It had only taken three days for Light and Sayu to finally get to know Ryuk. You can hardly stay scared at the Shinigami after they witnessed him have a complete meltdown over apples and the romance shows Sayu watches. He wasn't the scary monster that either Light or Sayu were expecting him to be, he hadn't taken their memories of the death note even though he spent a day or two trying to convince them. Ryuk fitted into their daily routines like he had always been there, neither Sayu nor Light brought up the existence of the death note to their father as they had seen enough TV shows to see what people would do if they gained such power. The death note had been hidden well to prevent his parents accidently finding it and discovering Ryuk and their lives just carried on like normal just with an extra person apart of it. Ryuk might have been their secret but he had become their best friend and the Yagami siblings like to believe that they were his as well. Everything was fine for the next three years.
~3 Years Later~
Light heart was pounding in his chest as he ran. His legs started aching, he didn't know for how long he had been running for. He had left his Cram School and was on his way home when a man suddenly charged at him screaming that he loved Light. Light did the only plausible thing, he ran. He ran and ran and ran until he took a wrong turn and reached a dead end.
"I watched you from the shadows, I love you so much. I'll promise to look after you forever" his stalker said as he crept forward. Light stumbled backwards, trying to put as much distance between him and his stalker.
"Well, if I can't have you then no one can" his stalker screamed pulling a knife out and stumbled forwards. Light suddenly remember the depressive look Ryuk had on his face this morning. He could see his lifespan, Ryuk knew he was going to die today. Light put his arms over his face trying to protect himself but how could he stop this, he was meant to die. Stabbed to death with some cutlery, how pathetic was that. He felt the knife slice against his arm… then it stopped.
Light bravely peered over his arms and froze, he watched as his stalker stumbled back dropping the knife in the process. His stalker clutched his chest and collapsed to the floor. He had died of a heart attack. Light gasped.
"Ryuk" Light cried out. "please please, no". If a Shinigami writes the name of a person in their death note to save another person's life they die. Light silently prayed to any god he might believe in that Ryuk hadn't just used his death note to save his life. Light was so deep in his thoughts that he wouldn't have heard the loud thump if it hadn't been right next to him. Light looked down and his eyes widen when he saw a familiar looking notebook lying on the floor right next to him.
The death note although it was similar to Ryuk's. What made Light relax was the one major difference, this death note had arvc-5 written on the cover whilst Ryuk's personal death note had its name written in English. Light looked back down at the death note beside him hesitating slightly before picking up the death note revealing the Shinigami possessing it. The Shinigami was the completely opposite to Ryuk, it had a skeletal appearance with long spinal cord-like arms and bone-like skin. The Shinigami's hair was white which faded into a light-purple shade, there were purple marking on it's face and white cloth covering it's one eye making it look like it was wearing an eyepatch. The Shinigami's eyes were different from Ryuk's as well, they were a yellow-orange colour with a black slit in the centre.
"Who saved me?" Light asked, if this Shinigami had been watching him from the Shinigami realm then it must know that he already knew about Shinigami because they would see he and Sayu interacting with Ryuk. The Shinigami smiled.
"My fellow Shinigami Gelus, he sacrificed himself to save you. He started watching you not long before your sister received her own death note from Ryuk. Gelus was impressed when you defied then befriend Ryuk. He fell in love with you that he was willing to sacrifice his life to save yours. That was his death note, you deserve to have it" it – she – she sounded female replied.
"What's you name?" Light asked as he safely tucked the death note into his school bag as stood up on his shaky legs. His arms were still bleeding but not as heavily, he needed to get home and bandage his arms up before his mother or father found out what happened. It was the last thing Light needed, if his parents found out then they would baby him and treat him like he was fragile and needed protecting. He didn't need protecting. Ryuk probably told Sayu or at least hinted to what would happened, he needed to get home. To show them both that he didn't die, that a Shinigami saved him.
"My name is Rem" the Shinigami – Rem answered.
"It's nice to meet you Rem" Light responded before adding "as you know we have another Shinigami at home – Ryuk, I hope you can get along with him".
"Don't worry Light. I knew Ryuk before he left for the human world we got along fine" Rem reassured the human as he stumbled out of the alleyway, Rem spoke up again. She needed to tell Light about what Gelus did before he discovered it himself.
