Hey, people.

I've been itching to make a multi-chapter story lately and I've also been dying to write some Death Note. So here's a first chapter I've been working on lately to kick off a whole story that I've got planned out.

Enjoy.

Maria had always been fascinated by Shinigami. She used to read all sorts of books about them and draw pictures of what she thought they looked like when she was younger. She'd spend hours rooting through different websites that were filled with lore about the ancient creatures. Once, when she was seven, she'd even said that if she found one's Death Note, she'd bring it into the house and let the creature loose in her bedroom.

It used to drive her mother crazy the way her child spoke of such a devilish monster!

When Maria went to bed, she used to imagine a Shinigami slipping into her room and standing guard while she slept. Then when she woke up, she knew that she survived the night thanks to the one that watched over her.

Maria loved being scared when she was a little girl.

Of course, that was years ago. Now she was a seventeen year old and had no time for such silly stories about Shinigami. Maria only shook her head whenever she thought about her younger self actually believing that those creatures were real.

They weren't real. People didn't die all of a sudden just because Shinigami wrote the person's name down in their Death Note. What kind of person would believe in such nonsense?

Of course, Maria will find that sometimes not all stories we read as little children were fiction. Sometimes people write down things and make them into books because they're real.

She didn't expect to believe in fairytales when she was seventeen- she wouldn't have believed it herself unless she'd lived it- but what happens, happens. And this story happens to start out in an unexpected place; the bathroom.

Maria was in the bathroom at her highschool, sitting down on the toilet lid with her pants still on, and listening to her IPod. She'd came in here near the end of French class, feeling a bit sick. Her teacher, Mr. Jones, was great about things having to do with this. He wasn't a man to be fooled around with and knew when a student was faking and when they were being honest. The man took one look at me when I raised my hand up in the air and said that I wasn't feeling so hot, then nodded his head and told me to go to the bathroom.

By the time she'd gotten to the bathroom, she hadn't gotten sick, but she still felt a little queasy, so she stayed on the toilet. She heard the bell ring for the end of class and everybody come rushing out of their classrooms on the way to their next class or lunch.

Maria had wanted to join up with her friends but new Mr. Jones would be angry if he saw her in the schoolyard so soon. The teacher would get absolutely furious if he knew you tricked him and go and yell his head off at you until you were on the verge of tears. So it was better to be safe than sorry.

So, there she was, humming to her song, watching the time and waiting. That was when she heard someone calling her name.

"Maria! Oi, Maria! You in here"!?

She merely shook her head and smirked. It was Eddie Aday, her best friend and a great, big ball of trouble. Eddie used to be what Maria's father called "another hell raiser", and this was true since the boy raised hell wherever he went. He got into fights normally, stole from stores, vandalized property on weeknights and even managed to hotwire a care once and not get caught.

Eddie was feared and looked down upon wherever he went, but never and not by Maria. She'd been his best and one of his only friends since they were one and a half and that was when Eddie moved to Japan from America with his mother and his drunk of a dad. Maria's mother joked about how she was just drawn to his wildness, but Maria just saw him as a great fellow to hang around with. No matter if Eddie had a fierce temper that was not to be reckoned with, but she simply gave him time too cool off before she approached him again.

His reputation hadn't softened over the years either- when he learned how to drive a motorcycle that was the point of no return for him being a true law abiding citizen. It was smart for anyone who he didn't like not to mess with him or any of his few friends. It didn't matter if you were even bigger or older than him either.

"Hey, Eddie," Maria said. "I'm in here". She kicked the door so he'd know which one she was behind.

He walked over and she opened the door. He gave her that special, irritating smirk that he saved just for her when he saw her sitting down with her pants on. "Did you get sick or what"? He asked her.

"No," She said.

"Didja think you were"?

"Heh, maybe," She shrugged. "So did I miss anything actually interesting in class"?

"Nah," He shook his head. "Just the usual shit Mr. Jones gives us".

"Hey, did you remember to do your homework"? Maria questioned.

"It doesn't have to be finished until tomorrow, does it"? He asked, seeming a bit worried. Eddie always forgets about homework but doesn't forget the beating his old man gives him when the teacher calls in about him not doing it.

"The day after tomorrow," She told him.

"Oh," He sighed, relaxing. "Even better than I thought…" He paused for a second and then frowned. "Hey wait," He said. "Today's Thursday. The day after tomorrow is…"

"Got you"! Maria laughed, giving him a punch to the shoulder.

"Oi"! He shouted. "That hurt". He rubbed on his arm but Maria could tell that he wasn't hurt in any way. "Are you coming out or what"? He asked her.

"Hmm, I thought I'd stay in here and admire the view," She said, leaning back on the toilet seat.

"Quit joking," He said. "We're down five to one when I came in to get you. Now we're probably at eight or nine down now. Come on, we need you out there". Eddie was talking about soccer. They'd play a game every lunchtime. Maria's team usually wins but they'd lost a lot of their best players on the team so far this year. Aya Obata broke her leg. Josh Tailor transferred to another school when his family moved. And Raye Yamato has stopped playing soccer in order to spend lunch hanging out with Miu Otoharada, the girl he likes. What a fool!

Maria's their best forward. There are better defenders and midfielders, and Andrew Wood is the best goalkeeper in the whole school. Though, Maria's the only one who can stand up front and score four or five times a day without fail.

"Eh, alright," She said, standing. "I'll save your asses for you. I've scored a hat trick every day this week and it would be a pity to stop now".

They passed the upper classmen- smoking around the sinks like they normally do- and hurried to her locker so that Maria could change into her cleats. She used to have a real great pair but the laces snapped a couple of months ago and the rubber along the sides had started to fall off. The pair she has now was okay, but they weren't the same as the old ones.

The team was down nine to two when they finally managed to get onto the field. It wasn't an actual field, just a long stretch of grass with painted goalposts at either end. Whoever painted them was a real idiot. He put the crossbar too high at the one end and way too low at the other.

"Alright ladies," Maria shouted as she ran onto the field. "Get your asses moving before I kick them across the yard"! A lot of the players either laughed or groaned, but Maria could see her teammates picking up and the opponents getting a bit worried.

She made a great start and scored three goals inside a minute. It looked like they might have come back to draw or win, but the time happened to run out on them. If Maria had arrived earlier they might've been okay, but the bell rang just as she was hitting her stride, so they lost nine to five.

As Maria and Eddie were leaving the field something caught Maria's eye at the very edge of the grass. "Ah, hey you go on without me, Eddie". She said as she started to turn around.

"What"? He asked. "Didja leave something on the field"?

"Yeah," She muttered. "Something like that".

Maria walked over to the fence line that was just a foot away from touching the grass and saw an object that made her heart skip a beat. Quickly, she picked the thing up and opened it up. "Holy shit," She whispered, not believing that this was really happening. "It's-" She began but was cut off when Mr. Jones shouted at her.

"You! Inside now"! He roared.

"Coming, Mr. Jones"! She hollered back at him. Dammit, she'd have to make up her mind later. Whatever this was it would have to wait. Little did she know that this mysterious notebook was about to change her life forever. But for the worse!

Until the second chapter, my good people.