The bell rang and students scattered throughout the school.  Voices echoed as the hall was emptied and people made their way into their assigned classrooms.  Teacher’s monotone lectures and the slight squeaking of scribbling pens surrounded the atmosphere.  Day in and day out, kids learned new and wonderful things in designated establishments.  Not paying any mind to the world outside of their rooms.  Not bothering to notice the not-so-unordinary crimes, business, and other lives going on beyond their realm of thought.  People lived, worked, and died.  It was the same-old, same-old.

            And it was boring as hell.

            A dark haired girl walked alone through the hallways.  Her resounding footsteps disturbing the silence.  Blue eyes bore blankly ahead as her long legs casually brought her to her destination.

            Entering the room, and effectively disrupting the class, brought attention to her.  The authority figure made a meaningless introduction and the girl sat in her given seat.  Heaving a sight, her gaze turned toward the window, not caring to listen to the teacher droll on or to the whispering of her classmates.

            Everyday the same stuff was occurring.  Boredom was easily read upon the new girl’s face as she stared out at the courtyard.  Each day is like a repeated cycle.  The news, the people, the system; all the same.  To her it was just so…

            “So pointless.”

 

            Settling in at his desk, Raito Yagami ignored his peer’s idle conversations.  As the late bell rang and everyone else sat down, the studious teenager got out his supplies and prepared to make notes.  He was a top student after all.  Every ounce of his focus needed to be on his work if Raito were ever to accomplish his goals.

            “Yagami-kun?”

            The brunette’s thoughts were disrupted as the teacher called to him.  He answered the role call, as per routine.  Then put his attention back at the front of the class waiting for the day’s lesion to begin, when something out of schedule happened.

            The classroom door opened and a new person appeared before them.  A girl near Raito’s age strolled right in.  She was good-looking, maybe not by teenaged standards, but his first impression of her was an other-worldly beauty that seemed to radiate from her being.  She was different, that was easy to see.  The way she held herself, not overly confident or shyly reserved.  It was amazing.  Her whole demeanor was refreshing.  She didn’t even feign embarrassment for the late entry.

            After giving the girl a quick reprimand for her tardiness, the teacher turned to his class.  “Everybody, we will have a new student joining us.  Her name is Higurashi, Kagome.  I am sure you all will make her feel welcome.”

            The students were whispering animatedly, quick judgments were made as they all took in her appearance.  As Kagome made her way to the only available desk, which happened to be in front of his own, Raito got a better look at her.

She wasn’t as skinny as most girls, but was in no way fat.  Her long, dark hair nearly reached her petite waist.  Long, shapely legs and slender arms moved in time as Kagome made it over to her seat.  Deep, blue eyes briefly glanced up, catching his own, and held him in place.  What seemed like an eternity lasted maybe less than two seconds.  She quickly sat down and turned her stunningly bright eyes to the window, ignoring his presence entirely.

            Raito was left feeling a little miffed.  He felt as if he was dismissed, or labeled uninteresting in her mind.  He scoffed at the thought.  Yagami, Raito was anything but uninteresting.  He was intelligent.  He was attractive (according to the numerous females that approached him upon occasion).  And he was not one to be overlooked or ignored.

His attention seemed to be stuck on the girl in front of him.  Everyone else around just seemed to be white noise in the background.  She never glanced back at him or turned away from the window.  The girl seemed to be entrapped in her own thoughts.  Light caught the sheen of her hair and Raito noted that her raven-dark hair seemed to be naturally highlighted with bluish streaks.  So caught up in his observation, he almost didn’t hear her wistful remark.

“So pointless…”  Her voice was deep and smooth.

He sat there a moment, not sure if he should speak up or just ignore her comment.  Raito watched another sigh cause her shoulders to slump slightly.  Diving in head first, he leaned forward and asked, “What is?”

She shifted in her chair in order to see him properly.  Looking him up and down, Kagome quirked an eyebrow.  As if to say, ‘excuse me, person-I-don’t-know?’

