Disclaimer- I do not own Death Note, only Noriko... Who is glaring at me...

Chapter 11

Lost in the Snow

Nudging the sleeping girl beside him, Light whispered, "Noriko, wake up."

Noriko squeezed her eyes shut tighter, not wanting to move from her comfortable, warm and safe position on Light's bed. Her auburn hair partially hid her face as she rolled over on to her side, facing Light.

"Dinner's ready," Light said.

"I'm not hungry," Noriko mumbled tiredly, burying her face into a pillow and snuggling under the blankets.

"You're eating," he informed her authoritatively. "I don't care if you're hungry or not. I haven't seen you eat anything in days." With that, he began to wrestle the sheets and blankets from Noriko's grasp.

Noriko yawned and stretched lazily when she was uncovered, but buried her face in the pillow again not a minute later. "I don't wanna," she whined.

Light sighed. "Please, for me?"

Noriko opened one green eye and looked at him with a small frown. "Fine, but only because you asked so nicely," she replied as she forced herself out of bed.

"You aren't sleeping at home, are you?"

"I'm sleeping fine," she answered quickly.

"You're a horrible liar."

"If you must know, I haven't gotten much sleep since that day," she said, tugging on the sleeves of the somewhat large sweater she had brought along with her.

"I figured as much. It's been a week, Noriko, you need to put it out of your mind. How's your arm?"

"Healing. It'll scar, but I can deal with that."

"Come on," Light said, carefully entwining his fingers through hers and leading her downstairs.

"Noriko, are you all right dear," Mrs Yagami asked. The older woman's face was full of motherly concern when she took in Noriko's pale complexion and bruised looking eyes.

"Huh, oh yeah I'm fine," she replied.

Light glanced over at her and frowned, in the bright light of the dining room it was much easier to see just how fatigued she really was. Her face was still pale and her usually bright green eyes seemed dull from lack of sleep and the puffy bags under them did little to help. She looked horrible to say the least.

"You sure? You've been so quiet and you look like you're not feeling well. That and you seem to be here all the time, not that I mind of course, but is everything ok at home?" Mrs Yagami asked, the concern still ripe in her voice.

"Sachiko, let's just leave Noriko alone for now, I'm sure she'd tell us if something was wrong. Right Noriko?" Mr Yagami asked as he walked in to the dining area.

"Of course," Noriko replied, nodding and forcing a smile.

"Dad it's good to see you home, you've been working so much lately we hardly get to see you," Light said to his father as the man took his seat at the table.

Dinner passed in silence, well on Noriko's part at least. Sayu was bubbly and talkative, Light would occasionally say something, and the older Yagami's just sat and enjoyed their time together.

It looked to Noriko like Mr Yagami was stressed and worried over something as dinner came to an end. He hadn't talked much and he seemed to be avoiding talking at all costs.

"So dad how has work been for you?" Light asked when Mrs Yagami was clearing the plates from the table.

"Yes, well, I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you," the man replied.

"Tell us what dear," Mrs Yagami questioned, sitting back down beside her husband.

"We aren't going somewhere for New Year's, are we?" Sayu chirped happily.

"Quiet, Sayu," Mrs Yagami scolded.

"I'm in charge of the special task force that's investigating the Kira case," Mr Yagami said his face turned down towards the table, "The reason I'm telling you this is because twelve F.B.I agents were sent to Japan to find Kira. All twelve of them... were found dead yesterday."

"What!" Sayu cried.

"You mean they were killed by Kira?" Light inquired, shocked.

Noriko's eyes widened minutely at the revelation, 'F.B.I...That man on the bus...'

"In other words anyone who tries to apprehend Kira may be killed. Morale is low and many of my detectives are quitting. Who can blame them, we're dealing with such a cold and heartless murderer," Mr Yagami continued.

Noriko sat quietly in her seat, she felt a little awkward being involved in such a sensitive family talk.

"Then you quit too dad! What if he tries killing you?" Sayu spoke up.

"She's right, your life is more important than your career, all you have to do is resign," Mrs Yagami spoke up worriedly.

"No. I'm seeing this through to the end. I will not succumb to evil," he answered.

