Chapter 5- "Birth of a God"
#5 of Furry Death Note
{Now}
Light slept the first night at Natalie's house handsomely. His bed was a lot softer than the one in the apartment. He did not wake up thinking that his father could come in, drag him by the elbow out to the car to take him to school. Instead, he woke up to find he accidentally left the television on all night and nobody would yell at him about it.
The Death Note sat on his chest, pen loosely grasped in his fingers. He tucked the book away under his shirt and stood up to stretch. How long did I stay up last night? he asked himself.
Light trudged down the stairs where the smell of syrup became distinct. Jessie-Belle was standing in the kitchen, pancakes cooking on the stove. Her and Natalie turned around when they saw him come into the room, looking worried. There was no way they knew what he was doing all night, was there?
Natalie picked up a steaming white mug. She took a sip from it, sighing softly. "Good morning, Light. How did you sleep?"
"Not very well." Better than saying hardly at all. The less they knew, the better. Light fixed himself with a few pancakes from Jessie's pan and sat down at the dining room table a few feet from Aunt Natalie. He could tell while he was eating that she had a lot on her mind. She only stared at one point in space, she breathed heavily out of her nose. "Is everything okay, Natalie?"
She shook her head. "Oh, she's only overreacting," Jessie said with a wave of her paw.
"It's still very scary." Natalie dug her phone out of her pocket, tapping a few buttons before passing it over to Light. On the screen was a video from the news channel website with the headline scrawled across the bottom.
Is There Someone Looking Out For Us?
Kira Becomes Overnight Sensation.
Feeling brave, Light presses Play.
{Then}
The only thing going through his mind was how this seemed like a video game. Only his battlefield was the world, which was only a few clicks away. Channel after channel on the TV of news featuring the crimes of various people across the planet. More websites than he could count holding several articles with faces of those whom cops fail to bring to justice.
That was what Kira was for.
Kira was going to show the world that the true bad guys can be brought down, while the good guys stayed out of harm's way.
Kira wrote down every name and face of every person that looked slightly off-putting that he saw. He kept one eye on the TV, scanning the screen and flipping through the channels for any situation or live crime scene; and the other eye down on his phone, his thumbs working through the websites to find anyone who may have gotten away with a felony; from small petty bank robber suspects, to big league frauds who still roam the world free. Kira swore to himself to bring them all to justice.
Carl Stewart.
Amelia Marshall.
Isaac Simmons.
Pedophiles, bullies, stalkers, rapists. Kira found them. And took them away from the world. Sometimes at the right moment on live TV to show the good that is coming from the movement. Eventually the name came along. Kira wanted nothing more than to be thanked for what he was doing for the world.
Around midnight, he started to incorporate the deaths in a manner that would show his name before the world. Kira, written out for everyone to see shortly before committing suicide. Laura Moore. Imam Al-Sharani. Marcel Dupuis. All of them taking the last 15 seconds of their last to spell out the great name in blood.
K. I. R. A.
{Now}
A female reporter that Light might have seen before had a stern look on her muzzle as she read from what Light assumed were cue cards behind the camera. "Who or what is Kira?" she asks, clearly baffled. "Investigators all over the globe are speechless with the numerous deaths revolved around this name. What started last night as a few deaths here and there ended in a bloodbath all over the earth."
The image switched from the reporter to a few snapshots of prison cells. Bodies were flung across the ground, blood smeared on the walls. What was interesting was the blood was marked out in a bunch of symbols that Light recognized as Japanese. "These cases have appeared in the most notorious of prison across the world late last night from Sabaneta Prison to Rikers Island. Prior to their deaths, prisoners have scrawled this message in perfect Japanese. Records have shown that a mass majority of these inmates have had no knowledge of the language.
"Over 1,250 recorded deaths over the past eight hours revolved around Kira. But the question remains: who is he? Or she? Is Kira a cult sensation? A god sent to right the wrongs of our society? Whoever he is, Kira has shook up the world, leading most criminals to ask themselves if they are next."
Light paused the video and handed the phone back to Aunt Natalie. "I don't really see the problem," the young cheetah said. "If Kira is targeting criminals, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?"
Natalie accepted her phone with a glum look about her face. "I know. But it is still wrong. Whoever Kira is, I really hope he stops the killing. How scary would it be if someone had the ability to decide whether you live or die?" The answer: it would be very frightening. But what Light did not want to point out to Natalie was that it really would depend on who has the ability.
