A/N: Oh. My. God. :V
I'M SO SORRY!!!! D:
I'm a MONTH behind, and I know it! Ugh! I can't even BEGIN to apologize to you guys!
But don't worry! I will get back onto updating each week! I'm getting a head start and posting this chapter early in the week.
Hopefully you guys will forgive me since I wrote a long chapter this go round. ^ ^
Man, I've been so busy these last two weeks. There was Thanksgiving (which was amazing), and this last week I took a trip to Cabos, Mexico. My aunt got married! Wooo! I have a new uncle! :D I saw the ocean for the first time, and experienced seeing the sunrise over the ocean. It was AMAZING! Other than those two things, eh. I'm so glad to be back home in the US. I'm not much of a beach person......I'm more of a mountain, snow, and cold person. I'm so glad it's cold and drizzling right now. :]

Special Thanks to Dancing Bones! I never got enough time to thank you for your lovely review. I tried to at one point, but as soon as I almost got done finishing it, my computer messed up and I lost my long reply back. D: I tried though! Anyway, thank you so much. It really made my day. ^ ^ I hope you continue to enjoy this story. It's not over yet. ;)

Disclaimer: I own DL and Q. All the rest of the characters are NOT mine and will never be mine sadly. This story, however, is mine so no stealing!

It was typical that L found himself unhappy on the very day he was meant to be happy. Most individuals' opinions stated that a birthday was suppose to be filled with nostalgic memories of the past year, welcomed with cake and ice cream, and one was supposed to be smothered in presents wrapped with overly shiny and colorful paper that sometimes had prints on them such as a birthday hat or balloons. L never cared for that particular birthday concept, but the idea of having a large cake of any sort made his stomach cartwheel in excitement.

L gently turned back and forth in his computer chair as he sat at his desk. Being the late evening, the sun had already set below the thousands of skyscrapers that covered Tokyo. However, a dim glow came in through the windows of the large building since Tokyo was far from dark. The several, pale yellow lights that infested the buildings, streets, and vehicles kept the city in a constant light, even if the light was dim at times as it was now.

While his onyx eyes stared at the brightly lit, computer screen, the detective rested his thumb on his bottom lip comfortably. His black bangs casted a shadow over his eyes, causing his eyes to appear like hollow holes. These dark eyes reflected the man's weary, distant thoughts. Although many files and papers littered his desk, his mind had drifted elsewhere, and it seemed his cluttered desk reflected his jumbled thoughts.

There wasn't much keeping the detective's mind on the crime case. His only companion for the night was his dear friend and caretaker, Watari. His partner, Light Yagami, had not showed up to headquarters that day. There was a 68% chance that Light was being kept within his parents' household due to his parents' possible desires to do a family event. Considering that no one on the original investigation team was suppose to know about this particular crime case, and the fact that Soichiro Yagami, Light's father, was part of the original team, it would be easier for Light to not explain his whereabouts when he left the house. If there was a family event, it was possible Light would take the easier route and not show up this evening.

L had a single, strawberry cupcake resting on top of a napkin on his work desk. A layer of white, vanilla frosting rested on the upper part of the pastry. Finishing off the presentation of the delicacy, a full, ruby colored strawberry rested peacefully on top. On any usual day, the detective would have instantly devoured this sugary treat. However, his roaming, scattered thoughts and emotions kept him from picking up the cupcake and taking even a nibble of it. Not even the fact that today was the detective's twenty-fifth birthday made L snap out of his not-so-friendly thoughts.

Trying to awaken himself out of the trance, L turned his attention back down towards the files he was looking through to try to pinpoint the location of the criminal, Beyond Birthday. It only took L five minutes to hesitate in his work. After picking up Beyond's profile folder, L's thoughts began to drift again as his onyx eyes rolled over the information on the sheet.

