Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, or a Death Note. I have 4 volumes of Death Note though and my OC,Suzuki Tsukiko.

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Everything started with the bus hijacking. If I wasn't going to Spaceland, if didn't see the monster in the back of the bus, then I would have never been involved with the Kira case.

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No More Mind Games

Chapter 2 – The wheels on the bus go 'round.

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December 20, 2003 – 9:45 (3 hours ago)

At my apartment

It took about an hour but I cleaned up everything instead of waiting until I got in one of my cleaning moods. I wanted to have less work to do tonight and not crash on the futon, falling asleep the moment my head hits the pillow, like I did last night.

After folding up my futon and storing it in a closet, I slid open my other closet full of haphazardly thrown clothes, shoes, and pretty much anything else I wear. Moving aside some out grown school uniforms hung up, I picked an old pair of underwear and some socks from the bottom of a pile of what I assumed were clean clothes.

Lastly, I yanked a random t-shirt and pair of jeans that I grabbed from the back and stuffed them in my washing pail.

"Where did I put my shampoo?" I said to myself as I looked around the room.

A tiny flash of light caught my eye; I immediately walked over to the TV that I put on top of my little refrigerator. I bent down to examine the shoe box beside it on the floor. Another spark of light came from the box as I held it up to lift open the lid. All my necessities were in there.

I chuckled to myself. I constantly forget where things are like where the remote is, where I left my keys, things like that. I'm a pretty forgetful person unless I'm paying attention which isn't always the case.

It isn't something I can change. I daydream, or "zone out" as my mother used to say, I can't help if it's my personality. 'It's the way I am.' I find things eventually by what I call my ItemFinder technique.

I either say what I want to find or think of it inside my head and a spark of light flashes where the object is or in the direction of. Although, I think it is easier if I say it out loud and if the object or thing is nearby. I may even have to repeat my question/phrase or say it differently and look around until I spot something but I always have to picture the object in my mind's eye.

Of course, ItemFinder has its limitations on what I can and cannot find which I discover something new everyday. Concentrating and focusing on clearing the mind makes finding things faster but it's hard to do, at least for me anyway. My mind doesn't know how to shut up.

I guess that could be a problem. Oh…well.

I gathered what else I needed and through it into the pail. Holding the pail in one hand and snatching my purse hanging by the door, I walked into the hallway, locking and closing the door behind me.

When I reached the end of the hall, I dropped my pail and purse beside me as I opened the shoe cabinet in the entrance hall and saw my school boots. I sat down on the floor to put on my worn down shoes, humming a little as worked the shoestrings.

I stood up when I finished, not leaving my things behind, walked out of the apartment complex and into the narrow street. I glanced at my watch. It read 10:05.

That was plenty of time to head over to the public bath house and back home in time to catch the bus. With that decided, my feet led me down the street to the crowded road and on my way to a good soaking.

0o0o0o0

I guess I never properly introduced myself. Suzuki Tsukiko is my name here. In Japan, my first name is my last name. I also go by Tsuki-chan by my friends.

I am 165cm tall and I weight about 100kg, truthfully. That 5"6'and 220 lbs. in American terms. I'm taller than most girls in my school but I'm also one of the biggest. My classmates are mostly small skinny girls and boys, unless they're in some sporting club. Putting stereotypes aside, most of my class looked the same considering their height, body frames, their black hair and eyes, and overall appearance was alike. The matching school uniforms didn't help either.

I was born on July 7, 1986, so that would make me 17 years old right now. I was a raising senior in high school at Hibiya High School, which was considered the "best public high school in Japan" in its prime. Although I had already graduated, I had met the principal, Nagasawa-sensei, only in formal occasions like on graduation day and such. I stayed out of trouble because I have my reasons. Reasons that only I need to know.

'It's the way I am' has been my personal statement to describe myself and what I do. I don't question things like that anymore; I just accept it and move on. I'm not like most people that know of or seen. I never encountered someone who can do what I do…well, in the real world sense, not in fiction.

I communicate with the dead. To keep it simple, my five senses are attuned to the dead as much as the living.

Now before I get into a rant on cool and cliché it may sound to many people, the whole seeing-the-dead thing is a pain in the ass. Really, I am not joking. It's not worth having at all, in my experience; this has brought on too much trouble and stress for me to deal with.

I had to become an open-minded person to really not question why I can do these things. And yeah, ….then there is the 'Not-human' question that I have struggled with my entire life.

