Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note.

Chapter 15

The Familiar Stranger

Noriko fiddled nervously with her pencil and chewed at her bottom lip. It was the first day of the entrance exams and she was a nervous wreck as she let her eyes scan the pages. Tests weren't hard for her, but this one was just so important that she felt an incredible amount of pressure to do well, and she never did well under pressure.

'Calm down. It's just a test. It's not like it's determining your future,' she thought to herself sarcastically, hanging her head and suppressing a small groan.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment, she calmed her nerves as best she could and started the test that was on the desk before her.

She was in one of four testing rooms, surrounded by at least a hundred students she didn't know. There wasn't a single familiar face and she really wished she could have been in the same room as Light, so she could at least recognize someone, but he was two doors down in another room.

'Finally,' she sighed internally, filling in the last answer she needed to complete for the day.

Closing the exam booklet, she sighed and set her pencil down besides the test. She had finished about a half an hour early and was going to have to wait until the remaining time was up to leave the room.

She fidgeted as the minutes seemed to crawl by slower than a snail and was beginning to grow rather annoyed when the instructor finally called out that all pencils were to be set down and the tests were to be passed forward.

Noriko turned and was handed two exams from the two people behind her, she added hers to the pile and handed them to the girl that was in front of her.

Once the instructor had gathered all the exams, they were allowed to leave. Waiting for the majority of the crowd to leave the room before she left too, Noriko wondered how she had done on the exam.

"Don't worry I'm sure you did well," her father said cheerily as he appeared besides her when she stood to exit the room.

She frowned and swatted at the air where her father's face was.

"That's not very nice you know," he whined, rubbing at his nose as if she had actually hurt him.

Noriko rolled her eyes in exasperation. Her father had been popping up on an almost daily basis over the past few weeks and it was beginning to get a little annoying. She loved her father and was glad to see him, but him being invisible to everyone but her made it a bit difficult to not feel like a crazy person whenever he popped in for a visit.

The brightness of the sun outside the exam was a big change from the pale artificial light of the exam room and it caused Noriko to be momentarily blinded by the brightness. Taking a step forward, she paused for a moment to regain her bearings only to wind up crying out when someone collided with her right arm. She stumbled awkwardly and would have fallen, but was stopped from falling over completely by a strong, white sleeved arm that was now wrapped around her waist. Looking at the arm quizzically, she glanced up to a strikingly familiar man. He had thick black hair, that was somewhat long and disheveled, dark eyes that blended into the blackness of his pupils and pale skin but not to an unhealthy extent. It was the black rings around his eyes that gave off the impression that he hardly slept that struck Noriko most of all.

Blinking up at him for a few seconds before snapping out of her stupor and blushing at herself, Noriko stuttered out an apology. "I-I'm sorry," she choked out, taking a step away from the dark eyed stranger.

He shrugged at her apology, stuffing his hands into his pockets and glancing down at the ground. She followed his eyes and muttered a few curses. At her feet was the entire contents of her purse, how it had spilled she had no clue because she still had the bag in her hands.

She knelt down and began to pick up the fallen items, the stranger followed suit and crouched down on his feet and helped.

"You really don't have to help, but thank you." Noriko offered an embarrassed smile to her eccentric rescuer.

"It's not a problem," he replied in a quiet mumble

She noted the curious way he picked things up, he held things using his thumb and index finger, almost as if he were afraid to actually touch anything. He handed her a few papers that had fallen and her cell phone.

"I'm Noriko by the way," she said, trying to make conversation.

"Ryuga," the man responded disinterestedly without looking up.

"I don't suppose we've met before have we," she inquired hesitantly.

"I don't believe so."

"You look familiar is all," she explained. Putting the last of the items into her bag and standing up, she wasn't sure what to say or do and settled for shifting her weight from foot to foot when the man finally looked up at her. "Sorry about that, and thanks for helping me." She was feeling a little odd with the lack of speaking they were doing, it was like he was more interested in staring at her with his dark eyes, as if reading a book.

