April 5th, 2004
"I want... to cut you open!"
No, no, no, this could not be happening. Light opened his mouth, then closed it. The question looped in his head: Why can she see Ryuk? Did she somehow touch the note? Goddammit! I need to find out her name—I need to write her name! Wait. Calm down. She doesn't know that I can see Ryuk, too. She's just assuming she can because of our proximity. If I play dumb, then maybe—
The girl—dark-haired and petite—took Ryuk's large hand and clasped it against her chest, eyes shining. "You're lovely."
"Excuse me," Light interrupted. Lovely? 'Lovely' was hardly the first word he would use to describe Ryuk of all things. "Are you talking to me?"
"What? No." She frowned. "I thought we'd already established that you're pathetically uninteresting compared to your cute little smiling friend."
Ouch. 'Pathetically uninteresting'? No one had ever called him that before. No one. Everyone always wanted to get to know Light Yagami—everyone wanted to be on his good side. Already fed up, Light's facade cracked ever so slightly. "You're talking to air," he deadpanned. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"I should be asking you that," she retorted. "Who are you again?"
An opening. Perfect. "Light Yagami. I delivered one of the opening ceremony speeches. What's your name?"
"Oh, right. I'm Mika Miura."
I have you now.
Stifling a smirk, Light handed her a piece of the Death Note—one he kept tucked in the underside of his tie—and a pen. "You said you wanted to get to know my friend, right?" It didn't matter now if she knew that he could see Ryuk—he had her name and her face. It was over. I doubt this airhead would be faking it like Misora. She doesn't even seem to know Ryuk is a god of death. "Can you write your name and number down for me, please?"
Miura took the items from him, none the wiser of her impending doom. "Sure. I don't have a phone, but I can give you my name. You'll be able to find me hanging around the campus."
Her parents must have greatly sheltered her if she didn't own a phone. But never mind. She was as good as dead now.
She finished writing her name, giving the paper and pen back to him.
Not even bothering to hide it, Light added in the conditions of her death on the paper, stating that she would leave campus at seven in the evening, drink herself silly, and be involved in a fatal mugging in a shady neighborhood a few kilometres from here. Unfortunate college girl meets her doom while walking drunk late at night, the papers would say.
Pleasantly, Light smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"
But Miura's attention was back on Ryuk. "What's your name?" she asked, sweetly, holding his hand like a girlish lover. Light nearly gagged.
Ryuk chuckled. "You really wanna know?"
"Of course! You already know mine—there's no way you didn't hear. What's your opinion on consent to bodily modification, by the way? Personally, I don't really care for it."
"Ryuk," Light cleared his throat, still not used to being so blatantly snubbed, "We're going."
"Ryuk!" exclaimed Miura. "That's an awesome name. Ryuk. Ryuk, Ryuk, Ryuk. I could say it all day."
Please don't tell me you're in love with my shinigami. They would make the world's creepiest couple and he really didn't need to see that right after Ryuga announced himself to be L. Light sighed, feeling his blood pressure going up. "Miura-san, we'll be coming to school tomorrow. Ryuk's not exactly hard to spot, so you'll see him then."
"Alright, alright." At least Miura knew when to back off. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, Ryukkun. And, ah, Yagami."
No, you won't be. "See you tomorrow."
Inter-dimensionally Displaced Bride and Hungry Ghoul
The designer clothes filled the the void in her heart for a shorter while than she'd expected. Android 18 sighed through her nose as she flopped on her luxury hotel bed. None of the staff knew she was here—she had come in through the one of the top floor window. All the riches in the world meant nothing if she didn't have her soon-to-be husband to share it with.
I wonder what Krillin is doing now, she thought, absently going through her belongings. She'd brought with her from her world a small box of capsules. Bulma had given them out last Christmas to all the families in their friend circle and 18 had dumped it into her purse and forgotten about it until now.
There was a manual denoting which held what attached to the bottom of the lid, too, one she hadn't read yet.
One of them was probably a house, though.
Deciding to go through it later, 18 sucked all of her designer clothes, shoes, and sunglasses into an empty capsule. Then she took a shower, got dressed, and jumped out the window. She flew through the city, making note to brush her hair immediately after landing.
18 was vaguely aware that she was a wanted criminal. She supposed it spiced things up around here, but not by much since none of them would be able to actually arrest her. Unless she let them. But that wasn't exactly exciting by any stretch.
She landed in an empty clearing, opening her stolen phone. According to the GPS, she was at To-Oh University. A place as good as any, because she couldn't wait around anymore. If she wanted progress, she would have to make her own moves.
Scientists could be found at universities, right? 18 didn't remember much of her life before Dr. Gero—her life as the homeless orphan Lazuli—but her upbringing hadn't allowed her to receive much of an education. Gero had programmed into her information on all sorts of fighting techniques but none useful for academic pursuits. It was just like the good doctor to think that academia would be wasted on his weapons of destruction.
Not for the first time, she wished 17 were here with her. Then she'd have some way to take out her frustration—there wasn't anything else here that could be punched through a mountain and survive without a scratch.
18 marched up to the first person she encountered—a custodian by the looks of his dowdy dress. "Hey, you. There are science buildings or whatever here, right?"
The janitor smiled at her through his bushy mustache. "Just keep going straight from here and turn left around that corner. You won't miss it."
"Thanks."
The custodian was right—the building was impossible to miss, because there was an exhibition going on. 18 explored the grounds, curiosity getting the better of her as she observed the inventions of students and teachers alike. The technology here was so... dated. Was that guy over there advertising a potential cure for cancer? Back in her world, cancer had long been cured. How did people live like this? 18 felt like she had traveled hundreds of years back to the past.
Somebody bumped into her. "Oops, sorry."
18 whipped around. "It's fine." Hm? Is she human? Her power level's higher than any other human I've encountered so far. She frowned, watching the black-haired girl worm her way through the science-minded crowd. No, 18 decided, she couldn't let her go. She was an anomaly in this world, and anomalies could lead to answers. "Hey! Wait up!"
The girl turned. "Eh? Is this about just then? Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going—"
"What are you?" 18 demanded, grabbing her wrist. "You're not human, are you?" Not only was her power level disproportionately high compared to an average human's, but there was something off about her ki, too.
She grinned, perking up at the accusation. "Neither are you, right? Why don't we go grab lunch?"
