LI – Silver Platter
It was one of the last days of snow for the first half of the year, but the wind was still harsh and cold. The evening was freezing her breath from the minute she took to walk from the back seat of the car to the front door of the White Elephant Teahouse.
They both learned to fall in love with the place all over again. After the shooting, the teahouse had gained some negative fame, making it often avoided by the rich and spoiled kids of the modern-day aristocrats. The lowered prices began to attract students and children of the working class that could sit down and enjoy the atmosphere, pretending to be rich bastards for an hour.
Caterina looked ridiculous in his eyes. Her small frame seemed to be swallowed by the oversized fur coat, obviously too heavy to feel comfortable and definitely there just for the parade. He already knew that she had a new driver who would never let her walk the streets alone through the cold, snowy evening, which defeated the whole purpose of carrying around a coat.
Light stood up and offered to hang her coat. "Why do you insist on carrying it? Clearly, you don't need it."
The girl shrugged and let him take her coat. There was a hanger right behind him. In the meantime, she sat down and relaxed. "It elevates my outfit from basic to classy."
Kira took a second to notice her outfit. She had a pair of fake leather leggings and a fuzzy top, both pieces showing off her skinny arms and legs and her tiny waist. The soft peach shade of her sweater gave her a slightly healthier glow, but it didn't hide the prominent bones of her baby wrists. It revealed her collar bones and a few ribs right below.
"If your outfit says anything, it's that you haven't touched food for a few months…"
Sighing, she set one hand over her forehead. "Is that why you called me here?"
"No, but as long as you don't know why, I'm certain that you won't leave. So, let's talk about this – did he ask you to do it?" Light sat in front of her and watched her closely. If the last time he thought that maybe it was the light that made her look a bit sick, now he was certain that she had a problem.
"Light, stop it. It's getting ridiculous! Everything I do, I do it for myself – I thought you already knew that. Let's stop spinning in circles and get to the real reason why you insisted for us to meet."
He nodded. "Look – if you want to fuck that moron, fine. But don't destroy yourself for him. Every single time I see you, I can barely even see anything. You're so thin, you're transparent."
"I'm not! Stop exaggerating it!"
Light took her hand in his and set it on the table. "Look at your bones, your ligaments and your veins – you are transparent. It's not normal!"
She pulled her hand away. "So, what? I'm feeling better than ever. I can fit in the same size that I was wearing three or four years ago."
Sighing, Light let his hand on the table with his palm facing the ceiling. "You were still a girl back then – a child. A lot happened in three years. I don't fit in the same clothes I was wearing then and that's fine."
"Not since two became the new four and zero, the new two…" She closed her eyes for a moment and saw the image of Namikawa's secretary again. That one was naturally thin, eating chocolate cake every day at lunch break without any consequences. "Everyone in the office is perfectly skinny and pretty, in the latest fashion and absolutely impeccable."
"That means they're plastic. Just get over it. Come on, we'll order some chocolate cake. You used to love it, right?"
Sighing, Caterina forced him to change the subject. "You've got no reason to be worried about me. There is no such thing as you and me on a romantic level on which you should worry about me. Now, getting back to the real subject here, I want to know what was so important."
Light frowned, then leaned with one elbow on the table. "Vitto is alive. Does it sound important enough for you now?"
Her eyes widened in shock as she leaned back. "Alive?! But how?"
With a shrug, Light straightened his back and pulled a few papers out from between the pages of the Death Note. Those were plain paper sheets with no supernatural power, but he didn't want them wrinkling up in his bag. "I thought you might find it useful. Also, consider it a warning. If that boyfriend of yours demands you to starve yourself or raises his voice or his hand at you, I can make him go through hell before he meets his end. This time, I experimented with Vitto. He will die in a couple of hours of frostbite. I saw it as a good ending to his story."
Caterina looked up from the papers to see an evil smirk on his face. "…How on earth do you make someone get this sort of information?"
