Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note, but I do happen to own Noriko and Kiyoshi Mori. Izanami and Katsuo too, but I don't really like them as much. Although neither one will be a problem for much longer...

Chapter 17

Must Come To...

"This can't be happening," she uttered quietly. "That's only a few blocks from here."

Watari glanced at Ryuga who was watching Noriko intently while she talked on the phone just outside of the shop.

He frowned when the girl suddenly paled and started to shake so badly she practically fell into the seat by the doorway.

"She doesn't look well," Watari observed, concerned.

Ryuga ignored the older man and continued to watch as Noriko talked on the phone, a quivering hand covering her pale face.

"Should we call Mr Yagami," Watari asked.

"No," Ryuga stated. "He knows I was going to approach his son, but I don't think he'd be happy about me approaching his future daughter in law."

"True, what should we do?"

"Wait, and see what happens."

"Where are you right now, Noriko," Mr Yagami demanded urgently.

"I'm at a coffee shop downtown with some friends," she answered shakily.

"How far are you from the police headquarters, I can meet you there shortly."

"About three blocks."

"I want you to go there and tell the people at the desk who you are. I'll call now and tell them you're coming. You'll be safe there."

Noriko swallowed, but her throat was still dry. "Alright, I'm on my way."

She snapped her phone shut and stood up quickly, nearly knocking over the small chair she was in. She drew in a breath and made her way back inside the shop. Making her way back to the table she had shared with Watari and Ryuga, she tried to regain her composure.

"Is everything alright, Noriko," Watari asked her, he was clearly concerned, it was evident by the tone of his voice.

"I'm sorry. Something came up and I need to go," she replied, a slight tremble to her voice as she grabbed her bag.

"Do you need a ride," Watari offered.

She forced a smile. "No thank you. I'm sorry." After apologizing, she bolted from the shop.

"She seemed really upset, I hope she'll be alright," Watari worried.

"Yes," Ryuga agreed blandly.

Noriko ran out of the building and nearly collided with another person, she apologized hurriedly and took off again.

"Damn shoes," she muttered. The heels she was wearing were making it difficult to run, kicking them off, she ran down the street bare foot.

Once to the corner of the street, she turned sharply. She was taking the shortest route she could think of to the police headquarters.

'This can't be happening,' she thought in a panic. 'How!? How could Katsuo escape! Damn it, he knows why he was held now, he knows it was technically because of me that he wound up in jail. He won't care about the other charges, he'll come after me.'

Mr Yagami had told her that Katsuo was in the process of being transferred to another jail so that he would be closer to the court his trial was to be held in. Somehow in the process though Katsuo had managed to get his hands on a gun and had shot one of the guards, severely wounding him. He had then taken off running towards the west side of the city, Noriko was coming from south of the building and figured the chances of running across him were slim, especially since she was headed towards the police headquarter and he would be trying to get away from it.

Running as fast as she could, she heaved a sigh when she finally saw the towering building that housed the police force and made a mad dash for the doors. Bursting into the building, her feet slapped against cool tile. Nearly colliding with the reception desk when she skidded to a breathless halt, she managed to tell the two men there who she was between her gasps for air.

She was close to panic and it was obvious in her flushed cheeks and worried eyes. The guards at the desk tried to calm her down, saying that someone was on their way to get her, but she was too flustered to listen. Her breathing was ragged from her sprint and she leaned over to place her hands on her knees.

"Noriko," a voice called.

Noriko snapped her head up to look at a very familiar face. "Takehiko," she forced out continuing to gasp for breath.

"You remember," the handsome young officer replied with a warm smile.

"Yes. I remember," she nodded.

"I'm supposed to look after you, Mr Yagami thought a familiar face might be nice so he asked me to look out for you until he could get here," the man told her.

She nodded numbly, the situation seemed so unreal. Her life was in danger and she knew it though she silently hoped that the man after her would die of a heart attack before he got his hands on her. She may may not agree with Kira's method of justice, but she figured there were exceptions to every rule.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly.

