Light Yagami

---

Tokyo, 11:47 PM

The city was freezing.

Not the kind of cold that announced itself with snow or storms, but the quiet, merciless cold that slipped beneath coats and settled deep into bone.

The streets of Tokyo shimmered beneath neon reflections and damp pavement. Thousands of people moved through the night, each consumed by their own destination, their own life.

None of them noticed the monster walking among them.

Or rather—

the monster walking beside him.

Light Yagami moved through the crowd with effortless composure, one hand in his pocket, a phone pressed against his ear.

Several steps behind him walked Ryuk.

Invisible.

Watching.

Amused.

Ryuk took a loud bite from an apple, grinning as he observed the humans around them.

Light ignored him.

As usual.

"...Misa."

His voice was calm, controlled.

The voice on the other end immediately brightened.

"Light! Finally! I've been trying to reach you all evening—"

"I've been busy."

There was a brief silence.

Misa's tone softened.

"Are you working again?"

"Something like that."

Light's eyes drifted across the passing crowd.

Every face.

Every movement.

Every possibility.

A habit he had developed long ago.

Nothing escaped his attention.

"Light..."

Misa hesitated.

"Do you ever think about us?"

Light's expression remained unchanged.

The question felt less like romance and more like an inconvenience.

"Misa."

"Yes?"

"I've told you before."

His voice remained polite.

Too polite.

The kind of politeness that created distance rather than warmth.

"My priorities haven't changed."

Another silence.

This one hurt more.

Ryuk snorted.

"You're terrible at this relationship thing."

Light ignored him.

Misa laughed nervously on the phone.

"I know you're busy... I just thought..."

She trailed off.

Light knew exactly what she wanted.

Affection.

Reassurance.

Love.

Things he had never truly offered.

Things he had no interest in offering.

To Misa, he was the center of her world.

To Light, she was useful.

Nothing more.

"Is there anything else?"

The question landed like a closing door.

Misa's heart sank.

"No..."

"Then I'll call you later."

"Light—"

The line went dead.

Light lowered the phone.

Ryuk immediately burst into laughter.

"She worships you, and you barely tolerate her."

Light slipped the phone into his pocket.

"Emotions cloud judgment."

"That's a fancy way of saying she's annoying."

For the first time all evening, Light almost smiled.

Almost.

Then—

he stopped walking.

Not because of Ryuk.

Not because of Misa.

Because of something else.

A voice.

His own.

Echoing back to him.

---

Across the street stood a young woman.

She had been walking past a modern office building when she happened to hear fragments of a conversation.

Nothing unusual at first.

Just another businessman talking on the phone.

Then she heard certain words.

Words that didn't belong in an ordinary conversation.

"The names."

"Tomorrow's results."

"Everything is proceeding exactly as planned."

She hadn't intended to listen.

She hadn't even stopped intentionally.

But curiosity had frozen her in place.

And now she realized something horrifying.

The young man across the street was staring directly at her.

---

The crowd continued moving around them.

Neither of them did.

For a brief moment, the noise of Tokyo seemed to disappear.

Light studied her.

Not emotionally.

Analytically.

Calculating.

Every detail.

Age.

Expression.

Body language.

Level of fear.

Potential threat.

The girl's pulse visibly quickened.

Not because he looked dangerous.

Quite the opposite.

He looked normal.

Perfectly normal.

And that was somehow worse.

Light crossed the street.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

The distance between them disappeared.

When he finally stopped, his expression was calm.

Friendly, even.

"Did you hear something?"

The question sounded harmless.

The meaning behind it wasn't.

The girl hesitated.

Every instinct told her to walk away.

Yet something about his gaze made that impossible.

"I might have."

A dangerous answer.

Light immediately recognized that.

Most people would deny it.

Most people would lie.

She hadn't.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

"What exactly did you hear?"

His tone remained pleasant.

The girl met his eyes.

Long enough to realize something she couldn't explain.

This wasn't a normal conversation.

This felt like standing on the edge of something enormous.

Something hidden.

Something dark.

"I don't think that's a question I should answer."

For the first time—

Light became genuinely interested.

---

Ryuk's grin widened.

"Oh, this is getting good."

And for the first time that night—

Light Yagami agreed.

Without saying a word.

Because he had just found someone who might become either a problem...

or something far more dangerous.

Someone he couldn't immediately predict.

And that alone was enough to capture his attention.

The cold Tokyo night continued around them.

Unaware that a single accidental encounter had just changed the course of several lives.