Beyond Birthday wasn't fazed at the result of the pointless test lying down on the table in front of him. He had predicted the outcome from the very minute he read the title. Staring at it again now, almost annoyed that he had to see the stupid waste of paper; he gazed at the last line at the end of the test:

'Compatibility percentage = 5.5% Please wait after class to be paired with a partner'

Everyone within the orphanage grounds had to take a compatibly test when they reached the age of sixteen. Everyone was determined to succeed in life, no matter what career choice you chose. Some would take an interest in medicine, law, space physics, psychology, while others chose the path to becoming a detective like the infamous L.

L.

That one letter would always make him shudder, there was nothing special about this L person; he was a coward and a hermit who had an extremely large ego with an equally large brain to match. Frowning at the thought of everyone within the orphanage that worshiped him like their own deity, L may have a great amount of power and influence over people but it certainly didn't make him a god. He had the chance to talk to L once, more like listened to him answer questions the rest of the children asked. He even had a two-way web camera between them, L looked just as boring as he imagined; there was no golden skin that glowed or handsome features, nor was there any sight of a perfect human anatomy display. He wore a long-sleeved white top with baggy blue jeans and his hair had a personality of its own, it didn't seem to stay flat and spiked out at messy angles. His skin looked pasty and there were prominent bags under his eyes; Beyond felt pity for the man, nothing more.

Thinking back to the test, he imagined if L was ever in the same predicament as he when being placed with a partner. L had Watari although Watari seemed to be a sort of sidekick. If he ever chose to have a partner, they would have to be his equal and not a mere servant or butler. But those chances were slim according to the exam, which was fine; he would rather work alone anyway. The less chance he would screw up, especially for the job he had in mind. The edges of his mouth tilted up into a kind of smirk.

Before he knew what had happened, students around him were gathering heir books and leaving the room. He watched with his venetian red eyes as they walked single file out the door, he glanced over at the teacher who was, in turn, staring back at him. He stared back for a minute which made her relocate her sight and set it somewhere else. It so happened that they fixed on another student; Beyond followed her sight till his own were taking in the appearance of a boy who sat right at the back in the far left corner. The tension of the room seemed to have thickened increasingly as the boy stared at both of them back.

The teacher cleared her throat addressing them both, "Both of you come forward, it seems that you two are the only ones who are incompatible with anyone else in this class. Beyond, you scored 5.5%. Eztli, you scored a mere 2.1%. As both of you are without partners I will be assigning you to be each others partner. Your first task is to get to know each other; now each others strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, their favourites and more importantly your aspirations for the future. I would like at least ten things written to be handed in by the end of the week. Am I clear?"

Glaring at her, BB growled softly before mumbling, "Crystal…"

He turned to look at the other boy waiting to see what his response would be, anyone in their right mind would have complained. There were people in this class that couldn't even look at him without whimpering or muttering the word 'devil child' under their breath. He didn't complain and he didn't fuel the fire to any of the insults. He didn't really talk at all to anyone in the first place; he hadn't met anyone that could hold his interest for more than ten minutes. If they tried to talk to him, he would look up and simply stare. It was intimidating to all of those who had been held under his gaze.

So when this boy turned to Beyond and held his gaze with his own piercing red eyes, Beyond was incredibly curious and surprised. He could help the grin stretching across his face. Beyond looked at the top of his head and as he predicted there was no name and no numbers. Eztli, although it wasn't noticed by BB, subconsciously looked above his head too. They looked back down into each others eyes when the teacher coughed again.

"Eztli, am I clear?" she said sounding a little impatient.

"Crystal," he whispered smoothly yet strongly .

"Good, you may leave to go and get ready for dinner. Good Luck both of you and-"

Before another word was uttered the Eztli had turned and flied from the room without looking back. Beyond just stared after him as his thoughts burst into the front of his mind. ' How had I not have noticed him before? He has eyes like mine! I wonder if he sees what I see, that would be very interesting to find out. Then it's final, I will make him talk and I will find out by whatever means possible.'

