Co-written by Lionhart280 and HybridDemon

Rating: M Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language.

Words:

Based upon: Deathnote

Chapter 3: Guilt

"Hey man, I heard about Nikki-chan. I'm sorry…" Ryou nodded solemnly, though on the inside he was shouting triumphantly. Light nodded and kept walking, completely oblivious to the massive bull's-eye Ryou was imagining on his back. Soon Yagami-kun, soon I will kill you too…

Ryou sat at the back of English class, watching the last few minutes tick by on the clock. Soon it would be Friday, and the weekend. Only one minute to—

"And now for your homework," Mrs. Hirame spoke, "I want a five page essay on a comparison between the characteristics of the Hero and the anti-Hero, by Monday. I'll be expecting good work, and no slacking!" She stuck her finger out and pointed at the class.

Ryou glared at her, this was unbelievable! How dare she impede on his weekend! He had a date! His eyes moved to the Deathnote sticking out of his backpack, as if inviting him to write in it.

The third rule passed its way through Ryou's head, already memorized, 'If the cause of death is not specified, the person simply dies of a heart attack.'

Without thinking, Ryou tore a corner from the book and quickly wrote, 'Miyaki Hirame,' it was a good thing he knew her first name.

He watched the seconds tick by. Mrs. Hirame suddenly got an uncomfortable look on her face and she began to rub her arm. Suddenly her eyes widened and she began to make gasping sounds. Her legs gave out as she collapsed behind her desk, clutching at the top. Slowly her grip loosened and she dropped to the floor with a thump.

Panic ensued. Girls began to scream, guys freaked out, and among the frenzy Ryou just sat and stared, completely horrified. What had he done?

He stared at the Deathnote, no longer seeing it as a weapon, but as a curse. He had to get rid of it.

Light watched Mrs. Hirame hit the ground, his eyes widening in shock. Ryuk was suddenly on the alert beside him, glancing about earnestly.

"This is work of a Deathnote," He spoke, glaring.

Light snapped his head around amid the chaos, "Someone here has it?" He glanced about, searching the room.

Ryou quickly grabbed his backpack and slipped out the door at the back of the room unseen. He had to ditch this thing before he caused any more damage.

The teen broke into a run down the hallway as the bell rang at the end of class. He stopped suddenly. It would be too suspicious if he took off. He changed direction and charged towards the office.

"Someone call the hospital!" He shouted as he ran through the door leading to the office, "Mrs. Hirame just had a heart attack!" The secretary blinked.

"What?" she replied, dumfounded.

Ryou didn't wait. He grabbed the phone from her desk and dialed.

"Emergency response, what's the problem?" A voice broke through. Ryou quickly shot out a hurried description of what had just happened, "Emergency response is on the way."

Afterwards he sat and stared off into space, twiddling his thumbs. Police came and questioned him and several other class members before leaving. What was there to be suspicious of, it was just a heart attack.

The teen left and hurried home. Halfway he stopped in an old alleyway he used as a shortcut to his home. Ryou glanced about earnestly before pulling the Death Note out of his backpack and tossing it onto the ground.

Thunder boomed overhead. Ryou grimaced. He hated the rain. As he walked away, muttering about how he never wanted to see the thing before, he felt a peculiar sensation as all of the memories of the… something… he couldn't remember what… left his mind.

He groped through his mind for what he had forgotten so suddenly. Finally the teen gave up and shrugged his shoulders as his house came into sight.

Ryou glanced up at the darkening sky and grimaced. He hated the rain.

Why did he have such a strange feeling of Déjà Vu?

"Light, the Death Note is here…" Light nodded and shouldered his backpack. It seemed that, luckily, one of his classmates had grabbed the book before him. Considering, that was highly possible, about a 75 chance, compared to a stranger picking it up.

"Now the question is who has it?" Light considered, "They waited until she made the announcement before killing her, which means it was out of spite. Someone who really had something they wanted to do. Someone who was okay with killing her, no, wanted to kill Mrs. Hirame…"

Ryou rolled his eyes, "That narrows it down…"

Light grinned, "As a matter of fact it does!" He broke into a run.

"How so?" Ryuk queried as he flew neck and neck with Light, "Anyone in your class probably had plans on the weekend, and form my watching of humans, it's rare to find one willing to cold blooded kill like that."

"Exactly," Light replied, "There's only one guy in that whole class willing to Kill Mrs. Hirame. Most of us are either way to afraid to, or love her too much. If he had used the book in a different class I wouldn't have been able to pinpoint him…"

Ryou raised an eyebrow, "Your teacher wasn't kidding you are smart!"

"Yeah, top scorer in Japan," He said it as if it was nothing, "This guy… It makes sense now. Ryou's girlfriend died last night. And she was cheating on him…"

Ryou sat down at his desk and sighed. "What a day..." he murmured and pulled out his English assignment. Would they have to do it, Mrs. Hirame being dead and all?

Weird. One would think he'd be a bit choked up, having his teacher die in front of him and all. Yet Ryou felt… good about it?"

Akechi walked down the alley, his hands in his pockets. The man sighed and stared down at the ground, kicking a rock.

"Whump" He glanced up and stared at what it had hit.

"It can't be…" he whispered, staring in shock and awe at the black notebook before him. The Death Note.

"Master Euphilius will enjoy hearing about this…" he hissed, picking the dingy book up and quickly walking away.