Ryuk: "Oh? Are you interested in the death note now?"

I get up from my bed and stand opposite to Ryuk.

Kira: "Interested? Not at all. I'd rather pass it to someone else. Then again, no one would be more reliable than me, or so I believe."

Ryuk: "So are you going to write my name now or what?"

I turn to face Ryuk, a dark figure with skinny, long hands and legs. His eyes are fluorescent yellow with his distorted pupils pointing in opposite directions. He was levitating in air with a fixed smile on his face.

Kira: "I was guessing you'd stop me. But looking at your sincerity I must ask, God of death, tell me, what would happen if I wrote a shinigami's name?"

Ryuk: "I don't know. After all 'he' doesn't allow it."

Kira: "He? Do you mean a God above you? Or are there more of your kind?"

Ryuk (laughs): "Aren't you full of questions. You'll know in due time."

Kira: "If you can't answer that's fine, but how long are you going to stick around?"

Ryuk: "Until you die. Unless you pass the death note on to someone else to get rid of me. And when your time comes, I'll write your name in my death note."

Ryuk's eyes gleam in the surrounding darkness.

Kira: "And what happens then?"

Ryuk: "Anyone who writes a name in the death note can neither go to heaven nor hell. He is cut from the afterlife permanently."

A smile develops on my face. A form of happiness knowing I would be free from this endless cycle. Free from the constant torment of continuation, at least, in the afterlife.

Kira: "So there is an afterlife after all. Ryuk. You seem knowledgeable. I'll keep you by my side until my time comes."

Ryuk (smiles): "I can't wait to see what a human like you would do next."