XLIX – Goodbye for Now


The next day, after negotiating with Ooi while soaking in the bath tub, Caterina got dressed and went to eat lunch with the King and Yao. She used the occasion to present him the whole situation in which both of them were in, including the murder.

"Wait up… So when your dad wanted you to marry him, you rejected him. Then you ran away from this Ooi guy to him, and now you helped him get away with murder? So you're partners in crime, basically?"

Caterina bit her lower lip. "…Sort of, yes. More than just that, actually. He's not that bad, after you get to know him."

The man shrugged. "He looks like every other rich kid I've seen before – a spoiled bastard who thinks the universe owes him everything and who probably can afford it, too."

"That was exactly my opinion when I first saw him. But he's got his feet on the ground. There are a few reasons why Padre liked him, more than just his family history and his fortune. By the way – he's building his own fortune these years, completely independent from his father." She realized when the King raised a suspicious eyebrow that she sounded a little too proud about it.

"Are you sure it's just business and interest?"

"Of course!" Caterina answered him quickly, even if her face was saying the opposite. "I don't just fall in love with anyone smiling at me."

"Seems to me like he did more than smile…" the King continued with his idea, "He helped you when you needed it, he picked up your problems and made them his own, offered you stability and protection – that's quite a lot. And he doesn't look bad. You've got no reason to not get real with this relationship, unless… he's violent, of course, or he belittles you."

"That's not the case. But back to the real problem here… What do you think?"

The King sighed heavily. "That could get very complicated… First, ask yourself who would win if this Reiji guy gets ruined, 'cause that's what it looks like to me. Someone is trying to ruin him. They're trying to mess up his career, his public image, his relationship to you – interest-based or not."

"That's easy. The Russians are clearly gaining an economic advantage on both continents, disturbing the balance of the corporation with such a monstrous scandal, which means that the European and the American branches will have to limit their investments and start supporting the Asian branch financially."

The man leaned with his elbow on the table, resting his head on his fist. "Yeah, that too… Anyone interested in ruining Reiji that would take it personally?"

"Personally…?" Caterina repeated for herself. "My ex, maybe? But Light wouldn't go this far. Would he? No… He wouldn't ever work with a criminal – he despises them." She could use a second opinion on this.

"The cop's kid, right? The guy your dad didn't like…" the King waited for her approval. "You know him better than me, so you tell me. If the Russians tracked him down through you and offered him money for information, do you think he'd turn them down? Maybe he thinks that by ruining this Reiji guy and sending him in jail, you two could get back together. A high school student doesn't really compare to a businessman, right? No matter how brilliant."

She looked down. "So Light could see him as competition… But when… 'Victor' offered him the chance to leave with me and 40% of the fortune that Padre left me, he denied. The Light I know would always deny an offer from a criminal."

"Even if it means he can get you, the whole fortune and some extra cash? …I wouldn't be so sure. Every man has a price, Kitten." The King saw the food being brought to their table. "Yao, put down the book. You'll keep reading after we eat."

"Alright," the boy said as he closed the book and placed it on the table by his side.

Caterina sighed as the plates were being set in front of them. She nodded towards the waiter in thanks then began picking at her food. "I don't know… I don't want to believe that Light would actually shake hands with a criminal."

Ryuk had to admit that Light surprised him as well with that bold move, but he had to remember to keep quiet. He was floating behind Caterina, watching the three of them.

"I still don't know how you found out my phone number and bank account," the King changed the topic of their discussion.

Caterina smiled a little. "I didn't find them - Rin did. 'Victor' had some… peculiarities, so to say…" When the man nodded, she went on. "We stumbled over her while negotiating with 'Victor' the terms of our former alliance, or however you want to call it." Caterina eventually began to eat. "She's in middle school, decided to drop out because school doesn't fit her needs, a smoker and she somehow knows how to contact drug addicts and vandals in any area close to Tokyo."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Kitten, are you sure she's not secretly a demon?"

Caterina began laughing out loud when she heard him. "Positive! I'm not sure I want to know how or why she knows all this, but the girl is great with computers. She only needs a laptop and a stable internet connection to find absolutely anything, from any side of the world. It's amazing what she's capable of doing… when she's not wasting the days and the nights away playing video games, that is."