All three of them ate their breakfast in silence. Today was Sunday, the day when everyone was doing their best to squeeze in a decent mood when the gloom of Monday was looming over them. Light decided to take this opportunity to get close to his new guardians. "What are your plans for the day?" Light asked.
"Well." Natalie sighed and sipped from her coffee mug. "Nothing specific. Just see wherever the day takes us."
"Oh. I was thinking maybe the three of us can maybe go out and do something." Both women looked at him with a raised brow. "You know, for bonding time and whatnot."
"Perfect!" With Jessie-Belle's accent, it sounded like Poy-fect. "Why don't we get you some new clothes, Light! It'll get your mind off your father and Nat off this whole Kira thing!" Light certainly appreciated Jesse's enthusiasm. Plus, now that the young cheetah was in a new era of his life, Light could use a new look.
Natalie smiled down into her dark brown drink. Her tail swayed without a sound. "A day out would be nice. Besides, Light is right. From the looks of it, Kira was only going after criminals. And while I would prefer the killings stopped, I'm relieved that my family won't be affected by this."
Light was a little thankful for his Aunt's words. No one has ever said he was right about something before. Trying to stand up to Father normally earned a swift punch across the muzzle. Light smiled then hugged his Aunt in an awkward fashion. He was going to have to get used to this feeling, of being loved and listened to rather than be used as a punching bag.
The trio spent the rest of their morning freshening up, trying to keep their mind off Kira. But that was not so easy for Light when he was the "god" in question.
Light was very shocked, yet pleased, to know he racked up 1,250 names in the Note in just one night. The mass majority of them were the prison suicides where cellmates wrote Kira's name over and over in blood. Around 500 did not have any cause of death written next to them; thereby executing them via heart attack. At that point in the night, Light could not think of any more creative ways to kill someone and simply jot down name after name after name. When 3AM rolled around, he passed out.
He took a closer look at the Note once he was in his room. 1,250 names in one book, and there was hardly any dent in the pages.
"The Note never runs out of pages," a dark voice said behind him. Light jumped when he saw Ryuk. The snow leopard was going to take some time to get used to. What was creepier was that somehow, he was reading Light's thoughts.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Light asked.
"Check the rules kiddo," Ryuk said. "The Note never runs out of pages. You could write the name of all eight billion people in the world and you wouldn't get through one percent of the pages."
"Seriously?"
"Well... you can't put the names down of kids under a year old but yes."
This was even more news to Light. He needed to take a closer look at the rules, see what else he can do with this book. Light throws off his clothes and tossed them into a corner out of habit. He looked through some of the clothes he brought from home and settled for a blue shirt covered by a blue vest jacket, and black pants to fit over his slim legs.
He came downstairs to find Jessie-Belle in a black dress to match her fur, and Natalie in a purple blouse with grey sweatpants. "Are you sure you want to go out like that?" Natalie asked. "People will think you're not wearing anything."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Jessie exclaimed, turning around in a full circle. "If I was wearing nothing, you would see a lot more pink, wouldn't you agree?"
Light was considering going back upstairs for another moment when both ladies turned to him and stopped their little spat. None of them dared to speak until Jessie finally said, "This is why we need to get you more outfits, kiddo. You look like you're trying to bring back the eighties."
"I've always worn this, though." He looked down at the stuff he was wearing. Maybe this was the wrong shade of blue.
"It's fine," Natalie said.
The three of them piled into a red 2017 Acadia, where Jessie-Belle called shotgun. Light sat in the back, listening to his new guardians converse while looking out the window as they sped into town. They were edging back towards familiar territory. But instead of zooming straight downtown, the street threw a curveball and they continued past the entrance ramp of the highway, continuing south.
Their city was great for material goods such as antiques, books, and knick-knacks. But when it comes to clothes, Light could not argue that the better decision was to head for the mall in the next town over, a place that he could barely remember being at for ten years. Normally, Father would go to a nearby Goodwill store for his clothes. (The man was cheap as well as abusive, choosing instead to waste any leftover money on Bud Light bottles.)
Light also thought about the consequences of his current situation. There was no way this Kira myth could be traced back to him. How does a police investigation track down gods and supernatural notebooks? And what would he do if he was ever caught? Panic and run away like a baby kitten? That would only prove Father right; that he was worthless. Nobody would ever believe him if he tried to explain how the Note worked. Even he did, he still chose to go this route; to use the Note at all. That would make him a bad guy, wouldn't it?
No, he told himself. He would not let Kira go so far as to where he would be exposed. Light would simply watch the news, write names down, they die. End of story.
Besides, there probably is not one person on earth who could do this type of investigating.