-:- My Autistic Brother -:-

Author: deunan4eva

Summary: At his young age, Nate River was mis-diagnosed. Bored, Mihael Keehl wants nothing to do with the boy who screams and bangs his head on the wall. But slowly, through a poetry journal Roger forces him to keep, Mello begins to see that Near may need more help then he lets on…

BeforeNote:

All-righty! I swear, if we hit more than 100 reviews on this story with this chapter, I'm gonna break my back writing two extra chapters EXTRA fast for you guys – you've all been so great the whole way through this story so far, and I'm also going to be posting this on deviantART, as well as a couple of other fics from here. But seriously, the support, encouragement and the stories that people have written in with to help with this story have all been so, so fantastic that I can't even begin to thank you. I haven't quite run out of ideas for this story, and I know where it's going, but I'm still not quite sure on the how I'm going to get there – that will pan out the more I write. ANYWAY! Thank you all – and, as promised, I've got a dedication to do…

Directed and written by M.…

A DeafMute productions…

In association with Sc[+]pe and Reflex Studies…

Original Death Note story by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata,

Dedicated to UprisingDevilDetectiveL,

Chapter 14 of My Autistic Brother.

-Mercy

"I walk beside you, but you may not see me. The strongest among you may not wear a crown." – Three Doors Down, "Citizen/Soldier"

Mello's Journal Entry #14

5/18/97 (May 18th, 1997)

-:-

If there is one thing I hate, it's all the testing and examining done at the Wammy House. Every couple of weeks there's a test to be done, revision and check-ups on all the could-be L's in training. There are lots of kids here at the Wammy House, but only about thirty in the program that Near and I are part of in the junior wing – there are a couple more in the senior wing that are also part of the program, but I don't know any of them. So we have to undergo lots of tests and interviews, some with Quillish Wammy himself or even with L – and this meant I had no way of getting to see Matt or getting in touch with Johanna. Luckily, though, today was Saturday, which was a test-and-study-free day. I woke up late, though, and peeked into Near's room, only to see that he was still asleep. So I left him, and headed straight towards Mrs Potts office – I was going to call Johanna first, and then go to Matt. As I headed down the hallways, I couldn't help but think back to a couple of days ago, when Dr Lenkov had come to check up on Near, and had told me about his daughter. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't realize who I was running straight into until I actually hit them. We both cried out in surprise and I stumbled back.

I looked up, only to see a tall, gangly guy who must have been in the senior wing of the orphanage, dressed entirely in black. I blinked, about to say something when I realized it wasn't who I thought it was – I thought I was looking at L, but it wasn't – L was in Kyoto still, wasn't he?

But the teenager standing in front of me was an exact copy of L – just a couple of years younger. His hair was exactly the same, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes…a dull brown – it took me a moment to realize they were coloured contact lenses – the coloured lenses hid the true colour of his eyes.

'Hey, watch it,' he said roughly, reaching down to retrieve the notebooks he'd dropped as we'd collided. I didn't know him – but he had to have been here for a while, seeing as he didn't seem like he didn't know his way around. I was still staring at him, marvelling at how well he resembled L, when he looked back up and glared at me.

'What?' he snapped, and I swallowed – what was I going to say? The phone and Mrs Potts fled from my mind – I was suddenly scared of this guy – this guy who looked so much like L, but, like…like a demon version of L. A bad L. An L on the dark side. Crap.

'Uh…' I started as he straightened up – it was then I realized that he stood with a bit of a hunch, not as much as L's but getting close to it. I took a step back – in honestly, this new L frightened me.

'I said, what are you looking at?' he said, a frowning slashing his pale face. I gulped, and suddenly, the frown vanished – in it's place was some sort of recognition. 'Wait a minute – you're that Mello kid, the one who ended up with the autistic boy in jail overnight.'

I couldn't do anything but nod – he didn't talk like L very much, but he had those same, unblinking eyes – yet he was more expressive. L hardly ever showed any expression other than his wide-eyed stare.

