Chapter 10

That night, I was killed thousands of times in my dreams.

"Thank you for teaching me how to beat L, Sayu. I am well aware that you are after my death note." His eyes flashed blood red as he laughed ironically at my face.

"Now, how would you like to die?"

I woke up, hair rubbing off my head in all sorts of directions as I stared blankly at the sunlight creeping outside from my yellow curtains.

"I would like to die by suffocation, thank you," I replied to the dream Light as if I was talking about the excellent weather today.

Granted, Light could have been thanking me for the chess game. But dreadfully I knew I was wrong. I had to admit, he played me well. And hard.

The difference between a genius and an idiot is the number of words that roll off their tongue.

I laughed bitterly at my past thoughts. I flung my arm across my cheek as pain whipped my face as I growled out loud at my pure idiocy.

Stupid. Stupid. I was a moron.

If Light was more of a creative person, he would have immediately figured out that I knew the future the moment he lay his hands on the death note. The good thing was, he was a genius. And not all geniuses were created with full-on talent in all ways.

There were three things that I had more advantage over Light.

Creativity, wisdom, and the future.

Me being an Arts major practically guaranteed me thinking outside the box all the time, while Light was trapped in a society that valued singular thinking. Me also being a few years older than Light gave me an advantage and more view on the big game rather than the small ones which held no particular advantage over the overall thing.

Finally, I knew most of the anime information. Well, some.

I knew the big events, although after L's death my knowledge became blurry since I outright fast-forwarded the rest since I wanted to see Light's victory. To my dismay, he lost like a drunken geezer.

And I was rooting for you, Light.

I ridiculed my own thoughts before I stood up and walked to my closet to take out my extra pair of school uniform.

Oh, this morning was going to be awkward.

"Sayu, you're not staying for breakfast?" Mom called out from the table as I rummaged through the fridge, finding nothing bringable there. I turned around to meet Light's calm gaze, reading nothing out of it.

He's getting better at hiding his emotions.

I almost slapped myself again, cursing myself for my actions yesterday.

Dammit, now you just ruined your advantage of reading him!

"Nope." I walked to the fruit basket and took two apples.

"As you can see," I gestured to my face with my free hand before slinging my backpack over my shoulder. "I am trying to avoid Light since I lost pathetically in a game of chess yesterday."

Both Light and mom raised their eyebrows, the latter one showing concern while the other was amused.

"Are you sure you don't need something else? You skipped dinner yesterday too." She asked.

"Mmhmm, diet," I answered before stepping into my school shoes. Dad walked out with his full-on work suit, yawning sleepily before sitting down in his chair.

"See you later! Good luck in work today, dad! Tell Matsuda to stop making unnecessary comments in meetings!" I waved before exiting the house and heading towards the school.

"You should join the acting club with me!" Aoiko squealed at the 10 minute break, squeezing both my hands and scathing me with her pointy daggers.

"No," I answered nonchalantly, keeping a poker face.

"But why!" She persisted, pressing her face harder towards mine. She was already fully leaning over my desk before Isame picked her up, holding her down in a calm voice.

"Now, now, you know that Sayu would have never agreed." Isame giggled motherly at Aoiko's squirm.

"Why don't you ask Miyara?" I pointed over to the blonde girl who had a cherry lollipop in her mouth. Look, I knew she was trying to be the cool badass gangster but this is way too stereotypical.

"Hell no, she wouldn't even be able to act her lines out properly! I mean, have you ever seen her act like an innocent sweet girl?" Aoiko pushed the image into our minds as we all grimaced at the thought.

"Look, I'll think about it." I tried to smile as the bell rang for our history class. "But if I say no, that's the end of the conversation, alright?"

Aoiko beamed at me, nodding before scurrying to her seat.

"Are you actually going to try out for it?" Isame whispered next to me as I laughed.

"Depends. When I say I'll think about it, I'll actually consider it. It's not like I have a tight schedule after class." I shrugged as the teacher walked into the room, clearing his throat for our lecture.

It was the month of November, just a few more days before the beginning of December. I glanced outside of the window, although I did not sit next to the glass, the sky was beginning to turn a light crimson gray, making me shiver slightly for no particular reason.

I closed the door behind me, this time locking it slowly as I paced into my room, dropping my bag onto the floor as I opened my closet and dug into the left corner of the rectangular structure. Under layers of buried clothes, the remaining two listening devices lay there untouched and unused.

"Squeeze the earpiece once to listen to device 1. Twice for device 2. Three times for device 3." Tsubame's instructions rang out in my mind as I picked one up, pacing back outside the empty hallway and entered Light's room again.

