"Saw Cinderella in a party dress,
She was looking for a nightgown.
I saw the devil wrapping up his hands,
He's getting ready for the showdown.
I saw the minute that I turned away
I got my money on a pawn tonight"
-The Killers, a Dustland Fairytale.

Birthdays were usually a golden ray of sunlight in a child's life, a happy, hope filled day that marked the beginning of a new era in a child's life. In Wammy's House, birthdays were never publicly made known nor were they really celebrated by the adults that took care of Wammy's. The children, however, would often celebrate each other's birthdays and throw small little parties and give gifts to each other and try to enjoy the occasion.

It was on Mello's tenth birthday that he decided that he was going to have a little party, not a big one, but a special gathering for Wammy's number two student on the day he was going double-digits. Matt and Butterfly were typically invited along with a few others from the orphanage that Mello could tolerate. And there weren't many he could tolerate, mind you. Mello thought that the event would most likely bring in plenty of chocolate for him to enjoy, since it wasn't much of a mystery to figure out that the blond boy cared greatly for the sweet, and he seemed rather content with that fact.

"Hey, Mello?" Matt asked, pressing the buttons on his Game boy with ease. "How's this party gonna go, I mean, what are we gonna do besides sit around and watch you eat chocolate?"

The blond boy set down his pencil and looked over at the brunette. "Well, I guess we could always play games or something…"

"I like games," Matt said simply, tapping the A button intently to make his character jump. "I remember parties I used to go to when I was younger… we did stuff like play pin the tail on the donkey and musical chairs and-."

"We're not babies Matt," Mello rolled his blue orbs. "We need to do something for kids our age." Mello knew that he was only ten and considered nothing more than a child in the eyes of many. But, their mental ages were rather high, giving them the air of at least a fourteen year old, give or take a year.

Matt looked slightly offended that Mello tossed out his ideas like that but managed to keep his neutral façade. "Yeah… so what do you recommend we play?"

Mello absentmindedly tapped a blue pen against the side of his desk, the sound mixing in with the beeping from Matt's game. "Well, there's always that game the older kids play…"

"Which one?" Matt asked, his voice drained and uninterested. Sometimes he just spoke to keep Mello happy.

"I know what we're going to play." And why not play a prank on Matt while he was at it?

Growing up, Butterfly never really had many friends back at her home, so she had never been to a birthday party before. She supposed that most parties would be like how this one was. Children ran around, chasing each other, playing tag, some were hide and go seeking, while other just appeared to be joking around with Mello. Mello was somewhat of a popular character due to the fact that many admired him and envied him greatly. Yet, he pretty much despised them in some way, butterfly just supposed that he put up with them, as if they were just unruly children that one couldn't punish and simply had to deal with. In Mello's mindset, hanging out with these kids was nothing more than a homework assignment, a way to teach him how to deal with people. Another numberless test in this school of puzzles.

Lately, Butterfly had found a certain taste for button up plaid shirts. So, typically, she was dressed in one, the size much too large and sagging over her body, making her look smaller than she really was. Her blue orbs scanned the room for Matt, looking for some company. Like usual, he was sitting in a corner, goggles alive with the glow of the little gaming system he held in his hands, the beeping and booping emitting from the speakers. The boy was sitting close enough to Mello that he could pay attention to the conversation that Mello and the other boys were having and yet remain not a part of it. Working up the courage that had suddenly left her, Butterfly strolled over to the brunette gamer with a slightly slower pace. To be honest, she wasn't sure why she was taking her sweet time, or why she had been so nervous around her friend lately. It was a mystery the kid genius just couldn't decode. Butterfly walked past all the racing children and the long banner Linda had made that said "Happy Birthday Mello" painted on it in big, bold orange letters. Linda seemed to be able to tolerate Mello and Matt though she still held a silent grudge against Butterfly that Butterfly still found absolutely ridiculous.

"Hey Matt," she called to her gamer friend. Matt's goggles peeked up at her from his game and his lips tugged into a small half smile.

"Hey Butterfly," he nodded and swiftly saved his game before continuing to play. Butterfly gave a small scan of the room before taking her usual place next to Matt on the floor. The two of them were used to this set-up and Matt almost always saved a bit of room whenever he sat down out of reflex. He was more than used to the blue-eyed girl peeking over his shoulders at his latest video game adventure. It was a simple yet beautiful friendship in Matt's opinion. She intently watched him slay a few monsters before striking up conversation. Butterfly was well accustomed to silence due to her close friendship with Near but she liked having conversation that didn't suddenly turn into a rant like it often did with Mello. Matt, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with silence, he liked it but he didn't mind talking either. So he was okay with silence and didn't find it the tiniest bit daunting.

"So," she said in a hushed voice, "did you do anything for Mello on his birthday?"

Matt gave another killing blow to a pixilated demon. "Yeah, chocolate and help on his computer class homework." When it came to studies, Mello topped Matt in all, well, all but the computer courses; those were where Matt truly shined.

"Ah," she noted. "I bet he'll be sugar high for the next month."

