A/N: Longest chapter so far. More BB awesomeness for you!
'Just… a bit… more…'
Near carefully aligned the card over his creation, ready to place it down. He was currently standing on a ladder and was about to add the final card onto his pyramid of cards.
"Careful now…" He muttered to himself, gently placing the card on top of the pyramid…
'…Almost…'
'…There…!!'
MY MILKSHAKE BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD!...
The pyramid collapsed into a messy pile. Near's eye twitched, the card still between his index finger and thumb.
"BLOODY FUCK!" He cursed loudly, the whole house shaking.
…AND THEY'RE LIKE: 'IT'S BETTER THAN YOURS!'…
"Near-chan, watch your mouth!" L hollered from his room.
…DAMN RIGHT! IT'S BETTER THAN YOURS!...
"Mello! Turn your bloody stereo down!" Near growled at the boy sitting on the couch below the ladder.
…I CAN TEACH YOU, BUT I HAVE TO CHARGE!--fzzzzzzt!
Mello calmly turned his stereo down, rubbing his ears painfully. "That hurt, Near." He commented.
"Jeez Near, I have never heard you swear that loudly!" Matt exclaimed, walking into the lounge room and playing his DS.
"Why are you angry at me anyway? You usually just get irritated if I knock your towers down and start again." Mello frowned, eyeing the white-haired boy climbing down the ladder.
"If I had finished that, it would've been my highest tower ever created." Near explained briefly, "I worked a full two hours on that tower, and you made me lose it." His eyes looked saddened.
Mello felt guilty, "…Sorry. I didn't know." He mumbled, quickly biting into his chocolate bar.
Near sighed, but smiled at the blonde. "It's okay. I'll just make a new one later." He reassured.
Matt looked at the two interact. He whistled, "You guys are finally warming up to each other. Why the sudden change?" The two boys shrugged.
In the kitchen, the phone rang. "I'll get it," Near mumbled, walking to the kitchen and grabbing the phone. "Hello?" He answered the phone.
"Is L there?" The person on the other line asked.
"Who is this?" Near blinked. The guy sounded like L, but L was in his room busy solving the Kira case…
A sigh, "He's busy, isn't he?" The voice muttered.
"Apparently, yes." Near frowned, "You didn't answer the previous question: Who is this?"
The voice hesitated, "…You may call me B. Who is this?"
"Near," The boy replied cautiously. "Do you want me to get L?"
"If he's not too busy…"
"Okay," Near turned away from the phone to see Mello and Matt in the kitchen with him. He addressed Mello, "Can you call L down here? There's someone for him and I don't have a very loud voice…"
"Yeah right…" Matt muttered to himself, referring to the loud curse Near exclaimed earlier. Mello grinned and shouted, "L, THERE'S A GUY NAMED… Uhh, who was it again?"
"I never gave you his name," Near replied, "He calls himself 'B'."
Mello's eyes widened. The chocoholic grabbed the phone from Near and answered the guy on the other line, "HI BB!!" He beamed.
"Henh, henh, henh! Mello, it's good to hear your voice again." B chuckled.
"How did you escape from prison?" Mello asked curiously. Next to him, both Near and Matt blinked incredulously.
"Henh, henh! Always the curious one, eh Mello?" The murderer muttered. "Actually, I'm quite surprised you're not scared of me. I am a criminal after all."
"Yeah, but you're a cool criminal! A smooth criminal!" Mello laughed at his own cheesy joke.
L arrived at the kitchen, "Who is calling me, Mello…?" He asked the chocoholic.
Mello smiled and answered B, "L's arrived, so you can talk to him now. See ya!" The blonde shoved the phone into L's hands and dragged both Near and Matt with him to the lounge room.
--
"Who was that man?" Near asked the blonde. He then proceeded to pick up all the cards off the floor.
Mello smirked, "That, is Beyond Birthday." He explained. "He is one of the coolest guys in history, save for L and me."
"Oi!" Matt joked, lightly pushing Mello's arm.
Near frowned, "You have associated with a criminal?" He asked, not finding this humorous at all.
"Actually, he wasn't a criminal back then when I met him." Mello smiled solemnly, the memories quickly entering in his mind…
--
Flashback…
It was a peaceful day at Wammy's House. Most of the orphans were outside playing ball or tag. The sky was a clear blue with a few wispy clouds drifting slowly with the wind. Inside the orphanage itself, it was quiet and undisturbed…
"Bloody hell," A seven-year old Mello mumbled, "I can't believe I'm stuck here and not allowed to go outside and play football."
A voice behind him chuckled, "Who says you can't stay here?"
Mello whipped around and blinked. The stranger looked like L, but he had red eyes… "Who are you?" He asked warily, watching as the stranger dipped his fingers into a jar of strawberry jam and lick the jam off his fingers.
The L-look-alike smirked, his fingers resting on his lips. "You may call me BB, or just B…Henh, henh, henh. You must be Mihael Keehl, am I right?"
Mello frowned, "You aren't supposed to call someone by their real name here."
"Mm, but it's only tradition here in Wammy's. You can call people here by their real name or nickname, it doesn't matter." B answered, dipping his fingers back in the strawberry jam.
