Yep, another update. And I'm already a little ways into Chapter 11, since I was going to include the first scene of it at the end of this chapter, but it would have ended up being way too long and will just fit better in the next chapter. So, yeah. This one is done sooner than I expected it, actually.
I'm glad I managed to finish this one early since I actually need to get a few hours of sleep tonight if at all possible. So... yay!
Review reply time! yvonna
XxMichyBabyxX: Thanks, I'm quite glad you think so :) I'll eventually cover why she doesn't have a real name in this, but it's not as though it's a huge deal to the plot. She was born outside of a hospital and ended up in a pretty rundown orphanage that never got around to filling papers out for a few kids there. As far as how she picked this name, just flipping through books and finding one that appealed to her. In her case, the book was Wuthering Heights, she only changed the spelling a bit to make it her own.
SasoLOVE111: Thanks! :D And how's this for sooner? Not quite two days. Granted I used to update the original version once a day, but I've kinda gotta work myself back towards doing that again...
Now onto teh story stuffs!
Disclaimer: I no own Death Notes. Sad day for Comma.
Warnings: Nicotine withdrawal. That's something that always merits a warning.
Quoteyness:
This sort of work was more Pat's area of expertise than hers—he had already sent her a few text messages asking if he could possibly help with the cameras. L had refused on the grounds that he would be more likely to wire them back to the house Katherine had been staying in with them, and Pat had argued—to no avail—that he was going to do that regardless of whether he helped set them up or not.
"Nevertheless," L said, "the police will be setting up the cameras, and it is doubtful they will want his help."
Katherine nodded in agreement. "I tried telling him that. He's just being stubborn. Don't be surprised if we somehow end up with a few extra cameras in Aoyama, I wouldn't put it past him to go through after the police and set more up."
A sudden, rather unsettling feeling of being watched overcame L after having spent around thirty minutes with the laptop to get an estimate on the death toll at this point of the investigation. It was completely inexplicable—he had grown used to the concept of being watched since he had come to terms with the fact that every hotel room he had been in since nearly the beginning of the investigation had been lined with cameras and bugs, and this one probably was as well. He frowned before looking up from his laptop to find himself being glared at quite persistently.
That definitely explained it.
He looked back at his laptop. "Can I help you with something, Katherine-san?"
"It's May twelfth now," Katherine said, crossing her arms and taking a seat on the coffee table next to the laptop. "Nineteen days since he was spotted, nothing's happened. Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to figure it out myself?"
"You haven't asked about it again," L pointed out.
She frowned. He had a point, but…. "Then are you going to bother telling me anything?"
"The others will be back from Sakura TV soon." He took the coffee cup on the end table next to his chair. "It would be better to discuss it later."
"Fine…" she said, standing up and making her way back over to the sofa. She picked up some papers from her side of the table and began idly flipping through them. "What was sent this time?"
"Aside from the video, Yagami-san mentioned a piece of a diary."
"Diary?" Her brow furrowed. "Maybe there's another hidden message for Kira within it?"
"It seems likely," L agreed, setting the coffee down beside the laptop this time, "but it's impossible to come to any conclusion without seeing it. They should be back with it very shortly."
Katherine frowned. He always seemed so short with everyone. It was understandable, she guessed, given how much he had to think about; he was the mastermind behind this whole investigation, after all. It was just sort of awkward sitting in the same room as someone in complete silence for so long. At least the others would be back soon. She only seemed to get along with Matsuda, but at least there was someone to talk to. And starting arguments with Aizawa was sort of fun occasionally.
Having associated with such loud people for the better part of her life, this sort of silence just felt strange to Katherine, even unnatural. She quite hoped she wouldn't be left alone with L too often. She might feel encouraged to loosen him up a bit if she was… which, she supposed, could turn out to be fun if done properly.
She jumped when the door to the hotel room opened—she had been too lost in thought to hear the lock click beforehand—and looked over to see Aizawa and Yagami enter the room, the latter carrying with him an envelope, most likely containing both the diary entry and the newest tape from the second Kira. He crossed the room and handed it to L.
