Death Note: Justice Will Prevail Chapter Three

[nevermoreraven]

Fandom: Death Note
Rating: I'm gonna go with 'Teen'.
Warnings: Dark.  Mentions of attempted suicide, self-harm, violent thoughts (Beyond Birthday).  Beyond has some serious issues.  Spoilers for Another Note and half of Death Note (though really, you should expect spoiler warnings from me by this time.)
DISCLAIMER: I'm not Ohba.  For one thing, I can't sit like L for long.  (Have you tried?  It's really hard!)
Oh, and I'm actually remembering I have this account and posting more often!  Yay!  (...It won't last after school starts.  *sadface*)

Note #1: By the way, for those curious among you…The whole ‘Dark Moon’ thing is a lie.  Beyond, like L, is a liar, and he made that up just to get sympathy from Light.  It is a pretty good story though.  And he might have experienced something like that…maybe.  Or maybe he’s just an incredible liar.  I’m not even sure Beyond knows the truth about his past anymore, beyond the parts at Wammy’s...  He’s slipping a bit off the deep end, and his lies are beginning to get mixed up with the truth in his head.  Oh, and he’s having quite a lot of fun driving Light crazy.  Probably not the safest to do that to a serial killer with a notebook of death, but…whatever, this is Beyond; he doesn’t care.

Note #2:  Oh, um…yeah.  I’ve only seen Episode 16 once, so forgot that Light moved the investigation to his apartment…all I can guess is, he’s moving a bit slower than he did in the anime.  Or, more likely, he’s splitting things between his apartment and the L Skyscraper…team meetings + other such things are held at his apartment, routine work at the L Skyscraper (that has the added advantage that he can keep tabs on the other task force members and out from his way on a regular basis, without really wondering when they’re going to show up…just a thought.)  

Note #3: I totally forgot about Ide…heheh, whoops.  And Aizawa.  haha.  Well, Ide doesn’t have an alias (that I know of) so he now has the alias of Ohayashi Hisao.

Beyond Birthday hasn’t been having the best week ever.  On one hand, he managed to get close to his target, Light Yagami, in the hopes that he can succeed where L failed and prove that the acting leader of the Investigation Taskforce is really Kira, thereby avenging his ‘brother’.  On the other hand, he had an almost complete mental breakdown, and while Kira doesn’t seem to suspect him, he also isn’t doing great at this whole detective thing...  

I’m a Nightmare, a Disaster

 

       Upon reflection, it made sense that Matsuda panicked upon seeing an L-like figure walking with Light near the site where he was buried.

            That didn’t make Raito any happier, though.

            He got a still-scared Rue into the car and, as an afterthought, bundled him up in a blanket hopefully to offer some warmth and security.  Every action was as gentle as possible—the slightest thing could probably send the younger Ryuzaki over the edge.

            Once outside the vehicle, he’d closed the door, pulled Matsuda over to his own car, and chewed him out.  There was really very little the well-meaning former officer could have done.  He’d been absent during the whole ‘L-has-a-brother’ meeting the other day and had somehow managed not to hear about it since then.  And, acting on the information that he’d had, the conclusion that the dead (well, maybe just L) were rising was a fair assumption to come to, especially upon looking at the similarities between the two.

            That didn’t mean that his moment of horror couldn’t and probably wouldn’t have a much longer and deeper effect on the overall state of the younger Ryuzaki brother’s health.  By the end of it, even the calm, easy-going task force member began to become hysterical, the harsh words of his commander leading him to believe that Rue Ryuzaki might possibly commit suicide because of him.  It probably wasn’t that serious, but Matsuda was still panicking.

            When he climbed back in, it appeared that Rue was in shock.  He reacted sluggishly, his wide grey eyes staring at everything but taking in nothing.

Light reached over a hand and squeezed his classmate’s shoulder.  The younger man flinched slightly.  So right now he was sensitive to the touch as well.  “Hey, you okay?” he asked softly, trying to make sure this odd endearing kid would get through all right.

            “Ever hear of Dark Moon?”  The question was asked with very little emotion as Beyond stared out the window, watching a flock of crows circle in the distance.

            Light Yagami thought for a second as he drove, running through the enormous number of files in his head…  “He was a serial killer, a particularly vicious one.  He killed his wife…” he trailed off, getting a feeling of where this was going.

