A/N: Gah! I am so happy now, thanks to all you lovely people! Since the first chapter was more of a success than I anticipated, I took the time to try and make this one longer! Just to clarify, he will be referred to as Ryuzaki by the task force members, as well as when anyone speaks to him. Any other time he will be L. Sorry if it's a bit confusing!
Guest; Haha, you'll have to wait and see ;)
CHiKa-RoXy; I'm very glad you like the story so much! ^_^ Nothing to forgive, those compliments were creative and awesome! I always felt that BB resembled L, but used make-up and stuff to make himself look nearly identical (but that's just my opinion…) Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the last!
Spoilers for L's name! (For the .001% who don't know it...)
Disclaimer: Must I? Oh fine then; I do not own Death Note. Not the manga, not the anime, not the live action movies, merchandise, delicious characters-AHEM. They all belong to whoever has the copyrights to them. So, not me (yet…).
"Watari, are you certain it was B?" L demanded, his cake temporarily forgotten. The task force members knew that this must have been an important conversation, because they had never seen Ryuzaki ignore cake before.
"There is no doubt it is. He is the only one missing from the location" Watari replied, shaking his head. He moved to take the slice of cake off of the desktop, but L quickly slid the plate away from him.
"Naturally, the moment I decide to contact him, he decides he wants to escape" L muttered to himself.
"Ryuzaki, what's going on? Who's B" Light asked curiously.
L glanced away from the wall of computer monitors before him, and giving Light a suspicious look, answered "Someone who I was hoping could assist us with the Kira investigation".
Light sighed inwardly. Not that he had been expecting Ryuzaki to go into detail.
"Well, what happened?" Light pressed on.
"We have lost contact with B at an inconvenient time. You seem very interested in this Light-kun. I wonder why?" L stared at Light for a moment, and then finally began to eat his strawberry cake again.
This time Light didn't bother to hide his glare and irritated sigh.
"You are now at 10% Light-kun" L said nonchalantly, before eating a large portion of the cake slice in one bite.
"Ryuzaki, would you like me to send out a team to search for B?" Watari asked before Light could reply.
"That won't be necessary. I'm sure B knows where I am by now, he will come to us" L said "There is a 74% chance he will arrive in this building within the next five days".
"I see. Would you like to send you the reports of his latest escapade?" Watari asked, turning towards the doorway.
"That would be appreciated. Thank you Watari".
"So, Ryuzaki, you're saying that you're counting on someone finding you here? In less than a week?" asked Soichiro skeptically.
"Exactly. I would not underestimate B. Depending on his means of transport, he may even arrive sooner than I calculated" L shrugged.
"I know you said that this 'B' person was someone you hoped could help us, but who exactly is he?" questioned Aizawa.
L thought for a moment. He didn't want the task force to know he was basically inviting a serial killer to live with them, and had been hoping for more time to think of a backstory. Unfortunately, those plans would have to be forgotten, especially with Beyond arriving on his own terms.
"B was a previous successor of mine." L admitted grudgingly.
"Successors?" yelped Matsuda.
"What do you mean, previous successor?" asked Aizawa, frowning.
L dropped a few more sugar cubes into the teacup in front of him, thinking over how to answer them without letting them know too much.
"In the likely event that I should die, there would need to be someone to take my place, and continue to solve crimes. The title of 'L' should not go unmanned for long. Watari and I have selected potential heirs over the past few years, of which B was one," L paused to take a long sip of the sugar thickened tea, "Unfortunately, due to a traumatic incident that occurred a few years ago, B disappeared; though I have kept tabs on his location up until yesterday. We have unfinished business however, so I fully expect him to seek me out".
His words were met with silence and stares, most being of shock.
"But how do you know he will try to find you? You did say things weren't exactly great between you two, what if he decides to leave you alone?" asked Light.
L gave a small smile and said "I know B very well Light-kun. He can't resist the challenge of trying to find me, confronting me, and once he hears my proposition, beating me at finding Kira".
L versus Kira. Kira, the savior and killer of criminals was all the newspapers wrote about. Beyond was actually getting sick of hearing about it.
However it was important to find out anything that could lead him to L's whereabouts, and despite his agitation at the continuous mentions of the supposed 'god', research had paid off. L was in Japan, Kanto to be precise. Beyond knew L would have wanted to be as close to Kira as possible, and make easier contact with the Japanese police.
It was a miracle he himself had not been killed by Kira yet. Beyond assumed it was due to L keeping his name and face out of the medias reach; probably because of the uncanny resemblance to his own. At least he could be thankful for that.
There was the slight problem of finding Lawliets exact location, but he could figure that out when he arrived in Japan.
