Precursor || Death Note [ON HOLD]

Chapter Four: Kaori

Author's Note:
I promise that it gets interesting here! I hope you like it!
End Author's Note
***
CHAPTER FOUR: {Kaori}
I'd noticed the notebook about halfway through class.
It was black, with writing on the cover that I couldn't read from the classroom I was currently located in. It lay in the middle of the courtyard of our school grounds, and so far it seemed that Yagami Light-kun and I had been the only ones to see it.
Also, as far as I could tell, one minute it wasn't there and the next it was.
The bell rang, signifying the end of class and the beginning of my lunch period.
"Phew," I muttered, stretching. This class had been as boring as ever. Then again, most classes were what I considered boring. Other than the history class' curriculum, I'd already learned just about everything we would be going over this year.
Unlike Yagami Oh-So-Smart-Goody-Two-Shoes Light, I didn't like to take notes on what I already knew. Unfortunately, I sat directly behind him in all classes, and had nothing to do but a) take notes, b) look outside, c) doodle and draw, or d) stare at the back of his head. Most days I chose to stare outside or draw (a passion of mine, you'll find out).
Yagami-kun had apparently chosen to do the same thing; it was a Friday and everyone was itching to get outside to eat and gossip and play sports.
Now that the bell had rung, we had a chance to.
"Hey, Yamazaki-san!" a female voice called from behind me.
"Kaori-chan!" another voice chimed.
I turned almost lazily. "Yes, Uru-chan and Hana-san?"
The two approaching me were twins; we'd been friends since middle school. They both had their mother's long and straight black hair, and their father's high cheekbones. Secretly I was envious of their looks and thought they were both beautiful; their only difference was in personality.
"We're gonna eat under the big oak tree today!" Uru-chan exclaimed, pulling her tangled hair into an extremely messy ponytail. "Jiro's saving us a spot!"
"Would you care to join us?" Hana asked formally, being the more well-mannered of the two.
I grinned. "I'd love to. Just...let me pack up my things first. I wanna get some drawing done during lunch." I bent down and started to pick up my large stack of books, folders, and textbooks.
"Ooh, I wanna come too!" squealed Miyuki. She leaned down to help me gather up my belongings. Conspiratorially she whispered, "Kaori-chan, can you pleeease ask Yagami-kun if he'll come with? Pretty please?"
You have got to be kidding me, I groaned inwardly. Aloud, though, I said a carefully neutral, "Sure."
"Whee! Thanks a bunch, Kaori-chan!" Miyuki leapt into the air, my stuff forgotten.
I wonder who you have a crush on, sarcastic me thought.
"Hey...Yagami-kun!" I called to him just as he was about to leave the classroom.
He turned. "Yeah?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to join us to eat lunch," I said easily. The bonus of being an ADHD girl like me is that you can talk to just about anyone. "So, will you?"
"Maybe I will," he answered, half-smiling at me. "But I have to check something out first. Is that okay?"
"Oh," I said, mind racing. He was gonna take a look at that notebook, wasn't he? "Yeah, that's fine."
"That's good. Well, see you then!" Yagami-kun waved and turned to leave, then paused and looked back. "And call me Light, okay?"
"Uh...Okay, Light-kun!"
He smiled again. "That's it." Then he really did leave.
"Ooh, you talked to him!" Miyuki squealed. "And he told you to call him Light! D'you think I'd be able to call him Light? Or would that be too presumptuous?"
"Oh, just call him whatever." I sighed, grabbing my sketchbook. "Now, let's get outta here! Jiro and the others are waiting!"
---
When we got outside, Jiro, Saki, Hiro, and Atsushi were waiting for us by the big oak.
Atsushi waved, grinning. He was always such an idiotic, cheerful guy; then again I suppose I'm like that, too, only I'm of the opposite gender.
I waved back, beaming, and started to run over. Something caught my eye, though.
It was Light-kun standing next to and looking down at the black notebook. I saw his lips move in surprise.