"I'm proud of you, dad," Light said as he stood from his seat. "You're absolutely right and if anything ever happens to you I'll catch Kira." He was now about to walk out of the dining room, but he turned back to look at his dad again. "I'll make sure he gets the death penalty, I swear it."

Noriko stared after Light for a few seconds while the others continued on with their talk. 'That seemed a bit dramatic, even for Light.. especially for Light,' she thought as she continued to stare at the doorway Light had walked through just a moment before.

"Excuse me," Noriko said quietly. Standing from her own seat, she made her way back upstairs and to Light's room.

'He has helped the N.P.A on cases before so it wouldn't be a stretch if he were to help on another case. His deductive skills are amazing, and he hates losing...Just like L... The great detective that sent twelve men to Japan and to their early graves. I don't know anymore, but something isn't right,' she thought as she entered Light's room to find him hunched over his desk with the television on.

"That was an awfully dramatic exit," Noriko stated, plopping herself onto Light's bed.

"Was it, I hadn't noticed," Light replied disinterestedly.

Noriko frowned at his back. 'He's still hiding something from me. He has been for weeks now.'

"So did you mean it," she asked, trying to sound curious and not suspicious for reasons she didn't fully understand.

"What," he asked, turning towards her as if uncertain what she meant.

"That you'd find Kira."

"Yes, of course, why?"

"No reason. It's strange, we meet that F.B.I agent on that bus and now he's probably dead," Noriko stated still staring at Light's back.

She noticed the muscles in his back tense for a moment before they relaxed again.

"I hadn't thought of that," he replied.

'Then why did he tense up?'

"Oh, well that day has been bugging me a lot."

"You just need to relax and forget about it, Nori."

"Maybe, but something isn't right. That man, the hijacker, had been on the news the day before. He had killed a few people while attempting a robbery. Kira doesn't usually waste time in killing people, so why wait," she asked thoughtfully.

Light shrugged. "Who knows, maybe he was busy or something."

"Possibly, or maybe there's more to it than that," she suggested thoughtfully, laying back and folding her hands behind her head.

"What do you mean," Light asked, the note of apprehension was quite obvious in his voice.

Noriko frowned again.

"Well... if he can kill people by way of heart attack without being present and with only a name and face, is it really so hard to believe that maybe, just maybe, he can kill in other ways?"

If she had bothered to look away from the ceiling, she might have noticed the scowl that crossed Light's features for a brief second, but she didn't. She also failed to notice that his eyes had darted to the side of the room, a look of annoyance showing clearly through his brown eyes.

"I suppose not, but how would that even be possible? We know he needs a name and face to kill, but criminals only seem to be dying of unexplained heart attacks, no reports of other types of deaths have been reported."

"Of course not. If heart attacks are the main way he kills, then no one would notice if a criminal died of an accident, or was run over by car. It would be just an accident and nothing more," Noriko replied, her voice thoughtful as she stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Killing by heart attack would be for anyone he wants noticed. Any other method used, if it's possible, would be to not draw attention to the death," Light said sounding quite surprised and intrigued by the idea. "Good thinking, Noriko."

She shrugged. "I think I thought too much, my head hurts," she said while bringing a hand to her temples.

Light chuckled at her before swiveling around in his chair, a frown on his handsome face and his hand clenching tightly to the pencil in his hand.

"Sounds like she's starting to suspect you," a mocking voice said in his ear, a voice only he could hear.

The pencil in Light's hand snapped.

Noriko looked over at him from her perch on the bed. "Are you ok," she asked curiously.

"Yeah, just frustrated with all this homework," he replied with a convincing sigh.

"Oh."

She blinked at his back a few times before lying her head back down. 'He's been so edgy lately,' she thought as she chewed on her lower lip, 'Then again entrance exams are only a few weeks away.'

"I'm going to head home," she said suddenly, getting up from the bed and grabbing her things.

"Ok," was Light's only monotonous and bland reply.

Noriko tweaked an eyebrow at him. "Ok," she repeated.

"Oh, sorry," he said looking over at her.

"Whatever. I'll talk to you later," she replied with a shake of her head and a sigh.

"Are you ok?" he asked as she headed for the door.

She stopped and frowned at the door in front of her, her hand resting on the handle.

