Chapter 1: Her Revelation, His Hope (Keiji to Kibo)

"And so lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you"- ~Psalm 39:7~

'What a demon…. The mother died when she was born and now her father?' the shadowy black figures whispered ominously.

'No wonder, no wonder…. Look at her eyes, they are so ominous…'

'Yes… she is a demon dressed as a girl….'

Gasp…..

What a dream….

The sunlight crept inside the small room through the white curtains. A human curled under her sheets and like a snail coming out of the shell, came out of the sheets and looked up at the ceiling. Her dark eyes followed the roundabout motion of the ceiling fan and her small mouth produced a yawn. Getting up from her bed, her dainty feet touched the floor, and then the toes wrinkled in pain.

It was a horrible sight.

The feet were bruised and looked like a foot of ballerina trained for years and years; but it was only yesterday's bullying in the school, three girls standing over her delicate foot. She had treated her feet with bandages and ointment, but the pain wasn't budging. She looked at her hand, scraped, inflamed and bloody; it was squeezed beneath someone's feet. Her hand traced at her neck, her gorgeous black locks were brutally chopped off asymmetrically with garden scissors. Swallowing the pain, she went to her desk, and looked at a single letter, being displayed from a cutting of yellowed newspaper, 'L' written in cloister black.

'I promise, today will be a good day, L…. Wish me luck.'

She isn't an impressive person; I mean what kind of girl lets herself to be bullied like this? She was meek, passive and weak and she knew it, but she couldn't bring herself to hurt others. She was quiet soft-spoken and mellow, despite her name being 'Yu', written with the kanji 'Courage', and she was like a dam herself in the River of Tears in her life, 'Namikawa', river of tears…. Her surname was true to her life, her mother had died during her labour, and driven by that sorrow, her father became excessively abusive towards her own daughter and alcohol took his life when Yu was fourteen. His large endowment was the only benevolent thing he had ever done to Yu. She was now a High school Second Year, and her only hope was this letter: 'L'.

When the world was supporting Kira, the God of the new world, Yu stood alone. The death of her father and her mother made her believe that God was no good; he kills everyone regardless what they had done. Killing off criminals was another act he portrayed to cover up his tyranny; too much atheists were showing up, and God fears them more than ever…. That's what she had thought. To say clearly, that earned made her a severe target of bullying.

Huh…. What are you now; you think he can't see you from here?

Let's give her a good beating on behalf of Kira….

She had always thought if God is just, then why nobody stopped when her mother was dying, when her father beat her everyday… she just wanted someone who could do real justice….

It wasn't Kira… the God…. She didn't believe in God, it was L….

Whoever he was, he recognised Kira for his real self, as a murderer, and nothing more. She listened to news every day; she listened to the encrypted voice of this 'L', and became fascinated every day. He was correct to make assumptions and everything and he was silent and shadowy, not wanting to show his face, and that's how justice should be. Silent, economic and invisible….. If something is right then it needs no flash or glamour.

People laughed at her hair, it was short, almost pixie-like at one side, collar-bone length on the other. Yet, it couldn't mar her natural fresh beauty. The bruises on her hand were bloody against her smooth ivory skin. Her demure and pale lips, her sharp nose, her dark deep set eyes were full of innocence. She was delicate and petite as she walked in her school uniform through the street. She stood still as the bus that goes to her school came.

It was bustling as usual, and Yu budged in a corner and she was shoulder to shoulder to an old man. Yu was quiet surprised that even in such an environment, that old man managed to keep his hat on. Suddenly the Bus gave an ominous jerk, and the old man came thrashing on Yu's shoulder.

'Daijoubu…. Oji-san?' Yu straightened him up 'are you hurt anywhere? Do you want to sit?' she asked, and kept her eyes on the old man.

'No, No…. please don't worry young lady….' That old man said, adjusting his hat, as if cautious to show his face, 'this bus just gave a nasty jerk….. Are you not hurt…? I am quiet worried to have felled on such a tiny little girl' the old man had a very refined way of speaking and had a very comforting voice.

'Be careful girly…..' a nearby middle-age man warned Yu, 'he could be a pervert….'

'Oji-san…..' Yu addressed the other man 'I know the difference between a pervert and a gentleman…. ' she looked at his face and firmly said 'a pervert would try to take advantage of me, and as I look at him, he was barely asking me if I was alright…..' Yu turned to the old man 'Do not worry oji-san… I am quiet fine….' And with a demureness and forceful smile she said 'I am quite strong you see!'

'Oh…. It's nearly my stop…..' that old man said after a lot of fidgeting, while looking through the forest of people to the bus window 'Thank you for the help little girl….' The old man descended from the bus. But as he went away, Yu noticed that from his bag or briefcase, he dropped a white notebook.

'Sir…. Sir….' Yu called from the bus 'You dropped something…..'

The man didn't seem to hear Yu at all…. And the bus started to move again…. Yu, without thinking, cut through the crowd of the bus and jumped from the bus. 'Sir….. Sir…' she picked up the notebook and started to run after the old man, who didn't seem to notice her. Yu was continuously chasing him, throughout three blocks, but the old man was vigorously walking away, as if avoiding Yu's voice. Suddenly Yu had to halt stop before the signal and there she had completely lost that old man.

'What to do….. It must be very important to the man… ' Yu said to herself, started to walk away from the place.

….

'What? You must be joking….. We can't have people follow around for a notebook, young lady?' a police officer sarcastically said to Yu, 'people come here for murder or robbery….'

Yu hung her head and mumbled 'where should I go…. The man must be seeking his notebook….' And L would have done the same thing…..

Seeing her down face, the police officer softened…. 'Look here little girl, why don't you give up, it's just another notebook… nobody misses a notebook…. If you really insist' he fidgeted 'I could take down a report…. Of a Lost notebook, and you can leave your identification and address, and we'll notify you if someone comes it seeking….'

