Disclaimer: If I owned anything, you would have expected A LOT more romance and Beyond. I love Beyond Birthday. :3

The Reviewers~

bleedingcrimson: Oh! That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said. :3 For it, I dedicate the chapter to you! :D

Bree Renee: Welcome! I always love a new reviewer. 3 Oh, no. Trust me; it's horrible here. All I've had to eat are gorditas, and I don't even like them much! But, oh well, enough complaining. :3

"I don't believe you! You think the surveillance thing was a good idea?" Matsuda exclaimed, his mouth dropping.

Ever since she had introduced herself to the task force, he had been constantly bugging her about what she thought about this or that. She answered, of course, but she was miffed about it. She had never spent so much time around…such a blunt speaking person. He was nice, but he got annoying after about 14 hours. However, she treated him better than L treated him, so he tended to tell her his ideas rather than tell the famous detective.

"I never said that." A said, calmly. She was giving him a stern look. Watari had already taken the cameras down, so she didn't even know why he was making a big deal about it. She had her suspicions, but they were just that.

"So, you agree with us in saying that they were a bad idea?" He looked more calm, now; more sure of himself.

"I didn't say that, either. I'm neutral…like Sweden." She smirked.

"Doesn't the saying go 'neutral like Switzerland?" Matsuda looked around the room, confused.

No one except Aizawa was really paying attention to them-they all had their separate things to do. She was supposed to be chatting with Collin and Diego about what they had figured out so far-as well as to see if they had destroyed her home yet. They'd found things, but L already knew him. And, no, her house hadn't burned to a crisp-surprisingly.

"The saying does go like that, but Sweden was neutral before Switzerland was." She stated. "I'd rather have the longest neutral country as opposed to the second one."

"By a year." L answered Matusda's question before the man could voice it. "The Swedes have been neutral since 1814, the Swiss a year later."

When Matsuda stared at her, A blinked and offered a smirk. "What?"

"You're so smart!" He pouted.

"Of course I am." She responded. It wasn't like she was trying to be a braggart; she was just starting a fact. Actually, she found it somewhat offensive that he had, although he probably hadn't meant to, called her stupid. "What else would you expect from me, Matsuda?" She added, a bit threateningly.

"Nothing! A, I swear!" He said, a little too quickly and turning red in the face.

"He made you drop out from college?" Diego repeated, staring at her.

Aimi shook her head. "No, he 'suggested´ that it would be a good idea to drop out. Plus, I'm enrolling in To-Oh. I just have to take the entrance exam, which is tomorrow. Anything I really need to learn and such I already know. My only problem is I'm going to be older than everyone there."

"L's older than you are." Collin pointed out, cheekily. "You'll only be the second oldest."

"Rue!" She pretended to cry, gripping his arm and staring up at him with her grey eyes. "If you loved me, hubby, you'd go to college with me."

"We're newlyweds, darling." He retorted with a deadpan. "I don't want to spend any more time with you than I usually do."

"What?" Collin and Diego shouted, staring at the two of them.

"Phós tú? Fuck! Cén fáth nach raibh tú ag insint dúinn? Ba mhaith linn a d'fhág tú i d'aonar..." Collin cussed, completely oblivious.

Rue turned to look at her, expectantly.

"'You got married? Fuck! Why didn't you tell us? We would have left you alone.' First of all, we're not really married. Second of all, your Irish is atrocious. Are you sure you're from there? Third of all, what do you mean you would have 'a d'fhág tú i d'aonar'?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

Diego and Collin both coughed, nervously, while Rue was, for the first time in a while, generally confused.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, turning his menacing crimson eyes towards their two comrades. "

"Eh!" She interrupted them, holding a finger up when her phone went off. She picked it up and answered it, all the while continuing on her conversation with the two guilty boys in front of her. "We will find out later. And, I can guarantee it won't be pretty, for either of you…Especially you, Collin! Hello?"

"Carrying on a conversation?" L asked, his voice disguised, but she knew it was him.

