Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. I only own my OC's and the plot of this story.

Chapter Four

"Wha..." Father stared at his name, eyes wide. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"R...Ryuk!" I cried. "Erase it!"

"Once a name is written in the death note, it cannot be erased." Ryuk smirked evilly, his horrible sharp teeth poking through his lips. "Light, you're going to die in forty seconds."

"N...no..." Father's pupils constricted, and he ran towards the shinigami, grabbing onto his leg. "No! I can't die yet! Why, Ryuk? I had so much more interesting things to show you!"

"No, you didn't. You would teach Akiko everything about the death note, and everything would go off without a hitch if I decided to go with your original plan. Everything was too perfect. Nothing interesting would happen if you didn't die now. You relied on me too much, Light. You've forgotten how easily I can get bored. Things have been too boring, for too long. Your act is finished."

I watched in horror as Father let out a groan of pain. He let go of Ryuk's leg, crashing to the ground.

"Dad!" I screamed, running to his side. I grabbed his hand. His grip was so tight, it hurt. I felt the circulation fade from my fingers. "No! Don't die! I-I'm calling an ambulance, okay? J-Just hang on!" I grabbed my cell phone and started to dial 9-1-1.

"P-Put that phone down, an ambulance isn't going to help me...L-listen carefully..." Father gasped. "M-Mikami...tell Mikami you are God..."

"Mikami?" I asked. I suddenly remembered how my manager had called my father lord. "He knows?"

"Y-yes. He is the eyes, Akiko, you will need..." he froze, his limbs going rigid, then limp. His grip on my hands relaxed. The tips of my fingers started to tingle as the circulation reached them once more.

"The eyes? What eyes?" I sniffled and shook his body. "Dad! Say something! Don't you dare die on me!" I fell forward, resting my forehead on Father's chest. No sound came from it. There was no gentle rise and fall from his chest. My fists clenched around the white cloth of his dress shirt. My tears soaked the material as I choked on my sobs.

Father was dead.

Both of my parents are dead. I'm an orphan.

My hand touched the smooth notebook hiding underneath Father's jacket. This thing. This evil thing. I needed to get rid of it.

I ran to the window of the kitchen, unbolted it, and held the notebook above the busy street, ready to drop it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice behind me made me flinch. I whirled around. Ryuk stood behind me, his eyes changed back to his normal red pupils and yellow whites.

"Y...you...you killed my father!" Anger rose up in my throat, and I ran towards the monster in fury. "Get the hell out of here, you bastard!" I tried to whack him with the death note, but it went right through his body.

"Nice try, girly." Ryuk grinned a horrible grin. "That can't hit me if I don't want it to. You probably shouldn't talk to a shingami like that. I might get angry and kill you."

I gasped and dropped the death note, staring up at the creature looking down at me. "That's better. Listen, Akiko. Your father was probably the most interesting human I'd ever come across. But since I'm stuck with you, you'd better make things interesting. Use this notebook, and I won't kill you."

I stared into his eyes in horror. "H...how can you do that? All this...for fun? For the sake of entertainment? H...how can you live with yourself?!"

"I'm a shinigami. Killing people is what I do."

I hugged the death note tightly to my chest, my body shaking involuntarily in fear.

I'd have to take over. I didn't have a choice. If I wanted to survive, I'd have to become Kira.


I drowsily awoke, slumped in a hard-backed plastic chair as I waited for my Aunt Sayu to arrive at the police station. How long had it been since Father died? How late was it? Maybe at least midnight.

"Akiko, darling." Aunt Sayu enveloped me into a big, warm hug. Her familiar scent of lilacs filled my nose. It helped me calm down. For a minute, I forgot I was stuck with the death note strapped around my torso, underneath the bodice of my church dress.

"I came as soon as I heard," she said, letting go of me and looking into my eyes. "Are you alright?"

No. I was not alright. So many things about this situation was not alright. I'm an orphan, I have to become Kira, and worst of all, I have a horrendous shinigami looming behind me. Watching everything I do, willing to kill me if I don't put on a good show for him.

In spite of all that was wrong, I somehow I managed to choke out "Y...yeah. What about your family?"

"They'll be fine. Uncle Toshi is watching the children." She smiled kindly at me. "I'll stay here with you and take you back home with me in the morning."

"W...wait. Back home? At your house?"

"Yes, of course. I'm your closest living relative...do you not want to live with me?" Aunt Sayu's face was etched with hurt.