"Then, she must be a genius," the King concluded.

"Something like that, yes, with a very strange past." Caterina kept eating, just like the other two at her table. "By the way, I haven't asked… What have you been doing in the US?"

"Oh, not much… I stayed out of trouble and made enough money to live decently, right, Yao?" The man grinned at his companion, who nodded quietly.

Later that day, when Light went out supposedly to meet with 'a friend', he stumbled over someone he thought dead. That wasn't part of his plan – it was merely an accident. He had seen the White Elephant tea house being rebuilt and the memories of Caterina had eventually taken over him, making him long for the calm, intimate atmosphere there.

At the corner of a street, calling him from the shade of an alley, a man was reaching out his hand. "Light? Yagami Light, is that you?!"

Surprised, he stopped for a moment to look at the homeless man there. He had a short beard and messy hair, oily from dirt. He had both of his legs broken, stretched out on some improvised wheelchair – a wooden platform wide enough for him to sit and long enough for his legs, suspended on a couple skateboard wheels of different ages and colors. He was using a thin blanket to cover his legs and was wearing an old and dirty ski jacket. Light backed away when the man tried to come closer.

"Light, don't you recognize me? I'm Vitto – you've got to remember me."

Shock paralyzed him for a moment as Kira kept looking at the man, trying to find a resemblance. He was much thinner than Vitto, but had the same dark eyes and the same mad desire to live that would have made him dance in front of his enemies only a few months ago. "…Vitto?!"

"Yes! Come closer, I want to talk to you. Please!" The man used his hands to move the platform back into the shade. "I'm not proud of how low I've fallen, but I survived, and that's all that matters. I want to get back at Reiji for everything he's done to me."

Immediately, Light got an idea. He followed Vitto into the alley, away from curious eyes. "Everyone thinks that you're dead. We need the body of an immigrant to be found, one dying the same way you almost did. I've taken care that the police will pick up the case, and so, Reiji will be sent to jail in no time. Either that, or his image will be forever compromised – that's the best case scenario for him."

Vitto's eyes widened. "Then, I need to fake my own death…"

"Yes. And it must be with the remains of an immigrant. He's in a slave labor scandal right now. How everything happened doesn't concern you. You either play dead, place the remains of another at the crime scene or near and get a new identity, or you can come out and confess about everything, become part of a witness protection program, sue him, send Reiji to jail and receive money as compensation."

Vitto thought for a moment. "Ross and Frost might come for me if I come to the surface…"

"It's your choice. If you agree to faking the murder, you're on your own, but if you want to sue him, I know the people you should talk to in order to succeed. He won't be accused of murder, but of torture and premeditated murder attempt." A perverted smirk was twisting Light's face as he imagined both scenarios. Either way, he would be safe from any possible consequences while Namikawa Reiji would find himself in boiling hot water. It was the perfect move to make in order to prove to Caterina he had what it took to rule the world – with or without her money.

"Do you say the witness protection program could assure my safety in case Ross or Frost try to take me out?"

Light nodded. "They will offer you lifelong protection and security, or until you ask for it to stop. Our country's system is one of the best in the world, way above average and constantly improving. You're going to be alright." Of course, Light knew there were many flaws in the system – flaws related to human weakness and the possibility of corruption appearing anywhere, anytime, but it was to his advantage if Vitto confessed.

"Then, I will. I'm going to hide my other ID, just in case, and then confess."

Kira nodded. "Before that though… can you please give me your name? Your real name?"

"Vicenzo Vargas. Thank you, Light. I've never doubted you."

Light turned to leave. "I thank you, Vicenzo… For trusting me." He kept walking towards the tea house where he ordered Caterina's favorite infusion just for the sake of feeling the scent of grapes and citrus surrounding him again… Him, and his memory of her.

For the following month, Light kept hearing from Ryuk whenever Caterina did something, but not much happened. He learned about the Non-Profit Association of St. Nicholas for Children and Students, about Misa Amane working for various brands of the Yotsuba corporation, about Mr. Ooi naming the King director of the future complex and about the project, but it didn't change much.