"Aren't you worried about his ending? I bet that Frost is already pulling out his fingernails and his teeth in an attempt of making him talk, but his lips are sealed. It's only a matter of time until Frost will understand and get bored, eventually leaving Vitto to freeze to death in some deserted arctic area."
"I'm more worried about you, honestly. You almost look like you're enjoying it." The girl looked back down at the papers. In a sloppy handwriting with uneven letters and ink stains, Vitto had given her everything she needed in order to expose and bring down one of the most powerful men on the planet.
Light kept smiling. "Perhaps I am. Do you need me to remind you what kind of monster he was? I believe that the Devil will thank me, if there is one. I may have sent him one of the worst in this world."
Caterina skimmed the papers again. These were probably all of the missing pieces of the puzzle… She immediately came up with a lie that would explain her possession, but it was still so much, she couldn't believe her eyes. There were precise coordinates of Frost's hideouts and illegal storage houses, names and pictures of people who worked with him and of corrupted officers from the International Police, from the CIA, and the NPA.
"Isn't Koreyoshi Kitamura your dad's boss? But it doesn't make sense… He's been on our side during the murder investigation. Unless…" She looked over two pages with printed photographs, each matching one of the names written by Vitto. "He's not on the list."
Kira stood up. "Well, you know how to find me. You're welcome, by the way, and keep in mind that I can repeat the process with anyone."
"Wait!" The Italian threw the papers on the table and stood up as well. "That's it? You're just going to leave now? I mean, I was expecting something… different. I thought you'd try to hold me here longer, try to make me feel in debt. I can't believe this is all you wanted."
With a shrug and a smirk, Light turned to leave. "You already feel in debt, so you're going to repay me somehow. I'll wait for it. Though, you should know that I'm not exactly patient."
Once she realized the embarrassing situation in which she had put herself, Caterina sat down and held her forehead. She looked over the papers again – coordinates, addresses, names, routes, hierarchic relationships, interests. It was all there, from A to Z. Vitto was paying for it with hours over hours of torture, of crushed bones and burned flesh. The thought of a man screaming out his lungs from pain just so she could hold five pages of handwritten information and two pages of printed photographs attached made her spine crawl. It was a bloody and gruesome gift, but a gift nonetheless – and Vitto's suffering only gave it more value.
Caterina sat there for a long time, reading everything several times. There was a lot of research still to be done, but she had every clue she could possibly want laid down on a silver platter for her. It suddenly made her think about her father. Perhaps someone had somehow managed to deliver the same five-pages-long report of key connections to Ross and it was through the work of a sacrificed pawn that he managed…
Although not on the list, she took out a pen and wrote Yukimura's name on the left edge of the second page. It was rather odd that Kitamura was working for Frost, but also leading the case towards an ending desirable for Namikawa. The two were on opposite sides of the war zone, so Yukimura must be the connection between them. It reminded her greatly of Vincent's personality – an arrogant old man, extremely secretive and demanding, with a superiority complex.
The Italian stood up and gathered her things. She left some money for the waiter, simply because it was impolite to occupy a table and leave without ordering anything, then rushed home. She had a new project for Rin – the Snowflake Hunt. She was determined to try her mind at making every single Snowflake fall, so that her father's murderer will fear for his life and finally start taking her seriously.
At the same time, Misa was getting ready to leave her apartment. She was planning on dragging Caterina with her, no matter how annoying she might be. Tonight was the 12th of January and Yulia was celebrating her birthday – who wouldn't want to go to such a party?
The blonde took a cab to where Caterina told her she could be found. Surprisingly, her name wasn't on the mailbox, but she went ahead and knocked anyway. She was surprised to find a chubby teenager in her underwear unlocking the door with a suspicious look on her face.
"Who the hell are you?" Rin asked while chewing a piece of fruity gum.
The blonde was not prepared for this. "Umm…" she chuckled, "I'm Misa-Misa! Don't you recognize me?"
"Sure I do. You're uglier in real life. What do you want? I'm not buying anything."
