A/N: Just a quick reminder - I am holding a fanart contest this summer, complete with prizes! The theme is 'opposites attract' and the deadline is July 1st. Details are in my profile.

It's been a long time since I've updated this, eh? No, I haven't abandoned this - I'm just incredibly lazy. Smut next chapter! Hope you all enjoy~~

--

The first time B met L he knew, intuitively, that it was meant to be.

--

Whether L meant more than Raye or the other way around, Beyond never got to learn. But the problem of Naomi's misgivings concerning were resolved quite neatly for the Wammy heir, regardless. Naomi and her soon-to-be husband's martial problems were put temporarily on hold, as Raye had been put on an assignment on Japan. Two days later after B and Naomi's encounter in the supermarket found Raye on board a flight bound for Tokyo.

"Japan, hm?"

Tonight marked the first night that B allowed Naomi to come to his abode. As it was a turning point in their relationship, he decided it was only fitting. Naomi took in the scuffed floor and the cobweb-swathed furniture without so much as a second glance. Beyond offered her a spot on the worn-looking loveseat, and she took it.

Beyond made strawberry margaritas. Usually such a feminine taste in alcohol would have surely invoked some snarky comment or another from Naomi. But she remained listless and immobile on the couch, a character development that became more and more the norm as the days dragged on between them.

This is getting boring, fast.

"That can only mean one thing, you know," Beyond said conversationally, setting the two mismatched glasses down on the coffee table between them. "He's been contracted by L to go after Kira."

Naomi didn't say anything.

"I wonder if he picked Raye on purpose," B wondered in an offhanded sort of way, as though he was honestly pondering the notion. In actuality he was trying to get a raise out of Naomi Misora. "Or if it was just luck of the draw."

And for the first time in several days, it actually worked. "L would never parade Raye in front of a supernatural serial killer on purpose!" Naomi snapped vehemently, and Beyond merely smiled, pleased that he had touched a nerve. "L doesn't have a vendetta against Raye! He's not petty like that."

Beyond lifted his good eyebrow at Naomi's furious outburst. "Obviously there's a story I'm missing here," he murmured silkily, lifting his glass to take a sip from it, "as I wasn't trying to insinuate that L was deliberately putting Raye in the line of fire in hopes of killing him. I was merely commenting on L's faith in Raye's skills as an FBI agent."

Naomi flushed. She had walked directly into that one.

"I've always had a niggling suspicious," Beyond said, smirking at her over the rim of his glass as he took another drink. "How about we trade stories, Naomi? Your affair with L for mine."

"Our agreement already was that you would tell me these things," Naomi commented darkly, glaring at him.

And there's that piss and vinegar I was actually starting to miss.

"I said I'd tell you what I knew about L," Beyond commented lazily. "I never said I'd disclose to you the details of my personal life. And since this part of his story is so intricately woven in mine, I'm not sure I'm willing to, ah, share, without a bit of persuasion first."

"So what was your whole speech about fighting and fucking him, then?" Naomi demanded.

"That was just me selling it to you," Beyond said, and as Naomi opened her mouth angrily again to protest, he quickly spoke over her. "Have I not been fulfilling my part of the bargain, Naomi? Haven't we gone over multiple facets that make up the entity known as L? I told you he was the first orphan to be taken in by Quilsh Wammy, who now operates under the alias of Watari. I told you he was born October 31st. I told you that he's a quarter Japanese. I told you that he prefers even numbers – prefers symmetry. That he likes blue more than red, but he likes red more than green." He finished his margarita and immediately reached for Naomi's as-of-yet untouched one. She immediately slapped his hand away.

"You're withholding things. You're supposed to tell me everything," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Did I say everything? Perhaps you should have read the fine print of our agreement before choosing to sign," Beyond jibed, and as Naomi was too busy fuming, he managed to snatch her glass away. "Sorry, Naomi. Some information costs extra."

"Were you planning this all along?" She asked, looking extraordinarily surly.

"Actually, no. But that was before you revealed to me that you really were sleeping with L." Beyond laughed at the outraged expression on her face, before reaching between the two of him and lying one hand on her arm. "So let's hear it, Naomi. Tell me everything."

--

It hadn't started out as a tryst. Naomi really did have pure intentions in mind when she agreed to take the job on – although later on, she couldn't say she attributed the same motive to L. Whether he had planned out their torrid love affair all along – calculated the percentages, played with the idea of probability – or things merely occurred out of happenstance, she would never precisely figure out. Even in having L, sweating and panting above her, she never broke any sort of barriers –because in the end, skin was still skin, a tangible barrier that effectively kept her out.

--

"Sneaky little devil, isn't he?" Beyond crowed fondly. "You know how the saying goes, Naomi. You always have to watch out for the quiet ones."

Naomi watched him warily and not without a touch of annoyance, waiting for Beyond to finish. When it became clear that he was through heckling her for the moment, she took a deep breath and continued.

--

One day, L called for a breather mid-fight and took Naomi aside to talk to her.

