A/N: I wanted to post this yesterday, hence the fact it's going up today.
WARNING: Note how what was ones an innocent little T in the left hand corner has now magically transformed into a courageous M. My little story's growing up so fast…
No sex... yet I suppose... But Beyond's beginning to be naughty. ;D Now, my advice, because I know some people can be… touché… just enjoy it.
Also, thank you to everyone who's reviewed! I really appreciate it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, hence I make no money off of this.
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Chapter 9
The moment Light vacated the room, L leapt out of his seat and raced to one of the TV monitors lining his wall. Methodically his eyes grazed over the image of Beyond's first victim, searching something out. And there it was, so small L couldn't believe he'd missed it. A fiber stuck out from the woman's hair, a bluish tint in color. Mentally L berated himself for not catching the detail that was so obviously a carpet fiber, but he quickly dispelled the thoughts and turned to blaming it all on Matt and Near. It was just easier that way.
Rapidly he pulled a keyboard towards his chest and hunched over it, fingers pounding against the keys in a rhythm of rapid thought. The carpet fiber could allude to a multitude of different things. More than likely it was a fiber from the scene where he'd find Beyond's next victim, suggesting B had already picked his location. If such was the case than it was likely B had selected every future crime scene already. It was a bold move, one that lent itself well to possible oversights on Beyond's part. The only way L could possibly benefit from that though was if he got to the scene in time.
…and if there was more than one after the next.
L shook his head of the bleak thought and returned to his previous train of thought. Zooming in on the fiber L quickly began to analyze its details. His mind quickly ruled out shag and plush, the thin strand was coarser in appearance than either option. By no means was it a quality fabric and L's toes twitched at the thought of standing in it. In practically the same second he placed it as a lost strand from a discount carpet brand. He was unable to deduce the exact brand, but he could see the cheap quality in the twist of the fiber, the frayed edge, and the slight dusting of white, most likely asbestos. There was no doubt in his mind the fiber came from an outlet store, or ended up in an older, less affluent home.
"Near, I need you to pull up every carpet warehouse in a fifteen mile radius and cross check it with this fiber seen here," L demand, as he moved from his chair, intent on finding the report Light Yagami had just passed off to Watari minutes earlier. "And get Matt back in here. I need him."
Near didn't even acknowledge his mentor before moving to take L's vacated seat. The detective was no doubt berating himself for the oversight, but Near concluded that L hadn't exactly been operating with his usual amount of focus. Beyond was a personal matter despite what L wanted to delude himself into thinking. No matter what the detective did, he was still human. Perhaps it would do L some good to have someone remind him of that small fact.
Near himself had yet to draw any decisive conclusions regarding the case at hand. To him it was too soon, like being handed three corner pieces of a puzzle and one center piece. He didn't have enough information to draw a patent picture. There only existed the parameters with which he could operate within, guided by Beyond's cryptic note and a piece of carpet fiber.
The boy scowled at the small piece of flooring that was smiling at him from the monitor to his right. He knew that he was here to assist L, as well as gain some amount of field experience, but that didn't stop him from begrudging the menial task. He'd been hoping for something a little more challenging than a search engine, even if it was encrypted and required tying in a code he's only learned the day before flying out to London.
The results of the search binged across the screen and Near committed the factory and store names to memory. Turning back to the innocent carpet fiber, Near began twirling a lock of hair around his finger. Immediately his other hand danced across the key board and brought up a copy of the note.
'After removing the carpet from the room,'
Near's eyes narrowed at the sentence. The sentence called upon one of the themes to Beyond's last crime spree, the notion of something that was supposed to be there not being present. It was that very premise which had led from one crime scene to another, and ultimately to Beyond himself, which was exactly what Beyond had intended to happen. Things just hadn't gone precisely according to the murderer's plan. It was strange for Near to consider Beyond would be calling upon the exact same pattern this time around given his previous failure. It seemed too simple, too easy to follow, especially now that L held the strings to more capable people than Naomi Misora. Unless B wanted it to be easy this easy, it was almost as if he needed them to follow him quickly.
'After removing the carpet from the room'
The carpet was key, that much was obvious; otherwise it wouldn't be on the victim's body and in B's note. Without doubt it led to the next crime scene, the place they'd catch Beyond. But why the carpet would be removed if it was from a carpet warehouse, as L's parting declaration had implied, was not clicking in Near's mind. There were too many places in London with cheap carpeting. …but how many were having carpet removed?
