Light quietly practiced his line work on more molded skin as Julie leafed through the sketchbook and nodded and smiled. "Very nice, Light. A little later, say in a couple of hours, I want you to come work with me."

The brunette looked up and smiled while bowing slightly. "Yes, ma'am." He took a shaky breath in as Beyond quietly chuckled from his booth. "Am I in trouble?"

"That wouldn't make sense. Why would she compliment you only to turn around and scold you in a couple hours?" Scarlet eyes lifted from his current task of tattooing a pair of torn angel wings on a client's back. "She's probably going to have you practice on real skin. If you do well you'll probably be taking clients." The raven shrugged, turning his attention back to the current art piece. "That's how it worked for me anyway."

Light smiled and jumped slightly as he turned back to his current project and found Maddog within close proximity of him. "Hey! How was your holiday? Did you spend it with your sis?"

The brunette shook his head while blushing. "Uh. No." He held his finger up to his lips. Maddy widened her eyes and leaned her head in. Light whispered in her ear. "Later, I'll tell you later."

Maddy smirked and whispered back. "Ah. Does it have something to do with why you're limping?" Light blushed brightly and put his hand over her mouth and scurried them both to the storage closet. His hand left her lips and she gasped. "Well? Does it? Did he actually take my advice for once?"

Light clicked the overhead light on. "Okay. Wait. What?"

Maddy squealed quietly as she clapped her hands together. "I told his stupid ass to ask you out already!" She shook her hands loose and grabbed Light's. "Aaand?" Light chuckled and nodded his head while grasping her hands. "Fuck yes!" She turned her head to the side and gave a knowing smirk. "So that's why the lover boy can't walk straight to save his life?"

"Maddy!" Light shouted in playful shock.

"Got himself a bruised ass?" She cackled loudly as the door opened. Both faces went pale as the door slowly opened. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Gio on the other side of the entrance. Maddy smirked and yanked Gio into the closet and pulled the door shut. "Our boy did it! He finally asked Light out!"

Gio wore an unamused stare as he grabbed more disinfectant and gloves. "Oh. I am, intimately, aware they are dating." Receiving two confused stares, Gio continued. "I could hear Light all the way across the hall."

Light's eyes widened as his face reddened as he messed up his hair with a stressed expression. "I thought you were gone too!"

"I was supposed to be!" He grabbed the last of the items before stepping out of the closet.

Light hid his face. "Oh, my, god. I could just die. He probably hates me now."

Maddy folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "Who cares, he's just jealous you're getting some." He playfully punched Light's shoulder. "Come on, pull yourself together, who cares if Gio heard, sounds like it was at least fun, and i really doubt Gio could hate anyone, nonetheless his bestie's boyfriend."

Light cracked a laugh while nodding. "Yeah. It was at least that."

Maddy jerked her head in the direction of the door as she opened it. The front door bell rang as they crossed the threshold from the closet. Maddy lifted her eyes towards the front door and a tall, muscular man stood nervously in the doorway holding a binder with a couple pieces of paper on top of it. "Oh. Hello, tall, muscular and handsome."

Light's eyes lifted to see a tall man of darker complexion, hair shaved down close to his head, a perfectly manicured goatee and short beard, with a deep stare. Maddy started to head towards the door to greet the man as his dark eyes scanned the shop. His eyes fell onto Beyond who was focused heavily on the tattoo he was working on. "Holy shit! No way! String Bean!?"

The raven paused for a moment, his eyes slowly lifted from his client's back. Squinting for a moment before a dawning realization crossed his eyes. "God damn! Look who the wind blew in!" Beyond held a finger up and finished the last portion of shading on the customer's art before beginning to clean them up. "What idiot let you out of jail, T-Bone?"

"Eeyy. I'm on the straight and narrow now." Beyond chuckled and handed the client a mirror to look at their finished tattoo. "Daaamn, that piece on point." Warm chocolate eyes drifted back towards Beyond who was pulling his gloves off. "See, I knew you'd be a hardass artist. Thought you were skipping town after lock up?"

