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Rating: I'm gonna go with 'Teen'.
Story isn't dead! Upcoming Pairing! Kira being creepy! ...actually, that last one's not really news.
DISCLAIMER: I turned left.
Well, yet another day I've gotten off of school. So awesome. So, yeah, instead of getting homework out of the way, the obvious thing to do is to post more fanfic!
I didn't realize how much that song fit this chapter until I started listening to it while trying to figure out formatting, etc for this post. IT FITS BEYOND SO WELL TOO. Anyway.
Kyoko, so far, is coming off as an interesting mix of Io from Devil Survivor 2 (especially when she gets all flustered and throws up her hands) and Orihime from Bleach. Especially the what-in-the-world-what-are-you-doing Orihime moments. She's got that too.
Light Yagami, known to the world as Kira, decided that ‘Rue Ryuzaki’, ‘brother’ to L, must die. To that end, he instructed the second Kira, Misa Amane, to kill him. Somehow, Kyoko, a classmate, finds ‘Rue’ about to commit suicide and saves his life-the first time that anyone has managed to avert one of Kira’s ‘judgments’. However, Beyond’s troubles aren’t over yet—Kira isn’t happy and now considers the man a serious threat (and even worse, possible resource), and Kyoko’s gotten herself tangled up in the mess as well…
Beyond blinked when he woke up.
He wasn’t expecting consciousness to return, ever again. The fact that he had meant that something had gone dreadfully wrong in Kira’s plan.
Of course, it was possible that people had escaped from Kira’s judgment before, but something in his heart told him that wasn’t likely. The arrogance of the killer, for example, was enough to convince him.
He swallowed-his throat was incredibly dry-and turned his head to look at his surroundings.
Only to find a mousy, black-haired girl staring at him, fear in her eyes. She was sitting in a chair, hands nervously twisting the fabric on her dress. “H-hi,” she managed, still looking at him sadly.
His smile grew wider and happier than it had ever been, one of his adorable Rue ones that he’d actually grown rather used to. “You beat him! You saved my life!” He was out of his bed as she squeaked, hugging her tightly, completely ignoring the fact that all he was wearing was an enormous shirt-a home version of a hospital gown.
She struggled, and he set her down, returning to the bed, smiling happily. The urge that had been playing at the back of his mind trying to convince him to get out of Kira’s way was gone, blown away like smoke on the wind. L really cared. Maybe he had trouble showing his emotions, but those at Wammy’s either bottled them up, couldn’t express them, or broadcasted them all over the place. None of them could control them very well or show them appropriately.
I won this move, Kira. Deal with that, mate.
His English accent was peeking through. But then, it always did when he was happy.
It was only then that he noticed he had a tube up his arm. He frowned at that, but ignored it. He’d probably lost a lot of blood, and having medical attention was more important than not.
“R-Rue? You…You tried to commit suicide last night…I think. Although you had a knife, and you kinda came at me…” Her voice was shaky. She was scared. He frowned again at her, trying to remember her…before he realized he could just look at her name.
Sato Kyoko. Oh, wait…isn’t she the helpless girl with the crush…?
“I’m sorry…I wasn’t in control,” he explained, still feeling happier than he could remember. She’d saved him. She’d stopped Kira. She was amazing. There was that L-thing too, but the ghost or spirit or whatever it was didn’t give a half-crazy Beyond medical attention. “Kira wanted me dead, so he tried to have me commit suicide.” Normally, he wouldn’t have told an outsider anything, but she deserved the truth for saving his life, and there was very little chance she was already involved. Anyway, if she was…what was the worst that could happen? Death? It didn't really scare him at the moment. Maybe that made him crazy, but like that was new.
“Doesn’t he just kill by heart attack?” she asked, somewhat confused, somewhat suspicious. He suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, yeah, they’re probably looking for me. Here,” he stated calmly, throwing her his phone. “It’s under Matsui. Tell him that you found me and I’d nearly committed suicide, and where we are I suppose. I think I’m about to pass out again, but when I wake up I’ll try to answer whatever questions you may have.”
When he woke up again, Kyoko was staring at him, barely hiding the concern on her face. “He’s on his way. And he’s pretty frantic. Rue, what’s going on?”
A sigh. This would probably be a lot to take in. “Okay, trying to cover everything…probably, first and foremost, your first crush, my brother, was L.”
She blinked, then laughed. “Yeah, right. As if you’ll get me to believe that…”
He continued calmly as if he’d never been interrupted. “He was killed by Kira. I wanted to stop Kira, to achieve justice for my brother, so I came here to Japan. Unfortunately, I attracted the attention of Kira, who wanted me dead. A heart attack would be too obvious and too suspicious, so he decided my cause of death should be suicide instead. Matsui was my protection, and probably supposed to keep an eye on me as well.”
