Best Short Death Note Fanfics
Death Note novellas — 10k to 50k words, polished and contained. Curated from AO3 and ranked by kudos.
Top 20 Short Death Note Fanfics
Ranked by AO3 kudos. Mid-length Death Note fics — 10,000–50,000 words.
Prime Suspect
by TrashKing (Vanya_Deyja)
L rubs his thumb against his lip, “and you suspect you know who Kira is?”“I’m Kira.” Light replies.“I see,” L murmurs, “so this is a confession?”“Of sorts,” Light prefaces. “That is to say; I was Kira, until three days ago, but now I need your help to prove it and stop whatever I’ve put in motion.”“
New Game
by TrashKing (Vanya_Deyja)
Light is 95% certain he is Kira and, if that's the case, he needs to reclaim his memories, his power and kill L. It's the only way to survive. But that's going to be a little complicated handcuffed to the world's greatest detective. Things get petty, then elaborate, and before long he's starting to
Five Times Light Yagami Suspected He Liked Guys
by waywardavengers (herax97)
And One Time He Was Absolutely Certain. Six short scenarios where Light starts to question his sexuality and then becomes absolutely certain. Set within the Death Note anime timeline. (Features two different endings)
What's in a Name Anyways?
by Temporarily
L awoke the morning of his sixteenth birthday thinking only of breakfast pastries and the Crossword Killer, his current case. It wasn't until Watari asked him about it while delivering the desired sweets that he even remembered his soulmate mark should have appeared overnight./In Light Yagami’s clas
Gods and Monsters
by reaperlight
It was not his intention to bring an innocent into his war with L. But then he couldn’t in good conscience leave him there to be returned to the cupboard under the stairs. Ryuk chuckled and clapped him on the back. “Happy Father’s Day. I’m sure Misa will be thrilled.”
Upsetting The Applecart
by reaperlight
Light has a problem. To be honest Light has a lot of problems but specifically his best friend has inexplicably turned human...
In the Light of My Love
by sn0w_quill
Shocked honey brown eyes stared down, seemingly frozen. Expressive grassy ones peered right back up, framed by some truly horrid glasses. Light Yagami considered himself a genius, nay, he was a genius. While he never saw the need to get his exact IQ, his perfect university entrance exam scores prove
Apathy's Too Emotional (Your Apathy's Like A Wounded Soul)
by Azusa_Calypse
Light Yagami is the perfect student, perfect son, but he's already read that story and he didn't like the ending.When Kira's memories mesh with a Light who hasn't found the Death Note yet, who hasn't gone past the point of no return- it results in a much clearer-minded Light restarting his game with
Even If the Bombs Go Off the Sun Will Still Be Shining
by mmwhatchasay
Not-so-fluffy soulmate au where the name of your soulmate is tattooed somewhere on your body, which makes things rather easy for a mass murderer with a Death Note.
let's talk about sex, baby
by benzaaldehyde
After a rough night with Light, Misa realizes she has a lot of learning to do about sex. So she turns to the smartest guy she knows.
Light and Dark
by PewDiePie
What if Light wasn't Kira?What if he was framed?//When 17 year-old Light Yagami, an aspiring detective, gets asked by his father, Soichiro Yagami, chief of the NPA, to join the investigation on the 'Kira' case (AKA the case that involves criminals suddenly dying at the hands [or book] of the one who
Strange Fiction: Death Note Ficlets
by ZombieJesus
An ongoing collection of unconnected Death Note ficlets. 1- Therapy: Lawlight group therapy2- London Bridge: L and Light put together a puzzle3- Lab Partners: L and Light conduct an experiment4- My Bed My Rules: Light finds L asleep5- First Friend: Light ask if L meant it6- The Library: Light meets
Meet The Kids
by LeviAckerman_is_my_husband
"Kira has adapted to his new life, as well as he’s going to as long as he still remembers what his old life was. Or as L says, ‘Light’s life’, it's not his anymore, because he’s not Light Yagami anymore, he is Kira. And he will be for the rest of his new life. And he will share that new life with L,
'till death do us part
by shilowrites
“A.. contract.” Light’s breathing was laboured, his lungs shrunken down to half their size. The demon’s presence was suffocating and thick, encircling him like a coiled snake. He was nothing more than prey in his grasp. “Yes… a contract.” The demon hissed sweetly, trailing a bony finger up Light’s a
Going Bananas
by xxbeyondxbirthdayxx
After discovering that the Takada abduction was a trap designed to get them killed, Mello and Matt fake their deaths and flee to a tropical island under the deeply unfortunate aliases Clive Bananas and Percival Mango. Near thinks he has removed two dangerous variables from the Kira case. Unfortunate
cleave
by CoralFlower
"You lied to me. Still I gave you what you wanted." The wind whispers through the grass, as tall as the rock L rests upon but sparse, choked out by surface limestone. "What do you say?" Light asks, soft, threatening, a bed of nails with silk sheets. L swallows. "Don't untie me," he gasps.
The Serial Killing Life
by Foloxcer
15 twisted souls, all trapped until one can prove themselves a master of their craft. Danganronpa killing game but EVERYONE is a serial killer, and none of them know yet.
when i get up this is what i see, welcome to reality
by mello_meowow
Mello risks his life to save Nears and ends up with a traumatic brain injury. Near becomes L's successor and tries to live with the guilt. Mello wakes up each day to a shattered reality, missing the thing he always valued most about himself. And Matt... well, he stays with Mello. What else would he
Fly Me to the Moon
by Meg_Y
The last two months Mello and Matt had together.
ryuk has a problem (it’s her)
by solemnly_starlit
Ryuk gets bored. Then he meets a girl who can see him. That would’ve been it—except she can touch him too. What starts as curiosity turns into routine, routine turns into attachment, and attachment turns into Ryuk realizing he is absolutely, catastrophically not normal about her. There’s apples. The
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About This List
This list of 20short Death Note fanfics spans 504,849 total words. Kudos range from 1 on the newest entries to 7,342 on the most established. Most entries are ongoing works, so subscribe on AO3 for update notifications. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (8 of 20 fics).
Recurring tags across this list: Crossover · Fluff · Sexual Tension · Crack · Humor.
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