Near's eyes widened and both hands fell to the key board as he rapidly began pounding in strings of code.
Without notice the boy popped a marshmallow into his mouth, his excitement building as he became more intent on bring his results down to one location. Abruptly Near blinked, eyes moving to the bowl of fluffy white sugar directly beside him as if he was only just realizing what he'd done. Perhaps he'd been spending too much time observing L.
3B
Matt ran from the hotel suite and into the hall, leaping his way into the elevator, turning sideways to avoid being clipped by the shutting doors and falling to the floor of the descending box in a less than graceful heap. As he stopped to catch his breath, he could feel Light's widened eyes on the top of his head. He could also quiet easily imagine the judgments forming in the other genius's mind. Nothing at all odd about a pink haired kid throwing himself at you, no nothing strange about that at all. Actually, Matt considered, things like that probably happen to Light Yagami all the time.
Picking himself up Matt grinned uncertainly at the elevator's other occupant. It wasn't like him to take action without thinking, things such as that tended to fall into Mello's line of expertise. In fact, it wasn't like Matt to do something like this at all. Action was overrated. But there were times when things needed to be said and understood. This, his Wammy educated brain informed him, was one of them.
"Seriously dude?" Matt gritted at the taller male, eyeing him with a look of sheer disbelief, as well a healthy dose of begrudging respect.
Light's eyebrows disappeared beneath the fringe of his bangs, but he said nothing, merely gracing Matt with an expression of deep bemusement.
Matt sighed in agitation. "You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed.
Light chuckled. "I'm afraid you have me at a loss."
Liar, liar, Matt thought darkly. "Man, I come from a place where people worship that man and all that he stands for. Hell, it's more than that! They fantasize about meeting him, about being worthy of the cake crumbs that fall off his shirt! And here, you are, waltzing in and saying you don't want to work for him?" Matt finished his tirade incredulously, breathing deeply. He was offended where L lacked the ability to be offended. Or maybe the detective was equally irritated by Light's blatant disrespect and simply didn't think it was necessary to show such emotion to anything other than the closed bakery across the street. Either way it fell to Matt to defend L. It was how he'd been raised.
"Pardon me for saying this," Light replied pointedly. "But an entire establishment built around one man? That doesn't sound incredibly healthy."
Shit, Matt thought, his words finally catching up with him. "That wasn't what I meant," the boy snapped, grappling to salvage what he could already see was a lost cause. "Everyone the world over knows of L, you can't say there aren't people who want to work with him. Isn't that supposedly the wet dream of every person working in law enforcement?"
"So you're saying you come from a place where everyone is being tailored to work in the criminal justice system and you all look up to L?" Light asked innocently, his deductions streamlined.
Matt gaped, mentally kicking himself for being so stupid. There was a reason he never acted impulsively, even when playing a video game. Otherwise things like this tended to happen. Matt wasn't very good at thinking on his feet, especially when under the pressure of an amused, twinkling set of eyes. God, Light Yagami was ridiculously attractive… Shit.
Shaking the wayward thought from his head Matt opened his mouth to speak, but Light held up a hand, halting Matt's next sentence, a kind smile on his face. "Perhaps you want to stop there before Watari has to come down and shoot me for deducing too much. But based on what you've just revealed to me, I'd say you and L both hail from the same origins."
Matt huffed and leaned himself against the wall of the elevator, drawing in even breaths as he fished his PSP from the pocket of his jeans. He'd unquestionably need some external stimuli to better follow this conversation and ensure he didn't say anything stupid.
Not even acknowledging his companion's actions, Light continued. "I have to say it's admirable that you so readily come to his defense. Well, admirable or disturbing. Either way I'm intrigued. But the fact of the matter is, while you already seem to exist under L's radar, I don't. And when dealing with an individual like him sometimes one needs to make a statement that get's immediate attention."
It took Matt a second for the words to sink in. When they did he looked up from the hand held game and blinked at the man standing casually before him. "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm afraid not."
Matt shook his head, a grim smile on his lips as his gaze lowered back to the game. "I don't think anyone but Watari's talked to L that way," Matt muttered. "You could've been killed for that you know."
Light snorted. "He's a detective, not a Mob boss."
