Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. Happy now? I've admitted it... :(

Chapter 1

The teacher's voice droned on and on, as he spoke about the importance of the English language. Light Yagami tuned it out, gazing out the window. More often than not, going to class was truly pointless. He already knew everything, having studied it the night before and actually done the homework.

Besides, how would this get him closer to L?

Ah, the great detective... Light admired L like none other. He was truly amazing, capable of solving any case, and clearly one of the most intelligent people on the planet as far as Light was concerned. Indeed, if it was L teaching him...

Yeah, right. L, teaching a high school student? Light hated admitting it to himself once again, but he'd never get to meet the detective. Instead, Light would have to settle for being a cop. And as excellent as being a cop may have been, Light wanted a more influential position where he could challenge his mind more-

His mental ramblings broke off with his sudden curiosity, as he watched a black notebook fall from the sky outside. The notebook's pages fluttered in the air as it made a few turns, before it hit soft grass with a slight bounce.

A notebook that had fallen from the sky. How ridiculous was that?

Light shook the thought. Clearly someone had been messing around. Nothing more.

"-Yagami-san?"

"Sorry," said Light, to his teacher. "What did you say?"

"Could you read passage 18?"

Light stood up, reading the passage in flawless English. The teacher was pleased, and forgot about Light's earlier lack of attention.

-Line-

Light glanced at the black notebook from his place on the sidewalk. It couldn't hurt to look at it. For all he knew, some poor kid had dropped all of their notes. Mind made up, he made the short trek through the grass, picking up the notebook.

Death Note, it read, in white English letters. Light flipped it open. The backside of the front cover had instructions, written with curvy letters.

Write a name while imagining the person's face... the person will die... If not specified in 40 seconds, it's of a heart attack? And then, there's six minutes and forty seconds to specify if you start writing the cause of death...

Light rolled his eyes. What was this, a new form of chain mail?

He set it back down on the grass, pausing with his fingers still brushing the cover. He couldn't just leave it, though. What if someone else took it and started killing the teachers and students?

But, no, that was impossible. It wasn't like the notebook was real. Or... was it?

Light cursed his weakness as he picked it back up, tucking it under his arm.

-Line-

Light flicked on the TV in his room, watching the latest terrible actions of man.

"I come to you from in front of the South Sakura bank! Tobito Masao, recently released from jail after completing his sentence for robbing a bank, is holding civilians hostage. Oh! Something's happening!"

The camera zoomed out. A man comes to the front, a gun to a little girl's head. Tears streamed down rosy cheeks, little hands clutching desperately at the gun to keep it away.

Light didn't know what he was feeling. His stomach felt like someone had grabbed it, ripped it out, cut it to shreds, and shoved it back in, leaving the wound open and the nerves raw.

Horror, he deduced. What can I do? What can anyone do?

His eyes flitted to his notebook. Maybe... No, it wasn't possible. But it wasn't possible, it couldn't hurt to try, and who better to try it on then this man on the news?

Light whipped out the Death Note, flipping it open to the first page. He glanced up at the screen, getting a good look at the scene. The man was approaching a car, girl still in hand. Was he using her to escape? So he could terrorize more people- more children- in the future? Light wrote the first name in the empty notebook. Tobito Masao. He set down his pen, and... waited.

He didn't know how much time was passing, each second stretching into an eternity. Of course it wouldn't work... but what if it did? No, that was impossi-

"Tobito Masao has collapsed! The child has ran free! Police are closing in. They say it's... a heart attack!"

Light harshly pressed the off button, finger hurting from the unnecessary force. He didn't notice, mind whirling. A coincidence... Nothing more...

"Light! Dinner!"

Light got to his feet, welcoming the distraction. "Coming, Mom!"

He slipped into his seat at the table. As usual, the meal his mother had prepared was delicious. Sayu was ignoring the boiled carrots, complaining that they tasted better raw, while at the same time praising the rest of the meal.

"So, Light," said Sayu, after swallowing a large bite, "do you have a girlfriend?"

"Hmm?" Light's mind was busy, thoughts going back to the man on the television... Had Light murdered him?

"Do you have a girlfriend," Sayu repeated, smirking. "If you don't answer, I'll take it as a definite yes."