“Um,” He then faltered a bit under her gaze.  “I-I heard you say… um.”

She raised the other dark brow.  Shifting in her seat, she began to slowly turn back to the front.

Raito cursed his sudden stuttering.  Not wanting her to ignore him, he finally burst.  “I’m Yagami, Raito.”

There was an awkward moment of silence before she fully turned back to him.  Still saying nothing, she moved to straddle her seat and rest her head down upon her folded arms that were draped on the back of her chair.

He felt like panicking.  Now that Raito had her undivided attention, his mind went blank and he felt like there was cotton in his mouth.  “Uh, before.  You said-um.  What did you mean, ‘pointless’?”

He was almost sure she was going to turn her back to him and look out the window again.  So when she let out a huff of air in frustration, he looked to her mildly surprised.

“Everything.”  She replied simply.

Raito ‘hmm’ed in thought.  She believes everything to be pointless?  Strange…  “Higurashi-san…?”

Blue eyes bore into his own chocolate brown.  “Kagome.”

The corners of his lips pulled up into a slight smile.  “Kagome-chan, I can’t help but disagree with your statement.  Without everything there wouldn’t be anything.  Everything has a point.  If there wasn’t anything then there’d be nothing.  Which is pointless.”

A wry smile touched her lips as Kagome politely listened to his rationalizing.  “As smart a student you seem to be,” she gestured to his school supplies all laid out across his desk, “what you just said sounds extremely naive to me.”

This time his lips tipped down into a frown at her description of his thoughts.  “Hn.”

Kagome smirked.  “Sourpuss… Don’t get me wrong; what you said was perfectly reasonable.”  She leaned forward, making her face seem a bit more intense.  “But have you ever just stopped and thought about the world today?  Having everything scheduled and pre-approved, hearing about all the terrible things in life happening, seeing how everyone just brushes it from their minds and go about their day.  People are so selfish they only hear what they want to listen to, and if told to do something, they use their ‘free will’ to do what they want to instead. 

“‘Free will,’ what a joke.  Everything in this world is conditioned.  I don’t think anyone can change that.  The ways that things are today are just so boring.”  She grumbled out the last part declaring her boredom of the world.

Raito sat and listened to her entire ranting, actually taking in her rambling and thought about it.  She had a very different view of things, almost warped.  But somehow, he couldn’t squash the little feeling deep down that recognized the truth in her words.

Kagome Higurashi seemed to be a new breed of human.  One couldn’t help but feel the purity come off her in waves.  Her very being attracted, no demanded attention without any effort whatsoever.  And Raito was hooked.

She turned away after her little lapse in silence.  The rest of the school day went by as usual.  Later on, all the students hurriedly left the room with the exception of a few, still getting their things in order.  Those few included one couple, Raito, and then Kagome was halfway to the door.

The guy was fiddling around with his cell phone as the girl gathered her books.

“-And then she told me where I could stick my hairdryer!  I mean, the nerve, right?  My sister can be such a brat.”

“Mhmm.”  The boy stood up after pretending to listen to his girlfriend’s chatter.  “Ah, man.  Look at this.”

He motioned to his phone and began reading aloud.  “’Last night, at approximately eight forty-five pm, a Miss Azumi Kurosawa was attacked; brutally tortured and sexually abused by three men.’”

The girl pulled an ‘ew’ face before commenting in her own sickeningly sweet tone.  “It’s so sad that stuff like that happens.  So wrong, but I guess that’s life.”

“Says here she was twelve years old, and those guys were all near thirty.  She was getting groceries for her mom, and then got dragged into an alleyway.”  The boy stated as he picked up his backpack.

The girlfriend pouted.  “So gross.  Just stop talking about it.”  She grabbed his arm and tugged.  “Come on.  I wanna get out of here.  Let’s catch a movie.  There’s a really good one with that American actor who’s soo hot!”