The device was surprisingly light in weight, which made things easier for me. Heading directly towards his closet, I pulled out his only brown coat which was seen several times in the anime and touched the hand pocket of the jacket.

Men.

I sneered.

No matter what they buy they only wear a single coat until it's all worn out.

It was deep, and the inside structure of the pocket was easy enough to modify. Bringing it down into the kitchen, I opened a drawer in the corner where mom kept all her sewing materials.

I thank you, eighth-grade sewing teacher, in my past life. You have given me the strength and courage to live on.

I grinned maliciously before literally ripping Light's jacket pocket right off the coat.

Light was undeniably late.

The clock ticked 3:30 pm as I stepped into the kitchen once again, this time bringing the third device with me and turned aimlessly around the room to find a suitable place to hide it.

Honestly, when I bought three devices, I had already thought of the places I needed to tape them. Yet for the third one, the one for my general family, I did not think of the place to stick it in. I couldn't tape it under the table, it was too obvious not to mention mom would religiously clean the kitchen every day.

I glanced around again, walking all over the place before checking the time on the kitchen clock.

3:40pm.

He's late.

Could it be?

Light usually would follow his mundane schedule frequently, unless something happened. And that something...

My eyes swirled back to the clock, watching the seconds tick away.

Clock?

My eyes widened as I searched around for a chair, carrying it towards the white wall and reaching to take it off from the nail in the wall. As expected, the clock had a dark, rectangular battery cover.

As long as this lasts until L installs security cameras into the house...he can take the blame if any of the Yagami family members find this device. I jumped off the chair, rummaging the drawers for a fresh pack of batteries just in case the old ones would run out before L came in.

Changing the batteries and taping the device behind the clock, I returned it back in place, carrying back the chair and staring at the time ticker with calculation. The coat and bed should not be noticeable. I am almost sure that they would last far past L's action.

Then I paused.

Wait. Didn't Light ask Ryuk to check his coat of being bugged?

Sheer panic ran down my spine as I found myself halfway up the stairs before pausing.

No, Ryuk won't be able to see the device in between the cloth of the pocket. I've even made it so the fabric surrounding the device would feel soft as if there was no rectangular object there in the first place.

The only way to figure it out would be if the device started releasing static or Light had suspiciously weighed his coat before today. Which was impossible.

I relaxed myself and leaned onto the wall.

Yes, everything would work out.

They had to.

5:00pm.

No sign of Light.

5:20pm.

5:30 pm.

5:40 pm.

Each minute that ticked onward made the tips of my fingers colder.

Wasn't the day Light picked up the death note on a cold evening?

I remember him staying at some kind of convenience store before seeing two guys trying to rape a girl.

6:00pm.

Please.

Please don't let this actually be Death Note.

I finally found a family who could-

Don't let me kill them off. Please.

I could still throw away my ambition for the Death note if it didn't exist.

I can try to redeem myself.

I can even become a lawyer if that was what it meant to be loved.

Please don't make me do this.

I don't want to dirty my hands again.

It's too late.

They whispered.

The wheels of fate have already started to turn.

You have become too deranged to see the light.

It has already started...

Please don't make me do this.

I don't- I don't want to become a monster.

Why are you lying to yourself?

They hissed.

You like blood, you like to see those who have gone against you in pain.

Watch them scream in agony and fulfill your desire to watch them suffer.

Why have you chosen to love?

You're growing too soft in this family...

You're losing your touch...

I don't want to kill- I only did it because- because-

They hurt you...so you killed them.

You need more power. Power from the death note.

Kill anyone who stands in your way.

6:10 pm.

The front doors opened.

I heard Light's voice and mom's before I rushed outside, holding my breath as I heard his footsteps come up the stairs.

Light halted when he saw me on the stairs, blanking his face after something flashed seductively dark across his eyes. My heart lurched inside my chest, beating rapidly after seeing that dark glint. Tightening my death grip on the rail of the stairs, I stared back at him incredulously.

It had started.

The chain of deaths that were inevitable.

"Sayu," Light smiled gently as he stepped up the stairs quickly, joy curled shrewdly up his lips before standing up in front of me. It was then that I realized that he was one head taller than me, older than this body.

He'll only up his game. I repeated to myself.

But that didn't matter anymore.

"Light," I returned his gesture with one of my own delights.

Nothing mattered anymore except the Death note.

Author's note:

Now that I have established chapter 10, I will confirm to all readers, that I will not stop this fanfiction until I complete it. You have my word. Or, the written confirmation from the author.

Anyways,

Reviews are desperately needed!