Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note

Chapter 22

Dawning Realizations

"Did you meet anyone on the bus, an F.B.I agent perhaps?"

"Actually we did, why," Noriko replied casually as she gazed at the dark eyed man.

"Do you remember the name of the person you met," Ryuzaki asked.

"Raye something or other, I wasn't exactly paying attention, I was a little busy trying not to freak out," Noriko answered, a tad angry at the interrogation she found herself involved in.

"Penber, his name was Raye Penber," Ryuzaki corrected, watching Noriko intently.

Noriko tried not to fidget under the rather intimidating dark eyes. "That sounds right, but what does it matter? I'm guessing the man was following Light around, especially after it became apparent that Kira was somehow getting police information."

"You're right, he was following Light as a suspect, under my orders. He's also dead, died of a heart attack on December 27th. So did several other members of the F.B.I that were in Japan," Ryuzaki said, his voice was monotonous as he spoke.

"I already knew that, Mr Yagami had mentioned it the day after at a family dinner. It was the same dinner that Light swore he would capture Kira if anything were to happen to his father," Noriko stated forcefully.

"You said earlier you could understand my suspicion of Light, why?"

Noriko frowned and looked away. "I know Light very well, he's the type that would do drastic things if he thought it would better the world. His intentions would of course be pure, but that doesn't mean his actions would be."

"That's not much of an answer," Ryuzaki complained unhappily.

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you expect me to say, that I saw him doing something incriminating or unusual? Well, I haven't. He's been the typical straight A student he always has been, there were times he seemed a little distant but given the fact that exams were approaching I think it's understandable."

"It is," Ryuzaki agreed blandly. "I have just one more question."

"What is it," she asked grumpily.

"Naomi Misora."

Noriko's eyes widened at the name and she looked up at Ryuzaki in confusion.

"The name is familiar to you."

"Well, yeah. She was in the newspaper after she disappeared a few months ago," Noriko replied.

"Yes, she was. You didn't by chance ever see her, did you?"

Noriko hesitated and looked away from the inquiring dark eyes. "Why?"

"The day that paper came out was the day you first met Watari, he thought you seemed distracted."

"You think I had something to do with all this, don't you," Noriko asked in surprise, turning to stare at the messy haired detective in front of her.

"It's possible."

"You're so damn frustrating! If I had something to do with this, you'd know by now. I'm sure you've noticed already that I suck at lying," Noriko snapped heatedly, her voice rising as she spoke.

Ryuzaki cringed at Noriko's raised voice and would have said something if the door hadn't swung open to reveal a rather frustrated looking Light. He looked from the bored looking Ryuzaki to the red faced and fuming Noriko.

"Is there a problem," Light asked as he stepped in to the room.

"No, I was just speaking with your fiance about Naomi Misora and Raye Penber, but I think I upset her," Ryuzaki replied before turning and leaving the room without another room.

Light opened his mouth to say something to Noriko, but Ryuzaki's disheveled black hair reappeared in her doorway along with his pale face.

"So when do I get that cake," Ryuzaki asked.

Noriko growled in frustration before grabbing a pillow and tossing it at the man's head, Ryuzaki easily stepped out of the way and looked down at the pillow as it plopped uselessly on to the plush carpet.

"That's not a cake," Ryuzaki stated.

"Get out," Noriko yelled and threw another pillow at his head.

Shrugging, Ryuzaki turned away and walked off. "Tomorrow will be good, I'll have the items you'll need placed in the kitchen. I like strawberry shortcake, or anything with sugar really. Oh, and white icing, I don't particularly feel like chocolate."

Noriko shouted out angrily and threw another pillow at the wall just for good measure.

"Are you alright," Light asked as he stepped towards her.

"What do you think," Noriko snapped."I was beaten and shot, found out my fiance may be Kira by a stupid, sugar obsessed detective that looks like he doesn't even own a brush and then he goes and implies that I may have something to do with the disappearance of that Naomi Misora woman that I-"

Light quickly cut her off before she could say she had seen him with Naomi. "He's just testing you Noriko, calm down before you hurt yourself."

