Disclaimer- I do not own Death Note, k?

Chapter 18

An End

Noriko wandered around the college campus, classes weren't set to start for another fifteen minutes and she wanted to get used to the unfamiliar lay out. Takehiko had been assigned to follow her around her for the day, so he was tagging along beside her in plain jeans and a nice baby blue polo shirt.

"Noriko!"

She looked around to see that Light was walking towards her, sighing she waited for him.

"Are you alright? You should really have stayed-"

"Light, I don't want to hear it," Noriko cut in tiredly.

"Who's this," he asked nodding at Takehiko.

"Takehiko," she stated. "He's here to look after me today."

"Oh, good," Light replied before turning to Takehiko to introduce himself since Noriko didn't seem at inclined to do so. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Light, Noriko's fiance."

"Yeah, I need to get to class," she murmured, turning away from him.

"Nori," Light said as he grabbed her hand. "You're still angry at me, aren't you?"

"No, I'm just tired, Light. I hardly slept, and I'm a little distracted right now. I'm sorry," she answered.

"Alright," he answered, stepping forward to give her a hug. He felt her stiffen and frowned.

"I'll talk to you later," she said as she turned to walk to her class.

Light watched her go with a frown on his face and his jaw set angrily. 'I'll take care of this later,' he thought bitterly. 'I will protect her. I should have written Katsuo's name sooner, but it would have been possible to link me to his death since I'm engaged to his step daughter that he liked to beat whenever he felt like it.'

The day came and went and Noriko was only barely aware of her surroundings. She left her last class and met Takehiko outside. They slowly began to walk away from the school.

"Nori," she heard Light call.

Glancing over in the direction his voice came from, she noticed he was walking with Ryuga. She stopped and waited for the two men.

"Do you want to get some coffee with us," Light asked.

Noriko tweaked a brow at him and glanced to Takehiko, who shook his head. He was under pretty strict orders and was only to take to school and then return her to the hotel, there were to be no unnecessary stops.

"Sorry, but I can't," she answered.

"I understand," Light replied.

"Hey, Ryuga," Noriko greeted the disheveled boy beside Light.

"Hello," he responded lamely as he stared off into the distance.

"I have to go," she said apologetically when she saw that Takehiko was glancing around impatiently.

"So it's safe to assume that you'll be taking care of Katsuo," Ryuga asked Light once Noriko and Takehiko were out of sight.

"I'm not Kira." Light cast an annoyed and bitter glare at the detective that was slouched beside him and tried to remain patient.

"It's strange that the man hasn't been killed yet, don't you think," Ryuga mused, a curious look on his face as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned back on heels for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he fits the description of the type of person that Kira would kill, so why is he still alive? He has abused an innocent girl, is accused of murder, escaped from jail, shot a police officer and now is threatening to kill someone."

"I don't know, it is strange though," Light agreed while trying to keep the edge out of his voice

Noriko held one of her text books to her chest and stared at the ground she was walking on. 'Something is up. It was relatively obvious that Light didn't like Ryuga, so why on earth are they buddy buddy now?' Noriko wondered.

When Takehiko raised his arm before her, Noriko jolted to a stop, her eyes widening in response to the surprise. Confused, she looked up at the blue eyed man and noticed that he was tense and staring straight ahead with narrowed eyes. Swallowing, Noriko followed his gaze and wasn't surprised to see that standing before them was Katsuo, grinning maniacally. They were on a deserted walkway that was shielded from view of the campus by the tall dense trees that lined the path. Not the best place to be alone with a person who wanted to kill you.

"Noriko, I want you to run," Takehiko ordered her seriously, keeping his eyes glued on the man standing a few feet away.

"But-"

"Just do it, use your phone to call chief Yagami and have him inform the other officers of where we are," Takehiko cut in, his tone firm, but demanding.

When she made no move to go, he stepped in front of her and pushed her behind his slender frame.

"I need to talk to my precious little step daughter," Katsuo leered at them.