"At times it's hard to discern the difference," Matt grumbled. L had a method of barking out orders while slurping down butter cream frosting in the same sentence that threatened death if one deviated ever so slightly from the detective's demands. The only people Matt had seen immune to the authority was Watari, and now the attractive man he was riding in an elevator with. Attractive… Matt didn't even want to contemplate where that was coming from, it just needed to stop.
Light smirked at the corner of his mouth. "So what about you?"
Matt glanced up at Light. "What about me?"
"Do you aspire to the throne of The World's Greatest Detective?" Light inquired. Matt couldn't tell if the man was toying with him or genuinely curious. It was difficult to sense sincerity in Light Yagami, he was like L that way. They both maintained an air of the untouchable, as if no one could adequately read what the intentions behind their actions. Add to that the fact that the man was practically oozing of disarming charm and understated sex appeal, something Matt hadn't taken the time to notice until that moment. It was confusing as hell, as well as annoying.
Matt's concentration moved further towards the beeping sounds coming from his hands. "No, I don't. Honestly, detective work never interested me."
Light's head tilted towards the side. "Then why are you here?"
"To help L," was the succinct reply.
Light's smirk grew. "That's all there is to it? He calls and you, what? Drop everything and rush to accommodate him?"
Matt punched the right trigger of the gaming device a little harder than necessary, eyes narrowing as a Muslim Extremist's head blew off. He didn't know what he had hoped to accomplish here anymore, but he did know he was being insulted. The crux of the matter was that there was absolutely no reason at all for Light Yagami to be doing so. The arrogance of it all was irritating, and strongly reminded him of Mello. As did the faint scent of bitter sweetness that came off of Light, though Matt didn't think the scent had anything to do with chocolate. Coffee perhaps… Why the hell was he thinking these things?
"Unlike you I don't need to be overdramatic in order to get L's attention." Matt did his best to look as apathetic to the bating comments as possible while sneaking a glance at the elevators progress. They still had eighteen floors to go until they reached the lobby. Ah hell.
Light chuckled, a sound that was beginning to drive Matt beyond the point of frustration. Usually Mello was the only one able to get a rise out of him, but the situation was quickly deteriorating through Matt's fingers. Nothing had phased Yagami in the slightest, in fact, it seemed as if he already knew everything Matt was about to say. The teen was accomplishing nothing, he couldn't even remember what he'd come to talk about. There had to have been more to his goal than just L, right?
It seemed as if Light was waiting for Matt to reach that same conclusion. Preferably before the elevator door's dinged open if the man's impatient sigh was anything to go by.
"Do you really want to work on the case, or are you just here to piss L off?" Matt finally spoke over the soft techno music being emitted by his PSP.
Light frowned slightly at the quip but answered nonetheless. "I'll admit that Beyond Birthday is of personal interest to me." His voice was level as he lolled his head back against the wall of the elevator, but a faint hint of anxiety was present in the stiffness of Light's back. "He is perhaps the most intriguing human being I've ever met."
Matt's eyebrows rose but he didn't look up. "Beyond? Human?" He left the questions there, but the judgment was reaching Light's ears all the same.
"You know him?" Light prompted.
Matt hesitated, weighing the consequence of revealing such information to Light. Quickly he did the math; none of the answers came up negative so he responded honestly. "I did. Sickest bastard I ever met."
Light's head bobbed up and down. "I'll testify to that I suppose," he murmured.
Matt didn't quite know what to make of the comment. It possessed such little emotion that he didn't know if should take the sign as a good one or a bad one. Light was obviously contemplating the murderer, probably thinking of the last time he'd seen Beyond. Why Light would want to do that, Matt had no friggen clue. He himself had been doing all he could to keep the thought of Beyond from his reaching his head, otherwise he could say good bye to sleep for the remainder of his youth. There was however something decidedly respectful in the way Light had spoken, like he respected, perhaps even valued, the mass murderer. It was something Matt couldn't fathom. At least L hailed from the proper side of the moral spectrum. Beyond Birthday wasn't anywhere the hell on that spectrum.
"L knew him as well I take it then?" Light's voice broke through the string of thoughts running slowly through Matt's mind.
Blinking quickly, Matt was silent as everything suddenly clicked in his mind. "You need L to get to Beyond," he said, voice laced with unveiled surprise. Despite the accusation, his eye's never wavered from the miniature screen between his fingers. If he did he feared he loose all track of valuable thought, everyone else who said his brain would turn to mush could just go screw themselves. "That's why you're here. Never mind the fact that you seem to have more resources at your disposal than L currently does. Beyond's targeting him. So you're targeting L."
