What's This..? [ Kunuru ]

[amaishizuka]

' Hmmmnnn... ' Shizuka brought a slender finger to her lips, and stared inquiringly down at the stubborn zipper. It simply did not want to comply with her wishes, but, there was probably a way around it. " Hold still, Kaname, " She told her younger brother, who squirmed in her grasp as she tried jerking the zipper gently in the opposite direction.
Still it would not yield.
With a soft huff, she gave one last tug, and the zipper slid free of its vice-like hold, relinquishing its snag like a comb that had finally slid through a tangle of hair.
" I'm gonna be late~, " Kaname whined, and Shizuka smacked him playfully at the back of his raven haired head. " Hush, " She said, with a small smile, " YOU asked me to help you. So what if your tutor has to wait a couple minutes because of it? He'll stick around, trust me, Kaname-chan. " Kaname pouted, but she ignored it, and instead reached over to the coat rack to get a new jacket for him. " Here, take this one. " She waited for him to slip the one she'd just untangled off of him, before handing him the new one, and insisting he don it before skipping out the door. When he did, she folded it over one arm and closed the door after him; it was rainy and dark, but armed with his coat, she wouldn't have to worry about Kaname getting sick and needing her attention anytime soon.
" ... " ' I guess Id better get to practice, ' The youth glanced to the clock in the living room; it was still a couple hours before evening, only one hour after she'd gotten home from school. Taking the rebellious little coat with her, she softly padded up the stairs that led to the second floor of the small building. It wasn't much; just enough space for her, her brother, and her mother to live in. Her elder sister, Tachiko, was always at work, and generally tended to sleep over at a friends house instead of come home, since the friend lived closer to her work than Shizuka and her mother, Hanako.
Opening the door to her snug room, Shizuka glanced around; nothing seemed meddled with since she'd left that morning. It was rare, but Hanako had a bad habit of " cleaning up " when Shizuka wasn't around to stop her... and it made things unusually difficult to find, most of the time.
Padding over to her piano, which she'd managed to fit into the room-it had been priority #1 over her bed the moment theyd moved there-she sat on the chair in front of it. Piano benches were too harsh on ones rear, and Shizuka often devoted at least an hour to playing per session, so she'd tossed out the piano bench that came with her piano in exchange for a comfortable, padded computer chair. Of course, sometimes the wheels on the bottom of it were a problem, but it wasn't anything Shizuka couldn't solve without assistance.
Looking up to a pile of papers and folders, it only took a moment for her to find the folder she wanted; there was a new song in the works within, and the desire to complete it was a most painfully persistent one.
So, with a quick flip, she opened it, ready to pick up where she'd left off...but...
' Huh? '
Staring down in pure puzzlement, Shizuka reached with her free hand and tugged loose the black spine of a notebook she'd never seen before, careful to shuffle the music pages in a way that wouldn't dump them onto the floor, and roughly preserve their usual order.
' Where did this come from? '
In her moment of confusion, Shizuka glanced back toward her door. Was her mother a ninja, or something? Something like this... couldn't belong to Kaname. Not with such words scrawled on the front: Death Note.
And Tachiko hadn't been around for quite some time.. Shizuka would've noticed something like THIS, in such a place, before now...
Curiosity ended up pulling her gaze back to the strange book and her slim fingers worked to smoothly open it, wondering what could be written upon its pages.
Nothing.
There weren't even lines for text to be written upon.
It was then that a line of text in a strange, silvery-white sort of font caught her eye and she half spoke, half thought aloud, " ' The human whose name is written in this book shall die.
This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
If the case of death is written within 40 secon-- ' "
After that, Shizuka drew back a bit, and gave the mysterious article a look of pure doubt. Even if it was a joke, couldn't someone get in major trouble for having stuff like this? Or SELLING it? It was obviously promoting violence...even delinquent behavior. Or in the very least, false hopes.
' Well, it might be a good way to relieve stress, ' Shizuka thought after, and her expression melted back into its usual secretive blank slate. ' Maybe I'll try it sometime.

