Chapter 2

"Listen for the voice of god then follow it, and know that in time that you will find your salvation."

"I haven't done anything but he said he wanted to split up with me."

"So what happened?"

"Did you hear about the guy in Tokyo who told everyone that he was Kira?"

"No. Did he kill anybody, was it him?"

"Who do you think this L guy is?"

The whispered conversations around him were acting as an irritant, their voices mixing with the steady drone of the teacher into useless noise. Light glanced at his classmates in concealed contempt, wondering at their naivety. To be consumed by such trifle matters as dating, a short-term relationship that held little meaning or substance and yet was clung to as if was a binding force.

"Yagami-kun, is anything wrong?"

Light turned his attention to the teacher; irritated that he was singled out for his inattention when the chatter of the others were simply ignored. That was the way of his life, Light could not put a single foot wrong without it immediately being noticed and commented on. He was constantly being watched, readily appraised when he succeeded at something, but should he fall short they would tear into him immediately. What was better than watching the mighty fall after all?

"Can you translate the previous sentence into Japanese please."

With a sigh Light stood, the book resting in one hand as his eyes traced the unfamiliar english characters and began to read in a slow steady voice.

"Follow the teachings of God and receive his blessings, and so it will be that the seas will once again become bountiful and the raging storms will subside."

He once more took his seat, his mind turning inwards as he dissected his own strange behaviour, something which was taking up much of his time lately. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, much as every other day had for years. Apart from the continued mentions of Kira, the recent broadcast and his own intense emotions, he would have thought that nothing in his world had changed. A foolish wish he did not dwell on.

In part he admitted that he agreed with the fact that Kira was killing criminals, a conviction that made him uncomfortable and did not voice to any other living soul. Kira was wrong, anybody with enough sense could see it, and yet.

Light had come to the conclusion that his sympathy for Kira's goal was what had set of the negative reaction to the broadcast. Yes, Kira's method was flawed but already crime rates have steadily declined. Light knew this from having hacked into his father's work files, an ability he rarely made use of considering his father often told him about certain cases to learn his thoughts on the matter.

Was Kira really evil as L had claimed, or was Kira simply trying to do some good in the world when all others were too afraid or lacked the power?

"Today at approximately eleven am, a thirty- two year old man was found stabbed to death in his apartment in the city of Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. The Kanagawa police are treating this case as a homicide."

The drone of the news surrounded him as Light made his way home, a depressing melody that consisted of blood and death. Dark secrets, betrayal, greed, lust, jealousy, sadistic pleasure and broken promises. It was the melody of a dying race, a world that was slowly rotting at the core and caving in on itself.

"Next on the news. Today in the district of Shibuya, Tokyo, a twenty-five year old woman was gagged and then killed by her partner. Thirty-five year old, Tofuji Naoki, was being held in custody charged with her murder. Two hours after his arrest, Tofuji Naoki was found dead in his cell. The cause of death was confirmed as a sudden heart-attack and is being attributed to the works of Kira."

Rage, hate, lust and greed, sometimes these were stronger even than the fear of death. In these aspects Kira was powerless. Light saw this, knew the fight for justice to be futile. Humanity was born with the rot already inside, spreading as time passed. To cleanse the world would be to annihilate all humanity, an impossible and foolish notion. It was all so bloody useless.

His dark mood might have shown in his face, his posture, he did not particularly care as he was given a relatively wide berth considering the crowded streets. The more he watched Kira, the more depression and anger took hold. Depressed because murder was used to combat murder, justified or not and angry because it was the only way that society was going to change.

His family must also have noticed his foul mood for they greeted him cheerfully but made themselves busy elsewhere, even little Sayu. It was times like these that he was truly grateful for his family. They respected his privacy most of the time and knew that peace and quiet would alleviate his temper.

He allowed himself to be pulled into small talk as they ate dinner, his answers polite if a little distant, but his smile and eyes soft. He had calmed down somewhat, some of his optimism slowly returning as he allowed himself to relax slightly. It was people like his family that made life worth living, despite the darkness that threatened society. It was their safety, their lives and happiness that kept them fighting for justice, even if it was a futile exercise.

That night sleep came easier, his inner turbulence calming down enough for exhaustion to take him. His sleep was dreamless.

"Another noticeable consequence is the extinction of many species on the planet."

"No way! You paid to see that?"

"Species are now becoming extinct at a faster rate than has ever occurred in recorded history."

Light had been staring out the window, the lesson dragging onwards at a tedious pace when a flash of black had caught his eye. He watched the little black book descend, intrigued. A little thrill of excitement had run up his spine at the sight of the book and he found himself entranced for reason unknown to him.

The book would not leave his thoughts for the remainder of the day, not even thoughts of Kira able to sneak to the front of his mind. He had memorised the book's location and found himself leaving class at a faster pace than usual in a bid to find it before someone else did.