Light's eyebrows rose once more. "If B's targeting L as you say he is, than why was his first victim my future sister in law?"
The question played through Matt's mind, but Light spoke before he could properly devise the counter argument he knew existed.
"I'm playing the game as B wants it to be played," he said candidly, sensing the pink haired teens dislike of the situation. "At the moment, I don't know what he's planning, or if there even is a method to the so called madness. But I do know Beyond killed my future sister in law, not only to draw L out, but to lead me to L. He wants me working with L and I need to know why."
Matt blinked. If he hadn't believed the nerve of the man standing in front of him before, he sure as hell didn't now. A game? That's all this was to him, some measly game? The way he said it could make one think he was talking about playing poker. Mello's life was in jeopardy, literally in the hands of a walking disease and Light, the arrogant sod, had the audacity to call it a game. In that moment Matt couldn't very well distinguish the difference between Light Yagami and L. They were both callous bastards, L was just more upfront about it.
"I see my words don't exactly please you," Light drawled without an ounce of sympathy in his voice.
Matt glared hard, yanking his goggles down over his eyes in a vain attempt to combat the malice that had suddenly overtaken Yagami. The man was finally flying his true colors here.
"I sincerely urge you to grow up kiddo," Light condescended upon the fuming teenager. "Beyond doesn't play nicely, and yes that's exactly what he's doing. He's playing with you. Is there an end to this disturbing play of chess? Of course there is, but I don't know what yet. And neither does L, though I'm fairly sure he has his suspicions. Out of everyone here he should know B the best. At least I sincerely hope he does."
Matt openly gaped, but he refused to move his eyes from the electronic he was clinging so desperately to.
"The only way to apprehend Beyond is to play the game with the pieces he hands you. And you pray to whatever deity you believe in that you can outplay him for as long as it takes."
Matt finally glanced up from his PSP and looked Light straight in the eye. An indomitable hardness was shining in the amber orbs opposite him. A resolution so concrete Matt was at a loss of what to make of it. The raw emotion Light's being was pulsing with overwhelmed the small cubicle with a truth so suffocating Matt let out a sigh of relief when the elevator doors finally dinged open. Instantaneously, Light reverted back to his charming persona, the façade firmly in place as he took a step towards the Hotel lobby.
Abruptly Matt grabbed Light's arm, causing the man to stop and look back over his shoulder at the teen. "You said first," Matt recalled slowly. "Who do you thinks going to be next?"
Light blinked at Matt, confused for a moment. The boy seemed hesitant, as if the answer to that particular question was something he didn't want to hear. As if he feared the very answer itself. "B kidnapped someone, didn't he?" Light finally deduced after a moment of silence. The war of emotions that fell across Matt's face in response to the inquiry were answer enough, and Matt knew he'd just given away the most important piece of the puzzle.
But something in him had snapped at Light's assessment of B's character. L needed more than two teenagers, even if they were certified geniuses, to crack this case, to crack Beyond Birthday. L needed someone who knew how to handle B, how to read him and respond without getting himself killed. It was a pre requisite if they even wanted to maintain the fantasy of getting Mello back. Matt couldn't help but feel that Light Yagami was there best bet in those regards.
"I'll be in touch," Light said softly, depositing his hand on Matt's shoulder briefly before he turned and walked towards the door.
3B
Mello's went slack, a welcome sign for winged insects practically hanging off his teeth. "Why exactly are you wearing that?"
B grinned spastically at his conquest. "To hide my pretty burns of course. They tend to put people off when I go out in public. Disgusting hypocrites, all mad that they don't get to look as pretty as I do." A sneer wormed its way across B's lips before he brightened up and through a pile of clothes at Mello. "You can wear this!"
Catching the material Mello's jaw dropped as he stared at the proffered leather, scoffing. "I am not wearing that! What the hell do I look like? A chippendale?"
Mello didn't even see the boot coming, but the side of it swiped right across his stomach, pummeling him backwards. He skidded across the marble flooring before rolling to a halt against one of the large pillars supporting the ballroom's gilded ceiling. Just as Mello turned to pick himself back up a slice of silver stopped him. Beyond held the large, kitchen knife firmly against Mello's neck, creating a small cut across the boy's pale skin. A tiny rivulet of blood leaked from the tip of the knife and down Mello's collar bone. B's spidery hand combed itself into Mello's hair as a soft 'tut tut' was whispered into the blonde's ear.
