Well, I guess it took less deliberation than I thought it would. I took it and decided I would find out what I want to do with it later after cram school. I did go home and watch the news in my room and tested it on that guy that was holding a school hostage and had to wonder if it was just a coincidence that he really died. Maybe this one really was a joke in this timeline and even if it's not, maybe I should throw it out anyway. However, ending up at the same store and looking at a gaming magazine while I watched a commotion outside the window, I realized that I had two options. Do nothing and let those bikers take advantage of the woman, or write down the guy's name that I overheard. Of course, I ended up writing down the name before I even realized I had made a decision. The guy's bike got hit by a truck in the same way I remembered it originally happening when he tried to chase after the fleeing woman. I felt my body tense up at seeing the first death that's happened in front of me, but other than that, my reaction was strange. Don't people usually cry or even feel sick when they see something like that? Why do I feel like I'm just watching it on the screen in the anime? Like it doesn't matter. Well, I guess it doesn't anyway, does it?

"Well, I never really believed in Heaven and Hell anyway." I muttered to myself, putting the book back in my bag and putting the magazine back on the rack.

It was a bit later that I got home and just went straight to my room to lock myself in there after giving my mother the test results and getting praised for them again. I spent a good while mentally arguing with myself about being right and wrong. I even pointed out that if I had to actually kill someone with my own hands I wouldn't do it, so I shouldn't use this just because it's indirect. Unfortunately, the part of me that agreed with what Light was doing kicked in and I found myself doing the same thing as him, just with a little different method. Writing every murderer and rapist's name I could find in the book during all my free time. I didn't bother with petty theft or anything minor like that.

Adjusting to my new life wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. I even used those mysterious instincts of mine to build that false bottom trap for the top drawer of my desk and put it in place ahead of time. I just didn't leave the key in the lock. I felt like that might be too obvious and careless to really make someone think that fake diary is all I'm hiding. And so, after some long days of staying up late to write criminals' names, I finally came across a name I couldn't bring myself to write as I looked at the picture of the scarred black-haired man with red eyes.

Beyond Birthday. A character I always felt was unnecessary to kill if you know the details of his case. If he could see when they'd die and picked ones that would die soon anyway, I don't see the problem. Well, maybe they died because he decided to kill them though. Still, he had actually had some things in common with Light, from my understanding of it. He would've pulled off the perfect crime too, if it hadn't been for Naomi Misora. Oh, that's right. I might have to kill her later if things go the way Light had originally went. If I don't kill the FBI, I shouldn't have to kill her though, right?

I shook that thought off and continued writing down criminals' names. I had decided to include animal abusers and poachers in the criteria for which criminals I killed, so I had a bit more work now.

I paused in my work, suddenly realizing that I was making the same mistake Light did and decided to start writing times for the deaths, making at least one happen every hour of every day. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be thinking of it if I hadn't been a fan of the series before I ended up in it. I wrote up to a week's worth of timed deaths before I just started writing names without times again. I guess I should give them just a little bit of a lead. I did kind of want to meet L, after all. Even if he could be pretty creepy sometimes.

"You've taken quite a liking to it." A raspy voice spoke up behind me, making me fall off my chair as I turned to see the blue-skinned monster as lightning flashed and thunder rolled. "No reason to act surprised. I am the Shinigami Ryuk. That used to be my notebook." He informed me.

"Oh, right. I was expecting you." I said with a nod, getting up to sit back down on my chair.

"Oh?"

"It's an unconventional way, but I figured something that could kill so easy would be the possession of some kind of god of death or something." I stated with a shrug before crossing my arms and smirking. "I already know what I'm gonna do with it."

"That's interesting. I certainly wasn't expecting this. Several Death Notes have made their way into the human world in the past, but you're the first to have written this many names." He said, looking at the open notebook on my desk. "Look at how many people you've killed in only five days. Most are reluctant to write this much."

"I'm only the first in this reality." I responded, looking down at the notebook with some disappointment as I added a mutter of, "I kind of wanted to meet him too."

"Hm? It seems you have some knowledge of things even I don't know." Ryuk said.

"…I guess I'm an esper." I responded, half-jokingly as I thought of one of my favourite video games that I probably won't be able to play here, then decided to get back on topic. "So, you're not gonna take my soul, are you?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Is that some fantasy you humans came up with? I'm not gonna do anything to you. The notebook becomes part of the human realm the very moment it touches the earth. In other words," He lifted a clawed finger to point at me. "The notebook is now yours."

"Huh." I looked down at the notebook.