"Yeah. That was the plan. Can't go far when you're broke."

"Mm! Ain't that the truth!"

Beyond's scarlet eyes fell onto Light and a small smile lifted onto his expression. "And now I'm comfortable, no reason to go anywhere but here. What brings you here, Terrance?"

"Looking for a job, man. After you flew the coop, I picked up the quill and started practicing on folks. Found out, I like it! Hoping to get a job inking people up!" Beyond smirked and clasped hands with the other man in a firm handshake. "Man! It's good to see you doing well on the other side of the bars!"

"Yeah, you too. It'd be dope to work with you."

Julie came trotting out of the back room. "I'm so sorry, Terrance! I got wrapped up in something and forgot you were coming!" The taller man gave a blinding smile and shook his head, as to convey he wasn't worried about her tardiness. She snatched the binder out of his hands and flipped through it. "Where'd you practice?"

Gio side stepped next to Light and Maddog and leaned in. "Jeez, that guy is a giant. Beyond is 183 centimeters(6ft), and that guy towers over him."

Maddy shrugged. "I think he said he was looking for a job, if he gets hired, ask him."

Terrance started setting up his booth next to Gio's quietly, occasionally whipping his head back, startling the other two artists into busy work. He let out a gravely chuckle when Light waved at him sheepishly. Smiling brightly, he waved back.

Julie sighed happily with her hands on her hips. "Well! One more artist would fill our ranks for the warm seasons!" She clapped her hands once Terrance finished setting up his personal items in the booth. "Okay! Light, Terrance! You'll both come to the back with me!"

The two followed Julie into the back room and she spun slightly on her right foot. "Now! Since Light has practiced on paper, but never on people and Terrance has practiced on people, but never formally on paper! I want you to teach each other!"

They both shifted a nervous stare to one another before Terrance snapped loudly. "Can you write kanji?" Light nodded unsure of the direction of the question. "I'm sorry, I just assumed by your last name. Kanji strokes would be the same, but you'd have to be more conscious of the skin!" Julie smiled proudly.

"But, where would I practice that?"

Terrance rolled his sleeve up and slammed his arm down on the table exposing his forearm. "Tat it up, little bro! I trust you! You're Beyond's protege! I used to let him practice on me in prison!"

Light blinked a couple of times while glancing at Julie who only tipped her hand towards him. Light nodded and took the machine, preparing it to begin.

The front door bell rang once again and Maddy turned to look at who had entered and quickly dipped into the storage closet when her eyes landed on the entering party. Sayu lifted her golden eyes from her paper and scanned the room with her eyes, locking them onto a particular target in his booth. "Uh. Um. Beyond?"

He spun in his chair to face the voice that had called to him while humming and reading a text on his phone. The text from Maddy only read. "Run." His eyes lifted from his phone before he dropped it and stared at Sayu. "That is indeed me."

"Do you have time to talk?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm 120 an hour." He bent over to pick his phone back up as Sayu scrambled to count money. He texted Julie, "Keep Light back there as long as you can. Let me know when you can't any longer." He got a thumbs up emoji in response.

"Umm… I guess I'll have to wait until I have more money…"

The raven shook his head and motioned her into the booth. "I'm messing with you. What's up?"

Sayu shifted her eyes to the multitude of photographs on the wall. "Wow. The reviews weren't kidding. You are an accomplished artist."

"Cut to the chase, sweetheart. We both know you didn't come to socialize. Please don't think I'm trying to be rude to you, I just can't imagine that's why you came. I'm a pretty straightforward person."

Sayu nodded and sat in the chair across from him and set her purse on the ground next to her feet. "I didn't want to freak Light out by wanting to talk to you. Um. I… I have to ask. Are you Nate's brother?"

Beyond stilled in his chair before taking a long deep breath and slowly releasing it. "I want to lie to you so badly. But, I won't. Yes." Beyond shifted in his chair while crossing his arms over his chest.

Sayu clamped her hands over her mouth as her eyes welled up with tears. "Oh god. Please. Please come see him."