"While I appreciate the time you taking out of your schedule to do this for me, Naomi," he told her seriously. "At the rate we're progressing, we'll both be here forever."

Naomi frowned at that. "Ryuuzaki, it's customary for beginning students to take things slow—"

"Forgive me for interrupting, Misora-san," L interjected immediately. "But traditional methods and what have you don't really apply here, I'd like to think. You know who I am, and what I'm capable of. Let's fast-forward a bit, shall we?"

"Forgive me this time, Ryuuzaki," Naomi said this time, feeling a little annoyed with being criticized by the dark-haired man. "But I don't think you're ready yet." She reached down to retrieve her water-bottle at their feet.

"Then prove it."

Naomi stared at him, still bent half-way at the waist. L stared back.

Naomi unscrewed the cap of her bottle, taking a long, indulgent drink. Having been effectively talked down to, Naomi found L's confidence a little grating. "I'm not going to hold back," she promised, capping it again before tucking the bottle under her armpit.

"And neither will I," he responded in that same maddening, unaffected tone.

--

"Ooh, I bet you were pissed," Beyond cackled, looking delighted.

"A little bit," Naomi allowed, frowning. "Again, I'm not sure if I was falling directly into L's plan – if, in baiting me, he was setting me up for some larger scheme. I've always had trouble reading in-between the lines with L, especially at the beginning."

"Completely understandable," Beyond agreed, almost sympathetically. It was clear he was enraptured with the story thus far– elbows resting on his knees, leaning forward, keenly alert. "Please continue."

--

Naomi had every intention of teaching L a lesson– she was determined to show the genius that that he was outwitted here, outclassed in every sense of the word.

Losing might be good for him and his super-inflated ego, Naomi decided grimly as she took her stance.

Their difference in ability plainly showed – L lacked the elegance and prowess that took Naomi years of tutelage to achieve. But in what L didn't have in skill, he made up with ruthlessness. He wasn't lying when he said he wouldn't hold back either.

Brazilian martial arts were more showy than practical as a rule – still, there were plenty of moves that Naomi was pretty sure she could one-shot L with, if given the opportunity.

Unfortunately, L just wouldn't give her that opportunity. His defense lied in the fact that he kept her busy with close-quarters combat. If Naomi could just get away from him, she could study him more fully, analyze his weaknesses. But L seemed determined to keep her from straying too far – and Naomi had to hand it to him; it was not a bad strategy overall.

As the fight dragged on, Naomi started getting aggravated. Determined to end this quickly, their capoeira dissolved into grappling as all of the rules went flying out the window. Naomi thought she had him when she initially pinned L; he surprised her when the wiry man quickly wormed his way out of her grasp.

L was on his feet above her, and Naomi immediately realized her disadvantage. She made a grab for his legs, determined to pull him back down beside her, but L danced just out of the range of her swinging arms. He aimed a kick at her, which Naomi had to roll away from at the last second in order to avoid getting hit squarely in the throat. Naomi threw out both hands on either sides of her in an attempt to push herself off of the floor, but L was too quick. He swung one leg over her and pushed her back down again as all of his weight settled on the soft plush of her stomach.

There was a certain triumph in L's dark eyes as he pinned her to the floor. "I believe I have proven my point, Misora-san," he told her calmly. "Do you yield?"

"Of course not!" Naomi cried, seizing L by the ankles and vaulting him over backwards as she wrenched herself up into a sitting position. L landed, hard, on his back, and Naomi was not sorry in the slightest. Watching him sprawled out on the mats below her, chest heaving from exertion as he tried desperately to regain his breath, was immensely gratifying.

"Do you yield, L?" Naomi asked, her sweaty features alight with triumph.

"I suppose it would be in my best interests to do so," L offered at last, pushing back a fall of bangs from his face, "if I don't want any broken bones."

"Smart boy," Naomi said, smiling as she offered her hand for him to take. L gladly accepted such a gesture of sportsmanship, and she pulled him lightly to his feet. His hands were cold and clammy, and Naomi took a moment to consider whether she had ever touched him willingly before this moment. (His hug from behind in the subway station, Naomi had decided long ago, did not count.)

Justas she was pondering the notion, however, L covered her mouth with his own.

--

"Beyond, what are you doing?"

"Hormones and happenstance, hm?" Beyond asked thoughtfully, his mouth muffled by the delicate flesh of Naomi's neck. "No, that was definitely planned out, I'd say."

"Beyond!"

"Keep talking," Beyond encouraged, hands reaching up the undo the buttons on her navy blue peacoat. "I want you to tell me everything."

"This better not be your way of evading the question, Beyond!" Naomi hissed as the sleeves of her coat were pulled free. It fell as a heap onto the floor.

"Don't worry, I have every intention of fulfilling my half of the bargain, Naomi," Beyond assured her, pushing the dark fall of onyx-colored hair out of his way as he sought the hollow of her throat. "But you haven't finished your story, yet."

"But… I…" Naomi's resolve seemed to be wilting under the assault of B's mouth.

"C'mon, Naomi, don't be shy," Beyond cooed. "Don't you think of him when we kiss? Because I do."