Authoress' Notes: Oh gosh… I'm at it again… Sorry everyone who's waiting for the next installment of Shaman King! But… I just had to do this… And I'll be starting two other stories too. But don't worry, I'll get back to Shaman King soon. Anyway, if Kagome or Light seems OOC in the beginning, sorry, I'm just trying to explain their relationship before the how Death Note thing happens.

Summary: She was there with him when he found the notebook of the dead. She was there when he wrote the first name in it, making his first kill in the death notebook. She was weighed with guilt as she realized that he was actually taking the lives of the human beings. Can she save him from falling while keeping herself from telling the truth to the detectives without falling in love with both the lead oddball detective and her beloved friend?

Pairings: Starts Light/Kagome

Then Light/Kagome/L with some one-sided Light/Misa

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Death Note. I do own this fanfic though. That's about it.

Coming to the Light

Chapter 1:

Corruption in Light

So what if life was the same, day in and day out? Sometimes a boring life was better than an overly exciting one in Kagome's opinion. Crimes of murder, rape, and thievery were not uncommon in Japan these days. They were now ordinary occurrences. If you listened to or watch the news, it would all be bad news. The fact that crime in Japan was rising did not suit well with Kagome, but it was the boringness that she did not mind. Nothing special happened to her lately. Nothing special happened to her friends or family. Nothing.

What bothered her was that she saw what his family could not. Yagami Light was feeling something that normal teenagers should not feel. Even though she was trailing behind him, only staring at his back, she sensed his unhappiness a while ago. It was not too hard to see either. Kagome had plenty of chances to see the emptiness in his crimson-brown eyes. She did live with him and his family after all. Every time someone turned on the news or radio and another crime was reported, she saw a little bit of light leave his eyes.

Kagome tried to distract him from it all by preoccupying his time whenever he was not studying or sleeping. 'Hm… Poor Light-kun…' she thought, feeling sympathy for him. She knew he did not want her to feel sorry for him, he once told her that when she attempted to comfort him. However she could not help it. It was almost painful that they did not walk side by side to and from school together anymore. It had been like that for the past two weeks. Kagome did not know if he chose to walk ahead of her or if she was the one who was walking behind him. 'I'll try cheering him up again after school.' she decided with determination. Her lips twitched once before they formed a small smile.

"Light-kun!" she exclaimed, carelessly pushing through a busy crowd to catch up to him. Light did not stop walking even though he heard Kagome calling his name. He would let her catch up after he made it through the crowd. Just as he stepped out of the crowd, Kagome placed her hand on his shoulder. He paused in his stride for a moment and let the girl stand beside him before they began walking together in unison.

"Hai, Kagome-chan?" he asked warily. Kagome pretended that she did not notice his tone or how he slowly closed his eyes and the book he was reading. He looked as if he was going to roll his eyes or sigh at her.

Kagome forced a smile to her face and asked, "How about we go somewhere after school?"

Light chuckled a bit and turned his head to the side so that Kagome could see the smile on his face. "Are you asking me out, Kagome-chan?" Her cheeks were now flaming red and she almost took a step backwards from surprise.

"Light-kun!" she huffed childishly and crossed her arms over her chest. "You've got to stop doing that!" This scene was also not an uncommon occurrence. She often asked her friend if he would like to go places and hang out with her. He would always respond with that handsome smile and the same old question. She would never get used to it.

Light chuckled again as they continued walking to school together. Kagome relaxed and slowly smiled at the sound he made. It had been a while since she heard him laugh, and she was glad he was still able to. "I thought you would be used to that by now." Light replied. Kagome did not notice how the smile on his face was slowly fading to the scowl that she hated seeing.

Kagome blushed again and scratched her cheek, "I probably should be, but I'm not." It was nothing but the truth. Kagome and her father had been living with Yagami's for almost half a year now. Since they were peers, housemates, classmates, and even friends, Kagome and Light had spent a lot of time together. They even went on dates from time to time, but they were not officially together. "Anyway, do you want to?" she asked him.

Light was not looking at her anymore. His eyes were focused on their school, which was coming up ahead. They, along with plenty of other students, were walking down the wide paved sidewalk that led to the entrance gates of school grounds. "I suppose it would not be a bad idea…" he told her. Kagome sweat dropped, she knew what that statement meant. "I remember that you managed to score the third highest test scores."

Kagome frowned and waved her hand dismissively, "yeah, yeah. And you're still number one." She was hoping her calm and uninterested attitude toward the conversation would change Light's mind… She knew what was coming, and she was not going to like it. They walked across the courtyard towards the main building and entered. They still had about a half hour before their first class began.

"After school we'll go to the library and I'll tutor you in math." Light said.

"D-Demo!" Kagome cried out. She frowned and tugged at Light's arm, so that he could look at the disagreement on her face. She did not mean to grab him so roughly, but either way Light was not the least bit fazed.

"What is it?"

"I didn't ask to be tutored!" Kagome exclaimed, waving her arms around wildly as they walked upstairs to their classroom. "I asked if you wanted to go somewhere after school! Somewhere fun."

