woot, it's a Death Note fanfiction! Yay. I blame English class for this one. English class and Crime and Punishment, WHICH WE'RE ALMOST DONE WITH YAY. Only two more pages of that essay to go, that's all, and then nooo moooore CaP. Oh yes.

Slight spoilers in here for volume three. Please be kind to me because this is the first DN fanfiction I've written... And by the way, I use "Light" rather than "Raito" because in the Japanese graphic novels, in the character introductions it says "Light"... in English... under his name. So, nyaah.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note or nihilism. Also, I'm not incredibly familiar with nihilism, either, and I only did a little research beyond what we learned in class. So if anyone is a die-hard nihilist or just knows lots about it, I would appreciate constructive criticism, but not "YOU SUCK YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NIHILISM" because I'm telling you right now... I don't.

Übermensch

No student of To-Oh University was very surprised when Light Yagami and Ryuuga Hideki, the two freshmen who had earned perfect scores on their entrance exams, started hanging out together. It seemed perfectly natural that the geniuses would become friends—after all, a perfect score was a near-superhuman feat.

However, anyone who didn't know of the perfect scores, who perhaps just glanced at the two as they left their philosophy class that day, would be confused as to how the two could possibly get along. After all, Light and Ryuuga looked like complete opposites.

Light Yagami, the son of Detective Superintendent Chief Yagami, had an unmistakably proud air about him. Everything from his impeccable posture and long, firm strides to his tailored clothing and neat golden hair indicated his self-assurance and perhaps his arrogance. But he rarely looked cold or unapproachable. His smile could be kind and welcoming or patronizing and challenging—anything. He seemed like the perfect representation of a perfect-score student.

Ryuuga Hideki, on the other hand, did not. He walked hunched over, his hands in the pockets of the crumpled blue jeans he invariably wore. His long-sleeved white t-shirt, too, was crumpled, and his black hair was untamed. Occasionally he would press the pad of his right thumb against his lips as his wide, twitching eyes (with their dark circles underneath) scanned everything in front of him. Smiles looked unnatural on his deathly pale face, and he rarely smiled anyway.

He was not smiling that day, as he and Light walked out of philosophy class side-by-side. Out of the corners of his eyes, Ryuuga watched Light, who stared straight ahead with a focused look. Both were thinking.

As if by silent agreement, the two walked through campus together with no specific destination in mind. A few minutes passed, and finally Ryuuga looked forward for a moment. Then he turned his face towards Light. "Yagami-kun."

Light, too, turned his face so that their four dark eyes met. "What is it, Ryuuga?" he asked with a conversational air and an interested smile than did not quite match his eyes.

"Today's lecture on nihilism was interesting, wasn't it?"

Light's smile tightened oh-so-slightly into a smirk. He had been expecting the question, which Ryuuga himself inevitably knew, but that fact had little bearing on the situation. Light would still have to be agile and careful, no matter how obvious the question.

So when he spoke again, his voice still had that conversational air that he was so skilled at maintaining, but it also hid the barest hint of scorn. "It was."

Ryuuga's eyes were wide, as they often were when he was concentrating. He stared up at the sky. "Imagine thinking that there is no real, universal truth or justice. I wonder if it's true."

"Of course it isn't!" Light was quick to answer. A detective's son would have been taught from birth to believe in justice. "Of course there's justice in the world. It's ridiculous to say that our society's morals have been built on nothing."

"What morals?" Ryuuga asked in an uncharacteristically cynical matter. He turned his wide eyes to Light. "Moral standards, if there ever were any, have all but disappeared. Look around you at how many people are only acting for themselves, without any care for others. This world is a rotting mess."

Light's lips tightened almost imperceptibly; Ryuuga noted the action and continued.

"Those who seem to follow moral standards are only acting in their fear of punishment. That's especially clear now, wouldn't you say? Because of Kira…" Ryuuga studied Light's eyes for a reaction.

But Light merely shrugged. "It's true that because of Kira, other than the murder rate, crime has greatly decreased. Those who would normally commit crimes aren't doing so, since they're afraid Kira will get them. So I guess you could say that people act moral out of fear." He stared at Ryuuga doubtfully. "But you can't possibly believe that that's true for everyone."

