Glad people seem to like it so far. I'm been having fun researching for this story. Keep in mind that when L was a child, much less was known about autism than we what we know today. Enjoy the next part!


Lawliet was trapped. He'd been trying to crawl through the fence at the orphanage and become stuck halfway through. He rocked back and forth trying to loosen himself, but the bars rubbed his sides and hurt him. He began to moan in pain. Then someone was calling out behind him…

"L… L, it's all right."

Why was he calling him 'L?' Lawliet cried louder.

"Wake up, L. You're all right. Everything's fine."

L opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything, but he could feel hands on his shoulders. He didn't like it. He resumed his crying.

Watari turned on the table lamp. "You're perfectly safe here. We're at the hotel, remember?"

The four-year-old blinked his round grey eyes in the sudden light. "Go back," he said sleepily.

"I'm afraid you can't go back. But we'll be going on to America in the morning."

"Wanna go back!"

"Please, L, I've already told you—you can't go back. I told you many times over the last few weeks that I would be taking you away…"

"I want to go back!" L shrieked.

Watari was beginning to worry that the guests next door would hear the commotion and complain, but this was the best-constructed sentence he had ever heard L utter. "You know you weren't happy there either," he said quietly. "I want to help you become healthy and well-educated so you can live a good life. Some day you will understand."

"I want to go back I want to go back I want to go back," L chanted, bouncing a little on the bed.

Watari sighed. He hoped he could find a doctor in America who would know how he should begin trying to cure L. He knew that there was no known cure for autism, and that most people assumed that its victims would be at a disadvantage their entire lives, but he had also heard of isolated cases of patients showing improvement under intensive therapy. If there was any possibility of healing him—however slight—Watari would not give up.


Watari had the beginnings of his own dark circles under his eyes the next morning. L had cried several times during the night, and when Watari went to get him up to leave for the airport, L was sitting in a crouch against his headboard, as if he hadn't slept since Watari left him around 4 am.

"Here is a new suit to wear to the airport," Watari said, presenting a white button-down shirt, grey tie, suit pants and blazer.

L didn't move.

"Time to get up, L."

L's hands tightened on his flannel-clad knees. He muttered something to himself.

"What did you say?" Watari inquired.

L went on muttering.

Watari leaned closer to him so he could hear the muttering.

"Four times two is eight. Five times two is ten. Six times two is twelve."

Watari couldn't help smiling. "L," he said gently, "we can work on your times tables on the airplane. Now please, come and get dressed."

L still didn't move.

Watari took him by the arm and tugged him gently out of bed.

L began crying.

Watari unbuttoned L's pajamas, hoping no one would be upset by the noise of the crying youngster. He forced L's rigid arm through the sleeve of his new shirt.

"No, no, no!" L said, pulling his arm back.

"I want you to look nice when we go out in public, L."

"Want MY shirt!" L cried in distress.

"Your shirt is dirty from yesterday," Watari answered, even though he knew the orphanage volunteers had packed up several sets of L's favorite outfit for him before they left.

"I want my shirt!" L repeated. "I want my shirt I want my shirt I want my shirt…" his hands bobbed up and down in front of him, his clothed arm making the rest of the shirt flap on the floor.

Watari knelt in front of him. "I will offer you a compromise," he said. "If you can ask calmly and properly, I will allow you to wear the clothes you want to the airport."

L stopped his chanting and sniffled.

"We've been over how to ask politely for things," Watari prompted.

L scrubbed at his moist eyes with both hands. "Please."

"One word won't do in this case, L. Try to form a complete sentence."

"Want my shirt!" L tugged the sleeve of the button-down shirt off his arm and dropped it to the floor.

Watari clenched his fists. Don't do anything hasty. It's probably more panic than insubordination. "It may take some practice, but I know you can ask better than that. You must keep trying if you are ever to improve. L, ask me as nicely as you can."

L hunched over, rubbing his hands up and down his goose bump-covered arms.

Watari waited. And waited. He wondered if they would stand like that until they missed their plane. Then he heard L say in a soft chirp he had never heard before:

"My… may have please… my shirt? Please?" A tear slipped down the side of L's face and he took in a shuddering breath.

Watari relented immediately. "Yes, of course. I'll get it for you." He retrieved the long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of jeans from L's travel bag and brought them back to the shivering child.

L willingly put both hands into the shirt and let Watari pull it down over his head. Then he allowed his pajama pants to be changed for the jeans. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," Watari smiled. "Now, for your socks and shoes…"

"No socks and shoes."

"Don't be so stubborn, L."

"You said."

Watari blinked. "I don't recall saying you didn't have to wear socks and shoes…"

"You said. Clothes I want."

"So I did… but it's a bit dangerous to go out in public with bare feet. And it's cold out, too. If you will wear them to the airport, I'll let you take them off on the plane. All right?"

L was silent for some time, looking at the footwear Watari had laid out. "No socks," he said.

Watari considered. "All right. On this occasion I will let you wear shoes without socks. But if you do that often, you will develop blisters. So we will not make a habit of this. Understand?"

L nodded.

Watari wasn't sure whether or not L really understood, but he took the positive response as encouraging. "All right, now we have to hurry. We mustn't be late for our flight."

"Ring, ring," L said expectantly.

"Ring?"

"Brrrrrrrring!"

It suddenly occurred to Watari that L associated lateness with bells ringing. "No, there won't be any ringing…" He bent to help L with his shoes, but L had his own ideas. He toddled quickly from the room. "L—wait!"

A moment later, Watari found L trying to climb the small bookshelf to get at the little clock.

"Chirrr… chirrrrrrr…"

Watari smacked L's hand lightly with his fingertips and pulled L off the shelf.

"Uh—" L exclaimed.

Watari set L on the floor and turned him so they were facing each other.

"That hurt," L said, eyes wide.

"Yes," Watari answered, hoping he hadn't gone too far. "I know that you could fall off that shelf and get hurt very badly. So I inflicted a small amount of pain on you to teach you not to disobey. I told you yesterday not to climb on the furniture."

L scowled. There were no tears, and he didn't seem to be in any pain. He looked back at the clock.

"We can't stay around waiting for the clock to chime," Watari said. "We have a plane to catch."

L allowed himself to be taken back to his room and his shoes to be put on his feet. He watched mutely as Watari packed his suit away and gathered the rest of their things. But when they were about to leave the hotel suite, L tried to pull away again.

"Chirrrrr," he said, reaching back toward the shelf with the clock.

"It's time to go, L," Watari told him firmly.

"Chirrr, chirr!"

Watari dragged L through the door, pushing their luggage cart ahead of him.

"Wait," L cried. "Wait!" When Watari showed no signs of conceding, L's protests dissolved into unintelligible moaning.

Watari wondered whether he should bribe, threaten or reason with L. Perhaps he should just ignore him. Other hotel guests were beginning to peek out from behind their doors.

"L, please," Watari said as they waited at the desk to check out of the hotel, "don't be difficult. You'll like the plane…"

"Obviously he doesn't believe in discipline," Watari heard a woman tell her companion in a whisper just a little too loud.

Watari turned to face the woman who had spoken. He wanted to say so many things to her that his mind couldn't decide on a single thing. At last he said, "Madam, if your child had caught a cold, would you punish him for letting his throat get sore?"

Taken aback, the woman answered, "Well—of course not..."

"Neither shall I punish this child for displaying a symptom of his condition." Watari turned back to the counter and pointedly ignored the rest of the world.

L's moans died to quiet whimpering. When Watari took his hand, L did not try to pull away. They walked together to their waiting cab.


That's it, but I have another chapter almost done. Let me know how I'm doing. :)