"Oh, so you are asking me out?" Light asked, chuckling again. Kagome growled when her face flushed for the third time within the past twenty minutes. That was not healthy for her complexion. Kagome sighed when they reached the classroom. She knew Light was serious about his studies, and he also cared about hers. But that… That was ridiculous. Kagome figured that A) Light only said that so that she would decline his offer and leave him alone, B) Light was study-crazy, or C) Light cared about her…

'It's probably choice B,' she thought sweat dropped.

For fifteen minutes, Kagome was chatting with a few of her girlfriends and Light was reading his novel and mostly being quiet unless someone approached him. Although she was busy gossiping with her friends, Kagome still noticed how detached Light was becoming. 'I'll fix that,' she thought just before the morning bell rang. The blue-gray eyed teen settled herself in her desk, which was directly in front of Light's.

Neither Kagome nor Light was really paying attention to today's lesson. Light was staring out the window with his hand lazily supporting his head. At first Kagome was pretending to take notes on the lesson, but she was actually doodling chibi anime characters. This semester's history lesson was no problem for her. It was on Feudal Japan. Today's lesson was about Nobunaga Amari. Now she was beginning to nod off. It was so boring…

Just to get on her nerves, Light poked Kagome in her with the eraser part of his pencil. Her drowsy eyes were suddenly alert and her head snapped to her left side, where the window was. The moment Light and Kagome looked out the window, they saw something that would change the entire course of their lives… A black notebook. A black notebook had fallen from the sky.

Kagome quickly scribbled down a note and discreetly passed it to Light. She was sweating a bit and looked like a child who had done something naughty. Light, on the other hand, only blinked once at the note before faking a calm, passive expression. The two continued to pass notes to each other. Light used to hate when Kagome passed notes to him, because it would distract him from the lesson and his studying. But today it did not bother him because his thoughts were not on school anyway.

The first thing written by Kagome was: Did you see that?!

Light wrote his reply rather fast yet way neater than Kagome: If you mean the notebook, yes.

I wonder why it just fell from the sky like that.

Someone in a classroom above ours could have dropped it.

That's dumb.

Boredom can do weird things to people.

Somehow I feel that you're exactly right…

Well of course.

Oh ha ha, rub your smartness in my face.

Kagome passed the note back to Light. He read it and balled up the sheet of paper. Kagome was annoyed that he chose not to reply to that. '…That notebook…' Kagome thought. 'I've got a bad feeling about this… Why so suddenly though?' She would have to find it before someone else did. Something told her that it was no ordinary notebook. It even managed to capture Light's attention when it landed a hundred yards away on the grass in the schoolyard

.

(After School)

Kagome knew Light was just as curious about the notebook as she was. Before anyone else could snatch him up, she grabbed his hand and ran outside in a hurry. "Come on, Light-kun!" she yelled excitedly, though yelling was not necessarily.

Light was surprised at first when she grabbed his hand, but then he recovered. "Where are you taking me?" he asked. He knew exactly where they were going, but it did not hurt to ask, especially since Kagome always had such amusing response to just about everything.

"I'm not kidnapping you, ya know?" Kagome replied. She laughed when she heard Light's short sigh. "Anyway, we're going to find that notebook of course. You already knew that."

"You know me well." Light suddenly stopped running with Kagome. She paused and dropped his hand.

"Why are you walking so slowly?" she asked impatiently. She wanted to get a hold on the notebook before anyone else did. If her instincts were right, then it was something that should not fall into the hands of ordinary humans.

"There is no need to run." Light replied coolly as he leisurely descended the staircase. "I'm sure it will still be there when we get there." Kagome did not argue. Once Light's mind was made up, it was made up. Period. As they walked in the direction where the notebook landed, Kagome was dying to jog ahead and grab the notebook.

True to what Light said, they found the black notebook still lying on the grass. It was laying face down. Kagome stared down at it for a moment to think about what it could be. She could feel a strange aura radiating from it. Light looked around to make sure no one was watching them, and then he bent over and picked it up. Kagome's eyes widened when she saw him. "Light! NO!" she shrieked, panicking. She jumped for it, trying to take it from Light's hands… Only to end up, lying face down on the grass, like the notebook has been.

Light looked down at the fallen girl and asked, "Kagome, are you alright?" Kagome shifted before slowly turning over to sit on her buttocks. Light did not miss the look of horror in her blue-gray eyes. "It's just a notebook, what's up with you?" Not waiting for a response, he offered his friend his hand and she took it. Light slowly yet gently helped Kagome to her feet.

Kagome watched grimly as Light turned the notebook around and read the front of it. In creepy white letters read… "Death Note…?" they read in unison.

"Could it be a notebook of death?" Light inquired aloud. He was not really asking Kagome, but thinking aloud to himself. Kagome did not the small smile on Light's face. She could tell that the notebook intrigued him.

"Light-kun, I don't think touching that thing is a good idea," Kagome stated her opinion, feeling dreaded because of the notebook's dark, evil aura.

Light ignored her and flipped to the first page of the notebook, where there was a black page with more eerie white letters on it. "They're instructions." Kagome said, stating the obvious. Although she did not want anything to do with the notebook, it was actually was pretty interesting… The notebook had a certain pull to it.

Light proceeded to read the instructions, "How to use it: The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die." Kagome almost jumped out of her skin when he read the first sentence.

Before she could plead with him to just throw the note away, Light closed the notebook.

"…Light…kun…?" Kagome asked slowly, surprised at his actions. He seemed interested in the notebook.

