Mass release 2/10
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Kitagawa Marin was extremely awkward.
On one hand, she greatly valued her friends. But with her kind heart, she didn't want her friends to be involved in bullying classmates.
She wasn't blind or foolish.
When she suddenly visited that day, her friends' reactions were off, as if they were hiding something from her. Kitagawa Marin, not wanting to lose her friends, could only uncover the truth this way.
If it turned out to be true, she would present the evidence, awaken their shame, and make them stop. Even if they couldn't be friends anymore, Kitagawa genuinely wanted them to change for the better.
Unfortunately, gentle and righteous people always find it difficult to survive, because this world is neither gentle nor righteous.
Yagami Raito listened, his coffee-shaking hand slowly came to a halt. This was truly... the wrong person. His usual method was to directly remove targets from the world. As for changing the weak side of human hearts, that wasn't his forte.
If he were to eliminate someone just for school bullying, it would be too extreme. Ultimately, it depended on how far the bullying had gone.
Yagami Raito suddenly recalled news from his previous life: bullying intellectually disabled children, forcing them to eat disgusting things leading to autism; or assaulting and extorting children from impoverished families.
In such cases, Yagami Raito would not hesitate to erase them from existence.
A god would not tolerate defilement in the pure land he created. Even if sin was buried deep within the heart, feigned goodness was still good.
If evil was revealed, it deserved death.
However, the Kamimachi Club now... he wasn't the only one.
Yukinoshita Yukino.
Yagami Raito seemed to have a brilliant idea, murmuring, "The 'no-kill' vow..."
"Huh? Tsuki-kun, what did you say?" Kitagawa Marin turned her face, leaning closer to Yagami Raito, trying to hear him clearly.
Yagami Raito composed himself and said, "Kitagawa. People feel happy when spoken to, mainly because their desire for self-affirmation is met.
They confirm that the other person acknowledges them, accepts their existence in this world, and that they have value for the other person to approach them, and they are pleased by this.
Conversely, if we can affirm ourselves, we don't need that external validation."
"Having to constantly watch others' expressions, please them, stay in touch, feign interest in conversations—that kind of complicated maintenance isn't true friendship. If that's what youth is, you don't need it.
Faking happiness through such trivial interactions is mere self-satisfaction. It's deception, something to be scorned as evil."
"No expectations, no disappointment. No bonds, no pain."
"If you hope to change your friends and salvage this flawed friendship, you'll get hurt if you don't achieve the happy ending you desire."
Yagami Raito spoke with a serious expression.
It truly could leave a lasting psychological scar.
If the friends Kitagawa mentioned had truly committed sins he couldn't forgive or tolerate, he wouldn't spare them just because they were Kitagawa's friends. He would write their names in the Death Note without hesitation.
Kitagawa Marin, being too entangled with them, would inevitably be left with an indelible scar. Rather than enduring such an outcome, it would be better to let go and cut ties with them.
"Wh-why are you suddenly so harsh?"
Kitagawa Marin instinctively recoiled, turning her head away, unable to meet Yagami Raito's dangerous red eyes.
In that instant, Kitagawa Marin felt as if she had been targeted by some indescribable, terrifying beast. She placed her right hand on her left arm, tightly gripping her sleeve, not wanting Yagami Raito to see her subtly trembling hand.
She was clearly terrified.
"I understand that. If they really did something terrible, I would never forgive them," Kitagawa Marin said sincerely. "But, it's friendship, you know! If I just discard it like trash without really confirming anything, then my friendship would be too cheap!"
"Even if, one day, Tsuki-kun, you did something really bad, and everyone was questioning, mocking, and hostile towards you, I wouldn't let go of you!"
"At least, I'd wait until I saw evidence that proved you had changed for the worse, Tsuki-kun!"
Ah—
AN ANGLE.
Her pure black eyes, glistening in the glow of the setting sun, momentarily entranced Yagami Raito. "Understood, I'll take the request," Yagami Raito nodded, pulling a pen from his pocket and a blank page from his backpack. His pen glided, writing an address.
"This is the address of my club's classroom. Before my investigation results are out, Kitagawa, give this address to the bullied student."
"Huh..." Kitagawa dazedly took the slip of paper.
Yagami Raito tilted his head back, draining the last drop of coffee from his cup, letting out a sigh of contentment.
"God helps those who help themselves. Kitagawa, you're trying so hard to help that student, but the prerequisite is that they themselves are willing to change."
"Otherwise, the goodness in your heart might be a form of evil to the person caught in the whirlwind."
"Is that so?"
Kitagawa Marin fell silent.
She didn't agree with that statement. Because she herself had been helped by someone she had never met, allowing her to escape the dark abyss!
Besides her, probably no one else was paying attention. The murderers of her mother had all died within a year. She had asked a sympathetic police officer in charge of the case, and they told her that all of them had died of heart failure.
It was incredible, but it was true.
