Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugami Ohba and Takeshi Obata, and Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Casesbelongs to Nisio Isin.
Note: Asahi Shimbun is a newspaper, which is briefly mentioned in this chapter.
/AN: There has been little progress in this story as far as plot in concerned; I aim to correct that in the next few chapters. Thank you for your reviews, they have been very helpful! /
"Something funny B?" an irritated Light Yagami asked, glaring at the raven through a pair of narrow, half lidded eyes.
"Nothing," Beyond replied with a small smile, "Nothing at all."
The brunette averted his attention back to the computer, resuming the lengthy task of checking the background of each individual victim that had died during the past month. It was undoubtedly a lengthy task, and it required a significant measure of patience.
It had become increasingly apparent to a majority of the taskforce that Light was quickly becoming bored of the same, dismal sight of the office. Being handcuffed to Ryuzaki for twenty four hours a day meant that the teen had no chance of setting foot outside, unless it was the open rooftop of course.
How long had it been exactly since the Yagami had been able to freely wonder amongst the rest of society?
After fifty three days of solid confinement Light had been dragged from one location to another. A few days after his arrival at headquarters, L had announced his twenty four hour surveillance plan on the Yagami and until Lights innocence could be completely proven it seemed he had no choice but to grow accustomed to his new, temporary 'home'.
Home.
The teenager had never spent much time away from home, nor from his family for any long period and he was really beginning to miss the simplest things he could recall.
He missed being woken by the sound of Sayu's persistent chattering.
He missed being able to follow his own routine, and most importantly he missed his room. The luxurious suites of headquarters could never compete with the teenager's bedroom. They were neat, orderly, clean, and contained everything that Light could require during his stay.
He Hated it.
The only thought that could motivate him and encourage him to abide his time was the thought of returning to a normal life. A life with the absence of cameras, murderers, victims and most importantly, handcuffs.
Light couldn't guarantee what the future held for him, although he was entirely certain of one thing. He certainly wasn't joining the police force.
A few weeks of working on the Kira case was all it had taken to dissuade him from trying to follow his father's career path. Anything had to be better than being a detective. There were lots of careers in Japan that offered a substantial wage; it was just a matter of finding the right one that suited his intelligence.
Averting his tired eyes from the screen, Light spotted a familiar raven headed figure glancing in his direction. B was merely a seat away, sitting comfortably on the left hand side of Ryuzaki, a pen in his hand and a lap bustling with photocopies, newspaper clippings and a book of lined paper full of statistics, doodles and theories.
The man had an extremely irritating habit.
Occasionally, when no one was watching he'd glance casually in the Yagami's direction, a smug smile upon his lips and a placid look of content present in his glowing, hazel eyes. It was a look that mocked him, and despite Lights irritation, he could do little to stop him.
Tapping a pen against the desk repeatedly, Beyond studied the brunettes face with a glorious sense of satisfaction. The blinding light beaming from the enormous television screen illuminated the teenager's face beautifully, fully exaggerating his fresh bruises and imperfections.
His complexion displayed an ominous black eye, a split lip and a faintly bruised cheek, although fortunately for Light his long fringe concealed his eye rather nicely.
Much to Beyond's disappointment not a single limb had been sprained or fractured, and each one of the Yagami's teeth had remained firmly embedded in his mouth. Despite the minor disappointment, it boosted the ravens self esteem watching the teen squirm under his gaze. The boy was beginning to grow restless like a pacing lion in a cage.
Unlike Light, Beyond was used to being confined for long periods of time. After spending so much time under permanent lock and key he'd found alternative solutions to conquer his boredom, which mainly included thinking, about anything and everything.
Part of B had been expecting his punishment, preparing for it almost; even as he'd prepared to douse himself in flames he had been all too aware of the possibility of survival.
"Look at me again and I will seriously consider loosing my temper with you," Light muttered, hammering the keyboard moodily.
"I was doing no such thing," B smiled, running a hand through his thick black hair.
The young Yagami's attention shifted again before returning once more the illuminated screen.
"Being a bit self-conscious don't you think?"
