Death Note: Armageddon

Loose Ends

Chiyoda, Tokyo — Mori Amaterasu

She'd gotten the job. That was good news. Sure, being an art teacher wasn't the best paying job there was, but it was a way to make money while she was busy dealing with college. Several days had gone by, and she had almost forgotten about the black notebook at this point, having thrown it on her bed and not looked at it since nearly a week ago when she had first found it.

Azumi was out on a date—again—leaving Amaterasu and Kazuki alone at the house. Amaterasu was studying for an exam, trying her best to brush up on her English.

"So it's a female this time."

"Huh?" said Amaterasu. She promptly grabbed a baseball bat that was leaning against her desk, quickly looking from side to side. "Who's there? I've got a bat, and I won't hesitate to beat you senselessly with it!"

"Heheheh," came a laugh. "You couldn't even if you tried."

Now able to determine the location of the voice, Amaterasu turned towards her window, expecting to see a burglar had broken in. Instead, she saw a tall, bluish monster with large eyes and a terrifying smile plastered onto its face.

She dropped the baseball bat, falling to the floor. She opened her mouth to scream, but no noise came out.

"Nice to meet you," said the monster. "My name's Ryuk."

"Ryu-Ryuk?" Amaterasu stuttered. "Wh-what do you want with me?"

"Nothing, really," Ryuk admitted. "You picked up my notebook—well, technically it was Rem's notebook."

"D-do you want it back?" Amaterasu asked.

"You could give it back to me," said Ryuk, "or you could use it."

"Use it?" Amaterasu repeated in confusion.

"Oh, that's right," Ryuk realized. "This one didn't have any instructions in it.
"You see, what you have there is a Death Note. If you write a person's name in the notebook while imagining their face, then that person will die in forty seconds. You can specify the way you want the person to die, and if it's possible, they'll die in that way. If you don't specify, then they'll die of a heart attack."

"A heart attack?" said Amaterasu. "That sounds like Kira."

"Just like Kira," said Ryuk. "I knew him. He was an interesting guy; he tried to change the world and become a god. It didn't work out for him, though."

"You mean, this notebook will give me the power to become like Kira?" said Amaterasu.

"Pretty much," Ryuk confirmed.

"Well then, who—or what—are you?" she wondered.

"I told you, I'm Ryuk," he said, "and I'm the last Shinigami to own that notebook."

"Sh-Shinigami?" Amaterasu echoed.

"And there's one thing you should know before you agree to this, Mori Amaterasu," said Ryuk. Amaterasu shuddered when he said her name, not wanting to know exactly how it was he knew it. "When the time comes for you to die, I will write your name in my notebook, and any human that uses the Death Note can go to neither heaven nor hell."

"That's no problem," said Amaterasu, this time more confidently as she picked up the notebook from her bed. "I'm an atheist anyway."

"A what?"

"An atheist," she repeated. "It means I don't believe in any higher power. I also don't believe in heaven and hell."

"Heheheh," Ryuk laughed, "well, would you look at that. How surprising. You're right, though. Neither exists; all humans are equal in death.
"So what are you going to do with the notebook? Become a god?"