Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited or just read this story! It means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter; it's the first actual interaction between Beyond and J that isn't a flashback.

To Killer-In-The-Making: She's a fun person to be friends with. She's based on a real person, who I was fortunate enough to get to know during the past couple months. Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

To Kyoki no Megami: Thank you for your review! I really appreciate that you think so. I hope you enjoy the new chapter, as well!

"Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose." —C.S. Lewis

It was a weekend, which meant that a large amount of the usual patients were out on passes with their families. While J did have doctor-ordered weekend passes, since she had no family or trusted friends that would be able to supervise her, so she was forced to stay on the unit. Although it was disappointing to have to stay while everyone else got to go, the nurses always did fun things to bring up the moods of the people stuck still in the hospital. Not only that, but the chocolate milk, muffins and cookies always came on weekends, which meant only the patients who had stayed would get them. It was a small thing, but in a place like this, one needed things to look forward to.

For most of the day, J had stayed in her room, reading in the windowsill as she always did. Never having liked listening to music through headphones, she instead elected to follow Eri's example and blast the music from them so that she could hear it without the earphones being in her ears. It had been a quiet day so far, as her roommate was gone on a day pass, and there were never any meetings with doctors or group therapy sessions on weekends. As much as she enjoyed the down time, it became tedious after a while. When she realized that she had to strain her eyes to be able to read, it finally occurred to her that it was starting to get dark. Preventing her eyes from being damaged further, she dog-eared the page she was on and set the book down on the window sill. J pulled herself out of her cocoon of blankets, swinging her legs down from the bed and onto the floor. She grabbed her iPod and her earphones, shoving them in her pocket. Not feeling like putting on her boots, she left her room with socked feet, arms crossed. Dinner would be arriving soon, so it seemed like a good idea to be prepared for it when it did.

Brown eyes scanned the common area, and although she denied it, she knew she was searching for Beyond. A quiet sigh escaped her lips when she didn't see him anywhere, and decided, however reluctantly, to take a seat on the couch where the TV was switched onto the news. For several minutes, she watched and listened to the headlines, before growing bored with them and pulling out her iPod. As much as she appreciated the connection to the outside world, she had never been a big fan of the news. J found that they brought up too many irrelevant topics, so she preferred to read about current world news herself, as she had the ability to scan through it and find what she needed to know. Scrolling through the thousands of songs on her music player, she finally decided on one that she wanted to hear and pressed the 'play' button. Although her attention was on the lyrics that were being sung, her eyes remained locked on the television screen, in case anything interesting came up.

So, when someone seemingly came out of nowhere and crouched beside her, she didn't notice their presence until they tugged on her earphones and pulled them out. J nearly jumped out of her skin, and whipped her head around to face the one who had scared her. Masking her surprise upon seeing who it was, she relaxed herself, letting her shoulders sink down again as she locked eyes with Beyond.

"I'd appreciate if you would show me where they keep the jam that you so kindly brought to me last night," he requested, his voice monotone as it always was. A small, amused smile tugged at the edges of J's lips, and she rolled her eyes; part of her had hoped for some sort of greeting or apology, but that would have been unlike Beyond. Of course he wanted the jam.

"Sure. Come on," she gestured for him to follow her as she stood from the couch and walked over to the cupboards in the kitchen. Opening one in particular, she moved some small cardboard boxes full of maple syrup and sugar to reveal two boxes filled with small packages of strawberry jam. J moved out of the way so that he could see, and gestured to them. "This is where they always are. I'd suggest pacing yourself, because they only get replaced every couple days, and I'm pretty sure they won't be expecting the entire supply to be decimated in one night," she teased, a small smile on her lips as she looked at him.

Beyond smirked slightly, gathering a handful of the packages and taking them back to the couch where they sat before. She followed him like a lost puppy, hating how happy she was to have him around again. Taking back her previous seat, she brought her legs up under her and sat cross-legged. Despite how long she'd imagined seeing him again, now that her fantasies were reality, she didn't know what to say.

