The Notebook Game - OTPwanderer (2024)

Chapter 1: Parts

Chapter Text

Prologue

She felt cold all over. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she looked up at the sky, as if begging anyone, please just anyone, to help.

And it came like a mercy. Like a dark fallen bird, she couldn't believe it.

She did not want anyone to stop existing. But it must be done. With a click of a retractable pen, they were written in.

And like popped bubbles, they just stopped being.

Look at the eyes of the girl.

She's not entirely lured into the game yet.

But the first domino had fallen.

Chapter 1: Parts

"Onii-chan!" a raven-haired girl in her pajamas knocked on her brother's room, "Why did you lock the door?!"

"Sorry, Sayu," her brother opened his bedroom and gave her a small smile, "Math troubles?"

Sayu wrinkled her nose momentarily. She knew Light, and she knew very well that such a smile was secretly smug, and if he wasn't too much of a gentleman, he would definitely smirk. He knew she would rather not ask help for her homework. But there were times when she really gets stuck.

She looked around his room suspiciously. Again his neat-freak brother, 'Light Border-line-OCD Yagami', as she had sometimes teased him, had everything in place and not even a smudge of dirt anywhere. Her room was not messy, but it would probably be in Light's standards.

They sat by his study table.

"Give that to me," Light snatched her book from her and contemplated the problems therein. Confusion dawned on his face to Sayu's satisfaction.

"Calculus?"

She knew that her brother had deduced several reasons in his big brain already, but she complied for conversation's sake.

"I'm taking a very advanced and special elective class in school," she raised herhead up in a mock snob fashion. Light smacked her head gently with the book, and she burst into giggles.

"It's true! I told Mom not to tell you so I can gloat with satisfaction!" she added when her sibling raised his eyebrows.

Light laughed. "I know you're as smart as me, Sayu-chan."

Said Sayu inwardly rolled her eyes at the obvious joke, though she could not help feeling flattered nonetheless, since Light's intention to praise seemed present.

"Nevertheless," Light clicked his mechanical pencil in her direction, "remember that you owe me bento for my help!"

"No fair!" Sayu gave a frustrated laugh-cry, "I'm not cooking you packed lunch! This is an exception! I'm in Advanced Calculus! In Junior High!

She continued thoughtfully, "Well, Elementary Calculus really, since it's just an elective. But that's pretty advanced to take in Junior High. So there, Onii-chan!"

"Homework is still homework," Light sang, already slightly frowning at one item on the book he recognized as Sayu's mark as not-understood.

"And besides, I like your bonus bento-potato chips from scratch," said her obnoxious brother matter-o-factly, who then turned to explain the one calculus problem to her before she could make another sound from her open aghast mouth.

Sayu made sure to ask everything she did not understand in their current topic in Calculus and not just that one problem, since she was going to cook for the dang kid tomorrow for such service.

She would have asked about tips on the overall subject or advices for the next chapters, but her pride won't let her. She might have chosen very hard problems for Light under the guise that she had not solved them yet, but she knew that such plan would backfire and he would actually enjoy it. Hell, he might even figure her out and ask for another bento!

Sayu checked the contents of her schoolbag one more time, before collapsing onto her bed. Crossing her arms behind her head, she stared at the ceiling and let her mind wander.

It was hard to pinpoint when her sense of self as both her past self and Sayu solidified. She just knew that when she was younger, she had remained as her past self, only she was not aware.

Her child form did not care. When she was hungry, she asked for food. When she felt like drawing on the walls with crayons, she did it. She even remembered that yelling at her brother 'Why you Kirla!' while hitting him with a small doll on his forehead, was the closest thing she had ever come to confronting a mass murderer with his crimes.

Though she guessed that an annoyed nine year-old chibi Light did not count, unless you took the 'Once a murderer, always a murderer' in a whole new different step entirely. But her point remained; she'll never do such thing as to give herself away if she had been aware.

Which was in on itself good, or else she would have never learned to speak and write in Japanese easily if she quickly had her adult mind and not the young mind that was barely aware of its origins.

She had decided long before not to intervene. Original Sayu from the series, though she had suffered from the whole Kira debacle, had never actually died prematurely, and she would rather play it safe. She might be witty at times, smart even, but she did not hold a light to Light. Forgive the pun.

She was simply prepared to live this life until her probable next reincarnation. This said life is weirdly full of crime, like it was really made for Kira, the criminal-killer. She just had to look at where she was living right now! She did not remember the specific statistics, but Japan was supposed to be one of the countries with the lowest crime-rate. So much so that there's even a joke going around that people did not even lock their doors at night. She would not even be surprised if she learned that it was not a joke! But Japan in this certain anime-verse? Words failed her.

She let all of these thoughts go before closing her eyes in bed. But one thread caught before consciousness left her. It was her worry about her brother's locked door and the little black book it might entail.

It was beautiful. The sun was bright and was bathing the entire city with its warm glow, but it was also windy enough for anyone not to find the weather too hot. The birds seemed to agree; one can hear their tweet as they rounded over the trees near the school building. It was the sort of beautiful day you would think everything would fall to place.

This was what went through Sayu's mind, as she gave this suspiciously innocent facade a once over. It was not like she noticed a pattern of good weather equals bad day in this universe, but today she had a gut feeling. Or maybe it was missing the bus because her alarm clock broke and did not go off that made her biased. And she still had the nerve to cook Light's bento, though it was a small bento given the circ*mstances. Augh! Why didn't she let the guy starve?!

"Sayu, you're spacing out the window again," Megumi, one of her close friends sat across her at their usual lunch table.

She gave Megumi a large smile, "I'm waiting for something to fall from the sky."

"Funny," Takeshi, their friendly glasses-wearing nerd-ish chum, said and sat beside Megumi, his girlfriend.

His girlfriend gave him a peck on the cheek and he in turn pressed his forehead on hers momentarily.

"Eww! Get a room, guys!" Matsui gave them all a grin as he sat on the last available seat by Sayu.

She knew. Takeshi. Matsui. She did not know whether to laugh or cry at the coincidental choice of names regarding the Death Note franchise. Though she entirely blamed the laziness of whichever god placed her in this world.

Anyway, Sayu laughed and stared fondly at the couple. Their relationship was actually comforting to her because for an anime-world, it was the total opposite of what you'd usually see on anime. Megumi was beautiful and tan, while average but sweet and smart Takeshi practically went head over heels. That wasn't what made them un-anime-like, but the way they treated each other.

She's not saying that every anime couple was love-hate, and she has nothing against that except for the fact that maybe it could sometimes romanticize emotional and physical abuse. Sorry, but that was her opinion. But, anyway, love-hate was usually the trend she saw. And though they also had bad times, Megumi and Takeshi were also just so nice to each other most of the time since day one. And Sayu was always comforted by some things that could ground herself a bit back to reality no matter how subtle. 'Her' reality that was not Anime.

Everyone on the table went on to listen to Matsui rant about what he hated about the new substitute teacher on third period. Sayu was nibbling on her rice cake when they heard the commotion. She looked up the window once more.

It was the school bully outside on the school ground. He and his friends were surrounding a boy smaller than them on the school lawn. She recognized Haruhi from her English Grammar class. She looked on as Haruhi got punched. Everything was still the same when Sayu last stared out the window only moments ago, but now she saw rotten leaves of rotting trees. The tweet of the birds were absent but the rumbling of dark clouds were there.

Sayu shook her head, a confused expression on her face as she studied her dumpling next to her rice cake. When did she care?

Granted, her preference of a nice lunch did not include unnecessary violence, and she found Ken Saotome's bullying tasteless, but she should not be too shocked given the realities of this life.

"Weh!" Matsui exclaimed and she looked up at the fight once again just in time to see Haruhi punch Ken. Ken's friends retaliated by hitting Haruhi as well.

"That's the first time I saw Haruhi show some courage," Megumi said in a hushed disbelieving tone, as Takeshi put an arm around her.

It was true. Haruhi Shinohara was a quiet boy. He's also one of the usual targets of Ken when he wanted some money or if he simply wanted a punch bag. Usually, not complying with the first option would result to the second one.

Today, Sayu mused as she saw some teachers and staff appear to break off the fight, it seemed like that's exactly what happened. She saw Ken give Haruhi one last death glare before he and his gang got taken to the principal's office. The dunderheads, picking a fight on the school grounds, of course they would get into trouble.

"Yagami-san,"

Sayu's finger's twitched, irrationally aching for a Death Note when she heard him speak.

"Yes, Nonako-san?" She said coolly at one of Haruhi's tormentors along with Ken, whilst writing her history notes.

She sneaked a look to check whether their teacher is listening in. She returned to her notes and saw a rose lying on the open page.

"Nonako -"

"I know. I know. You're not ready for a relationship yet. Yet you hang out with that Matsui Miyako a lot," Nonako sneered.

"I've told you before that we're just friends," Sayu said frustratedly that she actually cut herself with a lone thorn on the rose's stem. She flinched.

"That's bullcrap! I see how he looks at you, Sayu!" the boy whispered fiercely.

She did not try to correct her into saying her last name instead. Whereas other suitors backed down when she told them that she would rather stay single for now, Hide Nonako was one stubborn piece of work. She reckons Nonako thought of her the same.

Nevertheless, credit's where credit's due.

"Giving me this rose is very sweet of you, though. Thank you."

Nonako was silent. Sulking perhaps. She knew that he did not want a thank you, but a yes.

"You're bleeding," he then said.

And before she could stop him, Nonako took her finger from the flower to put her wound in his mouth. Sayu squealed when her finger was half an inch away from his lips.

"Yagami! Nonako! Don't you dare think I can't hear you over there. Detention!"

Nonako smirked. Sayu groaned. Detention would not be detention for Nonako because she would be there.

"Sayu, you're having your things littered all over the living room again," her mother in an apron chastised her, though was also giving her a small knowing smile as she fluffed a coach's throw pillow.

"I'll clean it all up later, Mom. Promise."

After the bad morning start, the lunch time fight, and the grueling detention, she needed this, though she was thankful that strict Professor Nakamura put another three pupils in detention and never left them alone. She did not like the thought of being ever alone with Nonako-san.

Trying to lift her spirits up, after school, Sayu went by her favorite mechanic's store and bought some components she had been planning on buying. She had a blueprint in her bag and list of tools mixed with her school stuff of late, but she had not gotten around it.

And what was her mother talking about? Sure, it was a bit a lot, but all of the small gears and tools were arranged on the wide circular coffee table according to their function. Screwdrivers and wrenches of different sizes lay on one side, the circuit boards, wires, and body cases on the other. A closed manual book and a large open blueprint lay in front of her.

Though, Light would probably arrange everything more immaculately and not just bunched up together. Though if he did, there would not be any more room on the table. And he would not do that because he knew that the living room was only a temporary place to work at.

"I'm home," she heard a flat voice call out.

Sayu looked up from the blueprint, and caught her brother looking at the watch clock with those bored dull dead eyes he sometimes wore when he thought no one was looking. Then again, his long emo anime brown hair probably did the hiding half the time. Sayu from time to time wondered if Light really could not feel it when his bangs poke his eyes.

"Onii-chan!"she cheerfully waved a wrench at her sibling.

"Sayu! It's been a really long while!" exclaimed her Onii-chan, his face lighting up at the array on the coffee table.

She studied his tired but happy face. A facade? Was he reacting this way because it's expected of him? Or was it really genuine? Sayu shook her thoughts away. He would probably truly enjoy this halfway through tinkering on the gadgets.

If he seemed preoccupied, it could be the Death Note he could be thinking of and how this activity was taking his time away from his murder spree. But that was ridiculous, there had been no news of criminal heart attacks yet. Which also totally ruined her theory on Light's closed door last night. Besides, Light really liked his privacy sometimes anyway. And also, why would Kira not kill anyone right away?

Unless, he just found the Death Note this afternoon...but then what was with the zombie expression when he entered the house? But then again, that did not mean anything either because -

"Sayu."

"Hmm?"

The girl had been staring at the blueprint for quite a while, that she did not notice Light sit beside her on the floor and grab a screwdriver. He had been studying the said print over her shoulder.

"I think we should start with..." Light grabbed some circuit pads and pointed at one part of the blueprint.

She agreed. "I should think so too. I suppose I should start preparing some of the limbs while you do that."

Light nodded thoughtfully, already concentrating on the task at hand.

A certain silence of mutual camaraderie followed as the two siblings worked. Sometimes Sayu would flip pages of the manual and would inquire Light with one thing or another, on which he would reply something briefly. But aside from that, only the screechy sound of wrenches and screwdrivers would be heard.

Sayu looked over her work just to proudly see Light being devoted on the job. Project Make-Light-see-some-good-in-the-world was not a picnic, though it was something she had worked on when she was younger and had not made up her mind about whether or not to divert from canon. Now, the Make Light See Light Program, an anti-Kira non-government one-girl organization is now canceled, now that she decided she would not exactly intervene with the main storyline.

But back then she was devoted. She had even got other names thought up like Make Kira Nicer Agenda. Maybe Light would do an extra effort not to kill suspected criminals who might be innocent.

But she had to stop. Obviously, it means Raye Penber, the FBI agents, and Naomi Misoura would be spared if Light really didn't kill innocents. This would throw the said storyline into a whack.

But it was just back when they were both in grade school; Sayu decided that Pre-Kira Light was not so bad after all. Even though he already had an inflated ego even then, Light was part of her family. Maybe she was just biased but he seemed like a good kid in general when it came down to it. This was what caused her to launch the mission.

One of Light's probable root problems was thinking the world was so boring that it simply offered no challenge for him. Perhaps this was why he would later abhor it and see only the negative.

So she did this. She knew the early 2000s was not that advanced yet, but she had to try. And perhaps at this time in this dimension, what she was seeking was already available even if it was not in her own reality.

Thankfully, it seemed like such did exist here.

Using up all her savings from her allowance, she had asked brainy Takeshi who was already her classmate back then, for blueprints necessary in building a small robot and directions to where she can buy the stuff needed.

It was not easy sneaking off after school to buy this, when it was her father's strict orders to catch the school bus right after dismissal. She had to get a ride behind Takeshi's bicycle and quickly get off it before they realized that she did not come home from the mentioned bus.

She also had to make three trips before she got everything she needed. And even if Takeshi was by her side, her fear never left her. She was younger and more vulnerable, and she kept clutching the taser in her pocket every time a stranger on the street goes too near.

But the store owner happened to be really nice, Takeshi's older brother. They helped her and gave her good instructions. And one idle afternoon, she had gone to Light.

"Onii-chan!" she said, at that time waving a small light bulb at him.

"Sayu?" his brother also just got back into the house, was still in his school uniform, his light brown hair more cropped, and was thirteen years old. Meanwhile, she was ten.

She remembered that the tools and parts needed for making a robot was on the dining table that time. It was a hot afternoon and Light was probably on his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water when she had surprised him.

Light approached the table in a perfectly concealed awe Sayu almost did not see. The blueprint was simpler then, but she had noticed Light looking at it hungrily. Well, it was not obvious on his composed neutral face, but she could see his eyes betray him for a nanosecond there.

"Wanna help?" Sayu said in a sing-song voice.

Light gave a small grin at the challenge.

That night their parents ate on the sofa of the living room. Strict as Soichiro is, he was a softie to 10 year-old Sayu's wide teary eyed mumble of "Please, Daddy. Just this once?"

And besides he could not help but be fascinated when he saw his two children enthusiastically engage in something so intellectually inclined.

Of course, that was not to say that they just turned into genius engineers overnight. Well, maybe except for Light, but even then it took him a while to figure things out. But over the years, they became better. Sometimes, they worked solo, but most of the time they had worked together. But with Light's tennis matches and interest in his dad's detective career, their times like these slowly deteriorated. Sayu knew better though.

"Do you remember," the now 17 year-old Light started, still fiddling with some wires, but effectively startling her from her reverie. "When we won second place in that one robotics contest in Tokyo?"

"Yes, you kept telling me I screwed up because two of the legs would not move."

Sayu remembered the impressive robot. It was two feet tall and a foot wide, and it had eight legs. It was Light's own design.

You could see the wires and mechanical innards, but that actually made it more endearing when you knew it was made by some individuals who had not even reached legal age yet.

Even now, you would see it on the wall by the stair landing, a framed picture of the robot, with the two of them holding a trophy. Light was frowning and would not look at the camera.

"Can you blame me?" Light said, "You love to sabotage with whatever mech I'm currently working on. At first I thought I was doing something wrong. And then I found some thorn missing parts in your room."

"And do you still remember why I did what I did?" Sayu shook a tired hand, before grabbing a screwdriver and small wheel.