"Not a problem, come on," the handsome officer replied, waving her to walk with him.

Walking beside the officer, Noriko felt a little more at ease. As long as she was here, she knew she was safe. A frown crossed her features when she realized where Katsuo would likely go first and what that meant for her.

Noriko unconsciously rubbed at her right arm. 'I can't go home, ever. If my mother knows I'm the real reason Katsuo was originally put in jail she'll never let me near the house again,' she thought to herself.

"Noriko, are all right," Takehiko asked.

"Hm? Yeah, just a little shocked is all. This changes a lot for me," she replied forlornly.

"Try not to worry too much, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"I hope so," she replied as she followed him into a small room that looked like a break room. There was a couch off to one side and a few tables in the center and a kitchenette across the wall from the couch.

Noriko flopped onto the couch and put her head in her hands.

"I'm only here until one of Chief Yagami's men arrive. Then I believe you're going to be taken to a hotel nearby for the night," Takehiko informed her, he pulled a chair out from one of the tables and sat down.

Noriko nodded, closing her eyes and leaning into the comfort of the couch.

"Ryuzaki, there's an emergency I need to attend to. I'll be back as soon as possible," Mr Yagami relayed hurriedly as the onyx eyed detective slouched into the room.

"What's the problem," the detective asked. He sat himself in his usual crouch in a chair that was placed before a a laptop.

"There has been a problem at the jail and a dangerous man has gone free. I have reason to believe he will try to go after Noriko, my son's-"

"Fiance. Yes, I know. I've met her," the man he knew as Ryuzaki replied.

"You have," Mr Yagami asked, surprised.

"Yes, we had coffee," he stated simply. "I understand the situation, I will have Watari reserve the girl a room here. We can provide her whatever she needs until the man is captured. She only knows me as her classmate, so please don't mention the investigation, or that I'm here as well."

"Of course. I'll tell her it was arranged by the police department for her protection," Mr Yagami replied.

Ryuzaki leaned forward and pressed a button on the laptop before him.

"Watari."

"Yes, Ryuzaki."

"Did you hear the situation?"

"I did, I will reserve her a room and make sure she will be able to get the clothes and whatever items she may need."

"Thank you, Watari," Ryuzaki replied.

"Thank you, Ryuzaki. I should go and get her now," Mr Yagami said before turning to leave the room.

"Light, for the hundredth time, I'm fine," Noriko sighed into her phone.

"I'm going to come down there," he replied.

She was lying on her back in the plush king sized bed of the hotel room she had been given to stay in, rubbing at her tired eyes.

"No, your dad already told you not to come here in case Katsuo saw you or he has someone follow you," she repeated for at least the tenth time. "He knows a lot of people Light, and they have no problem helping him."

"I don't care, you're my-"

"I'm aware!" she snapped. " However I am capable of taking care of myself. I'm not completely helpless. On top of that I'm still rather pissed off at the moment and I'd rather be left alone."

"Nori," Light sighed.

"Light, I don't want to hear it. If you weren't feeling well or something fine, but that doesn't give you the right to talk to me the way you did. Not only that, I think you and Ryuga are hiding something from me and I'd really like to know what."

"What do you mean," Light asked.

"I've known you a long time, Light. You were upset while talking to Ryuga at the ceremony, and then you disappear and leave me there. When I called you to see where you were, you didn't want me anywhere near Ryuga. Why?"

"I'm sorry, Noriko. I guess I was just jealous."

Noriko didn't believe him, she knew he was lying and he had avoided answering the question about Ryuga. "I'm tired and I still need to go and get some clothes from the shops downstairs before they close, can I call you back later," she asked.

When she was finally able to hang up her phone, she sighed and went into the bathroom to wash her face and clean off the dirt from her feet. Once that was done she slipped her heels back on since she didn't have any other shoes and made her way to the door of the luxurious room.