Am I human? I believe a part of me is while the other part of me is something else altogether. I given up looking for answers and came up with my own conclusion that

I don't care anymore.

I have more important things to worry about like real life. I got a new life when I came to Japan and it has been the greatest thing I have ever done for myself. I quit being my old self and became 17 year old Suzuki Tsukiko who doesn't see ghosts or anything out of the ordinary.

Now Tsukiko is going toward the bath house where she will stop referring herself in third person. Hopefully.

OoOoO

At the bath house

This particular bath house, or Sentō, is what I would see in an Anime and what I had idealized before I came to Japan. While the traditional sentō are in decline, this is a perfect area for a bath house. Some emphasize their tradition and run traditionally-designed bath houses on request for clients seeking the lost Japan Era like I have. That and not many people have indoor baths in their apartments so they must come here.

I saw the entrance ahead of me. Avoiding random pedestrians, I walked to the other side of the street and ducked down into the doorway. A young lady stood against the wall reading a magazine behind the counter, flipping a page, not paying attention to me a walked to her.

"Excuse me," I whispered in her direction as I spoke Japanese. "May I have the Saturday Special, please?"

She looked up in surprise and a grin spread across her face as she rubbed the back of her hair with a hand. "Welcome! Good Morning! A Saturday Special you say?" She looked over to the broad across the desk. "That will be 300 yen, ma'am. Is that all for today?"

"Yes," I said to her as I grabbed my wallet out of my purse. "And could have some extra towels, please?" The counter lady bent down, I assumed, to get my towels. The 300 yen clanked on the counter as I put them down at the same time the lady popped back up and handed the towels to me.

"Thank you." I told her and walked to the women side, pushing the reddish colored flap door with the kanji for woman away from me. Good, I'm the only one here. I thought to myself. No one comes around at this hour. I'm all by myself.

I chose a locker closer to the baths to put my shoes and clothes in. I started to undress and slip out of my dirty clothes, putting those clothes in the other locker below it. Slipping off my underwear, I was completely naked while I swiftly picked up my washing pail to walk over to the faucets. Passing a full length mirror and some baby beds, I halted.

I faced the mirror to look at myself. I didn't look Japanese; I looked more like foreigner. Brown eyes stared back at me. I took a good long look. Brown wavy hair which curled at the ends went past my shoulders. Broad shoulders supported the size of my breasts. The middle was what I call a "love roll" and I had a couple of them. Though I had more flab than muscle, I knew I had strong calf legs by the look of them and big feet by the size of them, too.

But that wasn't the most apparent thing of my body. The multiple numbers of scars and scratch marks that would not fade were scattered across my entire body. None were self- inflicted, of course. A testament of all my work on the field, per se. The largest scar ran across my side; the one with the biggest story behind it.

My right index finger traced that scar from top to bottom, gently to remember what my past was. I shook my head to bring me back to reality and before I could self indulge into depression. Sitting down on the nearest stool, I turned the hot water faucet and got down to work.

After I scrubbed and rinsed my body, I soaked a wash cloth in cold water and placed on top of my head. Clean enough for the baths; I slipped into the water with a relieving sigh. I made myself comfortable and laid my head back, careful not to drop my cloth.

A mural of Mount Fuji was painted on the wall as well as a general Japanese landscape. I begin to feel relaxed enough to fall asleep when I heard people on the other side of the separating wall. I couldn't help but to over hear what they said.

"….it happened on Live TV, Ando-kun." Said the first voice to the second named Ando. "The Media won't replay it but it's all over the web. Kira really tried to kill L. I'm telling you it's all real."

"But, Hiro-kun, what if this all made up by the police who are killing the criminals." Said Ando, the second voice, to Hiro, the first voice. "I don't think one person is doing all this."

The sound of water running filled the other side of the room, blocking the voices of the people inside. I could barely make out what they were saying as they started to wash themselves. Opened my eyes to see the counter lady sitting on top of a Bandai, a rectangular shaped platform with a railing, watching out for "Peeping Toms" in here.

Having soaked enough to turn into a human raisin, I slowly got out of the tub to dry and towel off. Getting dressed in clean clothes, I heard the men on the other side talking again.

"Have you ever heard of a detective called L? I never have." One of the men asked.

"He is supposed to be a famous world detective who works on his own solving whatever interests him." Answered a voice back. "But, Ando-kun, L is real because he is the only one to openly challenge Kira besides the NPA."

