Author Note: I'm back, baby! *like nobody cares* Well, for those of you who still care I've finally updated! Obviously. I'm sorry it took me forever. School, ya' know. Thank You for reading and enjoy!:)

Beyond Birthday squared his shoulders and straightened his back. He was trying to make himself look as big as possible in a sort of animalistic, alpha-male manner. He hid his makeshift key behind his back. If the shadow came at him, B would pounce and go straight for the jugular. He glared into the darkness and commanded, "Show me your face."

"I would," the shadow said, "but I'm not much to look at."

"Stop fucking around with me and do as I say," B said severely. He tightened the grip on his concealed weapon. I ought to stab this son of a bitch in the windpipe just for pissing me off! B thought.

The shadow sighed heavily. "Again with the language? May I suggest visiting the library? Your vocabulary is grossly limited."

"I'll kill you for speaking to me like that," B bluffed. Bluffed because he knew that he wouldn't be able to kill unless death was destined to happen that night.

"It appears that I have wounded your pride," the stranger said with a chuckle. "I must admit that I'm quite prideful myself, so it's easy to detect it in others."

B was annoyed with the calm tone of the stranger's voice. To him, it seemed like this person wasn't taking him too seriously. Usually, a person's response to a threat would be fight or flight, but this man was calm and still. B grinded his teeth as he tried to think of ways to get out this current predicament. Initiating an attack against a man whose strength he didn't know would be stupid and making a run for it would be even more so.

"Well," the shadow said, "our conversation is going nowhere, which is a shame because I'm terribly curious as to why you where inside the student records office. Would you please enlighten me?"

Lie, B told himself. "You see," B said and looked down at his feet, "I was mad that you caught me coming out of the student records office because…it's embarrassing."

"First of all," the man began, "you weren't mad that you were caught, you were angry or upset or perhaps furious. Being mad means you're crazy. But I digress, why are you embarrassed?"

B glowered on the inside, but he maintained a cool head. "I was embarrassed because I did this for a…" B swallowed hard, pretending to be nervous, "…for a girl. I like her, but I was too shy to talk to her. I wanted to know more about her, and that's why I'm here." B lifted his head and looked at the shadow with false shame in his eyes and mischief in his mind.

"'I see' said the blind man," the shadow remarked. The man then began to clap and cheer, "Brava! You're quite the actor. That was a very believable performance, but it's clear to me that you're lying through your teeth. In the first few minutes of speaking with you, I have seen that you are anything but shy. This is why I greatly doubt that a member of the fairer sex would leave you too stunned for words. Now, what have you to say to that, my brazen young friend?"

B smiled demonically and said, "If I were lying, I am completely justified in doing so. Would you trust someone whose face you couldn't see?"

"No," the man replied, "it would be foolish to do so."

"I'm glad you see it my way," B said gleefully. "So, are you going to tell me who you are?"

The man was silent for a few minutes. After which, he gently cleared his throat and said, "My name is Eraldo Coil."

B incredulously raised an eyebrow and said, "Eraldo Coil, huh?"

"Yes…and you're Bryan Loki, but people here at Wammy's call you B. Correct?"

Beyond Birthday was stupefied. He actually felt a cold sensation shiver through his body. He never felt this way. H-How can it be? He asked himself. What's going on today? How is it that everyone seems to know who I am before I utter one word? What's this guy up to? "How do you know my name?" B asked.

"Oh, I know way more than that," Eraldo Coil said smugly. "I know that you're originally from Los Angeles, California, and…well… I'm not sure whether it was nature or nurture that made you such a disturbed young man, but medical examinations have revealed that you were abused as a child. Your mother was Japanese and your father was American. Both of them suffered from mental disorders and both died in tragic accidents. However, regardless of all your hardships, you're a remarkable young man. You're intelligence and critical thinking skills are astounding…despite your fowl mouth and fowl temper. B, the reason I know so much about you is because you have a great deal of potential. If there's a shift in the universe, your future will be very much decided."