“Both you and your brother are unique. But do you really think I’d believe that story about him being L?” ‘Unique’ being another word for ‘freak.’ He shook it off, a duck’s feathers from water.
“Light Yagami, in all probability, is Kira.” He’d tried to avoid saying that one, but couldn’t help himself.
Her mouth fell open. She stared, a shiver running over her body. Somehow, that made everything else understandable, reasonable, though how he couldn’t imagine. Finally, in a voice softer than he’d ever used, she asked, “Can you prove that?”
He quirked a smile. “I’m trying. But if nothing else, you can call him and tell him about my dance with death. You’ll have to be very careful, because if he guesses you know you might be next on his list. I guarantee, whether he controls it or not, you’ll notice something weird about his reaction. You’ve already noticed the darkness within him.”
“…Okay…” She picked up the mobile again, this time with trembling fingers. Whether or not she said he believed him, she was still terrified about the call.
So part of her believes already.
She found the entry marked ‘Light’ and hit ‘enter’. Hand now shaking violently, she brought it to the side of her head. By the end of the conversation, she looked ready to break down as Beyond had done several times in the past couple days, and her fingers could not find the ‘end’ button fast enough. She didn’t show a sign of it in her voice, which Beyond found both strange and endearing. He watched her, intrigued. When she finished, he remarked, admiring, “You’re a very good actress.”
She jumped, startled, then colored a little, taking several deep breaths before turning to face him, shoulders tightening.
“Do you believe me now?” he asked gently, obsidian eyes watching her own brown ones. She took a deep breath, then nodded.
“What are you going to do now?” His voice remained gentle but firm, the same quiet authoritative smooth voice that his ‘brother’ had used on many occasions.
“I was about to ask you the same question,” she admitted, a small smile accompanied by a blush creeping over her face.
He looked away, evading the topic of conversation. “How’d I get healed anyway? This isn’t a hospital.”
She realized his tactic, but smiled anyway in response. “I got the idea you wouldn’t like to be in a hospital, so, despite what my instincts said, I brought you back here. My parents are out of town. I called my uncle, who’s one of Japan’s best doctors and doesn’t ask many questions, and he got the necessary equipment and attention here. He said the cuts weren’t actually all that bad and it was the hypo…um, hypo-something…”
“Hypothermia,” he interjected smoothly, and she nodded, avoiding looking in his direction now.
“…that was the most dangerous,” she finished. “Although if you’d stayed out in the rain for too much longer, or if it’d taken an hour for my uncle to get here, you’d probably be dead. Luckily he had the evening off…”
“Something tells me that you shouldn’t have been able to save me from Kira’s wrath,” he stated seriously, staring at her face until she turned her head to meet his gaze…and flinched.
“I didn’t do anything. I just was in the right place to make sure you got help.” She sounded like a mouse before a snake.
He held up a hand even paler from the loss of blood. “Ah, but even defibrillators and whatever else they use haven’t been enough to save the victims of Kira suffering a heart attack. Logic states that I should have died despite your intervention.” When she stared incredulously at him, he smiled. “I always do my homework.”
“That’s more than I can say,” she joked feebly, and he smiled back at her, though didn’t risk laughing for fear it would just be his normal, creepy laugh.
“Uh, just so you know…this isn’t the first time I’ve attempted suicide. I also tend to have many other self inflicted wounds, most of which aren’t life-threatening, I have sociopathic, homicidal, and suicidal tendencies, most of which I don’t act on…I’m a generally messed up guy. So you’d probably be wisest to kick me out of your life as soon as possible. Anyway, if you hang around me, you’re in danger from Kira.” This was probably the most honest he’d been in years.
She traced the lines on the wood of the bed he was laying on, paying more attention to an inanimate object than him.
She’d fit right in at Wammy’s…
“…You just told me Ryug-L. Was dead. So I’m not likely to end up with him, am I?” The question was asked with as little emotion as Near.
“…Um. No. Probably not.” Dating zombies and ghosts on the whole seemed a morbid and altogether bad idea to him. If they even existed.
She surprised him by tackling him, pushing him back in bed until his skull half-cracked against the headboard, lips meeting his in a frenzied passion. His breath left him in a surprised oomph as she smothered him, tongue trailing over his lips. He tried to pull away, but nails dug into his scalp, causing him to wince. She bit his lips hungrily, and he sighed as the familiar taste of blood filled their mouths, calming him from his panic.