Swinging the door open, she nearly screamed when she came face to face with a man with dark hair.

"Oh, sorry about that," the man said, chuckling nervously and scratching at his head.

"Matsuda," she asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. The chief wanted me to check on you and escort you down to the shops."

"Oh, I think I'll manage on my own."

"Well he's pretty worried about you so..."

Noriko sighed and nodded. "Let's go," she muttered, shutting the door to her room.

She and Matsuda took the elevator down to the ground floor and then turned towards all the shops to the left of the lobby. The shops were a bit more upscale than Noriko was used to and she was a little hesitant about doing any shopping in any of them. She had been told to charge any of her purchases to the room and that they would be taken care of for her. To her it seemed like the police were going a bit far for her, but she figured Mr Yagami had something to do with that.

Wandering around with Matsuda trailing along with her, Noriko explored a few of the shops. Most of the shops didn't have anything that suited her tastes and she left with out buying anything. Finally she found a few stores grouped together that looked like they were aimed at people in her age group, so she meandered through them, finding a few things in each that she would wear. Luckily, one of the shops also sold shoes and she was able to get a pair of shoes as well.

As they made their way back to the lobby, Noriko saw a little gift shop and stopped inside to buy a toothbrush, tooth paste, shampoo and conditioner and a brush.

"I think I've got everything I'll need for a few days," she said as she glanced back at Matsuda who was carrying her bags for her.

They took the items up to her room and Noriko walked into the bedroom that was beyond the rather large living room. She put the bags of clothes into the closet to put away later.

"So," Noriko drawled, walking back into the living room to see Matsuda sitting on the plush red and cream striped couch.

Matsuda chuckled uncomfortably, and Noriko tweaked a brow at him. "You were sent here to watch me, weren't you?"

"Uh, well..."

"Don't worry about it, Matsuda. Mr Yagami is just worried and Light probably isn't making it easy on him either," Noriko replied, plopping onto the couch besides the nervous detective.

"Yeah," Matsuda replied, sheepishly rubbing at his head.

"I'm starving," she said suddenly as she stood quickly from the couch.

Noriko walked towards the door and slipped her heels back on, she figured if she was eating in the rather fancy hotel she might as well look like she belonged there. She walked towards the door , stopping to glance back at Matsuda expectantly.

"Oh, right" he exclaimed. He jumped up from the couch and began to blush at himself.

Noriko shook her head at the man and left the room. Once back downstairs, she walked over to the nearest restaurant and looked over the menu that was posted in a glass case just outside of the entrance. Matsuda stood behind, her looking around distractedly and nervously.

"Maybe we should have stayed in the room," Matsuda suggested.

"Oh please, I think the hotel lobby is safe," Noriko retorted.

"But-"

"Matsuda, I'd really rather not think about the fact that someone is most likely trying to find and kill me," Noriko cut in rather cheerily.

"Ok," Matsuda gave in reluctantly.

"Come on," Noriko chirped, she turned towards the restaurant, but she hadn't noticed that there was some water or something slippery spilled on the floor and slipped, falling backwards.

She let out a small shout and braced for impact...That never came. Confused, she realized that there was a hand on her shoulder and another at her waist.

"I really need some lessons in grace," she mumbled to herself. After righting herself, she turned to thank Matsuda, only to stop and turn red when she noticed that it wasn't Matsuda who had helped her.

"Are you alright," her savior asked.

He had to be one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. He had long dark hair, slightly tanned skinned and dark almond eyes. He wore a very expensive business suit and was now regarding her curiously, one brow quirked up in what could have been amusement or annoyance, Noriko wasn't really sure.

"Oh," Noriko said when she snapped back to reality. "Yes, I'm fine thank you. I'm so sorry."

"Noriko, are you alright," Matsuda asked suddenly popping up from nowhere.

"I'm fine. I just slipped," she assured him embarrassedly. "Really nothing new for me," she mumbled as an after thought.