The profile sheet in his hands was the information sheet the local, Japanese police kept track of. All the information on the sheet was information that was local to the investigation teams across Japan. However, L's mind continued to disagree with many points on the sheet as his eyes roamed over the stats and notes. One of the notes clearly stated how the police had classified Beyond as a insane maniac who appeared to be deeply troubled; the man was a psychopath. Although that description may prove true, the information was too vague to do any help in any investigation. The information on the profile sheet alone would not do the investigation much good.

Beyond may be deeply troubled, yes, but his internal stresses and struggles go much deeper, and no one other than myself knows this. Not even Watari or Roger truly knows the full extent to Beyond's troubles both mental and physical. One of L's fingers brushed through the papers within Beyond's criminal folder of L's personal notes, information sheets, profile stats, and records. While fingering through these sheets, L's mind continued to whirl with thoughts both pertaining to the case and scattered thoughts.

It looks like you're keeping your promise, Beyond. I would expect that much from you. You kept your vow to escape solitary confinement. I had no doubt that you would, but....What are you planning on achieving in escaping? I know you were kept within the jail for all of those years because you chose to be there. Now that you've escaped, where are you heading? What is your longterm goal?

After fingering through the papers for a moment, L finally came to what he was looking for. He pulled out a small photograph that had small smudges covering it and a few tears on the sides. The small wrinkles and faintness of the picture indicated that the picture was a bit older instead of merely not being taken care of. It was a picture that would have been taken as an individual, school photo. The individual within the picture had an appeared very similar to L, but even the smallest of detail differences stood out within the picture. The stance, the crudeness of his hair, his odd grin, and most importantly, his eye color all made the difference in distinguishing L from the man in the picture; the infamous man with the given the name, Beyond Birthday.

While setting the picture carefully down on the top of the desk, L's mind began to drift off into a memory that occurred years ago but didn't seem too far away in thought. This particular memory took L years back to when he was an adolescent living within Wammy's Orphanage for gifted individuals. L could distinctly remember when Watari first brought him to the orphanage on that cold, snowy night, however that was not the memory that played within the detective's head.

"Hahaha! A, I thought your name was Aspen. You should have been named Chicken instead of being named after a tree. Oh wait! You do stand scared stiff! They should have put a hyphen in your name, A."

The youngest adolescent within the group tilted his head down in embarrassment at Beyond's words. It never took much to unease the the redheaded boy. A's orange-red hair that was waist length fell into his face, covering his tan features, and shielding his misty gray eyes. He shifted his weight uneasily on the cafeteria bench that was attached to one of the cafeteria's long, tables. His shoulders came closer to his neck as he tried to peacefully eat his lunch. However, Beyond wasn't someone who could be easily ignored.

"What's wrong, A?" Beyond cooed mockingly as his amber-red eyes flashed mischievously.

"Nothing is wrong, Beyond." Although A tried his hardest to keep his tone even, his voice was obviously shaky with a hint of uneasiness.

A wide grin spread across Beyond's face, showing off his crooked ivories as he took a seat next to the nervous adolescent. Quickly following Beyond, a scrawny teenager sat beside the teen with a crooked grin. The teenager next to Beyond had greasy, brown hair that had a natural greenish coloration to the strands. His wavy hair fell scraggly around and into his face. His distinct, green-yellow eyes gazed from Beyond to A to everyone else at the table to back to Beyond. His leg twitched while siting at the cafeteria table. However, no one commented or acknowledged it, since it was a habit of the adolescent to twitch or continue to shift his weight. The spacey teenager wasn't particularly the most intelligent individual within the orphanage, but I knew he had an excellent memory. Also, over the years due to Beyond's influence, this adolescent had now been known to be shifty.

"Denial is just another way to acknowledge something is true," Beyond teased him. The black-haired harasser seemed to be enjoying every second that passed while he poked fun at the redhead. Beyond had no interest in trying to be friendly with the redhead, and he was making it very known to everyone there at Wammy's Orphanage. Every individual within the orphanage knew Beyond harassed A more than any of the other orphans within the facility. There was an apparent hatred between the two of them, although many would say the hatred was one-sided because no one truly believed A hated or even held a grudge against anyone. Also, many believed that Beyond harassed and teased other for the attention, not because Beyond was vain, but because he wanted me to notice him. At this point in time, however, I hadn't quite put two and two together nor had any interest in doing so.

