The auditorium at Roseburg Conservatory High School was a tall and wide room which could seat a couple thousand people, it had a stage and different coloured stage lights hanging from the rafters. The school didn’t have that kind of population, but the designer seemed to have planned ahead. The students filed into the auditorium and took their seats.

I suppose they’re going to tell us about the counselors? We already know… There was a police officer… Therefore I can assume that there is some sort of investigation going on. But why? I heard that there was also a student that died of a heart attack… The same cause, possibly within hours of each other..? Coincidence? Perhaps not… But how then? Akihito lost himself in thought as the police officer stood on the stage and explained that they would be looking into possible leads. Most of the students seemed to be mumbling about how ridiculous that was. How could a culprit cause a heart attack?

When Akihito began paying attention again they were just explaining that there will be a medical team at the school the next day to check blood pressure and make sure no one has any heart problems. There will also be an environmental team there to check for any natural causes of spontaneous heart attacks.

Just as the announcements were coming to a close the last bell for the day rang, but Akihito hadn’t moved from where he sat. He didn’t notice the bell, he was lost in thought about the different possibilities but couldn’t, himself, come to any clear answer. Not unless he considered the super natural, but that was ridiculous.



Akihito made his way to his car, he didn’t have work after school today. He was just going to go home and rest. He would probably then go to a coffee shop and eat something for dinner then make his way back home and scan the news for anything odd, like spontaneous heart attacks. Once is chance, twice is a coincidence… but three… that’s logically a pattern…

As he got to his car, he didn’t really know that his day would only sort of go that way. His day was thrown off by what he saw had been lodged in between with wind-screen and the hood of his car. It was a bound, composition-like, book with two words on the cover: “DEATH NOTE”. As Akihito picked up the book he could sort of sense a change in his eyesight. He could tell they were sharper somehow but didn’t know how. He saw some students pass him by but didn’t seem to be able to see anything different. Just my imagination then?

He could tell it was made of genuine leather and seemed to be really old. Age was apparent all over it, even though it was in perfect condition. The inside cover laid out some instructions for use. Interesting… So if I were to write down a name and think of a face… they would die of a heart attack within forty seconds… That sounds similar… I… hmm.... He opened the door and climbed into the old Honda.

I’m going to have to test it… But it can’t be anyone I know, clearly, but it should also be someone who really deserves it. This is, of course, assuming that it actually works. I think it will, it is the last explanation for the spontaneous heart attacks earlier, with the exception of an environmental cause…

As he stepped into his apartment he placed his bag on its rack, next to the door. He made his way to his room where he turned on his television. He flipped over to the news hoping to find a criminal on trial. He kept changing channels until he found one. “Sam Seaborn…” He wrote the name down of the man who was on trial for killing his wife, her sister and his daughter the man was clearly guilty, he had just confessed. As he did so, he thought of the face which was plastered to the screen. 40 seconds… 30 seconds… 20 seconds… 5… 4… 3… Now, what will happen?

Roseburg Conservatory High School, Roseburg Oregon

A soft knocking rose the tension a few notches as both Sif and Ryuk glanced at the window. Ryuk continued to look at the girl there while Sif glanced between the two. "She, umm, can't see you can she?" He asked quietly, staring at the girl. Ryuk shook his head. A sigh escaped Sif's lips and he walked over to the window, opening it slowly. "Hello," He said timidly, his eyes scanning her face. She probably thought he was crazy, and unfortunately he didn't think she was very far off. After all he was starting to accept the fact a giant creature was floating behind him that only he could see. Though he was trying not to think of it in that light, it was very difficult not to. I am truly going crazy he thought glumly.

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "That's everything?" The monster she'd learned was called a shinigami nodded, "Yeah, more or less."" Elizabeth took out the book and stared at it in wonder. To think that this should be lucky enough to happen to her. Elizabeth grabbed a pen and looked at the book. Any name as long you had the face. That was all it took. All it took to kill someone. The thought nearly made her giddy. Her thoughts immediately flashed to Rinah, a girl a school that had always bothered her, messing with her books, tearing up her homework. Elizabeth's face contorted in an angry frown. Certainly she didn't deserve to live. After all, what good would she do if she lived. Elizabeth pictured Rinah's face in her mind and wrote down her full name. Death by heart attack in sixty seconds. Elizabeth counted the seconds eagerly and when time was up she reached for the house phone cautiously. She knew the household's number. Had anything happened? Elizabeth shakily dialed the number and waited eagerly for the response.