"It's stupid," he said, placing the notebook back on the ground. He then began to walk off without her. Kagome just stood there dumbfound for a moment. "Come on, Kagome-chan. It's obviously a sick joke."

"Okay!" Kagome called to him. She was glad he decided not to take the notebook, but it did not feel right leaving such a thing sitting there. Kagome cautiously picked up the notebook and slid it into her book bag. Light was so deep in thought that he did not notice that Kagome had yet to catch up with him.

'Honestly…' he thought. 'Anyone who would write about death is demented…' He did not even notice that Kagome was now staring up at him with a curious expression. 'But what did it mean, the human whose name is written inside shall die? …It can't be real.' Light suddenly whipped around, having second thoughts about leaving the notebook. Curiosity or boredom was getting the better of him. He was surprised to see that the notebook was missing.

Light continued walking though. He turned his crimson-brown gaze and looked down at Kagome, who was staring blankly out into the distance. 'Kagome-chan brought it with her.' he concluded. 'Why would she do that?' he thought, narrowing his eyes.

(That Night)

It turned out Light and Kagome did not go anywhere after all. It was fine, but a bit disappointing.

She definitely did not want to be tutored at the library… again. Light had a college prep course to go to at 6:30 anyway. Kagome was glad it was a Thursday night, which meant that the next day would be the last day of school for the week. That night her father, Koichi, and Light's father, Soichiro, had not returned in time for dinner but it does not bother anyone. They all knew how busy the partner detectives were. After dinner, Kagome went on with completing her nightly routine.

When she got home, she would do her homework with Light, eat dinner, take a bath, and rest in her room before falling asleep. Kagome was in the middle of a nice hot soak when there was a light knock of one of the two bathroom doors. Kagome and Light's rooms were connect by a single bathroom. When Koichi and Kagome had first moved in with the Yagami's, there was a long, hard debate about rooms. At first it was suggested that Kagome move into Sayu's room, which was down the hall from Light's and that Sayu move into the room connected with Light's. Sayu refused, claiming that she always lived and loved her room and that she did not want to move. But how Kagome ended up in the room she did was a whole different story.

"Hai?" Kagome asked. It must have been Light, it was coming from his door.

"Sorry to disturb you, Kagome-chan," Light stated. "But it's my turn to use the bathroom now."

"Is it your turn already?!" Kagome inquired incredulously. Somewhere along the line, they agreed that each of them would have an hour and a half in the bathroom, and Kagome would go first. It seemed like that she had only been in there for a half hour. She sighed disappointedly and said, "Give me a minute, ne Light-kun?" Kagome grabbed her light yellow-colored drying towel and wrapped it around her body. She climbed out of the bathtub and let her strawberry-scented bath water out. She exited the bathroom and entered her room, making sure to close her door.

Kagome walked over to her dresser and bent over a bit to find her nightgown. She dried off and then slipped into her light blue silk gown. Not a minute later, Light stepped into her room without knocking. "I thought you were taking your bath, Light-kun?" she asked.

"I'm skipping my bath today," he told nonchalantly.

Kagome gasped then huffed, crossing her arms and pouting slightly. "Then what was the point of bothering me?!" Light nudged his head in the direction of Kagome's small digital clock that stood on her nightstand. It read 7:39 p.m. Kagome started her bath at 7 o clock. "What the hell-?" she blinked. Then she turned to glare at Light, "So you lied to me, Light-kun! What's your problem?!"

Light closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, keeping his composure. "There's no need to yell, I just needed to talk to you."

"Talk to me? Couldn't you have done that after my bath?" She was annoyed that Light had interrupted her beloved bath.

"Iie." Light replied curtly. "It's very important." He sat down on Kagome's bed and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Well, since we're both here…" Kagome replied, trailing off. She settled herself next to him. "So what do you want to talk about?" Light was sitting a foot away from Kagome's nightstand, which was next to her bed in a corner. Beneath the nightstand is where Kagome placed her book bag. He looked in the direction of her bag.

"I'm curious," he told her slowly. "About the Death Note…" he finished.

Kagome frowned a bit at this. "So you know that I have it," she said. "I don't think we should even bother with it."

Light countered by asking, "If you don't think we should bother with it, then why did you bring it home with you? Even after I decided to leave it?"

Kagome did not expect him to ask… She could not just tell him that she was a priestess with holy powers and could sense a strange aura coming from the notebook. "W-well… I was just… curious about it?" She wish her statement did not come out as if she was asking a question… It was half true. She was curious about the Death Note, but she also wanted to protect it from humans… or vice versa.

Light frowned, by the way Kagome was sweating, he knew that she knew that he knew that she was lying. "I thought that since you brought it home with you, we might as well take a look at it."

"To satisfy our curiosity." Kagome added. She knew that she and Light were both being drawn by the allure of the notebook. Kagome grabbed her bag and unzipped it. Light reached inside and pulled out the black notebook.

Light sat down in a chair in front of Kagome's nightstand and Kagome watched closely from her bed. He read the first page aloud to her, "This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his or her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next six minutes and forty seconds."