He knew that Caterina would keep busy in order to avoid thinking of unnecessary things, which nowadays, probably meant him. Kira kept killing criminals and failed to contact Rin. He had Ryuk's confirmation that both Caterina and Namikawa knew about his attempt. Vitto also kept trying to reach him, but something stopped him from going further…

Instead, he kept visiting the White Elephant tea house and ordering the same infusion, sitting at the same long table that overlooked the street, staring at the people passing by.

'Light? What's up? Why did you ask me to follow Caterina around?' Ryuk asked one evening towards the end of February.

"Because I thought she'd try to come after me… You said she realized I helped Frost with the murder case and the slave scandal. Yet, she keeps battling him – not me. She didn't contact me, even if she did recognize my genius move. She did nothing about it…" Light poured himself the infused tea and watched it darkening in color as its level kept rising in the cup. "It's… irritating. What do I need to do to draw her attention?"

Ryuk floated in front of him and lowered himself in the air so he could force a short and tense eye contact. 'You mean I've been watching over her because you're obsessed with her?'

"I'm not obsessed," he frowned. "I just… expected her to make some other move. I'm growing so tired! She keeps herself busy all day with meetings, with trials, with the business she doesn't even own yet! It's infuriating."

'Almost like she forgot all about you, and you should move on…'

Light let out a heavy sigh. "It simply means that I need to do something more impressive, something… worthy of her attention." He turned his eyes towards the Death Note. On impulse, he picked it up, opened it, turned the pages full of criminals until he reached a clean page, picked up the pen, and then… he stopped. Light began playing with the pen, fidgeting.

'Are you going to write her name down?' Ryuk was starting to grow impatient.

But Kira didn't answer him. In truth, he would have killed her many times until then, but it was Light who kept stopping Kira's hand. Even if his voice barely surfaced anymore, Kira still couldn't bring himself to kill his girl… Because Caterina was his girl still, and she always will be. For Kira, she was a challenge that got him so mad sometimes, demanding him to try even harder than he did the previous time. His need for a reward after every attempt was frustrating him further.

Kira eventually began to write: 'Vicenzo Vargas – March 12th, 11:50 PM, suicide.' He continued with the details of his death, writing line after line with the fury boiling inside him. In the end, his pen had cut through the paper and he only then realized how he has been pressing the pen down into the notebook's page. His fingers hurt and his wrist ached. His handwriting looked strange, much larger and sloppier than usual. And yet, as he sipped Caterina's favorite tea, he felt a sense of relief.

When the shinigami tried to read it, Light snapped the notebook closed. "You'll see."

'Oh? Why, is it some sort of surprise?'

He sighed, enjoying the aroma of the tea and thinking of how Caterina would play with her nails around the edges of the cup. He could almost imagine her there, trying to steal away his cup. "You're going to think that I'm crazy for this. You wouldn't understand the genius of my move, but she will – and she is going to appreciate it."

'What on earth are you trying to do?' the shinigami asked once again.

"You'll see…" Light kept sipping from the tea, refilling his cup until it was all gone. He went to the bathroom, then sat back and counted the cash he had on him. He still had enough for another order, and there was one hour left until the tea house would close. Sighing, Light put back his wallet in his bag that he only carried around these days so he could have some coverage for the Death Note. "Well…? Aren't you going to tell me anything?" he asked Ryuk. "You're usually very interested in small talk."

'I think it might be time for me to… you know, spy on other people.' The shinigami immediately remembered Rin and her games. With a little bit of luck, he was going to find her playing again. He loved her and her strangely realistic video games.

Light looked back and saw a young woman at the bar. She was playing with her high heels on the support pole of the chair, releasing her hair from a neat bun into a wild mane of curls in the shade of sour cherry juice. She ran a hand through her hair, placing her order and joking with the barman, but then she leaned with her head against her hand.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Could she really be there, at that hour, all by herself? But no matter how low the probability, there had to be a reason why Ryuk just abandoned him. Ryuk had the advantage of recognizing people by their real name if he saw even part of their face. If he saw Caterina's name above her head, that would explain why he was in such a rush to disappear.

Standing up, he gathered his things and went to sit by her side. He didn't look at her first, simply waiting for the barman to pay him some attention – even if the man was busy with her order.

"…Light?!" she eventually asked.

At that moment, he knew he was right. Turning towards her with a bitter half smile, he shrugged. "Who else would dare to sit next to you when you're all dressed up and alone?"