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Elizabeth let out a little giggle. It had worked! Of course the presence of this shinigami had been pretty compelling evidence but still she'd had to make sure. She lay down on her bed and thought about the possibilities. Oh the power she had now. Everyone that had ever made fun of her. Bullies, criminals, world leaders. She could remove all of them. She could remove anyone. With information you could get from any newspaper or TV. But she had to be carefully, if anyone found out about this power they would want to take it for themselves. As she lay on her bed scheming Ichigo simply stared at her with a slight hint of a grin on his face. Maybe humans weren't so boring after all. He curiously grabbed an orange and peeled it, dropping the slices into his mouth one by one. No, humans weren't so bad at all.

It happened later that night. Akihito doesn't scream. He never really has, some would call him emotionless but he doesn't really care - perhaps he has aspergers. He should have had a reason to scream but his only reaction was to ask why it was there.

“You’ve taken a liking to it… human boy.” The being before him hovered above the ground. It's skeletal arms and legs hung off of its suspended body long and lanky, they grazed the floor as she moved about his apartment. By this time of night Akihito had moved to his kitchen to eat his dinner, baked chicken with rice.

“And why are you here? For this?” He picked up the Death Note from his table to point it out. “Watashi wa shinigami anata o yobidasu hitsuyō ga arimasu ka?”

“A clever one… Yes you can call me a shinigami. A reaper is what you may call me in English. But if you.prefer Japanese then Shinigami works as well.” She paused. “Yes, I am here because of the Death Note. That book was mine.”

“Was..? So… Since it came into the possession of a human you lost custody of it? Is that how it works?”

“Clever, but no. Not quite. Once the notebook touches the Earth, or anything on the Earth, it becomes a part of this realm and no longer belongs to me.”

“I see… So what is your purpose here then? Will you be leaving with my soul? Or perhaps my head? I could do nothing to stop you. I don't even know your name and, even if I did, writing it in the Death Note would do me no good. The rules clearly state that the name must be that of a human. You are, clearly, not human. “

“An astute observation, I like you human. What is your name?” She seemed to have ignored the question.

“I am Osamu Akihito” He bowed as he said it, putting his two hands together and bringing his back down to a sixty degree angle, roughly. “And you are?” He lifted his back until it was straight again.

“Clever and polite. You will be much nicer to deal with than my last human. I am the Shinigami Midora and I have come here to observe as you use this Death Note. I am not here to help, I am a spectator and nothing more… But there is one thing I can help with, if you're willing to pay the price.”

Akihito realized what this must've looked like, this skeletal reaper in his kitchen, his food getting colder and him having a tense conversation with it. Now it offered him assistance with a price, even though he had no idea, yet, what the assistance was. “What do you offer and what would be the price.”

“I offer you eyes.”

“Hmm? I have my own set… Unless you mean the eyes of a shinigami. How are they special? What would I be able to see?”

“A perceptive one. Yes, I would give you the eyes of a shinigami. With your eyes you can only see faces and other physical objects. With eyes of a shinigami you can see a person’s name and lifespan just by looking at them… There would be no need to attempt to find out someone’s name. Just take a glance and you would know.”

Akihito didn't speak. So she continued, “I can see your name and lifespan floating above your head right now. For you, it appears in hiragana because where you're from. For others it appears in whatever language their name is in. I would never tell you your lifespan, it appears in my language so you couldn't tell either, but the names would be useful to you.” She took a breath, “All I would need from you is a deal. Just half of your remaining lifespan. Nothing more or less.”

Half of his life… So if he was suppose to live another fifty years then he would live twenty-five instead...

Japanese translation: "Can I call you a shinigami?"

Sitting near the jocks and the cheerleaders was so tedious.

Lyra ate slowly so none of them would question her presence. She had arrived in the cafeteria early and chosen a then-unoccupied table, one of the closest to the end of the line to get food. As expected, a group had seated themselves next to her, each member shooting her a brief, uncertain glance before ignoring her. And they just had to be the sporty types.

"What the hell is basketball, and why do they all care about it?" asked Ezerion. The Shinigami was floating just above the center of the table, but of course, no one but Lyra could see him. He kept spinning in circles, sighing exaggeratedly as if bored.

