Chapter One: Rebirth
Light walked down the busy streets of the Tokyo Settlement, avoiding the plight of an eleven being mercilessly tormented in an alley by a few Britannians. He sighed.
Just another day, I suppose, he thought. This world is truly rotten.
He was fortunate he took after his father, and not his mother. Though he was a half-breed, he would be able to blend in with an average crowd of Britannians, and because he had been raised in such an environment, he spoke English fluently and without any accent, while still being able to speak a fair share of Japanese. However, very few people actually used that language anymore. Not since Japan had been gutted and renamed.
Light walked up the stairs and into the last class of the day, History of the Empire, where he was yet again forced to gaze out the window, bored and hoping something would alleviate the tedium of his life. Just as this thought crossed his mind, he spied something black simply fall from the sky. In the afternoon sun, he caught a glimpse of it. It appeared to be a black leather notebook, and in a silver scrawl on the front of it read: Death Note. Light arched an eyebrow in thought.
Death Note? What, like a notebook of death? he pondered. After putting the thought from his mind, he went back to the autopilot that got him through his day, and the final bell sounded throughout the massive school.
"Attention, attention, attention!" the overly-enthusiastic voice of the Student Council President, Millie Ashford, screeched. "Hope everybody had a great day today, but not too much, because it's not over yet! After the brave rescue of our own highly un-athletic Lelouch by new Student Council member and super cool guy, Suzaku Kururugi, there will be a mandatory celebration in just a few days! I call it: the Catching of the Cat! Clever, huh? Anyway, make sure to stay prepared for this wonderful day, and remember:"
What followed was a loud, high pitched voice saying 'meow', as had happened earlier that day when the Council President had suspended all school activities to hunt for a cat.
Honestly, the power possessed by the Student Council in this school is just absurd, Light monologued internally, walking through the corridors. And yet they do almost nothing but use it for personal gain or some stupid game or idea that is currently occupying them. Don't they realize there are actual problems that need solving?
Light continued berating his peers within the confines of his mind, as he walked into the courtyard he had seen the notebook from earlier fall. Sure enough, there on the ground was a simple, black leather little notebook. Light, curiously, picked it up and opened it.
The human whose name is written in this note shall die? How ridiculous. This has gotta be some kind of prank or joke. Like those chain letters. I'm not falling for it, and with that, he put the notebook back on the ground, smiling at the slight distraction and walking away. But it only took a second for the memory of the world around to collide with him. And with it, his crushing boredom. He spun around, taking care nobody saw him behaving so stupidly, and stuffed the notebook into his backpack, walking through the streets to his house, casually hiding the Death Note inside a larger book, familiarizing himself with the seemingly endless rules within.
On his way, he spied an eleven woman being harassed by some thugs.
"Come on, babe," the lead guy said. "Nobody turns down Ricky George, am I right, boys?"
"Hell yeah, man," one of his friends chimed in with an oafish laugh. "She must be stupid or something!"
"Well, what else can you expect from elevens?" another shouted.
"Please," the woman begged quietly. "I don't have any money. Just leave me alone!"
"Y'hear that guys?" the man, Ricky George laughed. "This bitch don't have any money! Oh, well, you'll just have to pay me back in other ways."
Tears were flowing down her face as his friends grabbed her arms and held her in place.
"Bring her in that alley," Ricky George shouted, pointing to where he was referring to. Meanwhile, Light was staring intently at his watch.
35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40.
He looked up and saw nothing happen. At first he sighed, produced his cellphone and was prepared to dial 911, when he heard a loud cry from the alley, followed by a thud and a few voices shouting.
"Ricky!?"
"Oh my god!"
"What the hell just happened?"
In just one second, the woman ran from the alley and away in the direction of a ghetto as quickly as she could. Light, meanwhile, stood slackjawed.
There's no way I did that, he thought, glancing down at the notebook, the name 'Ricky George' neatly printed on the first line of the notebook. That has to be a coincidence; a notebook can't kill someone!
Chalking it up to sheer coincidence, yet still slightly horrified by the prospect of it having been so eerily timed, he walked up into his room and switched on his TV to the news.
"-situation just seems to have gotten worse, as the perpetrator has just made demands for a helicopter and two thousand Britannia-bucks, and has stated that for every thirty minutes his demands are not met, he will kill one of his children hostages. The suspect is forty two year old, Kuro Atoharuga, he is an extremely dangerous man, and shows us just how degenerate and disgusting an eleven truly can be."
"Thank you for that report," the pretty blond news woman said. She continued giving more information about the suspect, and they flashed a picture of his face. Light frowned.
Once more. He opened the Death Note and raised his pen, quickly writing down the name of the man and looking at his face. He paused for a second, and decided to include 'suicide: shoots himself in the leg, and then the head'.
It's pretty morbid, he thought. But if I really wanted to prove that this thing is real, I'll need some definitive proof.
He checked his desk clock.
35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40.
He glanced up at the screen.