"Yes. Diego and Collin inferred something they should have thought better of, but Rue is taking care of them now. What did you want?"

Rue, to his credit, gave her a disgusted look before stalking off into the kitchen, Collin following after him with a look that could only be described as slightly less disgusted as the one Rue had given. Diego, thankfully, had stayed in the room with her, and had even moved so that he, too, could hear what L was telling her.

"Normally, I would have Watari confirm this, but he is preoccupied at the moment." L started rolling off.

The two successors shared a look, and she idly wondered if he wasn't just getting L another cake. "Cool story; what did you want to confirm?"

"Are we to take you to To-Oh University tomorrow?" He sounded miffed at her vocabulary.

"It would seem suspicious if we both went together, so I was planning on going by myself." Aimi glanced at Diego, rolled her eyes, and continued on. "I'll meet you there, L. Don't come for me."

"Will any of them be escorting you?" He asked.

She was silent. "If you think Collin and Rue want anything to do with you, you're wrong. They only want to solve the case so they can go out and not have the possibility of dying from a heart attack." She glanced at Diego. "Also, Diego won't be accompanying me, either. He has work."

Diego raised an eyebrow and mouthed, "Eres una mentirosa!"

"Very well."

She shut her phone before staring at Diego. "You want to meet him? Because, you're weird if you do, and I sincerely doubt Collin's going to let you get anywhere near him…"

"I don't have to have Collin's permission to go anywhere." Diego frowned.

"Yeah, that's why you always ask him if you can go to the grocery store, work, the movie store, anywhere…Nope, you don't need any permission. You're a strong Mexican man who needs no man in his life." She smirked and patted his cheek. "So strong~"

"You missed two questions." Rue repeated, looking dumbfounded.

"Yes." Aimi nodded her head. "One in math and one in critical reading."

"Why?" He asked. "You passed both classes with flying colors in Wammy's House."

"I already told you." She said, smiling and poking his cheek with her finger. "I didn't want a three-way tie for the Freshman address. It's bad enough L's giving it…I bet you he doesn't bow."

"I'm not taking that bet, because he's not going to. He's going to miss the chance to do it." Rue rolled his eyes.

"Why are you even here?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

He smirked, gave her a knowing look and shrugged, his crimson eyes scanning the crowd. "A normal husband would come and support his wife. You said that Yagami kid was going to be here. You suspect him, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." She narrowed her eyes and kicked at the dirt with her black flats. "He was the last person to see Naomi alive. Added to that, L thinks he's Kira."

"Penber was also investigating him." Rue added in, uninterested. "The kid has two of the most intelligent people on this planet thinking he's Kira. If he's not screwed, I don't know what he is."

"He's a child who fancies himself god." She answered, pulling him off to the side so that people could pass by them without having to go around.

"I went up against someone who fancied himself god, once. I ended up in prison." He cackled. "Kira's going to end up dead."

"Don't be creepy, Rue." She frowned, swatting at him.

"Aimi Ryuzaki!" A voice called out.

They both glanced in the direction that the voice was coming from.

"Has anyone seen Aimi Ryuzaki?" The voice repeated.

"Ah, they're calling attendance." She rolled her eyes and turned to Rue to say goodbye, only to be swept up into his arms.

Her face flushed red, and her eyes widened, dramatically. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and her head was pressed into his chest. She could hear the thump, thump, thump of his calm heart, and she wondered if he couldn't hear the same thing. His head was lying on hers, and he was twirling her hair with his fingers.

"W-what are you doing, Beyond?" She whispered, finding her own arms were betraying her and wrapping themselves around his waist.

"What does it look like?" He replied in his normal, deadpanned voice. "I'm giving my wife a hug." He pulled away and pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a small box, and she felt every breath of air leave her.

"It's not an engagement ring, don't get scared." He rolled his eyes, revealing a gold band with his name inscribed in it. "It's our wedding ring. As far as Light Yagami knows, you're a married woman."