Kagome scratched her cheek and said, "So the notebook claims that you can control another person's death if you know their name and face… And you have the ability to make them die peacefully or suffer…"

Once again, Light closed the Death Note. Kagome's eyes followed the dirty-blond haired teen as he walked across the room and turned on her television. "It seems someone has really thought out this prank." Then he walked back to Kagome's bed and plopped down next to her, his arms behind his head and his fingers entwined with each other.

'If Light thinks it's a prank, then I guess it's a good thing.' Kagome thought relieved. 'Hopefully that means he won't try it, and just forget about it… Then, I'll get rid of it.' "Well, if that's all, then goodnight, Light-kun." Light was a genius. He knew that Kagome was hinting that she wanted to be alone and relax.

Kagome was annoyed that Light just continued to lie there and think. His eyes were closed. She knew that he was thinking, probably even debating with himself. "Light-kun!" she whined, shaking his shoulders. She almost fell over when he suddenly sat up and within the blink of an eye, was seated at her nightstand again. He grabbed one of the pens that sat in Kagome's pencil holder and had opened the next page after the instructions. It was blank. "Not again," she groaned. "Light-kun, let's not do this!"

"If I wrote down someone's name in the notebook and they died… Would that make me a murderer?" Light asked, twisting around to look at Kagome. Kagome was taken aback at his question. She could see that he was really tempted to try out the Death Note.

Kagome bit down on her lower lip and was not sure on what she should tell him. "…I…don't know… It's weird. Technically, you would be the one who killed them but…"

Light smiled reassuringly at himself and indirectly at Kagome. "Don't worry," he told her. "It's impossible. The notebook won't work."

"Still…" Kagome replied softly. At that moment, the news was reporting a live hostage situation at a nursery school in Shinjuku. The reporter announced that the culprit's name was Otoharada Kurou and they showed a picture of the man. He was middle aged. Kagome and Light stared at the screen for a moment. Besides the sound of her television, Kagome's room was unusually quiet. "No…" she whispered, realizing the news report was the perfect opportunity for the Death Note to be tested. "Light, no!" she screamed when he turned away to write the man's name down.

Unfortunately, the way Kagome smacked the pen from Light's hand ended up being the final stroke that Light needed to write Otoharada Kurou's down. Light felt bad at the horrid look on Kagome's face when she realized what she had (unintentionally) done. He looked at Kagome's digital clock and said, "Forty seconds and it's a heart attack. Says the notebook."

Kagome could not believe that Light just tried out the Death Note! The one thing that could end someone else's life! Something told her that it was real. Kagome quickly scrambled over to her television and sat down in front of it. "Oh my God, I can't believe this!!" Kagome screamed, tugging at her hair, frustrated. Light leaned back in the chair to watch the news report. The forty seconds came back painfully slow for Kagome…

Light looked at the clock and told Kagome reassuringly, "I knew it. Nothing happened. The notebook was fake, Kagome-chan… So relax." Just as Kagome was about to release a breath that she did not remember taking in, something seemed to be happening on the news. The report was suddenly continuing! Kagome and Light watched in awe when the hostages came running out of the building, crying from fright and horror yet was mixed with relief.

"It seems that the perpetrator is dead!" the news reported announced. Kagome almost fell backwards and Light took another step towards the television.

"Dead?" Light inquired, as if the news reporter would look at him from inside the screen and nod to confirm the answer. Kagome and Light then looked at each other, sorrow on Kagome's face and surprise on Light's. "…No…" he whispered. "It's just a coincidence!"

"That's one hell of a coincidence, Light!" Kagome screamed again. Light was tired of Kagome's screaming. He was surprised that no one came to check on her. "The Death Note must be real! We killed that man!" she cried. She was almost at the point of tears. It had been two years since she killed someone… Human or not. Good or bad. She did not like killings, even to resort to them. "How can you deny that?!"

"Look!" Light finally snapped back. He crouched down on his knees so that he could be eye to eye with Kagome, was crying on the floor. "We did not kill that man!" Light placed his hands on her shoulders and shook them gently. "Even if we did…" he whispered. "He deserved it…"

"Light-kun…" The said teen moved one arm from Kagome's shoulder to use a hand and wipe Kagome's tears away. "Let's… not use it again. Nee?"

Light nodded slowly, "Hai, we won't use it again." With that said, he stood up and walked across the room to grab the Death Note. "I'll take this," he told her, showing Kagome the black notebook in his hands. "You won't ever have to see it again." Light turned to leave the room. "Good night, Kagome-chan. Get some sleep."

Kagome extended her arm towards her friend and called out weakly, "No, wait!" It was too late. Light had already left her room, went through the bathroom, and made it into his own room. "Light…kun…" she whispered miserably. She was getting another weird feeling. Kagome knew that she would be seeing the Death Note again, real soon.

Light was going to test out the Death Note again.

The Next Day

Kagome had woken up that morning, feeling different from how she usually felt. Her entire body was drenched in sweat and she felt feverish… No- She was on fire! She looked over at her digital alarm clock; it was a quarter to seven. "Oh no…" she whispered weakly. "I should be getting ready to head out the door… with… Light-kun." She felt a bit dizzy when she swung her legs over the edge of her bed to sit up.

"Why didn't… My alarm go off?" she asked herself, walking towards the bathroom door. The only way for her to get out of her room and to the rest of the house was through Light's room. "And why didn't he wake me up?" she asked herself again. Kagome only overslept the night before big tests, where she would cram like crazy. Those days Light would take it upon himself to be her personal wake-up call when she tuned out her alarm.

