Akira stayed curled up in her corner, her weary eyes glued to her intruder. He sat across from her, cross legged, periodically letting out bursts of laughter. He had set the Death Note between them, on the floor. The sun had set long ago and Akira had received two more warnings for her dinner. She refused to move, though, sure that she was stuck in some sort of nightmare, passed out in Tabitha's office. The strange man rustled his wings, startling her.

"Dinner will begin to spoil," Akira's intercom warned her. With shaky hands, she reached up to a little white box on the wall, having to shift to her knees to reach it. Glancing at the screen, she made a few swiping motions and turned off the system. The apartment would now remain quiet.

"Technology has advanced so much in the time I've been gone," the man commented. Akira flinched.

"What are you?" she spit out. She glared at him as he laughed yet again.

"I'm a Shinigami." His eyes glowed as he spoke the word.

"Are you real?" she had to ask. The chains on his wings clinked together as he shifted.

"Do I sound real?"

"Yes."

"Do I look real?"

"In a sense." He laughed at that. What was so goddamn funny? He held out his hand and Akira flinched away, wishing she could shrink further into her corner. But, alas, it was a finite space.

"Do I feel real?" Was it just her or did his voice suddenly get gruff? She eyed him carefully as he waited patiently with his outstretched hand. Then, hesitantly, she inched her hand toward his, biting her lip in anticipation. She stopped an inch from his outstretched palm, not feeling any heat or lack thereof, but not feeling an absence either. Squeezing her eyes shut, Akira thrust her hand into his, flinching as she made contact with skin. She opened her eyes slowly, squeaking in surprise as she saw his hand close around her own. He made her feel small and insignificant.

"What…" she took a deep breath as she watched their hands clasped together. "Who are you?" she asked. The horned man pulled his hand away, making her own feel suddenly cold. Akira gazed up at him, pushing her hair out of her face and forcing herself to look at his haunting eyes.

"My name is Light," he introduced himself.

"How ironic," Akira grumbled. Light gave her a wide grin and chuckled.

"Well perhaps you would know me better as Kira." Akira raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, my name is Akira. That would be much too confusing," she muttered. She dropped her hand to the notebook between them. The man, Light, paused. She glanced up and saw evidence of confusion on his face.

"No," he spoke strongly. "The Kira. The God of this world," he explained. Akira ran her fingers over the words Death Note. She shook her head.

"I have no clue what you're referring to, but I'm going to stick to Light," she responded. Light clenched his teeth together, glaring at her. The two sat in silence for a time, enveloped in darkness. With the sun gone, Akira hadn't bothered to turn on any lights. She had been too afraid to move. But the moonlight creeping up the hall and around Light gave her enough illumination to study the notebook once again. "What is this thing? What is it to you?" Akira demanded, referring to the note. Light didn't answer. He simply reached over and opened the front cover, tapping on the long inscription printed on the opposite side. Akira glanced up at him before reading aloud:

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die." She paused, running her fingers through the pages of the book.

"This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

"If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.

"If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.

"After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

"This note shall become the property of the human world, once it touches the ground of (arrives in) the human world.

"The owner of the note can recognize the image and voice of its original owner, i.e. a god of death.

"The human who uses this note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell…" Akira clenched her teeth together. She knew Light was watching her closely. Abruptly, she stood, carrying the notebook. After a few moments, Light stood with her. With a strangled gasp, Akira saw his feet float a few inches above the ground. With a screech, Akira threw the note at the Shinigami. Expecting the attack, Light simply dodged the book, letting it clatter down the hallway.

"What kind of nonsense is this? Is this some sort of sick joke? My professor's name is written in this!" Akira glared at Light, pointing a shaky hand to the note behind him. "Hisao Abe. Suicide. Draw a picture of a red apple, with a bite taken out of it, in front of his 9 o'clock philosophy class. Proceed to commit suicide by taking the most direct route to the bottom of the University Lake." Akira glared at the otherworldly being before her. "And Heaven? Hell? Bullshit! Religion died out years ago! I will not be caught with spiritual nonsense and forced into a Refinement home. I don't want anything to do with you or that wretched book!" Akira yelled. She was breathing heavily. She glanced about herself quickly, as if she could see through the walls and know who heard her outburst. With a quick flick of her wrist, she turned the hall light on and shoved her way passed Light, making her way through the apartment and turning on every light she could find. It wasn't difficult; there was only a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

Light picked up the notebook and followed her throughout the home. She didn't bother trying to avoid him when he got in her way, simply pushing him to the side. When Akira ended up on her small sofa with her head in her hands, Light stood before her.

"Hisao Abe was accused of pedophilia eighteen years ago. He got off without any convictions, lived in seclusion for a couple of years, and then took up his job as a philosophy professor at your school. Ever since, he has been handing out grades based on sexual favors. I'm sure you heard rumors about it at some point. Something like that never goes completely unnoticed," Light explained. Akira glared up at him.

"Professor Abe was a good man. Those girls wanted nothing more than attention," she fought back. Light nodded and left her, walking through a wall to her room. Akira stared at the place where he entered, her mouth hanging open. He came back out through the door, carrying her thin laptop. He set it on her lap, startling her. "What is this? What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Search for it. Hisao Abe, 2179," Light ordered. After a moment, Akira nodded and opened the laptop. After hitting the right keys and clicking search, she clicked through a couple of pages of results before she found a picture of a younger version of her professor. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Akira clicked on the link.