"Go, find Light. Just get out of here," Takehiko hissed at her, pushing her slightly to get her to snap out of her frozen state.

Hesitating since she didn't want to leave Takehiko alone, but knowing that he could very well handle himself since he was a police officer, she nodded and turned around, breaking into run.

"I don't know who you are, boy, but you should move," Katsuo barked roughly.

"I'm Officer Yamanaka," Takehiko answered as he drew the gun that was hidden under the jacket that he was wearing.

Katsuo grinned and pulled out the gun he had tucked into his pants.

Noriko hadn't gotten far when the sound of two gunshots echoed through the quiet school. She stopped and looked back, but the trees and bushes blocked her view. She grabbed her phone and quickly called Mr Yagami, when he answered his phone Noriko told him what was going on and began to panic.

"Just get somewhere safe, the officers in the area will be there shortly," he assured her, he sounded tired and stressed.

"Ok," she said as she began running towards the school buildings.

"Well, well, look what I found."

Noriko froze and turned towards the voice that was to her right. Sitting on a bench, smiling at her, was her mother.

"What do you want," Noriko hissed.

"Now that's no way to talk to your mother," Izanami replied. The thin woman stood up and walked towards Noriko, a vicious smile on her lips.

Taking a step back as the woman approached her, Noriko recognized the dark glint in her eyes and knew she needed to get away. Turning, she tried to sprint away, but yelled in pain as her arm was caught and wrenched backwards. Her bag and book fell from her arms when a fist collided harshly with the side of her face.

Grunting, Noriko stumbled back a few steps. She stepped aside as the woman stepped forward to try and hit her again at which point she swung her own fist at the woman. She heard a satisfying pain filled grunt when her fist connected with her mother's side. Silently, she thanked the few self defense classes she had taken over the years.

Izanami doubled over in surprise and pain, taking this opportunity to get away, Noriko turned and began to run again. Shouts could be heard somewhere behind her, but she didn't want to turn back to see what the commotion was, thinking that it would be best to isolate herself somewhere and wait for everything to be over instead of running towards trouble.

There was another series of gunshots and Noriko paused to look back, her eyes wide and her chest rising and falling rapidly. She could see police officers pouring into the school into the distance and watched as they seemed to swarm towards the area she had left Takehiko in.

She was currently standing before one of the universities many buildings. In front of her was a path that lead towards the dorms and to her right was a path that lead to some of the other buildings. There was also a path to her left as well, it was the path that she had followed to get to where she was.

Her breath caught in her throat when she heard a small click behind her.

Swallowing, she turned slowly and saw that Katsuo was standing there pointing a gun at her chest, his left shoulder was bleeding and the blood was staining the shirt he wore a dark crimson color. She took a step backwards and towards the path that lead to the dorms. It was a curvy path lined with many trees and bushes that would help provide cover if she darted into the shrubbery.

"Uh, uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you," Katsuo taunted her.

Stopping, she stared at the man who was pointing a gun at her. "What do you want, Katsuo," she tried to growl, but her fear was too much and she didn't sound as threatening as she had hoped.

The man barked a harsh laugh that reminded her of sandpaper being used on metal. "You owe me."

"I don't owe you anything," she spat.

The man took a quick step forward, Noriko tried to back away, but wasn't quick enough. The hand holding the gun was rammed into her stomach and she stumbled back, falling on to her knees, gasping and coughing.

Screaming when a booted foot connected with her ribs, she leaned over to cough up a small amount of bright red liquid. The liquid filling her mouth and trickling down her mouth was bitter and metallic, blood.

"Not so tough now, are you," Katsuo sneered as he stared down at her.

"Bastard," she choked out defiantly. She had to bite back the shrill cry that threatened to escape her lips as a large rough hand slapped her right cheek. Once her vision cleared from the impact, she struggled to stand up, her ribs were sore and made it difficult, but she managed to do it.

She stared at Katsuo daringly.