Kagome walked through the bathroom and then into Light's room, where she found him, packing his supplies for school. "Gr… Light-kun!" Kagome tried to yell, but her voice came out hoarse. Her throat was distastefully dry.

Light was not fazed by Kagome's presence and he turned around slowly after zipping up his school bag. He smiled a bit at her, "Ah, good morning, Kagome-chan."

"Don't good morning me!" Kagome countered.

"It's customary to greet someone good morning when you first meet them in the morning."

"You know what I mean!" Kagome replied angrily. Light then frowned, he noticed how Kagome's cheeks were beginning to flush ever more than they already did. "Why didn't you wake me up, Light-kun? I'm going to be late for school!"

Light slowly walked up to her until they were only centimeters apart. Kagome's face flushed even more. She was sick. She was angry. She was embarrassed. All that flushing was not good for her complexion. Light ignored the nervous look that suddenly appears on Kagome's face. She gasped when he used his hand to brush away her dark bangs from her forehead. He let his hand rest there for a moment before removing it. "I thought you would know by now that you're not going to school."

"If I don't go to school, when I come back, I'll be fourth in the class!"

"Class ranking is not that important."

"It's not important to you because it won't be your ranking that dropped!" Kagome yelled, frustrated.

Honestly, she did not feel like going to school. But she remembered what had had happened last night. She was still upset about it. She needed to vent out her frustration somehow. Arguing just happened to be a way she could release some her emotions.

Light's eyes darkened at her cold statement. Kagome gasped and took a step backwards. Why was he looking at her like that? "You make me sound like some sort of cruel human being," he told her. Light had gone into Kagome's room earlier to check up on her and see how she was doing since she did not come down to breakfast. That was when he had noticed how sickly she looked. She had been tossing and turning and breathing heavily in her sleep. Her face had been extremely flushed and she was dripping in sweat. Light noticed how much better she looked after he had dabbed her face with a cool cloth while she slept.

"Light-kun!"

"Yell at me all you want, your father already said it was alright if you stayed home a day or two." Light turned his back to her and began walking towards his door, the one that led to the hallway.

"Light-kun… I'm sorry," she said before he made it out the door.

Light paused in the doorway for only a moment, before continuing on his way. He had heard her apology and knew what it was for. Light knew that Kagome did not hear his. "I'm sorry too, Kagome-chan…" 'I'm going to try out the Death Note once more,' he mentally added. 'But on a criminal.'

Kagome frowned; she would have so much catching up to do if she did not get better soon. That would mean she have to swallow her pride and ask Light for tutoring, then he's give her that teasing smile and- Arrgh! She could just picture it now! 'Besides that… I wonder if Light-kun took the Death Note to school with him today,' she thought inside her head. The raven-haired teen then looked around Light's room. If he did leave it, it was not in plain sight. Kagome tried thinking of all of the possible places that Light would have hidden the Death Note.

"Under the bed? …No." She checked beneath Light's bed, there was absolutely nothing under there. It was just as clean and clear as the rest of the carpet.

"Behind his TV? …Nope." There was nothing behind the television but wall and a lot of cables.

"In his desk drawer…?" Kagome's hand slowly inched toward the drawer's handle. "…What am I…? A snoop?" Kagome took her hand away. She decided to rest all day so that she would feel up to confronting Light about the Death Note later. With that small plan in mind, Kagome slowly walked back to her room.

(Hours Later)

Kagome's eyes slowly fluttered open as she regained consciousness. She slowly sat up and immediately noticed that she felt a lot better than before. It was not surprising, she was a priestess after all, and her body's immune system was different from normal humans. 'If I can withstand deadly miasma, I can withstand a cold,' she told herself. She looked at her window. It was closed yet the curtains were open, and the blinds were open. Thin strips of pale light peeked through the cracks of the blinds. The light was not very bright, so Kagome knew that it was already nighttime.

She looked from her left to her right, to where her clock stood on her nightstand. It was 7:00 pm, which meant it was almost time for Light to come home. Kagome had spent most of her day sleeping, but she woken up for meals by Sachiko, Light's mother. 'I'll just meet him up there so we can talk,' Kagome thought with a smile. "Crap!" she yelled in realization. The course let out at 7:15 and it was a ten-minute walk to get there! She had about five minutes to get ready. Kagome frowned as she looked down at her body. She was still in her nightgown.

Kagome sprung out of bed and nearly ripped her gown off her body. She quickly put on a bra, a plain white button-up blouse, and a blue jean skirt. "Ah! Where are my shoes?!" she screamed, tugging at her hair. She had to stop doing that! One day she just might pull some out and making herself bald!

(With Light)

It was almost time to go to home. It was a good thing too; Light was bored with his prep course too. He was tempted to test out the Death Note on a couple of his classmates who were bullying another, yet more shy and wimpy, classmates. He watched with an unpleased expression as Ryoji, a quiet and reserved teenage boy, was forced to give Sudou and his friend some money.

Apparently Sudou had been pulling this for a while because Ryoji pleaded that he could not afford to pass out any more money. Light decided not to, it would be risky to kill someone he knew.

