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Butterfly Caught	By : bacative Category: Death Note > Yaoi-Male/Male Views: 4344 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I am retroelectric and I do not own Death Note and its characters and I make no money off this.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
Butterfly Caught

Epilogue

Hi, I am retroelectric. I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

Beta read by Nilahxapiel.

Warning: AU.

Light stirred at seven in the morning when his alarm clock rang. He was still somewhat tired, but it was nothing a quick cup of coffee and shower wouldn't fix.

His arm flopped onto the side of bed that Beyond was always on, and instead of hitting the man's warm flesh as he usually did, he merely hit the soft covers, cold, which meant the man had left a while ago. Light was startled awake, rubbing his eyes, looking around for any traces of him.

Beyond would usually be standing at the edge of the bed—or at the entrance of the door, or simply lying there beside him with a book with a cigarette hanging in his mouth when Light had to wake up for work. He would greet him with a 'good morning', or if he was in his better moods, would actually wake him up with a kiss.

Light secretly enjoyed the ways he woke him up with—despite pretending that he was annoyed by it, because Beyond would simply placate him and pull him into an embrace. It always made him feel better to feel his arms around him and his improved mood was always brought with him to work as well.

But Beyond wasn't there. All the traces of him were gone, including the smell of cigarettes from the apartment and his clothes and things. He frowned.

When Light realised there was a letter on the side table and Beyond's neat scrawl on it, addressed to him, he grabbed it and pulled it open.

"Hello, Light.

If you're reading this, it would be best to assume I am dead.

This is not a suicide note, Light. You have to understand this before you continue.

If things have gone according to plan, I will have died in Bates Hotel today at 8 am, Floor 13, Room 13. You can figure out why I chose that particular location to die—I thought it was symbolic.

Maybe that's why I loved your name, Light.

It is 100% up to you to tell anyone who I was. I ask of you not to be rash, however, and consider the best for yourself, even with that damned justice driven mind of yours. Think of how your actions could benefit you, not slow you down.

The last thing I want my death to do is to slow you down.

Light, you are perfect.

I know what you're thinking, Light. If you were with me right now, you'd call me a bastard and be your usual righteous self and ask me to stop what I'm doing. You may not understand, but it is something I am obliged to do.

People like me were meant to die young. I know an analytical mind like yours would disprove of things like fate—and say that a person's life is self-determined and self-driven, but the fact that I was born with these supernatural eyes goes against that.

I can tell you what my eyes do, but the true horror has always been carried as a burden all by me. I'm perfectly fine being a horror myself, you already know this.

I am telling you the truth when I say I had to die before I hurt you any further. You of all people know what it would be like if I remained. We would have gone down a destructive path together and I would have corrupted you badly. You're such a good person that it would be horrible of me to do such.

It's not to say I have taken your feelings lightly. In fact, you're the only person whose feelings and thoughts I'll ever consider before my death.

I love you, Light. Hearing that you loved me too made my life complete.

You shouldn't be too sad or blame yourself for my death. You know I'm a bad person, I'll be better off dead.

The fact is, I am already at peace with myself and the fact that I'm going to end my life soon.

Remember the five things I wanted to do before I die, Light?

I wanted to live in a comfortable place, eat the best meal in my entire life, visit my big brother, make love to a beautiful woman, and blow my brains out.

Living with you was comfortable enough. I liked it, the fact that you came home to me, or I came home to you. It made things feel normal. I liked eating what you cooked for me, because there was at least some flavour and thought in what you made for me.

However, even someone like me would have difficulty accomplishing that entire list, because I haven't talked to my brother in years. His name is L Lawliet. The last I recalled, he became a professor at Wammy's House in England, which is where we received our formative education. Maybe he doesn't use that name anymore—but anyone who actually knows his real name would be rather noteworthy.

L isn't my real brother, as you could probably deduce.

I idolised him. He might have thought it was excessive, but I'm a very devoted person. You know this.

I'd like him to know that I'm dead. This is not out of spite. I still love my brother. You could do me a favour and inform him, but only if you're willing. This isn't a necessity. You are not obliged to do anything.

Even if so, I have prepared the set of instructions on how to get there should you want to do it.

I didn't need to make love to a beautiful woman because I had you, Light.

Don't be sad that I am dead. I'm not.

Go on and pick yourself up and don't cry over me. You've shed enough tears over me, enough to tell me how much of a monster I am. You don't have to waste more of your life over memories of me—enough is enough. You've told me that once, so you should start believing in that yourself.