"WHAT?!" Misa yelled, right when Caterina was stepping out of Namikawa's car that her driver was using during her lover's hours at the office.
The red-haired signed the driver to park the car and wait there. "What are you doing here, Misa? Did anyone threaten you?" She did tell Misa to find her if she was in a desperate situation, but didn't expect it to happen so soon. Was Frost already looking for them?
"Who is this… this!" She pointed a black nail with pink glitter dabbed on its tip towards Rin, while the teenager just rolled her eyes.
"Can you get inside already? It's freezing." Rin left the door open and dragged her bare feet over the carpet until she eventually collapsed on the couch and hugged her laptop again. It was heating up because of a new game she had paused when Misa knocked at the door, but the warmth felt nice against her cold thighs.
Sighing deeply, Caterina could feel a headache coming in just a couple of moments. She led Misa inside and left her shoes in the hall. "Don't mind her. She's just staying here for a while. Now, do you want to tell me what really happened?"
Misa closed the door and leaned against it. "Sure! But first, let me see your dressing room – I bet it's so amazing and packed with fabulous clothes! You've got to get dressed and put some killer makeup and heels and a matching purse too~"
"Handbag. Why? What's happening?"
Not bothering to answer, Misa was already dragging Caterina upstairs. "It's on the top floor, right? Bedrooms and dressing rooms are always upstairs!"
"Look, Misa, it's nothing personal, but do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on?"
Just like she hoped it would, the curse word contrasted with the polite beginning of her phrase and emphasized her irritation. Caterina could pull away her arm from Misa's grip right at the middle of the stairs, while the other needed a few seconds to understand what was happening.
"…Misa just wanted to help you feel better," the young woman whined as tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "You work all day and never answer your phone. Misa has to leave voicemail to hear from you and you always sound so tired and sigh so often, Misa just thought you could take a few hours to… relax."
Caterina rolled her eyes and tried to avoid looking at the other. "Come on, cut it out – don't cry on me. You know how I feel about that." The Italian walked past Misa towards her bedroom and opened the door. "Where did you say we were going? And I'm only staying until 10 pm. I have work tomorrow and I don't want to hear any buts."
As soon as she understood that she had won, Misa ran up to Caterina and gave her a giant bear hug, only to look around the room half a second later. "What's this? 'The Lover'? I've seen the movie, but isn't it a bit too Loli for you?" she asked, picking up a book from Caterina's coffee table.
The host immediately picked the book from her hands and placed it in a drawer in the nearest nightstand. "That's not why you are here. The dresser is that way," she pointed towards a four-door walk-in closet.
"Righty~" Misa opened the doors wide and began analyzing everything. "You remember I told you about Yulia? The new model. She's Russian, super-smart and sooo cute and chic, it's unreal! She wears Louboutin and Versace and Jimmy Choo and Chanel every day!"
Caterina nodded, leaving her bag with the papers that Light gave her inside a small hidden drawer underneath the bed. She let the covers hang over it and looked at Misa.
"You mentioned her a few times…"
The blonde was already going through Caterina's closet as if it was her own. She began throwing out every dress she found pretty enough. "Your clothes are so boring – black and dark red only?"
"I own some greens, grays and some other things. You know, everyone should have a color of choice or a color scheme. Didn't you notice? The Queen of England has the rainbow. The lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars had bright red accents on black. Karl Lagerfeld went even further – he has a signature look, from head to toe. It's iconic." Caterina though about her mother. She had a taste for white and pastels in a very Barbie-doll way.
Surprised, Misa took a moment to think about it. "I guess… But not everyone wears the same one or two colors over and over again."
"Well, no, but they all have a dose of consistency – something people associate with their image. It's… one way to make yourself noticed. You should work until you no longer have to introduce yourself, that's what Padre believed. Having an iconic look associated with you is one way to make people remember your name."
