Unknown

Chapter One

My heels slap against the asphalt as I run for my life. Well, maybe not for my life, but definitely my pride. I'm gasping for breath as I turn a corner. I look behind me, and there he is, about ten steps behind. He's fast, but I'm faster, mostly from actually having to run for my life. I'll explain that in a bit.

I look ahead. There it is! Just a little bit further I chant to myself. Within about fifteen seconds I cross the finish line. "Yes!" I gasp for breath, but not before doing a celebratory dance. I look to the instructor. He calls out my time. "4 minutes 12 seconds." I stamp at the ground. 'Pretty good, but still not my best' I think to myself.

As the other students finish, (quite slowly) I take the time to lie down and relax in the soft grass that's around the track. After a little bit I hear someone approaching. "Who is it?" I ask, my eyes still closed.

"I'll give you three guesses." Says a familiar voice. I quickly recognize it to be Light Yagami. My best friend and pseudo-rival. My only friend really, due to the fact that I tend to avoid most people. The only reason I hang around with Light is that we tend to end up competing against almost everything. I guess through that, we sort of built a bond. A very weird bond, but still. Light says that I'm "One of the only people intelligent enough to hold a conversation with." Do I mind? Not really, after all, whenever I beat Light at something, it can be pretty funny to see such a cool, calm, and collected person lose their cool. If even for a second.

I open my eyes and I see him extending a hand. I grab it and pull myself up. "Still second best to me as always." I say teasingly. I turn around and see that everyone is finally finished. The Instructor sends us all inside to cool off before the next class.

My next class happens to be something I find incredibly boring. Religious studies. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against religion or religious people, but it's just so boring. When I was little, I was forced to study different cultures and their respective religions. The cultures I had no problem with, as it was incredibly interesting. But I've just never found religion interesting. Why believe in something if you can't see it?

Anyways, after a little bit of daydreaming and wishing I was just about anywhere but there, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. My eyes glance out the window, and I see something black lying on the ground. I look around to see if anyone in the class had noticed. It doesn't appear so, until I see Light staring out the window intently, as if he were thinking. His eyes are slightly wide, as though surprised.

When class ends, I walk outside and see that it's still there. I walk up to it, but right before I can grab it, I see Light walking up towards it. "So you saw it too." He says. I nod. Before I can react, he grabs it and looks at the cover. "Death Note. Like a notebook of death?" He asks, more to himself than to me. He turns it over, and then opens it. He starts reading aloud. "The human whose name is written in this note will die." He scoffs. "This must be like one of those chain emails that say if you don't forward this to fifty people you'll get cancer." I say. Really, who would think this was funny?

"Yeah, probably."

We start walking away when he stops. He turns around. "But..." he starts. "What if it is real?" I stare at him for a moment before breaking out in a fit of giggles. "I'm being serious. We should at least keep it. If we do that then we know it can't get into the wrong hands."

I think for a second. Well... if it is real, then this could do some serious harm in the hands of a psychopath or criminal. "Alright." I say. "But only because of what could happen if we don't." We continue walking like nothing had happened, with the so called Death Note tucked safe in my bag. "So, is it ok if I come over tonight?" I ask. He nods. "Sure, but if you spend any more time there my parents may start planning the wedding."