~Mello's POV~

"So, this is about where they were, huh? And they went straight ahead?" I interrogated, Matt nodding vigorously to each question. "Oh, alright. Come on. We'll hunt 'em down."

L perked up a bit at that, and I looked towards the direction in which B and {Y/N} had went.

B, you fucking ass... Where are you taking her? What's your motive, exactly?

"Mello," Matt mumbled, "Don't worry. We're gonna get her. And see what B's trying to do."

I pursed my lips together, not wanting to have a breakdown in front of both Matt and L. "Yeah. We're gonna get her back."

~{Y/N}'s POV~

"Mind if we take a break? We've been walking for a while now." I begged, my feet throbbing.

"Ah, yeah, I suppose we could take a while to rest." B agreed, and I cheered in relief, sitting against a large rock. B sat beside me, picking up a pebble and throwing it aside.

We sat in silence for a few moments before B spoke. "Why are you so hellbent on going to see the baby?"

I sighed, knowing that this topic would've come up eventually. "I just... It's a mother's instinct, I guess. Remember, I was a teen mom, basically. But I wanted to do my best as a mom. Leaving him with Mina wasn't exactly my best decision, but I wasn't gonna put my baby at risk for the Kira case. So if there's a way of at least saying goodbye, then I'm gonna do it."

"{Y/N}, have you ever seen Peter Pan?"

I cocked an eyebrow at the odd question, but nodded. "Uh, I grew up at Wammy's House. All we would watch at one point was Disney movies."

"Okay, so you know that quote? 'Never say goodbye, because goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting.' Well, maybe this isn't the best way to say goodbye. Because maybe it isn't goodbye."

"B..." I mumbled, "Somehow, you seem a lot less hostile than you're supposed to be."

"What do you mean by that?" He demanded, and I shrugged.

"When we met, you were kind of a dick. But you're like a child when you're being yourself," I explained, "What makes you act all high-and-mighty?"

B looked away from me and up at the sky. Not that there was anything to really look at besides the grey skyline. "Honestly, I don't know."

"Did something traumatic happen to you before you left Wammy's House? You had said earlier, 'Wammy's House delivers practical mental torture to its students. What did they do to you?"

"I was never given the L code, and I was always expected to fail. The whole world saw me as a copy. As long as L existed, I was the copy." He added, "That's not while I'm like this, however. I just hated Wammy's. You and the other two see it as home, sweet home. But that place... I hated being there."

In that moment, I felt bad for Beyond Birthday. A child, never given any hope at all to succeed, working day in and out to try and live up to the name of L.

Maybe that's what Mello had meant about becoming like him...

"This may be a bit personal," I continued, "But why did you kill those Los Angeles citizens?"

"Ah, that. It was a challenge for L. A way to try and provoke him. And he took it. I believe your husband described it as 'civil war within our home, sweet home' or something like that. Even if I hadn't killed them, they were fated to die at those times, on those days, anyways. Their deaths were inevitable."

"Oh," I expressed, finally understanding. "Is that what Mello meant by the 'I would've ended up just like you' thing? Because he didn't explain it to me at all."

B blushed and turned away. "N-no, not at all. That's more of a personal thing."

"You literally just poured your heart out to me about the killings, B."

"No, that other question's gonna be answered on another day, at another time. Come on. Let's get walking again." He said before standing up and dusting off his jeans.

I groaned and B reached out a hand to pull me up. I grabbed it and he hoisted me up, causing me to gape at him in surprise. "Uh, okay, you're a hell of a lot stronger than you look."

"I've killed 3 people, {Y/N}."

"That's true, I guess," I chuckled as we began walking again.

Maybe B isn't just a serial killer. He's quite docile, actually. Maybe he just needs someone that understands him.

We kept walking and talking about pointless things until my ears heard footsteps in the distance ahead of us. "B... Someone's here..." I whispered, and he immediately tensed up.

"Get behind me, now." He commanded, and I shook my head.

"It's fine. I can-..."

"Just do what I say!!" He whisper-yelled, and I obediently took a few steps behind him.

As the figure approached, I saw B's face go from guarded and prepared to fight, to vulnerable. I could hear his breathing go uneven and he started to shake. From fear, or from something else...

"N-no, it can't be..." He muttered under his breath, "P-please, God, no..."

Once the person was in view, B, who was still shaking immensely, lowered his hands and put them into his pockets.

"B..." I muttered unknowingly, surprised at his actions.

The other man, unlike B, was tall, and walked with grace and a smooth, friendly, approachable posture. He had short, white hair, and wore a black button-up shirt, with light blue jeans. His skin was pale, but slightly less than that of L and B. He was handsome, that was for sure.

Holy fucking shit. Who are you, and where have you been all my goddamn life? Is this Near from the future?

"Huh? B?" The man noticed, "What're you doing here?! Man, it's been forever!!"

"Hello, A," B mumbled in a monotone voice, comparable to L's. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, B, how've you been? I looked everywhere for you after Kira killed you, but I couldn't find you! Where've you been hiding?!"

"Nowhere, in particular." B responded with a glare, and I automatically felt a tension in the air that was somehow unexplainable.

"Uh, who's your friend?" A asked, and I stepped out from behind B and stretched my arm out to A.

"{Y/N} Keehl, nice to meet you." I introduced, shaking his hand, and he smiled.

