An experimental story, a twenty-five year old woman dies and is reincarnated in the body of Sayu Yagami, with her previous memories intact. She gets caught in the middle of a wildfire. I make no promises to finish this but I will try my best. No beta-readers or a second sweep to check grammar/spelling. I should really do that. Features Sayu with a back bone. Constructive criticism is appreciated, so please take the time to read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.

I died from a motorcycle accident.

No, I didn't get hit by a truck.

It happened between 1 to 2 o'clock in the morning, right after work. Just a little background, I work for the film industry—I was part of the production crew, unfortunately. I work with the lighting because I was planning on becoming a cinematographer one day. But I died, so now I don't even know what to say to that dream anymore. Now considering how the movie was going to be medieval, the setting was by the mountains. We booked a few nights at a nearby hotel, took our vans to the shooting location, set up our equipment, and proceeded to rehearse and film. It was rather late when we finished, so I decided to leave the clean-up job to the rest of the crew. Besides, I was only in charge of the lights.

I grabbed my helmet, zipped up my jacket, and started my motorcycle. Anyone can already guess what was about to happen to me.

The road was newly cemented and it didn't have any street lights. I suppose that was to be expected; we were on a mountain after all. I didn't know when I was going to take the left turn. I should have figured it was the wrong way when I saw how the road was slowly turning into a dirt trail. And since I couldn't tell what was what, I was only a few feet from running over a flock of sheep. I didn't bother hitting the brakes, so I skidded to my right, and you know the rest. There were no railings to stop me, but even if there were, I would still be falling. It wasn't like the cartoon type of fall where I was at the edge of a cliff. It was more like mountain slope of a sort, only it had rocks and stray trees everywhere.

I tumbled down, feeling the sharp rocks tearing off my mesh jacket as it dug to my skin, and the weak branches littered all over the ground being snapped in half. I tried grabbing a fist full of grass but it was only ripped off from the ground. All I could do was think, 'What will happen to my family? Who will look after Caramel, my cat?' Funny how it felt ten minutes when in reality it could have been just a few seconds. I stopped as soon as my head bashed onto a convenient, rough boulder. It was a pathetic and bloody way to die. I don't really know if this was better than dying slowly and excruciatingly on a hospital bed. There was a sharp, agonizing pain at the back of my head as I felt my body slip down to the ground. I couldn't think properly other than, 'it hurts f-fuck my head I'm bleeding it hurts it hurts hurts fuck no no please no I don't want to die'. I couldn't bring myself to think of anything else.

Several minutes passed. How long I was there? It hurt every time I moved.

I struggled to keep myself awake. Eventually, I decided not to fret much. I knew I was going to die. It was dark, and the wind brushed against my cheeks. The trees rustled, and I felt at peace. … Maybe this isn't so bad, I thought as I loosened my grip on the soft, green grass.

I didn't know when I closed my eyes but the next thing I remembered was something pulling me out from the darkness.

It was the 18th of June. Back then, I didn't know the date but I could vividly recall three things: a blur of moving shapes, a repulsive stench, and the sound of a foreign language. Someone, something held me up and I tried to wiggle out of its grasp. I was naked. For a short, awful moment, I thought the impossible: I was abducted by enormous aliens. As funny as that sound, I was scared shitless and I didn't know what to do—they were strong; no matter how much I tried to kick them, they wouldn't budge. I tried to speak to them, something along the lines of-"What are you doing?" but all I heard was garble. What is happening to me - I grabbed onto something (Arms, maybe? My eyes were still adjusting to the lights), and then I stopped. Oh god, oh god—my hands are tiny. Oh no no-

I did what I could do at this type of situation. I cried in confusion.

I didn't want to believe it. I absolutely refuse to accept the fact that I was an infant. I whimpered pathetically as they took a white cloth and swiftly wrapped it over my small frame. I was moved to the side of a rectangular white blur, which I presumed to be the hospital bed. Someone grabbed hold of me, though this time it wasn't as professional as a doctor's hold. It was gentle and caring. This must be the mother, I thought, feeling a little calmer when she whispered a soft, foreign language into my ear. She dried my tears away, and swayed me lightly. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying. It definitely wasn't English.

"What will be her name?" someone asked. Judging from the voice, it was a man.

"… Sayu, Yagami Sayu," the mother replied, sounding pleased by her choice of name.

I had no clue what they were actually saying, of course but it was enough for me to know that it definitely wasn't German, Spanish, or French. It sounded like a language from Asia. Maybe Korean or Japanese, I don't know. I've been to Chinatown once or twice; just enough to know the sound of the Chinese language. Either way, I was just glad they were human. As she slowed her swaying pace, I slowly succumbed to sleep; God knows how much I needed one right now.

There were so many things running in my head, but one thing was for certain: I couldn't deny what's in front of me.

I was reincarnated. What a surprise; it was definitely not what I had in mind when I was in the brink of death. I wasn't a religious person, my (real) parents were, but I was the type of person who would automatically assume that there was nothing after death. It was weird. Everything looked so big, and I was so tiny. Only minutes ago (or it could have been hours; hard to say), I had my bloodied head slumped on the grass, admiring nature. And now I'm half-way across the world, born in a new family with no knowledge of their local language.

