Chapter One: Misfortune

Does this guy ever shut up? Keiko thought to herself as she mindlessly braided the ends of her hair, wishing that she could be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Her date, who happened to have an insufferable personality, sat directly across from her. He was going on and on about some obscure video game that Keiko honestly didn't care about. He was cute, Keiko had to give him that, but she couldn't get a word in edgewise.

She glanced at her watch. It wasn't late enough to make an excuse about needing to go home due to a curfew, but Keiko still had a plan in mind. Walking outside the cafe was a small group of girls gossiping, probably on their way back from cram school. Within the group were a few of Keiko's best school friends. Keiko hadn't made plans with her friends, but her date didn't know that. She knew exactly what to do in situations like these.

Keiko flashed her date a sympathetic smile. “I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I just remembered that I promised my friends I would walk home with them. They're outside the cafe at the moment...I didn't realize our little coffee date would run so late, and so they're waiting for me now.”

Her date let out a sigh. The girl could see the disappointment written on his face, but he didn't attempt to stop her. She knew he wouldn't give her any trouble and her excuse was pretty believable. Keiko had calculated things well.

“I understand, Keiko-chan. I don't want to keep you from your friends.”

“Thank you, Tadaki-kun. I’ll be in touch.” With that, Keiko stood up. She cast her a date a final smile, bidding him goodnight before heading towards her circle of friends.

I won't be in touch, but you don't have to know that.

“Keiko-chan!” One of her friends, Maki, called out to her. “I thought that was you sitting in that cafe! Were you out on a date?” Maki wiggled her eyebrows upwards as she spoke, earning some whispers and giggles from other girls in the group.

Keiko nodded, a wry smile pulling at her lips. “Yeah. It was a bust, though. The guy was so boring. Where are you guys headed?”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” another one of her close friends responded, Akito, responded. “Well, Maki-chan and I were about to split off from the group. We want to head to the convenience store to get some study snacks.”

“Sounds good.” Keiko commented, “you know, I happen to be free at the moment…”

“You can come along with us, if you’d like,” Maki started, “you’re more than welcome to.”

Keiko agreed, glad that her friends had picked up on her hint. The two of them started to walk away from the group and Keiko soon fell into step with them. She listened as they talked about an upcoming speed date event. It sounded interesting enough, but Keiko wasn’t sure she wanted to go on another date so soon. Her date tonight had been awful. Besides, Keiko had a test to study for. Maintaining her status of being one of the top students in the class was rather important to her.

The group arrived at the convenience store and headed straight towards the snack section. Keiko picked up a bag of chips. She was heading toward the register when she saw a familiar head of light brown hair walking towards the magazine section. Light Yagami.

Hmm, personally, I didn't peg him as being a magazine reader, but whatever. It's none of my business.

Light was the number one student in their class, there was simply no beating him. Keiko had tried in the past but it was no use. She had eventually given up, but being rank two in the grade wasn’t that terrible. Being rank two meant that Keiko had all the perks of being a top student without having all the classroom duties of the rank one student. With that in mind, Keiko felt she was the true winner.

The girl watched him from afar. While the two were friendly at school, she didn't see a point in going over there to say hello to him. Besides, Keiko wouldn’t admit it, but she had always felt a little shy around Light. Boys usually approached her first anyway, not the other way around.

Keiko paid for her chips and decided to wait outside for her friends. Moments later, Akito and Maki walked out of the store, bags in hand.

Keiko smiled at her two friends. “It was nice seeing you two, but I should probably head home now. It’s getting rather late.”

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“Us, too,” Maki responded, gesturing toward Akito. “See you at school, Keiko-chan.”

The three girls said their goodbyes, and Keiko’s two friends soon headed off in their respective directions. Keiko was just about to leave as well when a group of three loud motorcyclists pulled up. The motorcyclists surrounded a young woman who appeared to be not much older than Keiko herself. She had been walking alone in a red dress towards the convenience store. An easy target.

“Hey baby!” One of the men called out. He appeared to be the leader of the group. “Where are you goin’? Would you like to have some fun with us?”

The woman looked startled as she paused to look at the man addressing her. Keiko could tell from the woman’s stiff body language that she clearly wasn’t interested. Yet, what could she do? She was surrounded. Overpowered.