"What have I told you about such protesting Little Dear?"
Mello attempted to back himself away from the knife's sharpened edge, but stilled when his back came into contact with the skeletal form of Beyond. Even through the tulle and frills of B's ensemble, the man's thin frame still cut through.
Mello's lips formed a thin line of anger. "That you like it," the blonde spat quietly, trying his best to keep his movements to a minimum so as to avoid Beyond's knife.
A chuckle came from behind his head. "So bold Little Dear. Could that possibly suggest a death wish? I know every kid at Wammy's has one. Tell me, Little Dear, what's yours? I'd be more than happy to oblige you in that innocent fantasy."
"What's so innocent about a death wish?" Mello asked, craning his head back so he could at least see the top of Beyond's head. He hated not being able to meet the bastard in the eyes.
The murderer quickly removed his hands from Mello and stood back, a steel gaze directed at the boy. The kid hadn't denied the accusation and it annoyed B. "It's as innocent as you could ever have."
Mello didn't even bother to glance at his captor as he stood. He pulled the sleeve of his shirt down and pressed it to his throat, halting the trickle of blood B had drawn. The cut stung as the rough fibers brushed against it, but Mello held in the wince and waited for the pain to abate. This conversation was stupid, the boy decided as he plucked the offending leather pants from the floor. Matt would chop his fingers off if he ever found out about it, his best friend always got testy whenever Mello hinted at wanting less than life.
The leather felt surprisingly soft between Mello's fingers. It was like butter, creamy and cool, yet impervious to almost everything. He'd never considered wearing lace up leather to be a comfortable thing, but considering the article of clothing he currently held, he admitted his assessment may have been miscalculated.
"Why leather?" Mello asked, turning back to face Beyond.
B cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Would anyone ever think of you being one to wear leather? Now please quit staling Little Dear. My patience only lasts so long, and I'm getting bored."
Mello huffed and conceded the point. He may have been the most impulsive, rebellious child to have terrorized the halls of Wammy's House, but it wasn't bloody likely anyone would ever see him in leather. Mello was a creature of comfort, not an exhibitionist goddamnit. He rejected anything, besides chocolate, materialistic. God, how long had it been since he'd last had a bite of the confectionary goodness anyway? Too long, the blonde summarized, which would explain the action of dropped the pants Beyond had thrown at him back on the floor.
The murderer was about to protest the action until he heard the unzipping of a zipper. Red eyes widened in fascination as the blonde moved his hips back and forth to remove his jeans from his legs.
Mello could feel the weight of Beyond's eyes as he stripped. The serial killer seemed the type to enjoy taking advantage of people, or perhaps he just enjoyed taking them period. Allowing a slight smirk to rise across his features, Mello continued with the show, running his hands down his claves to roughly tug the layer of denim from his body. He wondered how far he could push it, how far he could push the murderer. The jeans came off and were thrown carelessly across the ballroom. Mello would unquestionably be the first to admit he had no idea what he was doing. But something was driving him forward, and he figured he'd gleaned enough about Beyond in the past few days to handle the situation. At least until Beyond reacted. After that Mello didn't know what would happen. But that was half the fun.
Bending over, Mello made a show of his ass for B. He knew he was possibly overdoing it, but Mello found the action to be entertaining. It thrilled him to offer himself up to Beyond in such a manner, yet he still maintained control over his own actions. With one last flourish, Mello pulled the leather onto his legs and strung the laces together, turning with a blank face to face B.
It was time to change the rules and break the stagnation that had fallen between Beyond and himself. Mello was done sitting on his ass doing nothing. He stood his ground as B predatorily stalked towards him.
The attire wasn't tight fitting; it hung loosely on the boy's thin hips, exposing a thin sliver of porcelain flesh. From there it simply dropped to obscure his legs, just barely brushing Mello's thighs. B rested his hand gently on the exposed hip bone while his other crept slowly down the opposite hip, flowing over the black leather like a contaminating sludge. The murderer groped into the trembling leg, smiling at the boy's sharp intake of breath. Steadily Beyond began to move his hand in circles over Mello's thigh, the thick fabric moving with his palm, soothing and chafing the unblemished skin the clothing covered.
"You're not ready to play this game yet Little Dear," Beyond hissed against Mello's ear, the syllables stinging the tender skin.