"There you are Ryuga," an accented male voice called.

Ryuga turned around, shoving his hands in his pocket and slouching forward.

"Yes, what is it, Watari," Ryuga asked.

"Watari," Noriko repeated, surprised.

"Oh, hello young lady. Noriko, wasn't it," the elderly man asked as he stepped passed Ryuga, giving her a bright smile.

"Yes," she replied, before falling silent, unsure of what to say.

"We should be going, Watari," Ryuga said to the elderly man before turning back to her. "It was nice meeting, Noriko."

"Uh, you too," she answered lamely.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again, Noriko," Watari told her with a small. The man then seemed to hesitate, lost in thought for a moment. "You know since you two will be attending the college, we should have tea sometime. It would be a good chance for Ryuga to get to know people here."

"I'd love to," she answered with a smile of her own. She wasn't lying either, she was quite curious about the strange young man and why he seemed familiar to her.

"Only if there's cake," Ryuga spoke up, even though he looked a little irritated at not having been consulted first.

Noriko laughed at the random comment, Ryuga just looked at her oddly.

"There's a pretty nice coffee shop near my house, which isn't too far, they have excellent pastries," Noriko suggested.

"I like pastries," Ryuga replied.

"Well, it sounds like that's a yes. When are you free dear," Watari asked.

"Huh, oh well, um, usually in the evenings after class or the weekends."

"How about tomorrow," Ryuga interjected suddenly.

"Um...Ok," she shrugged, it seemed a bit sudden, but she didn't have plans and Light usually spent the day holed up in his room.

"Where is this coffee shop, Noriko," Watari asked.

She told him where it was and they confirmed a time, noon tomorrow.

"Noriko," she heard Light to call her.

"Oh I've gotta go. It was a pleasure meeting you Ryuga and I'll see you two tomorrow," she said before turning and running off.

"Who were you talking to," he asked her as she approached him, he was watching as the two men walked away.

"Watari and Ryuga. I'm meeting them for tea tomorrow, would you like to go?"

Light shook his head. "Do you know them?"

"Well I sort of ran into both of them, literally. I met Watari on New Years and then Ryuga just now."

"And you're having tea with them?"

"I figured it would be fine, I mean you do usually stay home on Sunday. Apparently Ryuga doesn't know many people around here and Watari, who sort of seems like his dad, suggested it."

Light frowned. Something was telling him to let her go, he felt that there was more to Ryuga than met the eye.

"I could always cancel. Oh, actually, I didn't get either one of their numbers."

"No, you should go. You don't have many friends and I'll be busy anyways," Light replied.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all."

"Ok, you're not upset at me for making plans without asking are you," she asked Light, sounding a little put out.

"No, I don't own you Nori. You can do whatever you want to, I trust you if that's what you're getting at."

"Good," she answered curtly. For some reason she thought he didn't seem too happy about her accepting the invitation to tea, but she didn't see the problem. They would all soon be fellow students if all went well and they might as well make new friends. That and she was curious about the stranger.

"I think I'm going to head home Light. I'm pretty tired and really just want to lay in my bed and listen to some music," Noriko said as her and Light walked hand in hand down the street towards his house.

"I'll walk you," he offered.

"Ok. So what are you going to be doing tomorrow? Do you want me to stop by or would you like to just be alone for the day?"

"I think I'd like to be alone for the day. I need to finish up a few assignments that I haven't gotten around to yet," Light replied.

"Alright. I'll give you a call sometime though, ok?"

"Ok. Good night, Noriko," Light said, kissing her lips gently and smiling.

"Good night Light," she answered before turning and walking into her house.

She walked up to her room and tossed her bag on the floor by her desk before flipping on her stereo. She had been listening to Paramore the night before so the cd continued where it left off and the song 'Fences' began to play over the speakers. The song was one of her favorites and she flopped onto her bed as it played.