As suddenly as she came, she squeaked, scooting off the bed and across the room before he even realized she was gone. He licked his lips, feeling the sting of the bite and a strange taste he couldn’t recognize but somewhat enjoyed. His eyes opened to find her staring at him, frightened, about to scuttle off into a hole. Security.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what…what came over me.” Her voice was several octaves higher than normal. He didn’t know whether she was more frightened of herself or of him.
“…It’s okay. I kind of enjoyed that.” He was surprised to find his voice had deepened, just slightly, and found the blush on her cheeks endearing. He certainly felt something…but was it lust or love? He was definitely intrigued. Well, no matter what he was feeling, this proved to be interesting. Perhaps it was the closest thing to love someone as warped as he was was capable of having… “No one’s ever kissed me before.”
She blinked several times, panting. “N-never? Someone as cute as you?”
His smile, while affectionate, was that of a wolf. “Kyoko-chan, I think you have a distorted idea of what ‘cute’ is…”
She glared at him. “No I don’t! The rest of the world is just blind!”
A slow smile crept over his face. “So…you actually like me. Despite everything that I just told you.” Frightened, breathless, she nodded. “I…you’re willing to risk your life, just to be with me.” Maybe he was worth something after all…first L said it, and then a girl? Things were looking up.
Her smile turned playful now. “Of course. I started to worry that I was just average and that I’d lead an average, unimportant life and that no one would ever like me.”
He let escape a toned down version of one of his Shinigami laughs. “Kyoko-chan, you just beat Kira at his own game. I can’t wait to see his face. And you saved my life. Plus you actually like me. Most people who meet me have the sense to run away.”
She slipped over to hold his hand, shyly sliding it into his own when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. “Maybe they just don’t have the courage, Rue-kun.”
He smiled one of his most adorable smiles and lay his head back on the pillow, exhausted by this beautiful but whirlwind turn of events. Was he enjoying himself? Most definitely. Was he happy? Absolutely. He couldn’t discern what triggered these exact emotions, but he was definitely pleased about having them for once.
“Do you have strawberry jam?” he asked, letting his eyes close contentedly.
Was that your best shot, Kira? Clearly, it wasn’t good enough.
It seemed Kyoko really was determined to stick around and help him to the best of her ability. What that said about her sanity Beyond wasn’t really sure, but then again he wasn’t one to be talking. She let him eat all the strawberry jam he wanted after checking with her uncle to make sure it was okay, and didn’t flinch when he ate several jars using only his fingers. Apparently, the blood loss was barely even noticeable, and the intravenous fluids were just in case, since it was safer to administer them and then discover that they weren’t needed than to go without and have him die during tests. Besides, apparently they were useful to treat cases of severe hypothermia, a random fact that Beyond Birthday hadn’t known and filed away unconcernedly. It was the rewarming stage that was most touch-and-go, and even then, while Kyoko had fretted, her uncle hadn’t been particularly concerned. On the whole, he’d been rather lucky—a statement Beyond wholeheartedly agreed with.
When the doorbell rang, Beyond sighed contentedly, starting on his fifth jar, and patted Kyoko’s hand with his non-sticky fingers. She blushed and stood up. “I’ll be back.” He tensed slightly, but hid his sudden nervousness pretty well.
“I certainly hope so,” he drawled, causing her to giggle.
Until she’d mentioned it, the possibility that it might be anyone else other than Matsuda hadn’t crossed his mind.
To cover his nervousness, he polished off the jar, licking what part he could free and then carefully setting it down on the nightstand. After that, he dragged his teeth along his fingers to remove any excess-so much more efficient than using one’s tongue. Matsuda came in while he was performing this operation, but Beyond felt considerably lazy and so proceeded to ignore him.
“Uhhhh….Rue-kun, are you okay?” Matsuda sounded slightly desperate…but then, he’d probably been searching for the younger Ryuzaki for several hours with no success.
“I suppose,” he stated gruffly, now staring at the ceiling. “By the way, this is Sato Kyoko. She goes to school with Light and I.”
The former police officer favored her with a small glance before being unable to contain himself any longer, crossing to Beyond’s bedside and carefully touching the hand as if it would bite him. “Rue-kun! She said you tried to commit suicide. If this is about my reaction in the cemetery, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings so badly!”
Confused grey eyes drifted his way. “Um…no. Actually, it’s just…if I take my pills, I’m a zombified wreck. A ghost. If I don’t, I get violent, depressed, and/or suicidal. It’s a lose-lose scenario.” Actually, he’d never gotten any medication since the asylum, but it was the best way to explain his behavior. L had agreed to let the doctors try it once, and when Beyond barely reacted to his next visit, mostly staring vacantly at the ceiling, he’d reversed his decision. “It had nothing to do with you.”