The girl prattled on as the couple stepped into the hallway and left Kagome and Raito’s earshot.  They had heard the entire conversation and now the classroom seemed eerily quiet.

Raito had a frown pasted across his face and his thoughts ran rapid.  He had seemed to be… off today.  He got no work done, took no notes, and his thoughts kept going back to his exchange with that new girl.  Kagome… what is it that’s drawing me to her?  I’ve never had feelings such as these for anyone.

He shook his head.  This will not do.  The last thing Raito needed was a distraction.  But Kagome aside, he couldn’t shake the thoughts she had planted.  That couple had been a perfect example of how peoples’ morals were disappearing.  Had life really gotten so rotten?  He looked up to see if Kagome needed help with any of her things, but it seemed she had slipped out of the room during his myriad of thoughts.

Now walking home, Raito seemed to be noticing all these little things around him.  All the little imperfections.  It was as if he had never really looked with open eyes.  Was everyone so blind, or do they just get so caught up in their own facades?  Left and right, people put up fronts or let themselves get distracted with menial tasks.  Has the world always been so superficial?

But not all of it could be blamed on the unknowing citizens.  Life now-a-days were extremely conditioned, and the public standards were heavily influenced.  Passing a newspaper stand, he noticed how all the tabloids and generic magazines drew more attention than the actual newspapers.

Not bothering to stop, he caught a glimpse of the main article.  There on the cover of the local newspaper was a young girl’s smiling face.  Raito could only guess that it was the rape victim from the conversation that he had listened in on earlier.

It was a shame, really.  To know that some people can actually hold such loose morals and be able to commit such vile acts.  Even worse, that the good people of this world have to be in close proximity to these criminals.

Should it be alright for murderers and rapists to roam free because they were let out on the account of a technicality?  Since when was it okay to break the law as long as you had enough cash to make bail?

It wasn’t right.  But everyday you hear it on the news.  Everyday everyone listens to it, but do nothing else.  Sure, some bad people are caught.  But isn’t being stuck in a facility, given three square meals a day and having privileges, when there are others out there that that person has wronged are left in ruins, being too lenient for them?

Those people shouldn’t be part of our society.  They shouldn’t be able to have the same things as all the hardworking people.  It was absolutely wrong.  But what could be done about it?

Sighing, Raito made his way to the front door of his home.  Upon entering, he went directly to his room, absent-mindedly answering his mother before closing his bedroom door.  Loosening his school tie, he collapsed onto the bed.  So many things were running through his head, it was mind strangely numbing.

Shaking his head, he sat up.  He couldn’t let this bother him.  Raito had too many things to get done.  It wouldn’t be good to become all riled up about the state of things.  Yes, he now realized things needed to change, he wouldn’t pretend to be ignorant.  But it’s not like he could make a difference.  It’s not possible for one man to change the shape of the world…

“Raito?”  His mother called from behind his door.  “You had better get going o you’ll be late for your prep course.”

Grunting, he sat up and lifted himself off the bed.  “Hai, ‘kaa-san.”

             He was spacing out again.  It was becoming a bad habit of his it would seem.  Lately, all Raito could concentrate on was how much better the world would be if all the scum were exterminated.  That and-…Kagome?

            Hs head snapped back and his thoughts were interrupted as he caught a flurry of familiar dark locks disappearing into the crowd.  Taking a few quick steps, he maneuvered to the center of the crosswalk.  He could have sworn he had seen her pass by.  Closing his eyes, he shook his head before continuing on.  It was obvious, even to himself, that Raito was infatuated with the girl.  But his thoughts and actions were ridiculous.  Since when did Raito Yagami become hung up over some girl?

            No, that wasn’t right.  Kagome wasn’t just some girl.  Any fool could see that she was different.  A slight frown made it’s way to his face.  Even so, Raito was going to have to calm his nerves around her.  It wouldn’t do for her to believe him to be like any common hormone-driven teenaged boy.  No, things would need to go slowly.  But rest assured he would have Kagome Higurashi.  Determination flashed in his eyes as he took brisk steps forward to his destination.