The man who had caught her laughed lightly and she looked up at him curiously. "What," she asked a little offended.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you, Ms..."

"Noriko."

When the man gave her a strange look, she sighed. "My name is Noriko Mori, I prefer to be called Noriko."

"Noriko, I'm Reiji Namikawa," the man introduced himself with a polite bow.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Namikawa. Oh and that's Matsuda, the temporary bodyguard," Noriko said, jerking her thumb at Matsuda who was watching the two talk and fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Bodyguard," Reiji asked.

"Yep, someone's trying to kill me," Noriko replied with a shrug.

The handsome man stared at her for a moment trying to determine if she was being serious, but seeing that she didn't seem to be displaying much emotion he wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He noticed that Matsuda seemed uncomfortable with her having given her name and telling him she was in danger.

"Ok, so that was awkward," Noriko finally spoke up with a small chuckle. "I'm sorry for having delayed you, Mr Namikawa, but I think I should eat and get back to my room so that Matsuda doesn't freak out."

"I was just about to go and eat myself, would you like to join me?"

Noriko was a little surprised by the offer, but didn't want to turn him down and seem rude. "I'd love to," she replied with a smile.

"Mr Yagami's gonna kill me," Matsuda whined as he followed after Noriko and Namikawa.

"Matsuda try not to worry so much," Noriko replied, casting a quick glance over her shoulder to grin at the man.

The next three hours were spent in pleasant conversation while she and Namikawa, as she had taken to calling him, ate their food and then sipped at tea.

"You're engaged I see," Namikawa observed.

"I am," Noriko replied.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks," Noriko tried to reply happily, but she instead sounded dejected and sad.

"You don't seem pleased."

"I am. It's just that lately I think he's hiding something from me," she answered as she played with the tea cup before her.

"I'm sorry," Namikawa said to her.

She forced a smile. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about my problems, they are mine alone after all."

"Noriko," Matsuda asked hesitantly.

"What is it, Matsuda," she asked as she looked over at him.

"I think we should get-" He was cut off by his phone ringing. Digging the object out of a coat pocket, he opened it and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

Noriko saw him cringe and pull the phone away from his ear after giving a negative reply to a question she couldn't hear.

"It's for you," Matsuda said, he shoved the phone in her direction with an apologetic smile.

Taking the phone hesitantly, Noriko asked, "Um, hello?"

"Noriko, what are you doing?!" a voice snapped at her.

"Ah! Mr Yagami, I was just finishing dinner," she explained hurriedly.

"You should be in your room, you should stay out of sight," Mr Yagami chided her.

"Won't that be a problem in two days, when I have classes?" she asked.

"We'll talk about that tomorrow, just please return to your room."

"Yes sir," she sighed.

After another brief scolding, she handed the phone back to Matsuda who reluctantly put the phone back to his ear.

"Please forgive the interruption, but it seems I need to return to my room," Noriko informed Namikawa.

"It was a pleasure dining with you," Namikawa replied. He stood when she did and walked with her out of the restaurant.

"Thank you for the company, it was refreshing after the day I had," she said.

"Thank you, I'll be here tomorrow night as well, if you should happen to be hungry again," Namikawa replied, hinting that he would like to see her again.

Noriko blushed lightly and bowed. "I just might be," she said as she walked with Matsuda towards the elevator.

"You're blushing," Matsuda pointed out.

"Shut up," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Are you going to meet him for dinner again tomorrow," he asked curiously.

"Maybe," she replied with a shrug.

"Wouldn't Light be upset?"

"He doesn't own me," Noriko answered haughtily.

"Right," Matsuda swallowed as he backed up slightly.

The next morning Noriko woke up and looked around the room, confused. It took a moment for her to remember where she was and why she was there.

"Not a dream, too bad," she mumbled. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she stretched her arms over her head and yawned widely..

