"Got it. You value your life over your country." Ryuk flew from the White House, Death Note in hand after threatening Donald Trump with his name in his note when Trump stated he would do nothing with his. He didn't want to die (again) of boredom. "Man, will someone get to use it? All I ask for's a little fun while I'm here…" He flapped his wings, soaring over the United States. "Ah," he stopped, struck with an idea, "maybe if I randomly drop it, fate will find someone… just like how it was with old Light!"

Ryuk groaned. "But I was in the shinigami realm when I dropped it… seems like a waste of time going there and back…" He looked down at the bustling crowd below him. His permanent grin growing eerily wider, he continued, "But if I just drop it here, that'd be random enough!"

Letting go of the Death Note, he watched as it fell.

"Now," he said, "fate better entertain me well."

Bright pop music played through Kyoshi's earbuds as he headed down the crosswalk, bobbing his head and lightly swinging his bag of groceries, albeit a little off-beat. He was heading home to help his mother cook tonight. In celebration of his first ever 4.0 in high school (in the past, his best was a good 3.6,) they were making a big dinner for the three of them; himself, his mom, and his dad. It was an odd feeling for him, getting a 4.0. Some of his friends considered it the lowest GPA they could possibly get, and others were struggling to get half of that. Nevertheless, he was proud of his achievement, even if it did feel handed to him since he was taking the easiest AP and honors classes.

"Ack!"

He stopped in the middle of the crosswalk to look for whatever hit his head. Looking down, he spotted the back of a black notebook.

'Huh, is this what hit me?' he thought, picking it up. Looking around to see if anyone was frantically searching for it—there was no one of the sort—he assumed either it slipped from someone's grasp without their noticing it or it'd just always been on the road. But how did it hit his head…?

People had started to walk around him, some making dirty faces. 'Right, I'm standing in the middle of the road…' Stuffing the notebook in his grocery bag, he started his walk home again. No one was looking for it, so it should be okay for him to keep it, right? He hadn't taken a proper look, but it didn't seem like anything important enough for someone to just leave it on the road. If it did have some sort of identification, however, he'd be sure to turn it in. After all, he didn't want to be a thief.

Kyoshi returned home, greeting his mother.

"Kyoshi! How's my scholar?" she said, smiling from the kitchen.

"I'm just happy knowing I'll graduate in a month." He started walking towards the kitchen, carrying the bag of groceries. "Oh," he said to himself, and stopped in his tracks.

'I almost forgot about the notebook.' Setting the bag down on the coffee table, he pulled out the notebook, flipped it over, and…

'Death Note?'

"Of course you're graduating!" she answered. "Don't say things like that. You're such a hard worker!"

"Oh, uh, yeah," he said, eyes glued to the notebook in his hands. What… was this?

Snapping back to reality, he placed the notebook face-down on the coffee table, picked up the grocery bag, and gave it to his mother.

"Dinner will be ready soon."

Kyoshi nodded. He picked up the notebook and went inside his bedroom to sit at his desk with it, making sure to lock his door first.

He reread the cover, and sure enough, it said it was a Death Note, whatever that meant. Flipping to the first page, he found a list of rules in English with Japanese translations under each line. Good thing he was bilingual.

"The human whose name is written in this note," he read aloud, "shall… die." Scratching his head, he continued to read the rest of the rules written on the first page, even if he did find it weirdly morbid.

So, it was a notebook of death. Assumably. The part about heart attacks reminded him an awful lot of the mass murderer Kira, but this possibly couldn't have been what he used. Kyoshi wasn't one to believe in the supernatural. He did, however, think that perhaps one of Kira's crazy followers made this out of speculation of what he used to murder all those people.

He let out a short laugh. Maybe he could use it as one of his school notebooks. Show up to class with it one day, watch his friends' reactions…

"Kyoshi, dinner!" his mom called.

Leaving the notebook on his desk, he got up and—

"Aw, come on!"

Kyoshi froze, doorknob right below his hand. What just…

"Behind you, heh heh heh."

A shadow engulfed the wall he faced. Did someone break in his room?! He had nothing in his hands to protect himself. His eyes scanned the items near him, trying to find anything he could easily pick up and use as a weapon. Violin, backpack, #1 son mug… With a shaky breath escaping his lips, he decided to finally turn around after considering his limited options, and found himself up against a…

"AAAHHHHHH!"

Collapsing against the door, he grabbed his violin and held it over his shoulder by the neck. A small voice in the back of his mind was pleading for him to not destroy a $10,000 instrument, but at that point in time he wanted to live.

Vision shaking, the grip on his violin tightened. "W-what, what are you?!"

The monster just chuckled. "I'm Ryuk. A shinigami."

"Shinigami?" That was a Japanese term, wasn't it? But he was speaking English all those other times. Kyoshi gulped. The notebook had rules in English and Japanese. Did this… shinigami… have something to do with it, then?

"Yeah. Honestly, I wasn't going to pop up this early 'cause I wanted to recreate the situation I put Kira in, but seriously? I leave it up to fate to find someone fun for me, but you're not even a little curious?" He laughed. "Either way, I think fate's a little… eh, what's that word? Where it's all samey? Starts with an H, I think."

"Uh… homogeneous?"

"Yeah, that. Homogeneous. After all, it's funny how three times in a row it's been owned by young Japanese boys."

"I-I'm American…"

"Oh."

Kyoshi shakily stood up, putting his violin back in its stand. The voice in the back of his mind sighed in relief. "So, you're telling me," he said, "Kira actually used this? It's not just some fan-made notebook?"

"If it was, I wouldn't be here, heh."

He heard his mom call out his name again.

"Hey, um, Ryuk."

The shinigami grinned at him. Or did he? It seemed like it was stuck that way.

Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Can you stay here?"

