Kagome sighed as she struggled out of the Bone Eater's well and brushed the dirt from her school uniform. "What a weird day," she muttered to herself as a cool breeze blew through her messy black hair. "First I have this terrible nightmare about being run through with a sword and then I misplace my backpack with all the food I was going to bring to everyone. What's worse is that my schoolbooks were in that pack as well! Oh well, I'm sure Mom won't mind taking on a second job so she can reimburse the school." Kagome smiled and stretched, making sure the arrows didn't fall out of the quiver on her back, before fully taking in her surroundings.
"What?" Her eyes widened after realizing she was standing on the sidewalk of a bustling city. "This looks like Tokyo, but how could that be possible?" She looked behind her but the well had disappeared and she sighed in frustration. "Great, even more things are going wrong today. I better find a phone so I can call Mom or Gramps to come pick me up." She clenched the large bow in her hands tightly as she strolled down the busy sidewalks, all the while looking for a payphone. Kagome had just spotted one beside a café when something peculiar caught her eye. She watched as a pretty girl with blonde hair walked out of the restaurant clutching a white bag and smiling happily but then gasped after realizing that some horrible monster was following after the oblivious blonde. "Oh no!" she cried, readying one of her arrows. "Look out! It's going to eat you!"
"Huh?" the blonde turned in confusion before a terrified expression overtook her features. "Please don't hurt me!" she screamed, holding the bag up to her face like a shield.
"Get down!" Kagome called back before releasing the projectile. It whizzed directly into the chest of the horrific-looking beast and Kagome pumped her arm in victory. "Yes! I got it!"
"Someone help me!" the blonde screamed as she dove under a nearby table.
"Don't worry, I shot-" Kagome started before gasping. The monster was staring at her angrily, the arrow having passed right through it, before it turned toward the frightened blonde girl. "What? But I didn't miss this time! How can it still be all right?!" Shaken but still determined to help, Kagome readied her bow once again and was just about to shoot when she was tackled from behind. "Oof," she cried as the wind was knocked from her body.
"How dare you try to harm Misa-Misa?!" an outraged male voice demanded of the crushed schoolgirl. Kagome was having trouble breathing at the moment, subsequently halting her ability to answer questions.
"What's going on here?" a policeman inquired as several people started crowding around the scene.
"I saw it all," a patron of the café cried. "That crazy girl started shooting arrows at Misa-Misa!"
"Yeah, I saw it too!" others agreed.
"Officer, arrest her!" The man who was sitting on Kagome finally stood up to point accusingly at the girl and she gratefully gulped up as much air as her lungs could hold. After a moment she stood only to find herself surrounded by angry civilians.
"Young lady, I demand an explanation," a police officer said as he grabbed her by the arm.
"Let go of me!" Kagome screamed as she tried breaking free of his grip.
"Not until you tell me why you tried hurting this girl," he said, pointing to the blonde.
"I wasn't trying to hurt her," Kagome insisted, glaring at the officer. "I was trying to kill the monster that was trying to hurt her!"
"Monster? What monster?" Kagome looked over to the blonde and shrieked as the strange beast reached out toward Misa-Misa.
"It's right there! It's going to get her!" Kagome struggled to free herself only to find herself grabbed by more of the police. "Why don't you do anything?! She's going to be killed!"
"Okay, that's enough," the first policeman said. "Take her back to the station before she manages to hurt someone, or herself."
A few hours later Kagome pounded against the bars of her jail cell, her eyes flashing furiously in the dimly-lit area. "Let me out of here! I'm not a criminal! I was trying to save that girl! My Gramps runs a shrine and if you don't let me out he'll send a bunch of evil spirits to haunt you!"
"Shut up back there!" someone called back and Kagome growled.
"I will not! I know my rights! You can't treat me like this!" After several more fruitless minutes Kagome's threw up her arms in frustration and slumped down onto the cot in her cell. She put a hand to her throat, which had grown quite sore from her persistent screaming, and closed her tired eyes. "Can things get any worse?"
"Would you care for a drink of water?" Kaogme's eyes shot open as a kindly-looking older man approached her cell. He wore a long coat and in one hand he held a small plastic cup which he offered to the girl.
"Oh, thanks," Kagome said as she poured the cool liquid down her throat. "Ahh, that felt good."
"I am glad," the older man said with a smile.
"So, who are you?" Kagome wondered.
"You can call me Watari, miss," he answered as he set the empty cup down.
"Okay, Watari-san. I am Kagome Higurashi. Would you happen to know when the police are planning on releasing me?" Watari released a small sigh.
"I was afraid you would ask that, Higurashi-san. Unfortunately the police are not through investigating you or your claims of seeing a monster."
"But I really did see a monster!" Kagome insisted. "And anyway, what about my family? Haven't they been contacted yet?"
"That is another puzzle," Watari said as he reached into his coat. "It seems there is no record of a Higurashi family that runs a shrine anywhere in Tokyo."
"What? But that's impossible!" Kagome said, shocked. "My family has lived here for years!"
"It is rather peculiar, miss," Watari replied after pulling out a laptop. "In fact, your whole story is rather peculiar, and that is why my employer wishes to speak with you."