"Yes," Light stopped working, and his gaze looked far away. "I was expecting you'd say you were jealous. But you started spouting things like I was too perfect and that I needed to learn how to lose. That maladaptation is dangerous."

Sayu ceased what she was doing as well and looked at Light. "And why is it dangerous again?"

"Really, Sayu?"

Sayu shrugged. "Whatever. I was a crazy girl back then. But I don't remember every craziness."

She continued to refer to the blueprint and looked at the robot foot that she's trying to put wheels on. She cursed, when she realized that she had put it together the wrong way. She proceeded to take one wheel off with the screwdriver.

"And I did not sabotage the Tokyo contest by the way" she added as an afterthought.

"Sayu, you looked me in the eye, as serious as a cherubic girl at age twelve could be and told me that if everything I do I get right the first try, there will be a time that I'd get it wrong. And it might happen in a more serious situation. You said that I wouldn't be able to accept such failure, that I'd search for reasons that what I had done was right. Then I would do it over and over again because for me it had become the right thing."

Sayu faced her brother and smiled sadly. "Sounds like a jealous little girl to me. You have nothing to worry anymore, Light. I promised I would never sabotage anything for you again."

"Yet at the Tokyo contest, you were so suspiciously happy," Light scoffed.

She shook her head. "Because second place have always been enough for me. I didn't do anything sneaky because I didn't want to take any chances. I already said what I wanted you to know. If I did something to our brilliant robot, we might not even win any of the prizes. I could be ambitious as well to an extent, you know.

"And if I really had sabotaged the two legs of Primo Octopi, shouldn't you have been smart enough to spot it, Light my dear genius brother?"

Light laughed. "Alright, alright, Sayu. You've convinced me."

"Like I've been trying to convince you these past few years!" she called to Light who had stood up to go into the kitchen for snacks.

"It's not like I've been sulking and ignoring you or anything!" he replied.

"Yeah," Sayu huffed. "You just don't make robots with me anymore."

"Well, I do now," Light came back, handing her an open pack of chips.

Chapter 2: Laugh

Chapter Text

Hideki Ryuga's concert in Kanto had been a hot topic in school for months.

Which made Megumi squeal.

Megumi was actually great fan of Ryuga and she already had got them tickets given to her by her parents as an early gift for her coming birthday in a month.

Personally, Sayu was not sure if the pop idol in question was her type, but she supposed that his music was not so bad, and the same could be said about his acting. This was why she had agreed to go.

Her parents including Light were not keen on letting her go on such a late school night, but she had put her foot down by saying she was nearly fifteen already, it was just a few blocks away, and she would be with a lot of people. If it was regarding school, well school had been slow lately, and there was nothing to keep her busy academic-wise.

Of course, she also made sure to bring her taser and pepper spray, which she would have done even without Light's insistence. Even Sachiko made sure her flip phone was fully charged, by stealing it from her room and charging it herself.

Soichiro almost won the argument of giving her a ride on his car, but she made a face at Light, and Light piped up reasonable points, insisting the she's old enough by herself, and that was the end of that.

Sayu appreciated all the fuss, but for a while, despite all the precautions, sometimes a girl just wanted to dive in the recklessness zone and have fun for a while like any ordinary teenager. A well-thought risk. Well she hoped so anyway.

And tonight, it was actually happening.

Megumi and Takeshi were already there, talking, laughing and throwing bits of pretzels at each other it seemed, when she and Matsui arrived on their bicycles. They parked their gear near the couple's own. Matsui watched amusedly but did not comment as Sayu secured hers by looping a metal chain link around her bike and the bike stand's harness and the padlocking the ends of the link.

"Just in time, you guys! Let's go before the line grows longer," Takeshi chewed on a pretzel. Megumi was jumping up and down with her Hideki Ryuga shirt on. Sayu was really impressed of Takeshi for being mature enough not to get jealous.

The group proceeded to the coliseum. The line in front of it was still short, but the fans were slowly appearing as evidence by cars parking and unloading people who were apparently covered in glitter.

Sayu regarded her own clothes, wondering if she should have worn something more sparkly, though even her friends' attire were not too flashy. The cold night wind blew, making her button up her plain denim jacket.

"Haruhi!?" Matsui exclaimed when they were in line.

And so he was. It was the shy bullied boy with pink cheeks who tried to dodge Matsui's stretched arm but failed. Matsui, the ever all-around-friend, had put an arm around the boy's shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Sayu's best friend asked happily.

The boy looked at all four of them who were staring and blushed. He mumbled something.

"Say what?" Megumi asked.

"You have a date! That's so cool, kid!" He gave Haruhi a high five, to which the boy replied to this by giving a soft version of his own high five.

Takeshi nodded. "Good for you, after showing that Ken who's the boss, you're even getting a love life."

Sayu stared at the boy carefully. In the end, she gave him a smile.

"Maybe you and your date should hang out with us," she said.

Another blush from the apparent blush machine.

"I'd really like that," Haruhi said quietly. "But I promised her that I'd wait for her in that convenient store over there. Maybe I'd catch up to you guys later."

With this, the boy waved goodbye and walked swiftly away.

"But, you might miss the good seats!" Megumi looked on aghast.

"What a strange guy," Matsui said.

The concert was good, Sayu considered merrily as she went out the coliseum with her friends along with the other fans. Haruhi never caught up, but she reckoned he was probably with his date and would like to be alone with her.

Anyway, Hideki was surprisingly more handsome in person. And songs were always good to hear live. Well, not to be a killjoy or anything, but Sayu had also stuffed her ears with cotton. The speakers had been too loud, and she was glad she did.

It did not make it any less entertaining too. In fact she had enjoyed herself more, knowing that the cilia in her ears were not getting permanently deteriorated.

Of course Matsui and the others just shook their heads and called her cute. Whatever.

She was happy she had spent time with them. Just hanging out. Jumping in their seats to cheer on some pop star. The feeling seemed mutual among her grinning friends.

In fact, Megumi was in an all-time high. She was still singing the songs like she was drunk. And if she only had a bad voice, it would have been terrible.

Takeshi sung along with her as well, took her in his arms, and together they formed a waltz in the parking lot. Some people stared, but Matsui and Sayu just laughed and hollered.

But then, Megumi broke off from her boyfriend and puked on someone's car hood.

"What the hell, Megs! You aren't pregnant are you?" Matsui half joked, as Takeshi tried to help his girl who was suddenly feeling a bit faint.

"Of course not!" she replied.

"Hey!" a guy, who most likely owned the car, had a very angry expression and called out to them from a distance.

"sh*t" said Sayu.

They ran to their bikes as quickly as possible.

The three had taken off their bikes from their holder with ease, except for one. One girl's bike was padlocked

"sh*t," said Sayu the second time, as she tried to fish for her key in one of the pockets of her jacket.

"Sayu, there's no time!" Matsui pulled her to his bike. Well it was lucky his bike was sort of a two-seater.

The four sped into the night laughing.

Sayu had never felt so free.

Sayu sped into the night, holding on Matsui's waist, smiling at the cool wind on her face.

Their bikes could run fast since they chose a shortcut route that would mean less cars. Sayu was initially against this, but she lost in votes. Besides if it meant they could get home quicker and escape that owner of the car Megumi kind of damaged, why not?

Megumi seemed a lot better now and were bickering with their other two guy friends about which Pojimon was best to choose at the start of the Pojimon Gamekid (this world's version of, you guessed it, Pokemon Gameboy). Was Pichucha, Turtelite, or ... and this was the part Sayu zoned them out. Oh, the early 21st century. To think of it, she really missed Pokemon.

But this version still eased Sayu. She could miss her reality sometimes. And with riding a bike and being with people, it made the feeling of normalcy almost complete.

She was in deep thought until she looked to her left. They had gone slow this time, because of standard road bumps to prevent vehicles from over speeding. And while her friends were still arguing, she just had enough time to see.

She felt the blood leave her face at the scene. It felt like it was in slow-motion. And when her group had whizzed pass and the scene was gone, she felt like copying Megumi's puke fest and messing up Matsui's shirt.

What could she do? It did not seem so smart to do anything about it. She did not want her friends to be in trouble.

In the end, Sayu just remained quiet as a tomb for the rest of the ride. They reached her house first since it was the closest. She got off Matsui's bicycle and acted cheerful.

"You've been silent 'til now, Sayu," Matsui commented.

"Oh, I'm just tired, you," Sayu grinned "See you all in school tomorrow!"

As they waved goodbye, Sayu entered the house with a shiver.

"I'm glad you're home," she heard Light say.

She approached and saw that her brother had been waiting for her to come back and was hunched over the circular coffee table, working on their half-finished robot. Only the waist, legs, and feet seemed complete. There was an almost empty mug of coffee near his left.

She could only guess that Light did it as the dutiful son and sibling, by letting their parents sleep and be the one instead to ensure that she was safe. She supposed it was sort of sweet, but right now she was too spent up to care.

"Yeah, I think I'm turning in," she replied, too tired to comment on anything else.

Light took a good look at her.

"Something's wrong," he said his with a composed face.

"Yeah. Probably got Megumi's flu," she said smoothly. "She puked all over someone's car. We had to leave quickly."

"Make sure to drink medicine before going to bed then," Light called when she turned to go.

"We just got informed this morning that Haruhi was found dead last night in an alley a block away from the train station."

It was an hour before lunch break, they were in a last minute assembly at their school's auditorium and Sayu could just stare at their principal wide eyed. Her mouth was open and her face was pale, because f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, she did not just hear that.

A bloodied Haruhi was apparently found with bruises all over his body. His bones were broken. He was no longer breathing and had no heartbeat. He was definitely dead.

Their principal just went on and on about making this a lesson on being aware of one's surroundings and valuing one's safety since they were so young and had their lives ahead of them, blah, blah, obvious, blah. And if anyone knew anything, they should not hesitate to inform the police.

Sayu wanted to scream. She wanted to faint. But she just put on a calm facade and breathed through her nose until she and her schoolmates got dismissed.

"We should tell them about seeing Haruhi at the concert," Matsui whipered to his friends at their lunch table.

"I don't know," Sayu said. She was breaking inside but she had to do this. "Haruhi's pictures would be all over Kanto soon. Other people could claim to have seen him, most probably people from the convenience store. Besides what if we get into deep waters by helping the police? We'd be new targets of whoever did this"

Matsui glared at her, "Oh, Who the hell cares!"

Megumi hushed him so he continued more quietly. "We don't even know if Haruhi had really managed to enter that convenience store in the end. And what if his 'date' beat him to it and got him in this situation?"

"I sort of agree," Takeshi said. "We saw Haruhi at the concert waiting for his date. He claimed he'd wait at the convenience store nearby. That's all we'd say to the authorities. I don't think the wrongdoers would get too mad on such clue that isn't so clear-cut. Although I suppose, the closed circuit cameras attached to the lamp posts could pose a problem for them."

The table went silent. None of them were eating, really. At most they were fiddling with their food. Sayu was rearranging her salad by color. Takeshi kept turning his glass of ice tea. His girlfriend was poking her pasta with a fork. Matsui wasn't touching his pork curry and rice.

Suddenly, Megumi sobbed. Takeshi held her.

"To think while we were having the time of our lives, Haruhi was getting bludgeoned to death!" she sniffed and moaned.

Takeshi rubbed her shoulders and held her tighter.

Sayu glanced at Matsui beside her who was frowning at the rice on his plate.

"The police will protect us just in case. We have to tell them," he muttered.

He asked the couple. "Are you guys in?"

A still weeping Megumi nodded. Takeshi did as well.

Matsui looked at Sayu in the eye. "Sayu?"

She made sure her face did not betray anything.

"Fine."

The very competitive police, *insert sarcasm here*, apparently had no time for them. Not until tomorrow anyway as according to them. They were all over the crime scene and was at the moment interviewing Haruhi's family.

How could they lack men? That was just so... She just wanted so bad to facepalm. That was all.

She was absent-mindedly chewing her lip and musing this over alone in the schoolbus on the way home, when someone sat next to her.

This time, Sayu fet her blood rise. Out of fear or anger, she did not know.

"Nonako-san," she said in a detached manner, staring ahead of her.

"Yagami-san."

The bus simply continued to move, its engines quietly roaring, not caring about anything. Sayu suddenly envied non-sentient objects. In the meantime, her heart thudded and was trying to escape through her throat.

There were a few students murmuring in the background, more likely gossiping about Haruhi's fate. However, this did not make her breathe any better. She was vaguely aware of Nonako's presence by her side and she did not like it. Her hand subconsciously gripped the taser in her skirt pocket.

And one can only take the disturbing quiet for so long.

Sayu spoke, "What do you want, Nonako-san?"

"I know that you saw."

Her eyes moved to him. He was smirking.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she managed to say nonchalantly. However, she couldn't help but feel sweat beneath her school blouse.

"I'll be straight forward with you. Ken would kill anyone who knows."

Nonako paused. Sayu didn't react, simply waiting for him to speak.

"But I love you, Sayu Yagami," he grabbed her hand, and it it took Sayu all her will not to taser him right there and then. "I won't say anything to anyone, but only if you date me."

Sayu could not help it. She broke away.

"What kind of love is that? Forced loved? That's so wrong."

Nonako looked around to see if anyone can hear them.

Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You left our dear Haruhi on his own devices. Isn't that so wrong as well?"

"You helped send him to his deathbed!" she hissed.

"So you do admit that you saw," the boy said triumphantly. Sayu cursed herself.

She could have denied, denied, denied, but her mask was slipping, and she just couldn't take her boiling temper.

She crossed her arms and looked away towards the window. Houses and buildings were passing by against a pleasant blue backdrop, but she saw nothing.

"To show you how much I care about you, I'll give you two days to think about it," Nonako gathered his things as the bus pulled up near his house. Sayu swore she had never hated anyone so much in her life.

She was to still too keyed up to enter her own house when the bus let her out. Instead she caught a train ride to the coliseum to retrieve her bike. It was still an early afternoon anyway, the school felt generous to dismiss everyone a bit earlier after all that had happened. And she had her extra bike padlock key in her school bag, so why not?

Well, maybe it was not the wisest decision. What if the bad guys who hurt Haruhi was up and about? But Sayu just wanted to get away and take a breather. And besides, her chances of getting mugged or something decreased while the sun was still up.

And she still got her taser anyway.

While she was on the train, she planned on what the heck to do. But mostly she worried.

Maybe tomorrow, she should tell the police everything. Not only the version that her friends knew, but hers as well.

Would it be safe to do that? She reckoned it could be and it was also a very appealing solution. Let the cops handle it. But there was this nagging doubt.

Let's say that she and her friends flat out tell all. The investigators would then move to Ken's gang. To cover up the four's involvement, the cops could simply say that the reason they are interviewing the group is because the principal had told them about the group's bullying of Haruhi. But the gang would know that they were interviewed before them. Ken was not the smartest guy, but what if Nonako prods him to their direction?

The police most probably would not find sufficient evidence and they would let them go. Add the fact that these suspects are minors, which was the advantage of the enemies. If they were free, they might beat up another victim. They could be next if she did not play her cards right.

Sayu blew her hair off her face. So the key is to make their own interview anonymous that even Nonako would not know. Alright, she could do that. Her father was even Chief of the police department! They could come to him instead!

He was currently investigating something else right now though, and she did not know when he would be home. Should she approach Light?

The thought of her Einstein of a brother calmed her a bit. If push comes to shove, she was sure Light would think of something more flaw-proof than her puny brain. Pre-Kira or Kira, Light would make sure criminals like Ken and Nonako got some punishment, though she supposed Kira's methods were obviously a bit more unorthodox.

She tried to relax for the rest of the train ride and enjoy the scenery, but all she could think of was why she did not stop that night. Granted, she and her own group could get killed, but at that time she had not even considered anyone dying.

Get beat up yes. Haruhi had survived that before a ton of times and she just assumed that this would be the same. She just did not want to get her, Matsui, Takeshi, and Megumi hurt. But then...

She banged her forehead on the glass window. Not so much that she would bleed, but she did get looks from other passengers.

That was it! Why did she not think of it then? Her eyes filled with tears of self-hatred.

She could have told her companions that she wanted to make a call on the payphone to tell Light that they were coming home. She could have said that her flip phone's battery was dead. And when she did use a payphone, she would have tipped the police anonymously.

Telling them that there was a fight by that alley at that particular point in time would be a game-changer. They could have gone in time to save the soul in question. If she had done what she had foolishly realized only now, maybe Haruhi would still be alive.

Oh, how she felt so rotten. It took a while before she realized that she had not been breathing. She leaned and put her head between her knees. It only made her dizzier for some reason so she stopped.

