***Hello, everyone! I just flew back home, and boy, are my arms tired. I own nothing but that bad joke, and let's go!
Chapter Five: Cause and Effect
Two weeks after Light had begun seeing a new therapist was far too soon for said therapist to make a house call. And yet, uninvited, L stood at the doorstep of the Yagami family home.
"Dr. Lawliet? Did Mom and Dad invite you over for dinner?" Sayu asked.
"No, but I've brought important news regarding your older brother. Is your father home?" L asked.
"He'll be home soon. My mom's home, though, and I'm here too. Is Light showing any signs of improvement?" Sayu left the other option unspoken, but the implication was certainly there.
L stepped inside, leaving his worn sneakers at the door. He saw Sachiko working on dinner. "He is, as a matter of fact," he said.
That was evidently new to both mother and daughter. Sachiko turned to L as if he were a miracle worker, and Sayu tightly held her mother's hand, beaming.
The identical stares were unnerving, but L kept talking. "It was slow, but it was certainly there. After two weeks, Light spoke for the first time since his incarceration," he explained. He made himself comfortable in his awkward crouch at an empty chair at the kitchen table, trying not to let the excitement from the women give him too much of a headache.
"What did he say?" Sachiko asked.
Three words. The three words that had come hoarsely from Light's mouth. That was why L was here.
"That's why I need to speak to your father."
XxX
L wound up having to stay through dinner. Although he didn't necessarily mind (he'd certainly had worse), he also was a busy man. That, and he could get impatient. But once they finished, L and Soichiro went upstairs to discuss matters in privacy.
They passed by a closed door. "Is this Light's room?" L inquired, his hand on the knob. "Yes," Soichiro said. So, L opened the door.
The bedroom looked just about as he expected. The bed was neatly made. Clothes were hung up in the open closet, khaki pants and button-ups a common choice of clothing. The nightstand and the silver watch on it seemed to be gathering dust, as did the various bookshelves. The desk had a laptop on it, as well as a few notebooks and a college textbook.
"We left everything as it was," Soichiro said. "He told me that someone was going to kill him," L said. At Soichiro's shocked expression, L met the older man's eyes.
"'He'll kill me'. That was all Light said. Given his condition, I'm unsurprised. That, and the circumstances all make sense. What Misa Amane told me also helps to support it," he said. He looked at the cover of Light's textbook, sitting at his desk. The title read that it was an introduction to criminal justice.
"At age eighteen, Light Yagami joins the NPA alongside his father. But Light, overeager and unaware of the damage doing so will have on his mental health, attempts to solve cases on his own over the course of approximately one year. He's met with multiple successes, and he becomes the young protégé. At age nineteen, he bites off more than he can chew, facing a criminal with murderous intent. The encounter sends him into a downward spiral, ultimately resulting in his incarceration. Does that sound about right?" L asked.
Soichiro sat on the bed, looking at the watch on the nightstand. "I was under the impression that Light was merely letting off steam when he spent nights alone in his room, or working on homework. I assured him, repeatedly, that he could step away whenever he chose to. He could decide what cases he wanted to be a part of. But he insisted on it. By the time I was aware of what was happening to my son, the damage was already done," he lamented.
"Even the mind of a genius can only take so much before it cracks. But luckily, your son isn't beyond curing. Whether or not whoever instilled this fear in him is imprisoned is a moot point. Light still believes that he's going to die," L explained.
He'd anticipated shock from the father nearby. But instead, he saw an expression of familiar sorrow. "At the last visit we had with him, he believed that he was going to be killed. His words were hardly clear, but I could tell that much. He begged to come home, before he was executed..." Soichiro recalled.
He removed his glasses and rubbed his face with a sigh. "Never did I feel like more of a traitor towards Light than when we had to leave."
L watched Soichiro intently. The last visit the Yagami family had been allowed to have was months ago. If Light's current medications and therapies still left him with this belief that was breaking his mind, then it was time to take things up to the next level.
L didn't want to.
Light's family had explicitly stated that they were against taking such measures. And, in hindsight, L could see why.
But if they were willing to do anything to get Light back, then the line would have to be crossed.
***Be sure to leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!