Go to work and do what you're best at. Do what pleases you the most, don't let me get in your way.

I love you."

Light shook terribly as he held the letter in his fingers.

Beyond was dead.

The bastard hadn't even signed the letter off. But he supposed that was a rational thing to do, he was B after all, but still-

Light was numb, he had no idea what to think or do. It was 7.20 am now, if he rushed to Bates Hotel-

But that was impossible, because that hotel was on the other side of the city, and it would take an hour and thirty minutes at least to reach there with the traffic at this hour. By that time...it was nearly impossible to accomplish. Beyond had planned this, perhaps a bit too casually. What the fuck was he supposed to do once he got there? Light thought, cradle Beyond Birthday's dead, blood soaked body to himself and weep?

What was Light supposed to say? If anyone had known he had been harbouring a criminal, he would be charged. Light didn't want to ruin his perfect, clean record, no matter how close it was to his heart.

Beyond had made it obvious he wanted to die.

He had held him close last night after he had made love to him and made him laugh for the last time. That fact hurt.

After a long moment of staring at the paper, he shakily folded it and pretended he hadn't touched it. Light proceeded to get up and shower, changed into his usual clothes for work and had some coffee, trying not to let his hands tremble.

Nothing could change how cold he felt, though.

He walked past the letter on the bed again when he wanted to grab his keys and wallet and briefcase, part of him wanting to throw it away and never see it again-

Light was about to leave his house and do as he was obliged to every day, to simply not bother or think of it. He changed his mind at the last minute however, rushing back into the bedroom, grabbing the letter and stuffing it into his briefcase before driving towards work.

He stared at himself blankly in the rear-view mirror, feeling hollow when it flashed on the dashboard clock that it was 8 am, ignoring the strange twisting feeling in the bottom of his stomach. He managed to make it past the traffic, reaching work on time.

He was just that close to breaking down, but he didn't show it to anyone. Light wore his perfect mask of indifference, because what could he say? What could he do about it?

That he was hurting because his—male lover had left him forever and killed himself, and that person had been on the wanted list of criminals?

How would that reflect on him as a person in such a conservative society, as a detective? He was a police officer, for God's sakes. Light was supposed to be someone exemplary. In fact, he already was someone exemplary in most people's eyes. He was perfect.

Beyond had told him so.

Light tried to rid himself of unwanted thoughts and the ache in his heart. The NPA detective did his paperwork as usual for a closed case, ignoring the noise the others were making around him, sipping his coffee rather mechanically, putting not much thought in what he was doing.

He finished up the paperwork soon enough, saved the files and sent it to his superiors, opening his briefcase to take out another file. He started working again, to check on new leads for a next case before anyone asked him to, always the hard-worker.

He realised distractedly he had taken out Beyond's letter, staring at the piece of paper in his hands.

He trembled again, feeling cold.

He was going to cry again shamelessly if no one stopped him.

"Hey, Light-kun?" Matsuda's cheery voice sounded from behind, having not noticed his friend's expression, "It's a great feeling finishing the syndicate case, isn't it? I've completed three-quarters of my paperwork too, it feels awesome-"

"Is that so?" Light's voice was cracking, trembling and the paper crumpling in his hand.

"Yeah, hey, what's wrong with your voice?" Matsuda asked curiously, peeking around and actually seeing tears in Light's eyes. He'd never seen that before. The man's dark eyes widened.

"N-Nothing—I'm fine..."

Light looked away from Matsuda to try and mask his crying, but a choked, uncontrolled sob broke past his mouth and his shoulders began trembling.

Light had never cried in front of anyone other than Beyond. But that had been a completely different matter. Matsuda's eyes widened as the younger detective began to sob in front of him, tear drops falling from his pretty brown eyes and onto his shaking hands. Other people were beginning to turn around and look.

Matsuda felt horrible.

"Light-kun, you're not fine, you're crying-"

"P-Please get me away from here, will you?" A rather ashamed look was beginning to set in Light's face at breaking down in such a place, Matsuda thinking vaguely that Light had no need to be ashamed.

Light was capable of such emotion after all. He—really hadn't seen him with such a strong reaction before, besides anger, annoyance and occasionally happiness—never sadness.

A part of Matsuda even thought he looked beautiful in tears, but it was... tragic to think that.