She calmed down, significantly. "Oh, well…who's fault was that?" She frowned, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yours; for not leaving as soon as you met him." He replied simply, grabbing her left hand and slipping the ring on. She hadn't noticed the ring on his finger.

"Does it have my name emblazoned in it?" Aimi asked, teasingly. She could feel the color begin to leave her face.

"Yes." He replied bluntly before kissing her forehead.

The blush returned.

"Go sit down before the guy with the clipboard has a heart attack. I'll be in the crowd watching." He smirked and leaned in, a breath away from her. "Isn't this the part where you kiss me?"

"If we were married, it might be." She took a step back and waved, walking over to the spot that was designated for her. "Until then, Auf Wiedersehen, mein Mann."

When she walked off, she tried to control her breathing and calm herself down. She sat, rather dignified, next to L and turned to look away from him.

"You were almost late." He stated, sitting in the position she knew him to sit in the best.

"Someone would have had backup for if I was late." She shrugged.

Soon, L and Light were both called to the podium to give the address. She wasn't paying attention to that. The people behind her were making too much racket-they were in awe of Light and slightly astounded by L. At one point, she was even sure she heard a girl comment on how she had 'fallen in love' with L. Aimi was close to whirling around and asking her if she was certifiably insane, but when her head jumped up, she caught sight of L's mouth moving.

Her eyes squinted, and she stared at his lips, trying to make out what they said. From her distance, though it wasn't very hard, it was extremely hard for her to be able to tell what he was saying. All she could register was the fact that Light looked extremely shocked. When they came back down, she glowered at him when his eyes connected with hers. Then, he went right back to sitting how he was used to.

"I loved your speech, Yagami-san." She leaned over L to smile at the young prodigy. "It was well thought." She turned and gave L a different smile, one that looked force. "Your speech was…interesting as well…Ryuga-san…" She turned her attention back to the dean as he began to talk.

It would be enough for Light to realize that she was still around. Perhaps, that was enough for him to sweat it out and actually worry about the fact that she knew that he had last seen Naomi. She knew he remembered her, too, by the way that his eyes had widened a fraction. Luckily for him, L had been too busy looking at her, curiously for talking.

When the ceremony was over, Light stood and walked in a different direction that both her and L, who remained by each other for a moment.

"When did you get married?" L asked, looking at her ring.

"Hmm?" She looked, almost surprised that he had asked. "Sometime before I arrived this morning..."

"Yeah, do you have a problem with it, 'Ryuga?" Rue asked, suddenly.

She turned around, surprised that he revealed himself.

To his credit, L didn't go into shock. It seemed, since her revelation to him, that he had soaked it all in. Instead, he looked bored.

"No. If you'll excuse me…Watari is here."

"He just walked off…" Rue's eye twitched. "Gah, I hate that guy. I hate him more now than I did then."

She sighed and grabbed his hand. "Don't be stupid-come on. I'm starving, and I'm sure my 'husband' can go and buy me something to eat."

"You forgot your wallet."

"Yeah…so, if you could…I would really love some coffee or something…" She grinned.

"No." He shook his head.

She pouted. "Aww. Why not? Indulge your wife, jerk, or I'll run off and have someone get me coffee."

"…"

She took another three steps before pausing, realizing that he wasn't following her. He looked…relatively dignified. He had on some blue jeans, but they were dark and looked like they had been ironed. He had on a black button down shirt, too, and he had actually made an effort to comb his hair. He wasn't even walking around with a slightly slouch like he had gotten into the habit of doing.

"Rue, what's wrong?"

He looked somewhat livid, now. Like, he had back in Wammy House whenever something hadn't gone his way.

"Is it 'Rue' again, even though we're alone?" He asked, harshly. "What happened to calling me by my name?"

Her eyes widened. She hadn't been expecting to be called out. But, she composed herself and glared at him. "You caught me by surprise earlier. I don't…I don't want to call you by that name in public because someone might connect the dots and you'll get killed by Kira. You're too special to me to allow myself to make such a stupid mistake."