That seemed to get him into a laughing fit. Wiping away his tears (did he really have tears?) Ryuk said, "You know, you're the only one who can see me."

Kyoshi's eyes widened.

"At least, in your house."

That left a lot of implications.

"You know what, I'll tell you all about everything after you finish your, eh, dinner."

Kyoshi reluctantly nodded, heading out of his room and joining his family, half-expecting the shinigami to be following him out.

The dinner with his parents wasn't out of the ordinary, which surprised Kyoshi because he was expecting someone to point out his seemingly obvious fidgety-ness. But it was a normal celebratory dinner, simple questions being asked about his studies, friends, and general wellness. His dad got a raise at his job of being a doctor, which sort of turned it into a double celebration. The topic of graduation came up, and ultimately the trip to Japan so they could spend time with his grandparents.

After finishing, he returned to his room where Ryuk was waiting to tell him all about the Death Note; its rules and its history. His whole retelling of Kira's story was already so staggering, but what caught his immediate attention was his mention of the last holder of the Death Note, probably because he was still alive. Probably because, although he never wrote in the note, he still used it and was able to get a happy ending without knowing it was ever him.

"So, you smart, or what?"

Kyoshi turned to look at the shinigami's face. Mouth agape, eyes crossed, creepy aura… he doesn't think he could ever get used to looking at him. His answer was hesitant. Nevertheless, he still spoke. "I'm average."

"But what about your mom, eh? She called you her scholar!"

"She'd call me that no matter what."

"Alright, alright, but what about the point of your whole dinner celebrating you on, uh, being smart?"

He sighed. "That's just a one-time thing. My grades are usually worse than that, even when I work my hardest." The bed creaked as he lay down on it. "I just got off easy senior year, since all my classes, even though they're AP and honors, aren't too much effort. As long as I stay on top of my work, I can get A's or B's."

Ryuk scratched his head. "AP… honors… maybe I should've stayed in Japan… But still, Kyoshi. I think you can do it."

'Do… it?'

He almost scoffed. Yeah, no way he could be the next Kira. He didn't hold the same ideals as him, and he was sure he wasn't half as smart as he was. If he were being honest, he wouldn't have such an adverse reaction to causing someone's death, but other than that, he couldn't think of a situation where he'd want to use it. He held no grudges against anyone, and it wasn't like anyone he knew was in a life or death situation that he could help them with. But looking up at the shinigami, he was sure he'd be searching for another owner if he returned it to him, possibly leaving it to someone with real ill intent. It didn't sound like he could just keep it safe, either, because Ryuk seemed to be looking for someone that'll entertain him with it.

Kyoshi remembered something Ryuk said. "Ryuk," he called, sitting up on his bed.

"Eh?"

"The last person who owned this… um… I'll just call him the sellout."

"Hah. Sellout."

"He never got caught by L, right?"

"Nope."

"Huh." He turned around to get on his laptop, switching to a Japanese VPN to make things easier. Even if L couldn't find him...

Ryuk was looking over his shoulder. "What 'cha looking for?"

"The highest IQ scores in Japanese schools."

"You're trying to find him?"

'Yes, 'cause maybe I can find him,' he thought. Ryuk wanted another Kira. The best way he'd try and find him is to go back to Japan, find someone with obvious smarts, and encourage him to do what he wanted. After all, he did say the last three users (including him) were all young Japanese boys. The only reason he himself owned the Death Note now was because Ryuk probably thought randomly dropping it would be a more authentic way of finding him.

Kyoshi's research revealed that barely any high schools had records of their students' IQs. However, there were many middle school scores made public, even if they were all anonymous and put on a scatterplot.

After what seemed like ages (and several complaints from Ryuk about how it felt like he was watching someone do homework,) he finally came across one middle school that had a noticeably high outlier from a few years ago.

He thought his plan would work well if the shinigami wanted entertainment. "I think I know what I want to do with the Death Note, Ryuk," he said.

That seemed to get him in high spirits.

"But I'm not going to need it until next month."

And his spirits went back down. That creepy grin never changed, though.

"Okay, I'm going to Japan after I graduate, and that's when my plan's going to start. I mean, I can keep you happy with apples until it happens. My mom grows fruits in our garden, so they're extra fresh."

Ryuk's eyes widened. "Heh heh, now that sounds like a good deal."

A month passed. Kyoshi was living with his grandparents in Japan. His mother came, but unfortunately his father had to stay for his work.

"Man, that flight was so boring. I almost feel bad for you humans! Wings really make everything better."

And Ryuk came, too.

Other than his mother wondering where all the apples went, living with a shinigami hadn't had any misfortunes. But now that they were in a country where any police officer could be the ones that have been in contact with the Death Note and therefore be able to see Ryuk, nervousness couldn't help but settle in his stomach. Kyoshi supposed this wasn't the worst thing that could happen, though. It even felt kind of fun, plotting his next moves so he could find the sellout. He hadn't felt this invested in something since he was 12 years old in his middle school orchestra…

"So what's your plan now that we're here, huh?"

Kyoshi pulled up his phone and looked up directions to the sellout's old middle school.

"We're going to break in."

A/N: so i read the one shot and thought... that was way too short, i want more of my boy minoru. i also didn't like the rule the shinigami king made, but that's why fanfiction exists lol. so i know it might be off-putting to start a fic with an OC when it's about minoru, but that was really the only way i could think of that would force him to get his memories back, as well as a reason for near to be interested again and not admit defeat (because i know he can do more, he just wasn't motivated enough.) it might sound confusing how that's gonna happen with an OC, but hey, i don't like spoiling stories ;)

P.S. if you're reading my other fic The Unknown, i'm not giving up on it! i just haven't been able to write the right ways to continue at this point. so i'm still working on it, but i want to thank you for your patience because it's been so long since an update.