"I informed Light as we were leaving Sakura TV," Yagami said as L pulled a sheet of paper out of the envelope and held it by its top edge a short distance from his face, reading through it quickly. "Matsuda is waiting in the lobby to let him in." L handed the paper to Yagami. There was more of that annoying silence as the paper was passed throughout the room. Katherine received it after Aizawa and skimmed through it. The last entry stuck out the most, but it would be obvious to even an idiot what would happen if this were broadcast on television. While it was a page of a diary from May 2003, a year ago now, there was no doubt it was referring to the current month.
The thirty-first, "We confirmed our Shinigami at the Giants game at the Tokyo Dome," would no doubt cause the cancellation of that very game this year, rendering that entry useless, but…
There were three other locations on the page; one on a date that had already passed, and was therefore probably nothing to be concerned with. The others—Aoyama on the twenty-second, Shibuya on the twenty-fourth—could be important. And for Aoyama, the entry even went as far as to mention notebooks. No one else on the investigation team but Light would recognize this as a clue from the second Kira, but it was there, clear as a bell for Katherine. They would probably examine both Aoyama on the twenty-second and Shibuya on the twenty-fourth as they were mentioned locations, but no one else would recognize the importance of the Aoyama entry.
Katherine frowned at the Aoyama entry again before retrieving her cell phone from her pocket, opening her fairly small list of contacts to find Don's number, and typing out a quick text message to him:
"Where was that club where Pat met that blond Japanese chick last year who ended up doing modeling later on and getting semi-famous?"
She shut her phone and pocketed it again. Blue Note had been the club in question, she was quite sure of that. The girl had been Misa, who had instantly decided upon meeting Katherine that they were best friends, much to Katherine's distaste. Misa would still text or call her occasionally, and she was definitely a Kira supporter, but that wasn't what she was concerned with—Misa was as much as suspect right now as any other Kira supporter out there; there was an alarming number of them, and the numbers were only growing every day from the way things seemed.
No, Katherine was only interested in finding out where Blue Note was. She had been there once and hadn't enjoyed it very much—which admittedly could have been in part due to Misa's presence there—so she hadn't been inclined to remember much about it. If it was in Aoyama, however, then that could be quite an interesting lead. Perhaps the second Kira wished to meet Kira in Blue Note. It wasn't a bad idea, all things considered. Such a place would be crowded, noisy, and they wouldn't have to worry about anyone bothering them. It was quite an ideal situation, more so even than them only meeting in private. However, if the second Kira had thought of it, then they had to realize the risk of leaving any clue, and would probably try to avoid the club, hiding out in a building near the club and watching for suspicious individuals heading into it.
Nevertheless, it seemed a possible lead… if Blue Note was in Aoyama. There was no telling when Don would actually get back to her. He tended to be averse to actually carrying a cell phone most of the time while at home, though he was more likely to than Al. Pat nearly always had him, but it was best just not to mention Misa to him—or any of his exes, for that matter… though he and Misa had never honestly dated. She had turned him down on more than one occasion, explaining her wishes to just remain friends, which was only more reason to just not mention her.
Katherine's phone buzzed inside her pocket—apparently she had been lucky enough to catch Don near his phone.
She wasn't lucky enough to get a serious reply, however.
"Did you really just wake me up for that?"
Katherine sighed, setting the paper down on the table—the other three were already discussing it and didn't notice her own silent investigation—and hitting the reply button to type another message. "Yes, I did, it's for the Kira case, now tell me. Was it Aoyama?" She shut her phone and shoved it back in her pocket again.
After a few minutes of waiting, she got the text she wanted. "It's in Aoyama, just looked it up. Apparently there's a concert there on the 22nd. Dunno if that helps, but it's right on the front of their website."
"Perfect," she whispered to herself, grinning. After texting a quick 'thanks' back, she waited for the next momentary silence to cut into the discussion the other three were having.
"I think the Aoyama entry might be important," she said. They looked at her in surprise. "'My friend and I showed off our notebooks in Aoyama' or something like that. I just checked with one of my coworkers," she said, holding up her phone, "and apparently there's a popular club in Aoyama called Blue Note. The entry is for the twenty-second, and apparently they're holding a concert or something on the twenty-second. That could also be a possible meeting place. An ideal meeting place, considering how crowded a club would get. No one would see two people meeting up there as strange."
