JUSTICE

Summary: Mai Takashi cares for both Light and L. She also has a Death Note of her own. The most dangerous game of cat and mouse can only end in betrayal. Whose name will be the last written in the Death Note?

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Death Note.

But I do own Mai Takashi and her family and Taki and his stupid goons and the Shinigami Grim. You'll meet Grim later. He'll be fun, I promise. :)

So anyways! Hello! And thanks for stopping by to read "Justice" :)
This is my first Death Note story, so go easy on me! Haha. Just kidding there. Reviews are always welcome.

Before I begin, I just want to say that I'm sorry in advance because this chapter doesn't have ANY characters you're familiar with, but I think it's necessary to set up the story.

Have no fear though! Our favorite detective will be in the next chapter!

Enjoy!

PS. Mai is 8 years old in this chapter.

Chapter 1

"Mai? Come downstairs, honey. Dinner is almost ready."

Lynn Takashi wiped her hands on her apron as she walked back into the kitchen and began moving food into the adjoining dining room. She arranged the plates neatly, topping the table off with a small vase of flowers before poking her head out into the foyer.

"Mai, I won't tell you again!"

Catching a glance at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall, Lynn sighed and quickly brushed back the stray hair that fell wildly around her face. Satisfied, she marched to the foot of the stairs, hands on her hips.

Her daughter could get so distracted at times. Just as she was about to yell up to Mai again, the front door opened and Ken Takashi stepped inside. Lynn smiled, welcoming her husband home from a long day at work.

"Perfect timing, dear! I just set dinner on the table. Now if only Mai would -"

"Dad!"

Mai nearly flew down the stairs and into her father's arms. Ken caught her easily, spinning her around once and setting her back down gently. Lynn smiled, shaking her head slightly as she led her family into the dining room. They settled down in their usual seats and began eating.

"So how was your day, dear?" Lynn asked her husband, scooping another spoonful of vegetables on her daughter's plate. Mai frowned, stabbing the carrots roughly before shoving them in her mouth and reluctantly swallowing the horrible orange sticks.

"Well we finally caught our original suspect that managed to slip away last week," Ken announced proudly. "And with the new evidence the team gathered, it looks like he'll be put away for a very long time."

Lynn smiled. "That's good to hear, honey!"

Ken nodded, turning towards Mai who was still maiming her helpless vegetables. He held back a laugh. "How was school today, Mai? Did you learn anything new?"

Mai's head jerked up as she thrust a folded piece of paper in front of her parents. "Here, I drew another picture for you" she said softly, hope shimmering in her dark brown eyes.

Ken cast a worried glance to his wife. Lynn moved to stand next to her husband as he unfolded the paper to reveal Mai's drawing. Lynn gasped softly and Ken only hung his head, clearly disappointed.

"Mom? Dad? Don't you like my drawing?" Mai asked quietly, fearful that she already knew what their answer would be but figured she'd ask anyways. Who knows, maybe they would change their minds this time. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, anxious. When she didn't receive an answer from her parents, she slouched down in her chair, pouting as she asked again.

"Mom…?"

Lynn sighed, unsure how to answer her daughter. Ken rested a hand on his wife's shoulder and cleared his throat.

"Mai, honey. I know you like to draw and your mother and I think you're very good. But sweetie, what you've been drawing lately has your mother and I scared."

Mai tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

He sighed, spreading out the paper on the table and pointing to the skeletal figure that consumed it from edge to edge. The monster had a wicked grin on its face and it hunched over itself, its body contorted and twisted. Black wings were drawn coming from its back and its eyes glowed an eerie red.

It looked like death and terrified Mai's parents to no end.

Mai ran her hand over her drawing before looking up to meet her mother's worried stare. Lynn shook her head at her daughter, sighing. "Why do you draw such things, Mai?"

Mai retracted her hand from the paper and folded it with her other in her lap, casting her gaze down. She took a breath and closed her eyes, seeing only the monster's face in her mind. Shuddering, she finally opened her mouth to speak…

BOOM

Ken and Lynn flew forward, tumbling over the table and landing on the floor with a loud thud. Mai fell back out of her chair, screaming as she slammed roughly against the wall. Smoke rapidly began to fill the room, obscuring their vision and making it difficult to breathe.

Ken pulled Lynn and Mai to their feet, shoving them towards the stairs as he shouted, "Go, get out of here! Whatever you do, don't look back! GO!"

He coughed, the smoke quickly filling up his lungs. He watched as his wife and daughter hurried out of the room and disappeared up the stairs before turning around. He stumbled forward, catching his breath as he whipped out his cell phone and called the police.

"Yes, hello? This is Ken Takashi, something is going on at my house! I think a bomb may have gone off, my address is -!"

Ken gasped, grunting as he felt his body go numb before collapsing to the floor. Blood trickled down the back of his head and neck, soaking through his shirt and collecting in a small puddle around him.