"Leave Aspen alone, Beyond."

Beyond's attention rose to the adolescent sitting on the other side of the uneasy redhead. The teenager had milky, khaki colored, straight hair that was in a shorter cut hairstyle and kept out of his face. His bangs swept to the side and came down to caress the right side of his face. Although his hair wasn't cut extremely short, it was short enough to show off a bit of his forehead; his bangs didn't come extremely close to his eyes. His light green eyes were narrowed at Beyond. His gaze instantly meeting his, not showing any sign of fearfulness towards the harasser.

Beyond smirked. "What are you talking about, Q? You say that as if I've done something wrong," Beyond faked innocence on purpose to mess with the brunette.

"Beyond, you completely know what you're doing. I know, A knows, DL knows it, and you know it." The sternness in Q's tone clearly stated how annoyed and irritated he truly was at the red eyed teen and his companion who seemed to follow Beyond around everywhere he went.

Beyond turned his head to the twitching teenager beside him. "DL, do I appear to be doing anything harmful to A?"

The scraggly haired teen vigorously shook his head for a bit longer than was necessary, his wavy bangs lightly hit him in the face. His green-yellow eyes were rounded with alertness as they usually were. He always appeared eager when it came to tagging along with Beyond and assisting his jokes, jabs, and mischief. It was the teenager's eyes that made the boy seem so innocent and guiltless.

"No. No. No. No, Beyond. You haven't done anything harmful to A." The instant DL's rounded eyes met with Beyond's red pools, DL quickly averted his gaze. The teen chose to look away from everyone at the table—including A—but didn't turn his head away from the scene.

Beyond turned his attention back to Q and A. "Well, it looks like Mother Hen is being overly paranoid over her chick again." Beyond chose to make another chicken reference. He knew such a small jab wouldn't light Q's anger aflame, but Beyond had the feeling that it would annoy Q just enough.

Q rolled his eyes for a split second before snapping irritably, "Harmful doesn't always mean physical pain, Beyond. There is such a thing as mental and psychological harm as well. You know that. Now leave A alone!"

"Q-Quill....You don't have to stick up for me," A's quiet voice whispered over to Q's direction. A's gray eyes peeked over at the adolescent who's attention was immediately on him after A spoke. "I'm fine."

A kind smile formed on Q's face as his green eyes seemed to sparkle with gentleness when he spoke to the redhead. "I know I don't have to, A," Q began to explain to him. "I choose to stick up on your behalf because I want to, not have to." I knew that A already knew Q's words were true, considering there was a reason A was second at Wammy's Orphanage. However, I also knew how emotional and overly cautious A could be; he probably felt like he needed to hear Q say something pertaining to their friendship to ensure A that the friendship was existent.

I could not hear what A whispered back to Q, but I remember seeing the wide smile on the brunette's facial features. His beaming seemed to make Beyond irritated, almost as if seeing happiness made Beyond unhappy. It was at this point that I chose to continue all the way into the cafeteria. Many individuals gazed over at me when I entered, but I guess that's what happens when you become number one at the orphanage. It would seem likely that some individuals would loose interest in the challenge, but I knew that was hardly the case. My existence only seemed to fuel the fire of struggles of the challenge. My existence alone challenged each and every individual within the orphanage to continue to fight to get the number one spot.

At this point in my life, I didn't really care too much about being on the top of the totem pole. Grades mattered to me, yes, but I believed many orphans within Wammy's were capable of being number one if they chose to work hard enough for it. However, if that was the case alone, I would have dipped under the challengers. It seemed to be a chain reaction. My spot on the totem pole challenged them, and knowing and seeing how diligent they worked and fought for the spot made me cling tighter to being number one. It appeared that I too enjoyed a challenge, whether I pushed the others hurtfully back or not; I found it almost enjoyable. Also, being a bit selfish and prideful made me want to cling onto the top of the totem pole. I was 99% sure they would never think about giving up, and in saying that, I would never fall from being number one.