"I'll be fine," she replied. Without any hesitation she twisted the knob and stepped into the hall, shutting the door behind her.

'What the hell's wrong with me,' she asked herself on her walk home.

Her head was down and her hair covered her face as she walked.

"You look upset."

Noriko jumped at the unexpected voice, dropping the textbook in her hands.

"Dammit," she cursed. Putting a hand over her heart that had tried to jump out of her throat, she glared at her father who was innocently grinning back at her.

"Did I scare you?" He inquired casually.

"No, dad, not at all. It's normal for people to have ghosts pop up at random times and start talking to them," she replied sarcastically as she looked up from picking up her book, and looked into her dads smiling face.

"Sorry," he said as he raised his arms and shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever," she sighed as she continued walking home.

"So what's bothering you," Kiyoshi asked his daughter, concerned.

"Can we talk at home, after all I am the only one who can see and hear you," Noriko said quietly.

"Fine, so worried about what other people think," her dad teased.

"I'd really rather not be known as the girl who mumbles to herself. Now shut up."

"Jeez. Is it really necessary to be so mean," he whined.

Noriko sighed and rolled her eyes.b'You haven't changed much. Still as much of a child as I am,' she thought.

Noriko walked into her house and up the stairs to her room. She set her bag down by her door before turning and going into the bathroom. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth before heading back to her room.

Shutting the door behind her she switched on the little boom box she had, it began playing the CD she had left in it earlier that day, the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children soundtrack. She pushed the back button to restart the current song, Water, it was her favorite song on the CD. She loved the sounds, and the flow of the music.

"Ok, so now what did you want to know?" she asked as she set her bag down by the desk and flipped on her lamp. "Where the hell did he go now," she grumbled. Her father was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm here, I'm here," she heard him say.

Turning towards her window, she saw him leaning against the wall, staring out into the night.

"It looks like it might snow soon," he observed quietly.

"Tomorrow actually, according to the news reports," Noriko replied.

"So what's bothering you, my little one," he asked, his gaze not leaving the dark night beyond the window.

Noriko sighed softly and sat down on her bed, grabbing her pillow and hugging it to her chest. "I don't know. I can't help but think that there's something Light isn't telling me. I've been feeling that way for awhile now. It's probably nothing, just anxiety over the coming exams, but I just feel that there's something I'm missing," she said.

She saw a frown tug at the normally upturned lips of her father and wondered if there was something that he was keeping from her too.

"I don't know what to tell you, Nori. You need to figure this out on your own. I wish I could help, but I can't," he told her sadly.

"It's not your fault. I'm just over thinking the situation most likely," she replied.

"Maybe," he answered.

"School's out for New Year's. I have a whole week to do absolutely nothing," she said with a sigh. "I'm going to be so bored."

Her father chuckled at her. "I'm sure you'll find some way to occupy yourself."

"Neh, I don't even care, I think I just want to not think."

"Have fun with that," her father laughed. "I'm going to be going now."

"Ok, good night dad."

"Night little one."

A soft, cool breeze filled the room with the scent of fresh rain and the curtains fluttered softly as Kiyoshi faded away.

"It's snowing," Noriko said quietly, taking a quick glance out of her bedroom window.

She fell asleep as she listened to the gentle sound of the snow falling against the house and the sighing of the wind as it playfully danced with the snow just outside her window.

The following morning she was awoken by the sound of her mother slamming the door shut downstairs, sending a loud echo and shiver through the house.

'She must have to work. That or she's starting the New Years celebration off early,' Noriko thought as she pulled herself out of bed and stumbled her way to her bathroom.

'Why do I feel like I'm forgetting about something,' she thought groggily. Rubbing at her eyes with the back of a hand, she yawned and played with the water temperature on her shower. She took a long, hot shower and then finally dragged herself out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around herself.

With a quick glance outside she saw that it was still snowing. A smile played on her lips as she grabbed a pair of dark jeans and a scoop necked, long sleeved black shirt that fit rather snug.

She made her way back to the bathroom and got dressed and began to do her hair. Since it was snowing, she had decided to blow dry it and avoid any unnecessary illness. Once it was dry, she separated it in to two sections, one on each side of her head, and swirled the sections into buns, securing each one with one black and one white hair stick. The bangs that didn't get pulled into the buns were left out and hung loosely around her face.