"I wasn't aware that they allowed iPods in here," he commented, red eyes darting down to the device in her hand. It had been quite a while since he had had access to any form of technology, and it surprised him that it would be permitted in such a place.

J nodded. "Only the older ones that don't have cameras or Internet access."

"May I borrow it?" he questioned, still looking at it with interest before glancing up at her once more.

Nodding once more, she wrapped the earphones around it and handed it to the raven-haired man. "You can have it for the rest of the day, if you want. Just give it back before bedtime."

He nodded his thanks, rarely being one to vocalize such a useless sentiment. For several minutes, they sat in silence, and Beyond unwrapped the earphones and began to listen to the music. When J glanced over, it seemed to her as if he was searching for something on it, but simply dismissed it and returned to her thoughts. Unfortunately for her, those thoughts weren't exactly positive ones. She had hoped for…more than this. More of a reunion, rather than just making small talk about jam and iPods. She had missed him immensely, but she seriously doubted that he had felt the same.

When the silence had become more than she could take, she finally decided to break it with a comment of a more serious nature. "I was following your murders on the news. They were impressive."

He raised an eyebrow, turning his attention from the music player to her. "What gave me away? They didn't announce my name to the public."

"You told me some of your ideas for the unsolvable crime back at the orphanage. The crossword was one of them," she explained briefly, her brown eyes meeting his red ones.

"You didn't tell anyone," he stated, skillfully masking the slight surprise that he felt. Knowing her, he would have expected the woman to contact L or Watari immediately just to save B from hurting himself in the end.

"No, I didn't. Though, I almost did, once I had speculated what the end result would be." J sighed, crossing her arms once again. Her brow furrowed, and a wave of guilt overcame her; maybe if she had done something, he wouldn't have been so close to death.

"Why didn't you?" B inquired, genuinely curious. He had always been aware that J cared for him, so what would have held her back?

"It was too late. You miss a lot of details when all you see of the crimes are snip-its from the news. By the time I had figured it out, you had already set yourself on fire." Although she was skilled at hiding her emotions, she was not on the level of L or B; he could still tell by looking at her eyes that the memory pained her. He could relate.

He studied her silently for several seconds, trying to answer the question he was about to ask before it came out of his mouth. "Would you have told anyone if you had deduced it earlier?" Although he hoped for a 'yes', he wasn't sure what to expect. After all, he had disappeared for years. Perhaps things had changed with her since then.

"Yeah," she replied, not hesitating in the slightest. She had thought about it before, in great detail; she knew how important it was to him to finally defeat the detective, to beat him at his own game, but she would never have been able to live with herself if she let him kill himself to do it. "Sorry. I can live with not seeing you for years, but I can't live with you dying."

"So, you see why I never informed you about that part of the plan," he concluded, acting as if he had known she would give such a response all along. It was relieving to know that she hadn't changed her mind about him; his favorite toy was still right where he wanted her. Right where she belonged.

"Yeah. You're an idiot." She spoke confidently, smiling slightly at him.

A smirk played on Beyond's lips, and he leaned back against the back of his seat on the couch. "Of course. I had expected nothing less than an insult from you."

"I'm pretty predictable in that aspect," she commented playfully, smile widening into a knowing grin.

His gaze was unflinching as he made his next inquiry, bringing it up as nonchalantly as she had brought up his murders. "I've been reliably informed that you killed someone. Might you elaborate on the hearsay?"

She blinked, sighing again. "Where exactly did you hear that? You've been on room restriction for days, so it's not like anyone told you."

"I might've taken a quick look at the nurses' files."

"Of course you did." J pulled one of her legs up so that her knee was under her chin, and she turned away and leaned on it. "There isn't much to say about it. Do you remember X, my alter; the homicidal, psychotic one? He took over, and he killed a guy. It was nothing elaborate like yours. Simply a lapse of control."

"Is that so?" he hummed, watching her closely. She always made it so difficult for him to determine how she was feeling, and what she was thinking. That was why she interested him; that was what made her his absolute favorite. "Do you have them under control now?"