"Ah, the infamous Mrs. Keehl. You're quite the firecracker, aren't you? I'm A. You might've heard of me at Wammy's House."

'The first child, A, was unable to handle the pressure of living up to L and took his own life...' Is what Mello's notebooks back home had said... But...

"Don't fall for his Pretty Boy act, {Y/N}. A, in his case, stands for asshole." B grunted, and I winced.

"B, come on, don't be like-!"

"B, you still haven't changed, huh?" A interrupted, and I gulped.

I feel like I'm invading a lover's quarrel or something...

"Shut up. You know nothing about me."

"You know, you said A is for 'asshole', but you should really check up on who's the asshole here."

Oh, my god. Too much tension here.

I turned to B, my face burning from blushing. He was biting his lip, and I could see that he was shaking of anger.

"Come on, {Y/N}, we don't have time to deal with this." He whispered, and A sighed.

"You know, if you'd just be mature about this, you and I wouldn't have to argue and bicker like children."

I walked to B, placing my hand in his pocket in order to hold his hand. I could feel that he was having some form of an anxiety attack, and I knew that he needed some form of comfort. "It's okay, B, let's go. Come on." I whispered, and that's when I heard a strangled sob escape from his throat.

"Y-you... Left me behind..." He managed to mumble, before taking his hand out of his pocket and running past A, who simply watched us run.

When we both ran out of breath, Beyond Birthday sat down on the floor, trying his utmost hardest not to cry. I sat beside him, patting his back awkwardly in an attempt to soothe him. However, he winced at my touch, causing me to stop immediately. "Ah, sorry, {Y/N}," he said as he realized, "It's just... I don't know."

"No, no, I understand. It's emotions. I get it. Hell, I get it more than anyone. It's anxiety, right?"

"No, not really. It's not anxiety, but A and I... We don't get along, exactly."

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "Hey, I grew up with Matt and Mello. It's cool. But hell, that was like a scene from a BL novel!!"

B's eyes went wide and he stared at me in alarm. "Did it?!"

I blushed, realized how rude that must've sounded to him. "Uh, y-yeah, sorry. Old otaku habit. I ship people and don't realize."

B's face flushed and he hid his head in his hands. "{Y/N}, you have no idea what happened, do you?! What Mello said, you have no clue what he meant?!"

"Eh? Ah, no. All he told me was that I'd find out soon."

"You poor, innocent girl. A and I, we're... Well, we used to be... A c-couple."

I blinked and stared at B with a shocked smile. "Huh?"

"D-don't make me say it again."

"You and A... You were a couple?!"

"Well, yes," he admitted, "But apparently I was the only one in the relationship that put in effort, since he ended up killing himself without even giving me a simple goodbye."

I hummed in realization as the pieces of the puzzle came forward. "Okay. Now things make sense. Is that why you were shaking earlier?"

"Shaking?" He echoed, and I nodded.

"Like, trembling. You didn't realize you were doing it?"

"N-no!! God!! He must've seen it, and now he's gonna know that something's up!"

"Well," I tried, "Maybe he didn't notice. Maybe he was too excited to see you."

"Ha! Excited? Please, {Y/N}. He has no feelings for me. He only cares about himself." B managed, and I sighed.

"It's gonna be okay. I promise. A just saw you for the first time in... God knows how long."

"Why do you think I challenged L? Left Wammy's House?! In my mind, L killed A. A couldn't take the pressure. So the murders, in my mind, were to avenge him, somehow. But... But..."

I stared at B, watching him on the verge of breaking down before slowly calming himself and standing up. "Whatever. I survived until January 21st, 2004 without him. And then I died, because of Kira. In a California prison."

"...Mello's notebooks say you attempted suicide, to make yourself the final BB, the final murder victim."

When B didn't respond, I felt tears pool in my eyes. "You really loved him, huh?"

He walked up to me and ruffled my hair, causing me to groan in annoyance of having to fix my hair. "Kid. I love the guy. But you and your husband have got something that A and I never had. An unbreakable trust."

That's... The nicest thing he's said so far about Mello and I.

"Why did Mello say that he would've ended up just like you, if A had already been dead? I didn't exactly kill myself, you know. Don't get me wrong, everyone's had their thoughts about it, but I don't remember being that bad."

"He meant the 'not being loved' kind of thing. He thought for sure you wouldn't have fallen for him. And look. Married with kids, years later."

I rolled my eyes and and a hand through my {H/C} hair. "If he hadn't been so goddamn stubborn, we wouldn't be arguing right now," I grumbled, "Although, surprisingly, this has been quite fun."

B cracked a full smile, showing his surprisingly bright and perfectly straight teeth. "Yeah, it has been."

~A's POV~

After B's outburst, it took me a while to build courage and follow them. When I finally found them, they were getting ready to start walking again.

"So? Ready to get back on track?" {Y/N} asked, and B nodded.

"The Shinigami Realm is still a ways ahead of us, so I suppose we should get going." He replied, and they began to walk a few seconds later.

B... Why're you taking her to the Shinigami Realm?

I know you don't do stuff like this normally, so what's your deal? You're planning something...

Sighing, I began to walk, too, trying to figure out what was going on, exactly.

This {Y/N} girl... She's already getting favours from B. He's gotta be planning something. And I'll be damned if I don't know what it is.

B, I love you. And I'm comin' for you.