Brad sat completely still. He wasn't sure what a shinigami was.
"What do you mean?"
The man brought his hand to his forehead and sighed. "It means god of death."
"A god of death? You don't look like a god, or death," Brad admitted.
"Name's Zaramaru. I dropped that Death Note you wrote in," the man explained anyways.
"You dropped it? I didn't even see anyone. How did you drop it?"
Zaramaru stared blankly at Brad. "It got knocked out of my pouch," he replied as he looked to his side. Brad noticed he had a messenger bag-like sack strapped to his side. He noticed another Death Note inside.
"You have two?"
"I've got to have more than one if I'm traveling the human world. I can NOT drop my own Death Note."
Brad sat puzzled for a minute. 'Human world' ran through his head. "So you actually think you're a god of death then?"
"I don't think. I am! More specifically, your god of death at this moment."
"My god of death? What for?"
"You're taking this a lot easier than most humans would," Zaramaru chuckled as he moved his gray hair out of his face.
"Well...to be honest, you aren't intimidating."
Zaramaru frowned. He lifted his hands. A massive sword appeared out of thin air. He gripped it and swung it around, pointing it at Brad. Brad backed away on his bed.
"Shinigami has a few different translations in your language. Did you even read the rules to the Death Note?"
Brad blinked a few times and swallowed hard. He shook his head slowly. Zaramaru facepalmed once again, holding his sword with only one hand. Brad had to admire his strength to do so.
"You wrote peoples's names in the Death Note. When you do that, they die...to put it simply...there are quite a bit of rules."
Brad tilted his head. He looked over to his desk. He decided to get up slowly and move over to the desk. Zaramaru's red eyes followed him. Brad opened up the Death Note to the black pages once again. This time, the words were clear.
"They were blurry before..."
"Death Notes are used by us shinigami, so the words are translated to those who see it."
"You are speaking English though. Shinigami sounds like a Japanese word."
"Just...don't question the supernatural," Zaramaru stated.
Brad couldn't help but nod. He had to agree with that statement. He studied the first pages. As he read, he grew more and more angry. He saw his mistake. He didn't realize he had killed his own friends.
"That's not fair..."
"Life isn't very fair kid," Zaramaru replied.
Zaramaru floated over to Brad. He didn't think too much off it now. In a few seconds, he had accepted what he had done. He clenched his fists.
"Why did you have to drop this?!" Brad demanded.
Zaramaru smirked. "Wasn't my fault, but hey, you're the one who picked it up."
Brad smacked the Death Note off his desk. It landed to the side.
"You're stuck with me until I decide you need to die," Zaramaru chuckled as he floated to his side.
"I noticed that. I don't go to heaven or hell, just nothing..."
The Death Note sat open on the floor. Brad glared at it. He didn't want his mom coming in here and touching it, so he sat up and picked it up.
"Brad, who are you talking to?" He heard his mom call out.
'What timing,' Brad told himself.
"As long as she doesn't touch it, she won't see me," Zaramaru said as he poked his head through the door.
Brad jerked in surprise to see the strange being do such a thing. "She's kinda cute."
"That's my mom! Just...don't!"
"I'm just messing around. Trying to lighten the mood."
Brad frowned. His mom opened the door and walked right through Zaramaru.
"What was that hun?"
"Nothing, sorry. Guess just talking to myself."
His mom gave him another hug and said, "You need to get some sleep."
Brad nodded after she let go of him. She left and closed the door behind her. Brad looked to Zaramaru.
"I don't sleep," he stated bluntly.
Brad's expression became uncomfortable. Zaramaru could tell. "I'll wait outside. I need to make sure what made me drop that Death Note, doesn't come back."
"And what would that be?"
"Another soul reaper, or death god. Shinigami is such an easier word. Mind if I keep to that? It's just so normal for me."
Brad cracked a smile at how American Zaramaru seemed. "Why would another god of- er...shinigami...be after you?"
Zaramaru smiled widely again. It gave Brad a chill. As human as Zaramaru was, he didn have a morbid look about him. He simply pointed to the Death Note.
"I was able to get that before he was."