"I still think this is all a cover up story, Hiro-kun," Retorted Ando. That is a possibility. I thought to myself. L could even be Kira himself and no one would be the wiser.

"L is a real hero to stand up to all this." Hiro declared as his voice became louder. "He isn't a comic book character like SpiderMan…"

"Please, keep you voice down in the bathing area! Thank You." Yelled out the counter lady turned bath attendant at the men's side.

They promptly shut up. And I finished getting dressed, putting everything in my washing pail. Clutching my purse, I nodded to the attendant when I passed her by. She smiled at me with a "please come again" as I walked out into the street.

The surrounding cold air cooled me down as gained my bearing and begin strolling back home. I took my cell phone out from my pocket. Flipping it open, I checked the bus schedule from my calendar. The earliest bus to arrive at Spaceland was at 12:20.

I looked at my watch. I was 11:10. I was supposed to be there in ten minutes and I wasn't even ready yet. "Kuso," I swore. Stuffing my cell back into my pocket, I raced home as fast as legs would take me.

0o0o0

At the Bus Stop

I made it in time as the bus #124 rolled to a complete stop in front of me. I hopped on as the door slid open. There were some empty seats in the back. I chose the window seat farthest from the door.

Walking down the aisle, I scooted inside, placed my bags on the seat beside me and sat by the window. The bus started moving again. I liked that the public bus transit system was free for everyone. By just following their schedule and they could take me just about anywhere in Tokyo.

I stretched out my arms above me and settled back down again. I pulled out a manga from my bag and continued where I left off, completing ignoring the world passing me by as the bus headed to Spaceland.

The bus was peaceful and quiet inside. There weren't that many people coming. The bus made another stop as two…no, three teenagers waited outside. I got a better look when they got on the bus.

A young light brown haired guy walked ahead of the others. He looked kinda cute. He seemed to be talking to the shorter dark hair girl behind him, followed by a guy in what I can only describe as cosplay.

Yeah, it had to be a costume. The Cosplayer was taller than the ceiling; he had to slouch down a little to get in. I wouldn't doubt that he worked at Spaceland on a scary ride since he looked creepy. Or maybe there was a costume competition later today. I don't know but think he would win. He looked realistic enough anyway.

A man in a trench coat got inside at the last second as the bus started moving. He quickly looked around and trailed the young kids in front of him. They started walking to the back of the bus.

"Minako-chan is applying to M. University." Said the dark haired girl as she sat down in the second-to-last row window seat.

"Really?" The boy replied causally when he sat down next to the girl. The man in the trench coat down behind them and across from me.

The Cosplayer, on the other hand, just stood up in the back of the bus. For a moment, I thought he wanted me to move my stuff so he could set down but he didn't say anything; he wasn't even paying attention to me.

I frowned, disregarding their conversation and went back to reading my manga. The minutes rolled by as we traveled on. Unluckily for us, it wasn't going to stay that way.

The bus made another stop then went on its way. I turned a page just as I heard someone yell out. "This bus has just been hijacked, ladies and gentleman!" A few screams could be heard in the front. "Anybody makes a sound or move of any kind; I blow their damn head off!" My head immediately shot up at this.

A greasy looking man was in front of the bus aiming a gun at the bus driver. I tensed up and dropped my book on the floor. I was too scared to pick it up. All my attention was on the man with the gun. I begin to shake uncontrollability, gripping the head rest in front of me.

The gunman told the driver to call Spaceland and tell them what has happened. Suddenly, the gunman seized the phone from the driver. He, then, pointed the gun toward the back. He ordered Spaceland to take all the money made yesterday and deliver the money to him by a woman in a car. We were now being held hostage by a madman.

I heard the greasy man snigger as he turned off the phone. Everything became still and silent inside the bus. I struggled to remain calm as I waited for something….anything to happen.

"Don't. It's too dangerous. Let me take care of that." The man in the trench coat whispered. I looked in their direction. He was talking to the cute guy in front of him. "It's okay, if we keep our voices down. He won't hear us over the noise of the bus."

The brown haired boy glanced behind him. "I don't mean to rude, but you have a slight accent. You aren't Japanese, are you?" He asked in a soft, calm tone.

"No, I'm American. My mother's Japanese, though." The trench coat man replied.

"Do you have anything that will prove to me that you aren't the hijacker's accomplice?" The boy asked, surprising both me and the trench coat man. I now looked to the trench coat man in suspicion.