The generally cheerful task force member breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I’m glad you’re all right, Rue-kun. And believe it or not, thoughts of suicide are a natural reaction to learning of the death of a loved one.”
Rue smiled crookedly. “I seem to remember hearing about that on a television series once. Anyway…maybe Kyoko-chan will prevent me from doing anything stupid in the future.”
She blushed a very very deep red, but took the cue and held his hand again, moving fast enough that he didn’t even see her coming. This apparent teleportation seemed as if it would become a common action of hers…one he looked forward to. It didn’t seem she was going to be predictable. If nothing else, that would likely keep his interest.
Matsuda actually gasped. The man was adorable when he wanted to be. Then his face split into a gigantic grin. “Oh, Rue-kun, that’s so romantic! I’m so happy for you!”
He was buried in his second hug for the day, but he didn’t seem to mind too much.
He pretended to be asleep when the Yagamis arrived. Kyoko was out buying more strawberry jam, and Matsuda was sitting contentedly watching him. How they’d gotten in the house Beyond wasn’t sure. Perhaps Kyoko had told them where the spare key was? If that was the case, he wasn’t entirely happy. Even if Kira could kill from a distance, and in fact had very little reason to actually be there in person, a precaution he’d learned at Wammy’s was that making it easy for serial killers to get inside your house was probably a very bad idea.
“I still think he’s the Second Kira at least,” Soichiro argued loudly. Matsuda glanced up unhappily, ready to jump to Rue’s defense again. “He knows we’re getting close to him, so he panicked.”
Light, on the other hand, was completely calm. “Dad, you know as well as I do that that doesn’t match his M.O. If Kira were cornered, he’d lash out and kill others, not attempt to take his own life. That would be admitting defeat, and even L agreed that Kira hates to lose. Besides, you haven’t stated that Misura Naomi is a Kira…and if your only evidence that Ryuzaki Rue might be Kira is that he attempted to commit suicide, then you have to suggest her as well.”
Beyond’s self control almost faltered enough that he gave away the fact that he was really awake. Naomi Misura??
“What about his Shinigami Eyes?” The elder Yagami wasn’t letting this one go.
“…I checked. He actually made a claim while he was at the asylum that he had the Eyes, and knew names and remaining lifespan. Of course, this was dismissed by the nurses, but…he doesn’t tend to ask a person’s name, and when he does there is some indication that he’s only pretending not to know to put people at ease. In any case, if he was Kira, he’d already have known about the Death Note and how to use it effectively. He wouldn’t have to experiment, and he’d have a classier way of getting in contact with the First Kira, like getting a criminal to take a message, for example.” Mention of that Death Note thing again. So that was important somehow. He might have to do some snooping to figure that part out.
“But he…” Any suspect other than his son was highly welcome.
“He didn’t have contact with his brother other than random visits throughout the year. The last one was more than five months ago. I got the paperwork but not the name of the asylum released to me-apparently it’s one of L’s top-secret paranoia things. He would have had little to no access to any information about the outside world, let alone the ICPO databases. Strictly speaking, his placement alone precludes him from suspicion for being either Kira. He was only released three months ago on instructions from L. Far later than the actions of either Kira. And the Third Kira was proved to be Higuchi, so again, suspicion cannot rest on him there.” Why Light Yagami was arguing to clear the name of the ‘brother’ of his greatest enemy who could serve as a perfect direction of suspicion was beyond him. Clearly Kira had yet another plan he was putting in place. Perhaps he knew that his father still suspected him, and, if worst came to worst, he could channel suspicion, fear and doubt onto Rue Ryuzaki as a blind. “I think we would be best served as we were doing before-keep an eye on him, protect him, possibly see if he can give us any clues. I know he’s less intelligent than his brother, but any leads we can possibly get at this point would be useful.” Part of Beyond was insulted by the easy categorization as 'unintelligent', but he was in such a good mood that the sting was barely noticeable. Besides, being underestimated would be useful.
“Raito…” Soichiro whispered, sure that his son was taking risks, that he wasn’t thinking properly.
“Dad, I’m in charge of this investigation now. I’m acting as L. This is how he’d run it.” He…what? Okay, so Near was a bit of an annoying sheep, and Mello couldn’t think. But still…what? Kira was the New L? And everyone had been working for years to get the position too…Not only did he not suffer through years of Wammy’s, he was Kira. He didn’t deserve the title…
“He’s dead now because he was too careless. I don’t want you to end up the same way, and you said you’d be more careful than Ryuzaki.” Well, that was certainly true. He did NOT need to show his face to Kira…then again, Beyond had done the same thing. But he’d survived, so that made him smarter than L. Didn’t it?