            “He was our father.”  Yet another emotionless statement.  Light wished that this cold, fragile being could disappear and his easygoing, cheerful tennis partner could return.  The grey eyes appeared lifeless, dead, and reminded him of the sightless staring eyes of Ryuzaki’s older brother as he fell to the floor…he quickly shook himself out of it, a little stunned.

            “I’m sorry.”  He was met with a small, sad smile.  This naïve boy had such horrors in his childhood, and Kira was again grateful that this ‘Dark Moon’ was among the first he had judged.

            “I’m always terrified I’m going to turn out like him.  I dream of the blood.  Sometimes I want to hurt people.  But then I hurt myself, and it makes the feelings go away.  I think my father was crazy.  Sometimes I think I’m crazy, or that I’m going crazy.  The drugs make things better, but then I’m barely alive.  A walking zombie.  And when they wear off, I feel the urges stronger than ever,” Rue took a deep, shaking breath, watching the world go by, and Light ruffled his hair.

            “You won’t lose it.  Trust me.  You’re stronger than most people I know.”  He wasn’t sure how he could do this, how he could wave a hand and make all the evil and bad things in the world disappear, but he was beginning to believe he could.  He could do anything, with enough thought and effort.

            Another sad smile, but at least Rue looked a bit more confident.  “Okay.”

            The fear was probably the source of his troubles, Light decided.  He still had trouble believing Rue Ryuzaki would hurt anyone, but for someone as laid-back and caring as L’s younger brother, the thought that others might get hurt by his own hands was terrifying.  He did have some issues-namely depression and inflicting pain on himself-but it seemed to some extent he blamed himself for the sins of his father. 

            No one should have to live through what the Ryuzaki kids had to.  No wonder L didn’t want to care about anything or anyone.  It hurt too much.

            They drove up to the twenty-three story building, and Rue gasped.  He seemed to be at least slightly interested in the world again.  Good, because Light didn’t think a fight would work wonders on his depression like it had for his brother.

            “The whole building’s ours,” Light revealed, and had to grin at the pleased smile of a small child upon viewing a new toy that lit up his classmate’s face.

            “Masahiro spent some serious money on this case, didn’t he?  …it makes less and less sense that he’d just run off to England again.  I can’t even believe I listened to that one,” Rue chuckled quietly, eyes still a bit wet.  “He was always such a liar.”

            “Yeah, I kinda noticed,” the New L stated wryly, causing another chuckle from Rue.  “And anyway, yes.  We’re grateful for the resources and everything else he put into this case, but I think we’d all be a lot happier if he didn’t have to go and get himself killed.”

            “Excuse me if I’m somehow being stupid but…if he died, then…why didn’t the rest of the task force?”  Rue sounded curious now.  That curiosity might get him killed, which would be a shame.

            “…We don’t know,” Light admitted as a member of the Kira investigation.  Matsuda ran to join them.

            “Hi Rue!  Sorry I freaked out when I saw you.  I thought you were your brother, back from the dead!”  He rubbed at the back of his neck, laughing in an embarrassed fashion.  Kira wanted to roll his eyes, but an adorable smile adorned the pale lips of their guest.

            “It’s okay.  I probably would have done the same in your situation.”  As he had, actually, having freaked out at a hallucination or L’s ghost.

            As always when anyone was kind to him or paid him any attention, the youngest ex-police officer on the case perked up, goofily happy.  As if they’d needed a puppy, Kira thought.

            “Well, I think you’ve already met Asahi Raito.  And I’m Matsui Taro.”  Using fake names already.  Brilliant.  Now Light was beginning to understand why L was always annoyed at the easily excitable police officer.

            Rue glanced at them both, staring somewhere above their heads before smiling.  “Sorry…I’m not as quick as my brother.  You’re probably using fake names because you’re on the Kira case, aren’t you?”

            Somewhat annoyed, Raito nodded.  If this guy was going to continue figuring things out, he could become a problem, and he really didn’t want that to happen.  Matsuda should just have said his own name, since Rue already knew Light’s name was really Yagami.  “It was L’s idea,” he explained.

            Rue nodded.  “Of course it was.  My brother had more aliases than…um.  A secret agent.  You get the picture.”

            Yagami Raito was expecting the security system to be quite a pain when they were trying to bring in Rue, since Aizawa could barely make it into the building on his good days.  When he’d still been on the task force.  However, it somehow immediately recognized ‘Rue Ryuzaki’ and allowed him entrance.