[Kunuru]

Just overhead, the wind blew hard, or so it seemed. The sound of flapping came from outside, loud flapping. Large birds are not common in the area, but neither was the creature making the noise. Within a moment the sound stopped, it seemed the 'bird' must have perched. How little Shizuka knew yet, but would soon learn. As just above her, Kunuru sat on the ceiling of the building. His deep green eyes peered down over the street, he'd felt the sensation of a person touching the book. I hope you use it soon girl, I went through a lot to pick you. His thoughts were loud enough to almost be audible, though no sound came from him as he lay waiting. How odd a sight, this grotesque beast resting atop of a building, though it was a sight that the passing people below couldn't see.

The only one who had a chance to see this creature, this shinigami, would be Shizuka. She wasn't ready yet though, she would need to use the book before he would introduce himself. It was easier to talk to people who have proven the note was real, before expecting them to accept it. In his hand Kunuru held the second note that he possessed, I think I should have given her this one, but it has a torn corner. He held his stolen note, grinning wildly at the almost long lost memories of that ordeal. He knew soon enough that Shizuka would use the book, everyone tries it, then becomes addicted. It's not possible to give up the power of life and death so easily.

As she read through the rules, Kunuru did as well in his. She may have stopped, and he may already have memorized them, but it was always amusing to think of how intricate they were. He found pleasure in knowing that some people had the capability of making up some grand method of keeping themselves a secret, how would this girl? The ominous figure stood and waited. Without the need of sleep he could wait here all night if he had to, though the thought of watching her write names brought his wide and sick grin even wider. This was going to be entertaining to say the least, and if anything else she would be worth a few laughs before she dies. It was the sick thoughts of Kunuru that kept him grinning, though most would find him revolting if they knew his intentions.

During the short time where she first touched the book, Kunuru spent a few minutes looking down on the people below. The lowly ants that they were, how dare they even ignore his presence. Though that was unfair, they didn't know of his existence to pay attention to it. Kunuru wasn't always the fair type though, so he simply grinned as he saw how pathetically short their life spans were. To a shinigami, one hundred years was a short time, these humans usually didn't live past eighty years, if not shorter. It seemed that writing their names in his Death Note would be pointless, they'd be dead so soon that the life span he took wouldn't be worth it, though this human would hopefully write enough names to keep him satisfied with no work. To Kunuru, this was a game, a game that would start very soon.

[amaishizuka]

OOC: y'know xD i was listening to this song called Animal I Have Become, while i was writing it. its very fitting.
*youtube* www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpocEMLJBLc&feature=channel_page */youtube*
...ignore the video. :B

--------------------------------


' I guess I'll keep it. ' Shizuka shrugged off the eerie set of ' rules ' or ' guidelines '- they didn't seem realistic enough to take seriously. And who in their right mind would? After all, the notebook was something that could be manufactured. And not all that was made by humans to appear real, WAS really real.
Deciding to tuck it back into her music notes until the need came over her, she went back to working on her song. It wasn't anything special, to her ears, though others it reached may stop to listen. Her fingers were dexterous and skilled; well practiced in the ways of playing the piano, and after a while, she had been brought into such a good mood that her focus increased, and she could play accurately while with her eyes closed.
The thing that interrupted her play was the sound of the front door opening and closing-Shizuka glanced at the clock, and realized with a groan that she'd gone well over an hour. Three, precisely.
" Sorry, mom! I'll start dinner now! " She called when she heard her mother call up the stairs, inquiring about what was on the menu for dinner that night. Usually, she'd be the one to have everything together, but the unnerving words in the notebook had gotten to her, and she'd felt the need to shake it off with music.