Matsuda nodded quickly, obliging his friend and helped him stand up, quickly bringing Light to the corner of the building which was quiet and deserted for privacy. The younger man was still clinging onto the rumpled piece of paper in his hands.

Matsuda wondered what was written inside there. Was it a love note—or a goodbye note from Rue-san?

"There, sit down, Light-kun, calm down, what's happening?" Matsuda asked him kindly, pushing him down onto the chair looking at him sheepishly, concerned, taking out a packet of tissue from his pocket and handing it to Light.

"I-I don't know," Light muttered brokenly, hiccuping, wiping at his face.

"You can tell me, please, I-" Matsuda patted his shoulder, looking at him gently, "I don't like to see you sad. It makes me sad too."

"Matsuda-san, you're my only friend, aren't you?"

The look on Light's face was heartbreaking as he said it.

Matsuda nodded furiously. "Y-Yes, I am. I'm your friend, Light-kun."

"Then you wouldn't hate me if I told you everything?"

"Why should I hate you, Light-kun? Is it about Rue-san? I swear if he hurt you, I'll beat him up, I don't care how strong he is-" Matsuda said rather over-zealously, protective of his friend.

Light nodded shakily at the first part, though he seemed very affected at the mention of the name Rue-san which frankly made the older police officer panic. He covered his face, and Matsuda looked at him sympathetically.

Would it be inappropriate to hug him? Matsuda thought. He hadn't seen Light this torn up before over an ex-lover before, like Misa, and the two had even gotten engaged. But it had been, perhaps, very different this time, because Rue had been a man-

"Tell me, what did he do, Light-kun?"

Light's voice was choked. "H-He fucking went on and... d-died..."

Matsuda's eyes widened considerably.

"Rue-san's dead?"

"He-" Light whispered brokenly, "-He killed himself. This morning. He only left me this." He showed him the piece of paper, the letter with the spidery neat scrawl he had been clutching onto.

Matsuda read the first few sentences and got the gist of it but couldn't read the rest, because they seemed to be rather intimate, meant for Light—and he certainly had understood what had gone on between the two of them.

"I'm sorry, Light-kun," he whispered, leaning in and not caring for propriety at the moment and promptly pulled Light into a comforting embrace. "I'm really, really sorry-"

Matsuda continued to comfort him, hugging him tight, "-Light-kun should have called me from home and told me to come over to take care of you, you shouldn't have come to work, look at the state you're in, I'm sorry-"

"I-I couldn't just stay there!" Light nearly screamed, grasping and clutching onto Matsuda's shoulders, crying into his shirt. "Everything in there reminds me of him-!"

"Shh—shh, Light-kun, it's okay..." Matsuda couldn't help but feel extremely horrible, wondering what sort of person Rue had been to have caused Light such a strong reaction like this. But a death was always horrible, and especially if it was Light's loved one, especially if no one else knew of their relationship but him and Aizawa-

"And y-you wanna know something, Matsuda-san?" Light whispered, hiccuping badly, grasping onto Matsuda tight, "I'm the bastard who should be blamed, I'm the one who got myself in this mess—I knew what sort of person he was, and I still—still let him into my life..."

"Don't say that, Light-kun, you shouldn't regret anything... at least you loved him, didn't you?" Matsuda attempted to placate him.

"Y-Yeah, I did love him, I just told him yesterday, and he had to go and kill himself the next day-"

Matsuda could hardly believe the extent of the younger man's pain.

"You're my only friend, Matsuda-san," Light repeated shakily, trembling against him, "You won't tell anyone about this, will you?"

"No, never, I promise."

"Then you will never think badly of me, no matter what?"

Matsuda shook his head. "No, Light-kun is the best detective, best person and friend I've ever met."

"-Nonsense, I was never a good friend to you in the first place."

"But at least you tried, didn't you, Light-kun? For me as a friend... and a lover for your Rue-san?"

"I did, yeah." Light wiped his face, "He told me I could change him. I honestly thought I had."

"What about Rue-san did he need to change?" Matsuda asked him gently, "He—seemed like a good person, what's was wrong with him? He isn't a bad person, right? Maybe you could tell me, and I'll help you in any way I can."

"Rue-san... he-" Light swallowed, muttering thickly, forcing himself to say it.

"-He... was B."

Matsuda was stunned at the revelation. He wasn't sure he heard things right.

"W-What?"

"Don't—don't tell me that I've been stupid, Matsuda-san, I know I've been stupid, harbouring a criminal like him, I knew I could get into jail for it—" Light said, voice weak, "But I did it all the same because I wanted him."