She marched right up to him, shoving him half-heartedly. It made him stumble a couple of steps, but, because he had been expecting it, he had managed to balance himself out. "I hate it. I hate you working near him. Your numbers…go down because of it."

Aimi frowned, only partly sure of what he was talking about. "Rue?" She asked.

He pulled at her hands and pulled her into another embrace, like the one earlier. Except, this one seemed more protective than it did teasing. He didn't rest his head over hers, either. Instead, he pulled back a little and looked down at his face, hurt. He picked up her chin and leaned closer…closer…

Closer…

She didn't know what came over her. Her face flushed and her eyes closed without her permission. Her body pressed against his without her permission, too. When their lips touched, it was almost like she was hungry. He was, too.

But, the kiss felt wonderful-much better than the first one the two of them had shared all those years ago. She felt…elated. His lips were warm, tasted like strawberry jam, and were needy. Needy for her. She didn't know what he wanted to prove to her, but he didn't care.

She wanted to put a stop to it, she really did, but she didn't at the same time. Every ounce of breath was being taken away from her-like she had been spending too much time underwater. His hand that had been holding her face had dropped from it and was currently enwrapped in her own hand. His other was slowly tracing patterns on her back. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck, and it encouraged him. He pressed into the kiss harder, rougher.

Then, he pulled away.

"I don't want you to die." He said, coarsely. "I can't lose you. Seeing you sad-I can't handle it. You got onto me before for leaving you-for going to L.A. and killing those people. I wasn't strong like you-I couldn't have 'just left'. You were wasting away, and I did the only thing I could do to make you feel better."

"Beyond." She smiled, bringing his head down so she could connect her forehead to his. "I'm not going to leave you; I'm not going to die. You should have…told me sooner, idiot."

She let go and took a step back before offering her hand. "Now, I'm starving. You only made me…hungrier-come on."

He took it.

"What's up, A?" Matsuda asked once she entered the room.

"Huh?" She looked towards him, distractedly.

He grinned at her. "You look…flushed and happy. What happened? Did you go out on a hot date or something? Haha!"

A looked down at her left hand, smirked, and held it up for him to see. "No, I just got married."

His mouth dropped. "Shouldn't you be on your honeymoon?"

She pretended to be serious. "Catching Kira is much more important." She told him.

"No, you're right!" He flushed. "Congratulations! Was it a big wedding?"

She looked up, thoughtfully. She was fully aware that all the attention was on their conversation-particularly from L and Watari.

"No. There were two other guests, technically, besides the bride and groom." She laughed. Naomi and Light had been in attendance when Beyond had announced that they were married-so, by default, they were the only two guests at her wedding.

"Oh. What's the lucky guy's name?" Matsuda asked, eagerly.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. His name is Rue." She laughed and walked off, fully aware that they were all looking at L. "And, no, it's not him." She reached for her laptop out of her computer bag and sat on the couch, opening and it beginning to go through some files. After about a second, there was tea being offered to her.

"It's Backup, isn't it…A?" Watari asked, smiling.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Wammy." She spoke quietly, so that only he could hear her. "I'm not really married. I got myself…into a tight position and was only saved because Beyond thought of the lie quickly. Except, the guy is around more often than I would like, so we have to keep the charade up."

"It's just…a day for surprises, isn't it?" He asked, laughing slightly. In the process, he drew the attention from the other tasks members.

"Nein," she said. "Just a day for firsts."

Exactly what she translated it into…(Irish!)

You're a liar! (Spanish!)

Goodbye, my husband. (German!)

No (German!)

AU: There we have it. Not AS long as the chapter that had 5,000 words or something in it, but totally longer than yesterday's chapter...Love it, hate it? You know, the relationship isn't set in stone. So, if you would prefer to have Allyson, A, Aimi end up with someone else, just vote in the pole I have on my profile~ Consider this a "Christmas" present.