XLIII – Oh, My Fake God!


The following day, Light woke up searching the right half of his bed for Caterina. Once he became aware of it, he frowned and sat up. It was late in the morning and he could have used some physical interaction, but he was alone. She left him because of his ego, his superior attitude, but was it really that bad? His sister has been teasing him about it ever since primary school, but his intelligence was a good reason to act prideful. He ran his hands over his face a few times.

Turning into the Snake… Was that even possible? Light crawled out of his bed and dragged his feet to the bathroom. He had to study for the entrance exams and he had to schedule crimes for a few days ahead – he had no time to think about Caterina. As he was washing his face, he promised himself he will try to contact Caterina and ask her out again after the entrance exams, just for the sake of setting his mind at ease – he knew very well he will be busier than he currently was.

Light sighed and decided to go see what's going on downstairs. It was quiet, but his mother and his sister had to be up. However, he found a note on the table that his breakfast was in the fridge on a plate and that Sayu needed to buy herself a dress for a friend's 16th birthday. He knew Sayu has been whining about it for two weeks now, making a tragedy out of the idea of wearing one of her other ten dresses. She needed a new one because high school girls were vicious and probably kept a secret data base where they checked where everyone's dress was on sale, who created its design, and if the girl had ever been seen wearing it before.

Sighing, he placed his breakfast in the microwave and then took it upstairs to his room. There was no point in sitting at the table by himself in the kitchen.

'So you're finally up, huh?' Ryuk appeared through a wall.

"Where have you been?" Light set the plate on his desk and turned on the computer.

The shinigami sat on his bed. 'Nowhere.'

"You must have been somewhere," Light mumbled. He turned on his TV as well to watch the news as he ate his breakfast.

'Around,' it answered him just as vaguely. Ryuk seemed amused by their little game, but Light wasn't in the mood for that.

"You've seen something. What is it? Unless you want to go through this week without apples, you're going to tell me everything."

Frightened by the thought, the shinigami went closer to him. 'You don't mean that, right? I went to check on the surroundings. I saw Caterina with someone else.'

His focus changed from the TV to Ryuk. "Who?"

'A man,' the creature laughed. 'They were in a car early this morning.'

Light sighed. "Is that all you have to say?"

'Aren't you going to try to find out more?'

"She probably hopes that by exposing herself with another, she will get a reaction from me – remember that she found out that I've been using Midori. We're both prideful enough to want the other to come begging. I'm sure it's just a matter of time until she gets tired of whoever he is and returns to me. Besides, the age difference between her parents is exactly why her mother never had a word in anything – Caterina hated that. She'd never stay in a relationship with some man older than her."

Even if Ryuk didn't ask, he still explained himself. He needed to hear his reasoning said aloud in order to force himself to believe it because in truth, he knew there was a good possibility he might have lost her for good. The only girl he knew who wasn't impressed by his looks, but acknowledged them. She didn't care for his status as the son of the police chief, she didn't try to explain his way of thinking with stereotypes about policemen as fathers and the strict discipline everyone else expected to be dominant in their household. She valued his mind and his sense of justice – simply that.

Light searched on the web for the article from last night. He wanted to see if he had missed anyone, but to his surprise, the article had vanished. Even the link he had bookmarked was now broken. The username of the writer didn't seem to exist anymore either and the entire site had only errors to display. 'Article not found,' or 'Link broken,' or 'Incorrect penname.'

A bit confused, Light wrote down the penname and the site's address on an ordinary piece of paper and saved it for later. He left it in the cover of the Death Note, then began studying for the entrance exams. If his guess was correct, then the author of that article will appear again the next time an important event takes place.

For the rest of the day, Light kept studying different subjects. He had a strict schedule of alternating study time with breaks and with name writing, so he wouldn't tire his mind too much. He went down for lunch when his mother and his sister came back, then climbed back into his room.

'I'm bored,' Ryuk stated. 'All you do is read and write.'

"You're right…" Kira sighed. "I think I'll go for a walk." He changed his clothes with others a little warmer. The weather man said it will be colder tonight and he didn't want to freeze too badly, though the cold air will probably feel like a blessing for his brain.