"Light you need to know that just before Gelus died he…" Rem stopped when he saw Light tense up. He watched as people walked past him, but he wasn't staring at the people themselves, he was staring just above their heads were the red numbers and words floated. He could see people's names and lifespans, he had the Shinigami eyes but how, he never willingly said he would trade half his lifespan for the eyes. Hell, he didn't even know how long Gelus had.
"Rem… why do I have the Shinigami eyes?" Light questioned just before his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor. He gained a few strange looks from other pedestrians, but none of them stopped to asked him what's wrong, they just continued walking.
"Just before Gelus died, he was able to transfer his eyes to you. You didn't have to pay for them like normal death note users do as they were the gift from a dying man well Shinigami" Rem explained as she help Light back up to his feet and supported him as he stumbled home. He was greeted with his mother standing at the door with her arms held out. Light froze before realising what she wanted.
"Oh, the results for the nationwide exams" Light said pulling the results out from his bag carefully to make sure that his wounds were still hidden. Rem watched curiously as Light's mother took the card from him and smiled.
"Oh, wow number one again" She said obviously pleased, before turning away and walking off. Light sighed, it was still no different. Light walked upstairs motioning for Rem to follow. He could hear Sayu's voice come from her room, she sounded like she had been crying which confirmed Light's previous suspicion – Ryuk must have told her.
Light knocked on her bedroom door and waited, Sayu went quiet before shuffling over and opening her door. A gasp escaped her mouth when she saw Light, standing in front of her, pale as a ghost but very alive.
"How" Sayu said, she couldn't believe it. He was alive. Light was alive. But how? Ryuk said that Light had reached the end of his natural lifespan and he would die today. Yet here he was. But before Light could respond Ryuk engulfed him in a hug, the Shinigami couldn't believe it. Someone had sacrificed their life to save Light's. Light wasn't really a hugging person but not even half an hour ago someone had tried to murder him so, he could make an exception. He hugged Ryuk back just as tightly still minding the cuts on his arms – he really needed to bandage those up.
"Before I explain everything, Sayu could you get me the first aid kit from the bathroom please" Light asked his sister when Ryuk finally let go. Rem stayed quiet watching the siblings talk to each other but nevertheless nodded over to Ryuk when he finally took notice of her. She knew Ryuk wouldn't say anything not until Light revealed to Sayu that Rem was there.
Sayu nodded and rushed out her bedroom and down the corridor to the bathroom pulling the first aid kit from the cupboard and ran back. She didn't care how much noise she was making; she didn't want to leave her brother alone for any second longer. When she re-entered her bedroom, Light was sat on her bed his sleeves pulled up reveal multiple deep cuts on both his arms which looked like defensive wounds and in his hands were a little black notebook which was identical to the one Sayu found three years ago.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sayu said putting the first aid kit on her bed beside Light and took the death note from his hands. She didn't look at the Shinigami at first, instead deciding to look in the death note itself. She was surprised how similar her notebook was to the one in her hands expect there were two main differences. One being the words written on the front and the second being that there were no rules written inside the notebook like hers had. It was obvious that whoever this notebook belong to hadn't intended to let it come into the human world.
"Sayu, Ryuk this is Rem" Light introduced even though he knew that Ryuk and Rem had previously known each other. Sayu finally tore her eyes away from the death note and looked towards the Shinigami. She wasn't sure what she expected, maybe something similar to Ryuk except Light's Shinigami – Rem was the complete opposite of her apple addicted Shinigami.
"It's nice to meet you Rem…. Umm… Light what happened?" Sayu asked as she watched Light bandage up his arms.
"Yeah Light-o. Your lifespan was due to end today" Ryuk said. Rem stayed quiet still.
"Walking home from cram school I was attacked by someone who had been stalking me. As you know, I was meant to die today but according to Rem. I had an admirer in the Shinigami Realm, and he wrote the name of my stalker in his death note saving my life" Light started, he could still see clearly in his mind the attacker coming for him. He could still feel his blood draining out from his body.
