For what seemed like ages... or more likely fifteen minutes Tashina stared at the notebook , tapping fingers on her knee. This little movement was the only indication of the rush of thoughts that was running through her head at the moment.
The idea seemed ridiculous. It defied every law of the reality for a notebook to be able to kill. But then, she wasn't an atheist, and just like she always had this gut feeling about the presence of a higher being that created the world and is watching over it, the thought of the possibility of such supernatural occurrence as a killer notebook was drilling deeper and deeper into her mind.
And yet, her perception of god would stay somewhat safe if the thing was real. After all, wouldn't it mean that this person, or people who are behind the deaths of criminals were just... human? If a normal person could stumble, more or less literally, upon such powerful artifact... then it was no divine judgment.
Yet still, this could as well be a joke and she was just naive.
If there was just a way to prove it... but wouldn't that require attempting to kill somebody? And that was just plain wrong... not like anybody would know, but would she be able to live with herself if this thing proved real?
Yet... how many possibilities would that open?
It seemed like she wasn't destined to finish this internal debate, since her mother just came back from work. Of course the first thing her mom does every time when returning home is to call her. This time was no different.
Knowing of mom's poor patience, Tashina forgot her thoughts, jumped out of the bed and threw the spooky notebook to the side. She basically ran out of the room and down the stairs.
Her mother stood in the doorway, carrying two heavy bags full of groceries. Girl took both bags, and carried them to kitchen, allowing mom to take the coat and shoes off.
"thank you" said her mother. Her face was pale and she looked quite worn out. It was plain how hard she worked, though she never told her daughter what precisely was she doing. Tashina didn't inquire either. Since her father, an American businessman, abandoned their family to move away with his new love interest, every money they could earn was important... no matter how it was earned. Tashina wouldn't suspect her mother of anything illegal anyway. In opposite, teen girl's mother respected the law, according to the girl herself, beyond the common sense.
But suppose this Kira is real, and suddenly the common sense wouldn't shut up about obeying the law to the last paragraph.
When mother followed Tashina to the kitchen, a tired sigh escaped her mouth.
"Didn't I told you to wash the dishes, Tash?" She asked sternly. The girl lowered her head apologetically.
"I... I barely got there..."
"By your schedule you could have been here half an hour ago, that would make enough time for you to do your chore. Don't you understand? I love you, but we can't make it if you won't help me at home!"
Yeah. Half an hour would be enough if I didn't waste it on staring at the notebook... ~ a girl thought, a bit ashamed of herself. It was true... this stupid thing made her forget promise made to her mother... and it was too silly of an excuse to even consider. Distracted by a notebook.
"Sorry, mom... I'll do it now." Tashina said, looking down, then walking towards the sink. Shame she didn't have a dishwasher.
Another sigh could be heard coming from her mother, who started to prepare a simple meal.
-...-
Roughly half an hour later dishwashing was done, and Tashina wanted nothing more than to stretch on her bed and take a nap. Theoretically she should prepare for cram school, but she really didn't feel like going there. Mom wouldn't blame her either, since right now, she was asleep.
But life couldn't possibly be that beautiful, right?
The annoying sound of a ringing phone spread through the room, making Tashina pounce towards it. There shall be no way of her skipping cram school if her mother would wake up.
She answered the phone as soon as she got her hands on it. It was Shina calling.
"Hey... you do have a really bad timing, you know? My mom's asleep."
"Well, I couldn't know, now, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Oh. I was just about to take a nap, but I guess... ask away"
"I really need you to actually go to the cram school today and take notes for me. There's no way I'll make it if I'm to finish this chapter before the class test tomorrow, but cram school stuff is very important too... just for later."
Tashina wasn't particularly thrilled to hear that, but she had hard time refusing to help her busy friend, even though she doubted all these favors would be ever returned. In fact, she didn't care at all, since she hardly needed Shina's help in anything beside more advanced math, and explaining few exercises wasn't a bother to Shina, compared to her requests...
And girl's mother woke up anyway. She could hear her footsteps in other room.
"Okay then... I'll try not to fall asleep"
"You better try hard. And please, write readable way."
"okay, okay... I'll try!"
"Hahahaha... thanks, I owe you one!" Shina cancelled the call, leaving Tashina with the necessity of leaving for the cram school. Well, not a necessity, but I guess it's understandable. Everybody can fail the expectations of parents sometimes, but dissapointing a friend? At least for Tash, it was much harder to take, since mom always forgives, and Shina do not. Especially if it would affect her education.
