Shattered Porcelain

I do not own Death Note, nor its characters.

"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chapter one: skim milk

Light was something beautiful, something wonderful and grand, upon a pedestal of pure glass. He was untouchable, like a fragile angel, only to be handled with the gentlest care. If used to roughly, he could scar and scuff, and that would not be wanted, oh dear me, no.

It was, of course, precisely why BB found Light so nice as his next obsession. His perfection, his grace, his innocence so very untainted and just waiting to be dirtied by someone like him. He had been wondering if there was anything fun left in the world and then, boom, Light showed up. Such a nice boy shouldn't have been where he was at the time, but what did BB care? To see Light was to see brilliance unlike any other.

BB had obsessions. He went from one to another, like shoes, trying one on and wearing it until it became ugly, then discarding it in favor of a prettier model. Each one had to be finished the same way, to destroy it in the end. BB didn't like anyone having what he had already had. He was, in fact, a very possessive person. He believed in first come first serve, but he also enjoyed taking things from others. It was a secret thrill, he thought, to see that empty look upon a person's face when what they loved most was stolen by BB.

Light was BB's obsession now, and now, BB would have Light, no matter what. It was simply how it was. Fate, if you will, destiny, drove him to the boy and brought the boy to him. It was as it always was, tragic of course, but what did BB care for tragedy? His life passed him as a, oh, what would it be, a comedy, filled with silly people who did nothing but wonder and fall on their faces. BB never did any of that. He was far too intelligent to do that, and gazing at the Light child, he realized that the boy also thought above the silly people.

A match made in heaven, he thought wickedly, as he often did, watching the boy's elegant legs walk up the street and around the corner, marking the first day of BB's obsession and the countdown to Light's last breath.

Silky smooth skin slid into one pant leg, and then into another. Light pulled it up and zipped his slacks, so that they fit tightly across his middle. He smiled and pulled from his closet a blue shirt, not too dressy, but classy. That was how Light preferred it. Classy, like a fine wine, or a well cut pair of trousers, was not fancy, it was elegant, bold and yet simple and soft in the same. Light enjoyed classy, as he thought him self to be that. He slipped into the shirt and took a moment to look at him self in the glossy mirror that rested upon his vanity.

The clear, smooth surface of the reflection echoed back to him all that he had known it would. A beautiful young man, fresh out of high school and in college, in a very nice outfit, about to be off to a date with his lovely lady friend, whom he was in love with, no doubt. Ah yes, Light nodded to the mirror, his smile faltering for a moment before it returned.

Classy.

BB spit out the milk he had drank. It tasted of water. His fingers gripped the carton he had bought and he gazed at the logo. Ah, he thought, so that was the problem.

Skim milk. He frowned and scrunched his face. He hated skim milk. It tasted like it was with out taste, a contradicting beverage that left a somewhat vile aftertaste in his mouth. He tapped his fingers to the carton and flicked it off the table. It fell and hit the floor, spilling nicely in a big puddle. One of the several million cats that infested BB's room came over and lapped at it. Its little pink tongue flicked out and pressed to the cool surface of the milk, quickly retracting it back once it tasted the nasty liquid. Its face screwed up in a disgusted manner. It turned to BB and gave him a face, as if to tell him that it was his entire fault.

He glared at the cat and got up to face it. He picked it up with his thin, strong fingers, stroking it. He began to sing softly to it in Italian, as it relaxed in his grip. Just as it began to nuzzle against him, he jerked his fingers to its neck and snapped it. He let the limp body fall to the floor, landing on the milk and causing it to splash. Little droplets of milk wet the edges of BB's jeans and he kneeled down to poke at the motionless body of the cat. He picked his small carving knife out of his pocket and skimmed it across the body of the thing, slightly nicking its sin, the blood tainting the once white skin of the milk red as the rose.

BB placed his knife down and touched his finger to the surface, bringing it back up to lick at it. The taste was bitter, the iron of the blood so very strange and sharp in his mouth. He smiled. A taste to the milk, he thought, how lovely is this tasteless drink now that it has the life blood in it of a cat.

He tapped a finger to his chin. What did perchance the Light child taste like, with the hint of blood to season?

Light walked up the street, almost to the restaurant, almost there to see his beloved, but almost was not enough. Thin, strong fingers pulled him back and as he fought against them (so difficult, for they were so very strong, like ropes almost), he could hear the sound of a man's voice, soft, yet sharp, singing quietly in Italian.

"La miei bellezza, così bello, non voi sonno qui con me fra le stelle."

He wriggled against the grasp of his attacker, but his efforts were in vain. So strong were his hands and so faintly he could hear now, everything fading. He felt the dull prick of a needle break his skin and he tried so very hard to ignore the feeling of the wet blood trickling down his neck. The world began to fade to black, like the end of a movie, and Light felt something touch the wound made by the needle. Fainter than faint, he heard some one whisper in his ear;

"Does even the great Light Yagami taste of skim milk without the touch of blood to flavor?"

Then, all was black.

BB watched as the boy's eyes fluttered open. So elegant, he thought, so refined, even as he wakes. No mortal could this boy be, he pondered, surely some sort deity. The rhymes in his head were the result of his giddiness. Oh yes, it was that lovely Light child he had locked in his room, up in the red brick building, on the bed, creaky and old. He smiled and dared to press his finger down Light's jaw line. Light's eyes snapped open and he looked frantically at BB. BB noted what a lovely hue of caramel they had.

"What do you want with me?"

BB sighed and stopped the stroking of Light's face, his fingers halting between the nose and lip. This answer was not so easily told. It was so very difficult to explain to someone such as Light why BB did things. He went for as straightforward an answer as he could muster.

"You are my obsession."