Repressing a shiver, Mello glared up at the man holding him in place defiantly. "Or maybe you're just scared of what will happen if I do."
B smirked. "Then perhaps it's time I moved forward and taught you how." With that said his lips descended upon the boy's collar bone. Without warning and without care Beyond bit down, sucking on the flesh with the intent of creating a mark the blonde would never be able to forget. He smiled against Mello's neck as a low whimper came from the boy's throat.
Without warning he released the boy and spun him around so they were now facing each other. A feral growl came through B's lips as he pushed the boy back so the two of them were falling to the floor in a heap. Wrapping his arms around Mello's head, B took care to cushion it as it fell against the marble, ensuring no more head trauma would befall the teenager. Mello gasped as Beyond's body was suddenly pressed tightly against his own. The coldness of the marble seeped into his skin though the thin fabric of his tee shirt while the sudden warmth of Beyond's body heat infiltrated his senses at the same moment. B's hands nimbly unwound themselves from the back of Mello's head and daintily danced down his shoulders. Mello winced as the hands clamped tightly onto his upper arms, bruising the flesh and pinning him in place.
Mello kicked violently against the hold, squirming beneath Beyond's hold. He wouldn't let this happen. He didn't even know what was happening. But he wasn't going to let B continue any further. Mello bucked his hips upwards, clashing them against Beyond's own. But the action only seemed to excite the murderer.
"I'm sorry Little Dear? Has this been unpleasant for you thus far? Allow me to remedy the situation."
A hand slipped from one of Mello's arms and tickled its way down the length of the boy's torso. Slowly the appendage came to rest directly above the band of Mello's pants. With a gleeful cackle Beyond plummeted his hand beneath the band and finally received the reaction he'd been waiting days for.
"NO!" Mello shouted.
The side of a fist connected with the side of Beyond's head and the murderer tumbled from his spot on Mello's chest, laughing all the way. Mello lunged over the older male, pinning Beyond to the ground in much the same manner B had previously captured him. Hair fell loosely across the disturbed boy's face, framing enraged orbs of green in a tangled halo of fury. B cackled gleefully as Mello's hips crashed atop his own, straddling the man against the floor. The boy's passion was palpable, singing the air with an emotional turmoil more wretched than the worst of storms. Beyond's echoing laughter did nothing to improve the teenager's anger.
Beyond had been expecting this reaction from the beginning, waiting for it, longing for it even. He'd seen the Wammy's House files and knew the type of rage Mello was capable of. The murderer had done enough of his homework to know that the snarky attitude he'd been graced with these past few days was only a small crack into the young prodigy's psyche, a fissure of minute release, beneath which existed a reservoir of volcanic activity. It was more complex then rage and fear though. Beyond needed to give the gold star where it was due and Mello was more complex than that. The boy needed to be in order to survive The House and come out number two. The compliance, the grudging respect, it had been nothing more than an act on Mello's part. B wagered from the start that it would only be a matter of time before he did something that truly unleashed Mello from all he'd been taught. And he'd also placed a large bet that the teen wouldn't yet have the resources to fight back in a way beyond physical violence. The only fact Beyond lamented was that it took an act of near sexual abuse to hit the metaphorical nail on the coffin of Mello's future at Wammy's House. Building some form of trust after this, no matter how perverse any form of trust with B had to be, would prove be a challenge.
"Fuck you!" Mello spat into Beyond's face. "FUCK YOU!"
B smiled a grin more corrosive than acid. "I was trying to let you but you stopped me."
Another wave of hatred washed itself across Mello's features, encouraging him to lift Beyond's upper body off the ground as much he could and slam him back down, hard.
"What's wrong Mello?" he snapped, grimacing as his head cracked on the floor, but he did nothing more than smile bitterly up at the teen. Briefly he regretted the decision of renting out a room with a marble floor, but at no time had B expected it'd be his own head being slammed against it. "Did I do something you didn't like? Were you uncomfortable with my advances?" the murderer mocked asininely.
"The hell are you getting off on!" Mello growled, chipped nails digging into Beyond's skin in an attempt to wring more pain out of the serial killer. "What are you trying to de here? Huh? WHAT?"
Tears had sprung into the younger's eyes, dripping onto Beyond's cheek. So maybe he'd taken it a little too far, B thought absently. But more often than not it took a shock to get someone to listen.