"Calm down, Light?!" Noriko shouted, she was way passed calming down at this point. "No, I won't calm down! You can't even begin to understand how pissed off I am right now and not just at Mr Sugar Freak out there-"

"I resent that comment," Ryuzaki's voice called from the other room.

Noriko clenched her fists. "Would you prefer I called you something else, say-"

"Ryuzaki is fine," he called back, interrupting her.

"Noriko, really you need to calm down," Light said as he tried to place a comforting hand around her shoulders.

"Screw you," she snapped. Swatting his hands off her, Noriko glared at Light. "You weren't so nice earlier when I was going against what you wanted me to do. I may be your fiance, but I refuse to let you order me around and expect me to listen and be obedient. So just shove it and leave me alone."

"Noriko I was worried about you, this is part of the reason. You're already upset and right now you should still be resting and letting yourself heal, not worrying about this stuff. I really wish you'd reconsider this, but if you're sure, then I'll be here for you. I just want you to be careful."

Noriko sighed and let most of her anger go and closed her eyes. "I'm staying here."

"Alright. I'm not going to lie, I'm not okay with it, but it's your decision," Light said.

"It is. I think I'm going to get some rest I don't feel all that great at the moment," Noriko replied as she crawled up the bed and made to lay down. She frowned however when she noticed that she didn't have any pillows.

"Here," Light chuckled, setting the pillows on the bed for her before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks."

"Do you need anything," he asked.

"No, I think I'll be fine. Go and help that jerk find Kira," she replied haughtily.

"Get some rest, Noriko, I love you."

"Love you too," she answered as he reached the door.

"Ryuzaki," Noriko said sweetly, once again swatting the detective's hand out of the cake batter on the kitchen counter.

"Hmm," he hummed. Blinking up at her, his eyes large and innocent, he popped his batter covered finger into his mouth.

"Get out of this kitchen before I throw you out," she replied, her voice losing all sweetness at the end when she glared at the dark eyed man before her.

Ryuzaki stared at her for a moment all the while sneakily reaching for the strawberries that were in a bowl on the counter. Noticing his arm moving, Noriko looked down and followed his hand to where it was plucking a strawberry out of the bowl. She whacked the top of his hand, causing him to drop the strawberry back into the bowl before looking up at her, a challenge in his dark eyes.

"Out," she ordered gruffly, she pointed to the living room that was beyond the kitchen while glaring at the detective.

Ryuzaki seemed to contemplate her words for a moment before deciding to ignore them, after all, no one ever bossed him around. He was the one who one who did the bossing around and he wasn't about to let the girl in front of him, who only came to his shoulders and was glaring daggers at him, be the first to tell him what to do.

"Is that a spider," Ryuzaki asked. Looking behind Noriko, squinting slightly as if he couldn't quite see something, he studied the wall intently.

"What, where," Noriko cried as she spun around to look behind her.

"It went over there," Ryuzaki said.

As strange and unbelievable as it may sound, spiders had a tendency to chase after poor Noriko when she hadn't done anything to provoke them. She didn't like spiders much, even if she was larger than the rather small ones she came into contact with, and so she was rather paranoid whenever she was in the vicinity of one. Noriko continued to look around the kitchen counter warily before deciding she was in no danger of being chased by a spider. She sighed and turned back to the mixing bowl that contained the cake batter she was preparing to pour into the two round pans. Noticing something seemed to be off she placed her hands on the counter, her fingers tapping at the granite counter top as her lips twitched.

The bowl that had the halved strawberries was missing.

"I don't suppose you know where the strawberries went, do you, Ryuzaki," Noriko called.

"Mmum, No," was the reply.

Noriko's hands tightened on the counter top before she took a deep breath and stepped away from the counter. She grabbed the cake batter with one hand and left the kitchen.

Matsuda was the first to notice Noriko's strange look while she approached Ryuzaki with the cake batter in her hands. He elbowed the man standing next to him who Noriko had been told was named Aihara. She knew the name was a fake, it was rather obvious when she was told that while working on the case Matsuda was Matsui and Mr Yagami was Asahi. Aihara turned to snap at Matsuda but he stopped when he saw that he was watching Noriko approach the black haired detective. Mr Yagami looked up from his seat on the couch when he too noticed Noriko and watched her curiously.