“We have to take some chances, Dad. Or else we’ll never catch Kira. But at the same time, they have to be calculated risks. We have to make sure that we’re not just being reckless. That won’t help us either. It’s okay. I don’t think he’s Kira, in fact, I’m almost positive he isn’t, but I’m pretty sure he could probably help us catch Kira.” Spoken like one of L’s successors…how odd…
I’m here to help with the investigation, Kira…
As convincing as Light’s logic was, his dad still refused to accept it. “…What if he turns out to be Kira anyway?”
Is that what love does? Makes you blind and stupid? I suppose there are a few things I decided I’m better off not seeing…but I think I’d still like to have my intelligence…
“Then I guess we’re in trouble, aren’t we Dad?” Kira’s smile was positively predatory. Reminded Beyond of himself. “Look, I told Matsuda to search Rue’s house. No sign of a Death Note. He did have a few newspaper clippings about Kira, but that makes sense considering he knew his brother was on the case. There was no information in there that hadn’t been released to the public. And I agree with Matsuda…I’m in a more suspicious position than Rue is. So obviously, I don’t suspect him, because I don’t suspect myself. I wasn’t subconsciously Kira, so…if I’m not Kira, then he’s definitely not Kira.”
Soichiro quieted. He still wasn’t wholly convinced, but to keep arguing with his son wouldn’t help much either.
“I understand. He’s the first likely suspect in a long time, but I think the situation just doesn’t allow the possibility that he is Kira. Don’t worry, though…we’ll catch him,” Beyond nearly burst out laughing at that one, but instead stirred as if in sleep…or possibly waking up.
He twitched in his ‘sleep’, then made a small whimpering noise, almost certain that someone would try to wake him up.
As expected, a hand shook his shoulder. “Rue-kun? Rue, wake up…” Matsuda’s voice. A surprise. Beyond thought that Light would be the one to do that…
Blearily, his eyes opened and fixed on the task force members. “Wha?” he asked, still foggy.
Just then, the door opened, and everyone but Beyond jumped. Kyoko entered the room carrying a few more jars of strawberry jam and smiled sweetly at the assorted investigators. “Hi. I’m Nakasato Kyoko.”
A fake last name. Close to her own, and not likely to be noticed unless she’d somehow provoked further research by Kira, a situation that Beyond intended to avoid. It was so obvious and so clever that Beyond wanted to kiss her again. He settled for a pleased smile, and she colored a little. “Um, and I found Ryuzaki-san after he…” she couldn’t find the words to continue, and Matsuda patted her awkwardly.
“That’s all right. You did the right thing. If you want, I can make sure you’re compensated for any trouble…” Light being pleasant and completely evil again. Beyond wasn’t sure what his motivations were for that, but the reddish gleam in the task force leader’s eyes did not bode very well.
“Right, no, that’s okay! I managed to save someone’s life and do something meaningful for a change! I don’t mind at all!” Her cheeks were dusted an even deeper pink.
“Well, good. I’m glad that some people still do the right thing simply because it is the right thing, and not out of fear of Kira or hope of reward or anything,” Light chuckled.
From this angle, he looks positively demonic…
“Um, Rue-kun. Don’t feel like you have to do this, but…in a couple days, when you’re feeling better, if you’d like to help us out with Ryuzaki’s project, I’d greatly appreciate it. When he went back to England, he left it unfinished, and it’s a huge mess.” Code. Both the intended recipient and Kyoko understood the hidden message, but Kyoko acted oblivious, shyly walking over to his bedside and setting the jars on the table next to his head.
“You’re helping finish your brother’s projects? That’s really responsible of you, Ryuzaki-san…Oh, and…um, you said you were craving strawberry jam, so…I didn’t know what kind you liked, so I got several different kinds.” She spoke really softly, cheeks back to a soft, pale pink pretty to look at. Beyond smiled hazily up at her, blushing slightly himself.
I didn’t know I could blush on command…but I can cry on command, so it makes sense.
“Thank you, Nakasato-san. Oh, and I’d like to help out, if I can…it’s ignoring my brother’s instructions, but it would be simply negligent to leave his work half completed…” He dipped his fingers in, sucking the sticky mess off them carefully, aware that his tone approximated that of L. He looked up and met Light’s eyes with an inscrutable expression of his own.
Thank you for my life. Now I will use it to destroy your repulsive future and brand of justice, Kira…
