Lordy I'm sorry - I didn't have the chance to update the past few days. =7= Ahh...
This may have to become a monthly update if I don't want this to go on hiatus... I feel really bad about his, but I'll be updating this once a month until my writing picks up speed again... assuming it will. I may have to compile all of my original ideas and try to wrap this up quicker than I intended, with the way things are going.
So um...
Enjoy?
Light had done his planning. He'd thought things over, then over again, trying to make sure he was thinking with a clear mind unclouded by corruption. And he'd made his decision; or rather, we'd made our decision. We'd been given that deal by the man claiming to be Beyond Birthday, and we had accepted it. He was our assassin now, and therefore he had a job; a duty to fulfill for us. For Kira.
But now the question was how we would use him. He was our assassin. What would we send him to do?
Light walked into the café at four o'clock sharp that Friday to inform Beyond of our decision. I would be grocery shopping instead; Light would be doing his negotiating and planning with BB alone. Technically. (As of course I would always be in his head, and he in mine.)
As expected, Beyond was waiting for Light at the exact same table as last week. There was cup of coffee waiting for him already as he slid into his booth. Beyond was sipping at his own cup as Light sat. The Kira mastermind smiled at Beyond and spoke. "Good afternoon, Beyond." He took note of the cup of sugar cubes in front of BB, almost empty.
Light quirked an eyebrow as he looked at the once-filled cup before looking at the black-haired man. BB was looking back at him already with that lacking look in his eyes. He set his sugar-filled coffee on the table as he stared at him. "Good afternoon." He spoke without inflection. He tilted his head. "Are we really adding such generic beginnings to our conversations when we could easily just get started?"
"Well, I wouldn't want to be rude, Beyond; not even to a serial killer," Light responded in kind.
"Stop." His voice was flat.
We'll admit it. We were a little bit confused.
"Stop what?" Light asked, furrowing his brow.
"Stop acting so nice," Beyond responded, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Then he leaned forward and leaned his elbow on the table, putting his hand to his cheek in an almost bored position. "Please."
"I'm sorry, Beyond," Light frowned, "but that's how I am."
"You feel the need to act nice to everyone?"
"Well, not everyone, but most everyone; yes," Light confirmed, eyeing Beyond carefully. "That's how I was raised."
"Do you like this almost-everyone you speak of?"
Light stared at him. What was he getting at? "I don't dislike them."
"Hmm…," Beyond droned. "Well, maybe you were raised better than I was. Or maybe I'm more honest. Who knows?"
Light was glaring at him now. A serial killer, more honest than him? Really; if he wanted cooperation, he shouldn't push it.
"In any case, Light, yes; good afternoon. As we are both here, I'd like to inform you now that you have confirmed our deal that I do have more to offer than just myself."
"Oh?" Light responded. "What else do you have, then?"
"Now that Sophia is dead and our Bond has been severed, I have the ability to go through the In-Between on my own…. By In-Between I mean that place between this world and the Other Place. You know what I mean, correct?"
Light nodded.
"Good. Now, do you know that if you go alone you are doomed to be caught in the fabric of Eternity?"
Light frowned slightly. "Yes; I caught that."
"Well," said Beyond, "now that my Bond has been severed, I can submerge myself in the fabric, as well as come back out."
Light thought of how he had begun to sink into this fabric during that incident at the hospital, when my heart had stopped beating and the Bond had stopped responding. How it was willpower that had kept him out, then. Alright. He got it; he believed him.
"There are people there, Light," BB continued. "I can take them out, if you so wish, and they would surely obey if it meant me saving them from that everlasting torture they endure. Even if you weren't to trust that, I have a good 'friend' from America by the name of Nick Geraldy that I'm sure would make a great addition… if you want him."
"Nick Geraldy?" Light repeated.
"Yes. He was a man I met when I was placed in Atascadero State Hospital, and although he is legally criminal, it was only because of the fact he was an untreated severe bipolar. He is treated now, and he actually rather likes Kira. I'm sure he'd like the idea." Beyond took a sip of his overly-sweetened coffee, and Light frowned.
"For now, I'm going to say no to both of those offers. It is enough to have you for the moment. Perhaps I'll want them later on, but there's too much risk, and they aren't necessarily needed. Also, I don't have all the information on this Nick Geraldy – I'd have to look him up before I agree to anything – and as for those caught in that in-between place… who knows how twisted their minds are after that suffering? Even if they were sane enough to work for Kira, then what if they were to turn against us? Try to kill us? Try to betray us? We don't know what the people in there are like until we take them out."
"I would kill them before they could kill you or me," Beyond responded easily, "but yes, I understand."
"Yes, we'll wait on that. Now, Beyond, I'd like to lay down the foundation for what the plans are for now."
"Go right ahead, Light," Beyond answered, gesturing vaguely for him to continue.