'You gotta realize, something like that could make that Near kid withdraw into himself – damage could be permanent.' The scary L-look-alike said matter-of-factly, and then seemed to realize that I was still staring – right at his eyes. He blinked and held out a long, pale hand, quite like L's, but this boys hand seemed to have a sinister shadow haunting it. 'Sorry. I'm B – Beyond, if you like.'

I shook his hand out of politeness. It was cold and it sent a chill up my arm – or I could just have a really, really good imagination.

'Um…okay, B,' I said, and then realized what a strange name it was. Why B? Why Beyond? Before I knew what I was doing, I was asking those very questions. Beyond suddenly threw his head back and laughed. It was a weird, genuine laugh, not at all forced, and he seemed to be honestly amused by my questions. It sent a tingle down my spine. An uncomfortable, fear-tinted tingle.

'Because I was the second one enrolled in the special Wammy program,' he said easily, his eyes becoming less hard and a bit friendlier. 'But they ditched those stupid letter titles a while back – before your time, kid.'

'I'm not a kid,' I shot back indignantly before I could stop myself – I just hate people calling me a kid. Beyond snorted.

'Sure you're not,' he nodded. 'And your real name's not actually Mihael, is it?' For a moment, his eyes seemed to be fixed somewhere over my head, and he stared there thoughtfully for a moment, before grinning slyly as I stepped back in shock – no one, I swear, no one, knew what my real name was other than me, Roger, Quillish and L. But now, this Beyond boy knew it, too.

'How did…how did you know?' I asked softly, and Beyond shook his head again, before reaching up a slender hand and ruffling my hair. It was a weird gesture, and he did it a bit robotically, as if it wasn't something he usually did, but he still ruffled my blonde hair before turning away.

'I know everyone's name, Mihael.' he said as he started to head back down the hallway he'd come from. 'A nasty curse, but a brilliant gift.'

'Don't call me that!' I said before I could keep my mouth shut, and Beyond turned back to look at me for a moment, his eyes almost a dull, dead brown colour, and then he smiled again, a bit lopsidedly, and nodded.

'Okay, Mello.' Then he walked away.

I wanted to call after him – ask him how he really knew my name – perhaps he'd been sneaking around the basement, too, or hacking the Wammy files, but there was something that definitely gave me the creeps about him. Not just his likeness of L in appearance, but his odd behaviour – he didn't act a lot like L or speak like him, and those contact lenses – I actually shuddered as I imagined what could be hidden behind them. I watched Beyond head down the hall and then turn off towards the senior dorms, and then I remembered why exactly I was heading this way in the first place. I forced my feet to go forward, heading towards Mrs Potts reception office. Something akin to fear gripped me as I got to the hallway where Beyond had turned into, and a glance down it let me see that Beyond was standing in front of one of the dorm doors, still carrying his notebooks, but the creepy thing was that he was staring right at me – but his lopsided smile had turned into a twisted, almost insane grin. Like he knew something I didn't.

I ducked past the hallway and broke into a run – a tingly, unwelcome feeling coming after me, telling me that Beyond was still watching me.

…

I got to Mrs Potts office and closed the door behind me – and it was then I realized that I was breathing hard. Mrs Potts raised her eyebrows at me from over his cup of tea.

'Something wrong, Mello?' she asked gently, and when she smiled, I was almost afraid that her smile would become twisted like Beyond's, but it didn't, and I let out a deep breath, slumping against the door.

'No, I'm okay,' I managed, telling myself to get my act together. I dug a hand into my jeans pocket and pulled out Johanna's phone number. 'Um…would I please be able to make a phone call?'

Mrs Potts gave me a strange look, but she set her cup down and got out of her seat, beckoning me over to her desk.

'I suppose so,' she said. 'You seem to be getting yourself into an awful lot of trouble and such these days, Mello – ' she paused, the phone in her hand. 'Are you sure you're all right?'