 

            Sprinting up the sidewalk, Kagome made it to the building fairly early.  At this rate she wouldn’t even be late.  Even if she didn’t want to go, she wouldn’t waste her time here.  Her mother had told her the prep. Course would look good and better prepare her for college.  Normally she wouldn’t have bothered, but she knew that her mother wanted her to go to college.  So she needed a scholarship.

            It was a good plan.  Win a free ticket into a good college, earn some degree to make her mother happy and she’ll even make more money late.  Now all Kagome had to do was study so hard that her brain turned into jelly-like goop.  Oh, the joy of learning.

            Finally reaching the correct room, Kagome grabbed the first seat she saw.  She felt incredibly tired for some reason.  Dark hair spilled over her face as she laid her head down upon the desk.  She kept her eyes closed and just listened as more people came into the classroom.  This would be a long night.  She frowned at the thought.

            She seemed to be in a fog.  The class was halfway through for the night when she first felt it.  Her entire body stiffened.  Thu-thump.  Thu-thump.  She was acutely aware of her own heartbeat.  It seemed to drown out all other sounds around her.  A shiver ran up her spine.  Her eyes widened in surprise.

            Grabbing her bag, she began riffling through it almost frantically.  Finding her calendar, she flipped it open hastily.  The day’s date was circled in red.  She quickly packed up her things and then shot out of the classroom.  Ignoring any calls after her, she breezed through the hallways and ran out of the building and into the street.

            Her heart was pumping so hard, she almost feared having a cardiac arrest.  Jogging down the street, she was still a few blocks away from the shrine.  Rounding a corner, the first wave of pain hit her.  Hard.  Gasping, her legs nearly locked on her.  She continued forward, jaw clenched.

            Turning to run up the shrine’s steps, she took quick strides.  One of these days, I’m going to build an elevator.  She grumbled under her breath as another round of sharp pains struck her.

            Reaching the house, Kagome burst right in and began making her way into her bedroom.  Sighing, she shut the door behind her and erected a barrier.  She flopped onto her bed and let loose her restraint.  Pain ran through her unyieldingly for what appeared like hours.  Still panting slightly, exhaustion made her body heavy and unmovable.  Shutting her eyes, she quickly embraced the comforting black of unconsciousness.

            This was definitely going to be a long night… 

            He was trying.  Really, he was.  His jaw was tight and frustration made his back stiff.  Shifting again in his chair, he attempted to regain his focus.  Sighing, he started once more.  Only to have his concentration broken again.  Not by his thoughts at least, not this time.  It would seem everyone’s attention was diverted.

            It happened so quickly, had you blinked you would have missed it.  A girl had jumped up and ran out the door, in the middle of their prep. Class.  At first, he thought he had imagined it again when he saw the raven-dark hair.  But when she scrambled out the door, he caught a glimpse of her face.  It was Kagome.

            The teacher called after her in vain, she was probably halfway down the hall already.  He furrowed his brow in confusion.  What would be so important that she would make a mad dash from the room in the middle of class?

            Curiosity building, Raito decided to question her tomorrow before class.  Shaking it from his mind for the time being, he plunged back into his work.  Complete and utter focus… On his studies… Nothing else…

            …Damn. 

            She wasn’t there.  The desk in front of him was empty.  As it was the day before.  And the day before that.  This was the third day she has been absent.  For three days he has been left stretching his brain to the limit.  Did something happen to her?  Was she in trouble?

            He had nothing.  Situations played out in his mind of what could have taken place.  It was driving him insane.  He went so far as to ask the teacher for her home address, under the pretence that he would be bringing Kagome her missed work.

            Sighing, he supposed there was nothing for him to do until she came back to class.  Without her there, he noticed how incredibly boring everything was.  It’s like life was a broken record.  Even in history you can see the repetition of events and mistakes.  It was quite aggravating.