He started to walk towards the exit when his teacher called back threateningly, "Do not ruin this for yourself or him. He's been through more than you can imagine…"

"I'm sure we'll be fine, and I'm sure you'll be surprised at what we can accomplish," he deviously smirked but it faltered slightly as he thought 'what if he's just another scared idiot?'

Striding out the room he turned suddenly left.

The next thing he knew was that somebody had gripped him by his shirt and thrown his against the wall, pining him.

He knew exactly who it was when his eyes locked onto two crimson ones like his own.

Eztli's POV

When I turned to look into his eyes I felt a sense of security, I was not the only one that had these obscene red eyes. He looked as surprised as I had felt, it was the first time that we had met and I had heard the rumours. At least they're now confirmed true. Did mine really look that intimidating? If they are then perfect, they could be an advantage.

I could see each emotion flickering within his eyes; surprise, curiosity, nervous and also a hint of dread. Did he, do we share the same gift I wonder. Then he smirked, it made me shiver delightfully as the width increased. But what was he thinking? I needed to know!

Then he finally did what I expected him to do, his eyes travelled to above my head.

Still watching his expressions, the smirk faltered slightly as he looked a little confused. My eyes too gazed above his head a moment later and I realised why he was confused. For the first time since I was born, I saw no name. Nor any numbers.

Now I was completely fascinated by him. What did he think of our gift? I wonder if he enjoys having this supernatural power as I do. Perhaps not? Maybe, like any normal person, he thinks it is a curse. That he was born to know the exact time everyone around him will die and know that he can't do anything to stop the count-down from ticking all the way down to zero. Had he told anyone? Will he even confess to me that he too had the ability? I don't think he has told anyone; he wouldn't be here at this very moment if he had, he would be a scientists lab rat being experimented on.

Yet the thought of him telling others of our shared gift was daunting. I had to make sure. Then once I find out we can go our separate ways if he chooses to do so, after our assignment that is. I uttered my reply as the teacher demanded an answer. I swear if she doesn't stop talking with her nasal voice I will crawl into her bedroom at night and cut off her nose. Itching to get away, I fled the room as soon as she allowed for us to leave.

What other way was best to confront him than by surprise.

I waited patiently outside the door as I heard her call out to Beyond as what a fucked up little boy I was, not in those words obviously. I smiled as he replied at how well we will work together. I couldn't help but agree, we might just get along.

I could hear his soft footsteps getting louder as he neared the door. Then as soon as he turned my way I grabbed the front of his shirt tightly and shoved him against the wall forcefully. A quiet grunt escaped through his lips as I leaned in so our noses were nearly touching. With a playful smirk I began to speak first as he looked amused.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Do I sense another gifted human before me? You need to learn to be subtle when you learn when I'm going to die." I whispered playfully as our eyes stared in competition at who would brake the contact first.

And to be honest, I found them more endearing by the second.

Beyond's POV

Well this was easier than I expected. He must have thought the exact same if he's being this blunt about speaking about our 'gift'. What I didn't expect him to do was use physical contact to get answers. Well, how said I was going to give them straight away. I like turning things like this into games, they're so much more exciting and fun to play than to just talk. And I admit, I can be a bit of a tease when I want to be. After all, he had passed the ten minute mark and my curiosity only grew by the minute. He interested me in ways no one had before. I wanted to know all of his dirty little secrets and what skeletons he had in his closet. I know I have quite a few in mine.

Finally I began to take in his appearance apart form his eyes. His hair was like white snow, although it was dyed as I could smell the ammonia. He probably done it yesterday. At least it made him appear normal, he could pass as being albino. As for me, unless I wear contacts I'm screwed, but I always keep a set just in case of emergency's. I can think of one scenario or maybe a few the more I think about it.

My eyes travelled down to his torso where a plain black tee covered his almost translucent skin. He wore a chain that held a rather unique cross. Travelling further, he wore a pair of light blue skin-tight jeans and to my annoyance, no shoes. He was just another L wannabe. I scowled as his eyes flashed with glee.