He felt his vision begin to blur as he struggled to sit up, his head spinning. Gasping for air, he craned his neck up to see a group of men surrounding him. He coughed, spewing blood but persisted to ask, "Who…Why…?"

A man stepped forward holding a metal baseball bat. The man smirked, letting his weapon hover to the side of Ken's head before he pulled it back to swing.

"You shouldn't have arrested that man today."

(*** *** ***)

Lynn pulled Mai into her room, slamming the door behind them and flipping the lock. Frantic, she fell to her knees and grasped her daughter by the shoulders.

"Mai, listen to me. I need you to hide under the bed, okay? Whatever you hear, whatever you see, just stay under the bed." She shook Mai gently. "Honey, do you understand? Stay under the bed. Can you do that for me?"

Mai only nodded, tears filling her eyes. Lynn pulled her in for a quick hug before shoving her under the bed and pulling the bed skirt down to the floor. Almost as soon as she stood to face the door, it flew open and slammed into the wall, nearly falling off its hinges.

Lynn screamed and dodged one of the men as they all attempted to grab her. She ran for the window, struggling with the lock before one of the men pulled her back roughly by her hair.

"No! Stop!" she yelled, horror in her eyes as the man holding the baseball bat, which was now dripping blood, stepped up to her. The men around her snickered and held her arms behind her so she couldn't escape.

The man with the bat just smiled, titling his head to one side as if observing every detail of Lynn's face. He licked his lips.

"You know guys, maybe we should have some fun with this one first," he said coldly.

Another one of the men sighed, clearly annoyed. "Come on, Taki. You know we don't have time for that. You heard that guy downstairs on the phone with the police. They'll be here any minute. Let's just kill the bitch and torch the place before they get here."

Taki narrowed his eyes, contemplating the situation. His decision was easily made for him, however, when the echo of sirens rang out in the distance. He smirked, shrugging as he raised the bat above his head.

Lynn gasped, struggling against her captors. "Please!" she begged, attempting to free herself from their grip but to no avail.

Taki only continued smiling as he brought his bat down, swinging hard and ruthlessly. As the sirens drew closer, Taki and the other men dropped their weapons and disappeared, leaving a young girl staring in horror at the scene of her mother's brutal death.

Mai's mouth hung open, her eyes wide and tearful. She gasped softly, soon finding it hard to breathe. Sniffing the air, she coughed and quickly covered her mouth. A darker smoke than before snaked into the room, followed closely by a building fire.

Mai panicked, bolting from under the bed. She scanned the room quickly for an exit, noticing the window latch was now open. Frantic, she struggled across the blood stained floor and jerked the window open. She could feel the fire growing closer as she climbed out onto the roof.

Tears streaming down her face, Mai forced herself not to look back at the bloody scene behind her as she attempted to slide down the roof to where she could jump. Just as she reached the edge, her foot slipped and she fell, her screams muffled by the sirens that were now beginning to surround her house.

She landed hard but didn't bother to process the damage that was done. She jumped to her feet and ran, tripping over herself and falling again, skidding across the pavement roughly. Mai struggled to pull herself up, fresh tears spilling over her eyes.

Looking around for help, she managed to pull herself to her knees as she continued her desperate search for anyone, anything that could help her. She scanned the area, breathing heavy as adrenaline pumped through her veins.

Just as she was about to give up, Mai gasped and froze, her eyes staring straight up into the darkening sky. She watched as it fell, floating gently to the ground. It hit the pavement softly only a few feet away from her.

Mai willed her body to move as she crawled forward, her hand reaching out. She was almost there, just a few more feet…

The sirens were loud, and she could hear the shouts of police surrounding her burning home. People all around her were screaming, but for some reason she suddenly didn't care anymore.

Mai gritted her teeth, reaching out further. Almost there…

Her house was collapsing, the world and life she once knew was disappearing. Mai couldn't comprehend any of it. She was tired, confused and scared.

Only a few more inches...

She gripped the notebook tightly, sliding it back across the dirt and into her aching embrace. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. When she finally opened them, she gasped, screaming as the monster from her dreams closed in on her.

And then everything was black.

So that was Chapter 1! Hopefully it wasn't too dreadful?

Again, I needed to share Mai's background and what she's about before throwing her in with all the other characters. And yes, Mai now has a Death Note. But she doesn't know it yet. She's smart but she's young. Haha. :)

I'm thinking for the next chapter Mai will still be 8 years old, but then starting with Chapter 3 there will be a 10 year time skip and she'll be 18. That's my plan as of now anyways.

And for this story, I will try to update once a week. Hopefully I can get onto some sort of schedule and update every Friday or something. We'll see what happens!

And as for the romantic pairing… Because what's a good story without romance? :p
Hmm. Should I make Mai fall for L or for Light? (I already know who she's going to fall for, but what do you think?)

Reviews are always welcome!