B silently shook with anger. The fact that people had been getting the upper hand on him lately was infuriating. That day, two complete strangers had done it-one too many in B's opinion. Letting go of the minuscule amount of restraint he possessed, B gripped the knife-like key in his hand until blood pulsed out of the wounds on his knuckle. Suddenly, B threw his head back and laughed with hellish joy. He then began to pace back and forth, like a repressed beast inside of a man-made cage. With what sounded like a primal roar, B charged toward Coil with his weapon held high. Coil skillfully dodged B's attack and forcefully grabbed his arm. He pinned B to the ground with a loud thud and seized the sharpened key.

"AGGGGHHH! B shouted at the top of his lungs. 'NOW YOU'VE REALLY MADE ME FUCKING PISSED, SHITHEAD!" He thrashed about like a wild animal caught in a steel trap.

"Please don't do that," Coil said, his voice sounding only slightly worried. "The way I'm holding your arm could cause me to unintentionally dislocate it. Believe me, I bear you no ill will, nor do I wish to harm you. Do you trust me?"

"AUGH! That hurts like a bitch!" B yelled. "Are you seriously asking me to trust you when you're trying to rip my fucking arm off?" Despite the fury of his speech, B's flailing about stopped slowly.

"Interesting," Coil mused, "you've been sent to therapy since you came here, and we have yet to understand what it is exactly that makes you tick. Pray tell me, is it nature or is it nurture?"

B was silently still for a moment. He craned his face up at the shadow that was Eraldo Coil and smiled a ghastly smile. "Some of us are just born with it," he said in a voice that sounded like it was hinting at something more-as we all know.

"I would say that you're a strange young boy, but that wouldn't be fair of me. When I was your age I did many strange things, too…in fact…I still do, or so people tell me."

"Do you think we can find common ground when I'm not actually being pinned to the ground?"

"I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt," Coil said as he slightly loosened the grip on B's arm. B seized the opportunity and spun around onto his back. He socked Coil in the eye and broke free. Coil, however, wasn't easily defeated, and he quickly recovered from the blow.

Now standing, B tried to get a look at Coil's face-hoping that luck would be on his side. Coil was now partially lit by moonlight, but his face was still unknown to B. All he could see was that Coil wore a white, long-sleeved shirt. "The darkness is on your side it seems," B growled. "I may not be able to kill you, but I'm still gonna fuck you up!"

"The darkness is on my side?" Coil said in a surprisingly puzzled tone; the latter part of B's threat didn't appear to faze him. "A very outlandish statement indeed. Forgive me, but there's something about you that is…"

"That's what?" B said, amused.

"Unnatural."

"Surprising. Something you don't know. Something you will never know! HEHEHEHEHE!" B cackled out loud like a devil. "Well, come on, fucker!" He taunted. "You have my key. Cut me! Knife Me! STAB ME! It wouldn't be the first time."

Coil took a few steps towards B and stopped. "I thought I had made myself clear. I don't wish to harm you." With that said, Coil tossed the key aside. B saw where it landed.

"What a jackass," B muttered. Without thinking, he lunged for his key.

"No, B," Coil calmly disagreed, "you're the jackass." In a flash, Coil reached out and pinched down firmly on B's shoulder using his thumb and index finger.

"Huhn?" B said as everything around him faded to black. Coil quickly caught B before his face hit the floor.

"It's off to bed with you," Coil said. Carefully, he placed his shoulders under B's arm and lifted him up. Coil's jet-black eyes then saw that B's hand was bruised and lacerated. "What do we have here?" he said, eyeing the damaged hand, "I suppose I'll have to bandage this up." Little by little, Coil carried B out of the administrative offices and out toward the boy's dormitory. Moonlight illuminated their path, and it shone light on Coil's true identity. If B had been awake, he would've clearly seen that Eraldo Coil was not this man's name. The name B would've seen belonged to the world's greatest detective-

L. Lawliet.