"Mello sugar high…" Matt said, trailing his words off in thought. "Now there's something I'd like to see, he always acts like he's Roger or something…" Butterfly suddenly had a mental image of Mello running around in a tutu screaming out poetry verses, a half eaten chocolate bar in one hand and a toy sheep in the other. It caused her to giggle and find the idea absolutely amazing. Matt cocked an eyebrow at her sudden laughter but merely shrugged it off and continued fighting with his pixels.

"I got him some chocolate… and I returned that hairbrush I stole from him a year and a half ago."

"The one with the sparkles?" Matt chuckled.

"Oh yes," she giggled, referring to the time she swiped a plain black comb that Mello used to brush out is hair in the morning and put glitter all over it. Mello being Mello, blamed Near for the sudden loss and would now be finding the lost object completely glitter-fyed in the bottom of the gift bag from her.

She'd be getting an earful for sure for that.

Matt's smile widened and he switched off the videogame after saving the rest of his progress.

"Hey, Matt, get over here," Mello called out with a tug of his head. "You too, Butterfly."

Matt and Butterfly exchanged a small glance before decided to obey the usually moody blond. Matt got up and slipped his game into the back pocket of his pants and he held a hand out to the still sitting, black-haired girl. Butterfly gave a cute smile and took his hand, finger curling around his palm. Yanking her to her feet, Matt then smiled back, a very light, dusty blush on his face. Their hands hesitated in releasing by a few seconds until they finally let go and dropped their arm to their sides. Not wanting to face a ticked off Mello, they headed over to the birthday boy, who was waiting with his slim arms crossed and his bare foot tapping against the polished floor.

"'bout time you got here," Mello said in a mocking voice. He was in one of those rare spells of cheerfulness that never seemed to last well.

"Yeah, yeah," Matt rolled his blue orbs. "So, whatcha want?"

Mello stretched his arms and pointed to one of the hallway closets. "There's a few boxes in there I need you two to get me."

"Kay," Matt chirped.

"Why can't you do it yourself?" Butterfly asked a tad bit annoyed. Most of the time Matt just did whatever Mello told him to, much like a loyal dog.

"Because, it's my birthday and there's only two boxes so I figured that you and Matt could each carry one and get it done faster so you two can go back to being, well, you and being all gushy in a corner somewhere," he explained in a slight monotone, obliviously not wanting to go through the explaining process. Mello lacked one key thing; patience.

"Whatever," Butterfly grumbled. "When I turn ten, you better do whatever I tell you to."

Mello snorted. "Good luck with that…"

Before Butterfly could counter, Matt grabbed the plaid sleeve of her shirt and tugged her over to the closet, Mello watching slightly amused.

The closet door was yanked open by Butterfly and Matt went in first, Butterfly following in tow.

"So, where are the boxes Mello?" Matt asked. "There's a lot of 'em in here…"

"The one on the right wall," Mello said from outside the door.

"This on-," Butterfly began. But before she could finish, Mello slammed the door shut, the sound followed by the sound of the lock on the outside of the door being clicked shut.

"Well, this sucks…" Matt grumbled, sitting on the floor with Butterfly. They had given up on pounding on the door once Mello claimed that this was just a game and that he'd let them out in ten minutes. That was six minutes ago.

"No duh…" Butterfly grumbled, her pupils trying to get adjusted to the dim lighting in the room. She could only see the faint outline of Matt's body. Blindly, she put her arm out in front of her, seeing if she could come in contact with him. All her fingers touched was air so she got up on her knees and reached further out, wobbling slightly. "I'm trying to find you," she explained, leaning forward, fingers trying to touch something.

"Ah, well I think you're close," Matt noted. "Though it's hard to tell since it's so da-." But he never got to finish his sentence as Butterfly lost her balance suddenly and crashed into Matt, knocking him down on his back, her form on top of him, noses inches apart.

"Aha…" She laughed embarrassed. "I found you…" She thanked the heavens that it was dark so her vivid, heated blush was hidden. Matt was equally flushed and he also gave a nervous laugh, his face fifty shades of red.

"Yup, you sure did," he chuckled.

For a moment they remained like that, awkward and nervously chuckling and embarrassed. Without any warning to Butterfly or himself, Matt found himself leaning in a bit, like they did in the movies, and very lightly pecked Butterfly's lips with his own. Just a peck. He was honestly surprised that he managed to reach her lips due to the fact that he couldn't see. He supposed it just must have been instinct.

But after that one single peck, everything began to change.

Beyond Birthday gave a curt nod to the house that he had been raised in; Wammy's House, as he sat himself down on one of the old swings outside. They were the exact same swings from when he was a boy but they had been nicely maintained throughout the years. He thought it was very courteous of them to do that. He found a position that suited him and he cradled the jar of jam in his lap, unscrewing the lip and scooping out the substance with his fingers, shoveling the sweetness into his mouth. He knew that fate would be working in his favor.

Beyond Birthday knew a thing about fate.

This encounter just had to happen or else he would have failed.

And Beyond Birthday never failed.