Light shook himself from his thoughts, at least for the moment. "No. But you should start thinking about getting a boyfriend, Sayu. You're getting older now."

This did the trick, causing Sayu to blush and babble.

-Line-

Light breathed in the cool night air. He had decided to go for a walk after dinner, feeling suffocated and in need of clearing his mind. While the clearing-of-the-mind was failing, he did feel less suffocated.

He stopped before the cross walk. A book shop was just across the street, and what better to distract his mind than wisdom bound to paper?

Non-lethal paper, preferably.

Light clenched his fists, exasperated by his inability to stop thinking of the notebook. The notebook in his book bag... Why had he brought it with?

"I said no! Get off of me!" The voice was feminine, shrill, and desperate. Light turned slightly, watching as a big man held onto a girl that appeared to be Light's age. She struggled fruitlessly against his strong grip. "Asane, let go!"

"Feel free to call me Keiju," the guy said, smirking lecherously. Light grimaced in disgust as the man started tugging at the girl's clothes. While it was in the shadowy night, he was baffled by the lack of help the girl was receiving.

He pressed past teenagers waiting to get to the arcade across the street, looking up at the man. Asane Keiju was at least ten inches taller than Light. "Let her go. This is a public area, and anyone could call the-" The world went spinning as fist met face, and face met concrete. Light couldn't help his groan of pain, body bruised from so harshly hitting the ground. He glared up at the man, who had merely resumed tormenting the girl. Talking wouldn't work. And if he pulled his phone out to call the police, who was to say he wouldn't be beaten to a bloody pulp before said police got there?

As an answer came to him, he mentally cursed. No, there had to be another way than a killer notebook. The guy was loathsome, but did Light really have the right to decide who lived and who died? And what if the notebook didn't even work? Plus, if he hadn't found it, surely he would have come to another solution...

Right?

Light found the notebook in his hands without memory of taking it out, fingers fumbling with a pen for only a moment. It was only when the man seized and fell to the ground, clutching desperately at his chest, that Light realized he had written in the Death Note. The girl turned and ran, hopefully to her home.

Light stared at his hands in horror, roughly shoving the murder weapon into his bookbag. He cast his gaze to the dead body in front of him. He wanted to check for a pulse, but... No, the man was definitely dead. No living person stared blankly and unblinkingly on the ground, skin clearly more pale than before despite the body's place in the shadows.

When the crosswalk became available, Light rushed across it, ducking into the nearest alley. Rain fell, hard and cold on his skin, as if punishing him for his unforgivable actions. Light hit the nearest wall, gasping as pain ripped through his fist, embracing the sharp sensation. He deserved it, for taking human life...

He didn't know he was crying until his eyes burnt, the rain mixing with his tears as if to camouflage them. Did he even have the right to cry, after what he had done?

He slid down the nearest rain-wettened wall, pulling his legs close to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, burying his face between his knees. He was a murderer...

No! He struggled for a way out of this. He couldn't be that cruel and self righteous! I... If I hadn't, the girl would have been raped! The child on the news could have died, or maybe a child in the future would end up dead! I saved people!

Light took a deep breath, which seemed to only fuel his sobs. I'm still the one who killed them. Maybe the police would've caught that robber. I could have distracted the man so the girl escaped. These people shouldn't just be killed! L wouldn't have written their names down!

...L. The detective Light admired but would never meet. How could he? Especially if he was a criminal...

Wait. L specialized in unsolvable cases. What was more unsolvable than unexplained criminal heart attacks across the nation? With the Death Note, Light could lure L to Japan. Light's father would eventually end up leading the case, and L would be forced to show himself. Light would manage to join the team. Once he did that, he'd be right where he'd wanted to be since he was six and had first learned of L. This was probably his only opportunity...

To kill people. Great plan, Light, he thought to himself, sardonically. But, on the other hand... If Light became a great detective, he could stop killing criminals with the Death Note and go about things in a moral manner. He could be like L. A detective. Surely working with L to help solve the case in and of itself would be enough to get people to want Light to become a detective. Soon he'd have clients, and influence, and could change the world to be more just. Eliminating all evil wasn't exactly possible, but making the legal system more efficient surely was.

Light pushed himself to his feet, making his way home, steps those of a person with a purpose. Killing criminals would be worth it.

-Line-

Thoughts? Should I continue?