            The dark-eyed student was as confused as any of them.  “He didn’t want me involved in the case, or in Japan after he…why would he let me get into the building…?”

            Light shrugged.  “I can’t even tell you how the man thinks, even after having been chained to him for a couple months.  L…sorry, Masahiro…was as much a mystery to me as he was to you.”

            ‘Matsui’ looked over at them, blinked.  “L’s real name was Masahiro?”

            “Unless he’d lie to his brother about even that.  Which I wouldn’t put past him,” Raito answered grimly.  Matsuda looked confused, but the task force commander wasn’t about to elaborate.

            When they entered the main room, the various members were watching surveillance or going through paperwork.  “Dad, Kanichi-san, Aihara-san, Ohayashi-san…This is Rue Ryuzaki, L’s younger brother.”  They turned in their chairs…and gaped at the similarity.  A smile graced Kira’s lips.  It made him feel better that he wasn’t the only one to react this way.

            “Why is he here?”  ‘Shijuro’ asked finally, brown eyes behind large glasses taking in the ‘younger Ryuzaki’.

            “Since he closely resembles his brother, who was killed by Kira for his involvement with the Kira case, I believe he may be in danger,” Raito answered gravely.  Partly he also wanted to keep an eye on the raven boy.  He turned toward Beyond, and his demeanor softened.  “If you like, you can stay here, and we will try to keep you safe.  However, your disappearance from your home might be seen as a little suspicious and catch Kira’s attention, so…”

            “…I don’t know.  What would you suggest?”  ‘Rue’ was starting to sound like Near, and frankly, that annoyed Beyond.  He couldn’t let it show, however.

            “I honestly don’t know either.  Kira is very smart, and trying to beat his every move is exhausting.”  Raito rubbed his forehead.

            “Okay…can I think about it?”  That earned a smile from the task force commander.  “Sure.  If you like, you can spend the day with Misa, and then Matsuda can hang out with you around dinner.”

            “…Who’s Misa?” he asked, curiously.

            “Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention.  Amane Misa is my girlfriend, and yes, she’s also famous.”  Raito was somewhat pleased that Rue sent him a blank look.  ‘Finally, someone who doesn’t gush over Misa-Misa…I’m beginning to like this guy more and more.’  “She’s a model.”

            “Why can’t I go with Rue-kun and Misa-Misa?” Matsuda asked.  Raito rolled his eyes.

            His tone was condescending.  So either Matsuda had really ticked him off at the graveyard, or he normally had little patience for the enthusiastic guy.  Beyond was putting his money on the latter.  “At least for the morning, we need you working.  Besides, you’re supposed to be dead.  The only ones we think would notice died of heart attacks more than a month ago, but being seen in public with Misa could still cause problems.”

            Was that the blonde Kira Barbie doll?  That could be really bad…but then, he couldn’t think of a really good way to get out of it other than complain a little.  “Um.  Okay.  …can’t I just hang around here?  Or go back to my place and get homework done?”  Personally, Kira agreed with this sentiment, but he was ostensibly protecting Rue…and, more importantly, the student couldn’t be left alone.  As a depressed person who’d just had a breakdown and who apparently had a history of self-violence and suicidal tendencies, if something didn’t take his mind off the depression, he might very well , as his brother had worried, ‘do something stupid’.  Never mind the fact that he still had to be watched to make sure he didn’t try to learn anything he shouldn’t know.

            “You’ve been working yourself too hard…and yes, I know I’m the last person besides my predecessor that should be saying that…” he remarked, after a couple startled glances from his fellow task force members.  “Besides, it’s not like it’s all that obvious.  You’re hanging out with people who are mostly your age.  Or look your age, anyway,” he amended after a glance at ‘Matsui’.

            Rue sighed.  “Okay…”

 

            Beyond was beginning to wish he’d said ‘no’.  He didn’t care how suspicious it would’ve been.

            They’d arrived at the huge photo op/party thing, and the raven-haired boy twitched at the number of people within the room.  They were suffocating him slowly, a chaotic blend of overwhelming pouring over his bones, like acid slowly ripping the skin from his face.