Caterina stopped explaining herself when she noticed that the other was more interested in the dresses that she kept for special occasions. Some still had the price tag attached to them. Misa chose a dark blue midi A-line dress for herself. "It's so very pretty! Can I wear it? Misa loves it, and it will make my eyes look so blue!"
The Italian nodded and took out a long, black dress with a lacy top and layered fabric flowing from the waist to her ankles. She chose a pair of red heels and a matching clutch large enough to hide a gun and her phone. "Do you need shoes and a handbag?"
Misa shook her head. "Misa already has everything!" She let a black backpack covered in patches and pins on her host's bed, only to take out a pair of black heels. "Misa doesn't need a purse."
By the time they were ready to leave, Yulia called her newest best friend. Frost had already informed her about a possible leakage of information and he interrogated her about it. The model began worrying for her own life now that Frost was furious and looking for someone to blame, which meant she had to be on her toes for a while. The woman kept pacing the entrance hall of the club where she had organized the party.
"Darling? Where are you? I hope you haven't changed your mind all of a sudden, have you?"
However, Yulia would have never guessed how complicated spying on the Dragon's heir could really be. The girl had already anticipated that the models will keep in touch – it was only a matter of time until it happened, so Caterina took Misa's phone and ignored the blonde's protests. "Hello. Who is this?"
"Yulia, of course! Misa saved her number, see? It's on the screen!" Misa tried to reach her phone, but Caterina didn't allow it.
'Well, I thought it was obvious. Who are you, if you don't mind?' the voice asked back.
"What are you trying to prove?!" Misa went on protesting. "Give it back!"
Caterina placed her index over Misa's lips, trying to hush her. "I asked first. Please give me your name." The Italian walked to the desk she had in a corner and looked over the files that she had received from Rin, hacked from Shimura's computer.
'Yulia,' the Russian answered with an awkward laugh, 'Who wants to identify me?'
"Your full name, please. Also, I'd like to know your father's affiliation to any economic entity, so that we may negotiate a possible… collaboration, perhaps. I understand that today is your birthday, correct?" the youngest of them went on. Caterina was looking at the file, waiting for a response. "Hello?"
Suddenly, Yulia had found herself in boiling hot water once again in less than two minutes. '…Romanov. Yulia Romanov. I would have to ask my father before I tell you more about the company.'
Caterina kept ignoring Misa, who became more agitated trying to take her phone back.
"I will meet you in half an hour at the café on the corner of the Central Park. From there, you may leave with Misa and celebrate further. However, I believe it is better for us to meet there."
'Isn't that café abandoned?'
"Closed, for now. I'll wait for you there in exactly thirty minutes."
Eventually, Misa was allowed to snatch the cell phone from Caterina, but the conversation was already over and Yulia had hung up. "What was that all about?! You told Misa we were going to the party! To-ge-ther! Not on my own!"
"What do you have to celebrate? A stranger's birthday? Please – you didn't honestly believe that!" Caterina stood up with a sigh. "Let's go. Hurry up and throw something over your shoulders. I don't want you to get sick."
The blonde stomped her feet. "No! You explain yourself now!"
Rolling her eyes, Caterina threw her a coat from her wardrobe and grabbed her fur. "I will on our drive there. I want you to wait in the car, by the way. It will only take a couple of minutes."
"That's it! Misa had enough of this! I'm going to the party alone!"
Caterina raised one brow at her and smirked. "Of course, but don't forget to leave everything borrowed from me here. Have fun!"
With a scream of frustration and a squeaky growl, Misa eventually followed Caterina outside where her driver had kept the car warm. They both sat in the back while Misa kept her arms crossed over her chest and turned her back on Caterina, as much as her seat allowed her.
The driver noticed, but respected Caterina's instructions precisely. When he parked the car by the abandoned café, he locked the doors of the car so that Misa could not follow his young mistress outside.
Yulia was already there in a sequin bondage dress, shivering in a pair of golden stilettos and trying to keep her body heat with her bare arms wrapped around herself. "Are you the one who picked up the phone?"