It was just when Lyra had resigned herself to trying to eavesdrop on the neighboring tables that the subject finally came up.

"My mom was watching the news yesterday when the anchor just died," said one girl, rolling her eyes, "It really freaked her out. She wouldn't drive me anywhere after that."

The group chuckled - all of them except for one boy, a pale-faced giant who wore a doubtful expression.

"What's wrong with you, Vic?" asked one of the other guys, "If you're still sick, you better get the hell away from me. I can't afford to miss tomorrow's game."

"It's not that," said the boy, hastily taking a bite of his corn as if to prove he could stomach it, "It's just... while I was at home yesterday, I saw it, too. It just got me thinking."

"That's unusual," said a girl. The statement was followed by laughter.

Cheeks going pink, the boy quickly continued, "I heard about that teacher, too. It was on the morning news. They were saying he died of a heart attack... just like the anchor. And they were neither of them old. Made me wonder, what if they're connected?"

"You trying to be a quarterback or a detective?" asked the other guy. The question was followed by laughter and teasing. Lyra looked downward, at her meal, concealing her grin.

It wasn't the same as being able to leave the house, but with her Death Note, she could do stuff.

At first, she hadn't wanted to use the power more than she had to. But, suddenly, the school was buzzing with rumors. Even the teachers seemed too distracted to really focus on academics. And it was all because of her. All because of her new power.

She brushed a finger against the scrap of paper in her pocket. No matter what happened, she had an out. So why not have a little fun for a change?

Roseburg Conservatory High School, Roseburg Oregon

Sif frowned at Oddessa as she talked about what happened in the cafeteria. "Oh I'm sorry, that was. . ." He thought for a second, the memory slowly coming back to him. He winced visibly at the headache that he had which was growing by the second. "One of the jocks surprised me while i was eating, and pushed me off of my seat after an argument. Apparently he told the nurse I yelled at someone and fell off," He shrugged, his distaste palatable.

As far as Sif was concerned two things could happen from here. She could call him out on the blatant lie, and try to probe for information that way. Sif could easily call her insane and end the conversation. On the other hand she could concede and not challenge his version of the story. Sif was more then a bit curious which she would do.

Odessa looked up at the boy as he shakily told her what had happened. She had no reason not to believe him as she was not a witness to the incident. All she heard was a slight scream with some laughter to follow by the rest of the school. She scanned the room and out the small window for any suspicious onlookers. Seeing no one, she turned back to the boy. "What were you looking at this entire time? There's nothing here and not gonna lie, you looked a little crazy." She hoped the boy would tell her the truth and not just sluff her off as being nosy. Her curiosity always got the best of her and it made her angry when she was denied knowledge.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, she noticed that she needed to leave. Like now! Trying to look urgent, she asked the boy in a hushed but slightly aggressive voice, "Can you come with me? Please?!" SHe hoped the boy would comply and that she wouldn't have to knock him out again. . .

“Are there any other details about the eyes? Is there anything specific to when a human uses them? I assume I wouldn’t be able to see my own lifespan.” Akihito attempted to get as much information as he possibly could about the functionality of the eyes before he agreed to anything concerning how long he lived. He could see a practical and defensive use for the Death Note and when combined with the eyes it would appear that he could kill anyone just by looking at them and writing their name down. Not that he would kill willy-nilly - more that he could use it if ever involved in a bank robbery, for instance.

“Humans who possess the eyes of a shinigami have certain restrictions, but not many. They cannot see their own lifespan above their head or above the head of anyone else who owns a Death Note. Though, the probability of that is unlikely.” Midora allowed the boy some time to consider the offer, he didn’t need it.

“I’ll do it. As far as I’m concerned, within my lifetime, the secret to immortality could be discovered, however unlikely. I don’t know how long I will live, if I am destined to die tomorrow it’s worth it and if I’m destined to die one-hundred years from now, it is still worth it because I do not know. It also assures me that there is no way that fate can be cheated, I am destined to die and when I do, I will. So, yes, I’ll take it.”

“Are you certain? There will be no going back once the deal has been made.”

Akihito looked directly into the eyes of the god of death before him, “Korera wa jōdante iru hito no me no yō ni miemasu ka?”

“A fair point…”

Japanese translation: Do these look like the eyes of someone who is joking?