It had been going on for days. The Wammy's House was buzzing with excitement. The orphanage's most distinguished alumni, L, was paying the school a visit. The students all hoped that they were finally going to meet the mysterious detective. Unfortunately, the most L could do for the eager students was a Q&A session done through a computer. However, L himself would be in the county town of Winchester, England but only for a few hours. L was concerned with how crime rates might increase in his absence. With a Q&A session, L hoped he could satisfy the inquisitive, young minds and work on cases at the same time from his room at the Lainston House Hotel. In fact, there were only two people that L needed to see: Quillsh Wammy and 12yr. old Aleksis Balanchine, otherwise known as A.
Aleksis came to Wammy's House at the age 7. Up until then, he had been raised in a Russian orphanage after both his parent's untimely deaths. His unusually high I.Q. made him a prime candidate for Wammy's House. Aleksis' arrival to the orphanage happened on a crisp autumn night. That same night another gifted child had arrived from an orphanage in the United States. This child was a boy the same age as Aleksis. The boy's name was Bryan Loki, otherwise known as B. Bryan didn't like his Christian name, though he had looked up the meaning and found out that Bryan meant "strong" and his family name was Norse for "god of destruction." It's not that he hated the name completely; he just felt that it failed to describe him completely. B agreed that "strong" did depict him when it came to his brainpower, and he knew that as he grew older he would become stronger. The "god of destruction" part. Though it did sound pretty cool to him, he was no "god of destruction." B saw himself as a "god who saw destruction before it happened." He had been able to see the date of both his parent's destructions since birth. B had inherited an otherworldly power that allowed him to see any person's death date, their date of destruction. But he couldn't see his-a trade-off. In the end, the name his parents had given him didn't cut it. As far as he was concerned, Bryan Loki had rotted in the ground with his parents. This is why he had settled on a name that truly described him-Beyond Birthday. No more B.L. It was B.B. B had replaced L. In the future, as we all know, it would not be that easy.
Presently, as the students at Wammy's House went about their daily activities, Beyond Birthday relaxed with a copy of A Clockwork Orange near a second-story window that overlooked the front part of the school. The sun was setting and taking away the warm, sleepy glow that had irritated B to the point where he wished he could see the sun's death date. He was quick to draw the heavy blinds, casting out the light of day. Beyond Birthday always preferred the night. You could do anything at night, and the darkness would bury it well.
"Hello, B," said a smiling young boy in a Russian accent. It was Aleksis Balanchine. In their first days acquaintanceship, Beyond Birthday had made it clear that he despised being called by his old name. But Aleksis had no idea that Beyond Birthday existed, let alone shinigami eyes.
"Al," B responded, his eyes fixed on the misdeeds of Alex DeLarge and his droogs. Beyond Birthday would've called Aleksis Al whether he liked it or not.
"As usual…engrossed in your dark, little world," Aleksis teased. He walked over to where B sat, but not before tripping over his large, pre-teen feet. B estimated that it was probably the twelfth time he had tripped that day.
"You'd better be careful. You don't want to trip right through this window and splatter yourself in front of some of the wee ones." B then turned to Aleksis and flashed him a creepy grin. But Aleksis was unfazed by this morbid thought. He had gotten used to them.
"If that were to happen, you'd probably dance upon my grave. You'd be the top student," said Aleksis as he took a seat next to B.
B lifted his head from his book. "That's right," B said with a smile. His black eyes then drifted to the top of Aleksis' head. His stare was intense and uncomfortable. The smile on his face grew monstrously larger.
"Smiles are supposed to be nice. You just look like a fiend."
"Thank-you," B said as he returned to his reading.
"And I've told you a hundred times before that I hate when you do that weird…staring …thing."Aleksis just shook his head at B.
"Maybe I'm jealous of your pretty boy hair."
Aleksis gave B a dirty look and said, "Fucking idiot." He then gave B's arm a sharp jab.
"Do that again and I'll hack your head off," B said calmly. "Then I'll scalp you and turn that into a wig."
"Cursing makes one sound unintelligent and scalping is not tolerated at this school." The voice belonged to the orphanage's head master, Quillsh Wammy.
Both boys looked up at their elder. Aleksis' eyes met his kindly gaze, but B gaped at the empty space above Quillsh Wammy's head. This is something B had done for everyone he had met at Wammy's.
"This is not acceptable behavior for top students to exhibit," the grey-haired man gently scolded.
"I'm sorry, sir," Aleksis said, crestfallen. Aleksis hated disappointing people he respected.
B didn't apologize. Instead, he lifted himself of the floor. He didn't like being talked down to, in any context. It was then that B noticed there was someone standing, or rather hiding behind the head master. He tilted his head to the side to see who it was. It appeared to be a girl. B pointed his finger in her direction and asked, "Who's she?"
"This is S," Quillsh Wammy said as he stepped aside to reveal the young girl. The elderly head master had gotten used to addressing all of the students by their first initial. "She just arrived to Wammy's House."
"Hello, S," Aleksis said, extending his hand. "My name is Al-uh…A. My name is A. I'm very pleased to meet you. Oh, and I'd like to apologize for how we were behaving earlier. If you heard any of it, I'm sorry if we offended you."
"Hello. I'm pleased to meet you, too. Don't worry I wasn't offended." S smiled brightly and shook hands with Aleksis. She then turned her attention to B and extended her hand.
"Hi," he said flatly. Normally, B wouldn't have shaken hands, but the presence of the head master prompted otherwise. His left hand awkwardly took her right hand and jerked it up and down. It looked like he was trying to karate chop an invisible adversary. S had to pull her hand away to prevent it from being torn off.
