Chiyoda, Tokyo — Mori Amaterasu

Drake Franklin

Fernànda Tos

Agnès Lachance

Miyamoto Yasu

Utz Heidrich

Angelica Valentino

Marie Koh

Ermes Abbà

Pal Suhrit Akshay

Fukui Katashi

She wrote down these names. England, Mexico, France, Japan, Germany, America, Singapore, Italy, Bangledesh, Japan. She wrote all of these names from all over the world into her notebook along with the names of many more criminals worldwide, thinking of L and this new Kira the whole time.

Having run out of room, she turned the page and started writing more names:

Jacqueline Hamilton

St–

"Hey, Amaterasu."

Amaterasu jumped at the voice and quickly turned around.

"Azumi, don't sneak up on me like that!"

Azumi laughed. "Sorry. What are you writing there? ...Jacqueline Hamilton?"

"A pen pal," Amaterasu lied.

"What's the 'St' for?" Azumi asked.

Steven. Let's see... "She's from Stanford. Stanford, California. I was just writing down her address." Well thank goodness one of the criminals had been from Stanford, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to think of an excuse that quickly.

"Oh, well, after you've done that, do you want to go out with Sayu and me?" Azumi inquired.

"Sure, sounds like fun!" Amaterasu said. "Just let me grab my bag. I'll meet you at the door."

"Alright," said Azumi, heading out of her room.

Amaterasu quickly scribbled down the rest of the name and hid the notebook in a secret compartment of her jewelry box. It was actually a gift she had gotten when she was little. A magic trick she could hardly remember that involved making something disappear, the trick lying in the hidden compartment. She locked up the box, put it in her drawer, closed the drawer and headed out the door, Ryuk and her dog hovering behind her. The two seemed to be getting along now. Well, it at least gave Ryuk someone to talk to when Amaterasu was forced to ignore him.

It wasn't long after they arrived in town that they bumped into two familiar faces.

"Yamamoto-kun!" Sayu exclaimed.

"Sayu-chan, long time no see!" said Yamamoto.

"You two know each other?" Amaterasu inquired.

"Yamamoto-kun was good friends with my brother," Sayu said, the happy memories canceling out the bad ones.

"It's good to see the both of you," Azumi said, bowing politely.

"You're so formal," Sayu said.

Azumi resisted the urge to roll her eye at her friend's statement. "Matsuda-san, did you ever find out the identity of the... remains I found?"

"Yes," said Matsuda, "I had been meaning to contact you, actually. It was a woman who had been missing for several years. At least now her family can get the closure they need."

"That's good," Azumi said unenthusiastically. "Thank...
"Matsuda-san?"

"Huh, what? I-I'm sorry," Matsuda said, forcing himself to look away from what he was seeing. "I just... thought I saw my ex-girlfriend."

"I find that hard to believe," Yamamoto replied.

The girls laughed at his remark, Matsuda glaring at his friend and coworker in response.

"I didn't know you were so mean, Yamamoto-san," Amaterasu teased.

Yamamoto blushed lightly, his attention snapping back to Matsuda when he heard his coworker say, "Oh, you have no idea. You should hear all of the awful things he says about you."

"Matsuda-san!" Yamamoto hissed. "H-he's just kidding, Mori-san. I would never..."

Amaterasu giggled in response, and Yamamoto adjusted his glasses and looked at the ground in an attempt to hide his blushing.

"Yes, well, it's not like you could ever get a girl that cute anyway, Yamamoto."

"Matsuda-san!" shouted Yamamoto. Seriously, this guy was more embarrassing than his mother.

Amaterasu blushed slightly and laughed nervously. "Well, I suppose we'll see you later, then."

"R-right," said Yamamoto. "We should probably get going, too. G-goodbye."

Yamamoto and Matsuda walked away, Yamamoto doing his best to keep his voice down as he scolded his friend.

"So what do you think Matsuda was looking at?" Sayu wondered, turning around to find the culprit. "I don't see anything."

"What, you don't believe him about his girlfriend?" said Azumi.

"Not a chance."

Amaterasu turned around, equally curious as to what it was that Matsuda had seen. Her eyes widened. He had been looking in the direction of a fruit vendor, one selling apples, who was oblivious to the fact that Death was looming over him, gazing longingly at the forbidden fruit.

Matsuda could see Ryuk.

Location undisclosed — L

"L speaking."

"Aizawa here," responded the voice on the other end of the line.

"Ah, yes," said L, "I'd been meaning to talk to you about my... experiment."

"Yes, to see if this Kira has the Shinigami Eyes," said Aizawa. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else."

"Go on."

"One of my men, one who had touched the Death Note, he said he saw Ryuk," Aizawa said, "the Shinigami that killed Light."

"Meaning that one of the two Kira is located in Japan," said L. "Was he able to determine who the Shinigami was following?"

"No," Aizawa replied, "he was in a crowded part of town, lots of people, and the Shinigami didn't seem to be following anyone in particular."

L stopped to ponder this for a moment before replying with an answer. "Check all traffic footage, confiscate any security videos from stores and other establishments in the city in which the Shinigami was spotted. If you are unable to gain access to any of those, I can get them for you."