'Thank you…..' Yu was getting up, and the police officer stopped him 'wait… wait….' He looked as if he suppressed laughter 'take the note with you….' He handed her the notebook. Yu walked away and clearly heard the policeman saying 'weirdos this days…..'

Yu had nothing to do, and it was too late for school too, so she decided to go home and wait until the man comes looking for the note. She placed the bag in its usual place, and looked at the letter of the newspaper cutting, L…. as if silently complaining to him about what happened today. She thought that after the Kira incident the police had transformed, but it is still in its stagnant place. Should I support Kira now, and condemn you for banishing him? It is a hard choice. I have every reason to support him, but I don't know why I don't…..

Yu slumped on her bed, thinking about the old man who left the notebook. The white curtains were now orange with the dropping of the daylight, and the diagonal orange ray was glowing on the white notebook that rested on the table near the window. She watched carefully as the last ray was seeped out of the sky and turned purple. Turning on the lights in her room, she freshened up and took out the bento box she hadn't eaten today. Eating with the left hand, she started to read the physics homework. Concentrating on the paper, she tried to reach for the glass of water, and with a slight touch of her elbow, the glass toppled, and toppled over the pristine white notebook.

As if it wanted to fall over the notebook

Yu attempted to brush off the water and opened the notebook to see if it had soaked anything or not, but as she flipped through, she saw that the notebook was completely blank….

Completely and entirely…. Blank

What the….. Yu was puzzled and didn't know what to think…. This would have been solved in a jiffy if L was here…. But then as she skimmed through the pages and shut it close, she saw black creeping formation was condensing at the top of the white cover…. It looked like, some uneven writing with the brush, like a rough calligraphy….

Life Note….

Yu knew that she was not hallucinating and these words weren't there back then. 'Life Note'…. Was it someone's bucket list that was undone…? She turned the cover and inside there were instructions.

Life Note, subtitled with How to use it

. It shall give any life (or will to live) back, whose name is written upon it. Being said it works on both dead and living.

. The person, who is intended to give life, must be given a purpose to carry on their lives. Without purpose every life is meaningless.

. The person intended to be resurrected must not be dead for more than a year

. To bring back one's life, or will to live, their name should be written while remembering the faces. If not face, then the happiest memory for the living and remembering the final resting place for the dead will also work.

. Life Note is unable to reverse any death that has been caused by old age or terrible disease, as the weak body cannot contain the soul anymore. It cannot reverse the death of a person who had used Death Note in their lifetime. They are unholy souls and barred from entering any realm, where man, demons or divine beings reside

. For every life this note returns in a dead, the owner of the note has to sacrifice three years from his/her lifespan.

. Only the pure of heart can write, read or see a Life Note. To others it will look as an ordinary white notebook.

. Life Note can only be destroyed by the death of its current owner. To possess a Life Note while its owner is still alive, one must acquire it by the very will of the present owner.

. Resurrecting a dead person, whom Life Note forbids to resurrect, will be on the price of the Life Note owner's own life.

. Life Note is a sacred object, and any violation of the note, such as tearing pages, writing on torn pieces of paper shall be severely punished.

And at the bottom of the page, in slightly big words, it was inscribed:

Every Life is sacred and worth saving

And then,

Use it Well…

Yu inspected the note and its instructions again and again, and heaved a sigh.

'Guess mom and dad are out of the question….'

It's Yu's optimism that prevents her blaming her dad for his ill behaviour; even she thought that she was the reason her mother died, she thought if both of them lived then everything would have been happier. Yu didn't know how her mother was; her father destroyed every photograph of her. Perhaps this was the first time she felt a little down. The thing which will be accepted with tears of happiness by many, the Life Note, seemed pointless to her, as it reminded her, what she could never have.

She looked at the 'L' at the wall, and her eyes welled up with water, and they fell on the table top, she felt that the dam in 'Namikawa' was cracking, she hold still. A little hope, even it was destroyed. This was a big lie; God had played her again.

She sunk her head in her elbows on the table top. She didn't know how much time was gone and suddenly a bitter cry of anguish came from the road. Yu raised her head and her heart echoed the noise just heard.

It was a five year old boy in the neighbourhood whom Yu adored the most. He was lying on the street, bloodied, shivering in pain, while a drunkard had just run him over. His mother was crying over his body, but the way he was injured, Yu knew he would not make it till hospital, and soon the shiver in his body stopped and his head plopped on the side.

Yu could not take any longer, if this is a lie so be it, if it is true then it has to prove itself. She took out her Life Note and wrote the boy's name, and his beautiful face when he smiled at Yu

Arata Hajime

'Live Arata-kun, and grow up to be the best doctor you had always dreamt of'

Keeping the notebook and kept her eye on the blinds, miraculously she saw the blood in his body seem to be disappearing, the crack was healing as the mother of the boy and everyone around him looked, the little chest was filled with breath and he jumped from her mother's arms, as if electrified.

It was too much for Yu to take on. She would have doubted the note if it killed anyone in a heartbeat, but giving life, in such a dramatic manner, where the blood, injury everything was vanished within moments was too much of a coincidence. Yu turned her back to the wall, and sunk on the floor. Her eyes flooding with tears and she didn't know what kind of tear it was, but she did know one thing….. The joy of life is greater than the doubt of existence.

…

(Extended ending)

A torn wind blew across the cemetery in the night, heaving sighs again and again on a tomb with a single name 'Ryuzaki', blowing all the candles that were burning near the grave. Misa Amane's black Lolita cap fell on the ground and her bright red shinigami eyes glowed, but she could see nothing but darkness. She knew the ones she loved and considered friend were damned for eternity, and one day, she will be too….