Ignoring Ryuk was becoming more of a reflex rather than the manifestation of his will and somehow, Light was attentive enough to his surrounding to avoid possible accidents, but a complete airhead about anything else. He didn't even want to know what he kept thinking about, but his mind was flying high most of the time. The only time he'd become more present than a sleepwalker was if someone shouted something on the street, or a car honk took him by surprise.

Before he knew it, Light was in the economic center of the city. The flashing lights of the hotels and the restaurants were making him dizzy, just like the scents in the air. As different doors opened and closed, he could feel the scent of different foods, perfume, tobacco, alcohol breaths and many others he couldn't differentiate. His eyes were tearing up because of the harsh wind, or that's what he was telling himself. The parasites of the world were all around him – the rich who were corrupted by greed, and the poor corrupted by need.

At some point, when he felt himself being watched, Light turned to see Caterina in the door of a tall building. She was talking to a young woman who smoked, both of them holding their arms close around their own bodies. The smoker's hand was red from the cold, slowly turning purple with every passing minute. She didn't notice it, but Caterina was no longer listening to her. The Italian was staring at Light with an expression he couldn't possibly decode. She didn't look mad at him, so maybe she felt hurt? But she was the one who left him, so he was the hurt one.

Light raised his hand in a salute. He was hesitating, but when he saw her smiling in the corner of her mouth, he dared to walk closer. He smirked when he saw how Caterina's new friend had the same fashion sense as her mother and dyed her hair the same way.

"I'm sorry, can you excuse me?" she asked her. "I won't take long."

"Alright. Do you want me to tell him about this?" the woman asked in return.

Caterina was tempted to ask her to lie, but she nodded. "Sure. It's just a small talk with a colleague from school, he's got no reason to worry. Besides, there are cameras."

Once the blonde left them, Caterina turned her attention on Light. He was smirking, walking towards her until she felt the window behind her. A rush of excitement ran down her spine, but Caterina tried to pretend it was the cold and nothing else.

"I'm guessing you found out about her and this is your way to draw my attention that I've made a mistake," Light said in a soft voice, a little rusty. He didn't want to look like he cared about her, but it was obvious he did.

Caterina chuckled and tried to pretend she didn't care to know about him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"A class mate. I needed her to confirm an alibi – that was all. I've got rid of my problem, so how about we get back to your own?"

"Light, I'm taking care of myself." Caterina set one hand over his heart and pushed him away from her. "I'm waiting to see if one of them survived. Either way, I win – me, and those on my side."

"I'm still on your side, if you'll take me…" he took her hand from his chest and gave it a soft squeeze. "All I ask is that you come back by my side. We want the same thing, don't we?"

"Actually," she smiled, "I think I care more about the quality of my own life than the quality of billions of lives. A perfect world would be too boring for me, Light… I wouldn't fit in. You can try, but I'm going to fall with the rest of the rotten world."

Shocked, Light took her by the shoulders. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that everyone makes mistakes, Light!" She threw his hands off. "Even you – you'd be the only rotten one left, if you ever even win this pointless war. The Bible says that god already destroyed mankind once, aside from a single couple that's been judged as kind and honest. Evil is part of every man's very core. You can't change that… No matter how hard you try."

"But then… Do you suggest that I just step aside and let all of those vermin devour and plague our society further?!"

Caterina shook her head. "I don't suggest anything. You can go on, if you want, but be careful not to overdo it. You see… the world is fine the way it is. There's light and there's darkness; there's good and then there's evil. It's all in balance and this way, everyone can survive."

Kira frowned. "What do you mean? You don't usually talk this way. Something must have happened."

She looked away. "You do remember the Snake's last attempt to torture Padre and I, right?" When Light nodded, she went on. "One of his guards had been trying to turn his life around. He believed in you so badly, he praised you like a real god. He's been shot last night after he helped me escape and all he could do is beg a fake god to save his soul. You're going too far, Kira…" she whispered the last part. "Much too far."

"There are maniacs everywhere-!"