"I can't. I don't deserve to." His eyes flicked to the ground. "I want to. I want to make things right, he's the only family I have left. But, it's been so long, how do I just come back into his life like that, especially after dodging him like that?" Beyond slapped his hands onto his legs. "Yep. This conversation is going to require nicotine." Sayu startled slightly as the tattooed man stood and grabbed his coat and started for the door. "You coming?"

She scrambled to zip her fluffy teal coat back up while grabbing her purse. "Hai!" She lightly jogged to stand next to Beyond outside. Her eyes flicked towards a car that was parked across the street before drifting back towards Beyond. "Please. Please see him. I'm sure whatever happened to you guys can be fixed. I can never imagine being so angry with my brother that I stopped talking to him forever."

Beyond lit his cigarette as he stared at the pleading woman. "Nate never talked about what happened?"

Sayu shook her head quickly while bowing her head. "His mother and father often speak highly of their missing son. They didn't believe he was dead. Nate still believes that his brother is out there… and… here he is! So close to home!" Her eyes flashed back up to meet Beyond's near intimidating stare. "Mama says her boy will come home, one day, when he's ready."

Beyond raised an eyebrow and stared at the sky momentarily with his cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. Taking a deep breath the artist then inhaled from the cigarette without ever touching it. "So no one ever said a thing."

Sayu's eyes glanced around Beyond and towards a person on the street. "About what? You're alive and well, you should be with your family."

"Sayu, Right?" The brunette nodded quickly. "You have a spare key to the house L used to live in?" She nodded again. "There's a lock on the basement door. Right?" She nervously fidgeted with her nails and nodded again. "I'll come to see Nate. On one condition." Her eyes flashed up in elation. "45-89-12-37. Enter that combination into the lock on the basement door, there is a laundry chute in the back of the room, it's out of order, always has been. Inside it, you'll find a book. I will see Nate, only after he's read that." Beyond shifted a glance over his shoulder towards the interior of the shop. "He needs to know why I couldn't just run back to him, mom and dad."

Sayu quickly typed the combination into her notes on her phone.

"Oh. Full disclosure. You may want to read it and filter it for him. It isn't an easy read." Beyond plucked the cigarette from his lips as a large plume of smoke escaped his nose. He flicked the cigarette into the road and gave her a passing glance. "How'd you figure it out?"

"Your voice. Of course, you matched the physical description, but it was your voice. It was you who called the emergency line after their accident. L only lived as long as he did because of you. You pressurized his wounds until emergency services arrived on scene."

Beyond maintained eye contact with her as he pulled another cigarette out. "You have no idea how long I prolonged that man's life. Okay. And who told you all that?"

Sayu sighed. "You're the next of kin for L, but not only L. When you legally changed your name, it updated in the system, so when I looked up Nate's parent's wills, your legally changed name appears when you run a background verifier on the parties. This only verified my suspicions." Sayu smirked. "Light's nurse also ratted you out. You're the benefactor who paid for everything for Light. You visited him daily. Sometimes, I would wait in the hall, if I heard you talking to Light. It's… when I first recognized your voice from an old video Nate used to watch from his childhood, even as an adult, you still drawl out on certain syllables. So, when I looked up the dispatch for Light and L's accident, it was you again, but verified, not just a rumor." Beyond's eyes dropped to the ground. "Now, why would it be in your interest to take care of Light in L's wake? Unless you had another motive, maybe someone else left you still cared about, that you wanted to help. Knowing that, Nate and I are all Light had here… why wouldn't you help? Lending aid to your brother, yet again trying to shield him. Don't try to lie to me. I have receipts. Credit card debt that mysteriously disappeared, mysterious home loan payments." Sayu folded her arms and smiled knowingly.

"I knew it! I knew you were acting suspicious! But, Sayu! I would have never guessed another man!"

Sayu's face paled when she heard the familiar voice, she leaned around Beyond and gasped while pushing him back towards the shop door. "Oh no… He followed me." She shouted back at the other person. "Nate! It isn't what you think!"

A deep chuckle resonated from Beyond as he took another drag from his cigarette, not budging under Sayu's attempts. "Game over. You know it'll only make it worse if I run now, not only for me, but for you too."