Ryuzaki was knelt in his usual odd position in a plush chair, the bowl of strawberries placed on the table in front of him.

"Hey, Ryuzaki," Noriko asked, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Did I mention that the cake was done?"

"I may not know how to cook, but don't you need to bake it," the detective asked, not bothering to turn around to look at Noriko.

"Haven't you heard of the new no bake desserts," Noriko replied, the sugar almost literally dripping from her tongue as she spoke.

Sensing something was off with Noriko's unusually nice and happy tone, Ryuzaki turned in the chair to look at her. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw the evil glint in her bright green eyes and the bowl she had held out before her. "What are you-"

He stopped talking as Noriko lifted the bowl and dumped the rather wet and thick contents on to his head. The batter spread over his dark hair before dripping down into his face and plopping off his nose and chin. Once satisfied that most of it was on his head and not in the bowl, she dropped the bowl into his lap and dusted off her hands proudly.

"Now, if you still want me to make you a cake... Stick your damned head in the oven," she had begun with a large grin on her face but it faded as she finished in a huff and turned away.

"I think it needs more sugar," Ryuzaki mumbled, licking at the batter that was running down his face.

Noriko paused for a moment before stalking back into the kitchen only to reemerge a moment later with a measuring cup that was filled with a white substance.

"Here," she said and proceeded to dump the cup, which was full of sugar, over his head making the already sticky mess he was covered in even more sticky and thick as globs of the batter fell onto his white shirt and his jeans.

"Better," Ryuzaki mumbled around his finger, he collected some of the sugary substance on to his finger and stuck it in his mouth.

Noriko snorted at him before letting out an exasperated sigh and walking to her bedroom, slamming her door shut behind her.

Ryuzaki turned to Matsuda who was snickering at the sight of Ryuzaki's hair that was now weighted down by the heavy white liquid that was dripping from the ends and sliding down his face.

"Is there something you find funny about the situation, Matsui," Ryuzaki asked, casting a look at the man.

"N-n-n-no," he choked out after Aihara elbowed him roughly in the side even though a smirk was tugging at the corners of his lips too.

"That man is infuriating," Noriko hissed angrily as she plopped herself on to her bed with a small wince.

"He's just testing you, Noriko, seeing how far you'll go and what your reactions are. Right now, he may think you have anger issues."

Noriko's brows knitted together and she looked to her left to see that her father was walking towards her, a grin on his face.

"You haven't been around much lately," Noriko pointed out as he approached the bed.

The grin on his face faded. "Sorry about that," he answered, scratching at the back of his head.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"I asked why, I think it's a fairly simple question."

"Well, it is."

"Then..."

"I had a date."

"Riiiggghhht."

"What?"

"Dad?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

"Shut up."

"That's awfully mean," he replied with a pout.

Noriko sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever. If you don't want to tell me that's fine, after all it's not exactly normal to be haunted by your dead father."

"I suppose."

"You suppose, jeez dad, it may be normal for me now, but if I were to tell anyone I see my dead dad and talk to him and he tells me I have some role to play in this Kira business. I think I'd be institutionalized."

There was no answer and so Noriko looked around the room and sighed when she noticed her father had once again disappeared.

The hotel room door opened and Light walked in, he stared at the sugary detective who had stood up from the chair and was munching on a strawberry. He looked at Ryuzaki to Matsuda who was struggling not to laugh.

"Noriko," Light asked.

Matsui nodded in response.

Light sighed and turned towards Noriko's bedroom.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," Ryuzaki warned evenly.

"Why," Light asked, walking to her door and knocking once. Without waiting for a response, he opened the door only to swing it shut when a clock came flying at his head.

He heard the object hit the door with a loud thump and then clatter to the ground. He blinked at the door before turning to Ryuzaki who was looking at him innocently as if he had no idea what would cause Noriko to act so violently.

"What did you do," Light demanded.

"I may have criticized her baking skills at one point," Ryuzaki replied, nibbling on the tip of his thumb.

"Right," Light replied skeptically, he turned back to the door and knocked again,."Noriko, it's me, Light. Can I come in?"