A day or so later, Shizuka had only just come home, barely having time to slip her shoes off before Kaname barreled into her, nearly knocking her from her feet.
" Kaname?? " The younger sibling had locked his arms around her and was crying, unabashedly, into her abdomen.
" Kaname-chan, whats wrong? " She patted his back, but he didn't stop for a few minutes longer. Once he'd pulled back, she knelt to be at eye level with him, wiping tears from his face as he babbled, " I...I should've been there! I should've done something! "
" Kaname, what...? "
" Umeko-chan! She got kidnapped! "
Shizuka froze. Umeko was the child of a neighbor, only about as old as Kaname, whom was only seven years old. " Wh... When did this happen!? " She gazed intently into his face, but he wouldn't meet her concerned stare, still sniffling and trying not to cry again.
" T-Today, on the way back from school...! " Shizuka hugged him to her, relief that Kaname had made it back OK washing over her. But then she remembered Umeko...that child had been so kind to Kaname when they'd first moved in. What had happened to her...?
After consoling Kaname as much as she could, Shizuka managed to calm him to the point where she could distract him with homework. After that, she trouped back to her room, and turned on the small television at the foot of her bed.
Her dark eyes widened slightly with worry and dread as she recognized Umeko's picture to the left of the news reporter, and a chill ran down her spine.
" This just in--seven year old Tadaka Umeko has been found, after being kidnapped earlier today, dead in the back of the van that she was seen being dragged into. "
Tears immediately leapt to Shizuka's eyes, but she hurriedly brushed them away in favor of finding out if they'd caught the person responsible.
" ... The perpetrator is 47 year old Hisanobe Akira, last seen fleeing police after his DNA was found in-- "
A picture of the man replaced Umeko's, and suddenly Shizuka felt her blood boil, shooting through her veins like fire down a line of gunpowder.
Ignoring the rest of the broadcast, she stared intently at the picture until it was gone, every wrinkle, scratch, pigment, and blemish to his face clearly embedded in her mind.
' Umeko-chan... she didn't... she didn't deserve that! '
After a moment she broke down and cried, albeit very quietly, in case Kaname could hear. She didn't want to tell him yet; not until she had reigned in her own emotions enough to help him cope. She was older-she had to be stronger.
Suddenly, she remembered the notebook, and her dark eyes trailed over to the piano, where it sat mixed in among the music notes of her Incomplete Folder.
".......... Well, it couldn't hurt. " She grumbled, sliding off the bed and walking over to the chair in front of the piano. She sat heavily; it wasn't often that she was so emotionally distraught, but things like that really got to her, and took its toll on her energy reserves as well. Flipping it open to the first page-out of habit-she shuffled around for a pen before etching down in small, neat writing, Hisanobe Akira.
Even just writing his name was enough to bring the image of such a sick freak to her mind, and her expression darkened, hesitating for a moment before adding, Is slowly burned to death in a tragic fire.
She couldn't really care what else happened to him-she just wanted him to suffer the way she believed Umeko did, before she died. And what better way than to die by fire? Even someone as innocent-seeming as she did, knew that it took a lot of heat to burn a human body entirely.
With a deep, final sigh, she closed the book and put it back in with the music sheets, closing the folder and putting it away.
A nap was in order.

[Kunuru]

A grin spread across Kunuru's face, the sensation of a name being writ was brought upon him. Kunuru had spent the last day stealing oranges from a local fruit stand, such a task was easy when no one could see you. After stuffing an orange into his mouth and nearly swallowing it whole, he took flight. A chuckle slipped from his lips, followed by a full laugh. The game had begun, and the human wrote down a name. This game was going to be fun, and that was a fact. Kunuru wouldn't lose out the opportunity to toy with humans, and this one was capable of using a Death Note rather than fearing the idea. There it was in the distance, Kunuru could see the roof of the house. He flapped harder, anxiousness began to build in him. The sound of flapping would fill Shizuka's ears once more, though this time it seemed much louder. An ominous sign if she were to wake to it.

From the outside, the house seemed so normal. The sight of clean windows, and ordinary exterior. Even Shizuka's room was ordinary and plain to Kunuru. As he arrived, he perched on the roof, though this time he began to crawl along the ceiling. Like a snake in the grass, Kunuru made his way to the window and peered in. The girl was laying in her bed, but was she asleep? It was impossible to tell with her facing the other way. Kunuru slid his head through the pane of glass, and slowly the rest of his body went through the side of the building as if it wasn't even there. The human world was great for shinigami, they didn't even need to use doors here. Kunuru began to look around the room again, it was his second time inside.