"Who called?" her mom asked from the kitchen.
"Just Shina. I'm packing up for the cram school!"
"Okay! Take care when coming back"
And so much for her rest. She really had to pack up and leave home. And the couch. At the moment, the mysterious notebook she found earlier was lost again in the depths of her memory.
-...-
If the walk towards the cram school was peaceful, the start of the lesson couldn't be. This student, Ryo, who always sat close to the desk she and Shina usually occupied, seemed particularly restless today. He was pacing back and forth before they entered the class and when everybody entered, he sat beside Tash. A girl gave him an apathetic glance, not being entirely pleased, not upset either.
"You're Shina-san's friend, right?" He asked, his voice trembling. This kid sure was shy. No wonder, since he and Tash never really talked. The only reason he sat around was because Shina was easily ticked off by classroom bullies and always lashed out at Sudou and his gang if they attempted to bully Ryo in her sight. And should I mention that Shina was rather a respected person, in difference to Tash, who was, due to her nature, more like ignored, or overlooked by both bullies and the elite.
"Yes. Why you ask?"
"Why isn't she here yet? Something happened?"
"She won't be here today. She's studying... something else. And to be honest, that's the only reason I'm here right now."
"Oh..."
And that would be it for this conversation, because the teacher hushed the class and started his lecture. For once Tashina noted every word carefully.
By the end of the class her wrist was hurting badly, unused to such intense 'exercise'. That could be it for this day.
Only there yet were other things to come. The moment teacher left the room, Sudou and his gang got up from their seats and approached Ryo
"Hey, buddy, wouldn't you wanna lend me some yen?" Sudou asked.
Ryo looked distressed and gave Tashina a quick glance. Girl narrowed her eyes. These guys were annoying, though she wouldn't say she hated them for what they're doing, she didn't like them either. They didn't need that money for sure.
"But Sudou... I..."
"Come on, I know you have money, won't you help us out, Ryo?"
"Hey, leave it, guys. You don't wanna be on a bad guys list with Kira around, do you?" Tash spoke, with a hint of irony in her voice, without rising her gaze from closed notebook. Maybe if she did, she'd notice that her statement not only bought her the attention of the gang. Light Yagami, seated few desks away turned his gaze in her general direction.
Unluckily, he was far from willing to interfere now... after all, It's not top student's occupation to pick up silly fights.
"You threatening us?" Sudou glared at the girl, who, even though she tried to not give it away, felt a bit intimidated. If they got physical, it'd be hardly possible for her to get away unharmed. Darn the pity that forced her to interfere... It's not like she even believed in Kira, it just seemed like a good one to say now. Apparently not.
"No, I'd rather call it a bit of suggestion" Tashina's voice was nothing but polite. Because what kind of threat was that? If this Kira really were real, he probably didn't give a damn about high school bullies, neither could he possibly know of their existence in this particular place, since he was most probably human. Unless he was in the class, but let's face it – that's so not probable. Out of billions of people?
Sudou laughed
"Oh, but we ain't doin' any crime, just asking my buddy to lend me money, that's not weird, is it?"
"Just thinking, maybe you should quit parasitic lifestyle? You know, it almost broke my friendship in the past"
"I don't think it'll be as bad. So, how about it, Ryo"
"I don't have that much money today"
"Just leave him alone!" Tashina was as surprised as Sudou when she raised her voice
"you should really mind your business, Tashina-san" boy narrowed his eyes.
Oops... ~ girl thought. Now she was too deep in this mess.
"And I think you should take Kikutchi-san's advice, Sudou-san." Everybody suddenly turned their heads towards the one who spoke. Light Yagami.
Sudou looked away embarrased. Gotta love the effect those 'respected' people have on everybody.
"If you say you don't have money... fine, I guess." The gang leader shot Ryo an angry glance when leaving, his gangmates followed.
"Thank you so much Yagami-san!" Ryo was really happy about the unexpected help. Meanwhile, Tashina just nodded at Light with kind smile on her mouth. Light also nodded, then picked up his bag from the ground and headed towards the exit door.
"Thank you too, Kikutchi-san" Ryo said when she began to pack up her notebooks. They both knew that Light wouldn't get involved if she didn't escalate the conflict to right point... and Ryo wouldn't escalate it himself, without any allies he'd most probably just give them money they wanted.