Of course, it was a given that not every individual within Wammy's Orphanage enjoyed my being there. I knew there were some individuals who strongly disliked me. Whether they said anything to me or not, I knew which individuals distrusted and disliked my being there. I found it strange how some people saw being disliked as unnerving and shameful. Knowing that I was disliked only proved my existence as being human. I guess that was the interesting thing about diversity; there was never a dull moment when it came to the actions, thoughts, and choices of others.

"Good afternoon," I greeted evenly while being hunched over in my usual stance. "There appears to be a 94% chance of possible hostility in the air, hm?"

A seemed to perk up at my presence, along with Q. A small smile crossed the redhead's face when I spoke up. DL jerked around, not expecting me to show up beside the table at that time. Beyond merely turned his head, giving me a grave look while his red eyes staring up at me, almost as if he were searching for something.

"Welcome, L," Q greeted kindly. "Are you joining us today for lunch, or do you have more work to finish? Watari and Roger always seem to give you more and more work theses days."

I gave a short nod and placed my thumb comfortably against my bottom lip. "Yes, I do have work," I told them honestly. "However, I would not mind joining your group for lunch if you were offering, Q."

A's smile grew, and he nodded. "We all have work, L. We all need a break every once and awhile. You should join us." Gesturing to the open seat across from him, A finished, "You could sit there if you like."

I distinctly remember a warm, strangely happy feeling rolling inside me when A smiled at me. The more A smiled, the more the strange content feeling seemed to grow. Although I was going to take that chosen seat either way, I turned my attention towards Beyond. "Will Beyond abject to my being here?"

Beyond smirked, his red eyes still locked on me. "I cannot assure you that you will bypass the ninety-four percent of hostility that lingers in the air, Ellie, but if that doesn't bother you, feel free to join us."

A smile formed on my face, and I nodded. "Good afternoon to you too, Beyond."

I knew very well that Beyond's jokes towards A would cease the moment I sat down at the table. It seemed that Beyond didn't feel comfortable in being hostile with A and Q while I was there. That was mostly because Beyond knew I would stick up for A no matter what. Although some days, he wouldn't care if I was there or not and would continue to poke fun at the redhead.

Looking back on those beginning adolescent days at the orphanage, a smile formed on L's face. Everything seemed to be peaceful back then. The relationships between A, Q, Beyond, DL, and L was light, peaceful, and friendly back then. Besides the occasional jokes and stabs from Beyond to A, everyone seemed to decently get along.

L pushed back Beyond's picture for a moment, a frown quickly replacing the smile. He remembered how everything began to gradually change as time went on. Everyone changes....Change is inevitable, but even in saying that...could we have changed it in another way? A strong remorse took hold of L, deepening the hollowness within the detective's dark eyes. The more he remembered the changes, the sadder he became.

Everyone changed. More and more work devoured me as I grew closer to becoming the detective I am today. Beyond's and A's relationship with each other twisted tighter and tighter with enmity until it broke. It would seem that Beyond, A, and I were all a part of one thread. Maybe we could have all lived peacefully with one another on that thread, but we let the string get tied too tightly. We all let the string twist and tighten. It tightened so much that we suffocated each other, and now there is only room for one of us on that thread. One of us has already been smothered by this rope. Two of us remain, but only one of us will survive.

L's eyes roamed over the picture until he locked his eyes with the familiar, red pools. The detective removed his thumb away from his lips and placed both of his hands on the desk as he allowed his mind to continue to roam. He had already allowed his thoughts to travel away from his work, and there was no point in stopping it now, since if any open questions were left, they would only draw his mind away from his work again.