Aunt Sayu has a set of twins. My little cousins, Hajime and Hiroshi. They're great kids, but the most inquisitive and trouble-making twins you'd ever meet. If I were to move in with Aunt Sayu and her family, they'd discover the notebook. I'd be screwed.

As if reading my mind, Ryuk began to chuckle. "Better find a way out of moving in with her, eh?"

"O...of course I want to live with you," I stuttered. "I-I'd just...like to stay here awhile. Y-you know, recover from one change at a time?"

Aunt Sayu let out a sigh. "Uncle Toshi can only watch the boys for so long. How long, do you think?"

"Just a couple days," I said quickly. That should give me enough time to figure something out.

"Alright. We'll figure some of this out in the morning," she promised. "But it's been a long day for everyone, so I'll drive you down to your apartment."

"Okay." I nodded slowly as Aunt Sayu led me out of the police station. I got into her car, and we drove to the apartment. My home.

The drive seemed like hours, when in reality it was fifteen minutes. I got to the stairwell. With each step up the stairs my feet and resolve got heavier and heavier. For once, I wished I could take the elevator.

"You're going to have to kill someone when you get home," Ryuk hissed. "It would be a little strange for Kira to stop killing once Light was dead."

"I know," I mumbled underneath my breath. "Can't you be patient?"

"What's that, Akiko?" My aunt turned to face me.

"U...uh, it's nothing," I said quickly, reaching the top step and reaching into my pocket to pull out the keys. I fit them into the lock, unlocking the door. We walked inside.

"Oooh. It's been such a long day," Sayu sighed, giving her arms a stretch. "I think I'm going to sleep."

"Okay." I nodded blankly, stumbling over to Father's black leather chair. "I'm...going to stay up a little while longer."

"You're not tired?"

"N...no, I just need time to think." I sat down in the chair, staring down at the world below me. I was Kira. This whole world was at my mercy. I could tear it down if I wanted. The thought of that kind of power made me dizzy.

"Alright. Good night, Akiko. Let me know if you need anything."

As soon as I heard the door close, I slipped my phone out of my pocket.

"What are you doing, Akiko? Aren't you going to kill someone?" Ryuk asked.

"Before he died, Dad mentioned something about how Mikami was the eyes. I have to find out what that means."

I dialed his number. My manager answered immediately.

"Akiko, you're calling me in the middle of the night. What's wrong?"

I took a heavy breath in. "Mikami, I am God."

"What does that mean?"

"Father's dead."

Long silence. "Then you know about the book."

"Yes..." I reached inside my shirt and pulled out the black notebook, laying it on my lap. "I have it with me right now."

"Would you like me to hang onto it for you?"

I looked up at Ryuk. He slowly shook his head. "Mikami is so boring. He does the same thing every day."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Thanks for the offer. But no. I have to carry on Kira's judgments. Father told me himself."

Another silence. Mikami was probably thinking about what to do. "Very well, God. I will email you a list of names and faces of criminals he was planning to delete today. I advise spreading them out over the course of tomorrow."

"Spreading them out? What does that mean?"

"Yes, spreading them out. You can control the time of deletion. Didn't he tell you that?"

I glared at Ryuk. He shrugged. "It's more fun to let you figure it out on your own."

"No, I didn't know that." I let out a heavy sigh. "Very well, Mikami. Email me the file."

"Please let me know any way I can assist you. Your word is my will, God."

This felt weird. Too weird.

"Wait! Don't go yet," I said quickly. "B...before he died, Father said you were "the eyes"...what does that mean?"

"I have the eyes of a shinigami, Akiko. I can see someone's name simply by looking at their face."

My eyes widened. "No way."

"Yes. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

I probably would have plenty of questions later, but none right now. "No," I said. "Thank you, Mikami."

"You are welcome, God."

He hung up the phone. I slipped my cell phone in my pocket, spun Father's chair around, and walked to my room, death note clutched in my hand.

I was going to do it. I was going to become Kira.

Ryuk chuckled as I opened up my laptop and booted up my email. Within seconds, Mikami's email appeared. The criminals' pictures were sitting right next to their names.

My hands shaking, I laid the black notebook on the desk and opened it to the first page. I grabbed a pen. It hovered above the crisp, white paper. To think that the most dangerous murder weapon in the world was a notebook and pen. It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase, "the power of the pen".

I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes, and my pen touched the paper.