How could everything go so wrong?

Out of the blue, she felt a longing for her old life. When she reminded herself that going back was futile, her mind morbidly shifted to the thought of considering ending her life to get to a probable new one.

She shook her head, shaking that off her mind. No way. No. She liked this life. She loved her family. She cared for her friends. She liked the 21st century. What if her new life sent her to another fictional world with a way earlier time? She did not mind the past, but she definitely prefered this timeline.

The train stopped then. She got off and ran away from herself.

She got to her bicycle, key in hand. She unlocked it, put the chain link and padlock back in her bag. She looked up at the sky.

It was now a pretty reddish-orange and she should go home soon. She got on her bicycle, pausing briefly to debate which route she should take.

She decided to take last night's route, hedging for the fact that the police would be watching it closer for now, not that she fully trusted them.

She gripped her handlebars and pedaled.

Then she gave a startled shriek out of nowhere.

Something just fell right in front of her and her bike. She was not quick enough to stop so she had run over it.

She got off, her nerves tingling, and with a shaking hand pried a squashed black rectangle off between the asphalt and her bicycle wheel.

The cover got folded over and some of the pages got wrinkled, half-ripped, and dirtied, but it was unmistakable.

Holding it with both hands and her bike forgotten on the ground, she just gaped.

A vehicle or two passed by. The wind rustled the trees noisily.

She just stared like the thing was the weirdest phenomenon of all time. And somehow maybe it was.

She giggled so suddenly that a resting bird nearby flew off in fear.

The short giggle turned into a mild continuous chuckle.

The chuckle turned into a loud laugh.

Finally, she raised her head and cackled.

The maniacal cackle that echoed around the coliseum's parking lot could put Kira's to shame.

Chapter 3: Savior

Chapter Text

She woke up sweating.

It had felt so real. They were hollering. They were punching and kicking a crouched form. Nonako was grasping her waist from behind, his other hand pointing a knife on her neck forcing her to watch the 'fun'.

Then, Haruhi was crawling toward her, bleeding and bruised, asking 'Why? Why?.'

"Why?" the raven-haired girl named Sayu whispered to her bedroom.

Her curtains were drawn, but a bit of soft glow of light was already pouring from her windows.

She looked at her alarm clock. Hell, she was late.

The damn thing was broken again. She would have to make Light fix it for her again. Or maybe this time she would learn how to do it herself.

She sighed. She was capable of robot innards but not this? Blasphemy.

She quickly showered, dressed, and grabbed her lunch along with a bag of biscuits. She could eat along the way.

She was quite sure she missed the bus anyway, so she got to her bicycle and pedaled away.

Last night had been grueling. She was so caught up with the appearance of that certain magical object that fell from the sky that she had not managed to have a conversation with Light like she had been planning.

Instead, she kept staring at that notebook she had placed on her desk. Then she opened her computer browser and searched for Ken Saotome and Hide Nonako in Palster, this world's version of Friendster. She looked up their Pal List and uploaded photos, but she found it difficult to pinpoint the guilty. There might be members of their group who was not present that night.

Moreover, she also found that both Ken and Nonako had brothers who belonged to a certain senior high fraternity called the Alpha Samurai. She recognized the name from the news. Members were known to pick fights on other fraternity groups of other schools or simply the people they felt were against them. Last time there was a stabbing. She could still remember the video shown on the news from a closed circuit camera. Let's just say there was a lot of blood.

Who knew that the apple did not fall very far from the tree in their case either?

Sayu had taken the notebook in her hands and looked at all those people on Palster. She opened a page and held a pen over it. She banged a fist on the table. She had half the mind to push everything off her table in frustration. But she contained herself.

This was her fifth attempt to write. She thought that maybe seeing their dumb faces on Palster would anger her and would give her enough fuel. But instead she also saw people who had family and friends.

She even opened Haruhi's picture from his Palster account. She opened the victim's picture beside the face of his perpetrators. They were alive and Haruhi's dead. It did not seem fair and she was partly responsible. This would be making amends. But the pen could still not move in her hand.

She did not understand what was up with her. She thought she could do it. When the notebook came to her, she had felt so relieved.

But now?

She ended up fixing the notebook instead.

After mending and cleaning the ruined notebook as much as she can with a rag and some scotch tape, Sayu also covered its exterior with some inconspicuous pink construction paper and transparent plastic cover, dust jacket style. She made sure that the 'jacket' covered the notebook's first-paged instructions as well and not just the front and back cover.

She had also thought of covering each page with sticker paper. The Death Note did not run out of pages. If she wanted the pages she could use to kill, she'd just rip the covered ones to get to them.

But she hesitated. She had skimmed the instructions a while back and had seen and confirmed the rule, but what if ripping all of the pages at the same time would destroy the notebook's validity as a notebook? What if it was an equivalent of destroying the note? That part was not specified and she could not think of a way to test it. And for some reason she doubted Ryuk would know.

So instead, she put the notebook in a plastic envelope, under her other old school books and notebooks that were kept in a large drawer. It was not Kira's bomb drawer, but she would get to that. Though it did make her queasy to think of working on explosives...

Sayu shook her thoughts away as she padlocked her bike on the school bike rack and ran inside. She was Death Note free right now, and she felt like entering a giant's mouth as she pushed passed the institution's doors. A giant of scary possibilities.

She had thought of taking scraps of Death Note pages with her at the very least for insurance, but for once in her life, she could not make herself be a girl scout. Being prepared and not taking any chances had always been her personal advantage.

She slipped up sometimes, but she had always tried her best. But now she could not apply such philosophy. She could not seem to make herself. It kind of sucked.

It was bad enough that their teacher gave her a good sarcastic scolding since she was late in first period, the'I'm so glad you can finally join us. We've been waiting for you'crap, but there was also a strange pit of foreboding in her stomach that she could not explain as she saw Matsui's seat empty.

Was it because her subconscious thought that her friend's in trouble? In the second period she shared with Takeshi and Megumi, the couple was nowhere to be found either.

So she was relieved when during third period, in English, she had spotted Matsui in his seat.

"Matsui! Where were you?"

"Sayu," he looked a bit spent, but he smiled at her rather proudly as she approached.

"We did it, Sayu. The cops spoke with us."

"Wha-what!" she said, finally knowing why she had been feeling bad. "How could that be?!"

It turned out that the police had just visited classrooms this early morning asking information about Haruhi that could help the case. And her friends had volunteered. She turned speechless.

"I'm sorry, Sayu," the guy babbled, confused why she was upset. "We know we agreed that we'd all go together. But you didn't miss much really. We were interviewed individually, but I had already talked to the others about it. After telling them about the concert incident, they started asking about some minor stuff.

"One was why we call Haruhi as Haruhi-san and not Shinohara-san. Of course, we said we had a classmate called Kyoko Shinohara last year and we only called them by first name to avoid confusion. Kyoko may have transferred but the habit stuck. Next was why we called Ken as Ken. We said that it's because the bastard wanted us to or else he'd beat us up. We didn't really call Ken like that in front of the cops though."

"Are there others who got interrogated?" she asked.

Matsui thought for a moment. "Now that you mentioned it, there were a few. I don't know what they would have told, but I'm guessing maybe they're there to tell about how Haruhi got bullied."

She doubted that. She had a strange intuition that they only wanted to be part of the attention. In case they had mentioned the bullying, they would most probably have failed to mention Ken. They would say they did not know who had been harassing Haruhi. They would claim that they have only heard rumors.

Sayu even reckoned that the police must have only known about Ken through the principal who would have no trouble disclosing such information to them.

The now more worried girl did not get to continue their conversation, because their teacher appeared then and started the class. She grudgingly left Matsui and went back to her seat on the other side of the room.

This was bad. If Nonako-san thought that she had sent her friends in her place to confess what she had witnessed, they were dead.

Sayu was walking home from school. She had been riding her bike home instead of riding the bus with the others, since she had brought it to school this morning. But her bike suddenly got a flat tire for who knows why.

Fortunately, she had passed by a bike repair shop. Unfortunately, they were about to close.

And she had to leave her bike there instead, because it turned out that there were slight damages on the gear's breaks as well.

And so she walked. It seemed ridiculous to her to ride a taxi with her home quite near now.

Still, she chastised herself for the oversight on the bike. In fact, her oversight on other things.

For one, she should have texted her friends about her plan of privately telling the police their information. She should have asked Light for advice. Instead, she fussed over some weapon she might not even use.

If she had done these instead, she would not have needed to explain to her friends over lunch why what they had done was only a little bit very much stupid. They only laughed at her, saying that the Paranoid Girl had done it again, used her powerful sharp sword of Overthinking! Then again, they did not know and she did not tell them how more involved she really was to the horrid crime.

They truly believed that the authorities could protect them from Ken's gang, since the group seemed like they were really already suspected by the police. Add that to the fact that the Ken's friends including Nonako were all excused from their classes and had each been interviewed this afternoon.

Sayu had never been more anxious in her life. She swore that if she survived this, she was going to take yoga.

"Yagami-chan!"

She looked behind her and saw Nonako. sh*t.

He was alone. But still.

She walked faster. She frowned, thinking of her bike, wishing it was with her and was functional right now.

"Yagami-chan! Sayu-chan! My beautiful Sayu-chan! Don't walk away from me!"

She looked around her, there were very few people nearby. There were two girl students from another school walking way far ahead, maybe if she call out... no they had just turned and disappeared to one corner of the street. There was a man in suit who was on his phone, but nope, he had gone to the other corner. An elderly woman whizzed past in her bicycle, but even she quickly left them. Where were people when you needed them?

Nonako-san had caught up to her.

She smelled the beer from his breath the same time he felt his hand on her skirt. She quickly stepped away and whipped out her taser. She aimed his bare outstretched arm so quickly that the boy yelped.

But she realized it slowly in horror as Nonako stared at her with his dumb face still smirking. Her taser's batteries were dead.

She had not checked to see if they needed replacing, because it worked perfectly well during the concert which was barely a few nights ago. She really should not have used the cheap batteries Sachiko bought for her. But she certainly did not expect them to be this unreliable. And why did she not bring the pepperspray? She was a stupid stupid girl.

Nonako laughed at her useless taser. The stench of cheap alcohol joined the air. She also recognized that he had a black eye.

"It's a sign, Sayu, my princess."

She was not entirely scared though. Not yet. This was a city for god's sake. She could scream and people could hear her.

The problem was Nonako did not seem to be in the condition to react to the norm. And there was a thing called passersby social phenomenon or something. In this particular scenario, people inside the buildings might not sufficiently react to her screams. They would peer from their windows, but they might not call the cops or even go outside to get involved, because they would think that the other person from another room or building would do just that.

There might be exceptions to that, but she was not so hopeful. Especially, since the building to her left seemed abandoned.

To her right was a high rise train rail, the buildings beyond that far away. There were also cars passing by in front of her, also way out of reach. Behind them, the road is raised into an upward slope and there was no one to be seen. Stupid necessary route.

Nonako grabbed her arm. She tried to hit him with the said useless taser, but his grip on her was too tight.

"See this black eye," Nonako pointed. "I did it for you. When we got interrogated by the police, Ken thought someone betrayed the group. He suspected me because I wasn't nonchalant enough. But I kept my mouth shut for you, Sayu. I let myself get hurt instead."

Sayu supposed that such declaration could have been sweet in another circ*mstance. But Nonako was leering at her when he said that, which creeped the hell out of her. Add to the fact that he had been blackmailing her of late, and had molested her just now.

"Well aren't you going to say thank you?" he tried to reach for her skirt again.

She in turn screamed and was about to try and get a punch in with her free hand, when someone shouted behind them.

Nonako got startled enough for Sayu to break away and run towards the newcomer.

Like a scared child, and she supposed she was at that moment, Sayu gripped Light's arm as she peered at Nonako from Light's shoulder.

"Another guy? Sayu, you traitor!" the madboy accused.

"She's my sister," Light answered for her. She looked at him and saw that his eyes were cold and deadly.

"And if you ever touch her again," Light took steps toward Nonako, collected and menacing until he got to his face. "There would be hell to pay."

"So stay away," Light poked Nonako's chest that Nonako actually took a step backwards.

As the Yagami siblings walked pass the frightened boy with Sayu in tow, Sayu herself was thankful that Light was way older and bigger enough to intimidate Nonako-san alone. For a moment there, she felt like a superhero appeared when Light did. And considering that superheroes wear costumes and Light's school uniform was a cosplay favorite back in her world, such title had never befitted her brother more until that moment.

She smiled fondly at his brown-haired head as she let him continue pulling her towards home.

Light did not mention the incident to their mother when they got home. For this she was grateful again. Even though Light was practically entitled to tell the story to anyone since he was the one who saved her, he also respected the fact that it was also her story, and a very sensitive one at that, and should be treated with confidentiality.

Sayu was not sure if it was right not to get their parents involved. But for now, she was satisfied to keep them in the dark, especially since the incident was a part of a larger story she was not really sure what to do with yet. And if her parents knew, they would launch a full on complaint against Nonako, and an investigation would be done. That may be a smart move for them to do, but she was not ready for that yet.

Light, however, did advise her to tell her principal. He was planning on accompanying her to and from school from then on, but he also wanted her to be safe in school. When she told him that she would think about it, he grew frustrated.

"Sayu, what the hell are you trying to hide?"

She thought of her answer carefully, "I don't know, brother mine. What are your conclusions?"

"Don't play smart with me, Sayu-chan," he said. "You've been acting strangely since the concert."

She went quiet. She had been planning to tell Light everything, but now come to think of it, now that the Death Note was involved or might be involved in the future, it was not a good idea anymore.

"Being tired after a concert isn't a big deal, Oni-chan. And so is mourning for a dead classmate afterwards."

She turned to leave his presence before he could somehow logically point out why her lies were so obvious that it could bring a blind man his sight back.

But then she added before completely leaving, pausing by the door, "And thanks for saving me back there. You were like Spiderman."

And she left before he could reply.

"Who's Spiderman?" Light wondered.

Shaking a leg in worry and impatience, Sayu looked at her watch. Light was late. An hour late. The Mr. Perfect that he was, he was never late. Yet he was now.

They never re-entered the Nonako conversation last night, but they did discuss how he would drop her off and pick her up. She was a bit miffed. As long as she did not miss the school bus from then on, she seemed safe. But Light was stubborn and reminded her that she had told him before that Nonako himself rides the bus. And even if he would be unnerved to do anything with a lot of people around, Light would rather not get her near the creep.

Sayu could not agree more. However her brother did not know that Nonako was still her seatmate in one of her classes. She made a mental note not to tell Light this tidbit, and made a decision to instead deal with it herself by talking to Professor Nakamura. She would simply say that Nonako had been bugging her. The teacher definitely knew how much of a trouble Nonako-san had been of late.

After a lot of arguing on pros and cons, it was settled. They were going by train. It was crowded enough that no one would actually be stupid enough to hurt anyone. The stations would also be well guarded by security guards. The stations were a small walk away from their schools too.

But now her Oni-chan was nowhere to be seen. Or heard for that matter as she placed her flip phone in her ear and only heard the endless ringing of her brother's phone.

She had another gut feeling that something was not right.

She saw Megumi and Takeshi exit the school building along with a few other people. They were both carrying a finished canvass. They had probably just come out from their afterschool art club then.

When they approached their parked bicycles which they usually use instead of the bus when there was a club session, they spotted Sayu and waved.

"Look, Sayu, I finished painting a flamingo," Megumi proudly showed off her work that featured a pink bird standing on one leg in the shallow waters and sleeping.

"After a couple of sessions, I finally finished this eye of ultimate beauty!" Takeshi showed his painting of a large brown eye which was unmistakably Megumi's.

"I wonder who owns it too!" he exclaimed in mock wonder.

"Oh, my funny man," his girlfriend pecked him on the cheek. He gazed in her eyes softly.

"Ahem," Sayu said she liked their relationship but there were certainly times when feeling like the third wheel was not an option when she was with them.

Megumi snapped out of it. "Well, do you like them?"

"Of course, I do," she gave them a genuine smile. "I'll never match to you guys. It seems so impossible to create really beautiful masterpieces, but you've nailed it."

"Oh Sayu-chan! You're such a tease!" said Megumi but she hugged her while still holding her canvass.

"Yes, Sayu, you're making us blush," Takeshi grinned.

Sayu had half the mind to tell the two that maybe they should not act so merrily when someone they knew just passed away. But then again, she knew that with the couple, they simply could not stop being happy when they were together. They were also probably proud of their accomplishment of contributing to the murder case by giving the police information.