She chuckled. "Are you less of a hypocrite now?"

"I've got no idea what you're talking about." He watched her black and red nails playing on the tabletop. "Of course, I have my flaws – and I've been working on them. I should thank you, really. Although, I wouldn't advise you to do that again. I needed someone to smack some sense into me. Like you said, all the power and all of those complications…"

"I'm glad to hear that. With this attitude, we might work together again, at some moment in time." Caterina received her cocktail and sipped from it.

Light smirked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you shouldn't be buying or consuming something like that yet."

"I need it, though. Besides, I look old enough." She sipped some of her drink.

"Because you dress the way you do and wear that dark makeup. How do you call it? Smoke eyes?"

"Smokey. It's a trend that helps me hide how tired I am. I've adapted it to the cat eye… But it's not that dark – you're just teasing."

Light watched her for a moment, trying to understand if her words made him feel sad or glad. "Are there any problems, my dear? In your new found paradise?"

"Lots of them. And if I want to keep up everything Padre had built over the years, I have to reign over hell. So, you see, I won't be visiting any paradise… at least for a couple of years." She sighed, playing with the straw between the three ice cubes in her glass. "Where should I even begin? I've no idea…" Caterina chuckled, then threw him a cold look. "Perhaps it should be you who begins?"

"Where do you want me to begin? I'll gladly accept." Light skimmed the menu, but decided to stick to tea.

"Talking about my problems, for example. I already know you're trying to throw Reiji into jail."

He tried to look innocent, but began laughing midway. "Please! Me?! Why should I even bother with him? You didn't call him yours, didn't call him a lover, a man, or whatever. The only thing keeping you by his side is money, which is fine by me."

"Is it? What if I told you that I slept with him?" Caterina looked at him through a few strands of her hair, trying to catch him truest, purest expression.

Light already knew, so he didn't look surprised. Instead, Caterina saw a sense of anger and unbearable sadness overcoming him. "Ryuk told me. I suppose we all have our needs… Just the way I used Midori, the girl you saw by my side. Pretty average, annoying when she opens her mouth and a bit whiney, but she clung to me like her life depended on it. Funny – she had no idea how right she was."

"I thought you would have stopped playing god by now. Rin showed me the footage of the security cameras here, but hopefully, she didn't guess why…"

It was easy to understand that Rin was probably the hacker's nickname. "So you dressed up for me?"

Caterina began to laugh a little. "Darling, don't be ridiculous – I have an image to keep. But in truth, I was hoping to find you here. It confirms that you've missed me, and the moment you sat by my side, I knew…" she sipped some more of her drink, "You still love me."

Caught up trying to pretend the opposite, he eventually shrugged. "I won't wait forever, though. It really doesn't matter anymore, but it could…"

She sighed, leaning with her head against her hand again. "Yes, it could… Do you plan on killing him? Reiji – do you want him dead after this humiliating scandal?"

He shook his head. "Of course not. Why would I? You know, I'd sleep much better at night if I knew him raped several times a day and beaten to a pulp, rotting in some filthy jail for a few years. With some luck, he may catch some diseases too, break a few bones, and give up his prince charming allure. It would be a much better move – a check mate, I hope."

She rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how to break someone… Besides, he's got a great lawyer."

"I may kill him, though. He's simply in my way – no other reason." Kira had received the tea pot a few minutes ago, but he had let it sit. He poured himself a cup and Caterina could taste its flavor in the air. Light noticed and smiled. "Do you remember?"

"Yes… There was a shooting here, the last time we came. How sad…"

"Is that all that you remember out of my heroic performance?" Light was joking, but the main idea was true.

"I remember that it was the beginning of a rollercoaster of small disasters that led to the death of a student who was brilliant, funny, hard-working and taking care of two children by himself. I can't remember his name, though…" Caterina felt a tear in the corner of her right eye, but she blinked it away. "I also remember that Padre couldn't talk much sense to your father at the section."

"My father works by a strict set of rules. He couldn't just open a protection program based on your father's words. But what matters more than that is that we're alive."

She shot him a cold look. "Not all of us."

"That's not my fault, Caterina…"

"Not necessarily yours alone. You see, I often think about this – if we would have been offered protection, perhaps things would have turned out to be different. We were clearly being threatened during the last month… And very often. I've told you on a few occasions, but you didn't do anything about it. Sometimes I think you might have even… waited for something like that to happen." Caterina sighed, letting her smirk fade.