Not bothering to change, she stayed in the black tank top and black shorts she had purchased to sleep in the night before. Walking to the door that led to the living room and she opened it and peeked through the opening. There was someone on the couch, but it definitely wasn't Matsuda.

"Who the hell are you," she demanded. Opening the door fully, she walked into the living room.

"Oh, you're awake," the person replied, turning towards her.

"Takehiko," Noriko asked, blinking at the police officer who was dressed plainly in gray slacks and a red button up over a black shirt. "Where's Matsuda?"

"He had to go and do something for Mr Yagami, they asked if I could watch after you for the day," he answered.

Noriko shrugged. "Ok."

She walked back into the bedroom and picked up her phone, she had turned it off the previous night after returning to the hotel room from dinner. Staring at it for a minute, she tossed it back onto the dresser and decided to leave it off.

Gathering a few items, Noriko made her way to the bathroom and took a hot shower. She took her time in getting ready and walked out of the bathroom nearly an hour later, dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a long white tank top that was covered in black lace, giving it a slightly Gothic feel. Going back to the bedroom, she pulled a cropped black cardigan out of the closet and put it on over the tank top. Taking a quick look in the mirror she was glad to find that the outfit fit quite nicely and was nice while still being a little plain.

"So what's the plan for today," she inquired.

"I was told not to let you out my sight," Takehiko replied as he glanced up at her from the newspaper in his hands.

"Ok, so I can go downstairs as long as you come along right?"

"Actually, Mr Yagami doesn't want you leaving the room," Takehiko replied apologetically.

"Really," Noriko asked sourly, plunking herself down on one of the two cushiony chairs in the living room.

"Sorry."

"No problem. So are you going to be here all day?"

"Yeah, until Matsuda finishes up whatever he was doing, it sounds like it might even be tomorrow."

Noriko frowned, she knew she could get Matsuda to let her out of the room. She wasn't so sure about Takehiko though. He didn't seem like the type to disobey orders, and on top of that he seemed to have more backbone than Matsuda had shown so far.

"What about class tomorrow," Noriko asked him.

"Chief Yagami said he would be stopping in later to discuss that with you," Takehiko answered.

"I see," Noriko replied with a frown.

The day crawled by slowly for Noriko who was bored silly. She watched television, read the newspaper and when she was no longer entertained, she decided to try and get Takehiko to let her go wander around downstairs.

"I can't leave, right?"

"Right," he replied cautiously, sensing she was up to something.

"What if I did leave," she asked.

"I wouldn't let you," Takehiko warned. Taking his attention from the news to shift it Noriko, he eyed the girl suspiciously.

"So you'd stop me?"

"Yes."

"Would you use force?"

Takehiko seemed to sense she was planning on getting out, but trying to figure out how far he would go to stop her. "Possibly," he replied seriously.

"I see," she muttered thoughtfully, tilting her head back to look up at the ceiling.

There was a sudden knock at the door which caused Noriko jump and look at the door worriedly.

"And you want to leave the room," Takehiko teased, laughing at her paranoia.

"Hey," Noriko whined at him, pouting as the door was opened and Mr Yagami walked in.

"Chief," Takehiko greeted respectfully, taking a step out of the man's way.

"I trust Noriko has behaved," Mr Yagami questioned pointedly as he looked at Noriko.

She chuckled and shrugged at him.

"Mostly," Takehiko replied.

"Hey I didn't-"

"Noriko," Mr Yagami cut in. "I wanted to talk to you about you attending your classes."

"Ok. So how are we going to do this, is someone going to follow me around or what?"

Mr Yagami sighed. "It would be preferred that you don't attend, I can arrange to have-"

"Are you serious," she blurted out, sitting up from her slouch to stare disbelievingly at her future father in law. "I'm supposed to start college tomorrow and you don't want me to go? No way, not happening. I'm going even if I have to sneak out of here."

