Twenty-eight revamped houses.
"Backup."
Nineteen bubbly families.
"Backup."
Eight ravenous canines.
"Backup."
That was all Beyond's life had amounted to thus far. His mind operated around the clock calculating any set of numbers that he could wrap his ingenious mind around. At the moment he was contemplating one of his favorite logic puzzles. Of course for it to be one of his favorites, he would already need to know the answer, but that didn't stop Beyond from wanting to figure out alternatively correct answers. No, it wasn't anything that he did for complete and utter joy. He simply did the task because he had nothing better to do. Absolutely nothing. Anymore his life was a simple game of schoolwork, eat, sleep, repeat. It was far too easy to see that the genius was more than bored with his ritualistic habits.
"Backup."
The skinny male's eyes had glazed over with the look of deep contemplation written all over his pale features. His skin resembled a young maiden out of the Grimm Brothers' fairytales. His skin was so incredibly flawless that one could think someone had taken a piece of milky white satin and draped it over his facial features. His hair fell directly in front of his eyes whenever he was thinking. Test taking or simply thinking for leisure, the feature could always be seen. And then one's eyes would finally be drawn to his eyes peeking through his charred hair. Large liquid rubies were embedded into the boy's eye sockets in place of humanoid eyeballs. They always held a peculiar glimmer to them and the shade of crimson was known to shift whenever his moods changed. Right now was one of those times.
A small sphere of slim fingers slowly uncurled, resembling a spidery being that was stretching out to relax its muscles. His other unused hand was laid neatly atop his knee that was against the tabletop. In all honesty Beyond had forgotten where he had sat down so his scenery was bound to be a surprise.
"Yes?"
His deep voice rang through the air of the room, bouncing off a multitude of molecular structures in the process. It held the same tone and pitch of pure, molten dark chocolate with a lacing of hot acid mixed in somewhere between his words. Only those truly trained with their ears could differentiate it from the rest of his voice. Most of the time, the acidic tone was drenched far too much by the rest of his voice so it was unable to be recognized.
Right then his glazed eyes transformed to a deep rose red. They managed to glint ever so slightly with the miniscule amount of light offered in the room and shielded the thoughts racing through his mind. His irises eventually moved to the outer edge of his peripheral vision to gaze at the creature whom had disturbed his pleasant trance.
"Come on, it's time to go to class."
The being had had enough nerve to tug at the male's long black sleeve, attempting to drag the body along with him. Beyond continued to examine the figure to make sure he knew who it was. Of course no one else in Wammy's House had enough courage to try to pry Beyond from his chair like A did. That boy didn't care what time of day it was or what holiday. He would do everything in his power to make sure his roommate got to his classes on time. Why that was, even B had no idea. Quite frankly he never thought that number one should be trying to help number two. It just wasn't natural. Number one should be rubbing his status in number two's face. But no, of course A didn't operate quite that simply. He gave a final tug to B's collar and then darted out of their bedroom with five notebooks in tote. That never made sense either.
What in the world could one being, one A, possibly do with that many notebooks?
Perhaps that question would be something he would have to skim over later. It would be something to think about aside from his typical logic puzzles.
With a drawn out sigh, Beyond placed his fingers atop the desk in front of him and used kinetic energy to get himself away from it. He then placed his right foot over the edge of his chair first and used the rest of his muscles to push up from the chair. His slender fingers wrapped around one of the wooden pegs on the top of his chair and slid it in right beneath the desk. The adolescent's marble white neck craned over to look at his bed. The sheets were all pulled up tidy with his single bleach white pillow placed neatly on top of the folded crease in his blankets. A moment more of observation later and he already knew what had happened.
B had woken up, walked over to the chair, began his trance, and A had found enough spare time in his busy number one day to make his bed for him. How sweet.
A scowl plastered its way onto his lips as he grabbed his Calculus text book and began shuffling his way out of their bedroom. The sloth-like boy didn't even bother shutting the door behind himself. Turning the light off was enough work by itself. He could be so lazy when he wanted to or even extremely hyperactive. It just depended on the day and maybe even the moon phase. That had entered most of his recent thoughts. It was a possibility if nothing else.
Bare feet pattered their way across a few wooden floor boards and eventually ended up on plush white carpeting. Everything in the building was so bleak anymore. Red orbs drifted their way across the different accessories of the halls. An excessive amount of framed paintings, all with lackluster silver frames. They all resembled the classic vase of flowers one could find in any grandmother's home. He didn't like it. The boy pursed his lips at the flooding of thoughts as his fingers wrapped around the latch of the door. His shoulder naturally pressed against the door, his hip soon following.