"Isn't that jumping the gun a little?" Aizawa said uncertainly.
"Maybe," Katherine said, "but we probably should send someone to Aoyama on the twenty-second to scout out suspicious people anyway, so it'll just be another place to check. We haven't got many leads, have we?"
"No, we don't," L agreed, "which means this Blue Note and the area surrounding it is the best lead we have in Aoyama. For Shibuya, we would be best checking shopping centers—the entry mentions meeting a friend and buying winter clothes. We will still have to develop our strategy beforehand, and decide who will be going to both locations, and it would be a good idea to plant as many cameras as possible around both districts. It could turn out to be a waste of time, but it's safer to assume that the second Kira is more intelligent than he acts so we aren't caught off guard. We don't know if the other locations in the entry will be important, but assuming they are and not finding anything is better than assuming they aren't and missing an important opportunity."
Katherine's phone buzzed in her pocket again. She took it out and checked her new message quickly.
"Oh. That's what that was about then."
Sighing, Katherine stuffed the phone back in her pocket. That answered that question—they were definitely still putting up cameras and mics in the hotel suites.
They had gone on to discuss after Light got there their exact plans straight. They would air another message sometime after the next tape from the second Kira was aired, but before the twenty-second, agreeing to meet the second Kira. The group heading to Aoyama would include Light, Matsuda, and Katherine, and cameras would be planted over as much of Aoyama as possible beforehand, with quite as many undercover cops stationed there on that day as possible, provided the NPA agreed to it. They would pay particular attention to anyone suspicious around the vicinity of Blue Note in Aoyama, or anyone holding notebooks.
The same general plan was set for Shibuya, provided the second Kira didn't meet with Kira in Aoyama and announce this in another video between the twenty-second and twenty-fourth. There would be cameras, there would be undercover officers, and they would pay particular attention to shopping malls. As for the thirtieth, the Giants game would be cancel, with roadblocks all around the Tokyo Dome to lessen the public panic that entry would undoubtedly create.
Their plans were set. All that was left was to work out the smaller details. Katherine was frowning at the satellite view of Aoyama on Google maps as she and L attempted to work out where the cameras would be set up. She had never been great with maps. This sort of work was more Pat's area of expertise than hers—he had already sent her a few text messages asking if he could possibly help with the cameras. L had refused on the grounds that he would be more likely to wire them back to the house Katherine had been staying in with them, and Pat had argued—to no avail—that he was going to do that regardless of whether helped set them up or not.
"Nevertheless," L said, "the police will be setting up the cameras, and it is doubtful they will want his help."
Katherine nodded in agreement. "I tried telling him that. He's just being stubborn. Don't be surprised if we somehow end up with a few extra cameras in Aoyama, I wouldn't put it past him to go through after the police and set more up."
"Then why did he bother asking?" he said, tossing a glance at the cell phone Katherine was holding. It was quite obvious that L found the concept of cell phones extremely annoying for the most part. Katherine shrugged as she shut hers off.
"I don't know," she said. She shook her head. "I've known him for eight years and I still don't understand him." She pocketed her phone as it powered down and looked back up at the computer screen. "So that's where Blue Note is?" she said, looking at the map uncertainly. She had never been excellent with maps.
"Yes, according to this. Any glass front buildings near it would be ideal locations for cameras—the second Kira could wait inside any of them to scout out Kira. It is doubtful they would head immediately to this club unless they severely doubt the ability of the public to work out their clues, if the clue actually exists."
Katherine shrugged. "Speculation's all we've got right now." L gave a nod, silently examining the map.
This just wasn't going to do. Everyone else was asleep now, some by accident—Matsuda had fallen asleep idly looking through a stack of paperwork, which was therefore now on the floor next to the sofa, still in his hand—though most intentionally. Katherine didn't feel like sleeping yet, but she didn't really feel like being awake by herself with this insomniac, plotting her route through Aoyama in ten days' time.
