It barely made the news.

And for the few publications that did talk about the sudden death of an Argentinain former Nazi - the story got buried under the other woes of the world. A heart attack in such an old man wasn't considered odd.

Nor did anyone think for a moment that it could have been somebody with Kira's powers.

Nobody would suspect her. Not if she kept a low profile…

There was tweet after tweet theorizing who Kira was, who L was, and how the murders were being accomplished. Esther would stay up late into the night on her laptop - obsessed. She too needed to know Kira's true identity.

Zellogi would stare over her shoulder while she was on her laptop, laugh, and get pomegranate juice all over her room.

"Heh. Man, Ryuk really got lucky with the human who picked up his notebook! He's getting all this attention."

"Sorry that I'm boring you."

"Eh. It's still better than the Shinigami realm. Better food too," he said as he bit into another pomegranate, juice dripping down his chin.

"That's…not how you eat that. You just eat the seeds."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

Esther didn't participate in the discussions about Kira, not the ones online or the ones in between classes, during lunch, or in the locker room. But she read and she listened. She couldn't help it.

"Have you listened to the latest Kira Killz podcast?"

"I'm loving all these people working to expose all these criminals! It makes me feel so much safer."

"Did you hear about Bianca Delvecchio, that true crime influencer? She said she's solved the Gambini Murder and now she's trying to get Kira's attention."

"I heard the Kira is actually a cover-up for an experiment the government's doing."

"We oughta help Kira in his mission! So many people are just lazing about waiting for him to take care of it himself."

"There was this news report…"

"I want…"

It was almost constant. Inescapable. Each tweet, each comment, and each talking head on TV was a reminder of what she had done. She barely paid attention in class - the teacher's droning voice blathering on about Euclidean geometry or Plato, some ancient Greek dude who did something at some point.

A long, thin finger jabbed into her shoulder and jolted her from her thoughts.. "C'mon, Esther, it's lunch time. It's the only time I don't have to hang around these stuffy classrooms! C'mon."

Having Zellogi around didn't make things any easier. Not only did Esther not like the fact that she had a constant companion - who followed her around bugging her to kill people but

she hadn't slept properly in days. Ever since she wrote that stupid name down.

Why did she feel so shitty?

It was just a Nazi…

Part of it was the secret - the tummy-churning feeling that caused stomach acid to rise up into her throat whenever she thought about that moment. Part of it was the shinigami's eyes. How they would stare at her, red iris shining through the dark, unblinking. They'd even be there in her dreams. If she managed to fall asleep.

Plus Zellogi snored.

He accused her of the same thing. She refused to believe him.

The conversations continued in the halls on her way to the cafeteria. She tried to block them out - focusing only on the promise of the veggie deluxe pizza and chocolate milk the cafeteria would be serving that day. Maybe that would help her feel normal.

…..

"You look like shit," Becca said, plopping down her lunch tray and taking a seat beside her.

"Just been a long week," Esther replied - looking down at her tray, which now seemed much less appetizing,

"Everything okay?"

"I -I don't want to talk about it." She picked up her fork and knife, trying to cut the greasy rectangular pizza that sat on her styrofoam tray.

"Who do I need to fight?" Becca said as she reached out her hand to Esther's shoulder. "Is it Keith? Please tell me it's Keith. He's such an asshole."

Esther shook her head and took a bite of her pizza. It sat heavy on her tongue and she forced herself to swallow. The food sat in her stomach like a rock.

"You should kill Keith!" Zellogi whispered excitedly. "C'mon. Do something interesting! See what happens. You wanna be like Kira? Get his attention? Beat him? You gotta kill more people! It doesn't even need to be a heart attack. You can get creative!"

That last part was new. Esther filed it away in her mind along with the few other things that Zellogi had mentioned. "Keith's an ass. But I don't want him dead," she said.

"I never suggested killing Keith…" Becca replied. "Are you sure you're doing okay?"

Esther wanted to explain everything. But she couldn't. She didn't want to have to risk losing her best friend.

"Just that time of the month…" Esther replied hoping to change topics. "Really everything is fine. "

"I'm here if you need to talk about anything, okay?" Becca said, in such a way that indicated she didn't really believe her.

"Of course," she said faking what she hoped was a somewhat convincing smile. "I know that…I just…People keep talking about Kira."

"What are you worried about? We're good people."

"According to who?"

They both fell silent.

What else was there to say? There were already cults springing up - one after the other - worshipping Kira. People wished for him to slaughter their enemies, the non-believers.

And there were those vehemently opposed to Kira - but were desperate to pin the deaths on someone else: the communists, the Russians, the Chinese, Israel, the New World order, the Jews…

Why couldn't they catch a break?

Esther spent the rest of the lunch period listening to the gossip from the other tables: who was dating who, who had been broken up with, and how Kyle Kavanaugh had been expelled.

Finally, she thought.

Esther soaked up the information, taking it in, leaving the rest of her lunch untouched. It felt good to listen to more regular gossip for a change.

The two girls parted ways with a quick hug and a promise that Esther would check in with her over the weekend and that they would hang out if they didn't get too much homework. Then they split ways, with Becca headed to gym class and Esther to English class. Just another typical Friday.

"Hey, Zellogi?" she said as she slipped into the bathroom, which was thankfully empty.

"What?"

"What do you mean…it doesn't have to be a heart attack?"

"That's just the default. You can kill people in other ways…I've tried it once or twice, just out of sheer boredom."

"So like - if I wanted to make someone….kill themselves, would that work?"

He nodded, his lipless mouth turning into a smile. "Does this mean you're gonna kill someone else? Finally!"

She figured that meant yes.

Zellogi wasn't going to give her straight answers, would he? She'd already figured out that he wouldn't tell her who Kira was, even if they bumped into him on the street. He wanted her to be able to figure things out on her own.

But she had no idea what all the rules of the notebook even were. If there were even more…And the only to figure them out - was to use the damned thing.

She didn't like it - but it was better for the notebook to be in her hands than somebody else's. She'd use it responsibly.

"Maybe. I just need to figure out…who."

"I'd say it gets easier, but I don't know since I ain't human…Go home get some rest."

"Day's only half-way over, Zellogi."

"So skip it. Not like you're paying attention anyway."

Esther rolled her eyes and stared at herself in the mirror, dark circles ringing her hazel eyes, slightly greasy hair, and her wrinkled polo shirt…She really did look like shit. Maybe, she should call it a day.

"C'mon. C'mon. It'll be fun…"

Before Esther could question anything. A sound like a car backfiring echoed through the walls of the school.

No.