"I figured as much, which is why I have arranged to have a few officers to be at the school to watch for Katsuo. There will also be an officer in plain clothes assigned to be near you at all times," Mr Yagami informed the angry girl.

"Oh, well that's better," Noriko replied, calming down and leaning back into the chair.

"I also wanted to warn you to be wary of your mother. She hasn't been seen since last night. Officers went to the house and she was already gone and hasn't returned," Mr Yagami told her.

"I figured as much. Katsuo and her are probably hiding out somewhere," Noriko replied.

"You're going to need to stay here as long as he's on the loose. I can arrange to have an officer go to your house and bring you some more of your belongings if you'd like," Mr Yagami offered.

"That would be nice," she replied. "As it is I don't have any school supplies."

"I'll see if I can't have some of your stuff here by morning then. I need to be going though," he said as he stood and headed for the door.

"Thank you," Noriko called after him.

"I'd prefer that you stayed in the room for the night, Noriko," Mr Yagami said to her as he exited and gave her a stern look that meant business.

She just smiled and nodded, not at all planning on staying in the room.

"You're not planning on trying to leave still, are you," Takehiko asked as he sat back down on the couch after Mr Yagami had left.

"Of course not," she replied as she stood and made her way to the bathroom. It was a little after five pm, and she knew that Namikawa had said he would be at the restaurant at the same time he had been the day before, which if she remembered correctly was around six pm.

She brushed out her hair and pulled it into a high ponytail, leaving some of her bangs free to frame her face. When she walked out of the bathroom, she decided to go to the bedroom for a little while, telling Takehiko that she was kind of tired.

'How am I going to do this,' she thought as she stared at the door. 'Takehiko isn't going to let me out of this hotel room willingly.'

Plopping onto the fluffy bed, she tried to think of a plan to get downstairs. It was nearing six and she wanted to leave. She didn't really want to be holed up in the room any longer. At this point, she didn't care if she had dinner with Namikawa, as long as she wasn't in the room.

She lifted her head off the pillow when she heard the bathroom door shut down the hall. Tip toeing to the door, she opened it quietly and noticed that Takehiko wasn't in the living room. Grabbing her phone just to be safe, she slipped on the black ballet slipper like shoes she had purchased the day before and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her quietly. She walked to the door on the opposite side of the living room and quietly opened it, stopping when it squeaked and waiting for a moment before slipping out and running to the elevator.

She giggled as she walked out of the elevator and towards the shops and restaurants to the left. Sighing, she turned on her phone, glad that she had no messages and turned the ringer to vibrate before slipping it into her pocket. She hadn't brought a purse, she had only grabbed her phone and the key to the room in case she had to charge something.

Her feet made little noise in the slip on shoes as she walked around the tiled paths between the shops, she stopped at a window and stared at a black hand bag that had caught her eye.

"No bodyguard today," a voice spoke up from behind her.

She jumped at the sudden voice and spun around to see that the voice belonged to Namikawa. Chuckling embarrassedly, she answered his question with a small forced chuckle. "Well.. I kind of ditched him."

"Do you think that was a good idea?"

Noriko shrugged. "I understand I'm in danger, but I don't really like being a prisoner. I'd rather enjoy myself and not be reminded constantly that I'm in danger."

"Understandable," he replied. "How about dinner then?"

Noriko smiled and nodded and took the arm that was being offered to her.

An hour into dinner, she felt the phone in her pocket begin to vibrate, she pulled out the phone to glance at the caller ID, she furrowed a brow at the number that she didn't recognize and ignored it, putting the phone back into her pocket.

The two talked amicably about many different subjects including her attending college. She knew he was avoiding subjects that would draw her mind back to her predicament, and silently thanked him. He was apparently a very high ranking employee at the Yotsuba corporation, which Noriko knew was a very prestigious, world wide company. There was an age difference between the two of about twelve years they discovered, but it didn't seem to make their conversations any less intellectual. The two were rather enjoying themselves, each thankful for a break from their daily lives, or in Noriko's case, her new daily life.