She needed to ask them a favor as well so might as well not mention Haruhi.

"Megumi-chan, I need to borrow your bicycle. Takeshi-san's is a two-seater isn't it?"

Sayu checked Light's school but found him not there.

Now she was stirring Megumi's bicycle to possible routes Light might have taken from his school to the station. The options were a short way from the station, but Sayu made sure to check all of them just in case. But aside from the Fair Supply song she could vaguely hear from a distance, she did not get much luck.

Maybe Light forgot their arrangement and walked home instead? His school was nearer their house than it was nearer the station. She paused on a sidewalk to call her mother.

"Mom, had Light come home?"

Their mother was not at home either and was doing some grocery shopping and did not know Light's whereabouts. Sayu then tried calling their landline back at the house. But as the phone was on its third ring, Sayu spotted it in the corner of her eye.

There was a familiar brown square thing lying near a dumpster. She approached it and picked it up. She opened it. She saw herself sticking her tongue cheekily at the camera a Christmas ago. In the picture, Light had been wearing a red Christmas hat with her. He had his hand on her own hat-covered head. He was also making a peace sign and grinning. There was a decorated pine tree behind them. She looked ridiculous in the photo, and she was sure Light had it around him partly because he knew it irked her so.Where was he?

She looked at the entrance of the alley with foreboding. Still clutching Light's wallet, she stirred her bike and left it there on the corner of the dumpster and out of sight from the road.

She could hear another Fair Supply song start. As she got deeper in the alley, it grew louder and louder. She peered around the corner and her eyes widened. No, not again, she thought as she paled considerably at the sight.

Someone was sprawled on the ground getting the sh*t beaten out of them. This time, she could not see the face. But she can see a bit of the pants the boy was wearing, and it seemed very similar to that of Light's uniform.

The men doing the beating were young but definitely older than her. They were also very muscular, Sayu noted as she managed to glimpse of the bare arm of one of the guys punching. Her eyes widened again. She recognized it from her Palster search last night. It was the Alpha Samurai Fraternity symbol.

Her eyes spotted one boy on the corner not joining the fight. Nonako! And the jerk was smirking like no one's business.

And then it all connected. Light making a stand against Nonako yesterday. Nonako's and Ken's older thug brothers on Palster.

And now they're playing Fair Supply songs to cover the sound of their vile activity while others from the city would consider them as a not-too-loud (but loud enough to hide this kind beating, it appeared) and acceptable harmless people appreciating good music on a nice afternoon. Add to the fact that they were near residential buildings right now. It would not be unusual to have a loud music lover or two among the neighbors.

She leaned back on the wall and out of sight. She whipped out her phone and started to search the emergency numbers she had saved there. Her hand paused on the police department's number.

What was she doing! Any more time she wasted, her brother (if it ever was her brother, but the chances were very high, 98.99%) was going to die.

But she was frozen with fear. Nightmares from Haruhi's own beating came back to her. What if she failed again this time? What if even when help came, she would find out that her brother was already dead? Or even if he was not dead, already a vegetable brain dead person? Or paralyzed from waist down? Or paralyzed from neck down? It was all her fault.

Shaking, she pressed the police's number anyway as she put the phone in her ear and walked quickly back to the mouth of the alley so that she would not be heard.

And then he came.

He was larger than she remembered, or perhaps he only looked larger up close and personal. With his dark outfit that would make an emo rocker blush, his huge circular eyes, pale bluish skin and one large toothy grin, Sayu gave a small gasp and dropped her phone from the sudden appearance of this overlarged demon bird. She was suddenly thankful for the loud Fair Supply song.

Despite the dire circ*mstance, she just stared at him for a few seconds in shock.

"Huh?" Ryuk simply said in that croaky voice of his. "Why are you crying?"

She was? And as she felt her wet cheeks, an idea formed.

"Ryuk! Kill them!" she demanded, determination on her face.

"But can't you do it with your Death Note?" Ryuk managed to say, though he was taken aback. Not only did this girl seem to know his name but she was even ordering him what to do.

Maybe he should not be so shocked, mused Ryuk as he stared above her head.

"I didn't bring it, and now there's no time!" The black of her eyes moved left and right very fast as she thought of a solution.

"Aha! Ryuk, do you care about that guy?" she screamed a whisper.

"The one getting beat up I saw when I flew over? No," the Shinigami replied.

"Is he going to die from what's happening now?" she inquired.

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that!"

"Ryuk! I'm not asking you the specific life span! Tell me whether he's about to die now or not!"

"Fine! I was interested enough to look and the answer is no!"

"Do you care about those next victims those thugs could kill in the future?"

"What's with the asking?" Ryuk was really confused. "No, I don't know them."

Sayu looked at the Shinigami and gritted her teeth.

"Then kill them. And I swear I'll make it worth your while."

The death god contemplated, "And what would you give in exchange?"

"I know what you want, Ryuk. Oh, and make the boys beating my brother up go home first. Then make them commit suicide."

The shinigami in question was actually amused enough to raise his pen, when she raised her hand, her breathing hitched, and her forehead wrinkled in concentration.

"Wait! No! Also, make them forget making trouble for anyone. Then make all of them have random deaths of accidents and murder in addition to suicide. Make their deaths happen in random widely separate days. Like months wide. And be sure to make Hide Nonako, make him suffer the worst."

Ryuk looked at her.That's too much work!His expression said.

"Fine! Just write 'These people below dies in random accidents in random days' then write their names! And make sure they leave my bloodied brother alone now!"

Ryuk was about to ask her what she'd do if he didn't comply, but she whisper-screeched once more before he could ask.

"NOW, Ryuk! Do it! And fast!"

And Ryuk, finally compelled by her urgency, did what she asked with the click of his pen.

Chapter 4: Understanding

Chapter Text

As Ryuk's pen move, Sayu felt the liquid in her veins turn sour in anxiety. Her leg tapped impatiently once more.

Her frantic mind zoned in on the wobble of Ryuk's strokes as if trying to calm herself. She noted that the pen was retractable. She did not remember if this fact was the same in any of the Death Note incarnations.

With Ryuk still scribbling, she walked back and peeped on the gang and the sprawled guy on the ground. They were still doing what they had been doing. It was hard to watch. But she counted. Six names for the Shinigami to write before Light is safe. This included Nonako. Sayu looked back at Ryuk in impatience.

"Done," Ryuk claimed after a few moments. He went nearer to watch the scene with her.

Another Fair Supply track had started from the cassette-tape radio on one corner. Sayu recognized it as 'You are my Baby.'

And eerily, as if they were affected by the song's intro, the young men had finally stopped and were just standing there, as if dazed.

"This is boring," one guy, who Sayu assumed as their leader, said. "Let's get out of here."

They seemed to nod and murmur in agreement.

They started gathering what looked like their school backpacks. One guy in sleeveless whose fraternity tattoo Sayu saw, gave his uniform shirt a shake before wearing it. Some guys were drinking from water bottles. Sayu was reminded of what people do after a work out. But she also sensed that they were about to leave.

And discover her spying on them.

sh*t. Sayu looked around her in panic.

She could hide in the dumpster. No, Megumi's bike would give her away. She could hide in the dumpster with the bike, but that would be too noisy.

The most logical step it seemed was to run with her bicycle right now and come back for Light later.

But something tells her that she'd be in deeper sh*t if she did that

She turned to Ryuk instead.

"There's still time. Ryuk, write 'they completely ignore the school girl like she's not there at all'"

Ryuk gave her a glare.

She gave a glare back, but inside she was scared sh*tless. What if Ryuk lets her be?

She looked back at the gang. One of them lagged behind to turn the cassette off, but most of them were about to reach her! There's no time!

Ryuk clicked his pen and was about to scribble once more, when...

"Well, well, well."

sh*t! She should have hedged her bets on the bike! Stupid!

She saw a young muscular man with Nonako's features. The others followed him.

Sayu tackled her bike and sped.

"Get her!" an angry voice shouted.

Sayu thought she would have lost them. Sayu thought Ryuk would at least be on her side, at least for now. She was so wrong on both accounts.

As she was riding Meg's bicycle at top speed, a van pursued her. Where the f*ck? No, she recognized the it as one of the parked vehicles on the curb near that alley.

She glanced at Ryuk who was flying by her left and chuckling.

Did he do it? She turned and saw the van still pursuing her. She f*cking glared at the Shinigami. Ryuk laughed more.

She kept turning around each corner just to give the vehicle pursuing her a bit of a setback since a van would have to slow down a bit to change directions.

She could not go home. She would be all alone. They would try to break in. or set the house on fire. Cut the phone lines.

f*ck. Her phone. She had dropped it in the alley.

So where should she go? The police station. Or some passing patrol car would be nice.

She was in a crowded area now, but the pursuit went on. But since a van is faster than a bicycle, you could guess what happened.

The van door had opened. They grabbed her waist and extracted her from her bike. She tried to hit them, but her efforts were raindrops to their stronger stature. So she screamed and screamed.

People had turned, but they were frozen.

Her eyes locked on somebody's.

He was walking in his suit, a suitcase in hand, and had a tired expression until he had heard and spotted what was happening.

Matsuda Touta's coffee cup stopped a few inches from his lips.

'Sayu', he had wordlessly mouthed, eyes wide.

A sack covered her head and the van swallowed her.

"That wasn't so smart, Ryo-san!"

"Oh, shut up. We were wearing masks."

She was shivering. And she hated it. Being so helpless was not a cup of tea. Or anyone's for that matter.

She had stopped kicking and shrieking after a while. She was outnumbered. They had hit her and had tied her up. She felt a gash from her right cheek bleed through the sack cloth that still covered her face. She also felt that area starting to bruise.

"Search her!"

Someone felt her up and she screamed again and tried to wriggle through her binds. They punched her on the stomach this time.

Silence.

"She's clean. No phone or anything except for this stupid pepper spray," it was her creepy suitor, Hide Nonako-san who spoke, his hands still not leaving her.

"Get off!"

"Why should I?"

"Hide my brother," a commanding voice said. "Is this how you treat your future wife?"

"But, Oni-chan!"

"Won't it be better if she wanted you back?"

Sayu got sickened at that particular thought. But Nonako had withdrawn his hands.

"Fine, fine. I'll wait."

She was confused. And this made her more apprehensive. Wait for what?

One thing's for sure. She needed to get out. The moving van was musky and hot. It was void of passenger seats it seemed, and its floor was hard and uncomfortable. But its destination was what Sayu dreaded the most.

"Untie me," she said in a miraculously clear and steady voice.

"Definitely not," one of the thugs had said. Another one of them laughed in ridicule.

"Untie me!" she looked around her, raising her chin as she did so.

"Are you talking to me?" Ryuk said.

"Yes."

"No," he answered her inquiry.

"Why?" Sayu grew frustrated.

"I did what you asked. Now I want my share."

'Not everything I asked,' she thought, gritting her teeth. Now she's in f*cking trouble.

"What?" she desperately asked even when she already knew the reason.

"She's starting to mumble senseless. Hand me that... No, no. Over to your left, in that bag, the blue one. Yep."

"Entertainment, of course. I thought you knew?" Ryuk chuckled.

Those were the last words Sayu heard before someone partly lifted hear head-sack and covered her mouth with a slightly wet hanky with a strong smell.

'Chloroform,' Sayu thought, as she lost consciousness.

It was a party.

Sayu woke up and saw herself in a goddamn party. But everything was still a bit hazy and her black knee-high sock-covered legs felt like jelly. They had both her arms around the necks of each thug on either side of her.

There was loud music. There's a disco ball reflecting a variety of colored lights, making it more dream-like for Sayu. On one corner, people were swaying to this dance game she often saw in arcades. There were images of a dancing figure on the screen and people were tapping their feet on the dance pads.

She heard Ryuk exclaim 'Interesting!' then copied the dance movements on the screen.

Sayu thought she would have found it cute, if she had not wanted him dead right now.

She was stirred away from the scene, and the shinigami did not even notice. She tried to call out to him. She did not want to be alone in this despite everything. But nothing came out of her mouth.

"Ryo-kun, who is she?" Sayu heard a feminine voice say.

"Nothing, babe," the other Nonako brother said behind Sayu. "She's just Hide's girl. And she's very drunk right now."

"Oh, alright."

Were they stupid? Can't they see that... Oh, Sayu realized. They got her out of her bindings and head-sack. Of course.

They passed by the kitchen and the guy on her right momentarily let go of her to greet someone.

Sayu swayed and stumbled by the table full of candy and booze nearby.

The guy who got left with her grumbled and proceeded to carry her like a bride.

They went on. Something creaked open, and Sayu felt herself go downward.

The lights her were dim, but not unattractively so. There were lush cushions all around them, fine furniture (mostly couches) and carpeted floors, but Sayu could not see past the haze of her fear that had suddenly intensified.

Under the dark shadows, she saw the silhouette of a number of couples making out.

They proceeded to a corner covered in curtains. When they entered, two guys secured her and made her drink something. She choked It was mango juice but it tasted off. They kept pouring. She spat it out. They slapped her face. Multiple times. Hard.

They stopped only when Sayu felt dazed enough to comply. Then, she was thrown onto what seemed like a mattress.

"You love birds have some fun," Ryo called, about to leave.

"Shouldn't she be restrained, Oni-chan?"

"What for, Hide? She's out of it. Just wait a few moments and she'd be all over you."

The footsteps subsided, and all Sayu could hear were moans or sighs from the other parts of the room. The music continued to blare from above. The sound was a bit muted from this place.

From her crouched form, Sayu saw Nonako leering.

He advanced toward her.

She whipped a sharp pair of scissors on his neck.

"Move and die," she breathed.

He laughed, though Sayu sensed his nervousness to her satisfaction.

"Sayu, Sayu, Sayu," It seemed like Nonako tutted her name condescendingly. "Trying to kill me with my mom's favorite pair of shears. Naughty."

He tried to move but Sayu pressed the sharp object closer. So much so, that a small drop of blood fell.

Nonako moved away with a hiss. A flash of anger showed in his eyes, but it quickly went away.

Instead he gave out another laugh. "Don't you understand, Sayu? You're mine. In a few moments I'm all that you would want."

Sayu studied him, expressionless, her sharp tool still pointing at the boy.

Nonako with a hand wiping the blood near the small wound of his neck, stared at the girl. He waited.

The music changed upstairs, and a part of her could see Ryuk playing party and still dancing on the dance pads. Ryo and his gang would probably be drinking alcohol. But from this place, she could only hear muffled sounds of melodies and conversations.

In this place, she could only hear Nonako's sick anticipation.

She could hear her fear, the thud of her heartbeat, the drugged lust that was around her in this room.

She could hear Light's shallow breaths under his own head-sack, still unmoving, still on the cold solid ground in that alley.

Sayu poked her throat several times with a free hand. And puked. At first nothing came out and all she could hear were Nonako's shouts of protest. But his mother's scissors kept him at bay.

Maybe it was because of her own sheer will too, aside from the disgust at the thought of being with Nonako… but she had vomitted. A lot.

Sayu could smell the faint trace of ramen she had for lunch. She could also taste the weird mango juice on her tongue as the fluids fell from her mouth.

She did it.

She was free.

And then the boy pulled her leg and tried to hit her.

She stabbed him in the arm. The scissors stuck onto his limb, and before she could reclaim it, he had stepped back screaming.

At this point, she tried to get up and run, but Nonako still had the mind to forcefully grab her with his other arm and throw her in the direction of the bed.

"You'll be mine one way or another you know," he growled at her despite the pain.

He grabbed the scissors and took it out. Another howl of pain.

No.

"Help! Ry - " She was about to call her shinigami who would probably give zero help unless she could manipulate him otherwise, but Nonako had pulled a thick hanky from his pocket and had put it in her mouth.

An arm still bleeding, he held the shears at Sayu.

"Mine," he growled about to devour her neck.

"Police!"

Sayu's eyes widened as police officers flooded the basem*nt, with their guns.

The boy, fast and agile, quickly stood up, grabbed Sayu's shoulders from behind with an iron-clad grip with and pointed the bloodied weapon to her neck using the hand of his bloodied arm..

"Don't shoot!," Nonako threatened them.

"Sayu!"

"Hmmph!" said Sayu with a muffled mouth.

She wanted to cry in relief. Almost.

She could see Matsuda just beside Chief Soichiro yagami. They were both aiming their guns at Nonako along with one uniformed officer.

The sounds were in chaos now. People were screaming. The cops were pointing their weapons on them and speaking on radios.

On the corner of her eye, she saw Ryuk's head peak from one part of the ceiling.

"Weh?" he saw Sayu's predicament. "How intriguing!"