"A.. accomplice?" The young girl shuddered.

"It's pretty common practice. They make you think there's only one guy, but actually he has an accomplice in the back to keep watch and come to the rescue if something happens…" He explained to the girl beside him. "Well, do you?"

The man looked astonished. He reached into his coat and pulled out an FBI badge. "You want proof? Here." He handed it over to the boy.

FBI! What? I thought as my face paled. I shouldn't have the cops on my tail. He's not after me, is he?

"Okay, I trust you. And right now I won't ask why an FBI Agent is on board this bus," The boy handed the badge back to the FBI Agent. "Got a gun?"

"Yes, I do"

"So you'll take care of it if something happens?"

"Yes."

Some moments had passed; then the boy accidentally dropped a piece of paper on the floor. He bent over to pick it up.

"Hey, you! Hold it!! What's that paper?!" The hijacker came running up to us. He bent over and picked up the paper. "Ya little smartass, passin' notes and tryin' to plan something, are ya?" He opened the note.

"What's this, where you were meeting your date?" The hijacker tossed the paper, walking back to the front. "Drop something again, I'll shoot ya!"

He turned back around to us. "And that goes for all of y'all. Anybody makes a move, I'm gonna…" The gunman stopped a moment, his eyes wide. "WH…WHAT THE HELL?!!! YOU…IN THE BACK THERE, YOU…" Everyone stiffed straight as the man waved gun with wild eyes. I backed as far into the seat as I could.

"MONSTER, YOU… HOW LONG YOU BEEN THERE?" Screamed the mad gunman. I glanced beside me. I forgot all about the Cosplayer who stood in the middle of the aisle. How could anyone not see him? Oh. The thought hit me. He is dead.

"Hmm? You talking to me? You can see me?" Asked the dead Cosplayer in disbelief. That confirmed it. Only me and, apparently, the gunman could see him.

"DON'T… DON'T MOVE, JUST STAY RIGHT THERE….OR I'LL SHOOT..!" Shrieked the frightened gunman, now holding the gun with both hands.

"He's on PCP or something. He's hallucinating..." The FBI agent yelled ordering everyone to get down. Someone had screamed up front. I crouched down to the floor on my hands and knees, my arms covering my head. I could barely make out what was being said.

"Back…Stay back," He fired the first shot in quick recession with the second. Everyone screamed including the gunman. I rolled underneath the seat as fast as I could, taking the only cover I could find. Time appeared to stop.

"Sorry, dude. I'm a Shinigami, so that isn't going to kill me." I swore I heard that said before the gunman opened fire. Four loud shots had been fired as I desperately clamped my hands to my ears. I could hear him still trying to fire the gun with nothing in it.

"He's out of bullets!" Stated the FBI agent when he got out of his seat. The hijacker panicked, dropped his gun and dashed to the front of the bus. I crawled out from under the seat as the hijacker grabbed the driver, he ordered the driver to stop the bus.

The bus screeched to a halt. I had gotten up and walked to the other side to look out, avoiding the Shinigami completely. The man literally jumped out of the bus when the door opened and fallen out on the road like his life depended on it.

A car honked and slammed on the breaks. And then the last thing I heard was a disgusting squishy sound as the car drove past our window.

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A/N: well I finally finished this chapter. I couldn't find a good stopping point so I kept writing and couldn't stop.this is my longest chapter. 3,620 words!!

I looked at my stats for the first chapter: 136 hits, 4 reviews, 1 fav, and 2 alerts!!

I'm so happy that some people read my fic. I like to think that the 132 people looked at this are the ones who could of reviewed but didn't. I need some feed back and I want your personally opinion.

For those who reviewed:

Khairin– you are my first reviewer. I hope you continue to read and review my story later on. THANK YOU!

EYE-land – 1) yes, she can see ghosts. 2) I won't say just yet. But I will foreshadow what is to come. Thank you for asking questions!

White Alchemist Taya – just keep reading, you will see. I'm in the middle of college but I had to write this. Thank you for support!

Miss Akinori-Chiyo Abarai – that is a very long name, anyway, this is set in 2003. Naruto was big back then and I wanted to that in there. THANK YOU!!!!

I'll update as soon as I can. But remember if I get more reviews, I will work faster. Its kinda like giving Ryuk apples, you know, but without the handstands. Or maybe I'm just getting my hopes up.

-Mandy