"Oh, no," Noriko groaned when she saw Takehiko stalk into the restaurant.

"Noriko, what the hell were you thinking," he scolded, stalking up to their table.

"And you are," Namikawa asked.

"Takehiko, who are you," he asked rudely.

"Reiji Namikawa."

"And just what are you-"

"Takehiko," Noriko interrupted, a little perturbed by how rude he was being.

"Let's go," he ordered.

Noriko opened her mouth to refuse when Namikawa spoke.

"I think the gentleman may be right Noriko, you should probably return to your room before you get yourself into more trouble."

"Of course, I do have class tomorrow anyways," she replied trying not to sound to disappointed. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Light had been so busy recently that she had been spending much of her time alone. She stood up from the table and smiled at Namikawa and Takehiko who were pointedly avoiding each others gaze.

"Thank you for the company yet again," Noriko said.

"No, thank you," Namikawa replied as he stood up to walk her out.

"I had a great time, we should do this again sometime. Preferably when I can leave without having to worry about someone following me," Noriko said as she turned to glare at Takehiko, who snorted and looked away.

"That would be nice," he agreed.

"She's engaged you know," Takehiko mumbled quietly.

"I'm aware of that."

Noriko felt her phone go off in her pocket and without thinking, she took it out of her pocket and answered it.

The two men who had accompanied her out of the restaurant where involved in a conversation of sorts while Noriko listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. Takehiko stopped talking when he heard Noriko gasp and utter something quietly. Both men looked over at her to see that she had paled considerably and was looking ahead of her blankly.

"Noriko are you alright," Takehiko asked.

"I-I-" she stuttered before dropping the phone, it fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Noriko," Takehiko asked again more urgently.

She flinched at the sound of his voice, but didn't respond.

"Noriko is something the matter," Namikawa questioned calmly, stepping closer to her.

She turned to him slowly. "It was my mother," she said quietly.

"What, where-"

Namikawa silenced Takehiko by holding up his hand, it was obvious to him that Noriko was distressed and that he wasn't helping by pressuring her.

"She said that she knew what I had done and that I'm no longer her daughter. Nothing particularly new, but then Katsuo took the phone from her and told me that he would make sure I regretted everything..." She trailed off unsure what else to say, her life had just been threatened and she now realized just how real the situation she was in was. She knew she was in danger to begin with, but she had never really thought that any harm would come to her, now though she wasn't so sure, and it scared her.

Looking down at the ground, Noriko leaned down to pick up the phone she had dropped, but her knees gave out and she began to fall. Takehiko, who was standing besides her, caught her before she could fall down completely and lifted her into his arms.

Namikawa reached down to pick up the phone and handed it to Noriko who took it grudgingly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Of course, until we meet again," he said to her with a small bow as Takehiko glared at him and then walked away.

After getting up to the room, Takehiko laid Noriko down on her bed and left to get her a glass of water. She was pale and her eyes were glazed over as she stared blankly at nothing.

"Take these," Takehiko said as he handed Noriko a glass of water of water and two pills, that she thought looked like night time pain relievers.

Noriko sat up slightly and took the cup with shaking hands before also grabbing the pills and tossing them into her mouth and swallowing them with some water.

"Are you alright," he asked her after she had taken a few sips of the water.

She nodded slowly.

"Good. You scared me, I was trying to see if you were going to want to eat, but when I knocked on your door and got no response I opened it. When I noticed you weren't there I almost panicked."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make trouble for you," Noriko said quietly.

"I guess you see now that this is very real, and you are in danger," Takehiko said to her.

"Yes," she replied.

"Just don't go wandering off without someone like that again alright?"

Noriko nodded.

"Get some rest, you have class in the morning after all," Takehiko said to her trying to sound cheery and happy.

"Thank you," she said to him as he left the room.

He smiled back at her and shut the door behind himself.

Please review!