He'd only been in the room a moment, before Kunuru began to chuckle under his breath. There on the table was the pen, and on the music stand he could see the corner of the note. It wasn't enough to make anyone suspicious, but Kunuru could immediately identify the note. It wasn't long before his eyes trailed back to Shizuka, the curiosity of her being awake popped back into his mind. Even in the few seconds of him being present she didn't move enough to clue him in, but soon it wouldn't matter. He would be noticed one way or another, hopefully she wouldn't be to panicked to make a logical guess at what he was, but Kunuru didn't even care. Instead he cared that she was able to bring herself to kill another person.

The creature lowered down to a squat, his wings retracting into his back as his grin widened. This girl would be an amusing accomplice to this new game, and when she dies, Kunuru would be able to claim his note back and move on. Kunuru waited in the corner of the room, his chuckle growing slightly louder, surely if she wasn't awake before this would be enough to stir her. Kunuru watched her carefully, grinning as he watched the seconds above her head count down. He could see the exact time of death approaching, but even a full healthy life would seem like only minutes to this immortal being. This girl was a toy with an expiration date, and Kunuru was just a big kid waiting for the timer to buzz.

[amaishizuka]

Consciousness slowly worked its way into Shizuka's form after a couple hours or so, and she opened her eyes to affirm that yes, her energy reserves had shot right back up and she could get through the evening without looking completely disheveled and a mess. Which was the goal, really; she didnt want to look like it impacted her so much, so she could be stronger for Kaname to lean on when he got the news about his dear friend.
With a small, short breath of a sigh, she pushed herself up from her position on her side and rubbed the sleep from her eyes; they didn't feel puffy and achy any more, but, she made note to check the mirror before drawing any conclusions. It was after she'd finished that did she notice a figure at the corner of her bedroom, and she startled.
It wasn't even a... a PERSON. Whatever it was, at the mere sight of it, Shizuka felt a billion and one red flags raise in the back of her head and her eyes widened in a mixture of horror and surprise.
" Muh... Monster! " Feeling threatened that someone had snuck into her room without her knowledge, and not even being a person she recognized, she quickly reached down beside her bed and picked up the nearest object-a slipper meant to keep the feet warm while indoors, as shoes were kept out by the door to keep the floors clean-and launched it as hard as she could with amazing aim at the crouching being in her room.
Watching in disbelief, she went rigid when the shoe not only MISSED-having gone clear through the creature-but hit the wall BEHIND it, not taking her gaze from its disfigured face.
It was then that she'd managed to gain control of her actions and thought again, and while she stared unblinking at the creature, the wheels could practically be seen as they turned in her head.
' Now... wait a second... ... its not solid. ' Raven eyes shot to the slipper, which now rested in a crook between the wall and a small table behind it. ' So it cant be human. Or real, for that matter. '
Slowly, she slipped off the bed and onto her feet, almost like a cat that had spotted its prey. Disbelief shone clearly on her face as she wandered up to it, one hand slowly extending to see if she could touch it; to test if it was really tangible or not.
Which was, truth be told, either really brave, or really foolish.
' Am I hallucinating? '

[Kunuru]

Kunuru didn't move much during the ordeal, it was amusing to him, bringing only a chuckle as he was the target of the shoe attack. He watched he trying to make sense of it all, not wanting to spoil the game by explaining it so soon. Then she began to approach him, and his large head cocked slightly to the left. She reached out to touch his leathery cold skin, it would be like touching a dead creature, though the appearance was nothing like what was natural on earth. As her hands reached closer, his eyes widened a bit, until she finally touched him. With that he smirked, "I could'a told ya I'm real." His voice was more of a grumbled tone, deep and throaty. Although an interesting mention was the fresh orange flavored scent coming from his mouth, such a sweet smell for such a horrid looking beast.

