Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, nor a Death Note. But I have bought the first volume and I do own my OC, Suzuki Tsukiko, and the plot in this story.

0o0o0o0

Everything started with the bus hijacking. If I wasn't going to Spaceland, if didn't see the monster in the back of the bus, then I would have never been involved with the Kira case.

0o0o0o0

No More Mind Games

Chapter 1 – Murder on TV

Today was supposed to be fun. I had just graduated from public high school. Correction, I just survived Japanese public high school. Nothing can prepare the amount of stress one has to go through in order to meet Japanese standards, not even the Japanese can.

So, to say the least, I am happy it's all over. The only thing left to study is college entrance exams, which I am not thinking about until I'm done having fun. Ignorance is bliss as they say.

In fact, I think I deserve it. Not for all the hard work I put in this school year but for my own enjoyment. That's not too much to ask for, is it? Complaining doesn't help one damn bit but it makes me feel better and I just want everything to be normal again.

My weekend was completely planned to perfection. Absolutely nothing can go wrong

….or so I thought.

0o0o0o

December 20, 2003 - 8:45 am (4 hours ago)

Normally, I get up at the crack of dawn. I have to if I want to be at school on time. But today was the start of my perfect weekend. That meant I get to sleep in if I want to.

I slowly blinked my eyes open to the dimmed light filling the room and stretched my body as I still laid on my futon. Throwing the covers off me and hopping out of bed, I looked around my tiny apartment.

It wasn't much but it was mine. The old apartment was like any other traditional Japanese room in the area. But mine was the cheapest I could find that didn't seem too hazardous to my health. I only had one room that served as everything that I needed to get by. It is my bedroom, kitchen, dining room, and study all rolled up into one. Practical, really. The toilet is just down the hall that is shared by everyone on this floor.

I pushed aside my futon and made my way over to the glass paned window on the other side of my room, careful to not step on any clothes or books I had not bothered to put away.

Cold December morning air swept into my room as I unhooked and dragged the window across the wall and moved the curtains as well. I leaned over to breathe in the fresh air.

The morning rush was almost over as far as I could see. The town folk went about their daily business, people walking down the streets carrying briefcases and holding their breakfast in their free hand, waiting for buses or trains to take them to Tokyo. Some had already opened shop, yelling out to the public to bring more customers in.

Hearing the random sounds of the crowd, the car horns blaring, and my neighbor's door shutting, I closed my eyes just for a moment to let the morning sink in. I took a deep breathe and slowly sighed.

Looks normal, doesn't it?

The matter of the fact is that something weird is going on with the world right now. I mean, the world is already weird but in Japan…. Things are too close to home.

Lately, criminals around the world have been dying from heart attacks. At first, it didn't seem like a problem. Things like that happen but not all around the same time frame! It didn't matter if they were caught or still running from the police; they all died with the same cause of death.

And most were high class criminals that done some of the most infamous crimes. A good number of people have heard about at lease one of these criminals. So, when word got around that these famous criminals just up and croaked, people wondered if this was a coincidence or not.

Was it murder? Was it murder that killed a death row inmate or a violent criminal? Maybe a mass assassination done out by a large organization or maybe no one at all?

By then, it was all over the news. This was the top story on every network and station. And it was slowly getting out of proportion. Media reports still refer this as "The series of deaths among the world's criminals". It is even rumored that Interpol had called a meeting to discuss this very problem. Dozens of sites on the web popped up, speculating what is causing these deaths.

On one particular site, they call the killer, Kira. He is their savior.

He is the one killing the criminals. He is a messenger from Hell who will destroy the Presence of Evil in this world. He is passing righteous judgment on them. Basically, he is like their new god on the internet or something. It's pretty much all bull anyway.

Then a few days ago, a live broadcast was shown around the world. Some one was finally going to do something about this.