She frowned, wishing she hadn't shut off her cell phone. At least being the go-between for Pat and L's argument a few minutes ago had been mildly entertaining. Things hadn't ever gotten boring back at that house with them, even with their own full-fledged investigation going on. Someone was always goofing off or acting ridiculous. And Al—he had been their equivalent to L, and while perhaps not as intelligent, he was at least better at working with others.
"So," Katherine said to L quite suddenly, "everyone is asleep now."
L glanced over at her. "That… would be a seemingly accurate observation," he agreed slowly. He wasn't entirely sure of why she felt the need to mention this, but he was learning from contact with the entire investigation team that it was sometimes better just to go along with things than question their purpose.
"You refused to explain what's going on with the situation with Al earlier," she said, "because the rest of the team might end up hearing about it when they came back." And the purpose of her previous statement had come forth without any unnecessary questioning. "They're all asleep now," she repeated. "So talk."
"The NPA hasn't made any nonnegotiable demands yet."
"None?"
"I've had to negotiate with them somewhat, but they have been mostly agreeable."
"Why are you even bothering?" L blinked owlishly at the computer screen in front of him at this before glancing back at her again. "It's not as though it's going to be avoidable. We're not going to catch Kira within the next few weeks, and I doubt the NPA is planning to give you much more than that. So what's the point?"
"We may be able to catch the second Kira before them," he said, "and they have made no demands for his name."
"Yet," Katherine said. "That'll be something else they think to ask for while you're prolonging it, just to make damn sure Kira can get him. Even most people who claim to be against Kira aren't any more, especially not with cases like Al's. He's the lead suspect in a string of brutal killings that spanned over a period of four, four and a half years, and he'd probably get the death penalty if he was put on trial anyway, so why not skip a step and just give him to Kira? That's how they'll be thinking. And just to be safe, just for insurance, they'll want his name. Drawing it out like this is only going to make everyone involved suffer. Knowing that it's going to happen is bad enough without being dragged out for this long, so what's the point? You say he's important to this investigation, but we've only gotten as far as you have in our investigation, no further. So why?"
"I would prefer, if I can, to avoid simply handing over the name and photograph of anyone to Kira, whether they are a criminal or only a suspect. I plan to hold off doing so for as long as possible. If the NPA continues to be cooperative, then we may very well catch Kira and the second Kira before they demand my approval to broadcast the photograph."
"You can't possibly be serious. Do you even know how unrealistic you're being?"
"This investigation has lost one person already. Losing anyone or anything else to Kira without making any attempt against the odds is out of the question. This," he added, indicating the computer suddenly, "is the route you will be taking through Aoyama in ten days. The directions will be printed out, and there will be time to memorize them. Whoever intends to lead the way will need to memorize them."
She decided against bothering to argue with his sudden subject change. L was obviously impossible to argue with, so trying any more would have been pointless. She simply nodded and looked over the map and the route drawn over it, only half-bothering to try understanding it. After a minute or so of this, she announced she was going to sleep and walked over to the free sofa to fall down upon it.
She wasn't sure if she would be able to sleep tonight without a cigarette, but she had been out for a few days and it was about to drive her mad, even more so than arguing with that damned insomniac was going to drive her mad. His point was a fairly justified one, if he honestly cared about the people working with him. She wasn't sure if she believed he did or not at this point. He might be worried about losing another number; or he might honestly be worried about losing a valuable comrade, might actually have seen Ukita as something like a friend. Either way, it seemed immature, though she knew just from watching the investigation for so long that L was fine with admitting he was immature and stubborn.
Katherine rolled over on the couch to stare at the backrest, wondering exactly how this would all play out. Was there honestly a chance of Al surviving? She shut her eyes tightly at the thought—even considering pondering over it was only making her withdrawal headache worse.
Now then. I need to get in a few hours of sleep, gotta get up early tomorrow. It's already 2:14 in the morning, so I bid the adieu...
HAH you thought I was going to leave without a word of the day. How foolish of you.
The word of the day is oblongata . Why? Because anatomical words amuse me.
Aaaaaand on that bombshell, I be hittin' the sack.