Walking back to her room, she went to her closet and rummaged around for a few minutes. Crashes and banging being heard as she tossed things out of her way. "Aha! Found you," she sang, reemerging from the closet with a pair of knee high black suede boots that laced up the front. She slipped them on her feet and tucked her jeans into them before tying the laces.

Jumping up from her bed, she walked to her dresser and flung open a drawer and began digging through the different colored fuzzy objects before grabbing a black, white, and red one and tugging it out of the drawer. Once the object was free, it was revealed to be a striped scarf with little tassels at the ends. She then snatched her black and red coat off her desk chair and left the house while shrugging it on.

She wrapped the scarf around her neck letting one end rest behind her and the other in front of her. A content sigh escaped her lips as she began to wander aimlessly around in the softly falling snow.

The snow had always had a way of making Noriko feel relaxed and at ease. She loved the feel of it as it would touch her cheek before melting away, leaving hardy any trace of its gentle caress. The way it muted out other sounds had always amazed her as well, it made everything so peaceful.

She let her feet guide her as she walked through the quiet neighborhood and towards the city. There was no specific place in her mind, she just wanted to enjoy the peace of being alone and contemplate on the thoughts that had troubled her mind recently.

Her thoughts drifted lazily around in her head and she soon found herself lost in them. Without realizing it, she had walked all the way into town. Looking up, she noticed she stood across from the police building. A frown creased her forehead as she stared at the building before her.

'How the heck did I end up here,' she thought forlornly.

"Oh well," she sighed as she began to walk away again.

There was a little park just down the road on the left that Noriko remembered visiting as a child. It was small but she remembered all the trees and the benches that lined the sidewalks. Making her way to the little park, she sat down on the closest bench she could find. A quick look around the park and she saw it was deserted, which was really no surprise.

'It's New Years after all,' Noriko thought as she tilted her head up towards the sky.

She closed her eyes as the snow fell gently on to her upturned face and soothed the worry from her mind. A smile tugged at her lips as she remembered when she had been little and her father had brought her and Light to the park for a picnic. It had started off well enough, both children behaving themselves and not squabbling over anything. They had noticed though that not many people had been out that day, it was a warm, breezy summer day, a perfect day.

Of course that all changed when it suddenly began to rain cats and dogs while they were still in the middle of eating.

Noriko, being the child she was and loving the rain, had immediately dropped her sandwich and started running around in the pouring rain. Light grumbled something about her being dumb as she did this and her dad tried yelling, ok more like pleading, with her to come back so they could go home.

She had ignored them both and continued dancing around in the rain, a happy smile on her face.

"You're such a pain Noriko," Light called out to her.

"So, at least I'm having fun crabby pants," she retorted while playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

"Noriko, honey, let's go home now, please," her father whined.

"No," she replied.

Her father sighed and Light rolled his eyes.

Noriko giggled at just how uncomfortable they were. "Ok, fine, let's go," she said as she skipped towards them.

Now Noriko has never and probably never will be known for being graceful. So it was really no surprise, except maybe to Light who went down with her, when she stumbled over her own feet and fell, right on top of Light.

"OhmygoshLightI'msooosorry!" Noriko said really, really quickly.

"Just get off me," the irritated boy had retorted.

Noriko had frowned at him, but carefully removed herself from him. "Sorry," she said, this time in a quiet mumble, her bright green eyes turned towards the dampened ground.

"Ok," Light grumbled out, seeing that she was sorry and felt bad.

A smile immediately brightened her downcast face as she leapt at Light and hugged him.

"Ugh, get off," he whined.

She released him from the hug, but not before pecking his cheek in a chaste kiss and grinning happily. She remembered the shade of red he had turned and just how cute he had looked. A chuckle escaped her as she recalled the day.

The sound of voices caught her attention, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. It sounded like they were just on the other side of the wall that separated the park from the street.

Her head tilted to the side, much like a curious cat, as one of the voices, a male voice, seemed very familiar. The other voice, a female's, did not.

"Have you told this to anyone else," she heard the male voice ask.

Noriko's eyes shot open when she realized without a doubt who the owner of the male voice was.

Please review!