He slowed his pace to a controlled walk as soon as he stepped out into fresh air, pride quickly taking control. He located the spot where the book had fallen and slowly made his way over. Feeling suddenly self-conscious he looked around the area but found himself alone. Bending down he picked up the notebook. The book itself was light and yet Light felt as if something heavy had settled over his being as soon as he touched it.

'Death Note?'

A notebook of death? The idea was laughable, clearly a silly little prank. He flipped it open to the first page, taking in the morbid illustration of the skull at the top of the page and the gothic hand it was written in. The whole layout was strangely beautiful, even if the content was not. He had no trouble in reading the text considering that it was written in english.

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die."

The agitating itch beneath his skin flared up and the dread returned full force. It was nothing but a sick and twisted prank and yet, slowly he placed it in his bag amongst his other books. Why he kept it he could not say, but there was something that made him reluctant to leave it behind.

Once he was in the safety of his room, Light set the Death Note on his desk. Taking a seat he opened it once more to the front page and read the rules written therein.

'This Note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.'

'If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.'

'If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.'

The fourth rule made Light freeze in shock. Default death by heart attack? Was it mere coincidence that most of Kira's victims have died of heart attacks? Light was shaking now, his heart having sped up until it crashed violently against his ribs.

No, there was a logical explanation for this. The creator of the Death Note, of this twisted prank must have based the rules on his observance of Kira. To kill someone merely by writing down their name and knowing their face was in impossibility. How the deaths were made to happen went unexplained, it was as if the user simply had to accept that it would. Not having to explain the method by which the killing takes place but only the tool, it would be easy to imitate Kira's means of killing. Kira's method could not be explained but yet it happened, which made this note the perfect hoax.

Imagine what would happen if a fool were to pick this up. He would think that he had found the secret to Kira's power and take it for himself to be used in whichever way he saw fit. Perhaps he would stew in indecision on whether to test it for its authenticity. However doing such would make him a murderer. If he did not test it the curiosity would eat away at the fool until he broke. Any person would become agitated and nervous, which would reflect on his behaviour. In this way the prankster should be able to identify the receptor of his little hoax.

Or the book would be tested, nothing would happen and the person would beat himself over the head for having believed such a thing and then beat himself up over the guilt of having risked an innocent life.

A twisted prank.

Only, Light was the fool in this case. He was the one torn between testing the book or letting his curiosity stew and eat at him. He knew it would not work, but was he unwilling to take the risk. If someone was to die because he wrote their name, it would make him a murderer and no better than the criminals he hated.

'After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.'

Scoffing at his own foolishness Light turned the page only to be met with a long list of names. The writing was neat, a mixture of kanji and western script. He recognised a lot of the names as victims who had been murdered by Kira, and some which had not come to the media's attention.

He found that some names had the cause of death written, usually in such a way that the cause of death would not be suspicious and therefore overlooked. He turned more pages and found the same result. He calmly switched his computer on even though his thought were in chaos, bringing up a search engine as quickly as possible. He began to type some of the names he did not recognise. For many he found overseas reports that confirmed their deaths, just as was written in the Death Note, while others were considered missing or not mentioned at all.

Panic was threatening to drown him. This was just more detail and attention to the elaborate hoax to give it authenticity, it had to be. He could not be sitting with Kira's weapon on his desk. He could not.

He put his head in his hands, his knuckles pressed painfully against his eyes. The Death Note was not a hoax, and the very acknowledgement of that fact made the very foundation of logic that his life was built on shake. He knew it was not a hoax because each of the names were written in what he could positively identify as his own handwriting.

It was too elaborate to be a hoax. Too well thought out to be a mere prank. He was afraid to test it, because there was a dreadful certainty that the person whose name he wrote would die. His mother's voice broke through the turmoil in his mind causing him to jerk in surprise.

"Light, if you don't hurry up you'll be late for cram school."

His limbs felt heavy as he stood, sluggish and clumsy as if the signals from his brain were not getting through clearly. He walked as if in a daze, although it was not readily apparent to the untrained eye. He did not remember the walk to the school, nor what took place there.

His return trip home was just as hazy although he was brought out of himself when he found his mother waiting expectantly for his return. He handed her the papers of his mock exam, nodding distractedly at her praises.

He paused at his door though, a sense of unease catching him unaware. For some reason he hesitated to open the door. There was something frightening on the other side of the door, and to open it would bring him face to face with whatever lurked there. Slowly and with much trepidation he eased the door open, and for the umpteenth time that day froze in shock at the face that turned his way from the cover of the shadows.

Note: I understand that there may be some confusion on some elements of the story, but don't worry, it will be cleared up soon. I thought that I'd post the second chapter now just for interests sake although other chapters won't be so fast in coming I'm afraid. The first chapter was hard enough for me to write.