He was happy. He couldn't believe that a few minutes ago he had wanted to rid himself of his little brother…
"Straight A+'s," Ichiro replied, bored. "98 in biology…" he was cut off by the sudden noise of the front door swinging open.
"I'm HOME!" Kenshin announced. As if he needed to. Their mother was already running towards her younger son.
"How are your grades?" she asked anxiously. Kenshin shrugged.
"A's and B's. Can't top good ol' Ichi-chan, but, ya know, I try." He winked at Ichiro. Ichiro pretended not to notice. He hated that his brother could care for him so much when he himself simply felt jealous.
"I'll be in my room," Ichiro said coldly. Kenshin's face fell.
"Wha?" Ichiro ignored his brother and made his way up.
He locked his door behind him, then slid into his seat at his desk. He rubbed his temples distractedly. At school, he was king. Top grades, amazing athletic capabilities, and an attractive face to boot. But his parents didn't seem to notice this. For them, it was Kenshin this, Kenshin that. Could you do this for Kenshin? Could you help Kenshin with that?
Ichiro flicked on the computer screen and opened his history project. He was doing a report on the legendary "Kira", who had brought terror to the world's criminals nearly a century ago. Eighty nine years ago, to be exact. Ichiro opened a window containing the site He had found a mine of information on Kira at this website. The topic was actually quite interesting. It was yet unknown who Kira actually was, but the head of the investigation had informed the world that Kira had been caught and received the death penalty.
Ichiro wondered what it would be like to live in constant terror of someone who could kill you as soon as learn your name and face. And what would it be like to be Kira? Frightening… but exciting.
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Kaori deftly pulled back her hair into a loose ponytail as she sat down at her computer. She opened the Internet and typed in the website's url. After logging in and reconfirming her false identity thrice, she looked through the site index and clicked "The Other Kiras". She skimmed the long essay.
…Amane Misa disappeared shortly afterwards. Look-alikes have claimed to be her, but DNA testing proved them to be lying. Her true location remains unknown…
DNA testing! Kaori returned to the main site, and scrolled trough "Vital Information". DNA… she thought as she looked for the DNA information for Amane-san. She began to despair of finding any, but at last found a small note:
Amane Misa disappeared before sufficient technology was developed to record all DNA information. However, what little was found has been collected here.
Kaori clicked the link. This information was indeed meager, but Kaori carefully entered it into her computer program. She pulled up five other sites and entered information from each into the program. At last, quivering with the excitement of the culmination of her three-year project, she clicked "process".
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Raito followed Miyagi Ayame through the halls of high school. The current possessor of the death note was a small, red-brown haired ninth grader, popular among her fellow freshmen, who was dating Yoshida Kenshin. Raito seethed behind her back. The stupid girl didn't even know what the note was. He doubted that she even remembered where she had gotten it.
But Raito remembered. He remembered all too clearly the day his plans for entertainment had been cruelly and savagely torn apart by this girl.
Ayame followed Ichiro and Kenshin into the house of the late Akita-sama. Unnoticed, Raito followed the trio. His hands were still shaking from the thrill of killing his latest victim – Nobu Akita, 97 years old, cause of death, car accident.
As the first day had progressed, Raito had realized there would be no excitement from the old man. He had finished him quickly, and placed the notebook in a visible shelf near the entrance to Akita-sama's home.
Unfortunately, the boy he had intended to find it – the older one – hadn't recognized it. But Ayame noticed its beautifully decorated black cover, and silently snuck it into her pocket.
That was nine years ago. Five year old Ayame had hidden away her stolen property in fear of being discovered, and hadn't looked back at it. So Raito was stuck following her. Why didn't he kill her? He himself had wondered that often enough.
The truth was, though at times Raito felt heartless, a small inner sense of justice had prevailed regarding Ayame. It helped that there was a chance that he could sneak the book to the Yoshida boy through Ayame. So he waited. He wondered. He experimented.
His youthful appearance could not be marred. He could not be hurt. He could severe and reattach his limbs. The blood from his right wing had similar properties to a healing salve. He could plan a death years in advance. Such were the mostly useless conclusions he had come to after nine long years of experimenting.
But they weren't completely useless. Because Yamagami Raito never did anything without a purpose. And he had a plan.
"Ayame!" an unfamiliar voice called. Raito looked up, and his eyes widened.
"Misa?"
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