Several weeks passed, and I began to discover things about my new life. Apparently, I was given the name 'Sayu'. It didn't take too long for me to find out seeing as how they kept on cooing that name whenever they walked over to the crib. I also couldn't form any coherent words, nor could I move to stand or walk—believe me, I tried. But the best I could do was flip over my stomach and crawl around the crib for exercise. I also learned that I lived in Japan with a brother three years older than me, a mother who stays at home, and a working father; a typical patriarchal family.

Reincarnation was a lot more complicated than I thought. Although it didn't occur to me just how complicated it was until later on, I did find out that I was born back in 1989. I assumed that if we were reincarnated, we'd be born on the year we died. But I guess I was wrong. It did make me wonder if somewhere on the other side of Earth; I was living my first life. Turns out I was wrong with that assumption too. How wrong, I don't even know where to begin.

During the next few months, my new parents found out that I picked up a lot quicker than 'normal' children. This had nothing to do with being a prodigy, but the fact that I still had a working, adult mind. My motor skills took a while to develop, but that was quickly solved when they decided to bring out the play pen. My surroundings were a lot bigger than the crib, so I got to crawl around. I could stand up for a minute or two without holding onto the railings before I fell on the soft carpet. Teething was the annoying part, but I don't want to recount my dreadful days of being an infant. Only this: used diapers, food goo, and milk. Enough said.

However, there was that one day that stood out from all the rest. You know how you'd sometimes remember snippets of your early childhood years? To me, this was one of them.

The day I realised something was wrong was the day I found out the name of my brother.

I know it's a little weird to say that but this was how it happened. I was practicing on getting my mouth to speak at least one English word—Caramel, to be exact (how I miss that furball). It only slurred into another incoherent word, "kaahhwamue" or something like that. It was annoying, but one thing I got to learn from all of this was patience. My brother walked up to the play pen with his short stubby legs and stretched out his arm. I took hold of his finger instinctively.

He spoke short, but fluent sentences—he was doing pretty well for a 4 year old, if you ask me. He pointed at his ridiculously red backpack, and tried to carry me out of the pen. I could hear someone calling out "Raito", by the hallway. It didn't bother me at first, since I was too amused at the fact that he was trying to bring me to his school. Another "Raito?", which prompted him to quicken his pace. He looked worriedly over me then to the hallway, and shouted back, "In a minute!"

And with that, my brother successfully got me out of the play pen with two huffs. He wrapped his arms around my waist and trotted down the hallway. I admit it was adorable. Mom's face instantly looked panic-struck when she saw the both of us moving towards her. She frantically took me out of his grasp, "Yagami Light, I told you, you can't bring your sister to school! We're going to be late!"

"But mama—"

"Come on, you go with your father to the car. He'll drop you off to your school, dear."

"Bye bye, Sayuu," he murmured to me-or at least, that was I assumed he said. I don't know; I was too busy reeling over that last sentence!

Did she just say Yagami Light? Yagami…- Holy shit.

My name is Sayu Yagami.

No. No, don't think too much! This could be a coincidence, a terrifying coincidence. As much as I want to go over to and check the Internet for answers, I don't think they'd be too thrilled to see their 8 month old daughter going over her father's laptop to check on Google regarding the existence of L. Would he appear on Google though? I panicked. I probably looked like I was close to crying by the way mom was moving around to see if anything was wrong. "Ssh, ssh… It's okay Sayu. Light will be back later this afternoon, okay?" She turned to her husband, with an eye-crinkling smile, "Soichirou, it seems your daughter's going to miss her big brother!"

Soichirou—Oh shit, no, Yagami Shoichirou, what was even going on?! Unaware of my inner dilemma, Shoichirou returned the smile and went over to kiss the side of my head. I could feel the bristle of his moustache. At the corner of my eye, I saw Light's delighted expression. "Big brother will be back, Sayu!" He chirped. Soichirou walked down the steps with his hand on Light's small shoulder. I've been too preoccupied in developing my body, I didn't bother remembering their names. Now that I thought about it, mom's name was Sachiko. Sachiko Yagami.

It's been nearly seven years since I've been a fan of the series. I was young back then; I wanted to work as an animator of some sort, Japanese animation at first, then I wanted to try my hand at Pixar. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly gifted in terms of drawing but one thing I excelled at was photography. The art of painting light; and that was why I yearned for the position of becoming a cinematographer. But that wasn't important right now. I had a megalomaniac killer as a brother. Granted, he wasn't one right now—he's far too young, but that's not the point! I was now living in a world where death gods lurked around, killing either for duty, fun, or boredom! Years from now, I'd be witnessing the long battle between L and Kira. And I was going to be kidnapped by the mafia. No fucking way I'm going through that shit.

Suddenly, I felt really scared, anxious, and confused like the day I was born all over again.

And so without even thinking, I said my first word.

It wasn't mama, it wasn't papa, it wasn't caramel, and as much I wanted it to be- it wasn't food.

"Light?!" I shrieked. Although with my infant body, it sounded more like a squeal. And it didn't sound like, "Raito" either. I said it in my clipped, English accent. I was lucky no one noticed. Instead, they seemed absolutely overjoyed I said my first word. Light looked very smug that his name was my first word. Four years old or not, I'd really like the wipe that annoying smile off his face. It wasn't funny.

I was reincarnated in the world of Death Note, and that wasn't something to be happy about.

Ridiculously fast-paced. I'm still wondering if I should make her find the death note first and burn it, or just let the story play out.