"That Ryuga seems like an interesting person."

Noriko sighed and rolled her eyes. "Is there a reason why you keep popping up everyday lately?"

"I just want to make sure my little girl's ok," her father responded cheerily.

She looked over at him with a raised brow. "I'm fine. Just like earlier."

"No need to be so grouchy," Kiyoshi complained.

"I'm not being grouchy, dad," she replied sarcastically. "But I am being haunted and it gets a little old."

"You don't like me being around?"

"That's not what I said. Shouldn't you be resting in peace or something," she asked.

He shrugged. "Being dead isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Did you seriously just say that?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong with being dead, aside from the obvious?"

He sighed and shook his head. "There has been a lot of unrest lately among the dead."

Noriko tweaked a brow at his choice of words but didn't say anything as her father sat on her desk chair and turned to look at her.

"It's not for you to worry about though," he said suddenly with a bright smile.

Noriko frowned, "You had told me before about me getting involved in a battle of sorts..."

"Yes, I had," he replied somberly.

"Does it involve Kira?" she asked.

Her father frowned, but nodded slowly.

"Why can't I remember the dreams I've been having?"

"You'll remember when you need too I suppose. Although I don't believe that there's anything to worry about in them," her father replied.

Noriko didn't responded just sat staring blankly up at her ceiling.

"That Ryuga boy," her father said suddenly, so suddenly that Noriko jumped.

"What about him," she asked irritably.

"Have you seen him before?"

"I thought he seemed familiar, but I don't know why I can't place him. There's something strange about him though," she replied thoughtfully.

"Yes," her father mused. "He's handsome don't you think?"

The cheeriness in his voice caused her to look at him funny and wrinkle her nose.

"I suppose," she answered. "I hadn't really noticed."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"No reason," Kiyoshi replied quickly, flashing Noriko a quick smile.

"What are you up to?"

"Me! Up to something. Never," he answered dramatically.

"Uh huh," Noriko replied.

"Have fun on your date tomorrow," her dad said teasingly as he stood up from her chair.

"It's not a date, I'm engaged remember," Noriko answered, shoving her hand out at him and wiggling her ring finger.

Her father winked at her and disappeared in a cool breeze of fresh air.

"I swear he's insane," she mumbled after he had disappeared. "Oh wait that's me because I see dead people."

'Seriously need to get my head checked,' she thought to herself after making the comment.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

-CRASH-

"Stupid, annoying, piece of crap," Noriko grumbled from under her blanket after throwing one of her pillows at her alarm clock.

She muttered strings of curses when she realized it had been her comfortable pillow and that the one she was currently laying on was rather flat.

With an exaggerated sigh, she threw the blanket off herself and squinted at the early morning brightness pouring in her window.

"Stupid sun," she mumbled stepping out of bed and grabbing the pillow she had thrown as well as the clock that was dangling from her dresser.

"Crap!" she shouted when she noticed the time. "Stupid time."

It was currently just after 11 am and Noriko needed to be out of the house in forty five minutes if she wanted to make it to the coffee shop on time.

Grumbling a long line of curses, she made her way to her bathroom and took a quick shower, while trying to wake up and let the grogginess wash off her.

Stumbling back to her room, she dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a rather cute black top that had short sleeves and was open from her throat to her chest. It reminded her of the styles worn by women at the turn of the century, the way there was a little bit of lace gathered in vertical lines over her chest. The top was snug around her chest, but fitted more loosely past her bust and hung about an inch passed the waist of her jeans.

She glanced at the clock and ran back to her bathroom. She brushed out her hair and pulled half of it back and secured it with a clip, her bangs that didn't go into the clip fell freely around her face.

Walking back to her room she grabbed her coat, purse, and a pair of black slip on shoes that resembled ballet slippers only with more of a sole.

"I'm going to be late. What a great impression," she mumbled as she headed out of the house and towards the little coffee shop.

She wandered into the shop a few minutes passed noon and when she didn't see the two people she was meeting she got a little confused and glanced at the clock on her phone.