"Noriko!" she heard someone shout.

"Run," she heard her father's voice say beside her. With one last glance at Katsuo, who was distracted by the shouts, she turned and ran down the path. She was having trouble breathing, every breath she took it felt as if she was inhaling fire.

The sound of a gun being fired echoed throughout the school, but she paid it no heed and kept running.

"Noriko," she heard someone shout not far to her right.

Turning, she noticed that Takehiko wasn't far away and Light was with him. They were running towards her.

Altering her path, she ran towards the two men. She heard the gun shot that was fired seconds later and saw Light and Takehiko's eyes widen before they both shouted her name. Light picked up his pace, but Takehiko stopped, drawing his gun and taking aim at something behind her. Light's shouts and the gunfire around her never reached her ears, all her senses had suddenly vanished as she felt a strange burning sensation in her abdomen. Her vision wavered and her muscles were useless as she fell to the ground, crimson blood pouring from her torso.

Dazed and confused, she didn't know what had happened, she just felt extremely tired and drained as if her very life was being sucked away from her.

"Noriko," she heard someone shout.

The shout jolted her back to reality and her senses swarmed back to her in a nauseating rush. She pushed herself on to her side, only to let out a howl at the pain it caused. She fell onto her back, her eyes closed and her hand going to her side. When she felt the wet, stickiness of there, she raised her hand and saw that it was covered in bright red blood.

Her eyes widened and she was overcome by a wave of dizziness.

A pale hand grabbed her wrist and lowered it down to her side.

"Noriko, can you hear me," a voice asked.

She blinked and turned her head slightly to see Ryuga looking down at her. He looked bored as usual, but she thought that there was a tint of worry in his voice and in his dark eyes.

Opening her mouth to talk, Noriko found she had no voice and instead had to turn away to cough up a stream of red.

"Nori," Light called worriedly as his face came into view above her.

She felt him grab her hand and squeeze it, she tried to squeeze back, but only managed to weakly move her fingers. Her eyelids were growing heavy and every sound seemed to slow and become tinny.

"Noriko, you need to stay awake," Light said urgently.

Her eyes fluttered open again briefly before they drifted shut and she fell into a dark oblivion.

It was always the same. The same cramped, musty warehouse full of boxes and no way out. On top of that, anyone she saw was usually covered in shadow so she couldn't make them out. The only ones that she could ever really see were Light and the weird shinigami thing. Everyone else she encountered was draped in shadows.

The dream itself hadn't changed much. She'd wake up in a little cubby of boxes and then start wandering around. Sooner or later she would be surrounded by shadowy people telling her to make a choice. There was also the occasional gunshot which normally preceded the shadow figures.

What choice was she supposed to make?

She had no clue. None.

Usually that's when Light would pop up, saying everyone else was the enemy, and then the shadowy dark haired man would say something about it being Noriko's choice. That's usually when Noriko freaked out and her dad would wake her up.

This time was different though. She had been wandering around for a awhile now and hadn't encountered anyone. That's when the silence of the warehouse was suddenly shattered by the ring of gunshots.

Noriko turned down another walkway between the familiar musty smelling boxes. Hands clasped over her ears to block out the silence that was almost deafening after the loud crashes of gunfire that had echoed through the warehouse.

She had been having this dream often, almost daily in the past few weeks since graduation. The details of the dream always eluded her upon waking up no matter how hard she struggled to remember, but every time the dream came back she would remember everything. Then she would wake up and be frustrated that she had forgotten, but not knowing what she had actually forgotten, it was a vicious cycle, and it was beginning to grate on her nerves.

"Noriko," a soft, quiet voice called to her in the grim darkness of the warehouse.

"What do you want this time," she grunted grumpily.

"You have to choose," the voice said.

"Yeah and you say that every time, but if I don't know what I'm choosing from or why then I can't choose now can I," she replied heatedly.

"No need to get so angry," another voice said, this one was mocking.