"No. How could it be true for everyone if there is no universal truth?" Ryuuga quizzed, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

Light took his cue and chuckled. "Ah, of course."

Remember, Light Yagami, we are just two philosophy students applying today's lesson to current events.

Ryuuga looked to the sky again, and his hand wandered up to his mouth. He pressed his thumb to his lips, a sure sign that he was coming to the true point of the conversation. "The crime rate has gone down quite a bit," he mused, as if it were the first time this thought had occurred to him. "Kira's actions are changing the world… perhaps even improving it. I wonder… might a nihilist call Kira an übermensch?"

Light's eyes widened and he started. "What are you saying?" he exclaimed in disbelief. "You're practically calling Kira superhuman—he doesn't deserve that kind of respect! He's a criminal!"

"I disagree." Ryuuga stopped and looked at Light with the wide-eyed, petulant stare of a child being reproached. "Kira is no ordinary criminal, and he does deserve a certain amount of respect. Not for his actions, of course, but for the skill with which he accomplishes them."

"But to say he's an übermensch—an almost superhuman 'overman' to whom lawbreaking is righteous if it fulfills his goals…" Light protested. "That's ridiculous. Neither his actions nor his goals are righteous." He fixed a shrewd glare on Ryuuga and lowered his voice. "L would never acknowledge Kira as an übermensch… Ryuuga." So what's your true purpose?

"Please allow me to explain." Ryuuga gnawed the pad of his thumb as he spoke. "An übermensch's actions are ones that change the world to suit his views. These views are new and revolutionary, and by those very qualifications they will not seem righteous to all people. When you think about it, our ideals have been built on those of previous übermensch, who no doubt were scorned and hated in his day as well. Don't you agree?"

Light narrowed his eyes doubtfully. "Well, I see what you're saying… But even so, the fact that his ideas are controversial can't be enough to make him an übermensch. And the fact that he can carry out those ideas means little and could be said for any number of petty criminals. Surely you're not implying that they're all übermensch as well?"

"I see your point, and I agree," Ryuuga acknowledged, retreating a bit. "I wouldn't necessarily call Kira an übermensch, myself—I was simply musing on whether or not a nihilist would. However…" He paused, looked Light straight in the eye, and continued, "There is no doubt in my mind that Kira, whether he is a professed nihilist or not, believes himself to be an übermensch."

Light kept his gaze steady. "Why do you say that?"

"Here is his train of thought," Ryuuga answered. "'I am righteous!' he thinks. 'I am righteous, and I am the only one who is righteous! I am cleansing the world, eradicating the filth, the rotten, and only I can do what I'm doing. I will create a new world, and anyone who tries to stop me is just an inconvenience, a bump along the way! I am righteous, and they are not. I will win. I am justice'… is what he thinks."

During Ryuuga's speech, Light's eyes had narrowed almost on their own. The two stared for a moment, trying to read each other's eyes. Finally, Light spoke in a low voice. "Is a murderer's way of thinking so familiar to you that you can 'guess' that?" he asked suspiciously.

"That is how he thinks," Ryuuga repeated firmly. "His actions make that clear enough."

"Hn," Light grunted doubtfully. He broke eye contact and moved away; then, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Ryuuga. "One more question," he challenged. "Does L consider himself to be an übermensch?"

Ryuuga cocked his head, eyes wide in thought. "Hmm… certainly, he believes he is righteous… and he believes he will win. But there is one difference between Kira and L."

"And that is?"

"I have no desire to change the world. You could say that I do not rebel against the world in the way that an übermensch does."

"And yet you hope to win against an übermensch?"

"No." Ryuuga stared forward determinedly. "I know I will win against Kira, who has deluded himself into thinking he is an übermensch."

The two stared at each other for a moment longer. Then Light turned away. "Well, I certainly hope you can catch him," he said with a straight face. He was about to walk away when—

"Yagami-kun?"

"Yes?" Light looked over his shoulder again. Ryuuga's eyes were focused seriously on him.

"My suspicion has increased again. I now think there's a four percent chance that you are Kira."

Light's eyes narrowed and he faced forward. The two parted.

Reviews? Tell me how I did, I'm new to the fandom!