Sayu sighed happily as she sat the mochi down on the coffee table that he had pulled closer to the couch. Her ears perked when she heard Beyond coming down the stairs. She turned and smiled at the raven who chuckled at her as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs, after figuring out what she had done. "Ready whenever you are! No rush!"
A small smile crept along his lips. "Yeah, let me grab something to drink and we can watch them now? Or, we catch the sunset and wait until after dark. Make it spooky."
Sayu's face lit up as she seemed to skip over towards Beyond. "The second one!" The raven chuckled as he poured himself a drink. Glancing his scarlet eyes over towards the brunette who was leaning in the kitchen archway, he poured her a drink as well.
Handing her the drink, he started towards the back door. "My favorite thing about this house." Sayu scoffed and rolled her eyes and staring at Beyond knowingly. "Well, okay, one of my favorite things is that it faces the west, I can watch the sunset pretty much everyday from anywhere. It just makes for shitty TV watching in the evening." Sayu smiled softly at his words as she glanced up to his face.
"You're much tamer than I expected."
Beyond shrugged as he opened the back door and pulled a chair towards the chair Sayu normally sits in. "Am I? Or am I tamer than your brother anticipated for you? If I can be honest with you, a lot of it is a front. I mean, I'm not always partying. There has to be downtime in between. You'll burn out and end up in a gutter if you don't pace yourself. It is totally possible to be a disappointment and an adult at the same time." Beyond sighed as he sat himself in the chair before continuing. "As fun as it is, most of the time I'm pretty laid back, but it's like there's a switch in my mind that I can't control, well, I can, but I usually don't want to, why would I? When the mood strikes, why not be a little chaotic?"
Sayu laughed as she sat down next to Beyond sipping on the drink he'd given her. Her brow wrinkled slightly at the flavor. "What is this?"
"Strawberry Limeade. Those limes out back are good for more than just mochi and flavoring Molly. Nelly's folks have a huge crop of strawberries every year. Her mom usually gives me some, she's been a better mom to me than my own was, when she was alive. She uses coffee grounds on their soil, makes for stronger plants, and there's never any bugs in them."
Sayu smiled at the glass before her eyes drifted upwards towards Beyond, she could feel her smile grow slightly watching him roll a couple of joints. The orange and golden rays that seem to dance in his embered eyes that are barely covered by ashen bangs. "Thanks for having me. I didn't realize how small the world had grown for me." Beyond handed her a rolled joint with a puzzled expression. "I had fallen into such a routine, that I couldn't see past the day to day life. And, I feel like there's so much more that needs to be explored and understood, after taking a time out with you."
He blinked a couple of times and smirked. "You didn't get into the Molly did you?" He lit the cylinder that he'd rolled for himself before holding the lighter out for her.
She lit her joint and chuckled. "No, I forgot how to not be in a rush. This has been a breath of fresh air. Like time doesn't exist here." She pulled her chair directly next to him and stared into his ruby eyes while grabbing his arm. "Am I making sense? Do I sound crazy?" She ruffled her ponytail with her free hand while chuckling with an air of mania. "I don't even know how old you and L are?"
He smirked after taking a hit from his joint. Reaching over, he tucked the stray hairs from her ponytail behind her ear. "No. You do not sound crazy. I prefer to live this way. Time is irrelevant, we can't speed it up, slow it down or stop it. What sense does it make to worry about it? I try to only worry about things I can change." He chuckled nervously when her eyes locked with his once again as he patted her hand. "I'm twenty-four and L is twenty-seven."
She leaned in a little closer. "No way! You're a year older than Light!?"
"Probably why he has such strong opinions of how I should act. I read in Japanese culture it's expected that those senior to you should be more mature." He ruffled the back of his hair; her brows lifted in response as she tilted her head with a quizzical stare. "I… figured I should familiarize myself with your culture, so I don't do anything obscenely offensive."
Sayu could feel her features soften as a tiny smile caressed her full lips. Her eyes glanced away from him and towards the sunset as she recoiled her arm back to her lap. Sighing out as her smile grew, "So beautiful."
His eyes never left her face, her hair shining a coppery hue in the dying sunlight as her irises seemed to glow a brilliant golden. He responded to her comment, his voice just barely louder than a whisper. "Yeah."
Her eyes drifted over to the raven to steal a peek at him, but accidentally locked eye contact with him. She could feel a warm fluttering in her chest and she could have sworn she heard his breath catch. Deciding now would be as good as any time to test how he feels, she leaned in slightly. She felt as if her throat was going to explode in elation when the gesture was returned. Sayu released a shuddered breath as the distance between them started to close. She felt her eyes drift closed as he was inches from her lips. No ulterior motives, no agendas or plans, just a pure desire to meet his lips.
His cell phone rang loudly, seeming to shatter through the trance the sunset had them under. He released a breathy sigh of annoyance causing her to flutter her golden eyes open in disappointment as she felt him withdrawal.
"Light! The man with the most inconvenient timing!" He listened to the voice on the other side before flicking his crimson eyes over towards Sayu. "I'll ask her. But, no matter what she says, I already called dibs on New Years." The phone went silent before the voice seemed to cautiously continue. Beyond rolled his eyes and pulled another joint out of his pocket and lit it while speaking. "She already promised she'd go to Sydney with me. They have the best firework display, truthfully second only to Tokyo most years. But, you can't beat the weather." He paused for a moment and listened to the muffled voice. "Uh… hold on." He muted the call and held the phone to his chest.
"He's being nice to me… Should I be worried he's plotting to have me killed? Do you think he has bugs in my house?" Sayu bursted into a full laughter as he shifted a suspicious glance around. "He wants to know if you want to come back for New Years, I told him no, kinda. Now he wants to know if you want to come back at all, or if not, if they can join us in Sydney."