"Yes, but if that ass tries to came in I'll put his cake covered head in the oven myself," she called.

Light glanced at Ryuzaki one more time as he opened the door, Ryuzaki shrugged his shoulders and slumped off.

"What happened," Light asked once he shut the door behind him.

"Now what gave you the idea that anything happened," Noriko asked sarcastically.

"Well Ryuzaki is covered in what I'm guessing is cake batter and sugar, that kind of gave it away," Light replied with a smirk as he sat next to Noriko who was laid out on the bed.

A smirk tugged at Noriko's lips, "Ryuzaki covered in cake batter, huh? Sounds like he should learn not to pester the baker."

"I thought you two got along?"

"We do. When he's not interrogating me or telling me you're Kira. Oh, and when he's not being a spoiled little kid," Noriko said, although the last part came out as more of a shout.

"I'm not spoiled," came a mumbled response from the living area.

Light chuckled. "I think you just need to relax, Noriko. You shouldn't be stressing yourself out this much after getting out of the hospital."

"Blah blah."

"How very grown up of you."

"Oh, shut up," Noriko retorted, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted.

"I should really get out there, do you need anything," Light asked.

"I'm hungry and thirsty, but if I go out there I can't guarantee that the world's best detective will keep all his hair...or limbs for that matter."

"I'll get you something to eat, just sit back and relax alright," Light said as he kissed her gently and stood up.

"Alright," Noriko sighed. "Oh, I need to take my medication, too. So I need a glass of water."

"Ok, I'll be right back."

Noriko didn't bother to venture out of the room until the following day when she overheard a slight commotion in the living room. Opening the door, she peaked her head out and looked around. Ryuzaki was crouched in his chair, all the cake batter seemed to be gone from his hair and clothes. Light was standing to the left of the chair, his hands folded over his chest as he stared at the laptop that was on the table a few feet in front of them. Mr Yagami, Matsuda and Aihara all stood off to the right, their eyes trained on the laptop as well.

Stepping into the living room, Noriko walked up beside Light and slipped her hand under his arm. Turning towards her, Light smiled and intertwined his fingers with hers before letting his hands fall to his sides.

A few seconds later, an image appeared on the screen of the laptop. It was the same that she had seen a few days prior, the English script that proclaimed the person to be Kira, the fake Kira anyways.

"I will do as you say," a garbled voice declared."I want to meet you, Kira. I don't think you have the eyes, but I won't kill you. Don't worry."

"Eyes," Noriko questioned quietly, before wincing and looking down at her hand. Light's grip had tightened against her hand to the point that his nails were digging into her skin. She looked up into his face and was surprised to see that there was apprehension there, frowning she turned her attention back to the voice coming from the laptop.

"Please think of a way we can meet without the police knowing. We can confirm one another by showing our Shinigami."

Noriko's eyes widened and she sucked in a deep breath at the mention of Shinigami, a loud thump forced her to look down to Ryuzaki who had let out a short cry and tipped over his chair. He was sitting on the ground, staring unbelievingly at the computer before him.

"Shinigami, are we supposed to believe such things," he asked.

"Shinigami, no way," Matsuda replied quietly.

"You're right, Ryuzaki. Shinigami can't possibly exist," Light said calmly.

Noriko looked over to Light as he released her hand which she unconsciously brought to her chest and began to absently rub at the sore skin.

"Kira made a prisoner write something that suggested the existence of Shinigami," Ryuzaki stated while he pushed himself off the floor.

"So should we assume that this is the same Kira? The same person using the same word," Mr Yagami asked.

"That's impossible dad," Light replied. "If this were the same Kira..."

Noriko let Light's voice fade away as she continued to stare thoughtfully at him as she rubbed at the nail marks in the pale skin of her hand, 'Why would he react that way? Get so tense over someone mentioning eyes and Shinigami? I remember my dad making a comment that Shinigami can see a person's name and life span, were the eyes that this fake Kira was talking about the eyes of a Shinigami? If that were the case, why would Light respond in that way, it makes no sense...Unless...'

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt and she gasped, her hands dropping to her sides as she turned her head away from Light. She focused her eyes on the floor where Ryuzaki had been moments before.

