Title: Boredom Draws the Curtain over Precious Finis

Full summary: If Mankind's last hope and saviour died alone and helpless, would anyone made a sound? Would anyone care, and who would care the most? A collection of one-shots dwelling over the beginnings and ends of the world's most notorious murder case. SPOILER WARNING: Whole series/ character death spoiler. Interestingly mind-bending concepts and What-Ifs. A dedication to the 28-01-10 date.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note whatsoever. If I did, it would have been a very different series than what we know now. The concepts and ideas of this series displayed in this work of fanfiction were pulled out of my own ass, no one else's, and were written down to give you something to think about as the Real World Ending Date comes and goes again, and to present a new angle for those of you who need a new one. I do not wish to shove these down your throat, but merely to show them to you and let you think about them what you will…perhaps start interesting discussions?

All in all, it is a fanfictional tribute to no one in particular, and shouldn't be taken completely seriously.

And once again, we are back in the room. I know this took a little longer than expected to update, but it's here now, and I think everything is going well. As you've already read chapter 1, and are therefore familiar with the Death Note series (otherwise why would you bother), I'm not going to warn you this time – just ask that you enjoy this one, because I think I've done really well with it like last time.

The chapter title here, I have to say, was inspired by Michael Gerber's Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel, in which it is said that the number 35, according to a wizarding internet search engine, is to do with the little known Fifth Horse of the Apocalypse, Boredom. This, I think, actually makes sense, because – as Death Note has shown us – Boredom can be a real motivator for would-be killers.

Before this starts, I would just like to remind to once again that, if you feel the need to flame this piece, then please don't go too overboard and technical with your death-threats, as most of us don't understand nonsense.

Boredom Draws the Curtain over Precious Finis

(The Fifth Horse of Boredom)

Ryuk didn't care. It might have seemed like it, by the way he'd stuck around for so long; by the way he helped out every now and again (for the price of a few apples, of course); how he gave Light some handy hints; reminded the human what he was in for by keeping the notebook; and even giving the human an ego stroke every now and again by telling him what a fine Shinigami he'd make, and that he'd even gotten attracted to Light in some funny way never before thought legal, he never truly cared. Enough to stick around and be there when he eventually died (although this was actually a rule, he cared enough not to kill Light before he got captured), enough to decidedly take Light's advice and liven up the Shinigami Realm with a few human world souvenirs (once they had learnt to generate electricity and set up a Shini-Realm Grid, Light's stolen bedside lamp went down very well); but never enough to forgo his promise of writing down his name even after Light's begs, never enough to want to spend a human lifetime with him in a prison, with no apples, and a strait-jacket toting, crazy man for company in a padded room.

Light was there to alleviate Ryuk's pent up boredom, to give him something fun to watch after an indeterminate amount of years surrounded by darkness, bones, and barren scrubland, with only the colours of black, white and numerous dark greys. Light's world was full of greens, blues and (Ryuk's particular favourite) reds, and so what seen-it-all Shinigami wouldn't be interested?

As before mentioned, Ryuk may not have cared for Light, but he had certainly liked him: Apart from finding an interesting use for the notebook, Light had done many things of note – he'd given him apples, kept Ryuk in suspense (very important for keeping both interest and life intact), treated him like an equal and even played a few games of Mario Golf with him from time to time. All the little things that could make a big difference.

Yet despite all this, and the fact that Ryuk had lost a pretty consistent source of apples, the bottom line was that he had never really cared enough, and even now, as he sat in the Shinigami Realm recounting everything that had happened over the last 2,153 days to Gukku and Deridovely, he never gave a thought for Light past that – not a what-if or could-have-been, not even a regret.

If there was one thing that he had learnt from humans as a whole, as they dropped like flies under Kira's rule was, "If you keep them in your memory, and think about them every day, they never truly die." Well, after all that Light had done and showed Ryuk, the human really did deserve MU, spending the rest of eternity eating the Dead-Sea apples he'd reaped for himself.

Ryuk was a Shinigami, after all, and – as such – immune to such humanoid feelings as a general rule.

Not that he cared, of course.

And this was the second chapter. I don't really think that there is much to be said about this one, as it just seems to explain itself, but if you have any questions, then of course feel free to put them in your reviews. I think the essay-style is working out here, as I have already been told, so I think you can expect more from here.

I know I didn't mention the subject of the second chapter in the first one, so I think I'll mention it here so that you know what to expect. So here it is folks – the subject of chapter three is: Touta Matsuda – The Man Who Cared Too Much!

Please stay tuned for the next chapter of 'Boredom draws',

Please R&R, and SEE YA!

Ruin Takada.

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