Beyond carefully observed the passerby's on the street before him. He was watching for his current target, the one who would help him get to Japan.
There! Beyond sat forward a little, looking over at the young man who has just exited the bookstore in front of him. Beyond stood up, and began to walk towards the man, glancing up at the name floating above him-Isaac King. To anyone else, it appeared as though he were heading towards the store.
Isaac King was a young man, around his height and weight and had the perfect requirements for being a victim of Beyonds latest scheme.
Because Isaac was isolated, with no family around, no girlfriend, there wasn't anyone who would miss him for a while, giving Beyond enough time to get out of the country.
In any case, Isaacs's time was close enough to ending that it really wouldn't matter if he was finished off a few months ahead of schedule. All for the great cause of getting Beyond one step closer to Lawliet.
He couldn't keep from smiling when the man turned down a street with no one in hearing range. He quickly followed the man. He was not going to waste this opportunity, it was far too boring sitting around doing nothing.
Silently, Beyond walked directly behind Isaac, and slipped the knife he had acquired partially out of his sleeve. The gun he had used during his escape was useless without any bullets. And really, he had always preferred the feeling of having a knife in his hand, the closer contact with the victim of its blade.
He moved so that he was beside Isaac, and lifted the knife to the man's back.
"Keep walking. If you stop, the consequences may sting a little" Beyond muttered to Isaac, who stiffened, but managed to keep walking.
"Who are you? What's going on?" asked Isaac, eyes widening in fear.
"Shut up and keep walking. You'll be taking me to your house, got it?" Beyond hissed, pressing the knife harder into Isaac's back.
"Alright!" Isaac replied quickly, starting to shake. Beyond resisted the urge to roll his eyes. At least he hadn't started screaming; that would have been a pain to deal with, and he didn't have the time to look for another target.
It took precisely ten minutes and twenty-seven seconds to reach Isaacs home. Beyond made sure to keep close to the man as the door was unlocked and they walked in.
Beyond shut the door behind him, and turned to Isaac, a grin beginning to spread across his face.
"Go sit down in the dining room, and stay there. I wouldn't recommend moving, don't want me to take drastic measures, now do we?" Beyond turned to face the now visibly shaken man, who nodded and nearly ran to the other room.
Beyond adjusted his gloves and proceeded to close all the curtains facing the street and surrounding houses, lock the doors. This was far easier than he anticipated, not that he minded. Usually his victims put up more of a fight; however given the circumstances, it was better that things went as smoothly as possible.
Checking that nothing else had been moved by him accidently, Beyond giggled, then whirled around to walk back to where Isaac was sitting. Whipping out a long coil of rope with one hand, and moving his knife into view with the other, he quickly got Isaac to sit still, and let Beyond tie him up.
"What do you want with me?" Isaac asked loudly as Beyond finished knotting it.
"Shut up Isaac. Now, if you would please tell me where your passport is, we can get this over with faster and you'll never see me again!" Beyond said sharply.
"Why do you want my passport?" Isaac asked, fright turning to confusion.
"Well you see, it would be a bit difficult getting onto a plane and into another country without one! Seeing as I don't have my own at the moment, I'm going to be borrowing yours!" replied Beyond, grinning, "Oh, and I'll also need a credit card, driver's license, all that important stuff you won't need anymore".
Beyond hadn't thought the man could get any paler, but after that little line, he was proven incorrect.
"Listen man, please! You can't kill me, please, I've got money I'll give you anything you want!" Isaac begged.
Beyond rolled his eyes, "I have no need for more money. Just what's on that credit card you're going to direct me to".
"My friends, they're coming over this afternoon, the police will get you!" Isaac tried frantically.
"It's a shame for you that by then, I'll be on a plane, halfway around the world!" Beyond giggled, watching as the man struggled to get out of the ropes.
Beyond was getting annoyed with the lack of useful response, and decided that harsher methods should now be put to use. He strode over to stand behind Isaac, and raised his knife dragging it slowly across the man's throat.
"Alright, alright! Passport's in my bedroom, first drawer of the desk beside the window! Credit cards and all that other stuff are in my wallet in my coat pocket!" Isaac yelled.
Beyond scowled, "Do shut up, I don't want to have to deal with the neighbors. I'll run out of places to hide the bodies!" he then grinned wickedly at the shocked and sobbing man below him.
Thank you all so much for being patient with me! I do admit, I get writers block easily (and getting up at 4am to work all day doesn't help…), but I swear I won't abandon this for anything! Remember, all reviews, be they compliments, comments, or critiques are welcomed and appreciated :)