"I feel comfortable if people just call me Mello." The blonde answered.
"Then Mello it is," B grinned, his red eyes gleaming mischievously. "You want to go outside with the other orphans, correct?"
"Yeah, but stupid Roger made me stay inside for stuffing tuna inside a kid's shirt." Mello sulked, crossing his arms.
Surprisingly, B laughed. "So you like causing mischief then?"
"Hell yeah," Mello smirked, his teeth showing.
The older male licked his jam-covered fingers clean. "Y'know, there's a girl here that plays pranks with me all the time. Her name is Azure Masters and--"
--
"Whoa, whoa! Wait a sec, Azure Masters, as in our Art and Music teacher?!" Matt exclaimed, falling off the couch.
Mello blinked, "You mean you can't remember Az at all?" He said disbelievingly. "I recognized her once I heard her name being called out at assembly!"
Near was sitting on the floor in his odd way, neatly putting the messy pile of cards into neat sets. "I vaguely remember her," He murmured, putting aside a set of cards to his right. "She used to always hug me when I was playing alone. She used to say that 'I was cute'." When he saw that the two boys were staring at him, he blushed out of slight embarrassment.
"Aww, Near's blushing!" Matt cooed.
Mello stretched and relaxed, slumping in the couch. "Anyways…"
--
"--we always play harmless pranks on the older orphans. We never got caught, but people always suspected us." B let out his odd laugh, "We made Roger freaking paranoid."
"So you're the reason why Roger keeps on catching me when I try to execute my plans!" Mello accused, pointing a finger at the older boy.
"Sorry," B shrugged, not really sounding sorry at all. "Though back to my original topic: You want to get out of here, right?"
"Of course I do!"
"Good," He purred, licking his lips clean. "I was itching for another prank anyways." He pulled out the jar's lid from his jeans pocket and screwed it back on.
"What are you going to do?" Mello asked curiously, tilting his head a bit to the side.
"Well, have you got any ideas for distractions?" B asked casually, tightening the lid of the jar.
Mello pouted, "Nope," He shook his head sadly.
B grinned, "Don't worry about it…"
--
Red eyes filled with barely concealed mischievousness darted around the hallway, looking for any other signs of life. He signalled Mello to come with him, "C'mon, it's clear." He hissed, sneaking quickly to the left, Mello following closely behind.
"Stop," B commanded quietly, and Mello obeyed. The two males peered through the side of the big double doors to see L sitting down on the couch reading a book about psychology, and Az next to him playing her guitar softly. The teen's red eyes looked around again just in case and walked into the big room, dragging Mello with him.
L looked up from his book, "BB-kun," He greeted. He looked behind his brother to see Mello looking at him with awe. The insomniac chuckled, "Getting into trouble again, I see, and dragging Mello with you?"
B let go of Mello's arm and put his free hand up defensively, his other arm clutching his jar of jam. "Hey, he wants to go outside to play." He defended, "I'm just helping him, but Roger is guarding the door to the front yard. I need a distraction to get Roger out from his post so little MarshMello can play."
Mello glared at the older male. "Oi! I'm not little!" He protested.
B turned to look at him, "Well, you are the shortest here in this room." He stated matter-of-factly, grinning and patting Mello's blonde hair.
"No I'm not," Mello blinked. The blonde then pointed to the corner of the big room, where a small white figure was. "Near is."
The little five-year old Near looked up from his Mah-jong game and his wide dark eyes blinked. B copied that action with his red eyes.
Az snickered, still playing her guitar. "You need glasses, B." The fifteen-year old commented.
"Shut up," B mumbled, stretching and cracking some of his joints. "I still need a distraction."
L sighed and put down his book onto the coffee table. "I could help." He announced, getting out of his crouching position and standing up.
Az raised an elegant eyebrow at her friend, "You usually don't volunteer for this kind of stuff." She said.
L smiled, "Well, there's a first for everything." He turned to Near, "Near, would you like to help me get Mello outside so he can play?"
The white-haired boy looked up at L and nodded hesitantly, "Sure," He answered in a small voice.
Az put her guitar down on the couch, ran over to where Near was and clutched the little boy to her chest protectively. "Nuh-uh! No way am I letting you taint sweet innocent Near with pranks!" She yelped. Near buried his head into her chest innocently, feeling very confused at the moment.
B's eye twitched, "How come you let him bury his head into your boobs, and not me?!" He whined.
"I'm just going to ignore that comment," Az muttered. Near struggled a bit in her hold.
"Can I resume playing my game now?" He said, his voice a bit muffled by her chest. Az let the boy go.
"God damn lucky five-year old…" B muttered.
Mello looked at B, "You're a perv." He stated.
B grinned, "And proud of it!" He cackled.
L sighed and started walking out of the room, "Everyone follow me…"
--
The children outside looked up to see a few small fireworks explode up in the air. They all looked at them in awe and were pointing and muttering to each other.
"Awesome," Matt mumbled, dropping the football onto the grass below him. His goggles reflected the light coming from the fireworks. He felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Mello behind him.