I could read lips, so I knew immediately what he'd said. "Death...note?" It took a bit longer for me to realize it was English, though.
Hm, I thought.
"Oi! Earth to Yamazaki-san!" Jiro called at me. "Ya coming?"
Oh, whatever, I decided. Ignore Light for now.
I hurried after Uru and Hana.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Light shrug, then walk away and towards the oak tree.
I plopped down next to Uru-chan and Jiro-kun. "Hey," I said, grinning.
"Liiight!" Miyuki cried. "Hiii!" She beamed at him and motioned for him to sit next to her.
He had the decency to not act overwhelmed, even though he (and I) knew her little crush would never get anywhere.
Our rather large group dissolved into smaller groups of two and three, and at least three different conversations could be heard.
My stomach grumbling, I took part in none of the discussions and focused on my poor stomach, who'd had to go without breakfast that morning.
I opened my lunch box and pulled out a little pack of dried ramen noodles. I opened it, broke off a piece, and began munching.
Saki looked at me, slightly peeved. "...Okay, then," she finally said.
Jiro realized I was eating uncooked ramen at that point.
"What, may I ask, are you doing?!" he snapped, affronted.
"Eating ramen," I replied.
"Eating uncooked ramen," he corrected. "And why, may I ask?"
"Well, I was running late today!" I claimed.
"That doesn't mean it isn't an insult to the beauty of ramen!" Jiro exclaimed. I couldn't tell if the lawyer-to-be was actually angry or debating and arguing for the sake of debating and arguing.
"He has a point, you know," added Uru-chan, grinning playfully.
I huffed. "Oh, great. Are you two ganging up on me or something?"
Jiro and Hana laughed; our friendly banter continued.
About halfway through lunch my mission to fill my stomach was completed, so I turned to the other task that had been set before me.
Light had politely excused himself from all conversation a bit before then, and studied for a quiz that our teacher had threatened us with.
"Um, Light-kun," I said, "would you mind if I drew you?"
"Oh... No, not really," he answered, slightly surprised. "What for?"
"Art class."
"Oh."
Atsushi then chose to butt in. "Aw!" he pouted. "Why can't you draw me?" He struck a weird and exaggerated pose.
I laughed. "That's exactly why."
"Oh, if you want serious I'll give it to you on a platter." Atsushi fixed his mouth in a firm line, then placed his hands in his lap and looked out in the distance.
I laughed harder alongside the others. "Atsushi-kun, you idiot," I gasped between breaths.
After I'd gotten the laughter out of my system, I focused solely on Light-kun and drawing him.
I had somehow, miraculously, gotten the drawing of Light just right, and was on the fine lines of the hair when the bell rang.
Startled, I drew a long, harsh, and dark line through his face.
"Aw, crap," I muttered. "I ruined your hair and face, Light-kun. I'm sorry."
He looked briefly at my drawing. "That's okay. Other than the line the picture looks great."
"That's the problem," I whined, snapping my sketchbook shut.
"Oh, shoot, we might be late," Uru-chan realized; with that I had to shove aside my sour mood.
"Let's move it, people!" Atsushi boomed. "Go, go, go!"
"Uh, yeah, we got that," Saki replied to her younger brother, annoyed.
We all raced back into the school building, but I turned back at the last second, when I realized that Light-kun wasn't with us.
I began to call his name when I realized what he was doing: picking up that notebook.
He looked carefully around to make sure no one was watching, then swooped it up and placed it in his bag.
Before he could see me, and before my friends noticed my absence, I turned around and hurried to catch up with my friends.
But for the rest of the day, I couldn't help but wonder what was in that notebook, and what exactly it was.
For the longest time I even had odd dreams about it, and my waking moments were often occupied by the thought of the notebook. Eventually though, summer came along, alongside entrance exams, and I was too preoccupied with getting into a British college to think much about it, and I just about forgot the notebook.
I don't believe that Light ever brought it to school again, but I could swear that something about that notebook changed him.