"What if we don't find him?" Aizawa said.

"Then we expand the search," said L.

"How do we know a Shinigami can even be seen on film?" said Aizawa.

"Then I'll send out my men. We will scour all of Japan if we have to."

Shinigami Realm

"What are you doing, Aitseh?" Calikarcha inquired.

"Looking for my stupid notebook," Aitseh answered. "I haven't written a name down in a while."

"You lost it?" Deridovely said.

"It was strapped to my waist, like it always is," Aitseh replied. "I don't know where it could be!"

"Human realm," said Zellogi, who was playing cards with Deridovely and Gook.

"What are you talking about, Zellogi?" Aitseh said.

"I threw it into the human realm," Zellogi said, not bothering to even look up from his hand.

"Why would you do that?" Aitseh exclaimed.

"Bored," Zellogi replied, drawing a card from the deck.

"Then you should have tossed your own notebook!" Aitseh snapped.

"That's what you get for being lazy and sleeping all the time," Zellogi said, turning to face her with a sickly smile.

Aitseh growled. "What else am I supposed to do, gamble all day like you are? It's not like you have anything to gamble, anyway. There's nothing else to do here!"

"If I were you, I'd complain less and try to get back your notebook," Gook said. "Before you run out of years and die."

"At least you'll have something to do now, henhenhenhenh," Zellogi cackled. "Oh, and did I forget to mention that I wrote instructions on how to use it in the notebook?"

Aitseh groaned. "Fine. I'll go get a new notebook from the old man."

"Have fun with that," Deridovely laughed.

Once Aitseh had left to go see the Shinigami King, Gook posed a question. "If a human finds that notebook, do you think she'll take it, or kill the human?"

"She can't kill it," Sidoh said, ovehearing the conversation. "I talked to Justin the Jewel Skeleton about the rules of the notebook before I left to get back my notebook. Knowing Aitseh, she will, too.
"You have to wait until the human dies or gives it back; killing the human gets you a level two punishment."

"Level two?" Deridovely marveled. "We probably won't be seeing her for a while, then."

"Unless the human gives it back," Zellogi said.

"I'd give the notebook back just to get her away from me," Gook said. "She'll be back soon."

"No way," Deridovely said. "That human's going to keep it. It'd be just her luck, hehnhehnhehnhehn."

"You two want to make a bet on it?" Zellogi proposed.

Deridovely and Gook looked at one another, the two of them grinning. Turning back to Zellogi, Deridovely said, "Don't we always?"

Marino, Lazio — Alessandro Gagliari

Alessandro stared curiously at the incomprehensible markings on the cover of the red book in his hands. He'd come across it on his way to school. The only thing written in it were what appeared to be names, some written in scripts he could not recognize.

"Alessandro, your father is pulling up. Go to your room and, and do your homework or something."

"Mamma..."

"Now!"

Alessandro clenched his fists, but nodded and did as his mother said. He pulled out his English book and began studying, and a few minutes later the yelling started up. He wasn't really paying attention enough to no what the argument was about this time. What trivial thing it was his mother had done to enrage his father. The yelling turned into screaming, pleas for mercy and apology after apology. The neighbors could hear, but they didn't bother calling the police. They didn't bother getting into affairs that didn't concern them.

Alessandro heard a crash, glass breaking and sobbing, and he threw his textbook against the wall in anger. What was the point in studying? He was eighteen, what did he have to look forward to? University? He'd be living with his parents for years to come, and be forced to listen to his mother's cries of fear. Unable to protect her due to her insistence that he leave, as well as his own fear he held for his father.

He glanced back at the notebook lying next to him. The cover read "Death Note". Note... probably as in "notebook", seeing as that is what it was. "Death"... As in "dead"? A notebook of death. What did that mean? He opened the notebook and looked at the inside of the front cover of the book.

"If you write a person's name in this notebook and imagine their face, they will die forty seconds later of a heart attack." He wasn't familiar with the word "heart attack", but he could assume what it meant. Well this is stupid, he thought to himself.  But dying of heart attacks? That sounded like Kira. As ridiculous as it sounded, what if it were true?

More yelling. He'd kill her one day. His father would beat his mother to death, and Alessandro would be helpless, unable to stop him. What if he could end it now? But would he really kill his own father? Would it even work?

"Please! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" More glass breaking; there's grunting, and the sound of his mother falling to the ground.

He would end it. If Alessandro could end it, he would end it, and so he grabbed the notebook and wrote down his father's name, picturing his face which always seemed to be angry or sickeningly amused. He waited a minute, and then his mother gave one final scream. Then there was silence. Sweet, sweet silence.

Chiyoda, Tokyo — Amaterasu Mori

"Terasu-chan."

Amaterasu closed the Death Note and turned from her desk to face her roommate.

"What is it, Sayu-chan?" she asked.

"Someone's here to see you."

"Who?"

"I don't know," Sayu admitted with a shrug. "She just said it was a surprise."

"A surprise?" Amaterasu repeated, beginning to feel uneasy. "Oh, please, don't tell me it's–"

"–Nēchaaaaaan!" cried a familiar voice, and a young girl in her late teens burst through the door.