Light gave a small nod in return, and obliged. "I have decided that, for now, Kira will not be making any moves on offense. We aren't attacking or killing any of our enemies, and we will not be planning anything to break down their side in this battle as of yet."
BB gazed at him for a moment without response, his eyes empty and his expression unreadable.
Light accepted his silence as a reason to continue. "We will let L and Near and Mello make their moves against us, and we will respond in turn to each of their attacks. We'll make counterattacks if need be, but at this point we don't want anyone dead. That was one of the mistakes the other me made when he existed instead of me: he threw every attack back at L and the others, he attacked when he didn't need to, and he wanted his enemies dead for the mere reason they were against him. We won't be so childish this time around."
"I understand where you're coming from," Beyond agreed without much inflection. "But now, what is my job for? Let's see…." He seemed to think for a moment, his eyes shifting upwards. "I could try my hand at creating a communication system just for Kira. Something untraceable that can be broadcast all over the world at once. Something similar to L's own system."
Light nodded. "You could start on that as a project, though we won't be needing it in the near future. And don't assume we won't need to attack at some point; this is only for now."
BB nodded absently. "So you don't have a bloodlust for your enemies?"
Light stared at him blankly for a moment, then laughed. "Of course not, Beyond," he answered him good-naturedly. "How could you think that?"
"Because you kill hundreds every day." B stared back at him. "And you kill them knowing you're cutting their life short when they should live longer. And when a human like you kills people enough the way you do, you get that power in your head like an infection. And eventually you get bloodlust. After that there is a feeling of nothing."
I'm going to be honest and tell you he was irritating us a bit. We were irritated by people like Near and Mello, even L, and we'll admit we wanted them dead. Who was he to try and prove us wrong, and why did he have to call it 'bloodlust'? It sounded so twisted. Maniacal. Almost criminalistic. And we hated criminals, if you couldn't tell. It was like he was insulting us…. But we didn't act on it. We didn't act on our supposed 'bloodlust,' and we didn't act on our irritation of his indirect insult. In fact, Light only chuckled a bit and shook his head. "I guess you've got us wrong, then, Beyond."
Beyond seemed to gaze at him for another moment before his mouth imitated something like a smile. "Come now, Kira, stop playing this game with me. Take off your mask."
Light looked back at him in something like bemusement. "What do you mean?"
"Your mask. You smile; you laugh; you act kind. You and I both know you don't like me that much."
"That isn't necessarily true; you have the Eyes, so it isn't like you're killing arbitrarily—"
BB held a hand up to stop him. "Stop. You don't like me very much, and we both know it. I've killed people. Your view is probably something like, 'He could have used the sight to save, not kill.' Even though that doesn't work. I know this already. I've even killed Misa, and you said yourself that humans hold grudges. You were rather cold in our first meeting, when it was uncertain that I was on your side. Now that I am, you act kind, and for what purpose? To keep me on your side, perhaps? Maybe. But this is just part of the mask I expect you wear every day now." There seemed to be something in his eyes for a moment as he finished, "You're a liar too."
Light gazed at him impassively, the light in his eyes gone. The light-heartedness had vanished. "I don't know what you mean," he said to him.
"Come, come," Beyond replied, his smile twisting a little further before it melted away into his expression of nothingness. "I learned to take mine off. See? Look at my Nothing. I am not a liar right now." He tilted his head slightly. "Perhaps you still don't know how to take yours off. Maybe one day you'll learn."
Light frowned vaguely, shifting slightly. He wants impassivity? Fine; I can give him that. He rested his forearm on the table. "Maybe you're right," he said. "Maybe I don't even know I'm wearing this mask you're talking about."
"Maybe," BB agreed. "But… you don't want them dead? I'm curious. Why?"
"I will admit I wouldn't mind if Mello or Near were to die," Light conceded, "but at the moment L is not an exception."
"Do explain. I thought L was your greatest enemy."
"He is, but it's good having him around for that reason. Mello is a criminal in his own right, and he kidnapped Sierra. I care about Sierra through Natalie's own train of thought."
Beyond pondered this a moment. "Yes. I sensed something from her; I've indirectly met her before. There is something hidden there that I respect."
Light nodded in turn. "Near is a poor excuse of an L replicate. He nearly beat me, but it was only because of Mikami's mistake, not my own. He also accused L of being no more than a loser, and despite the fact L is technically my enemy, I still respect him. Near is childish, and I dislike his smugness when he's right. He immediately disagrees with Kira without a second thought. The only reason we would want him alive is for the sake of morality, and for the sake of Anna."
"Anna is Near's Bond, correct?"
"That's right; the girl you attempted to kill."
BB looked at him. "Would you like an apology? For that I can actually say my sight did not guide me, so your discontent was justified. Though to be fair, I'd just been ripped in half by her Bond." He droned a flat, almost thoughtful hum. "And L?"
