Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note, ok? Excuse me while I go shoot the lawyer skulking behind the bush outside with my automatic air soft pistol...

Chapter 12

Chasing Shadows

'Light! How could I not have noticed,' she thought in surprise. 'Then again they weren't so close before.'

She stood up and slowly made her way to the opening in the wall. The voices were no longer within ear shot, so she poked her head out and looked around. Sure enough, she saw Light walking with a dark haired woman wearing jeans and a black leather jacket. The woman's back was to her so she couldn't make out her face or features to see if she recognized her at all.

'What the heck is he doing,' she thought angrily.

She wanted to walk up to him and smack him upside the head, but figured that wouldn't be the best course of action. After all, she trusted Light, so she had no reason to think that he was doing anything other than talking to a friend. She was just being unreasonable and jumping to conclusions. To her, making an unfounded assumption was little more than idiotic.

The woman didn't look familiar to her at all though which began to bother Noriko. Light had never kept secrets from her, they had always shared everything, but that had changed recently. 'He has been keeping something from me,' she thought as she bit her bottom lip, 'but he wouldn't...would he...' Her thoughts trailed off as she realized they were turning the corner of the street up ahead.

Making a quick decision, Noriko skulked after them. She watched from the corner as the two people walked up the block and turned down another street. Noriko followed along again and watched from the street corner as the two continued to talk about something before turning yet another corner.

"Are they going in circles or something, that street will lead right back to where we... I... mean they started," she mumbled, continuing to walk along the street.

She watched as they walked down the street passing by another opening into the park that Noriko had been in.

Noriko followed along until she reached the park entrance and then turned into the opening in the wall and walked quickly along the wall that lined the park.

"Thanks for all your help," she heard the woman say from the other side of the fence.

"Of course," she heard Light reply amicably.

There was a short pause as Noriko assumed the woman began to leave and then a shuffle of footsteps slowly leaving the area.

"Wait," she heard Light call, he seemed almost hesitant.

Noriko made her way back to the entrance she had originally used to get into the park. Looking discreetly passed the wall, she saw the woman facing towards her, looking at Light, while he stood with his back to her.

"... the Task Force," the woman said, clearly surprised at the revelation.

Noriko frowned, she had no idea what the woman was talking about since she had only caught the last part of the statement.

'Light isn't involved in any type of Task Force. What the hell is going on?' she thought.

A slight chuckle behind her made her freeze. She stood stock still, the hairs on the back of her neck raising. Slowly, Noriko turned towards the chuckle.

'There's no one here,' she thought somewhat relieved, before the same dark chuckle filled the cool air.

This time she turned back towards where Light was standing, she was sure it had come from where he was standing this time. The only people around though were Light and the woman he was talking to.

When she finally redirected her attention back to Light she noticed the woman digging something out of her purse and she then handed it to Light who then scribbled something down on a piece of paper.

Light glanced down at his watch as he handed the woman back the object she had given him.

The woman seemed to notice this too because she heard her ask him something about it. The answer she received never made it to Noriko's ears. She noticed the look on the woman's face grow worried before falling blank as she turned and walked away from Light.

Light stood where he was for a moment before turning around and walking in the opposite direction the woman had gone. There was a strange smile on his face and a look in his eyes that Noriko had never seen before.

'That was odd,' Noriko thought as she watched the woman walk away.

Turning around Noriko sat back down on the park bench and rested her elbows on her knees before setting her chin in the palms of her hands.

'Her facial expression changed so quickly, it was like she went from normal, to scared, to blank in a span of five seconds. I wonder what they were talking about, and just why Light was with her to begin with.'

Noriko squinted down at the paper that she held before her. She wasn't one for reading the newspaper often, but a small note on the front page had caught her attention.

"YOUNG WOMAN MISSING AFTER DEATH OF FBI FIANCE"

Flipping through the pages to find the section that the article mentioned on the front was tucked in to, she took a seat on a bench of the same park she had been in just a few days before.

"This is weird," she mumbled, she finished the article and continued to stare it. Closing the paper and setting it on the park bench she rose slowly, tucking her hands into the warm confines of her coat.