"No problem" girl said, even though she did consider that a nuisance. If it wasn't for Light, things could get ugly. And to be honest, she interfered only because that's what Shina would want to be done. Tash herself wasn't half as fierce in executing social justice. Fighting wasn't her thing.
-...-
When she finally got home after school, her Mother was asleep again, so she snuck into her own room and threw herself on the bed, not even taking the regular clothes off. She drifted off to sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow...
Only to be woken up half an hour later by her mother banging on the door to her room.
"Tashina! Your friend came over! Come down here!" Her mother called.
A quick sigh escaped Tashina's mouth, but eventually she got up and came to greet her friend.
Because, of course, Shina would want her notes back.
"Hey! What? Were you sleeping? You sure you aren't sick or something?" Shina laughed, standing in the hallway.
"Yaaaaawn... no, I'm just lazy like that... really could use a nap now!" For a moment it was hard to tell if Tash was yawning or laughing. Most probably both at one time.
"Come on, notes are in my room." Tashina said, leading the way.
When they entered the room Tash reached for her schoolbag, meanwhile Shina picked up a notebook which was laying on the floor.
"Death note? I didn't knew you were into this kind of stuff" Shina said, catching her friend's attention.
"Oh, that... found it on a walkway today. I'm not into the creepy stuff, but It'd be a shame to let a perfectly good notebook waste..." Tash was talking while rummaging through her bag in a search for cram school notes.
"It has these weird rules of use though... something like a chain letter. Good thing it doesn't say to reproduce it in ten copies... o, there is it!" Girl triumphantly took the cram school notebook out and handed it to Shina.
"It seem pretty elaborate for a joke... thanks... hey, have you tried it?" Tashina's friend took the notes, but still seemed very interested in so called 'Death Note'
"Of course not, you kidding? What if it worked?"
"You seriously believe it could"
"Ain't taking any chances" Tashina laughed.
"Besides, I really don't have anyone in mind who I'd want to kill."
"Sudou maybe... he didn't give you any trouble today?"
"Nah, he's annoying, but if being annoying was worthy of death penalty, I'd be afraid too!" Tash joked
Shina couldn't hold back the laugher.
"Sad but true!" she said through the wave of giggles.
"He bothered Ryo again, but... you should have seen his face as Light Yagami approached! He had never left so quickly before!" Tashina also started giggling, leaning back in her chair.
"Seriously? The Light Yagami, took his attention off his famous window? Hahaha... okay, let's be serious... haha... So what are those rules..." Shina glued her eyes to the black 'instruction' pages of the note
"Oh, yea, they are awfully similiar to..."
"This Kira thing!" Shina suddenly exclaimed, cutting her friend's sentence short.
"Tash, if this was real, you know what this could mean?"
"That this Kira is not government trick nor a divine being, but just some self righteous dude who accidentally found a notebook of death?"
"exactly! Though I'd phrase it a little different... but if we brought it to the police..."
"They would laugh in our faces. Besides, we don't really know if it works. Maybe it is a joke inspired by Kira's murders?"
"true... and do we even want Kira to get caught?"
"I do. But I'm totally not testing this thing." Said Tash. For some reason, in all her indifference, she found the thought of killing somebody by her own hands deeply repulsing
"In the end you gotta admit, He's doing some good for society" Shina pointed out.
"For now. But we all know that humans tend to get bratty if they are given too much power to use for whatever purpose"
"So you think he just want to rule the world?"
"And tries to lure us into believing he's the good guy. Assuming there is such a person."
"But... we won't know until we try it."
"And maybe we will? Take a look at the last rule."
"A shinigami might appear? You believe in shinigamis?"
"Not more than in killer notebooks. But if it really appears, we know it's a real thing."
Shina nodded in agreement. At least they won't have to kill anybody to prove this notebook real.
"So, for now, we just have to wait. You going or would you rather stay for a while?" Tashina asked while glancing at the window. It just started to rain outside.
"I'll stay. Let's get the TV running. Maybe we'll catch some information about this Kira guy..."
"Already playing detective? Fine by me!" A light click followed Tashina's words as she pressed the 'on' button on remote control.
The channel that started playing got interrupted mere seconds after TV was turned on.
"We'd like to apologize for the interruption, as for now we'll bring you a live worldwide broadcast from the ICPO, Interpol. It looks like they're ready to begin:"
"oh. That's interesting..." Tashina mumbled under her breath.