"So would you be if you had a face like this," the brunette spat, tracing a finger gently over his split lip.
"You don't know the meaning of the word," Beyond replied, tugging his long sleeves over the palms of his hands until only his long, slender fingers were visible. It was a habit that he'd developed during the long course of his recovery. The standard hospital gowns didn't include the luxury of sleeves, nor were they made to tailor anyone significantly taller than those of average height.
B could still remember the sight of his limbs swathed in bandages like a mummified corpse.
He could still remember the day that the dressings had been removed. The memory alone made him itch. The raven had never been a vain person during the extent of his life so far and for that he had always been grateful; however he had always felt the need to conceal the extent of his scars, with or without a particular pale faced detective present.
For a moment Light's gaze lingered just above the collar of B's shirt, and after taking a brief glance at the deep mark blemishing the man's skin, he promptly turned back to his computer and said nothing more on the subject.
It was odd to Beyond that Light was beginning to feel even remotely insecure about appearance, especially while he was being confined in the 'privacy' of headquarters.
He wondered if the teen had paid any attention to Ryuzaki, the poor man was bruised like a Satsuma.
It was his porcelain skin that made Light Yagami look so completely and utterly ruthless, and had B possessed a different personality perhaps he would have felt a pang of sympathy for poor L, who was currently supporting a swollen, bloodied nose that matched his bruised eyelid.
Ryuzaki had insisted half heartedly that his injuries didn't feel as bad as they looked.
Soichiro Yagami had already apologised repeatedly following the incident and had rightly said that if his son had been a few years younger, he would have severely disciplined him without hesitation.
Overall Light and L had both escaped with minor bruising, yet still Ryuzaki demanded that the pair remained handcuffed together.
"You hit him a little hard don't you think?" Birthday asked Light, gesturing to Ryuzaki's swollen nose.
"Stubborn as mules, both of you!" Aizawa said with an irritable sigh, "They didn't even apologise to each other!"
"Male pride?" Mogi suggested, pouring himself a steaming mug of coffee.
"Ah, that is where you are mistaken Mogi," B replied, "That would require both of them to be men."
Beyond's confident statement earned him a piercing stare from both of the young men in question, who averted their gazes to the floor with minor embarrassment.
"You know," B muttered, a small smile gracing his lips, "I could get used to working here."
After a pregnant pause B had almost expected Ryuzaki to reply with something along the lines of 'Don't make yourself too comfortable.' Instead the pale detective said nothing, almost as if B hadn't uttered a single word at all.
"I could get used to this."
When the words had previously passed Birthdays lips he'd let them pass without much thought. Now, thinking back to what had once appeared to be an innocent statement, he could see suddenly a whole new meaning behind them.
Ryuzaki probably hadn't given much thought as to what would happen once the Kira case finally gained closure, there was no guarantee that the taskforce or the police force would ever apprehend Kira at all. It was highly unlikely that anyone else possessed the same skills as L. He had the suitable finance, willpower, contacts, and a worldwide reputation to die for.
There wasn't a single person that could come significantly close to competing with him, although perhaps intellectually there was. Wammy's house was probably brewing with suitable candidates to rival or inherit the title of L, although none of them could compare with the great man himself.
B often wondered how different his life would have been had he chosen to reside at the orphanage following A's death.
Who knew? He certainly didn't. Perhaps he would have been the next in line to be the man's successor. Perhaps he would have gained a respectable career.
Whatever could have possibly happened, it didn't matter. It was odd how events had eventually brought the pair together, intentional or not. If anyone had approached B several years ago and asked him to join forces with L, he would have certainly declined the offer with no hesitation at all. Now, Beyond Birthday was finally living up to his destined title, as B.
"B is for back-up..." he muttered, defacing a recent copy of the Asahi Shimbun with a thick black marker, biting his lip in concentration.
Ignoring a puzzled stare from Matsuda and Aizawa, the raven began to skim through a pile of dull articles that were currently resting in his lap, accompanied by three black and white photographs taken from the newspapers. Three more victims, all which were reasonably known in particular districts throughout Tokyo. The captions were missing from the pictures, not that it mattered to Beyond in the slightest.