"Sup?" The blonde grinned. Matt laughed,
"How did you get out here? Weren't you confined?" The red-head exclaimed.
"Yeah, but those fireworks were just to get Roger's attention." He explained. "L thought up with the idea and BB and Az supplied the fireworks."
Matt raised an eyebrow, "L thought it up?" He repeated, "Pfft, yeah right! I don't think he's the type to pull a prank like that."
"Believe what you want, Matt, but I know that L came up with it." Mello said airily. Suddenly the two boys heard a scream of frustration and someone grabbed Mello by the scruff of his shirt.
"You did this, didn't you?" Roger hissed, glaring at Mello.
"W-What? No--"
"Actually Roger, I did it." B said smoothly, coming up next to Roger. "I was just helping poor Mello out. You don't need to blame him."
'Huh?' Mello thought. 'Why is he defending me?'
Roger let out a huff, "It's nice of you to defend the boy, Beyond, but…"
L came up next to B, "I saw it with my own eyes, Roger. My brother was the one that got those fireworks and lit them up. I was just a mere eyewitness to the event." He explained.
Roger sighed, giving up. "All right Mello, you're free to go."
"Yes!" The chocoholic exclaimed, hugging the person nearest to him, which was Matt.
The caretaker turned to B, "As for you, you'll be cleaning the kitchens every day for a week with no help."
The teen shrugged, "Okay,"
After that Roger walked off, muttering to himself, "I need a strong drink…"
Mello let Matt go and turned to B, "Hey, thanks for covering me." He smiled gratefully.
B smirked, "Ah, no problem. I like you, kiddo, you've got some spirit." He praised, ruffling his blonde hair. "But you owe me, 'kay?"
"Okay."
--
"Ah-yup." Mello sighed, "After that, we became fast friends and I got to pull off some pranks with him."
"So," Matt started, "BB was L's awesome twin brother that had red eyes, an obsession with strawberry jam, was prank buddies with our female teacher, a person you owe, and now a criminal?"
"Pretty much," The chocoholic shrugged. "Oh, except for the 'person you owe' bit. I already did that."
"What did you do?" Near asked, tilting his head a bit.
"Oh, nothing of importance…" Mello said evasively. Near blinked, but didn't push the question further.
"What did he get arrested for?" Matt asked.
"…Three murders." Mello muttered.
It was silent after that.
--
A few minutes earlier…
"…Hello?" L answered the phone.
"L, change of plans for the meeting." B murmured.
"Why?" L blinked.
"I need to see you and Az earlier than the set date." He hesitated, "To be truthful, I'm working for someone. He considers you to be the enemy, and he wants me to kill you. I can't. Any guesses?"
"Kira," L muttered, "So you're working for Kira, why is that?"
"…Blackmail, really. Henh, henh, henh…" The murderer chuckled weakly. "He threatened to turn me in to the police if I didn't cooperate."
"Kira is working with criminals, but he's killing other criminals?" L mused, "What is he offering them?"
"Mostly he blackmails them; sometimes he offers them power and wealth." L could imagine B shrugging right now. "I gotta go. Some of Kira's lackeys may spot me so I need to stop. I'll call you again later to set the date."
"Okay," The detective said quietly, "Good bye, brother."
Silence, then: "…See you soon, brother." Then he hung up.
L groaned and dialled another number, "Az better not be busy…"
A/N: :)
Nicha The Purple Ghost: Haha, I kinda noticed that. Awesome PenName. :P Yeeeesssss, fear Mr. Fluffles!
--
B: Woooo! Jam! -eats-
--
L: No! Get away! -backs away from Mr. Fluffles and Az-
Az: Aww, Mr. Fluffles is so cute! -huggles-
Mr. Fluffles: -mewls and stares at L menacingly-
L: -hides behind B-
B: ...-pets Mr. Fluffles- I think you and I are going to be fast friends...
--
Kit-Kat-Punk-lover: Crazy Cat Lady and her cat FTW. :P Here's some BB for you.
--
B: W-Wait! I'm still finishing my jam!
Crazy Cat Lady: Don't be scared of the lovely reviewer now, child! Go on! -shoves B towards Kit-Kat-Punk-lover-
--
puddingcup: Lolz, maybe they secretly enjoy looking at yaoi... -shifty eyes-
--
Near/Mello: We so do not enjoy yaoi! -Near hides doujinshis and Mello hides his laptop-
B: Jaaaaaaam! -hugs puddingcup and jam jar-
L: -hugs back awkwardly- Thank you very much. -lets go and starts eating sweets-
Raito: No way, my evil laugh is cooler!
B: Nuh-uh!
Raito: Yuh-huh!
B: Nuh-uh!
Raito: Yuh-huh!
B: NUH-UHHHHHHHH!
Raito: YUH-HUHHHHHHHH!
Everyone else: SHUT UP!!
Mr. Fluffles: -mewls again-
--
Misa: Review or I'll sic Mr. Fluffles on you! -giggles-
Mr. Fluffles: -laughs his evil cat laugh- Err... I mean... -mewls-
Misa: -blinks and backs away-