He reached for her hand, but received a sudden eye contact instead. She looked empty, drowned in nothing but numbed pain. "That wasn't my intention. There was nothing I could have done, and you know it. The police can't operate so quickly, they just… They have to wait for something to happen and then catch the killer."

"After someone's been killed. Is that it?"

"Sadly, it is… That's why I don't support the system. Too much paperwork, too many complicated procedures… too much time wasted. Take any criminal you want – it's always the same. They let them kill several people, gathering clues and trying to understand the criminal's mind. That much is impossible and really unnecessary. No one is going to write a book on the Snake, or Beyond Birthday, or any other."

Caterina sipped some more of her drink, playing with the straw between her lips and her fingers. "Light… shut up. How do you even dare talk this way about criminals? Have you forgotten your favorite pastime?"

"It's not a pastime – it's my duty."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you still believe that?"

"Of course! I'm the only one who can do it – but I want you by my side. For the last time, I want to ask you to come back to me." He took her hand and kissed it. "Cat, come on… You know we're perfect for each other. I need you to show me what I can't see, to read the signs that I can't even notice. Without you, I feel like a blind man – the first step I take out of my familiar surroundings could be into a trap."

Sighing, Caterina looked towards the open window wall. "Light, my hands are stained. I've got blood on my hands, that's why I don't want to touch that Note ever again. I've seen death in such detail, it's haunting."

"You don't have to see it up close ever again. You said it yourself – some things are necessary in order for us to remain at the top." Light placed her hand over the cheek that she had turned red with her goodbye. "Some have to fall – so what? They're evil people that would have slaughtered one another anyway, eventually."

Caterina slipped her hand away from him and cooled it on her glass. "Alright. Here's what bothers me the most right now. First, there's Reiji's scandal and his career that might end any moment now. Second, Frost is threatening the European branch – the one that Padre created and the one I'm going to own completely in just a few months. Also, Ross seems to have some personal obsession with trying to get me, and some of the people running the Asian branch are complete morons. The lawyer is a crook asking for more money every day, even when he doesn't do anything – he just has to ask someone to do something for him. There are also some fake news claiming that Reiji would be a pedophile – how absurd!"

Light wanted to pass a joke on how she was still a few months too young, but decided it wasn't the right time for that. "I may be able to help you with the first two. But before, you're going to have to trust me…"

"What do you mean?" Caterina turned towards him completely.

At that moment, he noticed her incredibly thin waist and her narrow hips. Even Midori had wider curves… How odd. It wasn't the way he remembered her. No, Light remembered grabbing her hips and kissing her stomach. It was flat and hard with fiber, but not excessively thin. "You know what I mean. Cat… are you on a diet?"

"How are you going to kill someone if you don't know his name?" she asked instead.

"That's my problem. Don't avoid the question – are you trying to look like a skeleton? Caterina…" He watched her turning away from him. "Did he ask you to do this?"

"What?! No! Leave him out of this," she snapped. "Namikawa never said anything about my appearance. Whatever I do, I do it for myself." Caterina sighed. "I did lose some weight, but not too much. Just let me be."

His hands went up into the air, as if he was trying to defend himself in front of a gun loaded with anger. "Alright… I guess I can't tell you what to do, but… Try not to take it too far. You're thin enough already, and you're beautiful. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I'm… I'm looking for you in others and they're always so pathetic the moment I start comparing them to you. Midori was a good girl, it's why I didn't kill her, but I couldn't stand that she didn't even come close to your imagination. She wasn't smart enough, she didn't look at the world in the same way, she didn't judge people as weak or powerful by their coffee of choice…"

Caterina rolled her eyes as Light chuckled and stared at the tea in his cup, almost cold now and leaving a line of color on the walls of the cup. "You're just saying it so that I'll fall even deeper for you and go back to being broke and the girlfriend your father never liked."

"He never told you anything," he pointed it out.

A bitter smile showed on her face. "Of course – he's too polite for that. But I've seen it when he looked at me that night, at the police section. He blamed me for the incident. You nearly died and he was convinced that I'm that terrible influence that nearly got you killed."