Sayu swore she'd kill the death god someday one way or another.

"Let go of my daughter!" the chief's gun shook, enraged.

"I love her!" said the boy.

Nonako was so f*cking insane.

While they exchanged more spats (mixing your personal life with your professional one could really do drive you a bit mad), Sayu noticed Matsuda aiming for Nonako's arm that was gripping her.

Oh no.

And just as Ryuk wholly emerged from the ceiling, Matsuda shot Nonako's arm.

As Sayu's perpetrator staggered back taking her with him, she glimpsed a tranquilizer needle on Nonako's arm.

Then the sharp scissors pierced her neck as they both fell on the ground.

Sayu's blood gushed out of her.

"Sayu! Sayu!"

Sayu's eyes snapped open to hear a female scream.

"Sayu, calm down! Nurse Yuko, call for help!"

The male hospital staff members came as well, as Nurse Yuko approached.

Sayu was brought back to her senses.

She was the one screaming.

She closed her mouth, stood up, and held both her hands up as if placating a wild pack of lions.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. Sorry, it was just a bad dream," she said.

She turned to look at Nurse Yuko who had a sedative ready to inject on her if need be.

"Really, Nurse Yuko. I'm fine now,"

Then she gave them all a rueful apologetic smile.

Nurse Nori sighed and nodded at Nurse Yuko who in turn turned to go with one last worried look at Sayu. The male staff members, who were supposed to hold her back enough for the nurse to administer the injection, also disappeared back to their stations.

"Honestly, Sayu," Nurse Nori said, watching Sayu approach the glass window. "A social worker or some kind of psychiatrist could do you good, you know."

"Did I punch you on the shoulder again, Nori-san?"

Though she thought that the nurse should be grateful that she was not holding a pen the first time it happened. She usually did homework on the bench in the lobby and it was not entirely impossible. She might have lethally poked her in the eye.

"No, but maybe you should be banned from the ward from now on, Sayu," she said in a tired voice.

"Don't do that," Sayu turned to her and pleaded, getting a bit teary-eyed. "I'll be all alone at home. Please, Nori-san."

That was not entirely true, but she could not think of any other excuse of a milder sort but as effective in nature.

Thankfully, Nurse Nori got her point. Her features softened. "Fine, but a social worker's coming here the third time it would happen. And the fourth time, that's when you're banned."

When the nurse left her, Sayu turned back to the window. On the other side, Light lay in a coma.

As Sayu stared at the figure, her hand traveled around the smooth skin of her neck. She was glad that last part did not happen.

But the rest did though. She was kidnapped. Original Sayu was kidnapped too. How cliché.

But she doubted it was more scarring than her own. Maybe. It felt like it.

The glass surface reflected a bit of the raven-haired girl's hardened face. But she was not attentive to that.

All she could see was Light, who she hadn't even been in the same room with in about a month. For decontamination reasons, she had, back then, washed her hands and wore a hospital gown and cap in the scrub room before entering the room Light was in.

Light's hair was shaved and he was a bit flabby. The nurses said it was the fluids from the tubes, providing him with nutrition. If you looked a bit more, you would notice that he had a two and half inches of a surgery scar on top of his head that was almost obscured by his pillow.

He had fallen badly. It was lucky he didn't break his neck or spine. But the large impact was on the head. It was a head and brain trauma. It did not help that he was punched in the face a few times either. It was lucky they had only managed to punch the eyes and cheek of his sack-covered head and not the nose. If his nose bled while he was unconscious on his back, he could have drowned in his own blood.

Sayu's lips had set into a line after she heard this. Wasn't it bad enough that Light had broken ribs, a broken collar bone, and a ton of bruises? Or the fact that he was hurt at all? Well, at least he did not die. That fact meant everything, but that was not the entire point.

The nurse told her, when she was in the room, to keep herself at least two feet from his brother's hospital bed because he was apparently sensitive to infection.

She had hated that at that time and she still did now in a more subdued way. They were treating Light like he was a car crash victim or something! She appreciated the medical protocol and the probable underlying sentiment towards a young student who got hurt, but...

She could not even stay for more than five minutes! And not another five in Light's room again, until another ten minutes spent outside his room was over.

Sayu had wanted to cheat as well and hold Light's hand, but she stopped herself. She had failed him. Why would she do something that seemed trivial but could further hurt Light no matter how much?

She stayed where she was until her five minutes were up. She never went inside again though she could if she wanted too.

Instead, she had watched her parents come in from time to time. In the end, they only watched from the window with her.

Now, the Light behind the window looked a little more of himself. His brown hair had started to grow; only more cropped. She had a feeling that the hospital staff would keep it that way or would shave it soon. The sponge bath they administered here was no match for stinky long hair, and she doubted they use shampoo on coma patients.

She smiled sadly at the heart monitor nearby. She remembered putting neon pink dye in her brother's shampoo that one time. She had never laughed so hard in her life.

She kept calling him Sakura Haruno the whole day until Light lost it and exploded a "Who the hell is she, Sayu?!" He almost used the f-bomb swear word too. She kept asking him to heal her and her 'stomach ache' with his powers of pinkness only a chewed-up bubble gum colored ninja could. She had caught the largest living lizards (not exactly the correct animal but it would do) that she could find and kept throwing it at his long pink hair, informing him that they would teach him Medicine.

He had retaliated by dyeing her hair blonde in the same way. She guessed Light new she was manipulative enough to cry to her parents to get him punished if he ever put a more gruesome color. But Light knew she liked her black hair enough to be annoyed.

But it backfired on him. Instead of getting grated, she had actually cut her hair short and had put fake whiskers on her cheeks. She had bellowed in a guy voice, "Why didn't you heal me, Sakura-chan? I thought we were friends?!"

Light did a legendary face-palm.

But now...Who needs the healing now, Light? Her eyes moistened. Matsui and the others should stop calling her Paranoid Girl and start calling her Lady Cry-a-Lot.

There was a trial about a week or two after the incident. She did not know whether it was fast or slow for a justice system, but it happened.

And Sayu had told all. About Ken, Haruhi, Nonako... Everything. She had to do it. They had discovered her involvement when she was saved from that Nonako pent house. Withholding information would only make her suspicious if further evidence had proven otherwise.

Ken and his gang might go to juvie. And Nonako and his brother were definitely going to get punished. This was what Soichiro had assured her.

She had almost wanted to tell her father that in one version of this world, Misa Amane had killed thousands and even she was let go because of Amnesia.Amnesia.

It was good that Sayu did not get her hopes up.

Ken Saotome and his gang would go unpunished because of insufficient evidence.

The Nonakos would get a couple of years for kidnapping, drug use, attempted rape, and attempted murder, but they were pardoned a few months in due to again, insufficient evidence for the first mentioned two, and also because of their young age. They would be sent to juvie instead.

The rest of the Alpha Samurai including Ryo Nonako's accomplices would also get away for the same reason Ken's gang did.

Though, it took them a long while. It was hard to shake off the basem*nt where they kept ingesting people glasses of aphrodisiac. The fraternity had pointed fingers at the Nonakos, and that was that.

Sayu spat on the ground.

The rest of her family had wanted her to take a long vacation for the trauma. It was tempting but she kept going to school.

She was sort of on the news, but Soichiro made sure to make it as less scandalous as possible, to the point that her name did not even come up. Practically the newspapers simply said that the Alpha Samurai as a whole was finally tried for extreme violence and kidnapping. And the fact Haruhi's perpetrators were found to be bullies who had catfished (made a fake Palster account of a cute girl) him in a date, only to beat him to death.

And despite the jurisdictions, her father was surprised, or maybe he shouldn't have, about her declaration. She had claimed one time at dinner, that she would become a lawyer, a senator, anything to improve Japan's justice system.

Soichiro had applauded her daughter for such resiliency in the face of adversity as he would call it. Sachiko would just fear for her decision and would hold her hand. She glanced beside her seat to find her brother's chair empty.

Sayu had been sulking towards Ryuk. She really could not help it. Bad risky move to do to someone who could kill you on a whim, but it seemed like that was exactly what had amused Ryuk. Or Sayu guessed anyway. Because she was still breathing.

So she decided to make amends. Kind of. She grabbed three apples from the pantry and went to her room.

She opened the window to call out to her shinigami.

Ryuk was always supposed to be nearby the owner of the note as much as possible. But ever since the incident, he had been hanging around the top of whichever human-made infrastructure Sayu was in.

But from the window, Sayu spotted Ryuk on the ground making a series of funny faces in front of a crouched old lady walking slowly in her cane.

Wow, Ryuk must be hella bored.

Sayu didn't know if she should get insulted or find it funny.

She said his name, and Ryuk actually blushed from what he was doing, 'blushed' like she had caught him stealing from the cookie jar before lunch time.

Oh, these shinigamis.

"Sayu-chan! These apples are delicious," Ryuk had mooned and floated all over her room in delight as he munched on the fruit.

"I'm glad you liked it" Sayu said in a small genuine but careful grin.

"Look, Ryuk," she tried to start over the loud juicy chewing. Ryuk finished and regarded her.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you. Internally trying to put blame on you. As the Death Note owner, I'm responsible for anything that could happen too.

"I was my fault at what happened. I should have said they committed suicide in a way that their bodies would not be found for a long time. Anything else would be too wordy or too long despite best intentions. So like I said… Sorry, Ryuk."

Ryuk seemed to ponder for a minute. To tell you the truth, Ryuk didn't really care. He wanted entertainment, and he sensed that Sayu was the perfect candidate even though she had been scary mad at him enough that he had actually chose to spend his days outside of late.

But he now did care for one thing though.

"Apples. Give me lotsa apples. And maybe I'd forgive you."

The girl gave him a glare.

"Three apples. That's it."

"No."

Sayu's glare hardened.

"Fine. Better than nothing."

Sayu opened the drawer beside her and threw the three more fruits toward Ryuk.

The death god caught them each, used the throw's momentum to juggle them a few times, before dropping each to his open mouth with gusto.

He chewed the three apples in his mouth.

"Show off," Sayu said.

For months, she prepared.

Based on what she knew. All the moves she could make. All the moves that could form against her.

Information she should further know.

She gathered resources

No more mistakes.

No more brothers in a coma.

She amused Ryuk with human-things once in a while. Like video games, amusem*nt parks, and the like.

But she worked toward her goal and promised him the great things that were coming.

Sayu turned to stare out her window, from her desk. Outside, the buildings were bathed in an orange glow like the day she had picked up the note.

She now understood. She truly did. Somehow.

Her brother was right.

This world is rotten.

"Time to bring light to the world," she whispered.

She wrote her first name.

Meanwhile, in the darkness of his hospital room, a young man named Light lay in silence.

His eyes opened.

'A mysterious cult called the House of Kira had been forming inside prisons all over the world. Authorities had found multiple cult leaders among them, but the most suspected was Gregory Dashwood who was said to have founded - '

Click.

'This just in, another batch of regretful-criminal worshippers had secretly met in prison and drank from a large basin they had called The Water of Repentance. The liquid in question is currently being tested, but investigators had admitted that the results may also reveal nothing. Just like with past instances -'

Click.

'More and more suspected criminals outside prisons are dying. The deaths are reported as like that of the mass suicides of Kira cults. The victims immediately go unconscious and fall asleep. They do not ever wake up again. A series of secretly administered untraceable poison is one theory that experts are proposing to investigate -"

Click.

'Kira is God!'

Click.

Ryuk laughed as he scanned the television and ate apples and potato chips.

Humans are so... interesting.

Chapter 5: Sensei

Chapter Text

The school bell rang.

The clock showed that it was two minutes until 8 am.

Black school shoes of different sizes sprinted into classrooms.

Professor Nakamura sighed and ran a hand through his graying head, before facing the class with a strained smile. He was just in his mid-forties, but he felt like he was already getting too old for this.

As someone who had personally chosen a degree on history, he had no qualms on teaching the subject. But it gets old after a decade or so. He planned on working in a prestige museum after a few years of teaching what he loved, but many autumns had come, and he was still here, 44 and single.

Well, that wasn't really so bad. That wasn't too old to turn his life around. And he might be alone in terms of a partner, but he did still have family, his thoughts went to his nephew in Brooklyn, USA.

Perhaps he should hurry up on what he wanted in his life. He had always had a weak heart. And with age, it had become weaker still. Or at least that's what doctors told him.

He had never actually fully believed them. He was not an adrenaline junkie, but he was no wimp either. He takes considerable risks from time to time, had been surprised then and now, and he had been fine. As long as he just walked and not jogged or overstrained himself, he was fine.

"Alright, class" he said as he dove into another academic day.

All the students went silent at the sound of his voice. Some sprinted back to their seats with no delay.

Their focus of their topic for today was religion. As he continued to talk, he felt losing himself in a world of gigantic churches with wonderful stained glasses emitting a variety of colors from the noonday sun, of mountains and incense and the sweet mildew air of the forest rain. Of course, not all past stories are clean, but he was in his element and he could get into that later.

And as he had just finished one religion and was about to go on to the next called Buddhism, a student raised her hand.

"Yes, Hirano-san?" he said in all seriousness.

"Um," the girl asked rather shyly. "I was wondering about the Kira Cult, Sir. Are they considered a legitimate religion?"

"Good question. Actually, there's no rule that restricts a belief from becoming a 'legit religion'. A belief is a belief, and whether or not they wanted to make a congregation out of it is up to the believers."

"But this cult? Surely, other people cannot take them seriously after all they have done."

Other students have either nodded in agreement or hissed in retaliation.

The teacher pushed his glasses further up his nose.

Ah, yes. Over the months of May and June, this so-called religion named the House of Kira had been the talk all over the world.

It all started when a video went viral on the internet. A seemingly ordinary mass, only more eery. A white robed priest with purple cloak, candles dripping in the dark. The worshippers had simply worn their prison uniforms. For a gothic indie movie, it would have been impressive.

The priest preached on how the world is being rotten by bad deeds. How our world was like a perfectly good set of teeth, and we are the ones who kept eating unhealthy things like too much candy. We have to stop eating candy. We must eliminate candy.

We must delete those which rot others. Our evil deeds must be wiped clean, and to do that we must start with ourselves, we must start with the criminals.

Do what Kira wants and you will be rewarded. You will be finally given peace and refuge in your soul.

The camera panned on the large intricate basin filled with water in the corner of the room. The Basin of Repentance, they had called it. One by one, the prisoners scooped the liquid into their own bowls. When the line ended, they went back to their seats and raised their bowls. They chanted some incomprehensible hymn. Then with one last "Glory be to Kira!", they drank the liquid.

Five seconds later, they had dropped dead. But not quickly, oh no. Many of them had showed signs of grogginess first. Some of them yawned. Some of them had scratched an eye.

It was like an overpowering wave of sleep had come and they simply can't stay on their feet any longer. They fell on their knees, then took refuge on the floor. Napping like they were in kindergarten, only never to wake again or breathe again after a few minutes for that matter.

The last frame showed the unmistakable grinning face of Gregory Graham Dashwood, former clergy and former big player in insurance fraud, his malicious expression half-concealed under his cloak.

The description under the video said that the mass was held under the guise of being another more acceptable religion.

They had gotten the permission from the higher ups, as others were considerate towards recreational activities such as sports activities or belief gatherings and thus were given a chance to be practiced under the supervision of authorities. They somehow managed to divert such authority it seemed.

The guards of the particular room were found on their chairs, seemingly sleeping on the job (dead after further examination). The one monitoring them in another room through closed circuit cameras, turned out as someone just very inattentive and was arguing on the phone with his girlfriend. He got dumped and fired that very same day.

He wasn't seen again, and it didn't say in the video description, but many had concluded that he was the one who had managed to steal and spread the video online.

Various TV news stations had eaten this story up. It would have simply been considered as some hoax and would have probably forgotten overtime.

However, even without conducting another creepy mass, prisoners in other countries had been reported doing such ritual in their own lunch tables, only in a more discreet manner. Some groups would fall 'asleep' right away. Some groups would simply be found dead in each of their own cells the next morning.

"We cannot stop anyone from praying over their food, but we would definitely investigate the distribution of possible poisons within our jail system," said one Head Chief Officer of one of the prisons affected. Others seemed to echo the sentiment.

Trying to lessen the chances of more deaths, some facilities stopped lunch and dinner time spent in cafeterias, and served well-tested meals (well-tested for poisons) in each cell instead. This proved useless and many still fell in deep sleep and died.

After a while, starting just a week ago, suspected criminals outside jails started to die. Five people a day, each from a random country every time.

And that's when chaos happened. Because most of the people who died were also cleared of their crimes and were declared innocent.