"Now that you two have been introduced, I would like to ask you to show S around the school." Quillsh Wammy's request was directed toward B-much to his dismay. There was a brief look of repulse on S' face.
"Uh-huhn," B mumbled. He was compliant on the outside, but on the inside he fuming.
"Thank-you, B," the elder gentleman said.
"A," Quillsh Wammy started, "I need to have a very important word with you. Please come to my office. Children, I bid the rest of you goodnight."
"Goodnight, sir…and thank-you," S said. "There's no telling where I'd be if you hadn't taken me in."
"I accept your gratitude, but it is not mandatory. It has become my life's work to help exceptional students like you. You will be safe here, S. But above all else, you will be happy." With that said Quillsh Wammy smiled warmly and departed from the group of students.
Aleksis stood silently for a few moments. He was debating whether it was safe to leave a new student alone with B. "Well," he finally managed, "it was nice to meet you, S." His sense of duty to Quillsh Wammy won in the end.
"The pleasure was all mine," S beamed.
Aleksis shook his head in agreement and then turned to look at B, his eyes narrowed. "Be nice," he said.
B's rage was powered to the nth degree. To him, it was apparent that he was on baby- sitting duty. Even so, he managed to pull off one of his unnaturally cheerful smiles and said, "I'll be a perfect gentleman."
Not at all convinced, Aleksis reluctantly left S with B. It felt like he was entrusting the care of a lamb to a wolf. The fake and disturbing smile was frozen on B's face as he looked after Aleksis. Aleksis, he thought, the favored son of The Wammy's House...first and number one in everything! The heat of his anger began to thaw the rigid grin, and it began to tremble at the corners. It was then that he remembered the girl. He looked all about him. She was nowhere to be seen. "Where the hell did that nymphet run off to?" He wasn't worried about her. He just didn't want to have to sit through a lecture on politeness and responsibility. Two things he wasn't worried about either. Unwillingly, he set off to look for S.
He headed down the hall and turned a corner. At the same time, there was another student rounding the corner.
"Oh my God!" S cried out. She stopped a few steps short of colliding with B.
"Close," B remarked.
S rolled her eyes and pushed past him. "I was hoping I'd lost you."
"You only went down the hall," B countered as he followed after her.
"I didn't think you'd bother looking for me."
"You'll get lost in so a massive place. Then I'm going to have to suffer through a lecture. Frankly, I'd rather not. I'd rather fulfill my obligation…as unpleasant as it is." Without warning, he brusquely reached out and grabbed S' arm. B began to drag her along, but she firmly stood her ground.
"Unhand me!" S angrily broke free of B's grasp. "One of the nicer students I ran into already provided me with a map. Your help is unnecessary. Your presence is…irritating. Goodnight!" She glared at him with her steely, grey eyes and stormed off.
"Brrrrr," B said, shivering. "You sho aw scawy!" His fear was obviously fake which only served to earn more of S' contempt. He continued to follow her.
"Get...lost," she said, pronouncing each syllable clearly to make her sentiments known.
"I lost myself a long time ago," was B's reply. Pissing her off is plenty fun, he thought, mischievously.
"It's really hard to believe that your friends with a nice boy like A," S observed.
"Uhm, I wouldn't say we're friends. More like acquaintances. We both arrived here the same night and there was no one else to talk to. He's almost my intellectual equal…despite his clumsiness." B laughed to himself at this well-established fact.
"You sound more like rivals than anything else."
"That's a better way to put, yes. I like to keep my friends close and my enemies closer."
"By the look of it, it's just enemies in your case then."
"I guess that would make you my enemy, too."
"I guess it does."
"You'd better be careful," B warned.
S laughed and asked, "You're actually trying to intimidate me? You're pasty and skinny…not threatening at all."
B glanced at the top of S' raven-haired head. The crimson numbers read out the day S would take her final breath. He frowned when he saw the promise of a long life floating above the girl. Well, he thought, trying to make himself feel better, a long life doesn't have to be happy. Hopefully she becomes a paraplegic or…never gets married.
"I can see yours, too," S said abruptly. She saw a shadow of shock swoop across B's face for a split second. "What's more…I know how you're going to die, Bryan Loki."
What the…? DAMNED BITCH! SHE CAN SEE MY DEATH DATE AND…I can't! There's no way in hell she knows how I'm going to die! SHE HAS TO BE LYING! GOD I WANT TO KILL HER! The awesome power of the shinigami eyes was the one thing that separated B from the rest of humanity. He liked it that way. But now this girl…with just a few words…had taken away everything that made him powerful. She was on his level. Maybe even a little beyond. Either way, B had reached his boiling point. He violently pushed Suloch against a wall with both arms. "LISTEN, BITCH!" he hissed. "DON'T YOU EVER FUCK AROUND WITH ME! I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KILL YOU, BUT I'LL MAKE IT SO YOU WISH YOU WERE DEAD!"
"You're hurting me," S whimpered. "P-Please let me go." Her light-colored eyes shone with fear.
"Disgusting," B sneered. "I hate weakness." He relented, however, and loosened his vice-like grip on S' thin arms.
"Weakness, huh?" S then kneed B in the gut and watched as he fell over in pain. Her display of helplessness was just that.
"You…you…" B struggled to catch his breath. S rolled him over onto his stomach. She dug her hand into his thick, black hair and yanked his head up.
"Now, you listen to me, bitch!" she said in a malicious whisper. "If you fuck around with me, I'll come for you…like a thief in the night!" She let him go and walked away smiling.
B rolled onto his back, cursing the girl who had temporarily emasculated him. He damned the dark-skinned, Indian girl by the name of Suloch Mistry.
If B was a wolf, then Suloch was no lamb. Far from it. She was a Bengal tiger!
Was he strong enough to frame her fearful symmetry?
To be continued.