AN: My apologies to LightofaThousandSuns. I actually did not notice that my story had been a smidge too close yours, and I have only read about a chapter, which is very strange. I have no intention of plagiarizing your wonderful work, so I will take many precautions. Again, my apologies.
I do not own Death Note or any of its characters. Just the plot.
Abandoned Warehouse (Beyond's bedroom)
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"What do I do...?" B had been sitting in his room for hours on end. It was eight o'clock on the dot. The sun was a weak red color as it sat just above the horizon. The sky was painted a beautiful red-orange. It was similar to the perfect glass of red wine. It smeared across the edge of the horizon, fusing with a color similar to pumpkin, then ending with a very light pink on the opposite side of the sun.
The killer sighed, staring out of his window at the ground. But there wasn't just ground there. There was a kitten too, staring up at B. Its eyes were a melted gold. One ear was also missing, along with a chunk of its hind leg. A long, perfectly straight scar glided right across its left eye, also having many patches of fur missing from its coat. It meowed rather hoarsely, but friendly at B.
B rest his head against the windowsill, shrugging. "I can't do that though, Ace." he mumbled, sniffling a little. "He don't like me no more. I-I've done horrible things t-to him, but I guess he deserved it... Right?"
Ace only mewed softly as a response.
B sniffled a bit more, wiping the tears from his cheeks. He took Ace into his arms and snuggled him a little, lying down on his bed. "You know..." he said lowly, "I d-do miss you... It's been years since I saw that cute face of yours. How many... maybe seven years? Six years? I don't remember." He was smiling. Actually smiling a very warm smile towards the kitten. "And look at those blue eyes you have there. They're like two stunning sapphires. And that soft blonde hair... Slightly curled at the end... Makes you look like a child, but in a good way, yes?" It appears he was hallucinating, thinking that the kitten was his old childhood friend, A.
"And you still wear that scarf?" asked B, placing his hands in the air above the kitten. It looked as if he was fixing or rearranging something. "You always did love scarves... I guess it was because I told you you looked good in them, or maybe you really did like them a lot. They still look good on you. Really good in fact." He smiled that warming smile again.
"Do... Do you remember when we were just kids? Playing outside in the schoolyard that one day and you lost that little... Eh... Um, what was it again?" All of a sudden he greatly saddened. "How could I forget...?
"...Oh! Oh, oh! It was that feather necklace you had, wasn't it? Yes! I remember! You cherished that thing, wouldn't let anyone see it or touch it, but me, 'cause you loved it so much and didn't want it stolen... I remember..."
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||October 7th|| Wammy's House Twelve Years Ago (Outside: Playground)
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"My name is Ace... What's yours?"
"...Are you talking to me?" asked B, staring at the blonde in front of him from his seat in the corner of the playground.
A nodded, sitting beside B. "What's your name?" he asked again, a bit softer this time.
B averted his eyes for a long moment. "Beyond." the seven year old replied lowly.
"Beyond? I like that name." A said with a bright smile, placing his warm hand in B's cold, bony one, "Come on! Let's play. I have a game we can both play together. It's called tag. Someone is called 'It' and 'It' chases around the person who isn't tagged yet, like this." The six year old rose his hand and gently pat B's shoulder. "And then the person who is tagged is called 'It' now. And we just keep playing like that. Do you wanna play?"
"Okay." B replied, slowly standing up, "Who's 'It'?"
A giggled and gently pat B on the nose with his finger, running away instantly. "You are!" he called.
B blinked then smiled, running through the playground, chasing A around. He soon caught up with A, tagging him. "You're 'It'!" he said, laughing as he ran away.
With a bubbly laugh, A chased after the boy, soon coming to a dead stop. He watched B gently lean his torso forward, having his hands touch the leaves on the ground. He was on all fours, crawling, running.
"What's the matter?" asked B, grinning as he circled around once or twice.
A blinked several times. "Nothing." he replied, starting to chase after B again. But this time, he was much faster, almost impossible to catch.
He literally flew across the orange and red leaves as he ran, clinging to the earth as he crouched down.
"Doggie!" A cried, tackling B and hugging him tightly.
B merely blinked at the sudden action.
"You're just like a doggie! But you're snugglier than a doggie!" A giggled and rolled around in the leaves with B, hearing him start to laugh too. They had such a great time together, just rolling around together as the sun lowered and sat at the horizon. A held B close as they stopped rolling around, both breathless. He smiled. "That was a good game." he said.
"Yeah." B replied, slowly wrapping his arms around the tiny blonde.
A giggled a bit, looking up. "Do you wanna play a different game now?" he asked.
"Okay." said B, helping A stand. But he suddenly noticed the look of worry upon his face. "W-what's wrong?"
"My necklace! I-It's gone!" A cried, frantically looking through the leaves. Tears started to roll down his cheeks. "I can't believe I lost it! I-It's really g-gone..."