He moved around her, grabbing the Death Note up from the music stand and placing it on the desk. He opened it up to the first page and examined the name carefully. "Only one huh?" He looked back at her with an almost expecting look on his face, though it was hard to tell. He stood up, looming tall in the room. His head nearly touched the ceiling as he re-examined the girl. A chuckle came from his lips as he thought to himself, then he spoke. "If ya killed him, what'd he do?" It wasn't the worst way to accuse someone of murder, but Kunuru didn't care that she murdered, asking this question was his means of finding out what it took to kill for her. She must have a breaking point, and Kunuru preferred a human who had a low breaking point.

With that he would wait for her reply. The looming beast grinning down at her. He may have seemed like quite the beast, though he didn't appear to be threatening at the time being. In fact, the wide grin on his face made it seem like he was almost in a good mood, though it would be hard to tell. Kunuru waited for a moment, though his eyes and mind continued to play. He watched the seconds above her head ticking down. This was amusing to Kunuru, because he knew he could easily ruin the rest of her life, by merely reading off the timer above her head. Instead though, he took joy in watching the short life spans of humans slowly tick away. Hers was quite fun though, she had a Death Note, so soon it wouldn't even show any longer, not even for Kunuru.

[amaishizuka]

Not having expected to actually touch anything, Shizuka jerked back when her slender fingers met with cold, clammy withered flesh. " Wh... " Her hair still suitably mussed from sleep, she looked the perfect picture of surprise and horror. How could that thing possibly be REAL? Most of her inner workings had ground to a halt in dumbfounded awe, while the other parts...fully believed that the monster in front of her was not a dream.
" What ARE you? "
Although now she was standing stalk-still, her eyes tracked the creatures every move, her rigid form unyielding any information other than that Kunuru made her hair stand on end. If not literally, then definitely in a figurative sort of fashion. She had to turn to keep staring at him, though managed to shake off some of her shock, gaze snapping from Kunuru to the ominous black notebook he now held. How had he known that was there?
'Figments know as much as you do, sometimes even more', She heard her inner logical section say, and couldn't help but agree. 'Did I snap? I... I cant be that traumatized over a little girl being killed, can I? I wasn't that close to her. Maybe its the whole... futility of life. Or school stress.'
The youth had been going through even more reasons to deny the evidence of Kunuru's existence when she heard him speak again, this time a more pointed question, after having read Hisanobe's name scribbled on its page.
It prompted a more confused reaction than fearful, and her brow furrowed, the first break in her expression since she'd made it.
" ' Killed him '? " As far as she knew, he wasn't dead. But then, she'd gone right to sleep after writing the name, so, she wouldn't know. " I didn't kill him. That notebook is just, " Only then did she seem to realize how silly it was to SPEAK to the hallucination, and bowed her head momentarily, shaking it to and fro and bringing a hand up to her forehead.
" I... ... I need aspirin. "
And with that, she half wandered, half staggered out of her room and into the hallway, heading for the bathroom and the medicine cabinet within.

[Kunuru]

The creature loomed rather amused at her ramblings, though as she went toward the bathroom he spoke again, "Shizuka, Amai", he knew her full name. It may seem rather normal for a hallucination though he suddenly saw her lifespan disappear. He knew she was now suited to use the Death Note further. "You wrote a name down in the Death Note, that man died. Surely he was trapped in a fire, as you desired him to be." A grin widened on his face as he watched her, "I am Kunuru a shinigami, and that is one of my Death Notes. You don't have to return it yet though, please continue to use it. If that's to much for you though, let me know now. I'll take it away, and you will forget it's existence, as well as mine."

There it was, the offer was on the table. He offered to destroy the knowledge she had of the Death Note and himself. However, the offer was two sided, she was also given the option to keep it and go on killing people. "I won't judge you for killing people, I don't even care why you killed that man. I expected you to be more happy that you could kill people anonymously." He chuckled a bit under his breath, the grin widening as he tossed the Note on to her bed. "However, one who uses the Death Note may never go to Heaven, nor Hell. As long as you keep it, I'll be here to watch."

The fact that he was invisible to others hadn't come up in his warnings, but the ability to toss the Death Note was enough to prove he existed, unless of course it was all a dream. He began to look around the room, his ever present grin bringing him to move toward the desk, "Don't expect much from me though, I don't care how you use my Note, but in exchange, you can't expect me to help you." His eyes looked at the pen on the desk, the murder weapon used to light the kidnapper on fire through the power of the Death Note.