"Noriko, glad you made it," Watari greeted her out of nowhere.

"Sorry for being late, I woke up later than usual," she apologized as he led her to a table towards the back of the little shop.

Watari pulled out a chair for her and she sat down before looking across and seeing that Ryuga was sitting in an odd crouch, his knees pulled up towards his chest and his toes dangling off the edge of his chair.

She looked at him oddly for a moment before figuring it was just a weird quirk. It wasn't like she didn't have any, she liked to sit cross legged almost all the time, including now.

"You're engaged," Ryuga asked, well it seemed more like a statement to Noriko, and it had caught her off guard.

She blinked at him before noticing he was pointing a finger at her hand. "Oh, yes. I am," she confirmed.

"Congratulations I suppose," he offered although he didn't sound very enthusiastic.

The waitress came to take their orders a few moments later and Noriko had to resist the urge to gape at Ryuga who had ordered coffee and she was pretty sure at least four types of pastries.

Ryuga didn't seem like the type who talked much so she began talking to Watari, figuring if Ryuga wanted to join in then he would. It was a bit strange though, she felt as if Ryuga's dark eyes were constantly on her, as if trying to decipher a code, but every time she'd glance at him he would be staring off chewing on the tip of his thumb, while his other hand sat firmly on his knee.

"I take it you're not from Japan. You have a slight accent," Noriko observed.

"I was born in England," Watari replied.

"Oh, so you two moved here from England then," she inquired.

"We lived there when Ryuga was younger, we move around a lot."

"I see. The name Ryuga though, it doesn't sound English," Noriko commented.

"It's not," Ryuga said, finally speaking.

Noriko didn't say anything, thinking he was going to elaborate but when he didn't she just nodded and turned back to Watari.

"Are you two related," she asked before suddenly realizing that was a rather rude and really not her business, but she was curious because Watari seemed to be a father figure to Ryuga, but they looked nothing alike and they didn't act alike either. "Sorry that really isn't my business. I was just curious because..."

"It's alright dear," Watari assured her. "We are not related. Ryuga is like a son to me though. I've been taking care of him for a long time."

Noriko nodded her understanding and figured she'd leave it at that and was rather grateful when the waitress arrived with a tray laden with sweets.

A cup of hot tea was placed before Watari, a hot latte before her as well as a type of cinnamon coffee cake, then three dough nuts, a piece of strawberry cake and some other pastry that looked as if it had been covered in sugar was set before Ryuga with a cup of coffee.

"Are you going to eat all of that," she asked him with wide eyes.

"Yes."

"Do you always eat like that?"

"Yes."

"Is he serious," she asked turning to Watari who chuckled at her disbelief.

"He is," the elderly man replied.

"That's not even fair," she grumbled.

"You could have ordered more," Ryuga stated as he took a bite of the cake before him.

Noriko noticed he held the fork the same way he had held the things he had helped her pick up the day before. With his thumb and index finger.

"If I were to eat all that I would one, not sleep for a week, two, I really don't think me and sugar highs go together very well, and three I wouldn't be able to walk out of here without a wheel barrow," Noriko replied.

Ryuga shrugged before taking another bite of his cake.

"I hope you work out a lot or something, because there's no way you're that skinny when you eat like that," Noriko stated.

"I burn a lot of calories thinking," he replied.

"Thinking?"

"Yes, thinking."

There was a short pause as Noriko stared at him, trying to figure out if he was insulting her in some indirect way. Without much care, she blurted out what she was thinking. "You're weird."

Watari chuckled at her while Ryuga looked up from his cake and just stared at her as she sipped at the latte before her casually.

"What," she asked innocently.

"I'm weird," he repeated as his fork hovered over his cake.

"Yes, that's what I said," Noriko answered while smiling at him and taking a bite of the cinnamon pastry before her.

"You're weird," he said, shoving a bite of his cake in his mouth.