"Hisao Abe, tried for the rape of 21 girls under the age of thirteen and killing at least 10, was released the morning of August 1, 2179. He was not convicted. His alibi held unwaveringly throughout the case…" Akira trailed off, scanning through the rest of the article. She shook her head slowly, getting to the end. "When asked what he would be doing with his freedom, Hisao Abe simply smiled and said, 'This case has taught me that life is just too short… I'll take a break for now. Find myself. But after some time away, I think I'll follow a dream of mine. I've always loved teaching…'" Akira stopped, the words stuck in her throat. After a few deep breaths she asked Light, "How did you know about this?" Light watched her from the other side of the room, floating between the floor and the ceiling. Akira looked up at him expectantly and repeated the question. "How did you know?"

"I have spent a very long time watching you, Akira Amamiya… You caught my attention when you were six years old. Your primary school teacher was absolutely convinced that you were borderline retarded. Your father was angry beyond belief…" Light chuckled as he looked back on the memory. "They both agreed on an IQ test. At six years old, you scored an intelligence quotient of 136." Akira looked down, remembering. She bit her bottom lip. How did he know this?

"That alone wasn't quite enough to make my decision, however… when you were kidnapped at eight years old, I knew you were the one," Light smiled sadly at her. "This futuristic world… this hell. It has become so binding to its people, only someone who has suffered could possibly be up to the task I need completed. As I watched you, I saw him and every other despicable human being who would cross your path."

"Futuristic world? What are you getting at?" Akira demanded. She stared at the article in front of her, finding it difficult to believe. Light frowned at her for the second time that night. Akira found that she didn't like it.

"I told you. I'm Kira." Akira glared at him.

"And I told you. I don't know what you mean by that. Are you trying to tell me that being a Shinigami makes you my God?" she argued. Light narrowed his eyes at her.

"Look for it on the internet. Search for Kira. Anywhere from 2005 to 2010," he demanded. Akira crossed her arms and shook her head, leaning back on the sofa.

"You'd better wish me luck while you're at it, because finding anything outside of ridiculous propaganda before the war is nearly impossible," Akira explained. Light did not look happy.

"What are you talking about? I've been watching this world for more than ten years now. Just look for Kira, you'll…" Light trailed off, looking to his side as if listening to something. Akira watched him carefully, her arms still crossed defiantly. "The Demon's War…?" he muttered.

"If you've been somehow watching me, shouldn't you know? Sometime around 2015, there was some sort of gang war. Or mafia war, I don't know. Crime rates went through the roof in every country. Illegal weapons were put into mass production, citizens were rioting, churches were "cleansing" the earth," Akira twisted her mouth in disgust. "Basically, religion was banned. The past was wiped clean. The only history we need to know about is that which affects our economy," she explained. Light stared at her with narrowed eyes.

"Search for Kira," he demanded again. Glaring back at him, Akira resisted for a time. They sat in silence for a few minutes, the ticking of an ancient analog clock in the background. Clenching her fists, Akira fought the urge to flinch away from his penetrating gaze. When he opened his mouth to make the demand again, Akira shot forward.

"Okay, fine!" she yelled. Using the screen to avoid his gaze, Akira typed in the words 'Kira, 2005' and clicked search. Several definitions for the word came up, digital photographs of the world before the war filled the screen. She swept through page after page, shaking her head. "There's nothing—" a red warning sign popped up in the right hand corner of her screen, blinking. Confused, Akira clicked on it. Lines of dialogue suddenly swept across her screen and she gasped. Frantically typing and swiveling her mouse around, Akira muttered nonsense to herself.

"I don't understand, why am I being hacked?" she demanded. Light watched her carefully. Akira stopped what she was doing, watching the dialogue completely take over her laptop. Glancing from side to side, she make a quick decision and snapped her laptop shut. Pulling the thin battery out, she threw both to the ground with all her might. She picked them up again, throwing the machines to the ground and repeating the process. Once she was sure she had inflicted the desired amount of damage, Akira started stomping on the pieces of plastic.

Out of breath, Akira observed her handy work. Glancing at Light, she saw that he was watching her with an incredulous look on his face. With a huff, Akira stomped to her kitchen cabinet and grabbed a broom and dustpan. Sweeping up the mess, Akira brought it to the bathroom and flushed it down the toilet, bending and breaking any pieces too large to fit.

"What are you doing?" Light asked from the doorway. Akira didn't bother looking at him as she watched the computer being washed away.

"I took a class last semester on computer programming. One night, I hacked into one of the receptionist's computers at the Capital building. Just to see if I could do it. They had a security system in place that would automatically track whomever was trying to access government files, even if they were public. I got caught and ended up in Refinement for two weeks," Akira started. "When I got out, the first thing I did when I bought a new laptop was set up a series of firewalls and encryptions, so I would at least be warned if I were being tracked again…" She left the bathroom, squeezing past Light, who followed her. "For whatever reason, those keywords you had me search for were attached to a security system. Whatever 'Kira' is, no one is supposed to know about it."

Light snorted. "Figures. They could never measure up so they decided to just start all over," he said. Akira glanced back at him as she found her way back to her sofa. Sitting with her legs folded beneath her, Akira watched Light.

"Tell me what Kira is," she requested. Light held up the Death Note and faced Akira. Gold met green.

"It is who I would like you to become."

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