AN: I know this has been done before, and done better, but I have nothing else better to do, and BB/Light is my (current) OTP... So, here! Have some overdone concept made even more overdone!
...I wonder if this counts as AU or altered circumstances...? (Probably the latter, or else the title would be all wrong. 8D)
Summary: Altered Circumstances. Light Yagami meets Beyond Birthday just days after he finds the death note. It is almost chance that they meet, but it is also almost fate that they meet. BB/Light, mentions of BB/L
Warnings: BB being BB. Light being Light. Possible ooc-ness, considering how bad I am at fanfiction. People dying. Some eye-blinding grammar/spelling/punctuation mistakes might also be present. Slash (OTP = BB/Light, as mentioned xD), nothing explicit (promise). Might be some good old blood and gore, though.
Disclaimer: Death Note (as well as Another Note) is owned by some Japanese dudes. I am an American(-Chinese) gal.
Well, as always, critiques are appreciated.
Light does not know when he first met Beyond. It has been such a short, yet long time that Light cannot remember.
He does know how they met, though. It is not so much that he remembered as that he couldn't forget.
"Light Yagami." Those were the first words that Beyond ever said to him. They were said in the western way, with western pronounciation. He seemed to realize that he was speaking to a Japanese, though, because his next words were said flawlessly in Light's native language. "Why can I not see your lifespan?"
Light was shocked into a stupor.
"You can't answer? Is it possible that you don't know either?"
"I..." That time, Light had no idea what Beyond was talking about. He had just picked up the death note a few days before and had only just begun experimenting it. At that time, Light had not even met Ryuk yet, so Beyond's words were completely foreign to him. "How do you know my name?"
"It's right there, above your head in red," Beyond answered, laughing. "Everyone has their name and lifespan there in red. You just can't see it." A pause. "But, it seems you're different. I can't see your lifespan."
Light does not remember anything that happened after that. His next memory starts hours later, when Ryuk finally decides to make his appearance after witnessing the interaction between him and Beyond.
Light's memories of Beyond are always like this, fragmented, in pieces. They never seem to connect.
It is not so much that he forgot as it is that he could not remember.
Beyond always seems to remember, though, and Light is not sure whether he should feel grateful or envious or annoyed. (Actually, Light is never sure how to feel about Beyond.) And, sometimes, Light wonders if Beyond is lying. (But, of course, then he remembers that Beyond never lies, and the thought is thrown to the back of his mind.)
When Beyond first came over to Light's house, his family makes a big fuss about it.
("It's unusual for you to bring friends home, Light.")
("Wow, my brother actually has friends?")
("Now, Light, I'm glad you made such a good friend, but if he's a bad influence...")
Beyond takes everything with a smile and a nod, acting as if he is used to this (which he isn't), acting as if he had been Light's friend for years (though even now Light is unsure whether Beyond is truly his friend or not).
Beyond is sociable, easy to talk to, and intelligent. Beyond is the perfect friend. He makes no mistakes in his speech, in his smiles, in his actions. Pretty soon, the whole family accepts Beyond as a good friend (maybe even the best) of Light. Even Light's father, the hardened police officer, the one who had been most skeptical about Beyond, grudgingly lowers his guard and approves.
Beyond is the perfect actor when he wants to be.
(But, oh, it isn't lying. It is only pretending. Pretending is not lying.)
Sometimes, Light wonders if Beyond ever stops pretending.
It has only a few weeks (maybe even less, Light isn't really keeping count anymore), and Kira is being accepted by the people.
Kira is being revered by the people.
Light is surprised by how good it feels. He had anticipated some satisfaction, maybe a bit of pride, but never this. He feels fulfilled for the first time in his life. He feels excited, ectasctic. He feels like the world has become perfect.
They praise him as God.
They praise him for dealing out his judgment to criminals.
(But, oh how ironic, he is working with one of those very criminals in order to be Kira.)