"Except, I asked you to be that terrible influence," he chuckled. "Whatever he thinks, I can make my own decisions."

Caterina turned towards her watered down drink and took another sip, then held her forehead with one hand. "Don't make this any harder, Light. Just stop… Alright? I can't just leave Namikawa after everything he's done for me. I can't break his heart just like that. He took me in when no one would, supported me, gave me everything he has. He always does everything in his power to get on my good side and he's trying so hard, it's painful. I can't just drop the bomb. What do I tell him? That I still love you and that I'm thinking of you when I'm with him? I can't. I won't…"

After a long moment of silence, Light eventually talked. "There's one way to fix this…"

"Don't you even think about it. Or if you do, kill me too."

He frowned. "I can't… Do you think I haven't thought of it before? Countless times! I can't. I just…" Light sighed heavily. "I hate to know that bastard puts his hands on you and that you help him cover up his tracks and advise him. That should be me! That should be me in your bed and in your head every single moment, not him. I'd rather kill him than you, but you wouldn't forgive me for that. The only thing I don't understand is why…"

"He's everything I saw in you, and everything you weren't. That's why…" Caterina finished her drink. The last few sips were just a layer of melted ice with a vague flavor of her drink.

Light forced her to look towards him and kissed her deeply. How did they even come to this? They were both angry at each other for crimes none of them meant to commit against the other. They were throwing knives at each other's heart, both praying to miss. He held her closer as she wrapped one arm around his shoulders, scratching his scalp with her nails and returning his passion.

"…I can't. I have to go, Light. He should be home any moment now and I don't want to get home after he does." Caterina turned away from him and paid for her drink. The barman has been on his phone in a corner, in the back. He could see them from there, but he couldn't hear their conversation. He only stood up when Caterina placed the money on the counter. "I don't care if you understand or not, but I have to go."

"Let me walk you there, at least for a few minutes. It's dark outside, you wouldn't be safe." He stood up as she threw her coat over her shoulders and grabbed her handbag.

"I have a driver. I'm sorry… but for now, it's goodbye." Avoiding his eyes, Caterina walked past him and left. She didn't look back. Instead, she checked her lipstick in a pocket mirror right before going down the stairs and out of his sight.

Left behind, Light paid attention to the music for the first time that evening. He was the last client left and the barman was shamelessly cleaning the bar, waiting for him to leave. 'Do you miss me like I miss you?' it played, 'Fucked around and got attached to you. Friends can break your heart too, and I'm always tired, but never of you.'

Those lines brought a bitter smile to his lips. He sighed heavily and paid for the tea. 'Uh-oh, keep it on the low – you're still in love with me, but your friends don't know. If you wanted me, then just say so, and if I were you I would never let me go.'

"Trouble with your girl…?" the barman asked. He was wearing his hair short, with straight bangs swapped to the side and aligned to such a sharp line, it made Light think he might have had it cut by a sword.

He nodded briefly. Naturally, his next question was "Why didn't you go after her?" to which Light had no answer.

"I… couldn't. I offered, but she pushed me away, again…" He sighed, resting his elbows on the bar and sitting back down.

The barman shrugged. "Didn't look that way from where I've been standing, but whatever you say. So, is that all? Are you sure you don't want to order anything else?"

"As much as it pains me, I won't. I can't." Light kept thinking about the words chosen by the author of his biology book, a well known professor teaching medicine students. Neurons 'seem to commit suicide' on alcohol… "Sorry to keep you so late." Light stood up again and left.

The barman shrugged. He took the money that his client left him and went to the door to turn the 'Open' sign around. The White Elephant was now closed.


Author's Notes:

Chapter proofread by AbandonedSock, as usual.

I'm glad to see that someone pays attention to supporting characters like the King. He may play a more important role towards the climax of the... Detective L Arc, I suppose I can call it. You know, when in the canon series of events Light becomes himself again and there's the helicopter chase scene where Light and L seem like good friends. However, that's just a thought.

On another note, I'm working on a new character meant to twist everything even more. It's going to be one of the few powerful female characters in the story and you will most likely find her 'type' among those promoted by the media.

Also - heads up for side characters! Vitto will be very busy during these last two weeks of his life. I've just returned from a week long vacation and I have some ideas into a notebook.