"I'm a strong believer in hatred Mello, a strong grudge can do wonders for your conscience," B replied dully. For a brief moment, as Mello stared straight into the nightmarish red eyes and heard those pale lips utter his alias instead of the obstinate nickname he'd been bestowed, Mello saw something in Beyond the murder had yet to reveal. Sanity, cold, crystalline sanity. Beyond knew exactly what he was doing.
Mello simpered in surprise before rolling off his captor and onto his back, gazing at the ceiling in defeat. He cursed himself for losing control. It had always been his downfall in The House. He was brash, acted out before fully understanding why or even what would happen after the fact. But Beyond's words had just tinged those impulsive, spiteful manipulations with something he was not at all comfortable with.
As depressing a fact as it was, Mello couldn't ever say he'd hated anyone. For his family, before Wammy's House, there'd been nothing but bitterness, a sour stench that left Mello repulsed. But he'd never hated his parents, he'd never thought they were worth it. Everyone at the house was under the impression he hated Near, but that wasn't true. You couldn't hate what you respected. And without Near, the House would have little meaning for Mello. There was no use in an easy game, and the blonde had to admit that Near made things interesting. To hate the boy for being better than him at, well, everything, Mello wasn't that petty.
He didn't have anything to hate. And that was why Beyond's words confused him. What did B hate? The obvious answer was L. After that, maybe Watari. He supposed the man had enough reasons to hate the both of him, if one considered things from the murdered twisted point of view. Sad things was, Mello sympathized, more than he cared to admit. But it was there and the more the teenager contemplated all things Beyond the more he realized there was more to it than what he'd initially taken the time to think about. It was because they were so alike that Mello knew this fact to be true. Hatred alone wasn't enough to drive Mello anywhere, hence the reason he never felt it. What Mello did have was a lot of was passion, the thirst to prove himself worthy, to be better than everyone else and shove it in their judgmental faces.
Mello sat up and stared at Beyond's back, tracing the lace ruffles decorating the man's person with his eyes as B left the room. Slowly the gaze morphed itself into a narrowed glare. He understood then. Though the ultimate goal was unclear, Mello understood there was more to Beyond and what he was doing than toying with L and, by extension, Watari. Beyond wanted to accomplish something greater, he wanted to prove himself.
Standing Mello walked out of the ballroom, following Beyond. He couldn't sit and wait for someone to save him from Beyond. It'd taken a few days, but Mello had already adapted to his situation. This was a game he needed to play. And it was one he was determined to win.
3B
L stared blankly at the pages he'd spread around him. He could hear Near fussing around the main room, no doubt en route to some conclusion he'd stumbled upon. Good for him, L thought absently, plucking a lollipop from the cup of tea he'd been bathing it in. The sweet and bitter flavors clashed against his tongue, sending a jolt of thought through to his synapses.
The case file Light Yagami had dropped off minutes ago was in no way thorough. It was already apparent the police were in over their head with the case, as they usually were. Though honestly L couldn't fault them for that, it was Beyond Birthday they were unknowingly dealing with after all. As loathe as L was to admit it, the murder was a capable criminal. As well as an actor, the detective thought mildly. Inattentively, L moved his thumb to his mouth, lining it against his lips with the lollipop. He wasn't going to go down that road, not now.
Light Yagami. He needed to focus on the Japanese native for the moment, not Beyond's sordid past. He'd been shocked to find the young man in London, more so to see him standing in his hotel lobby, flirting with his receptionist for the better part of an hour. Discerning the younger man's motives beyond that was proving to be difficult. It would've been one thing if he'd wanted to work with L, but the blatant refusal to do so spoke of something else entirely. He'd given L something the detective had previously been without, too fearful of garnering Beyond's attention if he attempted to obtain the document's himself. So what was it Light needed him to see then, what spured him to assist those he claimed he wouldn't?
The detective rocked forward on the balls of his feet, casting a searching gaze over the numerous papers decorating the floor of his unused bedroom. The carpet fiber, that's what Light had mentioned. L's mind had already noted four pieces of paper that mentioned the fiber, three were done in passing, the fourth was a detailed analysis of the fiber. Unfortunately the write up spoke of everything L had already deduced. The detective frowned around his lollipop and delicately plucked one of the four pages off the floor. Critically he scanned across the lines…
L's eyes widened to a diameter rivaling his tea saucer when he finally saw it. Light Yagami was a brilliant bastard.
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A/N: Thus endith thy chapterith. Now REVIEW!
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