The girl nodded and went to unlock the door of Vitto's café. "Let's go inside. There is something I want you to see."
Scared, but well aware she had no way of backing down, Yulia followed Caterina inside the building. She looked around at the dusty paintings and furniture and noticed the thick red carpet on the floor.
"I already found out who sent you. I know you are here to spy on me through Misa, though I would like you to assure your superiors they have no reason to feel threatened. Vittorio stole from my father as well," she began as she showed the Russian around.
"I… I don't think I follow. I work for Yotsuba Homes." The woman began sweating already. She followed the red-haired to the basement. Vitto's things were still there, including the chair of torture and two bottles of old, rotting blood. The model wrinkled her nose and covered it with her sleeve. "What's this stench?"
Caterina took out a gun from the inside of her coat and pointed towards one of the couches. "Please. This basement had been designed to muffle loud noises, so don't even consider screaming. Set your guns and weapons on the coffee table and make yourself comfortable." There was a dirty silver platter on the coffee table.
Fury and rage began burning in the model's icy blue eyes as she obeyed Caterina's command. The Italian was blocking the only way out, while Yulia didn't want to risk dying in the basement of an abandoned coffee house. She sat down carefully, disgusted by the dirt on the couch, but too afraid to protest. "Who on earth are you…? How did you know?"
Caterina watched her set one gun and three knives on the platter. "I am a Dragon, my dear. Now, let's talk. Who sent you? Was it Ivan Frost? Or are you a traitor, working for Rod Ross now?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about!" the woman yelled. "Let me out of here, or you will regret it."
"Will I, now?" she laughed. "My dear, do you honestly believe that Frost would give two shits about your life? I bet he already has a dozen fresh prostitutes aspiring to be promoted to the status of a model and sent to work in much better conditions – those that you have now. I wonder how much time will he need to replace you… five seconds? Or is he the choosy type, taking another five to make up his mind?"
The blonde clinched her teeth. She was glancing towards her weapons every now and then, but the other kept her finger on the trigger. Yulia was afraid she would not have enough time to take a gun and shoot it before she would be shot. She only had three hours on her hands to learn how to shoot a gun before she left for the airport and flew to Japan.
"Let me explain a few things to you, so that you may write a consistent report this weekend and earn yourself a promotion. I've had Vittorio under my control for years now. He's been a pawn that I sacrificed without a second thought, just like Frost is ready to do with you. I gave him the order of bringing me information about Frost and his associates in order to prove to everybody how weak he really is. Anybody knows, but you're too afraid to say it. He's too arrogant, too ignorant, he makes too many rash decisions. For example, he sent you here, in Japan, to get hired by Yotsuba, work with Amane Misa, become close friends, and eventually lure both of us into a crowded place with few exits and lots of alcohol. Unfortunately for him, I've already seen that trick being used, so now I am capable of avoiding it. Yulia, or whatever your real name may be, you will have to deliver him a message: I wish to collaborate."
As Caterina kept talking and pacing the room, Yulia could feel her liver already screaming in disgust. The scent made her nauseous, which was quite bad, considering her habit of throwing up at least twice a day.
"…You're insane. Frost does not 'collaborate' – you either work for him, or you die. That's the rule."
Caterina shrugged. "His rules are not my problem. I make the rules now, and I wish to have a talk with him. I believe we could help each other eliminate common threats. Also, here's a new rule – remember your status and shut your mouth. Models are like dolls. All you have to do is smile and look pretty. Thinking and expressing opinions are not on the list."
The Italian picked up one of the bottles left by Vitto, only filled halfway but already a paradise for worms and flies. "Insects are the first who recognize death, my dear. Have you ever noticed? Flies know you're dying before you realize your time is up. Padre used to say that they can taste the scent of death."
Yulia gathered her long, shiny, bony legs beside her and crossed her ankles. "What do you want?!"