J was silent, still not looking at him. If she was being honest, she wasn't sure how to answer that. Deciding on a not-too-concrete reply, she finally spoke. "Mostly."

Just as she was about to bring up another question, the sound of the buzzing that accompanied the opening of the main doors captured both of the orphans' attention. Sitting up, J turned to face them, and watched Beyond do the same. Seconds later, the heavy metal doors swung open, and a patient J knew fairly well who went by the name Masaru walked inside, accompanied by his older brother. After a quick word with the nurses, his brother left, and Masaru started to walk over to his room. Before he was gone, the red-haired young woman offered a smile and sent a wave in his direction, both of which he returned seconds later. She felt a pan of jealousy towards the guy; he had been able to leave on a day pass, and he had only been here for six months. She had been here for almost two years, and hadn't left at all, with the exception of group walks once a week. With a sigh, she dismissed the feeling and turned back to face Beyond, who she now noticed was looking at her.

Now that he had her attention once more, he spoke, breaking the silence that had covered them like a blanket. "Considering the fact that I was not supposed to be moved for a substantially longer amount of time, and that you're also in this particular unit, I gather that this wasn't a coincidence."

J nodded, looking away as she considered the possibilities. "I agree. I just don't see why or how you would have been moved here. The only one I can think of who would and could is L, but he's dead." After several seconds of silence after her reply, the red-head wondered why she was not getting a response, so she turned to face the red-eyed man. What her glance revealed was that his gaze was focused sternly on the television, clouded with an emotion that she couldn't recognize. Quickly, she swung her head around to face the TV, and her eyes met it just in time to see a reporter talking about a series of unconnected heart attacks. She grew silent, and her lips formed a straight line as she thought about what this could mean. As if reading her mind, the reporter brought up the idea of there being a new Kira. The most troublesome aspect of this concept was that this time, those that were being killed were not criminals. They were regular people, both innocent and guilty alike. Which meant that absolutely anybody could be a target.

"You guys look intense," a nurse commented, walking over and promptly pressing the 'off' button on the television. "Sorry to interrupt you, but dinner's here, so I'm going to have to turn this off. You guys can watch it again afterwards." Returning to her nurse's station, she didn't hear J mutter about her perfect timing or see the glare that Beyond sent her.

Wordlessly, the two both stood up, retrieving their trays from the stack on the dinner cart. As they were two of the first to do so, they were awarded first pick of the seats at the tables. Deciding on the ones nearest to the couches and therefore the TV (just in case), they set down their trays and sat in their corresponding positions on the chairs in front of it.

They ate dinner in comfortable silence, not feeling the need to speak further as of yet. Soon after, they returned their trays to the dinner cart, and were about to return to their previous spots when the familiar buzz sounded again, and Eri came bounding through the doors, a large machine and some microphones in hand.

"I'M BACK, MY BITCHES. AND I BROUGHT KARAOKE." As soon as the nurses stopped giggling long enough to chastise her for swearing, the energetic girl simply grinned at them as if daring them to stop her, and went over to the TV to set up the karaoke machine. She set it down on the floor in front of it, before standing and turning to face J and Beyond.

"J, I expect you'll be singing with me," she stated forcefully, making it clear that she would simply not accept 'no' as an answer. Before turning away, her gaze fell on B, and she tilted her head to the side. "Who're y—OH! You're that guy! That guy!" She nodded to herself, seemingly proud to have remembered him from yesterday when she had seen him before. "I'm Eri," she introduced, before leaning in and examining his eyes. "Hey, are you a vampire?"

Beyond simply stared, a smirk on his lips as he looked down at her. Most people weren't blunt enough to ask such a question, but from what he had observed of her personality, he hadn't expected anything less. "Yes. I am a vampire." Of course, he wanted nothing more than to see if she would believe him.

And she did. She immediately jumped up with excitement, hands clasping together as she brought them up below her chin. "That's so cool! I've always wanted to meet a vampire. You should sing with us, too." And with that, she turned, finishing her task of setting up the machine. B looked to J, somewhat incredulous that her first friend since him was this girl.