"And what gift would that be? You must be confused because I don't have any gift other than my high intelligence." I asked as I tried to sound as confused as possible.

But he just kept on smiling.

"Well that confirms one of my theories. And if you want to play that game, then I'll be happy to. I have a lot of patience. Now, why aren't you blushing? Is this not close enough for you?" If it was possible he stepped closer, one leg settling between mine. Our breathes were mingling and his spicy and metallic scent filled my nostrils.

It was then that I realised how much of a brilliant actor he was.

Acting so shy and innocent in the class in front of our teacher, he seemed angelic almost. But the more time he spent in my company he was slowly breaking that shell around him and I was beginning to see his true self. And what a huge tease he is. No one would believe me if I said than he was a tease. His act had been perfected. He's probably fooled many and had them wrapped around his finger. He's devious. And what about the things our teacher had said 'he's been through more than you can imagine', he's also protected.

He's not just devious, he's conniving too. I smirked and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

"As much as I enjoy your company we have work to do. And for your first fact, I have incredibly sensitive hearing so if you don't move now, your little façade will crumble when our teacher walks through that door in say…five seconds?"

As expected, he swiftly jumped back and straightened his top and hair just in time for our teacher appearing at the door. She looked confused at the fact we were still there in the hall when we should be in our dorms or heading down for dinner.

"Is something wrong? Do you have a question about your assignment? If not then you should be heading to back to your rooms or to dinner."

"We were just planning on going to Beyond's room to do our assignment. Come on Bee-Bee let's go," Eztli said so sickly sweet it made my hairs stand on my arms. I felt his hand wrap around my wrist as he began to pull me down the hall. I didn't object but if we were truly going to my room, then we would have a bit of a problem.

You see, my hobby would be in plain sight and I really didn't want him to see.

Third Person

They walked side-by-side silently down the hall for a few minutes until Eztli sneezed. He cupped his hands around his mouth and nose and roared loudly.

"Bless you," Beyond mumbled, a little disgusted as he stuck his hands in his jean pockets.

"Why thank you, you're the first person to bless me. So…you have sensitive hearing and you have the eyes? Any other abnormalities about your body?" He looked towards Beyond waiting for his reply as he stuck his own hands into his jeans. He moved slightly closer to him as they turned a corner, all the halls were bare, they must all be at dinner by now.

Beyond frowned as he began to think if he did, and if he wanted to tell Eztli. "I have a few scars but they're not that serious." He had lied of course, if you removed his top the whole of his upper body was covered in them, ranging form thin scratchy ones to serious deadly big ones. All of them were pale by now but it didn't mean that they would stay that way. "My turn to ask a question then; when Miss Hope said that you had been through a lot - I knew you must have heard her if you were standing waiting to pounce on me - what did she mean by that, what made her think you were fucked up?"

It was Eztli's turn to frown now as he let out a large sigh, "I guess I can tell you a little but not he full story, but you have to promise not to tell a living soul."

Beyond gave him a pointed look in return. Who in the world would he tell? He was practically known as 'Death's Kid', silent yet creepy.

"Alright…well…um, like all the other sad little kids in this place, I'm an orphan. Except my parents and little brother were brutally murdered in front of my eyes. That alone should have fucked me up, but the shit just kept on coming. He took me away and sold me to this underground fighting club. I spent a few years there but the police busted us and I was sent away to a hospital to get better. About a year or two later L found me and I was brought here." He stared continually at the ground while he spoke but only when Beyond asked another question did he finally look up, with no emotion in his eyes.

"How old where you?" Beyond whispered attentively.

"Seven, I turned eight a few months after it had happened." He replied monotonously.

They stayed silent from then on until they arrived at, not Beyond's, but Eztli's room.

"I have a room to myself for certain reasons. It's a lot more private too and I don't think your room mate would appreciate an uninvited guest." He began to search for his key in his pocket to unlock the door.

Beyond just shrugged but internally sighed with relief as he stepped into the room.

The moment he did, his breathe had been taken away.