Brad looked at his Death Note. He wasn't sure how comfortable he felt that another god of death was out there, looking for it.
Zaramaru walked through the wall, waving behind him. Brad stood in the center of his room, unsure of what to do or say. He looked to his Death Note. He opened it back to the rules and crawled into his bed. He turned his ceiling light off and a desk light on.
He began to look over the rules carefully. He studied them over and over.
The sun shined in from Brad's only window. He had no blinds or curtains to cover the rays. The sun reached his face as it slowly rose in the sky. After a few minutes, Brad had opened his eyes. Zaramaru sat in front of him.
Brad yelled out a bit in shock to the grimmed face shinigami. Zaramaru laughed.
"You're up dear? How are you feeling?" Brad's mother called out.
Brad sat up and rubbed his eyes with his palms. His sheets slid down to his lap. The cold room air sent a quick chill all over his bare torso.
His door opened. His mother poked her head in. Zaramaru leaned completely back, almost like ghosts would do in some horror movies Brad had seen. Brad took his eyes off of the shinigami and looked back to his mother.
"You look like you were studying all night," his mother admitted.
Brad was studying the Death Note, so his eyes must've shown it.
"Just couldn't sleep I guess."
"Well, tell you what, I'll call the school and let them know you won't be there today. I'll make you your favorite breakfast as well."
"Sounds good mom." Brad said, with a slight smile.
"She seems nice," Zaramaru said.
Brad instinctively looked towards the shinigami, without thinking how weird it would be to his mother to see him staring at his floor. He shook his head and nodded. "Thanks mom."
She smiled and closed the door. Zaramaru sat up straight.
"So did anything bad happen last night?" Brad asked quietly.
"No, it looks like the other shinigami seems to have kept his distance."
"Well good..."
"So I could tell you were reading all the rules," Zaramaru said as he stood up and stretched.
"There are so many of them. It's so elobrate. My logical senses tell me this thing is garbage, but you are here, and my mother can't see you...either I'm going crazy, or this thing is completely real," Brad ranted.
"Well there is only one way to test it."
Brad nodded. "It's incredibly morbid."
"I am a god of death!" Zaramaru emphasized.
Brad waved his hands at him to dismiss his statement. "I know...at least I think I do. But you are right. If this thing works, at least it tells me I'm not crazy."
Zaramaru seemed to chuckle at the idea. Brad climbed out of his bed and stretched. He picked up the clothes he barely managed to take off before he fell asleep. He tossed them into his hamper of dirty clothes.
"If you could stay here...I'd prefer not to be watched while I shower."
"Do I look like some sort of pervert?" Zaramaru cackled.
Brad didn't feel he needed to reply. He simply grabbed clean clothes from his closet and walked a bit down the hallway. His father was already gone to work, and his mother was busy in the kitchen, so he didn't feel so awkward walking around in his boxers. The bathroom was in the same hall as his room.
After turning the light on, Brad set his clean clothes on the counter, next to the sink. He closed the door and locked it, out of habit. He stood in front of the sink and stared at himself in the mirror.
'You're not crazy, Brad,' he told himself, "Or am I?'
He turned on the water and cupped his hands underneath it. He splashed it against his face. The water felt nice, even though it was cold. Brad turned to the shower and turned on the water. It would take a few seconds to become hot.
He sat down on top of the closed toilet. He put his face in his hands.
"Hey, what's your mom cooking?" Zaramaru asked, poking his head through the wall.
Brad jumped up from the toilet in surprise. He frowned in anger. "Why?!" He demanded loudly.
"Hey, human food is so much more...fresh than shinigami food. Our realm is mostly barren. Why do you think I'm hear?"
"Brad? You okay?" Brad's mom asked outside the door.
"Yeah, sorry. I just...um...dropped my shampoo...?" Brad questioned as he said it.
"Oh...okay...well hurry in there. Your food will be ready soon."
Brad looked to Zaramaru. He frowned and backed away out of the bathroom. Brad shook his head. He dropped his boxers to the floor and got in the shower. He stood there, letting the water hit him as he rested his head against the shower wall.
He sighed and decided it was best to finish showering so he could eat.