"Is she… always like this?" he asked, eyes flickering back over to the young woman who was now humming and dancing along as she attached the cords to the TV.

"Yes," J answered with a grin, nodding definitively. "Always." She gestured for the raven-haired man to follow her, as she sat back down in her previous spot on the couch and waited for several minutes for Eri to figure out how to get it to work. Soon enough, it was up and running, and Eri was dramatically dancing around and singing to Sweet Caroline, even convincing one of the nurses to dance with her. It brought a grin to J's lips, and although Beyond was silent and expressionless, even he had to admit that the display was entertaining.

For several hours, the three of them took turns or all at once sang various songs, and none too quietly, either. It resulted in the nurses attempting many times to quiet them down, but even they got too tired of persisting and instead relaxed and let them have their fun. After all, it was a weekend, and almost no patients were there. At first, no one but Eri had been all that comfortable with the microphone; B refused to sing for the first half hour, and J only did so quietly. As time passed, however, everyone got more into it, and the night was filled with bad singing and extravagant, terrible dancing.

Soon enough, it came time for the nurses to announce that it was nearing bedtime. Eri gathered her scattered belongings and returned to their room, while J grabbed her towel and bathmat for the shower that she intended to have after bedtime. As she set them in her room and returned outside to make some tea, the red-head noticed Beyond taking another handful of jam packages, and she her lips curved upwards into a smile. Once her drink was finished, she was about to turn in for the night when a voice surprised her, almost causing her to spill her tea.

"Thank you." When J turned, she saw that the voice belonged to Beyond, who was holding out her iPod to her. She nodded and took it in her free hand.

"No problem. Goodnight, B." Turning to return into her room, she sent him a quick smile.

"Goodnight, J." He nodded at her, before leaving with his jam to go to his own space.

Flopping down on her bed, a genuinely content smile crept onto her lips. What had started out as the tedious beginning of an uneventful weekend had ended up being just what she had needed. One thing that kept coming back to her mind, however, was what she had seen on the news. Was there really a new Kira? J had been working on small cases that Watari (now Roger, after Watari's death) was sending her, but she hadn't yet worked on anything like this. Desperately, she wished that she could. She couldn't stand by and watch this happen again; she couldn't let people be sacrificed like they were before. And considering the fact that the previous Kira had killed even L, she knew that the successor who had taken over his place would need as much help as he or she could get. J wanted to offer that help, but she didn't know how she could. Perhaps, she decided, she would get in contact with Roger tomorrow.

Sighing, she sat up and untangled the mess of earphones that was attached to her iPod. Once she was satisfied, she plugged them into her ears and listened to the song that Beyond had played last, leaving it at the point he'd left it at.

"Out of tune, this tale of terror. The solemn tolling of the funeral bells. I want to know what's going on inside that pretty little head of yours, where everyday's a Bone Palace Ballet."

She smiled.

Extra – Late Nights With J and Eri: Ha.

"J." Eri's voice whispered, breaking the peaceful silence the unit very rarely experienced, except on weekends.

The redhead groaned, rolling over to face her. "What. It is the middle of the night, Eri."

"What if instead of laughing normally, people just said really loudly in a monotone voice; HA. HA. HA."

J blinked, considering the proposition. "…"

"HA. HA. HA."

"Eri. The nurses will come in."

"HA. HA. HA."

"…Or like this: OHOHOHOHOHOHO," J yodeled, voice high pitched.

"HEEEEE HEEEEEE." In J's opinion, Eri's voice sounded kind of like what you'd imagine the creepy children from horror movies to sound like.

"Honhonhon! Baguettes, Eiffel Tower! Oui oui oui, mon amie! SACRE BLEU!" J exclaimed in a heavy French accent, waving her arms around. She was getting into it now, and Eri was grinning.

Just as Eri opened her mouth to call out her next laugh, the nurse opened the door, looking in on the two of them with a blank expression.

"What are you guys even doing? Go to bed."