What she hadn't noticed was that Ryuzaki had been discreetly watching her from the corners of his eyes as she stared at Light while the conversation of Shinigami and possible meanings went on around her. He noticed the marks on her hand as her fingers tried to soothe the pain. His eyes narrowed when her eyes seemed to widen in realization of something and she looked quickly away from Light, her breathing slightly quicker than normal.

"What do you think, Noriko," he asked.

"What," she asked, her attention abruptly recalled to the conversation around her.

"Do you think Shinigami exist?"

"Uh, I don't know," she replied lamely to the detective's question.

"I see," Ryuzaki said as he stared at her through the bangs that were hanging over his face.

"You look a little pale Noriko, are you alright," Light asked.

Still in a little bit of a daze Noriko blinked at Light for a few moments before nodding slowly. "I'm still not feeling very well, I think I'm going to get some water and go lay back down."

"I'll get the water for you, go lay-"

"No," Noriko interjected quickly, realizing the strange looks she was getting, she spoke again. "I think you're needed here, I'll be fine, promise," she said with a small, fake smile.

"Alright, if you need anything though let me know," Light said, his eyes on Noriko when she began to walk away.

"Hmmm, it seems your little girl is becoming suspicious all over again," the Shinigami that floated behind Light cackled. Light tossed a small glare at the being warning him to shut up.

Light saw Noriko pause at her door and cock her head to the side like she had heard something, but wasn't sure just what she had heard. Shaking her head, she disappeared into her bedroom.

Noriko lay in the dark on the soft bed, her hands resting over her stomach while she stared into the darkness around her.

'I know Shinigami exist, my dad said as much. If I were to say that I believed in Shinigami I'm sure Ryuzaki would ask me for an explanation. What am I supposed to say 'my dead dad told me, duh.' Somehow that doesn't sound very believable, or sane. The way Light reacted though, it was like he knew what was being said and couldn't believe it was being said. I couldn't either though, I mean why hint at the existence of a supernatural being that very few know exist...'

Her thoughts trailed off and she sighed, letting her eyes droop close. "Where's that father of mine when I need him. I would like to ask him more about Shinigami and how all of this is possible."

Hoping that if she voiced her desire for her father to be present would cause the man to show up Noriko was disappointed when after several minutes there was no sign of him.

Several hours past and Noriko found herself drifting off to sleep when the door to her room creaked open. Lifting her head off the pillow, she squinted at the bright light pouring through the door. Light flicked on the lights and Noriko shut her eyes against the harsh glare and pulled a pillow over her head.

"Hey, are you alright," he asked in concern, taking the pillow off her head.

"Fine," she answered.

"That's not very convincing," Light replied.

"Sorry, I'm just tired."

"Oh."

There was a short silence before Noriko spoke up again, voicing her thoughts from earlier. "Do you believe in Shinigami, Light?"

"Of course not, it's impossible for something like that to exist."

"Of course."

Light frowned at Noriko's back, he knew she was hiding something, what, he didn't know.

"I was about to head home," Light informed her.

"Oh, have a good night."

"That's it, I don't get a kiss or anything?"

"Sure," Noriko replied with little emotion. She lifted herself off and placed a quick kiss on Light's lips.

"Good night, Noriko," Light sighed in disappointment. He stood up and walked back to the door, after turning the lights off ,he glanced back at the figure in the bed.

'She's distancing herself from me, but why? Is she really beginning to believe I'm Kira? She had her doubts before, which I was able to get rid of, but...If she's doubting me again, that could be a problem, she knows me a lot better than anyone here. Even better than my dad. Which is understandable, not all parents know their children as well as the friends they confide in. There's a possibility that she can make the connections needed for L to confirm I am Kira, I'll have to keep an eye on her for now,' he thought as he shut the door.

Noriko stared off into the darkness for several minutes after hearing the door to the hotel close when Light left.

"What's wrong, Noriko?" her dad's voice asked from the shadows beside her bed.

"Why is that you only seem to show up when Light's not around? I didn't notice it at first, but you've popped up at odd times and around other people, but never when Light's around. Why is that dad?"

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