There was so much to learn about the Death Note, but only through use and Kunuru could Shizuka learn anything at all. Kunuru seemed aloof enough to not be out to hurt Shizuka, but he didn't seem to care to much about humans in the first place. "So what do you say? Shall we play?" He began to laugh much more openly now, knowing he had no obligation to explain the rules of the Death Note, since they were written in black and white for any who decided to read. His clawed hand reached to point to a second Note, one resting on his hip. "However, when it does come time for you to die, it will be me who writes your name in my Note, but I won't tell you when that time is."

[amaishizuka]

Even if it was normal for a hallucination to know her name, it sent chills down Shizuka's spine to hear it spoken from such a horrific looking figment. And she did shiver visibly, her hands moving up to rub at her shoulders in a reflexive move to comfort such a reaction back to stillness.
She overheard what Kunuru had said before she left the room, and despite telling herself repeatedly that it was just the stress of the day and recent times that had gotten to her, she couldn't shake the feeling that something this creature said, rang true. It'd only take her a few short seconds to pad over to the door to the bathroom, open it, slip inside, and make a dive for the medicine cabinet. ' What will I do if it doesn't go away? ' She reached in for a bottle of aspirin, closing the door to the cabinet and staring blankly at her reflection in the mirror. Apparently, she looked as grim and undead as she felt; though after she took the pills, she'd mess with her hair a bit and wash her face with warm water. It removed some of the cold, clammy, ' I just cried my face off ' look.
Taking a glass of water with her, she wandered back to her room, deep in thought. If what that...thing had said was true, she could easily find out about it on TV or in the paper, or on the internet.
And so, she decided to check, seating herself in her piano chair and wheeling it over to the computer desk; the computer itself was small, barely larger than a laptop, and it ran smoothly enough to boot up quickly when she turned it on. In the pause it took to turn it on, she cautioned to look around her room again; Kunuru was still there.
She cringed.
" So...going by what you told me... I have the power to kill people by writing their name, now? In that black notebook? " The note of disbelief in her voice spoke for itself, but she couldn't quite bring herself to make a parody of it. To laugh at that notion. Strange....
Turning back to the computer, Shizuka brought up her main web page and typed in, ' Hisanobe Akira ', adding what she believed would come after it, ' fire, casualty, pronounced dead '.
Just one click away from finding out, she found herself hesitating. Why? ' ... There...there's nothing to be afraid of. That thing--its just a hallucination. This will prove it wrong...there's no way a notebook could be harmful. '
And so, [Enter] she pressed.
What met her eyes then made her eyes widen a bit, then her brow furrow.
" No way.... "

[Kunuru]

[OOC - Link to Post Theme. Please click then read.]

A loud laugh filled the room, a spine tingling laugh from the belly of the beast. Kunuru could no longer resist himself, the desire to laugh brought on by the utter shock on her face. Humans were so easily amazed, it was quite pathetic, but funny all at once. He couldn't stand how silly she looked to him, but so normal she would look to other humans. Oh the hideous beast nearly fell over laughing, such a fun game! The shinigami moved slowly toward the desk, as his laughing slowed to a stop. "Hey Amai, let's play a game", he said quietly, in an eerie tone. "You can kill whoever you want, whenever you want, however you want, but in exchange, I get to watch." This was unavoidable, but her utter shock was so amusing to him that he couldn't help but make the pleasure he is having apparent.

The big creature lowered down beside her, his emerald green unblinking eyes staring at her with no conviction other than amusing himself. The grin on his face now stretched wide, displaying his disgustingly curved teeth, the razor blades that jutted from his terrible jaw. He was terrifying in every way, though it seemed he was in to good of a mood to be threatening anymore. There was nothing that seemed nice about Kunuru, every bit of his appearance and personality was warped in to some self pleasuring creature who cared for nothing and no one but himself. However, as terrible as he was, there was a goodness to him. He was not judgmental, he simply saw all humans as lower than himself, and did not bother to think of them being on different levels.