Light stared blankly at the man. His body was trembling from fear. Who was this man, so frightening and different, with his dark red eyes and thin limbs, wild ebony hair and pale skin, such a contrast was he? BB grinned as Light formed words with his mouth that died before he could open his lips to speak them.

"I've always liked," BB began, trailing off as his fingers continued downward, "pretty things. I like to collect them, and as soon as I grow tired of my new pretty thing, I get rid of it. I like to have things, but I don't like other people having my things you see? I'm very selfish and at times, very childish. I should hope Light is not bothered by this."

Light cringed at the sound of his name.

"How do you know my name?"

BB pointed to his eyes.

"I can see everything, even the number of days left on your life. Poor Light, you have so few left. I wonder if it's because of me?" He put a finger to his lip and mockingly pretended to think about it, eyes widened in innocence. BB looked down at Light.

"But I suppose you'd rather not know."

Light shook his head and moved his hand, only to find it was chained to the bed post. He looked, frightened, at BB, who shrugged.

"Couldn't have Light running away. That would be silly."

Light breathed in and looked at BB, making eye contact.

"Okay," he said, "I don't want to cause any trouble. I would like it you released me now please. I shouldn't want to bring terrible consequences upon you. My father is the chief of the NPA, you know."

"Oh, yes," BB said, taking back his fingers, touching them to his lips, "I know who your father is little Light child. Bear in mind that he shall not be able to find you, not here. The records will show I do not exist, I am no where to be seen but here." Light couldn't move, his body seemed to stop all its shakings.

"You do not exist?" BB shook his head and smiled disarmingly, turning his head to the right in a vaguely innocent manner. Light furrowed his brow in confusion and his lips pursed in concentration.

"That's impossible. No one can not exist. It is altogether far too," at this he paused and looked to BB, who was nibbling on his finger, "too, oh well, far too…"

"Strange?"

Light nodded. "Yes, for you to be unknown by anyone would be completely illogical."

BB grinned and chuckled quietly.

"Yes, you enjoy logical don't you? Ah, now Light, you see, you must think me strange in many accounts, do you not?"

"I do, in fact." Light said, "You are quite strange, in your appearance especially."

"And," BB continued, drawing out his words, "I suppose you think your self quite beautiful in your appearance, yes?"

Light frowned and bit his lips. "Not that word exactly. I would, however, say that I am indeed attractive, in a sense. Perhaps not beautiful, but…"

"Ahhh, Light should not short hand himself like that. He is quite beautiful, in the traditional sense of outward appearance."

Light turned his head sharply, his left eyebrow raising slightly.

"What is it you mean by 'outward' appearance?"

BB grinned. "I mean that your outward appearance is attractive, but I've yet to see if your mind compares. You see," he said, gesturing around him to show the whole room, in all its empty glory, "in here, I've decided that what is strange can be instead thought of as beautiful, as of course, it is not in the world," at this he gestured to the window on the wall facing the outside world, "out there."

Light looked around him self, taking in the room's apparent qualities.

"So, if I have this correct, you've created what you believe is a sanctuary for the more strange of society," he said, "where it is not the beautiful that are treasured, but the strange and unwanted?"

"Heh," BB chuckled, "No, I've not made one for others, only for me and my few obsessions. Of course, you have now become one of them, so you will be spending whatever is left of your life here, in this place." Light's eyes widened and he frantically began to yank at the chain on his bed. The dull tings against the metal of the bed post echoed in the room, as did BB's laughter.

"Ah," BB muttered, "Light does serve to amuse me. You see Light, it is without the strange people that we are like," here he tapped a finger to his chin, and then, remembering, he pointed to the body of the cat in the milk, "like that skim milk. We are with out taste, and can not be consumed by those with taste buds. The only way you are to have taste buds is if you have a brain and those who do have said brain are like the blood of the cat in the milk. There is a spark of taste that causes the general population to be shocked, but you see, sometimes this spark of taste is thought of as disgusting or vile, because there are those with out taste buds who wish to spoil the fun of those with taste buds."

Light stopped his movements and turned to BB, giving him an astonished look.

"So you are basically saying that those who are outcasts and think they are above society are the ones who are truly the intelligent ones?"

BB shook his head once more. "It is not a question of being an outcast Light. It is really a question of if you are the blood or the milk. That is why I have obsessions. I prefer to find things that are blood to the skim milk of life. That is what I hope you are Light. So, in truth, I ask this, I suppose."

He turned to Light and cocked his head to the side, his fingers reaching out and capturing Light's chin, tilting it upwards so that Light's eyes met his.

"Are you blood or milk?"

And there he left the boy, staring at the space where BB had been, thinking of the question he'd been asked. He touched the spots BB had touched and shivered at the thought of those fingers touching anywhere else.

He glanced over at the dead cat, its fur matted from the wetness of the skim milk. He wondered how long it had been there, if BB had killed it. BB probably had, he would not have put it past the frightening man.

The question echoed in his mind, quietly reciting itself to him as if a poetic verse memorized from a book.

Are you blood or milk? Well, he mused quietly, I suppose I shall find out soon.

the end of chapter one: skim milk

A.N. Yes, I'm starting this and hoping to finish. I'm rating it M for the death and things like that. It will be a lot of nonsensical jargon of BB explaining the concepts of things to Light in a different way then he is used to, and some love thrown in for fun. I do intend to bring L in as well, but not as a main character (gasp!), as a side character. This is, in fact, AU. No Death Note in it, I'm afraid…

BB is always portrayed as very insane and mad, but it is rarely explained insanity, only used for carnage. I write this with the hope of giving BB a different sort of face, one of explained madness. He is strange, but in a way that was shaped by a world that has not treated him fairly.

Also, there are not enough BB and Light stories and I really think their characters as a whole are very interesting, if ever they were to meet.

Please review…