn't matter to him how much noise he made, just as long as he far away enough from Misa as possible. He wouldn't draw suspicion from any strangers that would prove detrimental to him as of now. The death note was concealed, secure in on of his pockets.
R was running to a place only he knew about. An abandoned home with the simple commodities he needed to survive, with the exception of food. Although he hadn't figured out how yet, he'll find a way to provide himself with that soon as well. One thing he knew for sure. He had to get into contact with L.
In came Misa into their very own hotel complex. A sweat drop glistened down her face in the awkward silence that came. There was he, awaiting her arrival. Kira. Light. The man whose plans never fail, no matter how dire the situation is. And here she was about to destroy all the dreams and visions in his mind. There was no way to describe the immeasurable amount of pain that rolled over in her stomach as she was about to hurt her one true love.
"Misa is sorry." she said, choking on her own words. She stopped, breathing hard as she tried to voice the next set of thoughts. One sentence at a time.
"For what?" Light asked. He already knew something was wrong. Just by the stance Misa was standing in, something terrible had occurred, and it would ruin his plans of dominating the world.
She huffed in one final breath and walked up to him. She lifted herself up to his ear, and whispered into his ear. The camera that was placed behind them was unlucky to catch their moving lips.
"Misa retrieved the note like you asked, but Misa was attacked. Someone stole the note."
Light widened his eyes in disbelief. How could something like this have happened? Who could have known the secrets of the death note? Was this new person for or against Kira? And what would happen now if L figures out that another person had proclaimed the title of Kira, yet was not Misa? If he catches him or her, then L would be in possession of both death notes.
No, it doesn't matter if the newcomer is an ally of his or not. He was just getting in the way, and there was no way Light could risk pressing his luck in finding a second ally. Not so soon. It was best to just find the sap and eliminate him before he caused any damage.
Only, the next piece of knowledge would change everything. "He called himself R. Misa assumes he is like L?" Unbelievable. To think that there was someone like L out there right now. And not that he had to contend with one, but two detectives? The option of having a second ally was definitely out of the picture. He had to be aligned with L.
"It was terrible. Misa had just gotten the eyes once again, too."
Light was shocked that Misa would do that. Why had she done such an idiotic thing? Then, as if Misa had read his mind, she said, "Misa wished to be of use to Light again, but all Misa's chances were lost when she clumsily let the death note drop into strangers hands. Misa was caught surprised, and beaten up very badly.
Why couldn't Light have seen her bruises before? He hadn't even the seen the slightest bit of subtle hints that she had been beaten up. But now here they were. He felt as if it were partly his fault, and maybe it was. Who knew.
Trying to ignore her bruises for the time being, Light asked her, "Did you see his face or catch his name, by the chance?" Maybe a name or face might help him a little.
Misa shook her head, "It was too dark in the forest, and he caught Misa by surprise. Misa hadn't had the time to see his face. Otherwise Misa would have tried to write his name in the death note."
So, the next round in this detective business commenced. That was fine by Light. Light could use a challenge; things were beginning to get boring, to easy. 'R, so the battle is on. Let's see who can win this game. You, or I.' Maniacal laughter resumed in his cranium.
Meanwhile, L watched the couple from the camera. It was a worthless camera, but one thing he concluded was that Light and Misa were up to something. Light's percentage in being Kira had increased yet again. He asked himself. "Light, are you not Kira?"
Synopsis: In this chapter, I introduced to you the main characters. the stranger character named R has appeared in the park and doesn't know why he's there. It will be answered all in due time. You probably noticed that at the time when the entered the forest and Misa dug up the death note, that the scene was completely opposite of the one in the show. This reflects the dark emotion in my heart where the death note is concerned. As for the line at the end of the chapter, I just had to do that.
Comments: Yeah, I know my synopsis for this chapter kinda sucked, but I don't kow how much I can explain without giving the actual plot away, and where's the fun in that? This chapter took particularly long not in time but the amount of days it took me to finish it. I took only about 2 hours on it but spread out in like five days. So yeah...
Again, Having read this chapter, I would love to have a review. Thank you!