Kunuru's eyes flashed in the light of the screen, the words on the moniter clearly reading what Shizuka had been searching for. He was confirmed true, or Shizuka was confirmed crazy. Either way, he was enjoying himself. "Who else are you gonna kill, Amai?" His grin stretched, "Write their names, and they too will be sure to die." He wasn't making it out to be what it was. Clearly it was murder, but Kunuru was working on desensitizing her to that fact. He wanted her to see it as a simple task, rather than burdening herself with the weight of human death. After all, why should Kunuru care if a human lives or dies? He can't be killed by human weapons, but his uncaring attitude didn't account for the fact that regardless of owning a Death Note, Amai could still be killed by humans.

[amaishizuka]

Thinking quickly, she turned back to the computer and erased her search engine history. Granted, given the technology nowadays, they could probably recover that easily...but Shizuka didn't really want it to be hanging out in broad daylight. ' Though ', she thought, ' Nobody knows... it could've just been because Id heard about it and wanted more details. That's casual enough. ' With a small sigh, she noted that paranoia was probably going to become more of a natural, first nature thing, while she was in the possession of such a weapon.
The laugh that reached her ears was eerie enough without having come from someone as grotesque in appearance as Kunuru...and caused icy chills to roll down her spine. After putting in the command for the computer to shut down, she wheeled in her chair to turn so she could look at Kunuru properly, not seeming AS afraid as before...but still quite nervous.
" ...A game? " Even as he advanced, she felt herself shrink back, just a little. He WAS much taller than she, and, she still wasn't sure what the hell he even was. If he was really a figment, Shizuka made note to condone her imagination...she never knew she had that in 'er.
" You like that sort of thing? " Was the first thing that popped out of her mouth at the mention of watching her kill people; it seemed like a fetish, or a voyeur thing. She didn't spring up and leap away when he moved in so close, though she did have an uncanny wariness to her gaze as she regarded him. He was strange, and hideous...but Shizuka felt a curiosity stirring that she'd only felt a few times before this point in her life. Were there more of Kunuru? Did they look the same? Was he considered handsome, for what he was?
She shuddered at the thought.
At his next thought, she froze a little, and suddenly seemed very thoughtful. " .... You're.... " Her face lowered, her bangs obscuring her eyes from view. " Asking me to, judge others. Harshly. By penalty of death. " Her right leg moved up to cross over the other in a more comfortable position, and she leaned back in the chair a bit. " ... That cant be taken so lightly. " When she tipped her head back up, her expression was one of complete stony seriousness, not the speck of a kind thought seen within an inch of it.
" But it cant be that simple. Everything comes with a catch... whats the catch for this.. ' power ' ? " She swallowed, finding that her throat had become parched, the only real mark of her unease at the moment. Kunuru had better steady himself; she could already think of several questions to bombard him with.
' One at a time, Shizuka, one at a time. '

[Kunuru]

The eerie chuckle continued as she mulled around and spoke, though once the question was posed his chuckle ended. His grin remained however, as he spoke. "As I said, the catch is that you can never go to heaven nor hell. As for judging people, that's not what I'm asking you to do. You may kill whoever you want for whatever reason you want. That's not my concern at all, to me it doesn't matter who you kill or why. In fact, there are rules, all of which I'm bound to follow, though you are as well. Consider it an agreement for using the note." He grinned wider as he thought, she was getting used to his presence, and it made communicating a bit easier. The chuckle once again started, he didn't know what she had done with the computer, in fact he didn't even know what a computer was, but whatever she did, it was done quickly and nervously.

Then he flopped down to the ground, sitting Indian style in front of her. Even on the ground his head almost met with hers in height. He stared intently, though it seemed blinking was not even possible for him. The unique creature crossed his large talon clad arms and seemed to stubbornly wait, an impatient look on him, or so it would seem. It was hard to tell what his facial expressions said, as they changed so little and when they did it was much more twisted than a human. His only give that he was in a good mood was the chuckling and laughing he did so often. Even the grin on Kunuru seemed superficial at times, though it was not to go without warrant. In fact, he was trying to smile, even though his lips always seemed to have that sick curl to them.