Matsuda was shocked to silence, so he let him talk.

"I wanted him, he—he was as smart as me, he was fearless and everything I wished for in a companion," Light babbled almost incoherently, pressing his face into Matsuda's shirt, "He was—an amazing person, Matsuda-san, he was my best friend, something I never had, he knew me, even though he was a criminal, I just—I loved him, and-"

And then Matsuda could only how tragic Light's story was, and it brought tears to the older detective's eyes. He had always been the sort of person who could sympathise with people, and Light was no different—because he had trusted him enough as a friend to tell him something like this, and he saw for himself how heartbroken Light seemed.

...Even if the man Light had loved had turned out to be this murderer escaped from the mental hospital.

Light's every emotion was so sincere it was almost painful to watch. It made Matsuda so sad for him, and he could do nothing but offer him a friend's hug and comfort.

"Light-kun," Matsuda pulled away, looking at Light in the eye, saying fiercely, "I'll nevertell. No one will ever know. You can trust me on this."

"Thank you," he mumbled, "I don't know what I should do next, Matsuda-san. I feel so useless. For the first time in my life—I'm useless."

"Light-kun, you're young and smart, don't think like that. You can do anything you wish to do next, just don't-" Matsuda whispered, "-End up like Rue-san, please?"

Rue-san, who had been B, Light's lover. Matsuda was still reeling.

God, that was—Light was a detective, and B had been a murderer. It was hard to wrap around his head, but Matsuda hated to see his friend still sad.

"...Rue-san wouldn't have liked to see you suffer."

"Yeah, he wouldn't, but he still left me," Light responded bitterly. "...I want him back."

"At least you have all these memories of him, didn't you?"

"-Yeah. But memories are nothing-"

"He would have wanted you to go on with your life."

"...He did say that in the letter."

"See? He cared for you. I also don't want to see you being all sad."

Light didn't respond.

"Matsuda-san?" He gave a watery smile to Matsuda after a long moment.

"Hmm?"

"I think I want to quit being a detective."

"Ah, that's-" Matsuda's eyes widened. He took a moment, trying to sort through all of this information, giving an understanding nod. "That's... something you should do, if you want. I respect your decision. If staying is making you hurt, then you should stop."

"I don't know how my father will react to this."

"Don't worry, I won't let him know the real reason why. I swear to protect you, Light-kun."

"Thank you."

"It's nothing, it's the best I could do... as a friend," Matsuda said to him, giving him a reassuring smile. "What do you intend to do from now on, Light-kun?"

"I—think I'm going to meet B-san's brother. That—it means I'm leaving Japan to find him and tell him that B is dead. I'm obliged to."

"B has a brother?" Matsuda asked him quizzically, wondering how much Light knew about the criminal.

"Yes, he is—normal, though, B-san wrote. He is a professor in a gifted orphanage school in England."

"...Light-kun, you really are a good person, huh?"

"No, I'm not. Why would you say that?"

"You want to leave your job because you feel obliged to go halfway around the world and tell the brother of B that he is dead. I don't think someone like B would tell you that you were obliged to do that. You're doing it out of love for him. You're doing it out of the memory of him, aren't you?"

"What else could I do? I can't stay here," Light muttered, "There's nothing here for me anymore."

The two friends settled into a pensive silence.

"...Good luck, okay?"

"Thanks, Matsuda-san."

"You should go home now and pack. I'll tell Chief that you've fallen sick and you can come in and give the letter of resignation tomorrow. And please-" Matsuda looked at him pleadingly, "Don't do anything stupid. I'll call you again later, okay?"

In normal circumstances Light would have bit back and say he never did anything stupid, that it was a rather presumptuous statement coming from the older detective. But Light was still in shock, so he kept quiet, and nodded, getting up and left, giving Matsuda a final, watery smile.

He grabbed his things from his desk and left with his briefcase, still clutching his letter to himself, returning home.

Light had assumed he would remain a detective for a long while like his father, but now that he thought of it, he really wasn't cut out to live like that. He had held that possibility before—that he would marry Misa, his ex-fiancée, but things hadn't worked out as planned. Light wasn't meant to be a carbon copy of his father, even if he wanted to be, a normal life was out of the question after someone like B.

So that evening after much brooding and thought, he wrote his resignation letter, booked a one-way flight to England over the Internet, and packed his clothes and almost anything else that would fit into luggage in order to leave forever.