Keiko could feel herself freeze as well as she watched the situation unfold.

Uh oh...I have a feeling this won’t end well…

One of the groupies let out a rather wolfish whistle. “That’s our Takuo! This guy can spot a hottie a mile away!”

“Damn right! The name’s Takuo Shibuimaru! Why don’t you come with me and my friends for a ride, eh? How does that sound?”

“Please. I don’t want any trouble-” The woman started to say, but Takuo cut her off. There was fear in her eyes and her body trembling.

“Ya hear that, boys? She doesn’t want any trouble. Now, now...isn’t that cute?” He cooed, running a dirty finger down the woman’s body.

Keiko shuddered, her eyes transfixed on the scene playing out before her. She wanted nothing more than to run over there, to come to the poor woman’s defense. However, what could she do alone against three strong, older men? Keiko decided to go with plan B. Her hand was deep in her purse, rifling through its contents in an attempt to find her cell phone. Trying to find her cell phone without looking down was proving to be a rather difficult task, but she didn’t want to look away from the situation in front of her. She was worried that, if she looked away, she would miss something important.

After what felt like forever, Keiko managed to pick up her cell phone. She was about to dial the police when all of the sudden, the woman in the red dress pushed Takuo aside and ran for it.

In the matter of seconds that followed, Takuo jumped on his motorcycle in an attempt to chase her down when a truck appeared on the streets in front of the convenience store. A truck that was driving right towards him.

“Watch out!” One of Takuo’s cronies called out.

It was too late.

Keiko watched as the horrifying scene played out; the truck, unable to stop in time, ran straight into the motorcyclist with a sickening snapping sound as the man’s body made contact with the pavement below.

She watched as the blood pooled on the ground, staining it a deep shade of red. The last few minutes had been a blur to her. Everything had happened so fast. Way too fast. Feeling a little queasy, Keiko turned around. She found herself face to face with her classmate, Light Yagami, who looked just as shocked and horrified as she did.

Keiko opened her mouth to speak, but was unable to form any words. Even though she had turned away, the sight of the man’s crumpled body still replayed in her head.

Human life is precious. One second you’re alive, and the next second you could be gone. Keiko’s stomach lurched, oh god. I just knew something bad was going to happen.  

The girl was snapped out of her reverie by Light, who had ever so slightly placed his hand on hers. She could feel the warmth emitting from his soft skin. Keiko’s eyes wandered upwards as she looked up at her classmate. “W-what?”

“There’s not much we can do just standing around. The store’s clerk already called the police, and an ambulance is also on the way. We should go home.” Light replied, slowly releasing her hand. Keiko realized he was right. She could hear the sirens in the distance, signaling that help would arrive soon.

“R-right.” Keiko swallowed hard. “But we?”

Light walked forward, gesturing for Keiko to follow him. “Yes, we. I know we aren’t particularly close outside of school, but given what happened, I can’t let you walk home alone. Besides, if I remember correctly, your neighborhood is pretty close to mine.”

“Fair enough.” Keiko walked forward as well, falling into step with her classmate. “Thank you, Light-kun.”

The two walked side-by-side in silence. Keiko was still attempting to process the previous events. One moment she was saying goodbye to her friends, and in what felt like mere seconds later, the man on the motorcycle had been run down.

Karma sure does work fast sometimes.

Keiko never expected that Light Yagami would ever be walking her home. Then again, she never expected that she would see a man get hit by a truck in front of her either. Given the current situation, Keiko was glad she didn’t have to walk home alone. She supposed it was lucky that Light had been there. He was known for being dependable, someone that others could count on.

“Thanks again.” Keiko’s hand wrapped around her door handle and she did her best to offer her classmate a smile. “I hope you get home safe yourself.”

Light gave a nod. “It’s no problem. Don’t worry about me, Keiko-chan. I’ll be okay.”

The girl thanked her classmate once more and the two of them said their goodbyes before she stepped inside. She had truly never been so glad to be home in her entire life. It had been a long day. All she wanted was some peace and quiet in order to recuperate from the horrific events of earlier that evening. Unfortunately for her, her life would never quite be peaceful or quiet again.