Did you know this would happen? Did you see from the very beginning that all three of us would struggle with such intensity that we could not survive together as a whole? Maybe you were the only one who knew there would only be one victor....I know I never knew when I was at the orphanage....I never saw it coming until it was too late.

L's eyes drifted from the photograph for a moment to stare at the many, silver cabinets that were filled with files and folders which were all sorted in alphabetical order. His eyes lingered over to beginning of the cabinets where the files began. A sadness tugged at his heart for every second his attention remained on the silver cabinets. He turned his head away and picked up Beyond's picture. He paused before placing the picture away within the folder again. You knew. I know you realized it, Beyond. Was it that reason alone you were so disdainful and malevolent?

L sighed and gently shook his head. I can clearly see how I was oblivious to what was happening to the string we were all tied on. I was too smothered by—.

"Ryuzaki?"

The hollowness quickly left L's eyes as he abruptly jerked his head up and around to face the approacher. The detective's wide eyes stared directly into Light's honey-brown pools. L watched as Light's own eyes widened from seeing the shock within the detective's eyes. It wasn't everyday Light saw the man's guard down and emotions freely showing. It was clear to Light that something was bothering L enough to bring his distrusting wall down for a moment.

Although L still appeared to be a bit shaken, his voice was even and steady as it always was. "Yes, Light?"

Light frowned, and he gazed from L to the files on the desk to the photograph in L's hands to back to L's dark eyes. "Is everything all right?" Light and L's eyes locked with one another. A hardness seemed to show in Light's eyes as he studied the detective's hollow voids. L easily knew why the hardness was there, and what Light was picking at. He knows something is wrong. There's a 93% chance he's wondering if I'm going to lie to face or not.

L placed the picture back within the folder and turned his attention away from Light, wanting to peacefully go back to his work, even though he knew it wasn't likely that would happen. With his mind still foggy, L reasonably and honestly told Light with a sigh, "I'm just tired." After stating this, L's onyx orbs rolled over to observe Light's reaction; he wanted to see if Light was going to accuse him of lying or try to pry further into L's thoughts.

Neither of the two happened. Although Light's weary, facial expression didn't change, Light seemed to accept the vague answer. While gesturing towards the abandoned cupcake on L's desk, Light chose the seat next to L at the computers. It was at this point L noted that Light was carrying a plastic, shopping bag. After setting the plastic bag onto the desk, Light asked casually, "Upset stomach?"

Mentally, L raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement at Light's choice of words. So he is trying to pry into my thoughts. L's dark eyes that went from hollow to alert, thanks to Light being there, glanced over at the untouched, strawberry cupcake to back to Light. "It would appear that the graveness of today's investigation work has blocked out my desires to consume any sweets."

L's observing eyes caught the slight frown that took hold of Light for a moment before the younger man gave a small smile and shrug. "I have to admit, L, that I'm surprised that you'd let anything come in the way of you and desserts."

Now all indications of irritation or dislike at L's vagueness disappeared from Light as he moved his hands forward to the plastic bag. "It's a shame not to eat any sweets on the last day of October, a holiday." L picked up on the fact that Light didn't indicate whether he was speaking about Halloween or L's birthday. This way, if L chose to say he didn't celebrate his birthday, the possible gift could be for Halloween. If L chose to say he didn't celebrate Halloween, the gift would be for his birthday. To say that L didn't celebrate Halloween or his birthday would almost be a direct indication that L was deliberately trying to abject Light's gift.

Basically, L was going to have to accept whatever was in the plastic bag.

L's dark eyes widened at what he saw Light lift from the bag. In Light's hands was an individual sized, chocolate cake with milk chocolate icing and extra dark chocolate and white chocolate shavings sprinkled over the top of the cake. Light placed the store bought cake in front of L, placing it right on top of the files; a direct indication that Light wasn't going to let L decline the present. Although, L wouldn't think about refusing it.