It was only a few minutes in the shower and then a few minutes getting dressed and spiking his hair. His hair always looked the best right after getting ready.
He headed out to the kitchen. His mom was wearing her apron. Brad knew that was a sign of her cooking his favorite kinds of pancakes. She was clumsy so she got the powder everywhere. That's why she wore the apron.
"Hope you like them!" She cheerily said to him.
"Of course I will mom."
Brad sat down and ate several pancakes. After eating several stacks, he left a few on his plate. He leaned back in his chair. He watched his mom cleaning up at the kitchen sink. She was staring out the window.
"Hey, you going to finish those?" Zaramaru asked.
Brad jumped slightly. For a few minutes, he had forgotten he was haunted by the shinigami. He shook his head to Zaramaru. The god of death smiled widely and floated through the kitchen table and picked up the pancakes. He ate them in one bite. Brad had never seen anything so horrifying when it came to food.
"Thanks!" He exclaimed as he licked his lips. "I love human food!"
"Huh...that's strange. I've seen that kid walk by our house several times." Brad's mother said as she set dishes into the drainer.
Zaramaru looked over to the window. Brad eyed him carefully.
"Oh...shit."
Brad looked to his mother, unsure of what Zaramaru was worried about. His mother reached for a kitchen knife in the sink. She turned to Brad. Her eyes seemed blank. Soap and water dripped from the knife as she raised it to her throat.
"Mom!" Brad exclaimed.
"I love you son," she said slowly and zombie-like, almost like she was being forced to.
"Shit! It's another Death Note! Get away from the windows!" Zaramaru yelled.
Brad's eyes were already filled with tears, even before the knife began to cut at her neck. He watched her drag the knife roughly across her throat, blood pouring out.
"If you don't wanna die, get away from the FUCKING WINDOWS!" Zaramaru shouted.
Brad watched his mother fall to the floor. In the distance, he saw person holding a black notebook. Instinctively, Brad kicked off the table, causing himself to fall to the floor.
"He has the eyes! He found us after all!"
Crawling on the ground, Brad sniffled. He wasn't sure what to do.
"We're sitting ducks in here as long as he has the shinigami eyes. Fucking hell," Zaramaru stated.
He couldn't look back to his mother. He couldn't bring himself to see. Brad was blaming himself for picking up the Death Note and causing this all to happen.
After a few seconds, he clenched his fists. "No, we are getting out of here."
"You have an idea, huh?"
"Sort of," Brad replied, trying not to break down again.
Brad crawled quickly, avoiding the areas of the house with windows. He went into his room first, rolling in as fast as he could, and grabbed his Death Note. Zaramaru was spotting for him.
"I don't think he can get over here fast enough to see you."
"Good," Brad said as he grabbed a couple of pens.
He held the Death Note close and subtly went out to the entrance hallway. He put the black notebook in his bag and the pens. Brad zipped up the bag, and put it on his back.
"What's your idea?" Zaramaru asked.
"In the garage."
Brad crawled back towards the kitchen. He remained focused and didn't look at his mother. On the other side of the kitchen, there was a door to the garage. Brad made it easily and went inside.
There wasn't any windows inside, so Brad stood up and turned on the light. Zaramaru ran his head along the outside of the garage.
"He can't see me unless he touches that Death Note of yours. You can't see his shinigami either."
"I know, I know. What's he doing?"
"Waiting. He is walking slowly over here, but he is just waiting."
Brad walked over to his father's shelves that were in the garage. He smiled as he saw what he came in here for.
"Good thing my dad was always too busy to make his motorcycle love into a practical hobby."
Zaramaru looked back over his shoulder and smiled as he saw the motorcycle helmet that was on the shelf.
Brad picked it up and put it on.
"So where are we off to?"
"My dad. I've got to tell him things...just in case."
"Well don't you think leading this guy to your dad will be a bad idea?"
"I'll get to him first...I have a feeling of what my dad will say, so we may not have to worry."
Zaramaru tilted his head, but nodded anyways. Brad put the black visor down on the helmet. He slammed the button to open the garage door. As soon as it was open enough, he ran.