            His visualizations were pretty violent, but then again, having this many people around him made his skin crawl.  The voices were much louder when he felt trapped by the crowd, and all he wanted to do was go hide in a corner, curl up, and sleep if he could avoid the nightmares.  His panic, as usual, was increasing his urge to hurt something, and he resorted to the old calming practice of biting the inside of his mouth hard.

            Misa didn’t help.

            For some reason, he could have tolerated her normally, annoying as she was.  Usually people with few brains and an aggravating streak drove him crazy, and he was most inclined to hurt those people if he ever did lose himself to the darkness.  Maybe it helped that he suspected that she was smarter than anyone, especially Light, thought.  Maybe the fact that she obviously drove her murdering boyfriend crazy endeared her to Beyond.  He frankly found the situation somewhat hilarious and had to keep the creepy graveyard laugh from escaping, no matter how much it wanted to.

            Not even the way she reacted to him the second time she saw him made him angry.  She looked at him, made a ‘cute kitten glare’, and asked in the most dangerous tone she knew, “So why did you bring the pervert back from the dead, Raito?”

            Light struggled to maintain his composure.  “Misa, this is Ryuzaki Rue.  He’s Ryuga’s brother.”

            “I see…” she answered slowly, staring above Beyond’s head, and for a moment he felt a brief period of panic.

            So, she’s the second Kira and she has the Eyes.  Okay.  Now, all I have to do is remain alive.  For now, that seems like a pretty easy thing to do, but the game may change at any time.

          It only further confirmed his suspicions that while he saw her name, he wasn’t able to see her death date.  The only other two he hadn’t been able to read were his own…and that of Light Yagami.  Since they were, ostensibly, borrowing the powers of a Shinigami, that wasn't altogether surprising.

            “Well, okay, if you’re Raito’s friend, I guess I can forgive you for looking like your brother.  Now, how about having some fun?  Unlike that creepy Ryuga, I can see you totally fitting in here, ‘Rue’…”  The slightest of warnings.  She knew that wasn’t his real name.  For once, Light didn’t seem to catch that bit.  She was smarter than she looked…and stronger than he thought?  Maybe.  She might look harmless, but people had died…somehow…by her hand, so that wasn’t entirely true.  She, like so many, was capable of murder if it came to it.  She really was somewhat nice to him, introducing him to everybody and looking after his needs pretty well (even though he didn’t necessarily want or ask for the special service)…

            No, the thing that drove him crazy was how she went on and on about Light and how special he was…  He frankly caught his fingers several times itching on their own to reach out and strangle the words from her mouth.

            So instead he’d excused himself from the dance floor, walking with as much restraint as he could muster to avoid running out of a place with so many names and numbers, hiding himself within the bathroom.  He splashed cold water on his face, attempting to avoid hurting himself.  Anymore, he was skilled at hurting himself with anything he could get his hands on.  Even keys were an agony in his expert hands, and there were some days he longed for the pain.

            He stared at his reflection, the red-eyed man sneering back at him, as his mouth quirked into a dangerous smile. 

            I’m turning into a masochist, L.  Look at the blood on your hands.

            No demon-L appeared to mock him.  Even the voices were quiet for once, and the desperate peace in that solitary, darkened room seemed to be the most beautiful thing he’d ever experienced.  He wanted to be able to find that peace again if he had to.

            So this is why some people turn to religion.  I think.

            Moments later it was shattered by a high-pitched, cheerful voice.  “Oh Ruuueeeee!  Where did you go?  The party just collapsed without you!”

            “I wish it had…” Beyond muttered ironically to the dark, cold room.

            “Come on!”  Misa had somehow found the bravery to peek in-though if she’d seen anything, she would have slapped him, blamed him for it, and called him a pervert.  Upon seeing his dejected expression, she frowned.  “What’s wrong with Rue-kun?  Why’s he so sad?”  Her little hands settled on his, and with more strength than he would have imagined she pulled him outside, carefully steering him back toward the main room.  He grabbed her shoulders, stopping her.

            He took a deep breath.  “I just…there’s too many people.  It’s overwhelming.”

            “Come on, it’ll be okay.”  He still didn’t move, so she frowned again.  “If you begin having fun, you’ll forget all about that.  What’re you best at?  If nothing else, we can get a cute girl for you to hang out with,” she winked.

            He blushed and shrugged.  “I can’t dance, I can’t talk to people…quite frankly they scare me.”

            “Awwww, poor Rue-kun….” she muttered in a sing-songy voice.  “Oh, I know!  Can you sing?”