"Gelus had been watching Light ever since he was fourteen. Gelus had fallen for him and when faced with the possibility of Light's death he decided to sacrifice his own life in order to save Light's. This was Gelus death note, I found it fitting that Light should receive it" Rem explained, she could tell that Light was struggling to retell what had happened to him. Rem continued "However just before he died, he gifted Light with Gelus' eyes".
"Wait hold the hinky dinky phone… does that mean Light has the Shinigami eyes" Sayu said shocked and Light nodded he hated seeing his sister's name floating criminally above her head but then again, he'd probably get use to it after a while after all they had quickly gotten used to having a Shinigami in their life, how was seeing people's names and lifespan any different. Although he was grateful that he didn't have to see her lifespan.
"holy shit" Sayu said and Light once again nodded. That summed up every rather well.
~2 days later~
Sayu refused to let Light out of her sights for the next few days scared that something would happen, and she would lose Light for good this time. Ryuk was the same, he was practically glued to Light's side and wherever Light went so did the Shinigami although, Light had drawn the line when Ryuk followed him into the bathroom once. Rem had slotted into their routine so easy that it felt like she had always been there, she too had developed some protectiveness over Light but not to the extent Ryuk and Sayu had probably because she has only know him properly for a few days. Light had continued going to school much to Sayu's horror after all he had nearly died. Shouldn't he have the chance to process and recover from a near death experience, Light disagreed saying it would only draw people's attention to him and that was the last thing he wanted – Sayu had to begrudgingly agree but only because Rem promised to look after him whilst Light was at school. Their life was slowly getting back to normal when it happened.
Live on TV a criminal - Kurou Otoharada had taken a nursery school hostage and from the looks on both Shinigami and Light's faces. The hostages didn't have a chance. Then it happened.
"What the" Light muttered, his eyes were wide in shock and from the looks of the Shinigami they weren't fairing much better.
"What?" Sayu said but she didn't receive an answer. The doors to the nursery were flung open and both staff and children came rushing out before the police headed inside.
"Is it?" Sayu asked, even though she was sure she knew the answer already. It had to be a death note, what else could have killed Otoharada when he wasn't destined to die.
"It has to be. Some of the children and staff weren't meant to live past today and Otoharada had four years left" Light said, Rem and Ryuk had taught him to calculate how to convert someone remaining lifespan into human time, it wasn't complicated just time consuming.
"Maybe it was a Shinigami needing years quick" Ryuk suggested weakly but Light shook his head. If a Shinigami kills a human which in chance extended the life of a human already reaching the end of the natural lifespan then the Shinigami would died – Light was living proof of that. He was meant to die yet Gelus saved him and now Gelus was dead because of it.
Four days later – Kira became a thing.
"Someone else has a death note they must have. It's the only way they can kill without being there but why criminals?" Sayu stated when their mother left home, their father hadn't returned home in days which Light suspected was due to Kira, there must be some investigation going on to find Kira and Light would bet his intelligence on his father being in charge of it.
"I'm guessing whoever is doing this has some sort of god complex" Light responded, he had been looking through thousands of articles on Kira and his victims trying to find anything which could lead them to finding him.
"What! A god complex why?" Sayu asked, Light sighed before turning his chair from his laptop and to his sister.
"We know the death note rules better than anyone, we know that if you don't write a cause of death then it will default to a heart attack. With Otoharada a couple of days ago, say he was Kira's trial victim then obviously they wouldn't have a reason to experiment with the death note and instead just use its default killing method" Light started, and Sayu nodded along. She sort of saw where Light was coming from, but it didn't explain why Kira had a god complex. Light continued "after Kira discovered that the death note was in fact real, they could've killed criminals in thousands of different ways however they kept using heart attack which means that whoever is doing this wants people to find out that someone is passing their own judgement on criminals just like a…".
"A god" Sayu finished "shit. Just want we need".
"You brats aren't actually planning on stopping this Kira person are you" Ryuk spoke up, he and Rem had been quiet for the most part but the thought of his brats going after Kira worried him to the bone.
"We have to" Sayu said, they had no choice.
"We can't let the police get their hands on the death note. That's too much power for the government to have, can you imagine what they would do if they got hold of something like this. The chaos it could cause, we can't let that happen. The only people who can deal with the death note are sitting in this room" Light added. They had no choice, they had to stop Kira before the police found out about the death note, they had to.