B crouched next to A, hovering his hand above the boy's shoulder, not sure whether to touch him or not. "You don't have to cry... I'll help you look for it." he said, turning his head downward to look at A's face.
"W-We can't find it i-in the leaves, it b-blends in t-too much." A sobbed, crying a bit harder.
"Hey! That freaky kid hurt A!" A brunette girl called, pointing at B from the doorway.
B growled. "I did not!" he yelled, picking A up in his arms and putting him on his back. He crawled around on all fours, ignoring the yells and complains of children from inside.
This made A calm down a little, gripping onto the back of B's shirt. "Beyond." he said lowly, sniffling. "W-We should just go inside. We won't f-find it."
B shook his head. He crawled toward the swings, circling them for a little bit. No sign of the necklace. He next crawled over to what looked like a miniature Merry Go Round, staring at it. It was rusted and slightly broken. It creaked and screeched as it turned itself round and round.
"That's scary..." A whispered into Beyond's ear.
"Indeed." replied B. He circled it just once, finding something stuck under the edge. He reached his hand out and tugged hard at the object. It flew across the yard and into the leaves, but B knew exactly where it landed. He didn't take his eyes off the spot as he crawled over to it. "It's a bunch of feathers."
"My necklace!" A exclaimed, reaching down and grabbing it. It actually was a necklace. He aligned the feathers correctly and neatly and placed it around his neck, under his scarf. "Thank you, thank you!" he squealed, wrapping his arms tightly around B. "You're my bestest friend ever!"
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"...Good times, huh, Ace? I miss those days..." B said.
Ace just meowed.
B sighed, looking over at his door. "What do I do about L? I've done all of the possible things to scar him, physically and mentally, but I have no ideas on what to do next."
Ace meowed again, patting his paw against B's hand.
"Are you nuts!?" yelled B. "Didn't I tell you before I couldn't do that!? He hates me now... He doesn't want to be my friend. Befriending him is like telling a lion not to eat meat! It won't happen!"
The kitten leapt onto B's chest and pat him on the nose rather hard.
B exhaled a slow breath. "I suppose you're right." he grumbled, resting his head back against the pillow. "I am pretty stupid, aren't I?"
Ace mewed.
"Oh, yeah, thanks for that." B replied with a roll of his eyes. Apparently the kitten agreed strongly. He slowly sat up and placed Ace on the pillow. "Now you stay here. Right here, okay? No following me around. I don't want anyone seeing you."
Ace was silent.
B walked from his bedroom, peeking into L's room. He was awake, sitting up on the bed. His skin was awfully pale. A meow echoed through the hall. Confused, B looked down to see Ace. "Ace!" he hissed in a whisper. "I told you to stay put!"
Ace gently flicked his tail and snaked into the room, ignoring B's commands. He hopped up onto L's bed, staring at him.
L only stared back with the same expressionless look.
The kitten mewed and nuzzled against L's leg, purring rather loudly.
"Oh?" L hesitantly placed a hand atop of the kitten's head, stroking the fur softly. The purring grew louder. L thought it was very soothing. "Is this your cat?"
"Kitten." B corrected, opening the door a little to peek his head inside. He then slowly made his way inside the room.
L nodded. "She's very pretty." he commented.
"He." B corrected again, "And he says thank you."
"I'm sorry. He. And you're welcome." replied L. He continued petting Ace, watching the cat closely.
It only mewed and meowed and purred at B, and he replied back. He was speaking to the kitten.
"No, no, no! I'm not doing it, Ace!" B said in a hushed tone, placing his head closer to Ace's. "There's no way he would ever do that. Already told you. This plan of yours is pointless so go back into the room now!"
Ace meowed (But it seems like L would listen to you. He's already listening now. What would be the difference if you spoke to him like you and I do?).
B glanced up at L. He was indeed listening. "You win this time." he grumbled, sitting on the bed, folding his arms across his chest.
"You talk to him?" asked L.
B blinked, realizing a conversation was starting. "Yes." he answered. There was a long pause of silence. "I found him in an alley fighting with a pit bull. He got torn up badly. See where the scar is over his eye? It actually got poked out by the mean doggie. I found a marble that would match his eye color perfectly and stuck it in. It's good as new."
L shuttered at the thought, but shrugged it away. "It seems as if you like to care for cats."
"Kittens." B corrected once more. "And yes. I like to care for kittens. It's... what I do, besides plotting my murders each day."
"I see." said L. Again there was a very long moment of silence. It was an awkward silence too.
But Ace spoke up, mewing constantly.
"Is he hungry?" L asked, looking up at B.
B narrowed his eyes and glared at Ace. "No, he's just trying to be annoying. It's working very well. Congratulations." he seethed through his teeth, tugging at the only good ear Ace had.