"Ryuk, that was your name right," she asked as she turned to face the strange creature that called itself a shinigami.

"Yep," Ryuk replied.

"And before you ask, no I don't have any apples."

"Too bad," Ryuk sighed, his face drooping sadly.

"Do all shinigami like apples as much as you do?"

"No, but the ones in the human world are just so juicy."

Noriko eyed the creature warily.

"This is different then the last hundred times I had the dream," she mumbled to herself as she looked around expecting to see the same shadowed faces that always showed up right after the gun shots were fired.

"Well, I guess I just have to find them this time," she said, beginning to explore the many pathways around her.

She wandered around for what seemed like hours, but never found anyone or anyway out of the maze of boxes.

"This is really a pain," she said as she slammed her fist against a box to her right. "Ahh!" she shouted when her hand went through the box.

"Gross," she whined. Pulling her out and shook off the pieces of dusty cardboard, she shook it off and looked disgustingly at the offending object.

Something in the box caught her eye and she cautiously reached inside and plucked something out.

Noriko stood staring at the object for a moment in complete confusion.

"A chocolate bar," she said slowly as if saying it aloud would actually make her understand why there was a box of chocolate in the weird warehouse.

Shrugging, she unwrapped the chocolate and took bite.

"Tastes like chocolate," she mused as she took another bite.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" a voice yelled at her.

She jumped and spun around to face a shadowy figure of a boy with long blond hair. His face was hidden in shadow, but she could tell he was angry.

"Eating some chocolate," she replied, waving the bar around in front of him.

The boy clenched his fists before snatching the bar from her and stalking off.

"Hey, stealing is bad!" she yelled at the retreating figure.

"Don't mind him, he gets touchy around chocolate."

"Do all of you people have to freaking pop up outta nowhere," she mumbled as she turned to face her new company.

There was another boy, a bit taller than her leaning against one of the boxes, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he played with what looked to her like a game boy.

The boy shrugged noncommittally. "Sorry, pretty lady."

"I have a name you know," she retorted.

"I know," the boy replied before shrugging again and walking away.

"Jeez, seriously where did these freaks come from," she questioned in annoyance.

"An orphanage in England," a familiar, soft voice said.

"Ah, you again, the dark haired stranger," she said as a man with dark unruly hair walked into view, his hands were in his pockets and he was hunched over slightly. Noriko had seen him many times know, but could never make out his features, but something about him was very familiar and it bothered her.

"Yes, me again," the man replied, lifting his bare right foot to scratch at his left leg.

"Why do you never have shoes on? The other people always have shoes," Noriko pointed out.

The man shrugged. "I don't like socks."

"Ooook then. If you're gonna ask me if I've decided on whatever it is that I don't know anything at all about, the answer is no."

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to get some tea?" the man asked as he raised a pale arm to scratch his head.

Noriko nearly face planted into the floor.

"Uh, haven't you noticed I'm a little busy dreaming in a warehouse and meeting strange people?" Noriko asked sarcastically, gesturing with her hands at the boxes around her.

"That's not quite true," the man replied thoughtfully.

"Huh?"

"Well you aren't dreaming in the warehouse, you're dreaming about being in the warehouse."

"You're an odd one," Noriko grumbled.

He made a sort of sighing, grunt noise and she saw his shoulders move ever so slightly as if he had shrugged.

"You never answered the question, would you like to join me for tea?"

"Sure," Noriko shrugged. "It's not like I have much else to do."

"Come on."

"Ok," she said and began following after him.

"What the...Whoa..." she said as she nearly collided with the man's back as he turned a corner only to stop suddenly.

Noriko glanced around, a little unsure if she was actually seeing what she was seeing. As soon as they had turned the corner they had walked into a little tea and sweet shop. It was decorated in pale blues and there was a window directly behind her giving her a view not of the warehouse, but a busy street, bustling with people. The musty smell of the warehouse was replaced by a sweet herbal smell, mixed with the sugary smell of fresh cake. Noriko could feel her mouth begin to water as the mixture of scents wafted into her nose. Making their way into the shop they took a seat in the back corner away from the few other occupants.