Nate frowned as his dark eyes landed on the other man as a tight fist started to ball. "Who are you!?"

Beyond turned in a slow motion with a sad smile. "Hell of a wife you got, Nate." Freezing at the sound of the other's voice, Nate shot his eyes up to the other man's face. "Long time, no see."

Pale lips trembled as huge tears welled in pools of deep gray, his voice losing all power and reducers to hardly a whimper. "Bennett?" The raven nodded hesitantly. "How? Why?"

"Well. Turns out your wife is quite the detective." Dropping his scarlet eyes from the other. "I have a lot of explaining to do, and I'd like it if you gave me the chance."

"Why would I!?" Nate dug his fingers into his white locks. "You abandoned me! You abandoned mom and dad! Do you have any idea how hard it was!? Mourning someone you loved with your whole heart!? Only to find out, you're still here!? You're just a coward!?"

Sayu reached out towards Nate. "Wait, no, let him speak."

Beyond flicked his cigarette out to the road before and breathed out one last plume of smoke. "I never abandoned you. I never left your side. Who do you think paid mom and dad's house off? Who do you think paid for every little mistake you made? Where do you think all of your debt was going? You thought L was helping you?" An annoyed scoff was heard before a near venomous tone continued. "Really? You think that guy ever saw past his own nose? He did one good thing his whole life that wasn't selfish, and that was to spring me out of jail, so I didn't have to pay a price for his own cowardice! And guess what, Nate? He told me to fuck off and never come back! That was his price! His own mother didn't even know that he'd petitioned for me to be released."

Sayu squeezed Beyond's arm slightly. "Please be patient. He doesn't know any better."

Beyond jerked his arm from Sayu before sighing loudly. "Sayu, always a pleasure. You ever want to talk, I'm all ears, but keep him away from me until he either understands or until one of us dies."

Sayu sighed and hung her head in defeat. "Okay…"

Glancing his scarlet eyes back to the distraught male, Beyond sighed once again. "Give me your phone." Sayu quietly handed him her phone. The raven entered his contact details into it for her and handed it back. "In case of emergencies."

He pulled the shop door in and disappeared back into the store. Sayu shot a furious stare at Nate. "I almost had him! I was so close, then I was going to talk to you about meeting up together so you guys could actually talk this thing out! Oh, god, your mother would be so disappointed in you! You know she still believes he's out here! You know she'd do anything to see him home!"

Nate hung his head as he was being scolded by his wife. "I…"

"No! No more words out of you! Take me to Light's house!" She huffed as she stormed towards their car that was parked on the side of the road. "Get in!"

Beyond leaned against the tinted door and smirked. "Little spit fire." Maddy leaned against Beyond to watch the scene unfold. "She was so pleasant to me. A little disarming." Maddy snickered into her hand and slapped Beyond's shoulder playfully as she walked back to her booth.

Sayu unlocked the front door to Light's house, her eyes fell onto the padlocked basement door. She pulled her phone out and started entering the combination lock as soon as she approached the door. Nate sighed at her attempts. "It's no use, no one has been able to get into that door since L's dad died. Whatever is down there, died with him, L tried for months to cut it off, lockpick it, locksmiths, nothing ever budged that lock." Sayu rolled her eyes and continued entering the code. The lock clicked open and clumsily clattered onto the floor. Nate stared at the lock with his mouth hanging agape.

"Apparently there is someone who still knows the combination." She pulled the door open timidly. As the door finished opening she noted deep scratches covering the interior of the door that had an old rusty hue to them. "What do you make of that?"

Nate held his hand up to the scratches before his eyes widened as he tilted his hand to match the scratches. "Claw marks?"

Sayu took a shaky breath in before letting the words fall out of her mouth. "Nails. It's from fingernails." She took a deep breath before clicking the flashlight on her cellphone. "This is just the entrance… What sweet hell is waiting for us?" Nate turned the switch on the wall upwards only to have the bulb shatter. Sayu stared at him dully. "Really? You just had to try it?"