L weakly shifted his body to face B, staring at him for a moment. And B actually stared back, but quickly averted his eyes, holding his head in his hands. A blush crept along his cheeks, but he hid it well. "Are you okay?" asked L, "You look a bit sick."
"I'm fine." B grumbled, uncomfortably shifting in place. He abruptly stood from the bed, walking around in circles, trying to rid of the blush. But why wouldn't it fade? No one ever looked at him for such a long time, but Ace. Ace...
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||December 25th|| Wammy's House Nine Years Ago (Inside)
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"It's snowing!" Ace cried, pressing his tiny hands to the window. Even though he was nine, he was very tiny. Fragile in fact. "B! Come on! Let's go play outside! There's snow!"
B blinked and rushed over to the window. It was snowing. It was taller than A. "Are you sure you wanna go out there? I mean... I don't want you getting lost." he replied.
A smiled blithely. "I won't get lost, silly." he said, wrapping one of his scarves around B's neck, "Now come on, you're wasting time! All of the snow's gonna melt if you don't hurry up."
B snickered. "I don't think all of this snow is gonna melt so quick." he answered, following A outside into the snow. It was a lot. And it was much taller than A, about a foot. "Hey... I have a good idea. How about we make an igloo!"
"That sounds so cool! Can you really do that?" asked A.
"Of course, I can do anything." B smirked and started clawing his way through the high snow. He piled it about six or seven feet high, now digging out the snow from inside of the hill of snowflakes. He dug and dug, working as hard and fast as he can. His igloo started to form. With his fingernails he shaped the snow into blocks, making it look like he constructed the dome from ice blocks.
He soon started to roll snow into a corner and shape it into furniture, like a sofa, a television, a few chairs, even a refrigerator filled with snowy foods. He wondered why he never took Art class.
"Oh my gosh!" A gasped, staring wide-eyed at the inside of the igloo. "This... This is so cool! It's amazing!!" He ran around in circles inside of the igloo, laughing cheerfully and watching B work.
"Oh... Hey. I forgot something for you inside. I'll be right back." B said, rushing out of the igloo.
A blinked. "For me...?"
B ran inside and into his room, taking out a box from under his bed. With a gentle smile he took some ribbon and made a bow, placing it on top of the box. He slowly walked outside, holding the box behind his back, and stepped into the igloo. "Okay... Close your eyes." he said.
A's sapphire eyes closed quickly. A smile spread across his face.
"Now hold out your hands."
A did so. And something was placed in them. "C-can I open them now?" he asked.
B grinned. "Yup... Merry Christmas."
A's eyes shot open. It was a present. For him. He couldn't remember the last time he ever got a present. His eyes welled with tears and he sat on the floor with the box between his legs. "Y-you really d-d-didn't have to..." he sobbed, wiping away his tears.
"Of course I did! Are you nuts?" B exclaimed, sitting in front of A. "Now open your gift."
"But I-I didn't g-g-get y-you anything!" A wailed.
B sighed and wrapped his arms around the blonde, gently stroking his hair. "It's okay. There are many more days where I can get a gift. And this is your day, so open it before I do it for you."
A made a slow, hesitant nod, ripping off the paper wrapping and tearing off the lid, saving the bow. He reached inside and took out a black scarf. On one end in blue thread was: Ace. And on the other end in red thread was: Beyond. "B-B-Beyo-ond!" squeaked A, hugging the scarf close to his chest.
"You don't like it?" asked B, slowly tilting his head to the side.
A slowly shook his head and replied, "I-I... I l-love it..." He wrapped both of his arms around B's neck and pressed his cold lips to the raven's, clinging to him, not letting go.
Startled by the action, B stared at the tiny blonde. But it was no use staring since his eyes were closed. So he copied, also closing his eyes. And he kissed back just as soft as A did, being careful not to overpower the boy. And they both just sat in that igloo for hours in silence after the kiss. Sharing hot cocoa, sitting side by side.
And A had never taken that scarf off since that very day.
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"B... Are you crying?" L asked.
B sniffled a bit, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears from escaping. "No..." he whimpered, a sob escaping from his lips, "No... I'm not... crying... I don't... cry..."
L was taken aback. He never thought that the killer would ever cry in front of him. "But... B."
B let out another sob and ran from L's bedroom into his own room, collapsing to the floor in a heartbeat. "Ace..." he sobbed loudly, hitting his fist on the floor. "Why... did you go!? Why would... you leave me... like this!? I... I... loved you!"
He opened his dresser drawer. On a pillow in the corner of the drawer was a scarf. A black scarf. On one end in blue thread was: Ace. And on the other end in red thread was: Beyond. He held it against his face, hugging the object tightly, letting the burning tears flow from his eyes. "I'll... find a way to bring you back... I hope you're somewhere free... and happy... You were my favorite... my special friend...
"No one could... match up to you. You... really were the best... Until we meet again at the rainbow bridge..."