Many families of victims rejoiced. Many cried for the blood of these so-called innocents. 'So-called innocents,' because after a while, TV specials started featuring how most of those cleared by the law weren't so clean after all.

They started to pick on flaws, such as needing a confession from the suspected for a more sure punishment. How having a witness who saw the violence was not enough for someone to be incarcerated for good. How someone could get away with murder because of powerful families or because of good slingshot aims on closed circuit cameras.

Overtime, many had also turned to support the House of Kira.

But some still aren't very happy.

"Professor?" Hirano-san snapped their teacher from his half a minute of musing.

"Ah, yes," Professor Nakamura blinked and turned to his pupil.

"I'm not really in the position to say whether or not the House of Kira should be an established religion someday. Perhaps not since their way seems very unorthodox and not entirely legal. But I imagine that a cleaner and less violent version of this belief might survive one day, despite everything. After all, others like it from the past had certainly undergone such process."

And he continued his lecture, closing that conversation, promptly ignoring Hirano-san's slight pout as she retook her seat.

Professor Nakamura saw the married but still beautiful Professor Taniuchi pinching the ear of one squealing Ken Saotome. In her other hand clutched a wrinkled paperbag.

The male teacher's feet froze, wanting to turn around and escape, but Taniuchi had already seen him.

"Taro, come."

"Kauro," he sighed and ran another hand through his hair.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked as he followed the duo down to where he was sure to be the principal's office.

"You'll see," Taniuchi simply replied.

The office was mostly composed of wood. You can still catch the faded smell of old varnish. They were everywhere; the walls, the desk, the small plaque that says Principal Tsugani Obata. Unbeknownst to many, a girl called Sayu Yagami had almost lost her life choking on a jellybean, when she heard that name on her freshman year.

But back to the case at hand… Let's just say that the atmosphere in the room was tense.

The principal's white hair seamed to gleam in disapproval under the noon light coming from the window.

Professor Taniuchi had an expectant and stern look. Professor Nakamura was gaping at the pile on the desk, the empty paper bag and a sealed pack beside it.

Thirty-two used cigarettes were on the table.

The mentioned adults turned to the boy.

"Well?" the female teacher demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Ken just looked on in silent defiance.

She continued on her rampage; on how this violates a lot of the institution's rules, and doing this inside the school premises no less!

The principal listened patiently at this. And when Taniuchi stopped for a breath, she looked at the two other adults expectantly.

Principal Obata seemed to be thinking deeply and said nothing.

Professor Nakamura said nothing either.

Taniuchi gave her colleague a glare.

"Ah!" Nakamura said. "Exactly! I agree! Such behavior should be punished!"

At this, it took an effort for the woman not to pinch the bridge of her nose.

Even Ken himself was slightly amused, a twitch in the corner of his lips had formed.

But someone in the room was not fooled and had been looking at him closely. The circles under his eyes. His slightly hollowed cheeks.

"My dear pupil," the principal's wise baritone finally said. "Do you have any idea how fast this could kill you at the rate you are going?"

That triggered it. Reality punctured a hole in the balloon, a weakness on the water dam.

Ken had burst into tears. He totally broke down and went from his chair and to his knees. The said wooden chair got turned over due to the movement with a loud 'kablag!'

This time, it was Prof. Taniuchi to be open-mouthed. She had never seen tough gang leader Ken Saotome so aghast.

Nakamura went and kneeled by the boy to put a hand on his arm.

His hand was shrugged off.

"No! You can't make it okay!" Another sob. "No one can!"

"That's not true," Nakamura said calmly, placatingly. "We can get you help. Professional help. Right?"

Nakamura eyed Taniuchi who nodded even though Ken can't see. Principal Obata only looked older and more tired.

"No! Wrong! I can't stop. Day and night. To have a puff is all I can think about," he babbled, snot covering his face,his fingers. Taniuchi eyed the wooden tissue box in the corner and immediately gave it to him.

This gesture was ignored as he continued. "It's not even pleasurable anymore but I can't stop. I just can't. I-I.."

He looked up, and the three adults were shocked at his half-crazed expression.

"I'm cursed! I'm cursed! I AM CURSED!"

And he fled from the room.

Someone tapped on the open door, as the last students of his final class of the day left him.

Professor Nakamura looked up to see Sayu Yagami and Matsui Miyako, two of his students last year. They bowed to him.

He gave them one of his stern looks, but he was secretly pleased.

"Yes?" he asked. "What is it that you two want?"

"Actually, it's just me professor," Sayu smiled and stepped inside the room as Matsui stayed back by the door and fiddled with his flip phone.

She inquired about her book report on a higher level Demography class, not exactly his forte, but Sayu needed a bit of historical context on one part of her topic that was not really easy to search online.

As he was about to finish explaining to her, he saw her eyes shift on his desk. He looked at where she was staring. He laughed nervously.

"Say, how's your brother Light?" he shifted his body in an angle that would block Sayu's view of the desk.

She cheered at the topic, telling him about Light's apparent progress in physical therapy. Though she had light-heartedly commented on how her sibling was still in a wheelchair and grumbling like an old lady that she herself had to wheel around.

Satisfied afterwards, Sayu along with Matsui said goodbye.

The professor gave a loud huff and closed the slightly open drawer. He locked it tight.

For some reason. Nakamura found himself continuing the thought he had on the Kira Cult this morning, as he walked through some crowded streets on his way home.

Despite everything, many where still against Kira.

Because some of the movement's victims were truly innocent it seemed.

Or so some of the families claimed anyway.

But the sleeping wars continued.

As for the cult leader Gregory Graham Dashwood, he was said to have been incarcerated in isolation somewhere. It was rumored that he was diagnosed with cancer a while back. Perhaps, this was why he started all the poisoned madness.

And the poison! Up until now, no one could tell what it was. From rare plants called Death Camas to treated radioactive substances like Polonium 21, all theories seemed to have put forth, but in the end, it was all useless.

No one can pinpoint something as untraceable, as fast acting, and affects individuals the way they do, like the Kira Poison had. And the way it took in its prey; so merciful, so peaceful. It could almost make anyone believe that a god was behind this all.

The professor then spotted his former student Sadou from years ago, standing by the pedestrian lane, waiting for the lights to change. He hadn't change much, Nakamura noted. The young man still sported a very cropped hairstyle and he still scratched his nose a lot. If he wasn't mistaken, he belonged to the Alpha Samurai. Perhaps he should still greet his former student?

But before he could do anything, an impatient Sadou had crossed the temporarily empty road without the lights changing completely. There was a loud screech as a car swiveled to avoid hitting Sadou.

Instead it hit a lamp post, that fell straight to... How unlucky... Sadou's head. Blood oozed like artistically splashed paint on the road.

People screamed. The professor felt faint. Ironically, he swore he felt his heart beat slower.

"Are you okay, Mister?" Someone was holding him upright. His throat felt scratchy and used, did he scream too?

He did not look closely who (some office guy in a suit, he would vaguely remember later) but he did thank whoever it was who had shown him concern. After that, he went to a nearby coffee shop he had thankfully spotted to order some tea.

Everything is alright. Everything is okay. That did not just happen. It was just a nightmare. Everything seemed so lately.

He'd wake up and he'd be back in his apartment on the fifth floor. He took another sip of warm winter melon milk tea.

He was more than halfway through with his drink, and his heart felt normal again, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

It was the police.

He denied it all. All the accusations. Everything. Preposterous. How could they even think that?

They had gotten a warrant to rummage on his school desk, they had said. An older fraternity student from another school had told on him. That he was selling them drugs.

That's a lie. This he had told them.

But they did find syringes in his locked drawers.

And he told them.

He informed them that he had been diabetic ever since he turned to his teenage years. Insulin shots are what saved him and still did until now. Only those close to him knew though.

Only finding syringes and no drugs, not even the mentioned insulin, the police had let Nakamura go with the promise of a house search warrant the very next day to be sure, and a request of a certified proof of his illness on his part.

Nakamura walked home alone that night.

Fortunately this time, there was no trouble.

He was scanning the channels on his television, when his hand paused on something that made him gasp.

His face was on the news. He was suspected of selling drugs to children, but was let go because of insufficient evi -

He threw the remote on the TV screen with a large amount of force. The glass cracked and its light flickered off.

Oh god, he was going to get fired.

He went to the kitchen and grabbed a plastic bottle of water from the fridge. He took a sip and had simply held on it.

Or maybe he should just quit and send a letter of resignation via e-mail to avoid further scandal...

He had gone into his bedroom now.

He put the bottle on the floor and took a framed painting off the wall.

There lay a safe.

He opened it using his passcode.

Inside, was his real stash.

He looked at the heroin, the LSD, and the others, and just like Ken Saotome, he had violently fallen down on his knees.

With the soft thud of his heart, he prayed to Kira and drank more water before going to bed.

A nephew answered the phone. The phone would have fallen on the floor if it wasn't for its short chord. Tears streaked down the cheek of the stranger.

Angrily, he threw things around. His hate and grief chased each other in the room, creating a hurricane, bringing chaos to anything he touched.

His hands touched a toolbox.

A smirk appeared on his face.

Nothing could be heard but metallic clinks and rattles of foreboding.

Chapter 6: Favor

Chapter Text

"Man, that Space Shuttle roller coaster was tiring! But fun! Tiring but fun! Never thought a shinigami can feel both, let alone be exhausted even for a bit! Where to next?!"

Sayu looked at Ryuk who was taking in the sight of the carnival rides of Spaceland, as the Cotton Candy man made her warm fresh cotton candy from special sweet colored powder using the machine in his cart.

The death god's awed expression took her to that dark time in her life when she needed help from certain thugs but this bluish piranha-faced individual got distracted by a dancing game on a flat screen.

Sometimes dreams still plagued her. Nonako with his sharp shears. The police a no-show. Her screams and blood on the sheets. And Ryuk, simply laughing and watching as all hope and her will to live goes down the drain.

"Wha - Miss!"

Cotton candy man had handed her the warm candy and she had reached out absently. And also absently had squeezed a portion of it in her right hand.

"Oops. Haha. Lost in thought there," she smiled sheepishly but honestly at the vendor, and walked briskly away with the slightly out-of-shape cloud of pink.

Flapping his wings, Ryuk floated behind her.

"Hyuk! What were you thinking?" he gestured as she examined her now sticky hand.

She frowned and sat on a nearby bench near a merry-go-round and began tearing of pink chunks with that sticky hand munching rather in a thoughtful way. Ryuk retracted his wings and sat beside her.

On the corner of her eye as she chewed, sand of black and blue started coming off her tall companion. His left arm was the first to fall, then a part of his chest, his head, and then the rest of him.

She would later feel guilty and conflicted by her actions, but Sayu at that moment, still feeling the red spill out of her neck as she shrieked awake every night, calmly smiled.

She looked at Ryuk, before whipping out her flip-phone and turning it to silent mode as was her standard protocol when talking to the monster in public.

"Hello!? I was just thinking of how great is it to have a tomodachi like you, Ryuk-kun!"

"Tomodachi?" he turned his yellow unblinking eyes on her. "You think of me as a friend?"

"Why not? Don't we hang out often enough?" she waved the cotton candy and faced hertomodachias she explained. "I mean we're only together now because of the note. But why not? You said you were bored. Won't having a friend change that. Huh, don't you haveany friends?"

"..."

"Come on! It will be fun."

Behind a contemplating Ryuk, Sayu could have sworn a ghostly white figure of Rem look at her disapprovingly as she too slowly turned to dust to save Misa Amane. The wind spread her ashes across the park, making sayu cough and ruining the remaining cotton candy.

She tried taking more bites. Yuck! Bitter!

"Ryuk?"

Ryuk just chuckled his usual 'Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk' before standing up and approaching the carousel nearby with honest curiosity.

Sayu, naked in the bathroom, stared at her reflection. She looked at her wet hair, her eyes, everything else, then back to her face again. She didn't know what to expect. Horns on her forehead? Wings like Ryuk's?

Of course, that's ridiculous, but she was expecting something tobethere. She supposed that the creators only wanted to show Light's lost of innocence, and to show the difference between an amnesiac Light and Kira, but...

She peered at her own eyes. Had it grown smaller? Colder? She couldn't tell. In fact, as far as she could observe, nothing had changed. At least not to her outward appearance.

Well, except for one. She touched the small slight scar, barely there, and barely half an inch, on her right cheek just below her eye. From one of Nonako's punches more likely.

She considered the small facial flaw.

Keep the original storyline, her ass. Who was she kidding?

She sighed and turned to drain the hot water she had used. She just had a hard Chemistry test that afternoon, so she had just splurged herself with a hot bath afterwards. Then she's planning to watch a movie and eat ice cream with Ryuk.

Where's that guy anyway? She looked around as she entered her room. Her face darkened somewhat as she saw Ryuk's absence.

She quickly dressed, and still combing her wet hair, opened the window to reveal the night sky. Through the soft glow of the lamp posts, she tried to spot him on the ground, in the horizon, on the neighbor's roof.

She went down the stairs that had been converted into a narrow planked walkway for Light's wheelchair and sprinted by Sachiko who was vacuuming the living room. Wow, hadn't she just finished doing both the laundry and the dishes a while ago?

"Sayu! You might trip!"

"Sorry!"

She swore her mother actually enjoyed playing housewife-housemaid to the tenth power. She thought it was just the influence of some sort of slight misogynistic tradition of her country, but after a while, she had also started to think that Mom did what she did because it was what she wanted. And she respected that.

However, she hoped that her future husband would get the idea that she's nothing like that. She was also not going to quit her career just because they're married. Thoughts of Naomi Misora and Misa came. She wrinkled her nose, also remembering the way Raye Penber had scolded his fiancée for trying to discuss the Kira case with him.

She understood where he was coming from. Of course, you'd want someone you care about to stay safe and uninvolved. But something along the lines of "You're my fiancee now and nothing else" and "Once we have a family, you'll be so busy you'll forget you ever were an agent" had made her cringe.

Yes, she still remembered those words. Like making babies was your only main function once you had become a wife. Forget your passion of investigating! Forget the fact that you had once been a very strong respectable FBI agent who could take care of herself! No, you're job now is to pop babies from your tummy.

She wanted to punch Raye in the face. She's almost glad Light had killed him in that other land far away. Should she do it here as well?

Sayu didn't want to become a feminist. But if this was any indication of how she would be treated in the future, she'd rather not get married. She'd rather be more career-oriented.

But then again, the 'kuroshi,' death by overworking, is also a thing even in this Japan. Even her father was barely there on the general basis, even on the holidays. Would she let herself be subjected to this in her possible office working years?

sh*t, she might need to move out from Japan. She could do her changing the system of justice anywhere, right? Hmm, that would remain to be seen.

Anyway, Ryuk wasn't in the kitchen, haunting their pantry which was usually filled with apples if not in the dining table's fruit basket.

She just shrugged. She had already decided not to stress everything out too much. Given this lifestyle she had chosen, she would go crazy if she let every emotion involved. Sure, she'd still worry over her problems, but she'd plan and solve every one of them in a callous manner. Why do you think she had started to take hot baths whenever stress started to rear its ugly head? Or the fact that she had actually gone through her yoga using CDs she had rented?

And besides, she's 70% pretty sure where Ryuk was. She couldn't help but pinch her nose bridge. Or at least, she's still hoping she's wrong.

She went to the fridge to grab 2 pints of ice cream. There's fortunately still a lot in stock just in case Ryuk would want more.

She didn't mean to introduce other foods to Ryuk, but a bag of potato chips was lying around, and just like the enigma of Ryuk's retractable pen, Ryuk had actually reached out and ate some.

Sayu had not anticipated this since she knew Ryuk's complaint on how dry the foods are back in his home. And she had been busy with planning at that time, while keeping Ryuk entertained enough not to off her, that she didn't give it much thought. She practically made sure that had a basket of apples in her room at all times.

But Ryuk had surprisingly liked potato chips despite its crackling dry texture. The taste is good, he claimed. And Sayu just had to wonder how bad it was in Shinigami Land. Well, she asked, and he answered that most were either tasteless or bitter.

It's no surprise in a place where residents don't require eating to keep existing.

Ever since then, Ryuk wanted to try different things. This had worried Sayu, the thought of floating food in thin air that could scare her family, and expose her secret unnerved her.

But Ryuk knew that once he did that, Sayu would stop playing. Or at least that was what she told Ryuk. But ever since, Ryuk had told her the things he'd like to try and taste and Sayu obliged the death god in the safety of her room.

Sayu's feet took her to Light's room. The door quietly opened.