She sighed heavily and held her hand out for the phone while taking a hit from her joint. "He's going to be the death of me." Raising an eyebrow, Beyond handed her the phone. She unmuted the call and spoke firmly in Japanese. ("Three conditions: Firstly, you do not tell me what I can or cannot do. I don't mind suggestions, but there will be no repercussions from you. Agree to this and I'll continue.")
("Of course. I'm sorry. It doesn't make it right, but I just worry for you. I'm not making excuses. But, I promise that I will try not to do that in the future. Please let me know if I am overstepping.")
Sayu nodded and continued. ("You WILL treat me as an adult and stop reporting everything to mom.")
("Yes. I promise.")
Sayu hesitated as her eyes drifted towards Beyond who'd stepped away towards the end of the grand deck and was watching the water from the edge. ("I need you to sit down for this last one.") Sayu could hear a chair get pulled out and Light sit loudly. ("I… I need you to remain as calm as possible when I tell you this. Okay? No yelling. No shouting. No threatening anyone. This isn't his fault, that's the most important thing here, this isn't his fault or anything that he's done to me.") Sayu could hear Light take a deep breath but never release. ("Raito. You have to breathe.") Light released the breath slowly. ("I think I'm falling in love with him.")
The voice seemed to deadpan as he responded. ("You're kidding… right? Beyond?")
("He's really good to me. Raito, I've missed gossiping and giggling with you. I wish I could talk to you again like we did when we were teens. I wish I could talk to my brother about all these feelings that I have, both new and old, but I feel like I'm going to get into trouble, or disappoint you. You make me feel like a child, which makes it hard for me to grow as a person, and in the short time I've spent with him, I realize how big the world really is, and I wish it was something I could share with you.") Sayu could hear shuddered but quiet breaths over the other side of the line. ("Raito?")
("I'm so sorry, Sayu, I'm trying to be happy for you, but for a moment, can I have my pity party? I promise, after, I will be happy for you.") Sayu nodded and hummed a 'mhm' sound. ("It's my fault, if I would have just treated you fairly from the beginning you would have never been driven towards him.")
Sayu's eyes flicked towards the raven who was now sitting next to her while staring at his feet while wiggling his toes, ebony locks fell over his face, obscuring his face almost completely. Her eyes lit up as he glanced up and smiled at her through his ashen bangs. ("I don't think so. I think it would have happened either way. I understand why you were so drawn to L now. Raito, as long as you can make those three promises, I'd be happy to see you in Sydney.")
("Yes. Absolutely. Maybe you could unblock my number on your phone and we can call and talk again tomorrow. I promised L we'd have a quiet night in. Oh, also, smack Beyond upside the head for me, but not too hard. Now L is after me to cook for him, too. And be ready for me to pop you as well. Little brat, now I have to cook.") Sayu smiled at the lighthearted laughter from her brother.
("I'm not going to hit him. It makes my heart soar that he speaks so highly of my cooking. I'll unblock your number when I go to bed tonight. I love you, Raito.")
After ending the call Sayu released a deep long sigh. Beyond smirked and held his hand out for his phone. "Sounds like you two made up?"
"I thought you couldn't speak Japanese." Sayu gently placed the device into he other's hand.
"Oh. Absolutely not. But, context clues say you guys did. So, are we spending New Years with them?" She nodded while resting her hands on her knees. "Great!" His eyes shifted away from her. "So uh…" Her eyes lifted to him, staring at the raven hopefully. "Movies! That's what we were going to do!" He stood at a dizzying speed and opened the door for her.
Sayu dropped her eyes in mild disappointment as she stood up to step inside, trying to not sound as disappointed as she felt. "Yeah." She stepped past him while hanging her head dejectedly. She gasped slightly when her hand was caught and she was pulled back and spun before being wrapped in a tight hug. "Huh!? Beyond?"
"Sorry about earlier." His voice was hushed, his lips grazing against the tip of her ear. "Not sure what came over me."
Sayu closed her eyes at the sound of his voice and the feeling of his breath on her ear. "Don't apologize. Either finish what you started or leave it and we can watch movies."
"Can I have both?" His voice seemed almost timid but still hushed.
Sayu chuckled and nodded. "Maybe later for the first one. Need to let my poor little heart settle. Wouldn't want it to get the wrong idea about what that kiss would mean."
Sayu could feel her chin being lifted by fingertips. "Who said that idea was wrong?"
Golden eyes widened as she sucked a breath in through her nose. Sayu could feel her whole face heating up as she stared into deep scarlet eyes. "What if we don't have the same intentions?"
"Are you worried about my intentions or yours? There's really only one way to find out, unless you intend to shout them into the universe."
Sayu stood on her tiptoes and leaned upwards, returning the gesture of speaking softly into his ear. "Not to the universe, but to you… I think I'm starting to fall for you. So, if you intend to kiss me, mean it. If you want to kiss me, right now, make it mean more than a shallow hookup or a fling to sate any boredom. Is that clear enough for you?"
Sayu could feel his arms loosen on her sides. She closed her eyes as she started to bring her head down while nodding sadly as she relaxed her toes, bringing her feet flat on the floor. Her eyes slowly opened when she heard him take a breath. "I'm afraid I won't live up to the expectations." Sayu took a step back from him, his hands still on her hips. "But, god I want to." Furrowing her brow, Sayu lifted her head towards the raven. Taking a startled breath in, Sayu was pulled in by her hips as a consuming embrace was placed on her lips. She shuttered happily as she felt his hands trail up her sides as she gently wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. As their lips parted, Beyond rested his forehead against hers and cradled her head gently while whispering on her lips. "Please be patient with me and understand that it will take me some time to be fully comfortable. Trust me when I say this, once I am, you're the one I want to be comfortable with."