"It was murder," Beyond says, when Light asks, "but it also wasn't." He is playing with the parts of Sayu's broken computer. (She had asked Beyond to fix it because she had been too embarrassed to ask her brother.) "I only killed those whose lifespans would've ended that day without my intervention." He slides the components together as if putting together a puzzle. "So, they would have died, with or without my help."
"But, you still took a human life."
"Yes, I did. So, I suppose it is murder." He smiles. "Is Kira going to judge me for my crimes?"
Light does not know whether Beyond is not afraid because he is sure that Light would not kill him or if he just simply does not fear death. "I won't judge you."
"I can sense the unspoken yet in your voice, Light." A laugh. "But, well, I suppose it doesn't matter."
"Do you not care if you died, Beyond?"
"What a silly question, Light. Of course I care. Like most, I do not want to die now. The reason I'm so calm about it should be obvious."
Light does not see how it could be obvious when he himself doesn't see it.
Of course, Beyond isn't so kind as to explain it for him, so the conversation ends without anything being resolved.
Beyond is the one that suggests most of Light's experiments for the death note.
"Hey, Ryuk, can you control the time of death with the notebook?" Beyond asks.
Ryuk cackles at the thought. "Why don't you give it a try?"
Beyond smiles, knowing that the shinigami's comment was practically an affirmation. "Go ahead, Light. Give it a try. It'll be fun."
"'Fun'? That's a little too callous, isn't it, Beyond?" As soon as those words left his mouth, Light realizes that Beyond isn't really simply referring to "fun", and that he had been making such a huge mistake without realizing it. "I see. Since I'm only killing people within a set time frame, my identity as a student would be obvious."
"So you realized." Beyond laughs his usual maniacal laugh. "You need to become more aware of these things now, Light. As Kira, you'll probably be hunted soon enough."
Though Light has always been confident that he could handle anyone that goes against him, Beyond's comment makes him uncertain. (Beyond has never been wrong in his advice yet.) "Who do you think will be able to hunt me down, Beyond?"
Beyond seems almost unwilling to answer, but he does. "L." The name is said flatly, but the word-the letter-has a visible effect on him, eyes burning with an unreadable emotion.
Light wants to ask who L is but doesn't.
(it is most likely due to pride, probably due to confusion, and maybe due to something he could not identify)
Beyond pretends the conversation never happened.
Light tries to do the same but is unable.
When Lind L. Tailor appears, Light is too prideful, too egotistic, too overconfident to listen to Beyond's warnings.
("It's a trap, Light.")
("That isn't L.")
("Don't be so impulsive.")
("It's just a way to get you to reveal your secrets.")
("Calm down. You aren't thinking clearly.")
He writes down the man's name without a second thought and watches in ectascy as he died forty seconds later. Then, the man is revealed to be a fake, a ploy, a challenge to Kira.
Light is outwitted.
He waits for a derogatory remark from Beyond, a snide comment, some laughter even, but none of them comes. (Ryuk, however, mentions something along the lines of "failure" and being "outsmarted" while chuckling. Light doesn't seem to hear him.) He turns to see Beyond listening in rapt attention to the electronic voice, with an expression that Light has never seen before.
(It is not anger nor hate.)
(It is not happiness nor love.)
(The only way to describe it would be obsession.)
Light is surprised to find that he feels something almost like jealousy.
For whom? For what? He does not know. He only knows that it is there, festering.
"Is something wrong, Beyond?" he finally asks.
"Of course not," Beyond answers, returning to normal. "I should be asking you that, Light. How does it feel like tasting your first defeat as Kira?" He laughs, as if he enjoys the thought of Light losing.
Light scowls. "L might have won the battle, but I will win the war."
Beyond doesn't seem convinced. "If you say so."
"Sometimes I don't understand which side you are on, Beyond."
"Isn't it obvious? I'm on my own side."
AN: These were all written at different times, so sorry for the choppiness.
But, well, writing a confused Light is fun.