"Uh, this is awkward," she mumbled, scratching at the back of her head.

"Why?" the man asked her sounding as if he really didn't care at all what her reasons were.

"Well, we just went from a musty warehouse to a tea shop by walking like ten steps and turning a corner," she stated.

"And this makes you uncomfortable," the man asked monotonously.

"Yes, it does. Do you have name?" she asked quickly.

"Ryuga."

She blinked up at him and suddenly realized that was who this man reminded her of. Ryuga.

'But it can't be..can it,' she thought as she stared at the man across from her.

A waitress approached them and Ryuga ordered them tea and cake.

They were quiet as they waited for the tea to arrive. Noriko fiddled nervously with her fingers while Ryuga sat in a strange crouch, his knees pulled up to his chest, with his thumb partially in his mouth.

Noriko just watched his odd behavior in silence and wasn't sure what to make of the fact that everything this man said and did now reminded her distinctly of Ryuga. She was trying to make out his face but couldn't and was beginning to wonder why she hadn't noticed the similarities before.

"Here you go," the waitress said as she placed the tea in front of them and three different kinds of cake down on the table.

Noriko raised her eyebrows as she watched Ryuga begin to drop one sugar cube after another into his tea.

"Do you ever sleep?" Noriko asked.

"No," he stated simply, stirring his tea.

"With that amount of sugar it's no wonder," she replied.

"What do you know about the Kira case?"

"Excuse me," Noriko spluttered and nearly choked on her tea.

"Kira, the mass murderer, what do you know about him?"

"Um, well, straight to the point aren't we. I know that he seems to be able to kill with only a name and a face. Uh... He's somewhat childish in the fact that every time he's challenged he'll kill innocent people so that he can get his way. Those F.B.I agents just the other week, and the Lind L Taylor display are enough to prove that," she answered.

"True. How do you think he kills?"

"Um, why are you asking me this?

"I believe that you may have a connection to Kira," Ryuga said, taking a calm sip of his tea.

Noriko's jaw literally dropped. "What are you talking about?"

"How well do you know Light Yagami?"

"Huh, I've known him my whole life. Why are you changing the subject?"

"I'm not. Just listen," he replied managing to sound irritated and tired while still speaking in a monotone voice.

She huffed in response as she looked up into his dark eyes. "Your eyes," she said quietly. She noticed that while they had been sitting his image was slowly getting clearer. She could actually make out the bags under his dark eyes.

'It is Ryuga,' she thought in surprise.

"Hmm," he hummed in response as he glanced up at her.

"They're like coal," she said quietly reaching her hand towards him.

She had never been able to make out much about the people she had been seeing in the dreams, but this was different she could actually make out almost every feature of his now and it was shocking to realize she knew who it was.

"I couldn't see them before," she said, her hand moving closer to his face.

Her hand was centimeters from his face before it was suddenly and painfully snatched away. She cried out in alarm when a tight grip took hold of her wrist and tugged it away from the face of the strange black haired man. Her eyes closed and she winced in pain.

"Noriko, what were you doing?"

Her eyes flew open and her head turned slightly to see Light staring down at her. He looked angry, jealous even.

"Light," she asked slowly, glancing around her.

The coffee shop had faded, to be replaced with the musty warehouse. All three people now stood between the boxes in a place where the pathway branched off in four different directions.

"Hyuk, hyuk. Seems she isn't interested in you anymore," a voice mocked from behind Light.

She looked past Light to see the shinigami Ryuk behind him laughing.

"Light-kun will release her," Ryuga said, his voice raising slightly.

Light chuckled at the man. "I'll do as I please, Ryuzaki."

"What's gotten into you, Light? And his name isn't Ryuzaki, it's Ryuga-" Noriko began while trying to tug her hand from Light's grasp.