"Your employer? Who is that?" Kagome watched as he finished setting up the portable computer before facing it in her direction. A large, cursive letter L was the only item on the screen.
"He happens to be a detective who investigates unusual crimes. Once he heard about your predicament he was interested in hearing your story, Higurashi-san."
"Well, I suppose this can't get me into any worse trouble," Kagome said with a sigh.
"I am pleased to hear that," a new, male voice spoke from the computer. "Greetings, Higurashi-san. I am known as L."
"L? That's a strange name?" Kagome said, her brows knit together.
"It's merely an alias," the computer voice explained. "Anyway, I would like to hear your version of the events that played out earlier today."
"All right," Kagome said, staring determinedly at the computer. "I had just stepped out of the magic well that transports me between worlds when I realized that instead of the Feudal Era, I was in Tokyo." Watari raised an eyebrow but remained silent, as did L. "Since I was lost, I decided to call someone to come pick me up. Then I saw that girl come out of a café and there was a monster right behind her. I wanted to help her so I tried to shoot the monster with my arrows but I missed, which really made me mad, and when I tried to shoot it again I was tackled. That's when the police showed up." There was a small pause where no one spoke and Kagome thought Watari was giving her a strange look, but it was difficult to tell from his position in the shadows.
"Higurashi-san," L finally said, startling Kagome, "may I ask why you had a bow and arrows on you when you were searching for a phone?"
"Sometimes I take them with me when I go back in time," Kagome explained. "I need to defend myself from demons, after all."
"You don't say. Now, could you describe the monster you saw following Misa Amane?"
"I don't know, it was just a big, ugly thing floating after her." Kagome wondered why the monster's appearance would be important.
"Higurashi-san," L began slowly. "Do you believe this monster could have been a shinigami?"
"Huh? A shinigami?" Kagome turned her head, trying to imagine what one would look like, when a hulking figure floated through the walls and headed straight toward her. "Ahh! Monster!" she screamed, fleeing away from the bars in a panic.
"What? Where?" Watari's head swiveled around as he searched for whatever was upsetting the girl.
"Watari, do you see anything?" L asked.
"No, sir, not a thing."
"It's over there!" Kagome pointed to the man's right and he turned, but could find nothing beside him.
"Heh heh heh," the beast chuckled in a creepy voice. "This should be fun." Then it was gone, floating back through the same wall from which it had appeared.
"It's gone," Kagome said, cautiously moving back toward Watari.
"Was this the same monster you observed following Misa Amane?" L asked.
"No, this one was different, and uglier."
"I understand. Watari, that will be all for now. Please return to your regular duties."
"Yes sir." Watari closed up the laptop and slid it back into his pocket. Then he bowed to Kagome. "Thank you for your cooperation." He turned and walked back down the hall leading to the interrogation room.
"Wait! What about me?!" Kagome cried but in another second the door to freedom had slammed shut. She moaned and banged her head against the bars before realizing that hurt, and then laid down upon her cot in hopes of getting some rest.
"Hello, there." Kagome jumped and rubbed her eyes, wondering how long she'd been asleep.
"Who's there," she asked, squinting as her eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness.
"My name is Light," the young man said. He looked young, maybe like a high school student, and handsome, which made Kagome run a hand through her hair in an attempt to look like she hadn't spent most of the day in a jail cell.
"What are you doing here?" she wondered, moving closer to the bars.
"My father is a police officer. I heard about your arrest and knew I had to visit you."
"Oh, really?" Kagome gave him a hopeful smile and Light returned it.
"Yes. I want to know more about the monster you claimed to have seen."
"Boy, everyone is sure interested in those monsters," Kagome said with a chuckle. "You, the police, Watari-san and L-san-"
"Watari and L spoke with you?" Light interrupted, his red eyes narrowing.
"Yes, earlier today," Kagome nodded. "They wanted me to recount my story and then asked if I thought the monster looked like a shinigami?"
"I see." Light's face had taken on a calculating look but Kagome was too focused on what had just appeared behind the young man.
"It's back! That monster that came in here earlier!" she shrieked. "Light, you have to get away!"
"You mean Ryuk?" Light asked casually as he pointed to the beast. "He's with me. So, I guess you really can see shinigami, just like Misa said."
"Oh, so Misa's your girlfriend?" Kagome asked, disappointed. Then she realized what else Light had said. "Wait, you mean that thing really is a shinigami?" Ryuk laughed again.
"She's got some strange powers, Light," he informed the young man. "I don't know how, but she's able to see things most others can't."
"That's going to be a problem for me," Light said as he pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. "I have enough on my plate dealing with L and Misa, and I don't need some freak like you in my way."
"Hey, who are you calling a freak?" Kagome huffed, crossing her arms.
"Kagome Higurashi, I believe," Light answered as he finished writing something. Then he checked his watch. "It should take about 30 more seconds."
"What should take 30 seconds?" Kagome demanded, growing angrier. Light looked up at her, his eyes glowing.
"Your death," he whispered. "I am Kira."
"I thought your name was Light," she said before her eyes went blank. Light grinned and casually walked away from the cell, Ryuk chuckling at his side.
"What did you do to her, Light?"
"The whole station believes she's insane, so it really shouldn't be a surprise to them when she's found to have hung herself during the night with that red bow she wore around her neck."