Light walked at his normal leisure pace when class let out. The moment he stepped foot out of the building, a familiar feminine voice called out to him, "Light-kun! I came to pick you up today!" Light looked forward, across the street, where the voice came from. Of course, a very cheerful and healthy looking Kagome was waving at him. Light closed his eyes and smiled a small smile.

Only someone like Kagome could make him forget the rottenness of the world. She was standing in front of a crowd of people who were waiting for the traffic light to turn green in their favor. Light waved back a bit to show Kagome that he saw her.

Once the light was green, Kagome began walking across the street, her smile getting a bit wider. She was in the middle of the street when five guys speeding on motorcycles, skit to halt in front of her. Light narrowed his eyes at them. "Hey sweetie!" one of them said, pulling off his helmet to reveal a not-so-attractive teenage face. The two other guys pulled off their helmets and Kagome blanched; they were no better off than their friend. "Wanna hang out with us?" the first guy asked.

Kagome's hand balled into a fist that shook at her side. 'I don't feel like being bothered…' "No-thanks." Kagome replied with an attitude. All she wanted to do right now was be with Light! She tried walking past them but one of them grabbed her wrist and squeezed it tightly.

"I don't think you really have a choice, honey." he told her with an impish smirk. Kagome paled at the identical smirks on their faces. She knew what they were thinking- or rather, what they wanted. She could probably take one or two, on a good day perhaps even three, but not five guys. She was not trained in hand-to-hand combat. Sango and Kagome talked about it, but they never had the time to actually go through with the training. It was impossible to do so since the group had been led by a slave-driving half demon.

One, who was wearing shades, lowered them and announced, "my name is Shibuimaru Takuo. Shibutaku for short. Come with us and we'll be gentle to ya." The other four then told her their names and they asked for hers.

"No WAY!" Kagome suddenly yanked her wrist away from the guy that held her and delivered a kick to his stomach. He staggered backwards, clutching his injured body part.

"Get that bitch!" Shibutaku yelled at his friends. It was too late though. The five of them had already sealed their doom.

"Light-kun!" Kagome yelled, holding her arm out to her friend. She began running toward him and he extended his arm towards her. Once she made it to the curb on the other side of street, the five of them began zooming towards Light and Kagome. "Let's go! Please!" Kagome pleaded, tugged on Light's arm but he did not budge.

"Iie. They have only five seconds left," Light told her solemnly. Kagome's eyes widened, she knew what he had one. "Four…" he whispered.

"Three…" Kagome continued to countdown. She wanted to know if the Death Note was real or not too, but- She shut her eyes; she could not watch.

"Two." Light said. "One." The two finished in unison.

Kagome peeked an eye open and saw a truck come zooming out of almost nowhere. It first hit two of the guys at a time. It was not over though. The truck swerved out of control and the side of it hit the other three, sending each flying into things like streetlights or mailboxes.

Both Kagome and Light's eyes were wide. They did not say anything out loud but they were thinking similar thoughts… The Death Note was real. The two walked home in silence, neither one said anything. Once they arrived, Sachiko was already at the door, waiting for them.

"Welcome home," she greeted them warmly. "Kagome-chan, you should have told me you left to walk with Light. I didn't hear you leave so when I found you missing, I was so worried."

Kagome lowered her head so that her bangs covered her eyes, "I'm sorry, Sachiko-san." Light glanced at Kagome from the corner of his eye.

"Don't feel bad, Kagome-chan. I'm feel better knowing that you're alright," Sachiko replied. She then turned to Light and held out her hands, expectantly.

Light understood and opened his bag, "Oh, the results from the national practice exam." He handed them to his mother and she took them. She smiled down at the results.

"You're number one again," Sachiko announced happily. "Good job, Light."

"Yeah, I guess," Light said. "I'm going to my room to study, so don't bother me." Sachiko nodded in understanding. She watched her son walked up the stairs. Light looked over his shoulder and asked, "Are you coming, Kagome-chan?" Kagome nodded wordlessly, and followed after him.

Light closed the door after Kagome entered. She sighed and leaned back against. She let her heels slide forward, allowing her to slowly slide down until she was sitting on her butt. "Light-kun…" she said. He had his back to her, the Death Note was being held to his chest. "You saved me…" she continued. "…Tha-Thank you…"

"I should be thanking you," Light said. "If you hadn't came, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to use the Death Note again." Kagome could not see how Light's eyes bled, a crimson, blood color. "It's real, Kagome."

(A Few Days Later)

Light entered his room after arriving home from his prep course. He did not bother to turn on the light because Kagome was waiting for him already. She was sitting on his bed; she had already turned on the lamplight near his study desk. Kagome blushed when he quickly locked the door and stalked towards her with the speed of a ninja. Light smirked opened the Death Note, he showed her all the pages that he managed to fill up over the weekend. "Look at all the names, Kagome-chan," he said, almost too proudly. Kagome frowned and used a single hand to gently push the book down from her face so she could look up at Light.

"Light-kun… I don't think what we're doing is right." Kagome told him. "Let's stop this madness. This isn't right!" She tried keeping her cool so she would not end up revealing the secret of the Death Note to the Yagami's and her father. "It's murder!"

Kagome gasped unconsciously crawled backwards onto the bed even more when Light slowly crept closer to her. "Kagome-chan, you don't understand," Light began with an emotion that Kagome could not identify in his eyes. "My intentions are pure," he said. "I've been using the Death Note to rid this world of the vermin that plague it."