He called Sayu at six in the morning, his little sister who he hadn't called in a month, hearing her adorable, sleepy voice answer.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Sayu. It's Light. Listen, I'm about to leave town, I don't know when I'll be back. I'll mail you my house key and address so you can drop by anytime."

"Huh? Light, you want to leave town? I haven't seen you in a while, not since New Year's! I miss you-"

"I know, Sayu. I'm going to resign from my job and leave for England today. You can tell mother, but don't make her worry. Tell her I'm going overseas to find a new job."

"Light, what happened?" Her voice asked curiously.

"I'll explain someday."

"It isn't like you to do something as drastic as this... did something happen between you and dad?"

"No, it's something personal."

"Okay," He could practically hear her pout on the other line, "I can't even see you off to your flight? I could take the day off university today-"

"Please don't," Light said, berating her gently, "You need to do well in your exams, don't you?"

"As usual, you're so caring, big brother!"

"Yeah. Don't use my apartment for partying or anything of that sort, though. I won't allow it."

"Huh? What sort of person do you think I am, Light?"

"A good girl."

"Yep! Alright, I do want some answers, though, when you come back! Call me when you're in England, I can't imagine what you want to do there, but you can find a job anywhere and be great at it, you're amazing like that-"

"Yeah, I'll call you."

"I can visit you over there during my summer break, right?"

"Probably. I'll let you know," Light told her, reassuring her, "You're my sister after all."

"I can't wait!"

"I love you, Sayu. I'm going to work to hand in my resignation letter. Check your post for the key."

"I love you too, big brother! I'll see you again soon, have a nice flight, okay?"

"Yeah. Goodbye."

"Bye bye!"

He hung up the phone, sighing. He remembered being close to his sister when they were younger, but he had gotten the job in the NPA and moved out. He hardly found the time to be with her.

A few hours later, he was standing in front of the deputy director, handing his resignation letter in front of the older man.

"Please accept my resignation letter, sir." He had said, bowing respectfully, noticing the shocked expression the man wore.

"Yagami-san, this is rather sudden-"

"I know, sir."

"-Does your father know about this?"

"No, but-" He watched somewhat exasperatedly as the man began to pick up the phone and call his father's extension.

"Soichiro, come to my office now."

"Please don't make this a big deal, sir-"

"Yagami-san, if you think I will readily accept this without you explaining to your father or myself, you are sorely mistaken."

Light honestly didn't know how he could face his father after this. He gritted his teeth and schooled his features from impatience to indifference, standing there and waiting.

"Kitamura-san?" Soichiro's voice sounded, opening the door moments after, stepping inside and seeing Light, "What's going on?"

"Your son wants to quit his job." The deputy director clarified. Soichiro looked at his son confusedly.

"What-? Light, what's going on? Why would you want to do such a thing?" the man asked.

"Dad, I want to leave. I've already booked a ticket out of Japan. I want to explore new things, I-" Light was lying openly, "I've already told Sayu. She's going to have my apartment, it's closer to her school anyway. I'm leaving for England to find better job prospects, if you don't mind me saying. Being a detective is good, but I can't do this anymore. I can't do what you can, dad, I'm not like you. I won't be able to do this forever."

Soichiro was startled at Light's apparent honesty, but his son having these sort of thoughts frankly shocked him.

"Won't you please reconsider? You're still young, Light, of course you have thoughts like these."

"I've been considering this forever." Light was lying, but it wasn't like his father couldn't believe him. To his father, Light was a perfect son who never lied. "I'm leaving for the airport this afternoon."

"What's made you so hasty, Light?" His father asked, frowning.

"I need a new start in life, dad. Please allow me it."

Light was being so polite as usual, and after a moment, his father's eyes softened. Light didn't let himself recall what he had said in the office, because that was actually painful even though he still felt someone numb, then he was being let off and he left the building without further thought.

He collected his luggage from home and locked everything up and leaving for the airport. The flight would take 11 hours and 25 minutes. Even the thought made Light wince.

Light wondered morbidly if there would be an air collision when he felt the aeroplane land too sharply, shaken awake from his sleep. Wondered if it would be the end of him, with his mangled body and his leg stabbed open and ripped apart, ending up in the far corners of a piece of the metal aeroplane with his head torn away from his spine-

Wondered if Beyond would be glad to know he'd be joining him.