"There are forums and websites that claim you're a god, and you know it. You've showed these sites to me yourself. You encouraged this internet movement, but it's time to make it stop. People are dying because of this fake image you're promoting. It's pointless and plain cruel."

Light began to laugh. "But I'm not the one who shot him. He helped you out, right? You're more guilty of his death than I am."

"You just don't get it, do you?" she snapped. "He planned everything that way, well aware he would be risking his life. He died begging Kira to save him!"

Light shrugged. "Too bad! What can I say? His time must have been up, anyway. I'm just glad we met."

She sighed heavily. "You're just as immature and self-centered as you were before."

"So now I'm immature?" he laughed. "I wasn't too immature for you when you were clinging to me and calling my name."

Caterina slapped him again. "Listen to yourself. You're beyond rude!"

His eyes darkened and he suddenly caught her wrists. "If you dare slap me again…!"

"What are you going to do? Let go of me already! There are cameras watching us and I doubt your father will be too proud of you now."

"What I do is my problem, not his. I won't tolerate that attitude from you!"

Caterina freed her hands. "Then, we're even. I should have known you would go that way. I should have listened to Padre long ago. You'll never know what to do with power because you've never had it before. The first taste is intoxicating if you're old enough to remember it, and for you, it will be your downfall. I tried to open your eyes, but you're not blind – you're ignorant, which is worse."

Scared this time he was really losing her for good, Light grabbed her by her hips and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Caterina… Please. Come on, let's start all over. We can talk these things through as we go, we'll find a way to meet in the middle."

She felt her heart breaking. It was the same trick she knew he was going to use, but that didn't make it any easier to walk away. "Please don't…! You're not going to change. You let me go once, you'll do it again. Don't try to act like you won't."

"That was a mistake! It took me too long," he mumbled by her ear, "I didn't see which way you went. I'm sorry, I never expected that. Come on, let's go back home. We'll figure things out, and we can help each other through. It'll be like in the beginning. We'll take over the world, turn our dreams into reality."

"Light…" she mumbled, letting her hands over his, "Your secret is safe with me. I'll take it to the grave, don't worry." Caterina threw his hands off and walked back inside, nodding towards him in front of the security guards.

"What?! But it's not just that! Caterina? Listen to me!" Light watched her walking away through the glass doors. He wanted to punch someone in the face and those guards around him looked perfect for that, but he decided a scene would only make it worse. Instead, he turned around, sighed and dragged his feet away by himself. He glared when one of the guards tried to lead him away. "I can walk on my own."

Light turned to look back once he was at the corner of the street and saw that building was the headquarters of the Yotsuba Group corporation. It was obvious to him that Caterina must have found some rich bastard to solve her problems with the mafia and keep her in a palace for the rest of her life, something like a golden cage. He was angry and disappointed, so he decided to take the long way home. This way, by the time his family will see him, he will be a little calmer.

At the same time, Caterina went up to the eighth floor. She wanted to cry, but couldn't let herself be seen by others. People talk, and when they don't know, they invent reasons and make up possible situations. She didn't need them coming up with rumors about her or about Namikawa, so she went into his office to cry quietly. He was in a meeting that was just about to end, but the girl only needed a few minutes to let it out.

In the apartment he rented on the eighth floor of a hotel the Dragon used to love, Vittorio wanted to cry as well. The auction was a disaster, he was broke, and his image was ruined. He was lucky to be alive, or perhaps damned. He sat on his knees in front of twelve paintings of Jesus and Mary, carefully set in gold and precious stones inside wooden frames carved manually.

He was holding the rosary in his hand so tightly, he could feel the beads crushing the fibers of his muscles and leaving their print on his skin. Hot tears were pouring from his eyes, even hotter than his face. His heart was racing like that of a bull about to be executed in the middle of an arena for the sake of the show. He couldn't help but feel he had been tricked just like a bull in entering an arena destined for his final act.

