A and B. Alternate and Backup. Aiden and Rue. After only a year of knowing eachother, they were soon just as close as Light and Rue once were. Inseperable best friends. Rue was at first ashamed of himself for developing feelings for A, ones he knew he should only ever have for Light.. But after they kissed one day in the library, his thoughts and feelings changed. He started falling for A. And Light just had to take a back seat in his mind.
He spent six long years with A in the orphanage, and over that time, the two grew to really love eachother. Rue never told A about Light. He lied and said A was his first kiss as well. Rue never got any further than kissing with Light, but he did with A. And sometimes.. Rue imagined Light. And never said one word about this. Ever.
There was no denying in Light's mind, now at age fourteen, that he was gay. Not straight, not even bisexual. Gay. He only liked males. But, to be more specific, he had only ever developed true feelings for Rue Ryuzaki. And he never thought he'd ever like anyone else. Sure, some guys were kinda cute, but none of them were Rue. And girls were only an annoyance to him, not even wanting to be their friend. Did Rue even remember him anymore? Light had to wonder. Once reaching his teenage years.. He focused more on school than anything else.
Then.. The unexpected happened.
A killed himself.
This broke Rue's heart, finally causing him to mentally snap. That was exactly why he escaped Wammy's House. Exactly what pushed him to take the soonest flight to Los Angeles and do what he did. He felt no guilt killing those three people. No. All he saw.. Was revenge on L Lawliet. To prove he was better. The backup would beat the original. The original would grovel at the mere copy's feet. That was all Rue - No, all Beyond Birthday wanted.
Rue Ryuzaki was dead, Beyond decided.
Thoughts on Light ceased for quite a long time. In what he thought were the longest final moments of his life, burning himself to death with those horrible orange and red flames, was when Light finally returned to his mind. Oh, Light.. His best friend until death. He would never get to see him again. A was dead.. But A was surely in Heaven.. Beyond would go to Hell.
At first when Naomi Misora saved his life and arrested him, only angry emotions existed inside Beyond. How dare she do this? How dare she ruin his well thought plan? She ruined everything!
But wait.. Maybe he'd get to see Light again! If he could break out of prison! He'd fly to Japan immediately!
And that was it. Light Yagami was what brought him to decide to escape prison. He knew about Kira's existance.. And hated him. Hated him more than Naomi Misora. Hated him just as much as L. He was blissfully unaware that Light Yagami and Kira were one in the same, but he knew after seeing Light again, he would have to ask his best friend's opinion on this pathetic murderer known as Kira. Or who he hoped was still his best friend, anyway.
He used Kira to break out of prison. Faking a heart attack.. Was just another one of his brilliant plans. And what was the first thing he did once out of prison? Go straight to Japan, without a single moment to waste.
. . .
Light often wondered about Rue.. Was he still alive? Of course he was! How was he doing? Was he still in that orphanage? He had to have been.. By now he was fifteen or sixteen years old, wasn't he? Maybe sixteen.. His birthday already passed a week ago, didn't it? Now they were both sixteen year olds.. Two years away from legal adults. Hopefully Rue didn't fall in love with someone else.. The thought just made his heart ache. He wanted to see him again so bad.. He just kept hoping each and every night that somehow Rue would find him again. Because no matter what the brunette tried, he just couldn't find Rue.
Then it happened.
He saw a tall ravenhaired young man standing outside his high school. There were what must've been burn scars on his face and his arms, whatever skin was revealed he could see the scars.. But those crimson red eyes of his were unmistakable. His pale skin might not have been as flawless and smooth as he remembered.. But this was Rue.
"Rue-chan.." Light blinked innocently, almost dropping his backpack as he stopped directly in front of his old best friend. The first genuine smile in years spread on Beyond's lips. "Light.. I missed you so much.." Another long, quiet moment passed, as if the two weren't sure on what to do. But, like always, Beyond was the first to act. He quickly stepped forward and pulled Light into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around his waist.
"I missed you too, Rue.." Light mumbled, his arms around the raven's neck and burying his head in his shoulder. "I thought.. You were gone.." "We're best friends forever, right? Of course I couldn't leave you." Beyond chuckled, ruffling Light's hair a bit just as he used to when they were younger, in a playful and demeaning manor. "Still living at home, right? Can I come by?" Beyond asked. "Of course!" Light nodded quickly, giving a short wave goodbye to some classmates that noticed them before taking Beyond's wrist, and leading him home.
There wasn't much Light could tell Beyond about his life while the two were away from eachother.. Not nearly as much as Beyond could tell Light. And he continued his story after reuniting with Light's parents and Sayu, who had only been one year old since the last time he saw her. Of course, she had no idea who he was, but was polite all the same.
But one thing Beyond did leave out, however, was everything that happened after leaving Wammy's House. He left out being a criminal, left out the three people he killed, left out going to Los Angeles.. And left out the fact that he now called himself Beyond Birthday. Thankful that his photo was never released to the public, he would keep his identity as a wanted criminal a secret.
For now.
"So.. You got all those scars, because.. You tried to kill yourself after you left the orphanage with fire?" Light asked, biting his lower lip. So he still did that habit, huh? Beyond smiled slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. Even though this was a serious moment, he still found that habit to be cute. Damn, why did Light have to be so much more attractive now? "Yeah.. I'm just.. Kinda messed up, Light-"
"No, you're not! Don't say that!" Light insisted, placing both hands on Beyond's shoulders. "Rue, you've been through a lot. You have every right to be depressed.. But I want you to never do anything like that again, do you hear me? Because I'm always gonna be here for you! We're best friends, remember?" He cracked a smile, pulling in the raven for a hug. Even though the fact that Beyond was in love with someone else bothered the hell out of Light.. That strangely enough only made his feelings for Rue increase.
'Best friends with a murderer..' Beyond thought.
Little did he know, Light was one as well.
Kira.
. . .
Later on that day, Beyond finally worked up the courage to try kissing Light again.
He leaned in and held the brunette's waist. Unlike their kissing during childhood, Beyond would now know what he was doing, and how to kiss. Light's eyes widened. Rue was trying to kiss him again.. What should he do? He'd been dreaming of this almost every night, wanting to feel Rue's hugs and kisses again. But now it was actually happening.. And he was almost frozen.
After only a moment's delay, Light's eyes closed as well, and he kissed back with his arms wrapped around Beyond's neck. Beyond smiled against his lips, holding him close and deepening the kiss. It had literally been months, even years, since he felt this happy.. And now that he had Light, there was no reason not to remain this way.
Right?