            He looked away, not wanting to talk about that.  He wasn’t here to stand out, and he definitely didn’t want to sing in front of so many people…all with names and numbers, all watching him…

            “Come on, you’ll be okay!  I’ll do karaoke with you if you want.  I’m not the best.  But you can make up for that, and anyway, it’s mostly for a laugh.  Seriously.”  Her enthusiasm and cheerfulness was really beginning to grate.

            “I don’t want….” he muttered, but her hands tightened reassuringly, this time on his arms.  “Don’t worry.  People don’t mind if you make a fool of yourself.  That’s what parties are all about.”

            So it was that Beyond Birthday found himself in front of a room of strangers holding a microphone, completely petrified.  Misa gave him an encouraging smile.  “Everyone, this is Ryuzaki Rue, a friend of Raito’s.  He’s a bit shy, but I still think he’s a pretty cool guy.  And he’s single, so…”

            A couple girls ‘oohed’ at that, and one of them fluttered her eyelashes at him.

            Seriously, he was this close to homicide.  She needed to stop.  Now.

            Someone called out, “Birthday Massacre!”  Beyond froze, feeling his blood stop circulating and crystallize.  That was too much irony to be a coincidence…

            Misa smiled at him, noticing his reaction.  “It’s a band.  They’re kinda gothic and dark and I think you’d like them.”  This coming from the girl who was dressing like a vampire…

            “Yeah, okay…” he shrugged, and she giggled.

            “You don’t have to sound like it’s torture!  I’ve been through that, and believe me, this isn’t that bad!”  Lightly, she squeezed his shoulder.

            Someone else yelled, “Yeah, I bet some of your stalkers can get pretty scary!”

            She grimaced.  “Don’t talk about it.  I think we’ll sing Always.  And let’s listen to it first so you have some idea of what you’re doing.”

            “That’s cheating!” someone else yelled, but they were soon tackled.  Maybe parties were fun if they turned into full-room battles.  He wouldn’t take part, as he couldn’t trust himself, but he’d probably sit and watch…like a gargoyle.

            He forgot about the battle between Beyond and Kira, L and Light.  He forgot about hurting people and about dying.  He lost himself in the music, let it swirl around him, enter his soul.  If Beyond Birthday could ever be described as happy, then here, singing somewhat dark lyrics with a crazy idol who apparently had a slightly dark, twisted mind and entertaining a huge group of people, he was happy.

 

            When Matsuda showed up to take over from Misa, he wasn’t ready for a huge group of people gathered around Rue Ryuzaki listening to his pure sweet voice fill the hall.  He didn’t recognize the song—he wasn’t very familiar with songs in English anyway—but it was still sad but beautiful, magical somehow.

            When he finished, the grey eyes with obsidian huge pupils blinked open, as if their owner was just waking up.  He looked a bit dazed.

            The crowd roared with approval.  There were calls for encore, and one dark girl with eyeliner and a spider shirt slipped up to the stage and planted a kiss upon Rue’s cheek.  He looked even more stunned, and Misa-Misa giggled playfully.

            He wasn’t close enough to hear Ryuzaki respond.  “Thanks, Ishimaru Aika.”  Or to notice when Misa’s eyes widened, staring at the L look-alike, calculating.  ‘She never told him her name…Does he have the Eyes?’

            He did, however, make his way through the crowd to gape like the rest of them at the marvel in their midst.  “Rue-kun!  You didn’t tell us you could sing!”  Now that he was no longer singing, the self-consciousness was back, and Ryuzaki shifted uncomfortably.

            “Uh…no…that’s because I’m not that good…”  He was slapped on the shoulder by Misa.

            “Don’t say that, Rue-kun!  You’re great.  Better than anyone here, and definitely better than your pervert brother.  Now…I guess this means I should call Raito, huh?  Yay!”  She practically bounded out of the room, cradling the pink phone in her hand.

            Beyond couldn’t help the shudder of apprehension, though for what he wasn’t quite sure…

 

            “So…where would you like to go to eat?  Do you read much, or watch movies?  There’s one that I’ve been wanting to see…Nightmare Detective…”  He looked hopefully at Rue with pleading doggy eyes.

            “Is that because it has to do with supernatural murders, or that one of the main characters is named Matsuda?...”  Rue asked, letting a small smile cross his lips.