In one night, in less than an hour, Vitto had lost all of his contracts and was forced to disappear. But it won't last forever – once the bodies are identified, someone will figure out his is not among them. The thought of his enemies standing in line to torture him was terrifying and he was praying to his Catholic God to save his soul. He asked God for a piece of advice, for an opportunity to change. He was willing to give up vampirism and illegal business – he'd give up his girls and set them all free! There was nothing in the world he wouldn't do for the chance to live the rest of his life by God's law.

Even so… there were only two thoughts in his mind. One was suicide, which was against God's law. The other was returning the favor, which wasn't against the first part of God's law. If the afterlife was the way he had been taught it was, he could definitely defend himself in front of God – after all, what other options does he have? He will get back at Ross with the help of the Dragon's daughter and her partner, her lover, or whatever he was to her.

Vitto picked up the phone and dialed the girl's number. She must have gotten out alive. The man listened to the tone that meant her phone was ringing… And ringing… And ringing, until a robot answered with the usual message: 'The person you try to call is not available. Please check the number, or try to-!'

The Italian hung up. He waited for a few seconds, then dialed the number again. He called three times, then five, until eventually, Caterina picked up.

'What do you want?' She sounded angry and her voice had that uneven pitch that made him think the girl had been crying.

"An address, amore. Please, tell me where can we meet up again – all three of us, of course. I don't mind if your partner comes along. You're free to choose the terms, just please, let us have a talk."

'…You're broke, Vitto. Would you have any interest in me if I were broke?'

The man didn't reply. He let his head bow like a child lectured by his mother, incapable of defending himself. He couldn't even justify his behavior because in truth, money was the only thing that mattered. Art was glorious and girls made his days sweeter, but he couldn't have any without money. He praised intelligence and beauty, but those were worthless without money.

'Do you have anything else to offer?' he heard her asking after a long period of silence.

Vitto quickly thought about his fortune, or what was left of it. "I might get a few contracts back, if I can borrow some money…"

'I hate uncertainty and he hates uselessness.'

"Wait! I'm sure I can get a few connections back, I'm certain! I just need a little loan, you know, for the immediate moment. I'll pay it back in a month – no, a week. You can't let them get me!"

'If you want the easier way out, you need to give me everything you still have. Your girls, your guards, your torturers, your paintings, your jewelry, your houses – absolutely everything. We'll see if they all worth enough for us to become associates. Also, I'd like to know your name. I'm going to drop by at your café tonight. You better not disappoint me.'

His eyes widened in joy. He was being given a second chance! "Anything, my dear! Absolutely anything! But I don't have a lawyer…"

'Leave that to me.' Caterina hung up. She dried her tears and went to the bathroom in order to make sure she showed no signs of female weakness. She kept her hands in cold water, covered her eyes with them so the redness would fade, then shook her auburn curls a bit to give them more volume. No one had to know that she just cried like a baby, holding her own head and nearly scratching out her heart for hurting so bad.

In the meantime, Light had found a different way of dealing with the ache of rejection. He called Midori and went to visit her. He excused himself for the late hour in front of her parents, impatient to be showed to the girl's room. Kira didn't even bother to tell Ryuk to find himself some other source of entertainment – he no longer cared if Midori would be seen in any way. It didn't matter.

What mattered was for him to keep playing the broken-hearted good boy finding refuge in a girl's arms. He wasn't that far from his role, and that made him more believable. No girl in town would have turned him down when he looked at her with those soft brown eyes, sighing heavily and clinging to her like the end of the world was just seconds away. He knew how to make a girl feel grateful he was using her, talking of his great love and how he has nowhere else to go. He could pose as Prince Charming to get what he wanted, and that evening, it didn't take him more than three hours to do that.

However, whenever she opened her mouth to say anything other than his name, Midori brought him back from his fantasy of Caterina. That alone was a good enough reason for Light to leave her in pain to cover up the tracks of their adventure. Kira left as soon as he was done, a little less tense than before. He denied the offer of staying for dinner and lied to the girl's family that they just watched a movie – it came naturally to his mind.

As he was walking home, he found himself smirking.

'Aren't you going to kill her anymore?' Ryuk asked, amused by Light contradicting himself.