            Pointedly ignoring his teacher, he turned to glare out the window.  Sure he might be acting childish, pouting about Kagome’s continued absence, but what did it matter? 

Despite all the good, influential people in history, there were still evil that caused more tragedies then were able to be fixed.  It was the same as him, he was a good guy hoping to do great things later on, but still there were people out there disregarding the law and causing problems.  It all seemed futile.  If only he could gain the upper hand, make them want to follow the rules.

Taking a breath, he started to turn back when something caught his eye.  He looked again.  Something small and black was falling.  Maybe someone threw it from a class above.  Raito blinked and saw it land in the courtyard.

A book…? 

Sighing, Kagome flipped onto her stomach.  She was bored out of her skull.  Lying on her bed, she flicked through television channels when one station was interrupted.  Attention caught, she sat up to see better.

A guy was sitting at a desk going on about right and wrong.  Lind L. Tailor.  Her eyes lit up with understanding.  He was talking to ‘Kira’ the one who has supposedly been the reason for criminals dropping dead of heart attacks.

“Kira,” the dark haired man continued on, “I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of why you’re doing this.  But what you are doing… is evil.”  He fell silent, and then a creepy grin spread across ‘L’s face.  And then nothing.  He just sat there for a minute or two starring blankly at the camera.

Suddenly, his shoulders heaved violently.  And Tailor cried out.  Grabbing his chest, a painful expression shown on his face as he threw his head back in agony.  A few more tortured gasps, then he slumped forward and sprawled across the desk.  He didn’t move, didn’t twitch at all.  It almost looked like he was sleeping, until two men in dark suits moved to take away his body.

Kagome snorted while the corpse was dragged off stage.  How anti-climatic…  She thought as her gaze stayed upon the empty scene.  Then the screen flashed again.  Now an intricately drawn ‘L’ was prevalent on her television set.

Her blue eyes rolled sarcastically.  And the true protagonist enters center stage…  Static crackled in the background as a deep, particularly male, voice resounded.  His tone emphasized with disbelief before it turned to accusation.

“Listen to me, Kira.”  The false voice demanded.  “The man you saw on your TV, Lind L. Tailor, was a condemned criminal scheduled to be executed this very hour.”

Kagome’s eyes flashed with interest.  Tricky, tricky…but not unexpected.  Quite obvious, actually.  Considering this L character was known to be some genius.  Resting her chin upon her fist, Kagome continued listening as the detective went on explaining how Tailor’s arrest and conviction went unreported and kept secret from the media.

“Even you had no way of knowing about him, it seems…”  The voice trailed off suggestively.  It was apparent that the whole point of this broadcast was to get Kira angry in hopes of drawing him out.  Kagome sighed as L went on challenging Kira.  “Come one, do it!  What’s wrong, can’t do it?!”  His false voice crackled during his taunting.  “Evidently, you are unable to kill me.”

Blue eyes deepened into a shade of ominous red as the miko chuckled darkly in amusement hearing the next bit of the man’s speech before they flickered back to their original color.  Unbidden, a smirk quirked the edges of her lips.  Kagome found it quite resourceful of L to broadcast in selective areas in order to expose his enemy.

“Kira, it may not be so long before I send you to the death penalty…”  Hearing this, she snorted.  Getting a little arrogant there, pal… “-interest me greatly to know how you carry out your murders…but that’s something I can find out after I catch you!”  Uhuh, Kagome rolled her eyes, this guy is getting way too ahead of himself.

L said his farewells before her TV screen went dark.  The high pitched screeching of her television filled the room before she raised an arm and clicked it off with the remote.  Kagome moved to lie upon her back, jet-black hair shrouded her pillow and a contented sigh escaped her.

While probably not an ideal situation, all around she felt curious.  Her interest was piqued.  Right now all she would do was observe, but perhaps later on it would be in the miko’s mind to get her hands a little dirty…