As he waited, knowing she had more to say or ask, ideas and plans began to fly around his sick head. Kunuru was not the type of shinigami to do things easily for his note's carrier, in fact he saw no reason to help if it didn't directly benefit him in some way. He thought of the things he would want before helping her, and what things he would and wouldn't tell her. For instance, he hadn't explained the eyes of the shinigami yet, nor did he plan on explaining. He wanted it to be known in a situation where she was desperate to get a name. If she grew too desperate, she might accept without thinking it through thoroughly. For that reason, Kunuru decided not to explain or even mention it. This was how the mind of such a horrid beast worked, always working to benefit himself.

[amaishizuka]

' Rules... ' Ah, that's right. Shizuka cast her gaze to the notebook, which had migrated from the music sheets to the bed, now staring blankly up at them from its position on the covers. She was tempted to get up and go read them right away, but instead she turned her pitch black stare on Kunuru, listening to what he had to say. " Purgatory doesn't sound like much of a punishment, " She stated plainly, brow furrowing. One would think that if it was such a big bargain, itd have a more dire price...like... premature death. Or, going to hell for certain. Or, increased rates on auto insurance.
The staring was a bit unnerving, but suddenly Shizuka recalled what her mother had once said about stray dogs that appeared hostile; don't let them KNOW you're afraid, and, they'll most likely back off. So, she said nothing of how uncomfortable it made her feel.
" Right... So then, " She grappled briefly for a name, recalling it stated earlier, " Kunuru. Why, if, you claim you aren't imaginary... why haven't I heard about your kind before? " ' Shinigami , I think he called himself. ' Shizuka forced herself to regard it seriously; if this thing really was real, and the death wasn't a coincidence, surely she wasn't the only one being confronted with such an offer. Surely someone else, if that were the case, would've been chosen to receive it.
" And, there's more than one Death Note, right...? Are there multiple notes per ' shinigami '? " After all, Kunuru seemed to know enough about what he was doing for Shizuka to interpret that he'd done it more than once before.

[Kunuru]

A sudden sprint of questions came from the girl, which brought back memories of Kunuru's past. A smirk appeared once more, then a low rumbling chuckle. He tilted his head, enjoying the thought that there might be more Death Notes on earth, though he had no clue. "Shinigami live in another world. A desolate waste ruled by greed and gambling. After many years of boredom, I came to your world, seeking entertainment. As for if other notes exist, yes many, however I doubt they are in your world." This wasn't a lie, most shinigami would be considered foolish to leave the world of shinigami, as the human world was so depraved of people who could see or communicate with shinigami. Only select few could ever see them, and that was under these very unusual situations.

Kunuru went on to explain, "I have two notes, and", he began to laugh a bit harder, "...some shinigami have none. I guess it's just how things are." He leaned back a bit, his wide grin stretching further. "You've been offered full power of life and death, and you are asking some irrelevant questions. Since this wasn't part of the game, tell me why you want to know." Kunuru wasn't thinking about the obvious factors of having a possible enemy with a death note, in fact Kunuru has tons of enemies with death notes, since they couldn't affect him though he felt no fear. This also brought the other obvious factor, why hadn't shinigami been heard of? Well if they lived in their own world, it would be obvious that no one in a different world would know about them. Kunuru hadn't counted on the fact that other shinigami have come before him.

As simple as the questions were to answer for Kunuru, he constantly left out details that no human would even think to answer. Some more relevant than others, but still a possible factor in whatever it was Shizuka was thinking. In fact, Kunuru thought it would be more fun if she knew less, though for the sake of interest he decided to at least vaguely answer the questions she asked. If she was intelligent enough to seek knowledge beyond that which Kunuru saw as important information, then he'd at least give some of the answers, or some information on the answers he did give. It was a game of tag to Kunuru, she'd chase him with a question, and he would avoid narrowly by giving enough explanation to leave her to a point where he thought she'd be satisfied. To Kunuru, this game was just becoming interesting.