I was watching old reruns of Naruto when a man named Lind L. Tailor suddenly appeared on the TV. He wore a suit with a tie and looked directly at the camera. He was speaking in English and had a Japanese translator voice over. He spoke into the microphone in front of him saying he was "L" and he can mobilize any police force in the world.

Like I give a damn! Naruto was just about to throw a kunai to save Kakashi from Zabuza's water prison and I was missing it. Annoyed at the moment, I grabbed the remote beside me and changed the channel.

"What the hell?" I said in disbelief. "It's on all the stations!" Quickly flipping through the channels, I saw the same guy staring right back at me.

"Damn it!" I yelled at the TV, dropping the remote to the floor.

"I therefore request that the investigation be headquartered in Japan," Lind L. Tailor stated from the TV. That got my attention. I listened to him speak English, completing ignoring the Japanese. Why Japan? I thought to myself, now completely absorbed to what this man was saying. "Criminals have been the target of a killing spree which has turned into the biggest mass murder case in history."

"This monstrous crime must be stopped at all costs. "Kira," as the perpetrator is commonly known, will be caught. I guarantee it." Lind L. Tailor calmly spoke out, his eyes silently shifting as if he was reading a teleprompter. "Kira. I think I've got a pretty good idea of why you're doing this. But what you are doing…

…is evil!" Lind L. Tailoryelled at the people watching. He paused and calmed himself, with his soft tone, he talked again. "Police worldwide have launched a coordinated investigation." He stopped to take a deep breath and was about to start again when he clutched his chest. Lind L. Tailor cried out in pain, slumped over his desk, and completely stopped moving. I moved in closer to see.

Then what I saw, what I will always see, a thin, almost transparent vapor rose from his back. It took the form of the body, Lind L. Tailor, and hovered over the body. It was Lind L. Tailor's soul. He had died. Live on television no less. I saw him die on television. "What the…" I was cut off.

"I…I don't believe it…" A different voice said on the TV. Me either I agreed inside my head. Lind L. Tailor body was carried off the screen and his ghost followed.

The voice said that this was an experiment to test a hunch he had, but never really thought… that Kira could kill people without direct contact. I couldn't believe what I was watching with my own eyes.

The voice told Kira to listen to him and said that if Kira just killed Lind L. Tailor, the man on TV, he was a condemned criminal scheduled to die that day. His arrest and conviction was kept from the media and the internet. Even Interpol was unreported. So Kira had no way of knowing about him.

"But I, L, do in fact exist." The voice who was the real L then egged Kira on. "So, come on! Kill me if you can! What are you waiting for?" My eyes glued to the tube, I unintentionally held my breath.

"I'm still here. Can't do it, Kira?" L taunted. "So there are people you can't kill. That's a valuable clue. Now I'll give you some information, in return."

It had been announced that the broadcast was being televised globally but actually, it was only in the Kanto region around Tokyo. L was going broadcast in other areas but Kira is in the Kanto region. L even figured out Kira's first victim was the Shinjuku killer who took 8 people hostage in a nursery school. That case was only in Japan.

I think I remember hearing about that. L went so far to say that Kira was just testing his powers at that time.

Kanto is the most populated region but finding Kira there was just pure luck and my bad luck.

"I didn't expect this work so perfectly, but … it may not be so long before I sent you to die." L told to Kira. "Kira, it would interest me to know how you carry out your murders but that's something I can find out after I catch you."

"Kira, I'm going to find and dispose of you, if it's the last thing I do!! I'm justice!"L yelled directly to Kira, stating to the rest of the world that this will happen. "Till we meet again, Kira."

The screen went to static. And I gasped for breath, finally exhaling.

What does all of this have to do with me?

Not a damn thing.

I shivered as the cold started to completely wake me up and bring me back to reality. Turning around, I looked at the amount of junk I still had to clean up.

Stop daydreaming, Tsukiko. I thought to myself. You have work to do.

A/N: Until next time, readers. Hope you enjoyed it and review this chapter, please!!

-Mandy