"Yes! This is scary!"

Her flashlight shined down the stairs that seemed to have dark red stains on the wood. "Okay. Yeah. It's scary." She took another deep breath and started down the stairs. "He wouldn't have told me to come down here if there wasn't anything of value."

"And you trust him?"

"I don't have a choice, Nate. Light seems to be quite enamored with him. I'm not losing my brother over your family drama. So, if I have to play nice with him, so be it." Her foot landed on a dirty cement flooring as her flashlight shined up and into the room. "Whoooaa."

"What's down there?" Near contourted his body to try and look down into the basement without leaving the top level.

Her flashlight landed on a charcoal drawing of Nate and his mom and dad when they were all younger. She crushed an old piece of burned wood as she stepped closer. The words under the drawing spelled: 'I want to go home.' Covering her mouth, Sayu felt an overwhelming amount of sadness. "Did… Beyond draw this?"

Nate groaned at his wife's inquiry, turned his own flashlight on and went down the stairs to stand next to Sayu. His flashlight landed on the same image. The brunette glanced over to her husband when she heard his breath hitch in his throat.

Shifting her golden eyes towards the back of the corridor basement, her light landed on a single dirty mattress with frayed rope laying around it. The rope was stained a rusty color. Taking a couple small steps she shuddered out a breath before speaking. "My god… is this… where he was living?"

Nate's eyes shifted towards where Sayu's flashlight had landed. "This is probably a ruse. I visited them one Christmas, this wasn't his room."

Sayu's flashlight lifted above the mattress where more charcoal sketches of his family were colored onto the wall and a broken pipe from the ceiling. "Did his room look used when you visited? Were there any personal items in it?" Nate looked down to his feet and sighed as he followed his wife further into the dark basement. "I'm looking for a laundry chute."

Nate's light landed on the wall off to the left of the mattress. "There."

Sayu attempted to lift the door but lost her footing and her hands slipped off the handle. "It's rusted shut." Nate stepped over to her, placing his hand on the rusted iron handle and yanked it open with a horrific screech. Sayu dove her hands into the chute and patted the bottom of it before pulling a worn and dusty, navy blue journal-like notebook out.

"Dad got him that. He was going through a phase where he didn't want to talk about his feelings with mom and dad anymore, so dad got him that journal to at least express them in any way."

Sayu clutched the book tightly and shined the light around the room with a sad expression. "If he was down here… it's a wonder he's not admitted in a asylum." She walked up the stairs and immediately opened the book.

Nate snapped the book shut in her hands from behind her. "Maybe, we shouldn't read this."

Sayu flashed her eyes up in frustration and cracked the spine open once again. "If you won't hear him, I will. I would be dying to know what my brother went through. I am dying to know what this man went through, because my brother is with him." She turned and walked into the kitchen, pulling a chair out to sit in. Her eyes fell onto a string of Christmas lights on the table, she drifted her eyes around the kitchen seeing the counters full of new appliances and dry goods filled the canisters once again. Her eyes drifted to the pile of mail that had been left abandoned on the tabletop. She recognized the same script handwriting on Light's discharge papers. "Paid off."

Shaking her head slightly she sat down with the journal. The same script like handwriting was displayed, though, with water spots distorting the ink in many places. Making the first few pages near impossible to decipher. She turned the page to find the first entry she could read.

'I keep rereading the same beginning entries trying to cling to what happiness felt like. What it was like to be held. Loved. Seen. Acknowledged. I've worn the pages down so much, I can't even read them anymore… the more time I'm here, the less I can remember what they once said. I stole a pen from Mother. I can't take it anymore. I miss my friends, I miss going to school, I miss my mom. I miss my dad. But out of all of it, I miss my real brother. I tried so hard to get along with L. I'm sure he didn't mean this when he told his dad he wanted me to go away… right? He didn't mean this. He didn't mean down here. He meant to send me home. Right? Right?

He didn't mean send me to the dark... alone... right?'

Sayu covered her mouth as she read feeling the sting of tears reaching her eyes and setting behind her nose. "Oh god… That is where you were."