"N-Nēchan?" Sayu stuttered, watching the girl tackle Amaterasu in a hug. "This is your...?"

"Yeah, this is my sister," Amaterasu said with an exasperated sigh, "Riko."

"Where's Azumi-chan?" Riko asked, looking at Sayu.

"She's on a date," Amaterasu explained.

"I should have guessed," Riko said with a laugh. "And who's your friend here?"

"I'm Yagami Sayu," said Sayu, smiling as she bowed. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too!" said Riko.

Sayu tried her best not to stare. Riko looked far from average. She had the same eyes as her sister, but her hair was short and dyed a light pink, and her Punk Lolita-esque clothing seemed to suggest that she was going through a phase.

"Riko, what are you doing here?" Amaterasu asked with a sigh.

"Geez, what a nice way to greet your sister," Riko said, rolling her eyes. "I came all the way from Gifu and I don't even get a 'hello'?"

"Hello, Riko," Amaterasu said. "Now what are you doing here?"

"Just visiting," Riko said with a shrug. "One of my classmates started a fire during chemistry. The school board is currently making preparations for a temporary place we can go, so I get a long weekend. Okāchan and Otōchan said I could visit."

"Of course they did," Amaterasu said with a sigh.

"They're still back at home, though," Riko added. "Something about a work thing.
"You look nice, Nēchan. I see you cut your hair, thank goodness for that."

"And I see you've dyed your hair an obnoxious color," Amaterasu quipped. Her sister stuck out her tongue in response.

"Anyway, one of the reasons I came was so that we could go to the Great Mid-Year Purification Ceremony," Riko said. "It's coming up soon."

"I don't believe in any of that stuff, Riko," Amaterasu said.

"If Okāchan heard you say that she'd get an ulcer," Riko said, and then added mockingly, "Amaterasu."

"You're so funny," Amaterasu said sarcastically.

"Come on, Nēchan," Riko insisted, "it doesn't have to be a religious thing."

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The two Mori sisters walked to the nearest temple, the younger of the two insisting on walking for the fresh air. They walked in silence, Amaterasu lost in her thoughts and Riko, lost in life.

"Riko?"

"Hmm?" said Riko, turning to her sister. "What is it, Nēchan?"

"What do you think of Kira?"

Riko raised an eyebrow. "Kira? Why are you asking?"

"I don't know. I'm just curious. Living in this town, I've met people who are working on the Kira case. The different views are... well, interesting."

"Kira's scum," Riko said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Amaterasu said, genuinely surprised by her sister's response. "Kira kills criminals. You hate bad people."

The corner of Riko's mouth twitched as she held back a smirk. "No, I don't. I hate annoying people. There are no bad people, only people who do bad things. Kira disrupts the natural order of the world; I'm not a fan of him like you are, Neechan."

"What? I don't support Kira."

"Sure you do," Riko said. "I can read you like a book, Neechan. I know you."

"Is that so?" Amaterasu said, her voice tinged with skepticism.

"Yup," Riko replied.

"It's not true," Amaterasu said firmly. "I don't appreciate Kira."

Riko simply smiled. "Of course you don't."

========================================================

A/N: I'd like to elaborate on a couple of things. First of all, to understand why Alessandro doesn't have college (university) to look forward to, you have to realize that in Italy it is common for people who attend university to live at home with their parents during that time. Which means that once he graduated high school, Alessandro would still be living with his parents.
Regarding Amaterasu and her family's religion, you could say they're of the Shinto faith, as they practice those customs and hold many of those beliefs (with the exception of Amaterasu, of course), but while many people in Japan could be defined as Shintoists, the term "Shinto" has so many meanings that, despite how many people hold those beliefs, many say that they have no religion. Sort of like how some Buddhists say they have no religion because they think of Buddhism as a philosophy. With Shinto, they don't all really think of it as a religion, even though we may see some of the beliefs and customs as religious.
Riko's beliefs regarding Kira and bad people stem from various Shinto beliefs. Every person is pure and good, but evil sometimes finds its way into the world. People sometimes are possessed by that evil, that sin, and are cut off from the light of Kami (God). Another belief is that it is bad to disrupt the nature of the world. Riko didn't feel like specifying that her opinion of Kira was religious-based because she didn't want to annoy her sister, since Amaterasu doesn't believe in any of that stuff.
Also, Shinigami generally know very little about the rules of the Death Note, surprisingly. They know the basics, but not a lot of the extra details. There are punishments sometimes inflicted upon Shinigami who misuse the Death Note, as was the case with Gelus. It works on a nine scale level, eight being the least, one being the worst, and then there's an extreme level. At severity level three and above (technically below) the Shinigami will die. This suggests that levels above three include torture before the Shinigami dies. This is why Sidoh didn't just kill the mafia and leave; he'd be breaking a rule (though I don't know which level). Ryuk was an exception because he "gave" Light the notebook, whereas the mafia "found" Sidoh's. 
Anyway, I know this chapter was kind of crappy (hell, you could argue that's the case for the entire story), but I've been putting in little to no effort, sooo...