"Glad you could join us today, Backup."
Before the door even had time to creak, the teacher had spoken. Oh how wonderful, he was in a terrible mood as always. His jaw line tightened at the greeting as he seemingly floated his way over to his seat and sat down.
"My pleasure."
The words were murmured in a gentle manner that showed how unpleased he was right then. Getting to learn and study at a school for 'gifted' children was practically a dream come true. It was just that most of the teachers there couldn't get past his outer ignorance to find the soul of an incredibly high intelligence quotient. Rather disappointing in all honesty, he had hoped that maybe these people would understand him more than others. Then again he was merely exaggerating. His mathematics teacher was the only one he ever had issues with. Others loved him to bits except for this man.
This bitter, old man.
The boy let his tongue press to the roof of his mouth as he closed his lips tightly and let out a breath through his nostrils. His eyes hastily glanced over to A to view his reaction.
A was sitting with his nose buried in a book to make it apparent that he was studying. However, he knew the precise moment when Beyond looked over to him and met his gaze. His eyes read a pure clarity as to what was going on. A knew how difficult it was to adjust to new people and surroundings. He knew that better than anyone. The left side of his pale lips tugged downward into a half frown, not sure what sort of advice to offer B. It was evident on his face that he felt terrible about the whole thing but even he knew there was nothing that he could do about it. A's eyes trailed back to his book as B sat with his textbook open.
The entire class period rushed by in an opaque blur, nothing at all unusual.
A mob of ants apparently poured out of the doorway and into the halls. It was amazing to see how many people there really were when Wammy's House actually contained very few students.
B rose from his desk and followed out behind the swarm, making his way down the hall leading to the kitchen. He had originally thought that he was alone when suddenly he sensed a presence behind his body. The heated breath lolled out into the air and to B's skin, forcing the hair on the back of his neck to rise at the same exact time that a word was spoken.
"Backup."
Oh how that nickname irritated him so. The only thing that made the name even slightly more pleasant was the voice that spoke it. He could tell exactly who it belonged to without even looking behind himself. The voice reached to his ears in a gentle chime coated in pure sugar. Pure innocence. It had a more comforting tone to it as compared to his own that sounded more manipulative and alluring.
"Yes, A?"
He fully refused to give A the satisfaction of referring to him by his nick name, Ascension. Completely ridiculous and unnecessary. Yes, B understood that he was number two and always would be. He got that. He didn't need to rise or lead to a higher level constantly reminding him of that. As the thoughts passed through his mind his eyes looked to his right side to look at the boy standing next to him.
The brunette had his hair cut neatly with it lying just in his eyes. His eyes were a brilliant olive that B envied. It was such a normal and beautiful color that he wished his eyes possessed. They were an olive shade toward his pupil and branched out to a lime at the edge of his irises. The boy also had glasses that neatly rested on the bridge of his nose that allowed him to see everything going on around him. His attire consisted of an over sized horizontally striped black and green sweatshirt that gave his petite figure more shape. His pants were a simple pair of jeans that went down past his ankles and covered his black running shoes. Nothing at all abnormal about him as far as his appearance went. Yet another fact B envied far too much for his own good.
"I think that you should do something about Mr. Mullen. He shouldn't legally be allowed to treat you like that. It's harassment."
Beyond's hands located his pockets and slipped into them while his back hunched forward and his overall height shrunk. His rubies were beginning to turn a darker shade of crimson that offset the rest of his appearance. He offered only a mere shrug of his underdeveloped shoulders and slipped his way into the kitchen.
"I really don't care about him."
That wasn't a complete lie. He really didn't mind the antics. It more or less kept him occupied than it did enrage him. Everyone had that one person they absolutely couldn't share oxygen with and it just so happened that person was Beyond's mathematics teacher. Besides, who would he tell? There was no one that he could really go to with something like that. Even the great and all powerful L was more than likely not willing to give a damn about B's casual scuffles.
The boyishly slim figure stalked its way over to the refrigerator and began to jiggle about the containers on the second shelf. They made a gentle clanging noise that was a more off key version of A's voice. His spidery fingers dug around through the container lids, attempting to find what he was looking for.
"I know you say that, but it would be wise to do something about it. I mean you can't just let him get under your skin, B."
A's face had morphed into a worried mother hen's appearance. B looked over to him for the briefest of seconds and rolled his eyes at the boy.
"Oh hush now. I don't have much of a problem with the man. If it gets out of hand, I'll be sure to consult someone about it."