"I want all threats eliminated. Now, darling, I would like you to go over to that table, take a napkin and write me the IP address of your superior's computer. Remember that unlike you, I've already made my first kill. If you try to trick me, I will shoot you so many times, you will pass out from the pain and die from the loss of blood." Caterina kept threatening the other with her gun.
Inside her, something was changing. Although she still feared for her life, it no longer paralyzed her. Instead, fear only added a tingling sensation, a strange kind of excitement. It was mixing with anger and a taste of power that she found almost intoxicating. Caterina watched the watch that she had made a habit of wearing on her left wrist. It was a small, silver watch with a fancy 'C' encrusted on the inside of the glass.
Yulia took a pencil and a napkin from the table, but then realized what Caterina wanted.
"I-I don't know the… IP address."
"That's alright. You will find out by the end of the night, write it on a paper, fold the paper and seal it with scotch tape, so that I can see if anyone reads it before I do. After that, give it to Misa and she will deliver it to me. If not…" The Italian poured the rotting contents of the bottle over the silver platter on the coffee table, soaking the model's gun and knives. A small cloud of flies took off and several worms began crawling through the dark mess. "I will make you drink the other bottle. Consider it payback for my fallen man. I think he would appreciate my sense of humor."
By the time Yulia eventually walked out of the café, she was paler than snow and had already vomited once. Her whole body was trembling, but not from the cold – her heart beat too fast to let her feel the winter. She walked out as soon as her weak legs allowed her and walked over to the cab waiting for her.
As soon as she approached, Misa pushed the car's door so strongly, the driver was afraid it was going to beak. The blonde was surprised as well by how easily it opened once the driver had unlocked it, but she didn't waste any time asking about it. Instead, she ran after Yulia. "What happened there? Are you alright? Misa was so worried!"
The model faked a smile that couldn't even fool Misa and sat in the back of the cab.
"…Nothing. I'll slip you a note for that girl later, but before that, let's go enjoy the party. Hopefully no one will notice I've been gone."
All this time, Light has been checking his phone every few minutes and his email too.
Part of him knew that Caterina will not contact him so soon, but he still had some hope left that maybe she will.
He kept writing a fair share of names, scheduling them by the hour for the next week. It had become a habit to play it extra-safe and write at least 24 names in advance, using any time he had left. After all, what else could he be doing? Homework was too simple for his genius mind and barely occupied him two hours a day. He needed an occupation so that he would stop thinking about her, at least occasionally.
'I'm not sure if what you did was bold or stupid,' Ryuk took the freedom to point out.
Light shrugged and sat on the edge of his bed, facing his window and glancing outside.
"I don't consider myself 'stupid', but if you are trying to say that I'm changing my approach, than you are not far from the truth."
'Oh…? So all this was strategy?' the creature asked again. He was just about to burst into laughter, which he did once he heard Light's answer.
"Of course. What else do you think it was? I've planned everything from the very beginning, when I wouldn't show you the Death Note. I didn't want you to spoil the surprise for Caterina, since she can see and hear you. It was necessary to keep it all secret until the very last moment." He looked at the watch that he had left on one of the nightstands and then placed it back down. "Vitto is now dead. Frost is furious, which makes him less rational and easier to manipulate, and Caterina was finally capable to see my true genius at work. She is perfectly capable of filling in the few blanks that Vitto couldn't cover, so for now, my turn has passed." He sighed and stood up to stretch. "The only bad in this is that… I hate waiting for it to be my turn again."
Author's Notes:
Here's another chapter, published with the help of my beta reader, AbandonedSock.
I couldn't help but throw another external reference here. The book that Misa noticed is an autobiographic novel that's been adapted into a film in 1992. I recommend it and I think it's something Caterina would read or watch in secret.
Also, you did get one of your answers, HisRedRose123, but you'll need to wait a bit longer to see what Ooi is really doing. Here's a minor spoiler: the next few chapters will bring back the deaths of Anastasia and Diego, as well as the Dragon's actions in "XXII - Warning".