"Light-kun, what are you thinking?" she asked. "Killing people is wrong, no matter who they are. As a human yourself, you have no right to judge any other one!" Light 's smirk widened.

"I knew you'd say that," the sandy-brown haired teen replied. "If it makes you feel better, we didn't kill those men. I did." She could not believe what she was seeing, what she was hearing! The kind, caring boy that she used to know was turning into a…

"Psycho!" Kagome countered. "Light-kun, listen to me. I don't care if I'm not the one who wrote the names in the Death Note! I can't help but feel partly responsible for those deaths!"

"Kagome-chan…" Light whispered. He pressed his body down on hers, Kagome shifted and wiggled beneath his weight. "Using the Death Note, I will create a new world, free of criminals and evil! I'll kill only the guilty, so that the innocent can live peacefully." Kagome did not blush from the position that they were in. She was too focused on the words that were spilling from Light's mouth. "With the Death Note, I am God."

"What? Are you crazy?!"

"No, I am reborn with new powers."

"Light-kun! I won't let you do this anymore! You're killing people. And you're also killing your own heart! If you don't stop this now, I'll-"

"Kill me?" Light asked, finally climbing off of Kagome. "Tell the authorities? What will you do?" Kagome sat up and bit her lip when she saw Light tuck the Death Note under his arm.

"I…" Kagome whispered. A jab of pain stabbed at her heart. She could not just go and tell the police about Light and the Death Note. 'If I did that…' Kagome looked up at Light and frowned. She blurted out something that did not surprise Light, "I won't betray you!" She looked away from his crimson eyes and said, "but… I can't do this!"

Light smiled and took Kagome's cheek into his hand, "You won't have to, I'll do all the dirty work. All you have to do is watch as I create a new, better, cleaner world!"

Kagome remained silent and closed her eyes. 'I can't do that either…' she thought to herself.

Taking her silence as a sign of agreement, Light sat up at his desk and opened the Death Note. Kagome shivered when Light began to laugh maniacally at the amount of names he had written. 'Light-kun… I… I promise I won't betray you but… I will bring you to the light again.' Her thoughts and Light's laughter was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"You seem to like it…" the voice said. Kagome and Light turned to the direction of voice and gasped. Lightning struck and illuminated the dark room so that they could see the most gruesome sight Light had ever seen. Light literally fell out of his chair and crawled as far away from the creature as possible. Kagome's eyes widened at the creature, she had not sensed his presence before! It was as if he had just appeared out of nowhere!

He was a tall blue creature with spiky hair of a rock star and the face of an evil clown. "Why are you so surprised to see me? I am Ryuk, the shinigami who dropped that notebook."

Light was so focused on Ryuk that he did not even know when Kagome had crawled over his bed to stand in front of him. "You're a shinigami?" asked Kagome skeptically, narrowing her eyes. Ryuk looked at the blue-eyed teenager, she had her arms spread outwards in a protective manner. "Well, you can't have him!"

"Have him?" Ryuk asked. Light's eyes narrowed like Kagome's and he stood up. He placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder, causing her to look up at him over her shoulder.

"…Light-kun…?"

"You don't need to protect me, Kagome-chan," Light told her. He looked at Ryuk, who was scratching his head in a confused manner. "I'm prepared for this moment." Kagome blinked, wondering what he meant by that. "So I'm not surprised to see you, in fact… I've been expecting you, Ryuk."

"Oh?" Ryuk asked. "I see. There have been many times that Death Notes have been dropped into the human world." Ryuk looked down at the names in the open notebook. "But I've never heard of a human writing down this many names in only five days. Most people would be too scared to write down to write this much."

Kagome watched worriedly when Light calmly regained his composure and sat down on his bed. "Like I said before, I am prepared, Ryuk." Light stated. "I used a Shinigami's notebook, and I'm ready to face the consequences. So what are you going to do now? Will you take my soul?"

Ryuk turned from the Death Note to look at Light. "What are you talking about? Humans make up such odd fantasies… I'm not going to do anything to you." Both Kagome and Light were surprised by Ryuk's last statement. "Once a Death Note falls into the human world, it becomes a part of the world. Meaning, that Death Note is yours now."

Light reached for the Death Note and once it was in his hands, he stared down at it with a look of wonder in his eyes. "It's…mine…?" It was a rhetorical question.

"If you do not want then give it to another human. But then of course, I'll have to erase all of your memories concerning the Death Note," he replied.

Kagome knew that all of the new information was giving Light new ideas and more reason to use the Death Note. Light then asked, "So there are no consequences for a human who uses the Death Note?!"

"Well, not exactly," Ryuk told him. "There are horrors that only humans using the Death Note will experience. When you die, I will also write your name in my Death Note. And humans who use the Death Note cannot go to Heaven or Hell… That is all."

Ryuk suddenly turned his red eyes to Kagome, causing her to stiffen. "And what about this girl? Has she touched the Death Note?"

Light asked, "What about her? Is there some sort of punishment for a human who touches another human's Death Note?"

"No," Ryuk said. "Since you own my Death Note, it is natural that you can see or hear me while other humans can not. However, anyone who touches the Death Note can see me…" Light looked at Kagome then back at Ryuk. "But I guess it wouldn't matter if she touched the Death Note or not." Kagome gasped; the shinigami knew whom… what she was!