"If you don't want it, just give it to someone else. But if you give it away, I'd have no choice but to erase your memories of the notebook."

"So, pretty much my only punishment for using it is that one rule that says I won't go to Heaven or Hell when I die?"

"Let's just say this; you will know the fear and pain only known to humans who've used the notebook. And when it's your time to die, it will fall on me to write your name in my Death Note. Be warned, any human who's used a Death Note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell for all eternity. That's all."

That line was supposed to be creepy and I'd say it did an excellent job of being just that. His laugh didn't help.

"Now you have something to look forward to after you die."

As I stared at him, there was a knock on my door.

"Light?" My mother's voice said as I stared at it.

"It'll be alright. Answer it." Ryuk said.

I put the Death Note in my desk drawer, then got up to open the door.

"What is it?" I asked her as I answered the door.

"I thought you'd like some apples. The neighbours brought them over for us." She told me, then looked past me into my dark room. "Why on earth is it so dark in your room? You'll ruin your eyesight."

I snickered, then waved a hand dismissively. "No, it's fine. I just had a bit of a headache so the light was extra harsh." I took the apples. "Thanks."

After closing the door and putting down the basket of apples on my desk, I looked at Ryuk with a raised eyebrow, since I should probably go along with the scene.

"That notebook you found belonged to me and since you're now using it, you're the only one that's able to see me. And of course, my voice can only be heard by you." He took an apple. "In other words, the Death Note is the bond between Light, the human, and Ryuk, the shinigami." He took a bite of the apple, then looked at it. "Yum."

He then began devouring all the apples.

"I hope you enjoy those, you greedy bastard." I grumbled, crossing my arms and waiting for him to finish. I kind of wanted one.

"Apples in the human world are worth the trip. What's the best way to describe these? Juicy?"

"I don't know, you ate them all." I replied bitterly, going back to sit down at my desk and pull out the Death Note again. "So, why'd you drop it anyway?"

"I did it because I was bored."

"Bored?"

"The truth is, shinigami haven't got much to do these days. Most of the time we're either taking naps or gambling. If you take the time to write names in your Death Note the others just laugh at you for working so hard. Even if you wrote the name of another shinigami it would be pointless because they wouldn't die. And since we live in the shinigami realm, it brings us no amusement to kill those in the human world either. So, I figured I'd have more fun if I came down here myself." He took the notebook from me to look through it. "Anyway, I'm surprised at how many names you've written. But I want to know why you only wrote the cause of death for that guy who was hit by the truck."

I adverted my gaze. "It's because it's faster to do it this way. I've already gone through almost all of the major criminals. I'm moving on to some of the lesser-known ones now."

"What's the point of doing that?"

"It's only a matter of time before people will realize that crime is actually being punished. That there is someone passing judgement on the wicked." I'm partially paraphrasing Light's words, but it's about the same deal just without the god complex.

"Why even bother? What are you trying to achieve by passing judgment on them? I mean, why do you care?"

"Because…I've been bored too." I said truthfully. "There's something about the Death Note itself that makes humans want to try it out at least once."

Unlike Light, I didn't have a rainy scene where I came to a decision. It kind of just happened without the melodrama. Maybe it's because I was still kind of detached from this world? I mean, it wasn't really my reality. It could just be a coma-induced dream, right? I don't know exactly why I was doing it, but I do know I've always held the opinion that a lot of the people in jail for life or waiting for their death sentence were wastes of space and money. Also, the passive campaigns to tell people what not to do don't really work, so fear might be the only way to keep them in check.

"My goal is just to get rid of the people who rot the world."

"But if you did that, you'd be the only bad person left." Ryuk pointed out.

I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face. It probably looked at least a little insane. "I know. I will be the last person to be judged for my crimes."

"You'll write your own name?"

"After enough time has passed that people believe the judgement has stopped because the criminals have stopped, I will gladly write my own name and atone for the method I used. Or perhaps before even that happens."

Ryuk just stared at me, so I turned to the window and pulled the curtains closed before going back to my desk to continue writing. The shinigami pretty much just loomed behind me and watched me write. It was a little unnerving, but I did my best to ignore him.

"I have a question." Ryuk spoke up after a while.

"Hm?"

"Why are you writing times for some and not the others?"

"So at least one death occurs every hour of every day, even if I don't use the notebook. I decided I'll do it every week. Then I can write whatever names I want without times when I do use it."

"You've already figured out you can put a time in the details of a death." He said, seeming fairly amused.

"I've figured out much more than that." I told him with a knowing smirk.