"More on this story as it develops," she concluded. "In the meantime, we now go to Diethard Reid for a special coverage of the masked terrorist calling himself Zero from just a few days ago. Mr. Reid believes that from certain angles, we'll be able to determine more about the terrorist based on his body lan-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Nancy," the reporter from earlier shouted, looking panicked. "But this has just taken a strange turn of events! We heard two gunshots from inside just a few seconds ago. We all feared the worst, but just now, we're seeing all the hostages fleeing out the front door. The teacher with the children from the daycare is saying that the suspect shot himself in the leg, and then the head, taking his own life. The police have moved in and are moments away from confirming - yes, yes it would appear that this is exactly what took place!"
"Well then, I think I sspeak for all on our team when I say I'm very thankful that it ended as peacefully as it did," the news woman said. "We can all rest easy knowing no Britannians were hurt today!"
"Indeed we can," the news reporter said with a smile. "I'm Grant Baldwin, signing off."
The woman went back to the story about Zero, but Light was far too concerned with what had just happened to truly care about any of that.
The - the Death Note, he thought, his eyes widening. It works. It actually works!
He felt all at once that he was going to throw up. He had just taken two human lives! How could he possibly live with himself?
And besides, he berated himself. Who am I to pass judgement on others?
He stopped to think about what he had just said, and suddenly, a new idea formed.
No, no, wait, this is exactly what I've been thinking about lately. There really are some people who deserve to die, because frankly, the world cannot go on like this! Someone needs to be here to pass down judgement, and make the world safer and better for hardworking, kind, diligent people, not just the scum who get to hide in plain sight until we take away their freedom! And someone to fix the world? That's me. I'll do it. Using the Death Note, I will create a new world!
And with that, Light flew to his computer, pulling up an international list of the worst criminals in the world. He glanced at the pictures of each and wrote their names, writing like a madman. In fact, it was all he had in him to not burst out laughing maniacally. Now, his life seemed to have a real purpose.
The next day was ordinary for the most part, but using the news and internet he was able to gather that all of the criminals who had suddenly and mysteriously died of heart attacks he had specified had done so, and the others, he figured, would not have been broadcasted. Now, whenever the Student Council or anything stupid like that happened, he could reassure himself that when he got home, he would be able to fix the world, one name at a time.
"Good afternoon, Ashford lovelies!" Millie chimed at the end of the day. "Just thought I'd remind you, the Catching of the Cat day celebration is just a few days away, so be prepared! Meeee-oooowww!"
I wonder if I should kill her? Light thought with a macabre smile. No, better not. That would probably draw the authorities to me.
Right now, no one was sure about how or why this was happening, but Light was certain that sooner or later, people would begin to suspect the presence of a higher being, passing righteous judgement down upon those who were rotting the world.
"Welcome home, Light," his mother chirped with a smile. "Can I get you anything?"
"No thanks, mom," he replied. "I'm really tired. Think I might just go to bed."
"Alright," she said. "Make sure to let me know if you need something, okay?"
"Sure, mom."
He opened, closed, and locked his door with a widening smile.
I've already got everything I need right here.
"Wow, you've written quite a lot of names, haven't you?" a gravelly voice asked from behind him. Light turned and came face to face with a monster.
"Aaaah!" he shouted in panic, rearing backwards and tripping over his chair. "Wh-wh-,"
"I can see you're enjoying my notebook, huh?" the thing said, its crossed eyes looking nowhere in particular. It looked like some kind of . . . BDSM nightmare clown with irregularly thin and long arms. "Most humans are too terrified to do anything with a notebook, but you seem to have grown quite attached to it."
Light collected himself and sat up, fixing his tie. "Then, you must be a God of Death? Like the kind that's referred to in the rules of the Death Note, right?"
"That's correct," he said with a smile. "I am a shinigami, and I see my notebook found its way into the hands of someone very . . . interesting! In fact, I'd say it couldn't have - GAH! Are those apples?"
Without waiting for permission, the shinigami darted over to the bowl of apples Light kept on a table and began devouring them greedily, eating the core and stem without a moment's hesitation.
"So, I suppose that means you're here to collect my soul, is that right?" Light asked, standing up and fixing his chair.
"What on earth do you mean?" the creature asked. "That must be some silly myth you humans concocted. The truth is, I'm just here to watch. Other than that, I won't do a thing to you. Neither to help you, or to hurt you. I'm an observer."
Light took a deep breath in. "An observer who ate all of my apples."
"Oh, they're great! Apples from the human world are so, oh, what's the word? Juicy? Yeah, that sounds about right! Anyway, they're great!"
"And what should I call you?" Light asked it.
"Oh, my name's Ryuk," it said after scarfing down another apple. "What about you, human?"
"I'm Yagami. Light Yagami," he replied.
"Well then, Light Yagami," the creature, Ryuk, began. "Maybe you can explain to me why you've written so many names in the notebook. Do you really have that many enemies?"
He chuckled. "I guess you could say that. Now that I'm officially the God of Justice in this world, then by that logic, everyone who breaks a law, commits a crime, and harms the innocent is my enemy."
Ryuk only looked at him, making a confused sound.
"The truth is," Light said, pausing. "That my goal isn't to be an average student anymore. I suppose I've already accomplished that much, though. This notebook has given me the opportunity to create a new world, one of kindness and peace, without any wars or crime. And I will become . . . God of the new world!"
Ooh, thought Ryuk. Things are certainly going to get interesting!