"What are you talking about?" Light asked angrily. It was obvious that Kagome was keeping a secret from him, and Ryuk knew exactly what it was.

Ryuk responded with a chuckle, "The girl can tell you, herself." Kagome sighed and sat down next to Light on his bed.

"I guess it's okay to tell you… since you already know that shinigami exist…" Kagome began.

"Well, you already know that my father is a detective and that the Higurashi's are a line of policemen and detectives…" Kagome scratched her cheek; Light noted how it was becoming a habit of hers. "On my mother's side of the family is a line of priests and priestesses."

"You're a priestess?" Light asked, surprised. Kagome nodded in response, not sure how Light would take it or if she would have to explain her journeys to the past as well.

Ryuk stated, "For shinigami, it is an honor to meet a priestess in person these days. The practices began dwindling hundreds of years ago." Before anything else could be said, there was a light knock on Light's door.

"Light!" Sachiko called from the other side. Light hid the notebook under his bed, causing Kagome's eyebrow to twitch. She remembered when on Friday she was looking for the Death Note in Light's room… Somehow seeing him hide it under the bed irked her. Light opened the door.

"What?" Light asked his mother.

"I brought you some apples," she told him. "The neighbors brought them over." She then looked over Light's shoulder and into his room. "Why is it dark in there?" She spotted Kagome and smiled warmly, "Why hello, Kagome-chan!" Kagome smiled a nervous smile back at Sachiko and waved. Kagome's smile made something click inside Sachiko's head. The smile on her face disappeared but she was not frowning either.

"Light?"

"Yes, okaa-san?"

"Are you sleeping with Kagome-chan?"

Kagome almost fell off the bed, but she wished she had. That way Sachiko would not have been able to see the blush on her face. "Na-Nani? Me and Light-kun?!" she screamed, as if Sachiko's question was outrageous.

Light smiled reassuringly at his mother and shook his head 'no'. "No, mother, I am not sleeping with Kagome-chan. She just wanted to hang out with me before she went to bed… I assure you that I would never touch Kagome-chan inappropriately-"

Suddenly Kagome was behind Light with balled up fists and fire in her eyes, "And what does that supposed to mean?!"

"-unless," Light continued, without answering Kagome's question. "We get married."

Sachiko nodded and smiled, "my son is too much of a gentleman, I'm sorry I suspected you."

Light waved it off and took the basket of apples from his mother's hands. "Thanks for the apples," Light said politely before shutting the door.

Ryuk took an apple from the basket and took a bite so big that he had already eaten half the apple. He chewed it slowly, savoring its flavor, before swallowing. Kagome laughed a bit when the shinigami simply said, "Yum!"

"One more question," Light said. "Why did you choose me?" Kagome blinked at the question, not getting what he meant by chose. Ryuk greedily stuffed more apples into his mouth and munched on them. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

"Ryuk really seems to like apples." Kagome stated the obvious before smiling.

Ryuk nodded in Kagome's direction and wiped a trail of apple juice from his mouth. "Mm, apples in the human world are amazing! What would you call these…? Juicy." Kagome laughed, though nervously, again, but Light was not amused.

"Answer my question!"

"I didn't choose you." Ryuk answered. "Why would I? Because you're so smart or something?"

Light felt a little insulted by that. "I just dropped the notebook, that's all. Anyone could have picked it up. That's why I wrote the instructions in English, it's the most popular language in this world."

"So why exactly did you drop your Death Note, Ryuk?" Kagome asked curiously. "I doubt shinigami can be that clumsy or absent-minded."

"I did it because I was bored." Ryuk responded. Kagome and Light listened to Ryuk's story with interest. It turned out the life, as a shinigami, was as monotonous as the life as a human.

Shinigami could not even kill each other using their Death Notes.

Kagome yawned, calling attention to her. Ryuk and Light had started a mostly one-side conversation about how and why Light would use the Death Note. She could have jumped in, but she was too into what they had to say to each other. Kagome zoned out even farther when she thought about how frightened and surprised Light was when they found out that the Death Note was real then how he changed... Thinking that what he had done was not wrong.

"I'm going to bed now." she told Light. Kagome opened the door the bathroom and smiled and waved. "Good night, Light-kun… Ryuk." Kagome closed the bathroom door and enter her room then closed her door. She sighed and locked it. 'Something tells me this is only the beginning…'

'I'll stand by you, Light-kun… I'll protect you… But… I'll never give up. I will bring you to the light!'

Chapter 1: Corruption in Light

(!ENDS!)

Authoress' Notes: More about Kagome and Koichi's living situation with Yagami's will be explained later and stuff! I hope this chapter turned out okay. And I tried keeping Light and Kagome in character as much as I could! If either one seemed out of character, I apologize.

Anyway, I got one story out of the way. Lol, now I all I need to do is post another chapter of Shaman King and two other stories, then I'll be fine for a while…

Yeah, and no flames please. I hope everyone understands Kagome's situation now. If you don't, please tell me and in the next chapter, I'll explain the characters' thoughts and feelings more. Oh yeah, and if you don't understand Kagome and Light's relationship, then just think of them as "friends with benefits." I hope you guys liked reading this as much as I liked writing it!