There was no such thing however, and he grimaced as he landed safely in a completely foreign place in a completely different time zone. He collected his luggage and took a taxi to a hotel, tiredly taking a shower and falling dead asleep on the soft hotel bed.

When he recovered from the jet lag, he decided to go out and discover the completely foreign continent. Everything was so different and beautiful that it was making him forget about Beyond -for a few moments, anyway. Light's spoken English was perfect save for a hint of an accent that most people couldn't even catch, because he had worked hard to not let it show too much. The time passed without much event, and he had a nice meal at a restaurant alone that afternoon.

He'd picked up the street directory of the foreign country and leafed through it afterwards, referencing the instructions from the letter Beyond had written, realising that Wammy's House was located somewhere pretty far off. Light would have to travel pretty far from London, so he checked out the first thing in the morning with his luggage, and took another taxi, telling the rather friendly driver where he was headed.

The driver, a friendly Scottish man commented that not many people asked to be sent to such a location to find a school he had, frankly, never heard of. Light had simply told him he wanted to find a person, and the man had nodded and started driving. Light had to strain his ears to sort through the man's thick accent as they chatted idly.

He reached his destination several hours later and he paid the man along with a large tip, walking up to the huge gates. Light found it open and walked right inside, pulling his luggage along, hearing a man speaking.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" It was a security guard approaching him.

"Hello, sir, this is the Wammy's House, am I correct?" Light asked him.

"Yes." The man was startled to be spoken to so formally.

"I'd like to find a man called L Lawliet, could you please help me? He's supposed to be a professor here."

The man looked at him quizzically. "You hold on."

The guard returned to his post and picked up his phone. "Roger? There's som'un at the gates who wants to find L Lawliet, I haven' the foggiest who tha' is, but the lad don' really look suspicious..."

"-Please show the person in to my office."

"A'right." Then, to Light, "Come right in, lad."

"Thanks."

Wammy's House looked like a humongous cathedral bathed in sunlight. Light hadn't had the chance to visit such a place before, and now that he was inside it, he was rather impressed at the structure. He noticed several children running about in the halls laughing, which meant that the place was really still a gifted orphanage school. He thought of a young Beyond walking through this halls and felt a faint sense of nostalgia wash over him, though he quickly stopped letting himself think of it.

He was shown inside a large room with a man sitting on the chair comfortably, smoking a pipe and looking very much a distinguished English gentleman. Light shook hands with him.

"Please, take a seat."

"Thank you." Light looked around, noticing the man's name was Roger Ruvie from the name card on the table and he was the principal of the school, if the title on the door was anything to go by.

"What's your name, might I ask?"

"I'm Light Yagami," he told him, "I'm here to find L Lawliet."

"There isn't such a person in this school," the man told him, "But the fact you know this name is rather interesting. How did you-?"

"Well, a man—a graduate of this school told me to find L Lawliet, who he said was a professor at Wammy's House. His name was Beyond Birthday."

"...Was?"

"Well, the person died recently," Light said, his voice controlled, "Beyond told me to come here and inform L Lawliet that his brother is dead."

"I see."

"Could you help me, please?" Light asked, almost pleadingly.

"There is no man named L Lawliet here, Mr Yagami," Roger responded after a while, "That man goes by a different name now, as far as I'm concerned. He is called Lind L. Tailor, and he still teaches in this very institution."

Light's eyes widened, his heart beating fast.

"May I see him? If there is no problem." Light spoke, not hiding the hope in his tone.

"There is no problem. However, I'd like to ask-who was Beyond Birthday?" The man asked, "I've never heard of a student in recent years named as such before. I'm afraid I've only come into this position around seven years ago, taking over the original principal of this school, so forgive me for asking."

"He was my lover," Light clarified honestly. "I'm obliged to tell the only association of Beyond that he has passed on."

"I see," Roger responded, nodding without much thought. The man hadn't responded negatively to the fact that Light was very much male and that Beyond was asl well. Light did suppose England was very different from Japan, after all.

Light thought there was an off chance he might possibly stay here for the rest of his life. People had been mostly kind to him so far.

The principal picked up the phone and called the man named L Lawliet, though he sighed when he put down the phone, shaking his head.

"Please forgive the professor, Mr. Yagami," he said, "He wants you to come to his classroom instead of coming here personally. He is rather eccentric and lazy. I'll escort you."

"That's fine, Mr. Ruvie." He watched Roger get up and take his cane, but Light quickly responded, standing up, "You don't have to exert yourself for my sake, please. You can tell me where the professor's classroom is, and I will go there myself."