The two boys might've only been sixteen at the time but they conversed with one another like co-workers of thirty years. B eventually stuck his head in the fridge, standing on tiptoe to reach to the far back of the fridge. A stood casually leaning against one of the wallpapered walls, his eyes amused at the sight of the other boy but still filled with worry.
"I know you better than that. Knowing you you'll let him dig like a termite until you snap and can no longer take any more of his shenanigans."
The comment was oh so casual but was like a double edged arrow tip digging into B's subconscious manifestations. He immediately froze in his doings and stood completely still with his breath halted. If one were to put their ear to his chest or a finger to his arteries, one would swear that his heart had frozen solid.
"Aside from that, I know how juvenile you are when it comes to getting into debates. You never did like losing."
The statement came out nonchalant much like the previous and stung B even more. His blood was boiling as he gently drifted from the cooling mechanism and looked to the other, his eyes now a shade of pure bloodshed suspended in animation. The molten appearance disappeared and was replaced with the look of fragile stain glass that was on the verge of shattering at any given moment.
"Don't get me wrong, you're extremely intelligent and even you know that. I mean, you are number…"
That had been it. That was all he could take in one given night. Beyond hastily moved to stand right before A, his weight leaning forward. A second clicked by and his hip had shifted ever so slightly at the same precise moment that his opposing forearm was jammed up against the other boy's trachea.
"Two."
He completed the statement for his roommate, his body completely pressed to the other's. One could say that A was stuck between a B and a hard place. The crimson eyes were locked on the fragile looking boy before him. The once comforting green eyes now held the color of sheer terror. They twinkled with the gentle light illuminating their faces and stopped at that line when it came to liveliness. His mouth opened in an attempt to speak but his words came out as only harsh wheezes for oxygen. B moved his lips closer to the other's, brushing them up against his to get a feel for them. They were just as tender as Beyond had pictured them to be and he could feel the blood in A's veins vigorously pumping through them. A sly smirked painted its way to his lips as he spoke in a gentle tone, a tone that was neither soothing nor kind.
"And you, Ascension, will always remain as number one. That's why I want absolutely nothing to do with you. Ever."
His words came out as a gentle cat's purr, only allotting for one hiss at A's nick name. Beyond could smell the faint scent of s'mores on the other's breath but ignored the enticing scent. Instead he let out a heated breath into the other's clammy mouth and immediately pulled away. A's body crumpled at his knees and he collapsed to the floor. His lungs were screaming to get as much air into them as possible before B went ballistic again. His sad puppy eyes locked onto B's proud and erect stance.
Of course they had never been best friends. They were natural born enemies. Number one and number two were destined to hate each other. But, A couldn't help the rushing tingle that was beginning to trace its way across his facial features, and even he knew that it wasn't just the oxygen. Secretly A had always wondered what B would be like as a friend. Then again he was always drawn to the conclusion that it was impossible for B to love anyone other than himself in any sort of way. He had always been curious but would never dare say anything of the sort to the younger male's face. Even he knew better than to prod the bear.
Instead of speaking he bowed his head in shame, also attempting to hide the very slight tinge of pink that was beginning to tint his skin. Beyond simply stood, looking down to the boy as though he were nothing but a mere animal. Something with an IQ far less than his and that deserved not a single ounce of his respect. Truthfully B had always had some glimmer of admiration of the boy but that had gone a few months ago. He could no longer ponder the fact that saying something so brutal to his only friend at Wammy's was ignorant. That maybe he should take back what he had said and try to make up for it. No. None of that mattered anymore. He refused to give in to a simple weakness such as a friend of any sort.
His eyes closed to a half mast position as he turned on his heels and walked back open to the open fridge. He reached in without even looking and produced a jar of strawberry preserves. The lid was popped open in one swift flick of his delicate wrist, and another flick later the lid had landed upside A's head while Beyond walked away from the mess in the kitchen. And yes, the mess was referring to the wreckage most commonly referred to as A.
Never for one second in his life had A thought his life would amount to a hateful relationship with his friend and number one competition. It just wasn't right and he didn't like the interactions anymore. At first the competition had been a lovely thing of sorts but now it was just inhumane. The male's fingers drifted up to push against the frame of his glasses while his eyes continued to stare at the floor.
And to think A had thought he loved such a creature for even the briefest moment as he was held against the wall.
His desire to be loved had taken over his survival instinct and he could've easily been killed right then and there.
At least his love was beginning to diminish.
Or at least so he wished.
::This is my first fanfic and the first chapter to my first fanfic. I'm thinking about doing more chapters but I'm not really sure if anyone will like them. So, please leave me a comment or PM me with your opinion. Much appreciated.