"We see no reason for him to be put down unless he makes a sufficient attack to us first. Until then, though, we almost consider him a friend because of Sam."
"Samantha?" BB repeated, and Light gave a nod of confirmation.
"Yes. Even now Sam is Natalie's best friend, despite the fact both of them know they're both lying to each other."
"Oh the irony," Beyond remarked drily, without change in expression. "Humans always lie anyway. I'm sure there were lies between them even before Kira."
Light shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not, but in the end it wouldn't matter. Even now they care for one another, whether they want to admit it to themselves or not."
"It's all a game that humans play," said Beyond offhandedly. "It can be humorous sometimes, but I never really got the point of it."
"Maybe it's a natural way of making life more interesting," Light suggested. "Or maybe just another rotten part of the world that needs to be purged. The lying, I mean."
"Truth is more powerful than lies, when it comes down to it," Beyond told him absently. His eyes were beginning to haze. "And of course I've known a greater truth; a hidden truth. I've known it for a long time; as long as I can remember."
"Do you mean your Shinigami Eyes?" asked Light.
"Yes…." He frowned slightly. "I've always hated liars. Funny, I guess."
"Ironically enough, Sam hates them too," Light chuckled.
Beyond's eyes flickered. They were no longer looking at Light. "…Huh."
Light eyed him. "Beyond, are you alright?"
He blinked bemusedly, then closed his eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink before opening them again. They were sharpened with that nothing once more; the haze seemed to drain from his grey orbs. "Was there anything else you wanted to add to this meeting?" Beyond asked him as if the momentary sense of him being so very out of it hadn't happened. He lifted his cup. "I have no more to add." And he took a sip of his coffee.
"No, I can't think of anything. Just know that for now you will not make any moves. Neither of us will." Light gave him a smile as he began to slide out of his booth. "And by the way, Beyond, it was nice to talk almost casually with someone your level of intelligence. It's been awhile. It's nice to stop talking business for a little bit and actually talk sometimes, and about intelligent subjects, no less. So I thank you for that."
"If that was at all casual, then you're welcome," BB answered without inflection. "I don't know whether I enjoyed it or not, but I can tell you that I don't think I have ever conversed casually on such a high level." He tilted his head. "Save for the time I spoke with L in that hotel, if that was considered casual. So thank you as well, I think."
Light furrowed his brow ever so slightly as he stood. "Well, you're welcome as well, I think," he returned. "I'm assuming we'll be meeting again next week?"
"Yes," Beyond confirmed.
Light nodded slightly, expressionless again. It matched BB's own countenance. "I'll see you next week, then, Beyond."
"Yes…. But about your mask that you can't even feel on your face anymore, just think of this: How much do you feel now? Just think about it; that's all. Goodbye, Light."
Light frowned slightly. "Goodbye." He turned and left the serial killer, although he could feel his empty eyes at his back until the moment he turned the corner.
Sierra never really liked Halle.
She just didn't.
Showering in front of Mello didn't really help the blond woman's case. Although, to be fair, that was probably one of the main reasons Sierra didn't like her in the first place. Not that Mello was attracted to her, because he wasn't. Which was good. Because Sierra may very well have killed something if he liked her.
Of course, whenever she mentioned this dislike of Halle in any way, shape, or form, Matt would detect it as the perfect motive for teasing, so she didn't really mention it all that much anyway. But even back in January she never really liked it when Mello had to use Halle to get his information about Near. And that was before anything had even happened.
In any case, it made for a slightly irritable Sierra when Mello got in touch with Halle again in order to keep an eye on Near. Mello was making a move soon, and he needed to ensure that Near wasn't already planning something. If he was, then, well, he may have to alter his plan a bit. Which, by the way, would severely irritate the blond.
It was the first time he'd contacted Halle since the twenty-fifth of January, so he had to trust that Near hadn't changed her number or anything like that. If he had, well, then fuck him. It was as simple as that.
Mello was tired of losing, and he was angry with quite a few people due to the failure of his last plan. So this time he was planning to get back at a few people as well. He was going to take an almost drastic move, here, so he wanted to make sure it wasn't in vain. And to help ensure it, he would need to contact Halle after half a year of no contact.
The good news was it worked. He secured the connection, and Halle confirmed to him that Near wasn't planning anything as of yet. Mello told her he would retain contact with her in order to know Near's position, and she agreed to this. The call would end, though, and Mello would shut his cell phone. The contact had been made and his task was completed.
Matt was smiling ever so slightly at Sierra's vaguely irate expression.
Yo, so...once a month now. ^^;
Fun Fact: I do believe I brought Nick Geraldy back into the picture on a whim. Maybe I liked him or something, I forget.
Review? For...jealousy? Masks?
How about for cookies?