Light then leaned back in his chair and comfortably crossed his arms as he watched the detective's reaction carefully, trying to decide how L would respond to the gift. "It's actually a marble cake. I was sure even you would find chocolate bitter after so much of it."

L placed his thumb on his lips as he continued to stare at the cake that was placed in front of him. Although his facial expression remained neutral, his eyes hungrily examined the dessert. "I do not find chocolate bitter, Light, but—."

"And that's why I got a dark chocolate and white chocolate marble cake." A triumphant smirk formed on Light's face as he continued, "After thinking about it in the store, I figured you'd say something similar to that. Although I find chocolate bitter after so much of it, I finally decided that you wouldn't mind it as much. However, if you found one chocolate to be too plain, the other chocolates should contrast the tastes."

L removed his thumb from his mouth and allowed a smile to pull at the sides of his lips. He turned in his chair to give Light his full attention momentarily. L let his smile become a half smile, half smirk before noting aloud, "Light is awfully generous, even for a holiday. It also seems Light is very instant that I eat this cake."

Light's proud smile almost instantly turned into an irritated frown. His eyebrows lightly pressed down against his eyelids. "I didn't poison it if that's what you're trying to say," Light told him shortly.

"I never accused you to have done such an act. I was only stating how much generosity your personality has. Hmm. Does Light have a guilty conscience?"

"Guilty conscience? You're the one with paranoid thoughts! Hinting that I'm trying to poison you suggests that I'm trying to kill you. In saying that you think that I'm trying to kill you tells me that you still believe I'm Kira! I am not Kira!"

"Again you are the one who brought up Kira," L told him.

Light let out a grunt of frustration, unfolded and refolded his arms. L half expected the younger man to send a punch his way, maybe even try to give L a black eye that would last for a week. However, Light did not resort to violence and only sat there with his arms crossed. L guessed he was probably trying to decide whether he should take the cake back, start working on the crime case, or head back home.

"It's always a good idea to take precautions, Light," L commented casually.

"I'll take a piece if that would relax your paranoia," Light offered, irritation still in his voice.

L gave a short nod. Light sighed and moved forward to take the cake and place it in front of him. He took off the plastic lid that covered the cake and took the plates and plastic eating utensils out of the plastic bag. Almost as soon as he began to cut himself a piece, Light paused. He looked over at L and asked defensively, "Wait. Are you going to interrogate me about what piece I take?"

"Does Light really want me to answer this?" L asked with a small, hidden smile that went unnoticed by Light. The twenty year old rolled his eyes and continued to cut his desired, small piece. "In that case, forget I asked," Light commented under his breath as he placed the slice of cake onto one of the red, plastic plates.

While pushing the chocolate cake back over to L, the detective lifted his gaze to stare at Light. It didn't take long for Light's honey-brown eyes to meet L's gaze. A small smile—one of L's true smiles at that pressed against L's lips, causing a light of curiosity to brighten Light's eyes. L murmured quietly with gratitude, "Thank you, Light."

L admitted that Light's appearance made L's mind not drift off to unwanted subjects. Light's being there helped L not think about Beyond, his past, or the case. After working on the case all day and having his thoughts drift off numerous times, this conversation and present relieved L's wondering mind of the stress. Also, L really was grateful for the cake even though he didn't show it very well. Although L's trust ran thin, he was glad his only friend remembered and wished to celebrate L's birthday (L was positive that Light wouldn't go through the trouble of buying this cake for a simple holiday such as Halloween).

The frustration and irritation left Light's face, and he smiled. While handing L a plate and eating utensils, Light replied, "You're welcome."

:D

Flashback to L's past! Tehehe!!

And yay for fluffy, cake scene with L and Light. ^ ^

Oh! And are you guys mad at me because this chapter isn't doesn't have Near in it.

Audience: WHAT HAPPENED TO NEAR!! D: *is forming an angry mob*
Me: You'll see how he's doing in the next chapter. ^ ^; Please don't kill me. *tosses cupcakes to everyone*

Please review! :D