Stay-at-home Light, who had missed the college entrance exam being in a coma months

back, was in a wheelchair and was more bored than ever, had started spending more time fiddling with hismech, as he'd call it.

Sometimes Ryuk would "Oooh" and "Aaaah" over Light's work. But the death god was also not here.

Her brother was in his Pjs and he was hunched over another blueprint.

Gears of all sorts scattered around his room in the most organized Light-way as possible.

Thus, the wires, screws, and other mech parts of all shapes and sizes are arranged in durable plastic white trays with several slats to seperate the pieces from one another. The same is done to the tools of screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.

These trays, littered Light's bed and a portion of his desk. She was sure when he was finished, those trays would neatly go

back to the drawers.

Instead of a headboard, there was an empty shelf over the head end of his bed. On top lay three androids.

One was what they had started making a while back. It was remote controlled to move on it's wheeled feet and now had arms and two heads. Because one head was just boring as according to Light.

Not to be left out, Sayu on her part, added a scrambled recording of her voice. It was a theatrical evil laugh. Light joined in and his evil laugh was recorded for the other head. Sayu had a moment of Kira-Light flashbacks. Light was surprised when she had given him a sudden hug out of slight fear.

They called it the Yagami Monster. But Light had said that it was more like a slightly more expensive customized toy for creepy children. He wanted something with more sense.

Thus, the second robot that came next was more useful. It released a large rectangular brush from its hatch and swept the dirt into itself. Light claimed that it looked like a sophisticated trash can. She inwardly claimed it kind of looked like R2-D2 from Star Wars.

The third was not so useful again. It was a dancing robot. Or supposed to be. It could initially only do a portion of hokey pokey. Sayu thought that maybe it was mean, to the robot or to light she didn't know, but she just couldn't stop her laughter.

This endeavor was harder than Light had thought, but in the end, they had managed to make it dance, even though its movements were so stiff, like there was dried glue stuck all over its mechanical joints.

Light had been satisfied enough, saying that robots would, of course, dance differently. Sayu, the girl from a slightly more advanced time, disagreed and said she was going to improve it. And if it wasn't for that Chemistry test, she would have already.

There was a white board to Light's right. It was filled with calculations. They do purchase already-made blueprints from Takeshi's brother, but improvising is obviously also fun, and with it came the responsibility of running your own measurements, be it length, speed, power, and the like.

Sayu looked at his brother and the ice cream she was holding.

"Onii-chan! You should take a break!"

She watched in amusem*nt as Light jumped a bit from his seat.

"Sayu, what the -" he composed himself and frowned at her. "You surprised me."

Hmm, Light. Probably because you're doing something you shouldn't be doing. Like overworking yourself.

As she entered the room fully to hand Light the ice cream, she spotted the TV that was moved onto another far corner of his room. It was mute and was facing Light's direction.

Just as she expected. But instead of berating him, she just chuckled.

"That Kira cult's making boo-boos, aren't they?"

"Yeah..." Light wheeled himself away from his gear to face her and took the cup and plastic spoon from her. He faced the TV and watched the silent news while he ate.

Was he guilty for getting caught out? He should have locked the door then. Or

he probably knew it would likely be her that would enter his room, and he knew she wouldn't give him a hard time about it, though she'd worry a little.

That was the deal they had with Soichiro. Despite still recuperating, and still visiting the hospital for physical therapy, Light was allowed to do anything he wanted as long as he didn't overexert himself physically, and did nothing but rest after dinner. But sometimes Light cheated as according to Ryuk.

Sayu opened her cup and also ate.

Light browsed more channels...Sayu saw a few about Hideki Ryuuga and Misa Amane's break up (She was shocked too when she found that they were dating months back)... until Light stopped on one that still featured his topic of interest and increased the volume a knotch.

"They've been killing more innocents," his serious voice piped up between spoonfuls.

She looked at the screen at the Kira Special and recognized the replay of reports on the cult victims who had been verified as truly innocent.

A sixteen-year-old boy who was falsely accused of a convenient store robbery, a 25 year old woman babysitter who was said to had accidentally poisoned the children was actually their stepfather's masterplan. A detective, not unlike their father, who had actually witnessed the crime that was framed on him. A girl with bipolar, who was year younger than her, was accused of a crime of passion for the murder of her cheating boyfriend had turned out to be suicide.

The list went on, and Sayu's face had become emotionless.

The forensics were a bit late. The evidence went almost unnoticed. But they were there. The innocents. They were a lot fewer than the guilty who were killed by the cult, but they were there.

Sayu wanted to run out of the room. But she stayed.

"This is old news, Light," she pouted.

Then she turned to him with a more cheerful disposition.

"So what robot are you working on this time, Onii-chan?" her eyes searched the blueprint he had been studying.

Their father had surprisingly come home late that very night.

No, he wasn't going to eat. In fact he wasn't staying long, only long enough to take some change of clothes. And to hold a small family conference on the dining table it seemed, seeing they were still awake, though they were about to go to bed as evidence by the nightclothes they're wearing.

"How's the cult case, Dad?" Sayu was leaning on the table, her elbows on the table and her hands on her cheeks.

"That's what I wanted to talk about," Soichiro cleared his voice. "I don't know when I'll be able to come home and tell you about it.

"The Deputy-Director had ordered the task force to further investigate the cult deaths in Kyoto and Osaka. I probably would not be home for the whole of next September."

Sachiko and Light looked upset. She knew Mom hated it when Dad goes away for a long time but she had accepted it. She married a cop after all.

Light's jaws hardened for a second in chagrin. He also knew that arguing with his father was fruitless. Sayu could see in his eyes, the desperate eagerness to join the case, though the rest of his demeanor revealed nothing. Like he didn't care. Like he wasn't hacking his dad's computer to keep tabs on the case in his free time from his mech hobby. Like the most intriguing case of the century was nothing to him.

He was in a wheelchair so it's not as if Soichiro could take him. And it's not like he would simply be allowed to be helped to solve the case via speaker like L does. Soichiro might have let Light play detective in small-time though very

difficult cases, but he would be damned if he let his family be involved in a world-wide mass murder situation.

"This Kira cult is evil. But I've been thinking of late that the real evil is this poison they have found out to make and secretly administer. Anyone who finds themselves with such power is cursed."

Soichiro's gaze shifted to Sayu as he said that. For a moment, Sayu could see him holding a gun onto her head, prepared to commit murder and then suicide for the sake of honor.

Indeed, we do stereotypically evil things for the sake of our personally justified reasons, Dad.

She could almost hear Ryuk's laughter, if he had only been there.

Like a thief in the night, the missing shinigami had scaled the outer walls of the Yagami household in earnest. All the way to the house he kept stopping and hiding behind a wall or some other corner every time a person or two passes by. He also kept looking left and right, like he was expecting someone to actually see him.

Now, just climbing into the window of Sayu's room, a thought came to him. Acting so suspicious, would Sayu suspect him and actually try to put his name in the note?

The thought was so ridiculous that he had just managed to control his chuckle as he walked his way quietly and deeper into the room.

Then the light came on and he found himself an inch away from Sayu's face. The face which looked very very angry.

The girl in her Pjs waited, tapping her foot. If she wasn't so mad that time, she would have described herself at that

moment as haughty.

"I- I-" Ryuk tried to start, obviously intimidated.

Flustered, he dropped the two large black sacks (Shinigami cloth that no one could see but Sayu, Ryuk would later claim) he carried over his shoulders.

A month's worth of apples rolled all over her floor.

Again, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

It was her fault. She should have pulled Ryuk away from the TV when Sachiko rented those action movies along with the other films for Light's stay-at-home ennui.

Oh, since when did Kira have to deal with a black clothed Santa Claus Apple Thief?

"So let me get this straight?" The jewel-studded humanoid blew up a puff of smoke from his pipe and scratched his head.

"Your human had managed to convince you to leave her for a little while, despite the rules, so that you can ask me for a favor?"

"She told me that technically I didn't really leave her, since I am here in behalf of her," Ryuk felt sheepish as he said it.

Sayu had told Ryuk that if he had the nerve to trick his king the first time, then he shouldn't mind breaking more rules for this errand. What Ryuk didn't know was that she herself was unsure if it's physically possible for him to leave her, world-wise anyway.

Sidoh was able to stay in the Shinigami Realm despite her notebook being with Kira-Light. But then again, Ryuk stole it from her, so he was the one required to haunt the Death Note owner and stay with that person and not Sidoh.

But then, why was Sidoh not punished?

The rules state that the note that the particular death god is still using should NEVER be lent to a human. Yet Sidoh's was lent to Light. And now, to her. Though Sidoh had been unaware and unwilling, she's still supposed to be responsible of her note and should have been held accountable. The same went for Ryuk since he was the one who stole it.

Yet, when Sidoh had come clean to the king, he had practically brushed her off, telling her that Ryuk took her note and said it was his. Go ask this other guy for better help, he had said.

Surely, even if he had not known about it yet at that time. He would have found out about Ryuk's endeavors of anti-boredom fun and had realized that he was tricked and that some rules were broken.

Yet none of the incarnations had indicated that Ryuk was punished in any way.

In fact, in one narrative, the King was even pleased and had sent 6 notes to earth. The shinigami to find a long-lasting Kira would succeed me as king, he had claimed.

That totally made sense. Let the humans finish each other off. There are still lots of humans left for the Shinigamis so that they could continue on existing by getting people's life span.

Wrong. If Sayu was leading her death gods, she would not risk the life line of the individuals she was ruling over. In fact,

she'd encourage them to stop being lazy asses and would actually make a rule of the minimum life span that each should have before taking a break from writing on one's note. Sayu fancied the amount of 500 years.

But of course, Sayu cared about humans, seeing as she was one at the moment, so we're stretching the 'if' scenario a bit here.

And back to her main point, as long as it was physically (or mentally?) possible, and as long as it's entertaining and doesn't reach to Level 3 Punishment (One of the higher punishments, which includes death afterwards, an example of an offense is killing of humans by hand and not by note), the King didn't seem to care much about rule breaking.

With this thought in mind. Sayu had tested which rules were applicable to such, by telling a still guilt-ridden Ryuk to give her the eyes without taking half of her lifespan. He could choose to do this instead of taking a field trip back to his home.

Ryuk had actually called her crazy before flying off.

So apparently, there were limits.

"Why hadn't you gotten rid of her, Ryuk? She sounds troublesome," Armonia Justin commented.

"..."

"Well?"

"..."

"Ha! You don't actually like her, do you?!"

Ryuk gave him a look of pure venom.

"Of course not! Sure she's nice sometimes, but she's also moody, and bossy, and ..."

Armonia raised an eyebrow.

"It's not like that!," Ryuk fumed. "All demanding, that human! I'll put her name in my notebook one of these days, I tell you! It's not like that!"

"Then why are you looking anywhere but the ground?"

"I'm just offended by your accusations! It's not like we're friends. Definitely not..." He crossed his arms and pouted. "Or anything."

With one last knowing look, Justin put down his pipe, reluctantly got up from the comfort of his throne (smaller than the King's), and demanded that Ryuk show Sayu through his personal portal hole nearby.

"She looks ordinary. Hmm... Is she by any chance the girl I've been hearing to be the one killing hundreds with a Death Note?"

"Yes," the bluish-black creature had said.

"Hmm..."

"So will you do as she asked?" asked Ryuk.

"I cannot make promises since I'm not even sure if it's possible. However, I had nothing to do but a few of the king's paperwork, and it could get slow around here so..." the jeweled guy pondered a bit and then gave a small nod. "So why not?"

"And the payment?"

"Like what was said, this is a new thing, so no rules are archived on it. Though I should probably double-check for any

related laws that I might have missed regarding Shinigami favors. Originally, you should approach the king as well, you

know. Though, I imagine, he'd probably think of a payment on the spot."

"Sayu had personally requested for you."

"Clever girl."

And Ryuk had to grudgingly agree.

Chapter 7: Mess

Chapter Text

"Sayu," Sachiko in her violet apron said in a stern voice as she walked down the planked stairs. "Your room's a mess"

From her seat, the girl in question turned her head briefly in her parent's direction, frowning as she chewed her toast and tried to concentrate on the TV. "Aww, Mom, you know I'm busy with school."

"You've said that last week! Twenty minutes of cleaning is all I ask."

"I could have finished half of one of my homeworks at that time!" she took another bite, savoring her peanut butter on crisp bread and feeling a bit annoyed as she tried to catch what Hideki Ryuuga and Misa Amane were saying.

"Right. You say you're busy yet you have time for this!"

Sayu did not answer, by this time she was staring at the screen with an open mouth.

"You wore the shirt I gave you on your birthday when you went to the reunion with her. When you're around me, you keep humming our favorite songs from our shared playlist a long time ago. You keep wearing accessories, shades, cellphone case, of my very particular shade of royal blue that I'm so fond of. And you even named your two pet gerbils after me! Yue and Rizuka!Are you playing with my feelings?! Because you think I still c-c..."

Filled with emotions, the teary eyed Yue couldn't continue her sentence. With one last slap, Yue flipped her blonde hair and was about to walk away.

Sayu was absorbed, as the camera zoomed on the boy's hesitating face, as Sayu watched waiting if the secret merman would choose to confess his new curse of not being able to say what he feels or risk being a barely sentient aquarium display for the rest of his life.

And her mother turned off the TV.

"Quit this obsession with Amane and Hideshi Ryuuna. Clean your room."

She looked at the woman in front of her with great annoyance. Sachiko's mouth was in a thin straight line, probably mirroring her daughter's own identical copy.

Really? This early in the morning? She wanted to scream at her! Her soaps was one of the more innocent things she had! She could clean her room later! It was also a Sunday for goodness' sake!

"Fine."

And she went upstairs with more force than necessary.

And halfway through, "And it's Hideki Ryuuga!"

"Where's Mom?" Light rolled in the living room later an hour before lunch time.

"Who cares?"

Sayu was sitting on the sofa, flipping the channels of the TV in a consistent pace, not so fast but not so slow either. A permanent pout seemed etched on her face.

"Ah, I remember. She's in her book club today. Weren't you supposed to pick up the home-made biscuits she forgot to bring?"

On the corner of her eye Sayu saw her brother sitting calmly on his wheelchair and opening his flip phone.

"She texted me that she texted you that she only managed to bring the teabags this morning. They're expecting the food by lunch so..."

Sayu did not react, still maintaining his constant press on the remote.

"Hey, Sayu."

"She'll live without the biscuits."

He rolled towards her until he's right beside her.

"Sayu-chan, you know I would if I could." Light paused, tilting his head to one side. "On second thought, maybe I can."

She wants to turn to her brother and raise an eyebrow. He knows fully well that Soichiro would forbid it. He's still in physical therapy. Unless, he has someone capable to accompany him...

She knew her brother well.

"Nice try. Maybe later though."

The screen was still flashing lights courtesy of the miffed girl.

"Can you at least let me have a go on the telly before you fry it dead?"

"Go crazy," she gave it to Light.

"Augh! Not the mutts stupidity!" Sayu exclaimed.

"Reports on the hybrid mutts just in. Authorities believed that the killings are made by the Animalia Activists, an extremist group said to train the said mutts to eat the soft parts of zookeepers. They are said to break into zoos, and do the deed by ordering their pets the words they are trained to respond to. Experts believe -"

"Come on! Do they really expect us to believe that these are the same people as last time? Yes it's possible, but the circ*mstances are different! These aren't zookeepers anymore! These are jails with guards and criminals! And what soft parts this time? They're completely mauled!"

"Well, the soft parts of the insides," Light looked slightly amused at Sayu's outburst. "And they must have some morphed sympathy to humans they think are being treated like the other caged animals."

"But the previous case of the activists are totally different. The eyes were targeted, bites on the neck was the kill. But this? And what a lame reason of connection! They have no proof. Just assumptions."

"Well, they are hybrid mutts."

"This just feels wrong, Light."

"Well, -"

"I know, I know. I'm not supposed to entirely trust on feelings. But come on. If this goes on, this would just become another urban legend overtime and people would actually be less cautious about the entire thing because they don't believe in it."

Light laughed.

"If it's any consolation. I sort of agree with you Sayu-chan. But you have to admit that they're just taking in the comfort of an explanation even if the evidence don't entirely match up. They've got no leads and that scares them."

Light started to change channels again.

"And please not a Kira Special again," Sayu managed to pipe up once more. "I'm sorry if I'm whining too much, I mean they're a hundred times better than the mutt news, but they're over-exerting their efforts to expand on the topic. There's nothing more to say. They're just repeating what we know over and over again in various embellished video edits and scripts!"

"Not all medium's on that topic is so bad. The NPA commercials and NPA segments for one are sufficiently new."