"No, it isn't," Ryuga replied, a thumb resting on his bottom lip boredly, while the other hand was shoved into his pants pocket.

"So it's Ryuzaki then," Noriko asked him, confused.

He just shrugged in reply.

"What the hell," she snapped angrily.

"Don't worry about it, Noriko," Light told her.

He turned his eyes down to hers, and for the first time in her life, Noriko was truly frightened. The day of the bus jacking couldn't hold a candle to the feeling that swept over her now. It was like being in a snow storm in the arctic with only shorts and a tank top, knowing you'd die eventually, just not before suffering horribly. Her whole body felt frozen as she stared in the cold, empty depths of Light's eyes.

"L-Light," she stuttered as she looked up into his eyes.

She felt tears forming in her eyes as she continued to stare into the cold, dark depths of the eyes of the boy she had fallen in love with. There was no emotion in those eyes just a darkness that broke Noriko's heart to see.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice shaking with effort.

He blinked at her a few times, the darkness leaving his eyes as he stared at her.

"I'm sorry Nori, I didn't mean to hurt you," he said as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

She flinched at the contact, but resisted the urge to pull away from him.

She thought she heard a low growl from Ryuga who was standing on the other side of her so that she stood between the two men.

"What were you doing with him Noriko? I thought I told you he was the enemy," Light asked, his voice ripe with anger.

"I-I was.." her throat was dry and she glanced between the two men.

The tension was so thick in the air you could have cut it with a butter knife.

"It's none of your concern, unless of course you feel like telling her the truth," Ryuga said to Light, he shoved his hands into his pockets,and stared at Light with his dark, inquisitive eyes.

Light's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"The truth," she asked quietly. "About what?"

"He's Kira," the two men stated simultaneously.

Noriko took a few steps away from the two.

"I am L, not Kira. You, Light Yagami, are the one who is Kira," Ryuga said with utmost certainty.

"You can't prove a thing," Light scoffed.

"I can... with her help," he replied as he turned to look at Noriko.

"What the hell is going on," Noriko said in a hushed cry that she had meant to be more of a forceful and demanding yell. "Who the hell are you!? Both of you!"

"It's time to choose Nori," Light said to her. "Him or me."

Noriko shook her head wildly as she continued to back away from the men. "I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered as she turned and began running through the maze of boxes.

"Noriko," a voice called calmly.

Noriko halted and looked to see that her father was standing behind her. They were no longer in the warehouse, but surrounded by an intense darkness. She felt as if she were weightless, and was being held up by invisible threads.

"These dreams you've been having aren't reality, but there is some truth to some of what you have seen. What's true and what isn't is really for you to decide. I will tell you though that the creature you saw is indeed a shinigami and he possess the ability to see a person's name and life span, thus allowing him to kill humans and take their remaining lifespans for himself," her father explained to her.

Noriko stared at him, her eyes wide with incomprehension and disbelief. "Shinigami actually exist?"

"Yes, but there are other beings that exist who are just as powerful. Anyways, don't worry about him. The powers he possess will in no way affect you, if he tries to kill you, it won't work, and you will live. However, I warn you to be careful, since his powers do not affect you, if someone were to be controlled and killed by him you could get hurt if you are close to the incident, which normally wouldn't happen. Normal humans can't be affected by the shinigami's powers unless they are the target of its wrath. Now, you have a choice to make, it will be the first of many. Do you wish to remember these dreams when you wake up, or would you rather that I erased them from your consciousness again," her father asked.

"You were making me forget them," Noriko asked.

"Yes," her father replied.

"Ryuga isn't who he says he is, is he," she inquired.

"That is for you to decide. Like I said, there is truth to some of the things you saw and heard, but you need to figure that out on your own and decide what to do with the information."

The seriousness of the situation she was in was evident by the look on her father's face as well as the tone of his voice. There was no sign of the usual cheery, dramatic man.

"I want to-"

"Noriko!"someone called to her.

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