"I don't think so. She's too naïve to get in the way. I think she could help me kill some time every now and then."

'Is that all?' the creature asked again.

"Of course. I'm going to use her, for now. If she gets any smarter with time, she might have a chance, but until then… She doesn't need a brilliant mind in bed, she just needs to trust me. She's great at that."

By the time Namikawa was done negotiating with Ooi and the rest of the vice-presidents, he found Caterina talking to his secretary and asking her to call up a lawyer immediately at a certain address.

"Has something happened?" He was hoping for some sort of reassurance. Although he wouldn't admit, the man was mentally exhausted after such a long meeting. There were interests of different departments conflicting each other and they had to meet in the middle. All that and one of the vice-presidents being a complete moron was enough to make his head spin and stretch out his nerves.

Caterina turned and crossed her arms over her chest, framing it without the intention of drawing attention. She saw Ooi walking out of the conference room and they made a short and acid eye contact. "It has. Can we leave now? You've stayed almost one hour past your schedule anyway," she pointed out on a kind tone. It was better for both of them to be kind around each other.

"Of course." He went into his office to drop some papers on the desk and quickly grabbed his coat and hers. Namikawa then returned for her and led Caterina down to the ground floor and out into the parking lot. "Why were you asking for a lawyer?"

The Italian got into the car, taking the passenger seat. "Vitto survived, but he's frightened by Ross – terrified, rather. Not only we took back the puzzle from him, but he's going to donate everything he still owns to us."

The man smirked in the corner of his mouth, driving her to the café. "So, his situation is that severe…"

When they reached the set meeting place, it was already half past ten. Vitto was pacing the underground level of his café, mumbling to himself and staring intently at the paintings covering his walls. When he noticed Caterina and Namikawa descending the stairway, he jumped and looked up with the panic of a hare surprised by the lights of a car. "Finally! Not that I'd be impatient – how very disrespectful of me. Welcome, please, have a seat. Can I make you a drink? Anything you'd like."

Namikawa invited Caterina to have a seat in one of the armchairs as he took the couch. Vitto was left standing on his feet. "The lawyer should be here any moment. What do you have?"

"My, I should have printed two…!" the man gasped once he realized he had only one list printed.

"It's alright, calm down. Please read," Caterina offered him the solution.

"Yes! How come I haven't thought of that? Brilliant!" Vitto ran a hand through his unkept dark curls and pushed a few back, only for them to fall back over his forehead. "So, I have a house in Torino and two apartments, a villa in Naples and a restaurant, two bars in Sicily, an apartment with four rooms in Ibiza…"

"Count your brothels too," Caterina asked. "I want to know your worth down to the last cent."

Just then, the lawyer showed up as well. He was a bald old man, dry like a raisin and with the thin, long nose of a wizard. His eyes were shining in the back of their sockets with the green shade of the American dollars. "I apologize for being late, Reiji. I will assume this is your newest associate?"

Caterina stood up and offered to shake the old man's hand. "The heir of the Dragon. It's me who called you, sir."

His thick eyebrows rose in surprise. "A pleasure, then." He looked her up and down, quickly judging her as a spoiled little brat. With a bit of patience and his experience in manipulating people, the lawyer thought he could overcome her and take over her fortune. First, he will ask her to name him legal administrator of the most important actives, then keep fooling the girl until he was going to become the owner of those actives. He will only leave her the debts – he had no use for those. "Satori Yukimura." He held her hand tightly for a moment, then let it go. "So, what do we have here?"

Namikawa stood up and invited the lawyer to sit beside him. He took the list from Vitto's hands and set it in front of Yukimura. "This gentleman is willing to donate everything here."

"To who?" the lawyer asked.

"Namikawa, or myself. How do you advise us?" the girl asked as Vitto was on the verge of tears.

"I believe it would be better if we took one half for each of us," Namikawa smiled. Even so, there was a hint of greed in his eyes.