Screen suddenly changed to a black haired man on a stage, with his name written before him. Lind L. Tailor... who?
"I'm the only person who can control the entire world's police forces" – Lind L. Tailor said
"Lind L. Tailor. I go by the code name: L. This successive murdering of criminals is unforgivable and must not go unpunished. I guarantee I will find the ring leader or 'Kira'.
Kira, I can guess what your motivation might be, but what you're doing... is evil!"
Both friends had their eyes glued to the screen through the whole speech, but it seemed to have ended by now. And yet, the screen wasn't changing.
"Does they have anything else?" Tash wondered out loud.
"That's one long suspense building pause..." Shina commented. They both had similar thoughts – that the broadcast, to the present point, was all petty unimportant talk. What was a point of even broadcasting some guy who just wanted to state his early promises?
"Yeah... suspense building... maybe TV failed..." Tash pondered, but when she reached towards the remote control to attempt turning it off, suddenly, the man on the screen caught his chest, as if experiencing heart attack.
Remote control dropped from Tashina's hand.
"Oh." Both girls gasped almost simultaneously.
Man in TV fallen at his stage and stopped moving.
"Is he dead?"
"This can't be a coincidence..." Shina mumbled. Now that made sense, It's like guy was provoking Kira.
"This wasn't real detective, right? " Tashina asked. This looked too much like a set-up made by the police to annoy Kira, and consequently prove his existence.
Suddenly screen changed again, now featuring only capital 'L' in fancy font.
"I can't believe it!" raspy, robotic voice began talking
"I tested it just in case, but I never thought it could actually be true... Kira! It seems you can kill people without having to be there in person!"
"Point for the notebook" Shina said.
"Shh... listen!"
"I wouldn't have been able to believe this if I haven't just witnessed it! Listen closely, Kira. If you did indeed kill the Lind L. Tailor on the screen, I can tell you that he was in fact a criminal that was due to be put to death today. That wasn't me. He was a criminal that was captured by the police in absolute secrecy. You wouldn't have heard of him on the news or through the internet. Looks like not even you have information on this kind of killer.
But as for L, he certainly does exist, as my own persona. Now try and Kill me!"
"Is this L mad, or suicudal?"
"Very self confident, for sure" Tash answered.
"Go on then! Hurry up! Kill me! What's wrong? Kill me! Go on! Kill me! What's the matter? Can't you do it? So, it seems like you can't kill me. Apparently, there are certain people you can't kill. Thanks for the hint. As a reward, I'll tell you one more thing. We lied about this being a worldwide broadcast. This announcement is currently only broadcasted across the Kanto region of Japan.
We were planning to broadcast it at different times across different regions, but it seems there is no longer a need for this. I know you're in Kanto. Your first killing was overlooked by the police as it was such a small incident. However, your first victim was in fact the phantom killer in Shinjuku. Whilst the other high profile criminals were dying of heart attacks, this stuck out as being quite a heavy punishment for a relatively low-profile crime. In addition, this incident was only reported within Japan. Just those pieces of information were enough for me to figure it out.
It means that you're in Japan, and that criminal was your first experiment. Due to its large population this announcement was first broadcasted in the Kanto region. And what a lack? We found you!"
"Kira got to be pretty pissed right now..." Tash noted
"To be honest I'd never thought it would go this smoothly. Kira, it seems like it won't be too long before I can sentence you to death. Kira. I'm curious to know what are your true motives behind this, but I guess that can wait until I've caught you. Let's meet again soon, Kira.
Now screen went grey.
"Okay... that's a heck lot of information for one broadcast." Said Shina.
"I don't like this guy already" Tashina mumbled and raised from her seat, just to lay herself on the bed moments later.
"Why? Or maybe you are secretly Kira?"
"Yep. And I killed him telepathically, because you're holding the notebook" Tash found it hard not to laugh at Shina's joke.
"Just this death penalty thing doesn't sit right with me. And you heard, he was practically bragging about how smart his conclusions are... not really the kind of person I'd like" she added.
"I guess you're right... he might be a dangerous person, basically throwing a death threat on Kira before it is even possible to make a trial..." Shina agreed, but wondered...
"But then, for such enormous crime, what would be a proper punishment if not death sentence?" Tashina's friend asked, shrugging.
"That's a good one, Shina. Good one to think about..." Tash sighed when finishing this sentence.