As he glanced languidly at each image, he saw a tangle of letters and numbers hanging ominously above each of their heads. Admittedly it was a useful ability to have, and it didn't irritate him much at all, although sometimes he would lose his patience.
At times the name and dates of birth and death would linger nicely over a person's head, softly moving up and down like the repetitive, gentle ebbing of the tide. Other times it could move profoundly as if the information were the victim of a strong current or reckless blast of wind.
"Ryuzaki, I think that you should take a look at this," Light said, a graph of statistics occupying the computer screen.
"Raito-kun..." L replied, removing his thumb from his mouth, "Did you do all of this?"
"Matsuda helped too. We studied each heart attack victim that died during the past month and a majority of them were just minor criminals. I was looking for a possible link between the victims, and at first, I thought that I was looking too deep into this..."
The brunette brushed his fringe from his eyes and gestured to the graph with a long, slender finger, tracing the lines carefully.
"There were three suspicious deaths that occurred one week after the other; each one was reported on a Friday evening. At first I thought that it was a mere coincidence, but as it turns out all three of them held important positions in the Japanese business world."
The teenager paused for breath and Ryuzaki glanced into his hazel eyes looking significantly intrigued, motioning for his colleague to continue, "Please continue Raito-kun."
"The names of the deceased are; Roppei Tamiya, Kouji Aoi, and-"
"Takeyoshi Moriya," Beyond finished, gesturing to the black and white photograph he held between two of his fingers.
It was an image of a middle aged man with short, spiked black hair, a pair of thick framed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and his broad shoulders were concealed by a pristine pinstriped blazer. Compared with Aoi and Tamiya, Moriya was by far the oldest and bravest of the three. A middle aged man with a head of short, gel ridden hair?
B restrained a small smile of amusement.
Judging by the look of things, the man had obviously intended to adopt the trends of the younger generation in a bid to look younger himself. B was no fashion expert, however even he found himself wincing at the photograph in embarrassment.
"Is there any particular reason that we are observing this photograph?" Ryuzaki asked, plucking a strawberry from the ever present tray of confectionary that almost remained permanently nestled between two computers on the office table.
Before treating himself to the succulent seedy fruit, he coated it with a thick layer of chocolate; the sticky substance began to drip, clinging to his pale fingers.
"You have some serious dietary issues," Birthday said, grimacing at the revolting thought of strawberries being abused in such a manor, "You can't even eat fruit without smothering it in chocolate."
"That is incorrect; I can eat watermelon without any additional substances. Please refrain from avoiding my question."
"I'm mourning over the loss of a perfectly good strawberry," B replied, his thoughts instantly drifting to the image of a large jar of jam.
"The photograph B?"
"I found it rather amusing... that's all."
"Anyway-" Light interrupted, barely restraining an audible sigh, "They all worked for large corporations, Sekimaru, Aoi and Yotsuba. Matsuda first suggested that those businesses were unlikely to be responsible, we assumed that they just happened to be minor criminals that happened to work in the business world."
"Tamiya, Aoi and Moriya had no police records," Matsuda added, peering over Ryuzaki's shoulder, "Which means that Kira might not just be targeting criminals anymore."
Light turned to Ryuzaki, "Once Matsuda checked for criminal records, I thought that maybe the three companies were being targeted by a rival company that could possibly have connections to Kira, however you can see from this graph here that Yotsuba's stock has been rising."
"Yagami-Kun," Ryuzaki said in disbelief, his eyes growing wide in amazement, "Excuse me for a moment while I take this in, I believe that it is best we plan our next course of action."
Lawliet began to think, planting another chocolate smothered strawberry in his mouth. Of all the things that Light could have revealed to him he certainly hadn't been expecting anything like this.
The pale detective was almost in a state of minor shock.
How could such a revelation come so suddenly into his possession after so long, after so many hours of struggling to find any relevant information?