"Most of these properties are just simply objects. They produce nothing – you're wasting your time, Reiji. He must be mocking you with such stupidities. Houses! Flats!" the lawyer laughed. "Paintings from artist nobody knows – no-name street brats, I assume. It's ridiculous! You should be offended. What's this, a ruby ring worth just one hundred fifty Euros?! My wife's buried with more valuable rings on her hands! A seven year old limousine? Is it second-hand, or was it on sale?"

Caterina chuckled, amused by the way the old man was mocking Vitto. "Say, Vittorio, do you have anything valuable to give?"

"I can invest-… I mean, you can invest in these and transform them into something more valuable. You can turn a villa into a hotel, a flat can be rented, a bar or a café can-!"

"Oh, yes, of course. Let's buy a ruin and invest in it until it magically turns into a palace," Yukimura laughed some more.

"The Dragon began by opening a bar!" the Italian quickly snapped back.

Caterina grinned. "Yes, that was… how many years ago? Twenty-five? Thirty?"

Smiling, Namikawa cough in his fist. "Please, sir… Make the papers. Let's sign and then leave this dungeon. It's only a formality – we already took a decision."

Yukimura took out his laptop from its sleeve and turned it on. "Very well," the old man sighed, "although I am certain the Dragon gave you more money for your own entertainment during a year, my dear." He looked up from the screen to Caterina.

"Let's hurry." This time, it was Vitto giving the order. "Well? Can we discuss the details of our deal?"

Because of the agitation, the girl on the donor's chair woke up again. Drugged up, dizzy and with a killer headache, she looked through the arch that replaced the door and saw the meeting taking place. The curtain usually blocking her view had been forgotten on one side of the arch. "What's going on?" she asked, as loud as she could.

Everyone looked up and Vitto swallowed his saliva hard. It felt like swallowing a rock. How come she was awake?

"What are you not telling us, Vitto?" Caterina grinned. She stood up and began pacing the room slowly. "I thought I asked for your human resources as well."

"She's not a prostitute – you don't want her!" the man quickly said. He became nervous, rushing to block Caterina's view. "She's nobody!"

Namikawa sighed. He didn't expect to come face to face with prisoners. "Are you kidnapping girls now? Is hiring them too expensive?" The main difference was an ethical one – while some would willingly sell their bodies for money, drugs, presents and such, others were being forced into the industry. The Dragon never accepted forced prostitutes anywhere near him or his associates, so Reiji had been brought up respecting everyone's right to choose the type of lifestyle they wanted.

Vitto knew of the philosophy of the Dragon. He knew it was one of the criteria by which the dead man had been selecting his associates and business partners. It was one of the major conflicts he had with Ross. "I-I'd never do that!"

Caterina walked past him, as the lawyer stood up and followed her. "She's not thin enough to become a prostitute for the wealthy and forcing her to do it with every filthy man on the street is beyond cruel and disgusting… Though what you're actually doing is more disgusting." Caterina saw the girl's bloody wrist covered in old bandages and her lost glance.

"He said I should satisfy his thirst. He's not interested in my body, but in my blood. He said I'm strong enough to last him one or two days more than others," the girl confessed. She was at the point where anything happening was fine. She didn't care if those people were from the police or from the mafia, if she will be killed or beaten for her answers. She was too numb to feel any pain and she felt like she was about to pass out any moment.

Yukimura threw Vitto an ironic smirk. "If you need the hostage, Namikawa, we can arrange her new identity. If not, we can still place Vitto in prison for kidnapping, physical and psychological abuse, and vampirism. It's a rare case that will bring us some money out of publicity. The media will love it! Also, you can use it to build your public image as her savior."

The businessman smiled in the corner of his mouth and looked at Caterina. "Please find out if she can be of any use to us, my dear."


Author's Notes:

Chapter proofread by AbandonedSock, as usual. I've got another two chapters or so written already, so expect updates every week or so. Also, what do you think? Should I post this story on Wattpad as well? Is there any chance it will be appreciated there and get some more exposure? I'm asking because I don't know if the DN fandom is on Wattpad or what kind of readers are on that site.

If that does happen, I will be also retouching the previous chapters. I really hope I'll be hearing from my readers again.

P.S. Does anyone miss Misa?