Someone she had never met, or perhaps a god. Previously, Kitagawa Marin hadn't believed in gods, but after learning this, she did. There were gods in this world! Gods would send divine punishment to sinners. Kitagawa Marin's heart was always full of gratitude for the kindness of that unseen god. It allowed the hatred in her heart to dissipate with the deaths of the culprits, allowing her to live with such an optimistic and positive outlook.
If possible, Kitagawa Marin wanted to thank that deity in person, but unfortunately, there was no opportunity. So, she could only use her own methods to release her goodwill and save those caught in the whirlwind; this was her way of repaying divine grace!
'So, Tsuki-kun is wrong. Good is good; it can never turn into evil!'
Her gaze grew more determined. She raised her head, ready to argue with Yagami Raito.
Unexpectedly, Yagami Raito had already risen and was waiting at the shop entrance. "What are you looking at? Such a serious expression. Come on, it's been a while, let me treat you to dinner."
"Oh oh~ I'm coming!"
Kitagawa Marin immediately cast the dark cloud aside, revealing her playful fangs and a brilliant smile. She linked arms with Yagami Raito and strolled down the evening street.
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(TL:Next are some clarification and explanation from the author. I recommend you read them or just skim through if you're having any doubts.)
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Author Notes:
Volume 1: Miscellaneous
Inspiration for the book:
The author accidentally stumbled upon videos about the abolition of the death penalty (Norway's Breivik) on Bilibili. Coincidentally, I had also been rewatching old anime like Death Note and Kara no Kyoukai recently, so I thought about writing a book where concepts of good and evil clash.
Makima: Chaotic neutral, building her ideal world, regardless of good or evil.
Yagami Raito: Consequentialist justice.
Ryougi Shiki: Procedural justice.
Yukinoshita Yukino: Absolute correctness, changing the weak side of human hearts.
So, the main plot of this book is very clear: the reactions and responses of the main characters when facing cases that raise blood pressure, with a subplot of romance and such.
Supernatural and superpower elements will be present (I'll try to downplay them).
Initially, I considered having the protagonist appear as a ghost and influence Yukinoshita Yukino, but then I thought that for a comprehensive anime crossover, a male and female pairing is essential, so I chose Yagami Raito as the main perspective.
The protagonist's alternate identity will exist long-term, and only Yukinoshita Yukino will know the protagonist's identity, becoming twisted with the protagonist (Please grant me the right to twist your life; please entrust your life to me).
Question: Why reveal the identity to Yukinoshita at the beginning?
Answer: Well... I didn't think that much at first. I simply felt that playing the hidden identity werewolf game with two heroines (Ryougi Shiki, Makima) was already enough. So, I thought about bringing Yukinoshita out to play openly, to add some dramatic effect. Also, with the school storyline, if Yukinoshita didn't know Yagami Raito's identity, plotting later would be too brain-consuming...
Some readers might find the identity reveal problematic... but by the time I wrote it, it was too late to change, and to write the story smoothly, I had to just go with it.
A webnovel isn't a Japanese manga or light novel that can be thought out slowly chapter by chapter. Daily double updates, plus designing alternate identities and self-revelation plots, were truly beyond my ability...
Let's just say the author's intelligence ceiling determines the characters' intelligence ceiling.
[Revised]
Indeed, when I started writing, I had a sudden idea from watching Death Note and Kara no Kyoukai, wanting to write a book with clashing ideologies. But I also knew these two anime were very niche, especially Death Note; there's almost no fanfiction for it. So, I had to combine them with popular slice-of-life characters.
Initially, I also thought about having Yagami Raito and Yukinoshita play with hidden identities and masks, but that created a problem: the plot wouldn't be exciting enough; it would be too bland.
My mental capacity also can't match the intellectual battles of the original work. The character of Yagami Raito simply doesn't fit into a calm slice-of-life plot. I also couldn't think of any plot that could combine these two characters.
It couldn't just be the old routine of Yagami Raito showing off his academic talent and Yukinoshita being repeatedly shocked.
Some might find the identity reveal problematic, while others might find the plot conflicts interesting.
But I've always felt it's okay to be problematic, but not boring, so I went to the extreme and directly revealed the identity.
The key disagreement is: some readers believe that since Yagami Raito is the protagonist, his character should be faithfully portrayed. That's true, initially, I didn't plan to write the original Yagami, but rather an (extreme but principled Black Moon + trickster) persona.
The original work(Death Note) has almost zero portrayal of Yagami Raito's school life.
For a normally written Yagami Raito to control Yukinoshita, what would it take? Creating incidents → Yukinoshita's suspicion → protagonist's counter-measures. This would require a lot of intellectual battles, and frankly, the author doesn't have the original author's brilliant mind to write that.
As for some thinking it's too focused on romance... I can only say it's impossible; I wouldn't write something that completely breaks the character's design. Up to chapter 40, it has mostly been about challenging ideas.
The main plot itself isn't about romance, but about the clash of ideologies and character arcs.
This is probably the last explanation. In short... if you can accept the opening plot, you can continue reading. If you truly can't accept it, then let's part ways amicably...