"They're idiots. Don't they realize that some pro-Kira could plant fake evidence on them and then charge them with corruption or other sort of crime? That's enough news for the Kira Cult to take them out!"

"Are you on your period?"

"Onii-chan!"

"Here. While you were changing channels I managed to catch something you didn't."

Her brother pressed the remote.

Sayu smiled.

"Misa Amane Special of Star Gossip. Misa Amane seen trying to put slugs in her on-again, off-again boyfriend Hideki Ryuuga's underwear, off-screen of the smashi-hit TV series Merman's Love," Light read under the CCTV video of a blonde superstar caught in the act.

"Hahaha!" cried Sayu.

Light made a face. "I suddenly want to down a bleach bottle."

"Onii-chan!" she said, the cheer still in her throat. "Be nice!"

"What made a smart girl like you become addicted to them, Sayu? What sort of witchcraft did they have to use?"

"I'm just curious about them, that's all."

"Like why Misa Amane would stay in love with a womanizer like Hideki Ryuuga?"

"No," Sayu said, suddenly serious, looking at him. "More like why Misa Amane isn't in love with you."

"Ah, sorry. ..What?" The brown-haired boy also wrenched his eyes away from the telly as Sayu looked away.

"What? Nothing, Onii-chan. It's nothing."

But she was laughing very hard on the inside.

Sayu, from her desk, looked up at the sky from her second story classroom.

Vaguely she wondered where Ryuk was now. If he had talked to Armonia Justin yet. If he was still sulking.

The last class of that Monday had started but the teacher was late, so around her, her classmates gossiped, joked around, creating havoc. One of them even jumped on the desk and crouched there, his hands waving and punching the air as he tried to explain to some of his listening peers an action scene in a movie he had watched. The others stated their high hopes that they bet that they would be out an hour sooner, that their Sensei was unavailable and there was no last-minute sub.

She felt a mild sense of irritation. Her friends were in another class and while this was a comforting slice-of-life scene she had so loved, right now, with a huge responsibility on her shoulders, she preferred the peace and quiet.

"Did you hear about the video?"

"Yes, what an awful situation to be in."

A gaunt young man had uploaded a video on Palster. He said he was on the news a few days back and admitted to his crime of stealing. But he was begging, begging the cult not to kill him.

"This is the first and last time I would ever nick again," he was covering a half-crazed eye with a trembling hand. "I was only thinking of my pregnant wife at that time, I wasn't thinking."

Twenty-three year old Ogi Sonorama, father of three that was about to become four, zoomed pass on a motorcycle, effectively snatching the bag filled with shop credits a local store owner was carrying.

Sayu had flipped the pages of the Death Note, wrenching it from its hiding place.

She had already designated his death next month.

The girl looked on quietly at the sky, refusing to feel anything.

Later at home, her legs crossed, her back straight, her hand on her knees and her windows open, she would try to let go of all thoughts and listen. She would hear the distant roars of the vehicles passing by, the whiz of the train, perhaps even the random tweet of a lone bird, or even Light's snores in the next room.

But her favorite was still the noisy window. She would draw the world inward, so that she could let out all that might be capable of leading her to insanity. Like a straw, the open window was, as it sucked her sorrows away.

She studied her classmates again. Some were happy. Somebody was worried about someone not liking her back. Someone was trying to scribble an essay he forgot to do and pass this morning. Sayu felt a twinge of envy.

She wanted to go back from this lifestyle but knows well of the repercussions. And now she feels separate from the world, like an invisible wall was there between her an her peers. It had been like this ever since that faithful afternoon and the ink on the sheets by her own hand, but she had to be strong.

Vaguely, she thought of how Light would have felt in her position. Not including the guilt and being Kira, her brother probably feels this way most of the time towards his age group. But where Sayu only feels it now, Light probably had always sensed the terrible distance from anyone who did not have the brilliant mind as him. The topics of conversation that would not cross as petty to him but ordinary to some would be hard to come by. His peers were too trivial and other people older enough to entertain such talks would probably not take him seriously.

She thinks this, sometimes, even when he smiled at her and ruffled her hair, when he seemed at peace and content with her while they power on another complete successful mech or while they bicker when they watch TV, that such effort on her part to help him was nothing but a scratch on the surface.

She continued to sky-watch, half-expecting a black dot that would draw nearer and nearer until it was her flying pirannah-faced chum. Ryuk would frown at her with his grin and her request in his hand. Like life was that easy.

Nothing was there between the clouds of course, and instead she pictured a boy in his brown emo hair in the supposedly vacant seat in front of her, his bored face cradled by his hand as he looked out the window, seeing that black dot in the sky, until it became larger and larger, and became one of the most deadliest weapon that would be known in this world.

Well, Light isn't the psychopath mass-murderer now. So perhaps, progress?

Her eyes continued to see the black rectangle thing. Her imagination, she thought, was pushing her from reality and hopefully its current worries. Or doing the opposite; aggravate her more.

As the thing lands on the ground, she saw his brother walking near it, perfectly fine and was not in his wheelchair. He had one hand in his pocket and the other was on the strap of the bag on his back. He was looking down and was moving the deadly black thing with the tip of his shoe.

Her grip on her collar she was subconsciously fiddling with tightened. This was the moment of the end for him. If she was there in the other story, would she have stopped him?

How about here, in this world? If Light was right beside her when Ryuk came to her in that alleyway... No, that's stupid if Light was right beside her then, then maybe, just maybe, she had no reason to go down that path. No, if Light was right beside her when she was about to write her first name would he stop her? Wait, which Light?

The boy on the ground leaned to pick the Note.

Sayu hissed and as if hearing her, the boy looked up in her direction.

But it was no boy.

It was her face with eyes dead and unfeeling. It was her in that ridiculous emo haircut and that calm smirk.

Her lips trembled as she watched herself pick up the Note and leave the campus premises.

So much for escaping reality.

Meanwhile someone entered the room and announced an early dismissal.

As the inhabitants of the room slowly left, one girl folded her arms on her desk and hid her face.

There was something cold heavy in her stomach. Not guilt, not fear, Sayu slowly realized in confusion as she took in the smell of table wood her face was pressed against.

Still feeling the small frozen pebble, Sayu closed her eyes and saw a blushing Haruhi before he left them that night before the concert. She saw the empty road in front of her school as she realized that Light was 15 minutes late from picking her up.

sh*t.

She didn't know someone was watching her from the classroom door. The stranger seemed to be holding a wrench. But as the other students filed out, such person disappeared with them entirely.

"For goodness sake, Sayu. You've been on the edge all afternoon."

Sayu turned to one of her best friends Megumi, her curled hair and tanned skin, pulling her hand to her house, the Kawakami residence.

Sayu was surprised when Megumi made her promise to keep her company while she babysits her sister Keiko as her parents go out for a date. The infamous Takegumi/Megushi couple, as she so liked to lightly tease them sometimes, had been distant from her and Matsui.

Seeing that Takeshi was one of her oldest friends, Matsui even talked to Sayu about, worried what's up. But she could not say anything since she saw nothing amiss. For all she knows, the lovebirds just want a break from Mister Third-wheel and Madame Fourth-wheel.

Anyway, due to this girl time with Megumi, she had to wait for about half an hour for her bestie's own class to be dismissed since Sayu was let off early by hers.

Now near the residence, Sayu, in her discreet way, was also looking around her anxiously, making sure her 'Ello Kitty surgeon mask that covered her nose and mouth was still in place. Despite all her planning, this was one factor she had forgotten to apply right away. The Canon of this story is wrecked, who knows who has the Note and the Eyes in this city?

"Sayu!"

Well, she thought she was being discreet anyway.

Her brand new expensive and well-tested taser was in her pocket.

She wanted a switch blade knife, but she reasoned that knives were more associated with attacks rather than self defense like the taser. And if she used it and she was put on broadcast, people would wonder why the cult, thought they were slow-moving than Canon Kira, never got around of killing her.

She took this fact as comfort for the feeling from before won't leave her. The stone in her stomach was cold, and getting worse. It was like a sponge sapping her warmth, growing bigger as it cooled her.

She had been looking over her shoulder, expecting trouble. Before Megumi's class was over, she called Sachiko and Light if they were okay. They said they were. She even checked on Matsui and Takeshi

The two girls took off their shoes and wore indoor sandals.

"We're home," Megumi called as she walked in, Sayu trailing behind her. She looked around removing her mask and fought the urge to check the premises.

The Kawakami home was larger than Sayu's, but also a bit messier, Sayu noted as she notice the kid drawings and crayons on the living room's coffee table and animal stuffed toys on the sofa.

Light would be furious, Sayu chuckled despite herself.

"Mom? Dad?" Megumi disappeared in the kitchen. "Keiko!"

Sayu ran to the kitchen to find the 5 year-old girl in pigtails standing beside a tall high stool and looking at them with saucer eyes. Beside her, on the floor, was spilled milk, and colored pieces of cereal scattered all over the floor. The jumbo-sized green cereal box looked sad and emptied.

The older sister was fuming.

"I don't even -" She scrunched her nose and shut her eyes. "I can't deal with this right now. Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Um...," little Keiko looked as if she was about to cry.

"Well!?"

"They left already."

"They left you alone?" Sayu piped up in a kind tone, pitying her.

Keiko nodded looking at her. "I told them Onee-chan was in her room."

"And they believed you in their hurry," Megumi whimpered, "I'm so grounded if they knew you were home alone."

"I could take care of myself!" the high-pitched child's voice rang in protest

"Really?" Megumi gestured toward the mess. "And why even cereal in the afternoon?!"

Keiko in her purple pajamas looked down in shame.

Megumi sighed looking at her sister as if resigned, "Just go with Sayu in the living room while I clean this up. I'm sorry for freaking out but just don't do it again, please."

Keiko sat on the sofa. She was quiet and had her head bowed.

Sayu sat cross-legged as she looked at her drawings on the coffee table. She had already asked if she could see them, trying to be nice, but was only met with a grunt as she was given permission.

Keiko's drawings were alright. But mostly are stick figures.

"Do you want me to teach you different other ways to draw?" Sayu turned to the girl.

"Hmm... okay!" the girl looked up, cheering immediately.

She went and sat next to Sayu, also crossing her knees.

"Oooh! Can you also teach me how to write?" Keiko said as she reached for her box of crayons.

"Sure!" Sayu said, a bit surprised that no one taught her yet. Well, maybe they had and Keiko just wanted more lessons. What a responsible little girl. "Sure. Yes, I would love to, Keiko-chan."

After fixing Keiko's mess and apparently calling her parents briefly, Megumi went out of the kitchen

"Whoa, that was a lot to deal with," Megumi said in the whiniest mood Sayu had ever sensed, that she was sure Light would also ask if Megumi was also on her period.

"They said they're sorry for leaving Keiko on her own and would talk to her about the whole thing later. And Mom kept saying that we should be careful and stay safe since crazy killer groups seemed to be on the loose! I just heard from them right now! Some of Japan's NPA just d-" Megumi's eyes landed on a Keiko scribbling something on a paper "-passed on! I mean, what does that have to do with us?"

"Really?" Sayu's ears perked. "How did they -? Let me guess, the ones featured from TV, right?"

"The very same," Megumi nodded. She looked at her sister. " They..." she clutched her chest.

"No!" Sayu said.

"Yes!"

Sayu's thoughts went in circles. This could only mean one thing. Her visage darkened momentarily at the thought of another wave of stress.

"Um, Sayu, can you help me cook dinner?"

Sayu looked at Keiko practicing her Kanji with a purple crayon on the coffee table.

"It would just be a few minutes," Megumi said.

As Sayu stood up and shuffled to follow Megumi, Megumi turned to her.

"You've been wearing that jacket ever since we've come in, aren't you warm?"

No. Sayu wasn't. The feeling hasn't left her. It had been escalating. Oddly enough, it didn't feel anything like her usual fevers. She felt fine.. just... she looked over her shoulder again.

Megumi, seemingly preoccupied, didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she put a pack of instant spaghetti on the microwave.

Sayu doesn't see why Megs would need assistance for such an easy task. She then prepared herself for a satisfying release from curiosity.

They sat on the two high tools, one of the chairs Keiko was standing by a while ago. Megumi breathed as she held Sayu's hand.

She looked her in the eye. Megumi didn't hesitate. Didn't go on with a detour of words. In the end, Sayu thought that maybe she shouldn't be surprised.

"Sayu, I'm pregnant."

She went home earlier that night, not staying for Megumi's spaghetti dinner. So many implications, so many things to think over and she just wanted to rest.

"Mom, where's Light?"

"I did him a favor of dropping him off over theYamamoto's as agreed" her mother said stiffly.

Yasmin Yamamoto was one of Light's rare close friends who Light actually tolerates. Or pretends to tolerate. Who knows? Tonight, Sayu heard that they were going to play video games.Smartvideo games, Light had corrected her. Hahaha,right, dear brother. Have fun!

Also, her mother didn't say it, but she could hear it in her tone that continues the rest of what she wanted to say after "I did him a favor..."Unlike others here who doesn't want to do anyone a favor.

She sighed, now feeling guilty as her annoyance yesterday had somewhat faded. Maybe she had been too harsh on her. Those biscuits she didn't manage to bring to her book club were a new recipe Sachiko had been trying to perfect for weeks. After her Mom finishes her innumerable chores, Sayu often catches her late at night, taste-testing freshly mixed batter, the kitchen a mess of flour, small bottles of extracts (Sayu spied banana, vanilla, coconut, and others she can't pronounce), pans, and for some reason, different-sized whisks.

Sachiko was a very sweet woman as well, 99.5% of the time, and she was, in her way, only looking out for her yesterday when she turned off the TV.

Sayu wanted to say sorry to the retreating back of Sachiko's, probably on her way to the sink to do the dishes by hand. But Sayu was so tired, the cold stone was worse, but by this time, she was convinced it was just some kind of exhaustion triggering a strange kind of anxiety.

Perhaps the yoga has an unknown side effect where some accumulated stress comes bouncing back. This sounds stupid even to her, but she couldn't help but speculate a little.

Another small wave of disconcerting chill crept up to her.

Augh! She's going to drink meds, sleep, and she'd worry about her mother and Megumi and the entire galaxy tomorrow.

With that, Sayu went upstairs to the room she cleaned yesterday and slept.

Sayu woke up from the melancholy notes of Don't Be So Rash by the band called Worms in Australia are Cool.

She flipped her phone open.

"Sayu! Sayu! Help, I'm bleeding everywhere!"

It was Megumi whisper-screaming.

"Oh, sh*t!" It took Sayu half a second to compose herself.

"Megs, did you call an ambulance?"

"I don't want to do that! What will my parents say if one does actually comes here and they find out about me and Takeshi having a – God that hurt!"

"Your parents will praise you for being smart enough not to get killed! I'm hanging up and calling the ambulance!" she whisper-screamed back this time.

"No! No! Sayu, listen, just come here."

"To do what?!"

"I already called Takeshi. He could drive his brother's car. But he needs help carrying me so... Oh, I'm sorry, Sayu!"

Her friend was right, a sweet and smart person, Takeshi was, he couldn't manage to be able to handle any weight except his backpack and the rectangle glasses perched on his nose.

"Sayu?!

"Yes! I'm coming!"

Quietly, and quite dazed from the panic, she somehow managed to grab her taser from the nightstand drawer, find some flashlight and sneak her now functioning bicycle from their garage.

Sayu was barely a block from her house when it happened.

It was loud and it reminded her vaguely of her teacher Ms. Kaoru when she wanted the class to settle down, putting the large pile of books on the front desk by the blackboard with a startlingkablag. Only this was ten times worse.

She felt like a doll, well, more of a puppet really, as she was propelled forward, like she was being pulled by invisible strings she can't even feel.

Instead what she sensed was something hot and burning from her back, in the distance, barely a block away.

As she fell, face first, her bike gave under her and then bounced over her head.

Her ears were ringing and she smelled something burnt.

In her shambled lingering thoughts, Sayu noted that she could sense some dark twisted humor here somewhere, and that she wondered if Light would get a chuckle out of it.

The last thing she remembered was turning her head a bit on the asphalt and seeing a pretty glowing ball from about a half a block away. Pretty... the sleep she was interrupted with a while ago then came to soothe her.

People were coming out of their homes. All around, they stepped out one by one, as if animals woken from hibernation after the harsh winter months. And they indeed, have found warmth as some checked the scene in disbelief.

It was a mess. Debris was everywhere. And an odd smell of burnt plastic permeated the air.

They found a girl in the middle of the road and her bicycle a couple of yards away from her.

Barely a street away from her was her burning house.