***Hello, everyone! I actually wrote this right after the last chapter because I was still on a roll writing. This is longer and hopefully provides some more information. A brief trigger warning: suicide is brought up in this chapter. You have been warned. I own nothing, and let's get going!

Chapter One: Your Son's Condition

Needless to say, L Lawliet wasn't quite what the Yagami family was expecting.

Dr. Kojima had called them for the final time to inform them that Light's new psychiatrist had arrived from England the following evening and requested to see them. If this would help Light at all, then they would gladly drop everything to come see who was probably their last resort. And once they saw him, they understood why he was considered a last resort.

"This is his family?" he asked Dr. Kojima, who had stuck around until the Yagami family arrived. She nodded. "His father Soichiro, his mother Sachiko, and his younger sister Sayu. They used to be able to visit him weekly until his condition progressed and he was unable to speak, for the most part," she said. Before she could be questioned any further, she retreated to her office.

L was already sitting in one of the waiting room chairs, and he motioned for the Yagami family to join him. Once they were sitting down, L got out his laptop.

"From what I was told over the phone, Light suffers from psychotic depression, a subset of manic depressive disorder. I was also emailed a copy of his medical record since his transfer to this institution two years ago, which I read through on the flight over," L said. He looked at the family across from him. "Is depression something that runs in his family?"

"It runs in my family, but only in moderate cases. We believed that Light had possibly inherited it at first, back when his symptoms first began to show," Soichiro said. "At seventeen years old," L added, typing more into the file in front of him.

"This reads that he visited multiple therapists around that time over the course of three years. He completed high school, but the following year, he had to stay in the hospital for one month following an attempt at suicide via overdose. During his stay, he didn't seem to get any help, and was transferred here," he paraphrased.

He was so monotonous about it, it almost seemed like he didn't care. But there was a certain insistence, a certain determination in his charcoal eyes that said otherwise.

"Anything you can do to help our son recover, we'll gladly help," Soichiro allowed. He knew all too well that he was most likely putting all of his eggs in one basket, but he had no other real choice.

"What was Light like before all of this?" L asked, putting his laptop away and putting his thumbnail in his mouth.

"Well, he certainly lived up to his name. When he was younger, he nearly always had a smile on his face. As he got older, he was always bright. He was at the top of his class and planned on joining his father in the police force after graduation. During his teenage years, he spent more time alone, but you can't blame that all on his condition," Sachiko recalled.

"Do you three have any photographs of him before he was incarcerated?" L inquired. Soichiro raised an eyebrow at that, but Sayu took out her wallet. "I have a picture from the night he graduated," she said.

L slipped the picture out of the wallet. Light and Sayu, both a bit younger, stood in front of a high school. Sayu's smile was genuine. Light's was forced. The pangs in L's heart as he saw another forced smile hiding pain still never ceased to hurt. L knew what that felt like all too well, and that was what gave him the drive he was known for in curing his patients.

"...may I have my things back?"

Sayu's voice snapped L out of his thoughts, and the raven-haired man gave back the wallet and photograph. Then, he stood up. "Thank you, everyone. I appreciate the insight into Light Yagami. Now, the only thing left is to see him for myself." And with that, he shuffled away.

"You're normally good at figuring out what people are like, Dad. Do you think he'll help?" Sayu asked. Indeed, Soichiro had developed a knack for reading people as a part of his occupation. But trying to deduce anything from those emotionless eyes was like trying to read a different language.

At last, Soichiro rested his hand on Sayu's back. "I hope so, sweetheart."

XxX

Whispered voices that weren't really there fed thoughts into Light's broken mind.

Thoughts of failure. Thoughts of worthlessness. Wondering why he hadn't been able to even off himself properly.

He didn't know if he was on another medication, or if he was thinking these things for himself. He didn't care to know. It wouldn't make a bit of difference.

The shadows of dimmed room moved around him, but he was immobile to defend himself against monsters that weren't really there. Or did he really just accept death so readily that his limbs felt like lead weights where he was sprawled in the corner of his room?

He didn't think he would ever know.

Until his door opened.

***Be sure to leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!