Author's note: Yay!! My first Death Note story!! Idea for the story and most of the writing by me, some minor ideas and various other things by my brother. Pairing is BBxNaomi M. so if you don't like it...just walk away quietly.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any of the characters associated with it. Please don't rub it in my face if you do.

A New Plan

Escaping from the California State Prison was easy enough for Beyond Birthday. All he had done was fake a Kira heart attack and then slip out of the morgue, unnoticed by the scrambling guards.

Kira had been targeting major prisons all over the world and inducing heart attacks in all of the death row or life sentenced criminals. California had recently been targeted but that was the least of Beyond's worries. The news had used his alias, Rue Ryuzaki, and the murders had been called either 'The Wara Ningyo Murders' or 'The locked room killings'. The name 'L.A.B.B. Murder cases' had been dropped from all reports, as a request from L himself. Right now though, the only thing Beyond was worried about was how he was going to get out of the nearby prison parking lot with only the clothes on his back and a stolen set of keys. He didn't even remember who he had stolen them from, since there were too many guards fussing over his 'dead' body, but it had already been 15 minutes and not one of the cars seemed to be lighting up. He was starting to get frustrated.

"I guess I could always walk out of this god-forsaken place..." he told himself, hearing the anger in his voice as he spoke.

He started walking away from the parking lot when a stylish motorcycle caught his eye. He looked from the sleek black mach-bike, to the keys in his hand and mentally slapped himself. Those couple years in prison must have done something to the logical part of his mind if he had missed something as simple as that. With a sigh of exhaustion, Beyond put the tinted helmet on (thank goodness the guards around here were so cautious), and with a bit of intuition, managed to figure out the controls and finally drive away from the California State Prison.

Beyond Birthday almost couldn't recognize himself when he looked in the mirror.

After driving for about thirty minutes, he had stopped at a local department store and easily stole a wallet from a busy mother, who had left her purse unattended while trying to control her three noisy kids. When he had picked out some new clothes, he paid for them and then immediatly went to the dressing rooms to change. When he looked in the mirror though, he had to blink twice to make sure it was his reflection that was staring back at him. He had picked out a pair of long, black denim jeans with a chain already attached to the belt loops. His torso was covered with a black tank top and a long sleeved, button-up shirt (which he lazily buttoned halfway). Upon closer inspection, he realized that the stitching on the button-up was a dark red and there was an almost unnoticable skull and crossbones sewn into the back. He had finished the outfit off with a plain black beanie hat to cover up his disheveled hair.

When he walked out of the dressings room, he was nearly tackled by the now-drooling teenage store clerk.

"Wow! That outfit looks so hot- uh, amazing on you!! You can pull off the goth look really well!" the girl pratically yelled.

Beyond was clearly taken aback by this little developement. Did he really look that good? It took him a few moments before he realized that the girl was still talking to him.

"-and I have this thing for guys who can pull off the whole 'dark and mysterious' look and you- hey! where are you going?"

Beyond had started walking away from the over-eccentric girl and didn't plan on turning back around just to see her drool over him again. However, he did stop when she mentioned why she stopped him.

"You forgot your shoes!"

He thought about going back and retrieving his shoes, but eventually went against the idea. The jeans were long enough to cover his feet anyway. So, he just continued walking, leaving the confused girl at the counter.

Beyond regretted not getting the shoes.

He was forced to stop at a nearby rest area when the engine got so hot, he felt as if his feet were on Fire...again. The thought of Fire seemed to bring back the memory of when he set himself ablaze for a few seconds before Naomi Misora put out the Flames. In those few seconds, he could literally feel his skin peel off his body. Those had been the most painful 40 seconds of his life.

Rehab hadn't been much better. The doctors gave him numerous skin grafts and did their best to try and make him appear somewhat normal again. When that was over, he found out that his face wasn't really burned at all. Just some minor burns along his collarbone. It was his chest and back that had suffered the most damage and at times, he still had trouble breathing due to the heat being inhaled and damaging his lungs. If it wasn't for Naomi Misora, he wouldn't have to deal with this pain or pretend to be dead.

Naomi Misora.

The woman who put out the Fire and then arrested him for his murders was also the same woman whom he had worked alongside and manipulated. She was also the same woman who nearly kicked his ass in the alley when he tried to attack her.

For a long time, Beyond wondered what it was about this woman that made L want to put her in charge of being his eyes, ears, and shield. Sure, she was a skilled FBI agent and was well trained in Capoeira, but he honestly didn't think she was that smart. At every scene, he pratically showed her where all the clues led and manipulated her so easily that it seemed like child's play. And yet, Naomi had figured out that it was him who had committed the crimes. He couldn't figure out how she had hid such a perceptive mind for so long without him realizing it.

In the end, when Beyond put all this information together, he found that he couldn't bring himself to hate Naomi. Sure she had ruined his chance of surpassing L, but she had also given him another chance to try again. Whether he knew it or not, Beyond found himself trying not to linger on the past and just try and move forward with another plan in mind. His desire to surpass L had not diminshed in the least, but now he wanted to try a different approach. Something less violent. But in order for this new plan to take action, he would need Naomi Misora's help. Looks like he would have to continue driving until he came across an airport. From there, he'd travel to Japan (where Kira had started his killings) and begin his hunt for Naomi.

Yes, this plan would surely put him ahead of L.

Beyond Birthday was going to be the one to solve the Kira case.

Author's notes (continued): The second chapter to this story is already done. I just need to type it up. I'm working on the third chapter now and that's where things start happening. This chapter was just really for descriptions. It'll definitly pick up in the next couple of chapters. Anyway, here are some fun facts about this chapter:

1) The clothes Beyond has on are the clothes I was wearing while I was writing this chapter.

2) Some random girl really did almost tackle me when I walked into a store with those clothes on.

3) It must be an OCD thing but I must capitalize any 'f' that has any relation to Fire...there, I just did it again. I'm sorry if this annoys anybody.

Also, if you haven't read Another Note (Death Note novel) I suggest you do that, since there are some spoilers in this chapter.

-RulerofFire