            Matsui looked delighted, before realizing… “Um…wait, you shouldn’t know my name.”

            Beyond was distracted, though, no longer looking at the former police officer.  There was a little girl playing with a balloon on the other side of the street.  Her little dress was pink, as was her balloon, but it wasn’t these factors that disturbed him.  No, it was the issue with her numbers…He’d never figured out exactly what the weird symbols meant, but he knew that generally, the more, the better.  Her number was growing smaller by the minute.

            She’s so young, maybe five?  That’s a bit tragic…

          He wasn’t sure that he could watch.  Not again.  So he sped up, forcing Matsuda to try to keep up.  A Matsuda who was steadily growing more confused and a little bit suspicious.

            Despite himself, though, he couldn’t help but watch.  A slight wind tugged the balloon out of her hands, and it lazily drifted into the street.  Crying out in frustration, she followed it, reaching out as the string always stayed out of reach…

            The numbers were down to the single digits.  She was about to die.

            Suddenly Beyond couldn’t take it anymore, and ran in his funny way, arms pumping as he attempted to prevent catastrophe.

            He crashed into the little girl sending both of them flying into the space between cars, feeling the whoosh as something huge went past.  He craned his neck to see a huge semi truck keep going down the street, brakes now squealing in shock and protest.  He looked back at her to see a scared little girl begin to cry and scream in Japanese at him, beating her little fists on his chest.

            The numbers…they’re huge…I stopped a countdown…

            He heard feet run in their direction from across the street, but he no longer cared, heaving himself off the girl and stumbling to the sidewalk, pulling his legs to his chest and hugging them tightly as he began to rock himself back and forth, tears silently streaming down his cheeks.  What had he done?

            He heard adults, parents most probably, yelling at him, and a voice defend him, but their words were unimportant and faded like mist.  Eventually, even those sounds faded, and there was little sign that the outer world even existed until he felt a tap on the shoulder.

            “Are you okay, Rue-kun?” Matsuda asked sympathetically.  The boy had had a rough day.

            “I stopped the numbers.  I shouldn’t have stopped the numbers,” Beyond muttered, beginning to shake.  This was actual shock, not like the performance for Light earlier.

            “O-kay…”  Matsuda had no idea what Beyond was talking about, but guessed he’d had a breakdown of some kind.

            “I stopped the numbers…” It was a tone born from hysteria, creeping over him like Kira’s shadow had crept over the world.

            “Rue-kun, hey, it’s okay.  You did a great thing!  You saved that little girl!  The parents were mad, but they’re just stupid.  You were a hero.”  As usual, it appeared Matsuda had taken it upon himself to become the personal cheerleading squad for whatever cause he felt needed and deserved it, but Beyond wasn’t listening to a word of it.

            “She was supposed to die.  She was meant to die.  I just averted death…”  The fingers were clutching tight at the jeans he was wearing today until they were white from the pressure.

            He’d managed to catch Matsuda at exactly the right time when his brain was working perfectly and he could put all the pieces together, thoughtfully.  The former police officer knelt down in front, staring into the pupil-dominated eyes, turning a hazy red from all the tears.  “You think you know when people are going to die?”

            Beyond flinched.  He’d lost a piece.  This move was Light’s.  His tear-drowned eyes turned up toward Matsuda, lips trembling.  “I saved a life,” he repeated, wonderingly, still terrified.  “Was it wrong, to change that?  Are we supposed to ignore what the numbers say are supposed to happen?”

            For once, the fun-loving task force member was completely serious.  “You don’t understand what the numbers mean, exactly, do you Rue?”

            Grey eyes blinked, then he shook his head.

            “Then you can’t know whether they’re absolute, or whether we’re allowed to change them.  We don’t know the rules, so who says we’re meddling or not meddling by acting on what we…I mean you…know?  The rest of us don’t see the numbers, and can we affect the lifespan of someone through our actions?”  Somehow, logic was coming from the ‘stupid member’ of the taskforce.

            Matsuda Touta might end up being a valuable ally.  Slowly, the frozen black headed student nodded.

            “Then you’re allowed to extend or contract someone’s life.  And when you extend it, when you save their life, you get praised for being a hero, because it’s a good thing to do.”

            Beyond blinked again, then dove at Matsuda, hiding himself in his jacket, burying his head in the man’s chest as he cried, again, for the first time in a long time completely, honestly, feeling.