"Yes, alright, thank you." He wrote down the instructions, "Please don't get lost. The campus is rather large."

Light thanked the man and took the instructions, and promptly left.

The principal had been right, however. The place was indeed a maze, and he thought perhaps he should have asked the man to show him the classroom. The directions were rather inadequate and Light was getting slightly frustrated, until he saw a blond boy who looked about fourteen sitting near a window, munching on a chocolate bar. Beside him was a red-headed boy with goggles on his head, playing a portable video game. Light wasted no time in approaching the students.

"Excuse me," Light asked rather politely, "I'm a stranger here, but I'd like to find this place. Could you help me?" He showed the piece of paper with the instructions Roger had written, watching as the blond boy snatched it out of his hand rather rudely, seizing him up.

Light thought the boy would have been cuter if he hadn't done that.

"What are you, isn't it a bit too late for someone of your age coming here?" the blond boy asked, in rather confrontational fashion.

"No, I won't be a student."

"Then... a new professor?" The blond boy glanced once at the instructions, "That's cool. Oh, that's Professor L's class. Just a floor up and third room on the right. Hey, what are you finding him for, huh?"

"I won't be a new professor, either," Light responded calmly. "And I have a personal family matter to inform him."

"Oh?" The blond boy blinked curiously.

"Oi, Mello, don't talk to him. He looks busy, c'mon, play this game with me, you idiot-"

"Don't call me idiot, Matt!" The blond boy yelled at the red-headed one, biting into his chocolate furiously, a fact which plainly amused Light, "I'm not going to play your stupid game, you haven't even reread that freakin' boring History essay for me, jeez-"

Light shook his head, muttering a thank you and left the two boys to squabble, going up to the place as the blond boy had instructed and rapped his knuckles twice on the door confidently.

He heard a muffled 'Come in' and entered the classroom.

The first thing Light did was to suppress a gasp, heart beginning to beat faster and his eyes widening when he saw familiar messy black hair from behind, talking to a child.

The white-haired short boy was curling his hair with his finger in an adorable manner, glancing at Light who had entered, nodding once politely in acknowledgement and listened to the professor talking.

"Near, I'd like for you to rewrite this and not use such terminologies for this essay. It is rather repetitive-" The professor was saying.

The boy had just nodded again, listening obediently. The man finally dismissed him after explaining the boy's mistake, patting the top of the albino child's head and giving him a chewy sweet from his bowl of them on his desk along with his paper.

"Go on, Near. I have to talk to Mr. Stranger."

Light was stunned. No, even that was an understatement.

Was that Beyond?

But that was impossible!

The strange man seemed to even sit like Beyond. What was going on? Did Beyond lie to him in the letter?

"Don't just stand there, Mr. Stranger," the professor said, speaking in a tone similar to Beyond's, monotonous and rather pleasant to his ears...but B's voice had been slightly deeper, with no accent. The man's back was turned to Light in that strange crouching position on the chair as he sifted through some papers. H picked one out that he had apparently been finding with his forefinger and thumb delicately, putting it on his desk.

He finally turned around, and Light saw for the first time that he had black eyes instead of red.

His face was eerily same as Beyond's as well, but slightly older, which meant he had to be in his early-thirties or so.

"-Come and take a seat."

Light was too shocked to move for a moment, before snapping himself out of it and walking towards him, holding out his hand. The professor shook his hand, peering at Light curiously.

"Nice to meet you, professor," Light had said, his voice slightly strained, taking the seat opposite him.

"Nice to meet you too. Your name?"

The resemblance was really uncanny, and Light waited for the man to stop pretending to not know him, to pull him into a hug, or a kiss or something-

"I'm Light Yagami." Light desperately wanted this strange man who looked eerily like Beyond to be Beyond.

He scratched his dark messy head with long pale fingers. He took out something from his pocket, saying to Light, "Open your hand up, please."

"Huh?"

Light was a little bit confused, but did as he was told, and saw that L had dropped a strawberry lollipop into his palm.

"That was my last lollipop, Mr. Yagami," he said, blinking owlishly, "And I do not give my lollipops to just anyone."

The randomness of the entire exchange made Light laugh softly. He quickly sobered up, though, remembering why he was here.

"It's good that you have laughed, Mr. Yagami. Please don't look sad."

That's because you look like Beyond, Light thought, fucking impostor-

He continued.

"...I am L."

Well then.

END
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