Have you thought I vanished? Of course I haven't. Although I'm going back on one of my vows not to publish a story with another ongoing story, especially one that needs a finished title like Seeing is Believing, this little plot occurred in the back of my mind a week ago and never left me to be. So I gave in and started this, on a little play of my two favorite Death Note characters- L Lawliet and Beyond Birthday. Does that mean this is the only thing I'm going to work on? Much to say, no, not at all. It's going to depend on which gets the most popularity, and what I'm in the mood to write in. As you will notice, this is going to have a more common form of writing on here, much different than my more traditional and laid back style of Seeing is Believing. I'm still debating on weither or not this will become my main form of writing from now on. Apologies for the long author's note as well, read, review, you know the drill. Thank you. And I do not own anything mentioned in this story except the writing piece itself.


Spirals of Insanity

Chapter I: Timeless

Beyond Birthday was never truly insane.

Maniac, and mass murder were some of his traits, but he never was really "out of his mind". He always thought clear as a bell, even in the tightest of situations, such as his ultimate failure of suicide in the LABB murder cases. He was also a genius that rivaled the world's greatest detective. But there was one tiny, saturated fact about the murderer that seemed to keep reminding him that he wasn't like other humans.

That he was simply different, and that fact would never change. He saw through only two colors- that of blood and death. He knew your name before you introduced yourself. He knew the day, hour, and second of which you would die, something humans, by nature, would never want to hear.

Some would say that it was this about Beyond that had pushed him over the edge. Knowing that his mother would die in a train accident when he was five – before the child knew what the dwindling numbers above his parent's heads meant. Or what would happen when that clock hit zero. He believed everyone could see the same way he did. He would ask other children in his preschool if they, too, could see the numbers. But his question was soon answered as each boy and girl would give him a stray look before turning away, some running from him. It was bad enough his eyes were of a crimson flower.

And as thus, BB grew distant from others, having learnt that he was different from the normal. It came to be that he was more intelligent as well, but that was overruled with the guilt he felt for having such a curse cast over him. Even then, when his father's numbers suddenly arranged themselves into only hundreds when he was six, he tried everything in his power to save him. Played dodgy, kept him indoors at the best of his whim. But he couldn't stop him from walking down the street to the grocery store for much needed food for himself and his son. It was then that he was attacked and killed in a mugging gone awry.

And that was the day the young child learned what zero meant above a person's head.

But I would be wasting my precious time if I included every little detail about his childhood; so I shall skip to the first day he stepped foot into Whammy's House for the Gifted.

At that date in time, Beyond was exactly eight. He knew of his eyes and their extent, and as such tried his utmost best to stay distant from other while giving into his studies, trying to contain the differential fact inside him. But that was before he was introduced to the resident living in the attic.

On their first meeting, Beyond wasn't expecting much of the orphan, but that was before he saw him firsthand. The boy that was slightly older then him, wearing a plain white shirt and blue jeans two sizes too big with the raven, unruly hair, and his eyes. The color of onyx, a color he had not seen before nor expected.

"I assume you're B," he introduced, his voice sounding distracted as he limbered down from the foldable stairs to the attic.

Beyond hastily nodded, blinking. They looked so alike even at their premature ages some could've have said they were brothers, but that certainly wasn't the case. The older boy gave a glance, making eye contact. "I'm L, nice to meet you." He spoke, a pale hand scratching his head absently.

That was their first and most lengthy meeting. L took on the aide of humoring his genius with solving crime, and at his age with the help of Quillish Wammy, his caretaker and owner of the orphanage. There wasn't a long period of time – only a few years before his success as a detective turned the House upside down, into a miniature detective farm. There was originally three, named after the English alphabet.

A, a talkative and social blonde once called Andy Applegate, was the first child introduced on becoming L's successor. He was taken in when he was seven, and it would only be six years later before he would commit suicide due to the reassuring pressure.

B, a distant and genius raven that was known to most of the House still by his real name that he subsequently forced into other orphan's heads with his high grades and rumors, and goofy, but evil smirk in the face of trouble, Beyond Birthday. He was eight when introduced to the House as the second plausible successor for L. Eleven years later, at the age of nineteen, he would run away and a month after, the LABB murders stirred.

C, otherwise known as Cecelia Crest was an intelligent female that wasn't one for rumors or long conversation was a brunette that was not trifled with by most residents at the orphanage, and that was mostly because when forced to crack, she would pack a punch. She was sixteen when B had run away, and a day after, she utterly vanished from the earth, never to be seen again to this day.

But I would be betraying my first morals while I had planned to write this if I included each child's little endeavors during their time at the House. My story, of which I was bothered enough to write on this god forsaken thing called paper in my, and the human world shall be the memories I have of Beyond Birthday and L Lawliet. Their spirals of insanity once called a game. And although my memories may be contorted with the residue of age, I lost a pair of eyes for it and most will be true. Moving on, shall we?

All the while when L was riding his growing fame in the detective community, his second successor, Beyond, had drastically changed since the first time they had met. But, L was barely around to see B's transformation.

He didn't notice when Beyond had decided that when, because he was different from others as a whole and unique human being, never socially accepted nor truly respected for his intelligence, became bent on becoming a copy of a original. And that just happened to be L.

He didn't notice when he took up his habits of eating nothing but sweets, or as going as far to occasionally put his thumb to the left side of his mouth while deep in thought, or taking up sitting in the peculiar way he always did. He was too busy with his line of work to know that what might have been a close friend and partner was becoming his doppelganger.

Their last meeting at the House was much unexpected. L was in the library, enjoying a book on the human circulatory system that was dust and off-brown, exactly three days before he would graduate the orphanage at fifteen. It was silent as quite darkened in the area, except for the required light for reading without straining his eyes.

So it was obvious enough when he heard the crack in the carpet, as if someone was shifting their feet in front of him. The young detective looked up slowly, his onyx eyes gleaming. What he saw, at first, appeared to be himself. Then he knew whom it was. "B? What are you doing up this late?" He asked the figure, startled, but his voice stayed bleak and monotonous.

Beyond simply shifted his weight on another foot. "I have a question, L," the younger youth started, "and I need you to answer me." He spoke, his black t-shirt moving lightly.

The older boy was intrigued of what he had to speak of. "Yes, what is it?" He replied, his eyes on Beyond's.

Beyond sighed once. "Could you consider me your friend, to speak of?" The imitator's voice rang inside L's head, but it never seemed to bother him.

"As a successor and partner, yes, I could."

"But do you mean it?"

"How so?"

"As a true friend that you would trust?"

". . . Yes."

"Then, I'll let you know of this, Lawliet." Beyond told him, using his real name to prove his point, of which was, to test what L had just told him.

To say the least, L was surprised. There was only one person other then himself that knew his real name, and he was sure Wammy wouldn't tell it to B under any circumstances. "I beg your pardon?" He asked after a moment of silence, but Beyond was already gone.

And just like that, the games of fire and ice had begun. But this could be considered nothing more than a prologue, a short definition of what I'm about to write. And if anyone were to stumble upon these notes, I should at least give you some hint to who I am. But I won't, at least until I am finished. Only then will you realize it. But should that time come before I become bored, I will be appalled. Now, enough stalling.

October 31st, 2003.


Now, I know the idea of BB and L going at it during a time break in the series has been done before. I'm aware of it, but I want to add my personal flair and touch to the cliche. So reviews would be helpful and great to my motivation, good or bad. And please don't eat me alive for my use of a hell of a lot of timeskips in this, I'm already kicking my own ass for it.