Sunrise Over an Apple Orchard

Confrontation

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           "He found himself overwhelmed with happiness and satisfaction."

           It was another boring day in class. Whispers of gossip and other talk swirling quietly in the room, talking bouncing off the spotless green tile, "I have no idea what he was thinking, coming to my house, but I am so through with him," and similarly colored plaster walls, "Seriously? So what happened with your dad after that?" The large shadows cast by the deep red-tinged orangey sun, surrounded by a fiery halo of yellow and white that gleamed so brightly it could blind someone simply glancing out the slightly dusty plastic windows where the golden star swam lazily. Though as brilliant as it was it made the whole room dark except for Misa and a few other students in the desk column against the windows. The rest of the room shrouded in a dark veil of mourning black, students squinting at textbooks to make out the shaded words while the teacher at the front drifted to the left, shifting his book to catch a few spare beams, just enough to make it to the end of class.

           Misa did not waste her position at the windows though. Her textbooks spread haphazardly in a jumbled and confusing way, pages of the top book overlapping and blocking views of the second which did the same to the third. The A+ student did not adore any semblance of unorganization, even in her room, cluttered with many collections and nicknacks that caught her eye, there was always a method to the madness. But it was necessary to jumble her desk up to hide the fact her attention was not focused on the chapter reading, but actually on a notebook filled with nothing but names. "Knowing that, at long last, his dream had finally come true. Alright then. Amane?" Misa looked up, tilting her head to still view the page just barely below her eyelids, scratching the rest of a criminal's name in with her pencil. "Please recite the rest of this line for us."

           Nodding with a smile, she stood up, drawing the top book up to her and quickly flipping its pages to the line, "Having finally made his dream a reality, he was overwhelmed. Both by the magnitude of his achievement, and by the joy and happiness that it brought him," She recited, dutifully before sitting back down, smoothing the black skirt of her uniform.

           "That was very well done, but I'm not surprised of course. Absolutely flawless," her teacher praised, just as he did after every question she answered, "Very good, well then we'll leave it at that for today," Her teacher finished as Ryuk's spiky black hair made its way up from the corner of her eye. The shinigami had been floating around the classroom and halls the whole day, never missing a chance to complain. It had really started to get on Misa's nerves despite how politely she tried to make him understand that no, she cant skip school, no she can't give him an apple because everyone would see, and no, she doesn't care that he's bored. Keep her eyes forward pointedly as students around her packed up their stuff, voicing their relief to be done.

           A bell chimed gently, with a soothing bing bong bong to signal an official end. Although most students would stick around for a while afterward to talk with friends in the teacherless classrooms or attend after school clubs. Misa did not like to do either of those and she packed up her bags, shielding the notebook with another book, sliding it inconspicuously inside the bookbag. Next to her, Ryuk stretched, rolling his shoulders and arms, though whether he actually felt sore or was just trying to be dramatic she couldn't be sure. "I thought it'd never end," Misa rolled her eyes behind blonde hair, if the death God could handle eternity in a wasteland he should surely be able to handle a school day no sweat, "It's been so boring here." Ignoring him she slung her bag over her shoulder and left the room, her shined black shoes padding while her complaining follower called to her to ask where she was going, with, of course, the only response being the door sliding shut behind her.

           The Shinigami had easily caught up to her outside in the school courtyard, close enough behind her now that she could have felt his breath on the back of her neck if he had any need to breathe, and lazily floating on large wings filled with decayed and rotting feathers, a few falling and disappearing into the ground with every flap, though the skeletal abomination never seemed to lose any flight ability despite the losses. "Misa? Hey Misa. Are you even listening to me?" He complained, dropping and raising his pitch to be as noticeable, and annoying, as possible.