She began to walk slowly through the park, her eyes watching the ground pass slowly underneath her boot clad feet.

'That woman. She's missing. The picture with the article looked just like her,' Noriko thought, frowning thoughtfully down at the pavement. 'The day I saw her and Light talking was the same day she disappeared,' her frown deepened and her brows drew closer together.

'She was apparently engaged to one of the F.B.I agents that was killed just a few days before. Could it have been suicide, it was speculated as being possible in the article but, she didn't look like the type to do that...'

She unconsciously raised a pale hand to her lips and began nibbling on the nail of her thumb, a clicking sound could be heard every time her nail slipped from between her teeth causing her teeth to snap together lightly.

'It still seems odd to me that that one agent was on the bus the day of the hijacking. He had to have been tailing one of the suspects, but who? It doesn't seem to fit, he sat right behind Light and I and even saw the note Light had written...Why was he paying so much attention to us?'

Noriko heaved a tired sigh as she continued to walk around the city, lost in thought.

'I suppose it's possible that he was investigating Light. He is the police chief's son, and he is extremely smart and talented. There were things in the beginning of the whole Kira affair that would lead someone to believe that Kira had police information before the public did. That being the case, it's very likely that the police force would have been put under surveillance, including their families,' Noriko thought as she continued to stare at the ground beneath her feet.

'A few days after that bus jacking all the F.B.I agents sent to Japan are killed...L is a suspect in that one though. He admitted himself he could mobilize police forces from every country, and because of that he would have had access to the files of all the men...But that can't be right, he's the greatest detective in the world. He's known for his deductive skill, there isn't a case he hasn't solved...Then again it would be a good cover...' Noriko frowned at her own deductions. 'The problem with this is that by my own reasoning Light would be a suspect too...I did compare him to L the other day, they are both smart and seem to have amazing deductive skills and talents. And Light occasionally helps the N.P.A solve some pretty tough cases. That conclusion is impossible though...Light said himself he'd catch Kira if he had to...Then again that brings us back to having the perfect cover. Eh, this is too much for me. My mind is too jumbled and my thoughts aren't even making sense. Not to mention I'm carrying on an entire conversation with myself. No mor-'

Noriko grunted as she suddenly collided with something taller than her and being as graceful as she was, she promptly fell backwards and landed unceremoniously on her butt with a small cry of pain.

"Ow," she said, wincing after the impact.

"Sorry about that young lady, are you alright," someone asked, their voice had a strange accent, but it was warm and concerned.

Noriko looked up to see an older man with glasses and white hair smiling kindly down at her. "I'm fine, thanks. Sorry, I wasn't paying much attention to were I was going," Noriko replied, her cheeks tinting pink in embarassment.

"Not a problem dear, let me help you help," he offered as he stretched his hand out to her with a smile.

"Thank you."

As she stood she resisted the urge to rub at her sore backside and just smiled apologetically.

"Not a problem. You looked troubled, are you going to be alright," the man asked.

Noriko sighed, "I hope so. I've just been thinking too much lately, never a good thing for me."

The man chuckled, it was such a warm and happy sound that Noriko couldn't help but to chuckle too.

"I should be going, dear it was a pleasure bumping into you..." the man trailed off.

"Noriko," she answered.

"Noriko, I'm Watari. Until we meet again dear," the man said before turning and walking into a rather lavish looking hotel.

"The girl seems troubled. She was deep in thought when we literally ran into each other. I recognized her immediately from the files given to us by the F.B.I agent tailing the boy. Do you think she could be of assistance," the same old man Noriko had bumped into asked as he set down a tray of cakes and cookies.

"Maybe," another voice answered. It belonged to a thin, black haired man that was crouched on a chair staring at the brightly lit screen of a laptop that was set up on a small table in front of him.

'I wonder if she knows what Light Yagami is doing..If she does would she say so... My guess is no, at least not to someone she didn't trust,' the man thought as he grabbed a cookie with his thumb and pointer finger before placing the whole thing into his mouth.

"Watari, how do you suppose one would go about winning the trust of a female?"