'Yeah,' I said, a little too quickly. Mrs Potts looked at me for a moment more, her eyebrows still raised, and then she sighed and handed me the phone.

'Okay,' she said, sounding resigned. 'Don't take too long.'

'I won't I said, and she went back over to her armchair and picked up the book she'd been reading when I'd come in, her tea cup in one hand. I headed into the reception part of her office, and checked to make sure no one else was around before dialling the number on the scrap of paper. After five rings, Johanna answered.

'Yo,'

'Jo – it's me, Mello,' I said, remembering at the last second that she didn't like being called by her full name.

'Hey! Mello – what's shakin', bacon?' she sounded okay – and from what I could hear she was out on the street.

'Well – you're never going to believe this,' I said, feeling the excitement from several days ago beginning to swell up in my chest again.

'What aren't I gonna believe, Mello?' she asked, and I grinned, even though I knew she couldn't see me.

'I found your brother – he's here, at the Wammy House.'

There was a moments pause, before her reply came.

'The what House?'

'Wammy. The orphanage that I live in.'

There was another pause, longer this time, and I could hear traffic and cars tooting their horns on her end of the line.

'My brother?' she asked.

'Yup.'

'In an orphanage?' her tone changed, sounding more angry.

'Uh-huh,' suddenly, I didn't like where this was going.

'Is he…is he okay? Does he know about me yet?'

'Not yet,' I said. 'But as soon as I'm off the phone, he'll know.'

Another pause, but this one was shorter. Then, there was a sniffle on the other end on the phone line.

'Uh…Jo?' I asked, and her voice seemed a little strained when she replied.

'It's…it's really Mail?' she asked, and I thought I heard her take a deep, shuddering breath – it suddenly struck me that she was crying.

'Yes. Why don't you come to the Wammy House?' I asked, trying to cheer her up. 'Roger would let you in – and I'm sure Matt would want to meet you.'

'Wait – who's Matt?' confusion in Johanna's voice made me realize me mistake.

'Huh? Oh – that's the name the Wammy House gave him when he came here. It's a taken name that seals our identity and our real names are kept on file. The only people supposed to know about our real names is ourselves, Roger and a couple of the other staff.' I stopped myself before I spilt anything about L, just in case.

'Right,' Johanna said. 'Well – sure. I'll come round on…uh, it Tuesday okay?'

There was a calender pinned the wall of the reception office, and I glanced at Tuesday the twenty-first. A blank date – nothing too spectacular happening.

'Yeah – that should be fine…I think. I'll check with Roger, but I'm pretty sure if you come in the afternoon after about two-thirty, you should be okay.' I said.

'Sweet,' Johanna said, and her voice seemed – more relaxed. 'I'll find you guys then.'

'We'll be waiting out the front gates for you,' I promised, even though I knew I still had to check it with Roger. 'I'll give you a call back when I've confirmed it with Roger.'

'Okay. Thanks so much, Mello,' I heard relief in her voice, and I smiled, feeling a victory rising in my chest. 'I'll see you then.'

'Okay – bye, Jo.'

'See ya, Mello.'

I ended the call and took the phone back to Mrs Potts, and then headed back into the hallway, glad to see that Beyond was nowhere in sight. I ran into Cameron about halfway towards the library, and she said she was returning a book, so she'd come with me. We went our separate ways after we got to the library – her to the return desk and me towards the back corner where the computers were tucked away.

I knew that even if Matt didn't believe me now, when Johanna came to see him, he'd believe me then. Nothing, I felt – not even that creep Beyond, could ruin the rest of my day.

- Mello

AfterNote:

This chapter also had another alternative path – one that didn't actually have Beyond appear at all, and for a long time I've been debating on whether or not to introduce him. But I finally decided to give him a go in this story – so I hope you've enjoyed this chapter – more coming soon!

– Mercy