For so long L had been genuinely convinced that Light Yagami was Kira. He was still suspicious... he'd never been wrong before; he certainly wasn't going to make a sudden exception because a few of his colleagues had discovered a possible lead.
His large gray eyes observed the graph. Ryuzaki knew that Yotsuba would have to be thoroughly investigated; there was absolutely no denying that.
Reaching into the depths of his jean pocket, the detective reluctantly retrieved his mobile phone.
"Watari?"
"Yes L?"
"I need you to do me a favour..."
Five days later...
As Beyond Birthday began to stir from sleep he released a satisfied audible sigh, arching his back like a contented feline. For a moment he laid there, his limbs bound together in a tangle of thick covers and a pair of bony feet hanging lazily over the bottom of the bed, cold and exposed.
The sheets were comfortingly warm, and his luxuriously plump duck feather pillow provided a comfortable resting place for his head. The powerful rays of the sun remained absent from the large bedroom, concealed by the thick black blind that hung over the wide window.
Beyond adored Sundays, it was absolutely by far his favourite and most immensely treasured day of the week. If offered him many hours of undisturbed slumber, a relatively Yagami free day and a routine that didn't involve a single trace of the daunting Kira case.
Craning his neck to the digital clock that rested on his bedside table, the raven was pleased to discover that he had in fact already slept through lunchtime. The bold crimson numbers informed him that it was currently '2:35'.
He shrugged and proceeded to roll over, pulling the covers over his head leaving only a few strands of black hair visible on the white stack of pillows. B decided that it simply wasn't worth the effort of dragging his lazy ass out of bed. He wasn't entirely sure that his tired legs could survive the trip to the bathroom anyway...
It wasn't long until Beyond found himself surrendering to sleep, his hazel eyes closing slowly but surely, and the-
RING.
The shrill ringing of the phone pierced the silence like the firing of a loaded gun. Birthday almost found himself falling out of bed, his heart pounding against his ribs vigorously as the loud sound reached his delicate ear drums.
At first, he had sincerely hoped that sooner or later the shrieking device would cease its irritant ringing, and that perhaps he could ignore its presence and return to the comfortable depths of sleep. Instead it continued to ring continuously, almost as if the inanimate device were challenging him to answer it.
Reluctantly Beyond peeled himself from the warm, soft covers and walked blindly over to the phone, bare footed, bare chested and sporting a head of fuzzy black hair. Reluctantly taking the device from its hook he held to his ear and rubbed his tired eyes.
"Hello?" he asked grumpily, running a hand through his tangled hair, a frown perched upon his lips.
"Good afternoon B, I trust that you had a pleasant sleep?"
"What do you want? I hope you have a valid excuse for disturbing me at this hour."
"It's almost 2:40."
"Exactly."
"I would like you to report to the main office at approximately 3:00pm."
"You must be joking."
...
"Hello?"
...
Placing the phone back on its hook, Beyond glared with an irritable sigh. How he loved Sundays.
At precisely 3:15pm a dishevelled looking Birthday appeared, stumbling through the office door of HQ. The task force greeted him with a nod of acknowledgement, and the miserable looking raven stumbled over to an unoccupied chair, far too tired to even attempt to pull his knees to his chest. He simply didn't trust himself to pull such a stunt on a chair with wheels, not while he was almost half asleep. The last thing anyone needed was to take Beyond to hospital for a head wound.
Usually when he arrived at the main office B would exchange glares with Light, and sometimes the pair exchanged sarcastic remarks.
Not today.
The brunette was probably feeling marvellous as he observed the raven's appearance. It almost looked as if the man had possibly gotten changed in the dark, half of his shirt remained tucked into his jeans and a small white ticket stuck out at the back of his collar.
The door opened a second time revealing Ryuzaki dressed in his usual attire, a long sleeved white shirt and a pair of long fading jeans, no sign of footwear present on both of his pale feet.
"I would like to introduce you all to two contacts of mine; both will be assisting us in the Yotsuba investigation."
Behind L stood two blondes, a male dressed in an exquisite suit and a female with a pair of dark sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
"This is Wedy and-"
"Aiber?" Beyond asked, "Is that you?"