"Yes and?" was her uninterested response.

He regarded her with his dark eyes for a moment before shrugging and going back to his cake.

"I think you two will get along just fine," Watari said with a smile.

"What are you doing," she asked Ryuga a moment later as he began to pour sugar into his coffee.

"Putting sugar in my coffee," he stated, not taking his eyes from the steady amount of white that was being poured into the coffee before him. There was so much that the coffee was about to start pouring over the sides of the cup.

"How much sugar do you consume a day," she asked abruptly.

He shrugged in response.

"You wouldn't want to know," Watari replied with a warm chuckle.

Noriko lifted a brow and decided not to ask. It was rather warm in the back of the tea house and she realized she had never removed her coat, shrugging it of she laid over the back of her chair.

She picked up her latte and sipped at it while she watched Ryuga eat all the sugary items before him.

'He certainly is different,' she thought to herself. 'But in a good way, I'm glad I decided to come here. I really like these two so far.'

"What did you do to your arm?"

Noriko jolted slightly at the sudden question and barely escaped slopping coffee on herself. She noticed both Ryuga and Watari looking at her right arm.

'I really need to remember to always wear long sleeved shirts,' she thought, flustered.

"Nothing, just an accident. I'm a klutz," she answered quickly.

She practically jumped through the roof when Ryuga suddenly reached across to pick her wrist up off the table. Using his thumb and pointer finger he lifted her wrist and peered at the scar that went from her wrist to her elbow. He released her wrist and it fell down to the table with a thump.

"Glass," he muttered.

"I'm sorry," she asked.

"It was a piece of glass, wasn't it?"

Noriko blinked at him. "Yeah, I had slammed my medicine cabinet shut and it shattered into the sink. I did this when I was cleaning."

"Really," he said.

Noriko shifted uncomfortably, the way he was looking at her made her feel as if he knew she was lying. What it mattered she didn't know, it was just strange, she felt like she was being silently interrogated by those dark eyes and she didn't really like it.

"So what brought you guys to Japan," she inquired, trying to change the subject.

The rest of their time was spent talking about random things, and Noriko and Ryuga subtly picking on each other. She left the coffee shop a little after two and decided to go for a walk before going home. She had declined the offer from Watari to give her a ride, saying she lived nearby and liked the walk.

Meeting with the two had been an interesting experience but she had a strange feeling about Ryuga. He still seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't figure out why. That and for some reason she felt at ease around him most of the time, the only time she felt odd was when he would ask about things she didn't really want to discuss. Like the scar on her wrist, or her family, he never asked about her being engaged other than the brief mention at the beginning. She was a little curious about that, it almost seemed like he had avoided the topic.

After a few hours of wandering around Noriko went back home and decided to poke around on the internet for awhile.

After losing interest in that she finished up her homework and went to bed early.

The other testing dates were spread out over the next two weekends and Noriko mentally cursed whoever thought that was a good idea. Not only did she and Light have to attend their normal classes for high school, but their weekends were spent holed up in the exam halls taking long, arduous tests.

She would see Ryuga and Watari at the exam halls and would usually chat briefly with them before Light would call her away. She still had the strange sense of knowing Ryuga and the more she talked to him the more comfortable she felt around him. He may have had some really weird quirks but he seemed like a very interesting person.

"Will the tests never end," Noriko moaned as she and Light walked home from school.

It was nearing the end of term and that meant finals. Noriko really wasn't pleased with having to take more tests, but was glad that she would soon be a college bound student.

"Only another week Nori," Light said patting her on the head.

"At least the entrance exams are over, and we can spend the weekend doing nothing," she stated as she looked at Light, who quirked a brow at her, "Ok, fine. I'll do nothing, and you can study."

"How about we both study, and I'll take you out to dinner after the finals are over," Light bargained with her.

"Dinner you say," she repeated, putting a finger under her chin.

Light nodded.

"You have a deal hun," she answered with a smile.

"Good."

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