Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note. I did buy and read the whole Twilight series over the weekend though. This will probably piss people off but I didn't think it was all that impressive. Please don't kill me.

This chapter did not turn out as expected. So to those of you I said stuff about L making an appearance in this one, I lied. Not intentionally though. I had to rethink things. You'll see why. Eventually.

Chapter 24

The Protectors

"Noriko!"

She heard Light calling her name, heard the surprised gasps of Mrs Yagami and Sayu as she stumbled down the stairs and out the door, back into the quiet night. But none of it mattered, all she could see was Light leaning over the blond like he was going to kiss her, or maybe already had. Then there was the Shinigami, the two strange, bony creatures that looked so different from one another. Somehow the images of these in her head didn't disturb her nearly as much as she would have expected. They had surely surprised her, and most of her attention had been focused on them, but she still saw Light, still saw the girl and their too close position. She already knew Shinigami existed after all, she had seen the one in her dreams, the one with the leering smile and black clothes, Ryuk. The other's name she didn't know, it looked more feminine, its body was made up of links of bone with sharp points to some of them and there was a bandage over one of her eyes.

The hammering of her heart was dulled as if someone had stuffed cotton in her ears while she ran, her vision became blurry and she hastily rubbed her eyes with her black clothed wrist only to be surprised by the wetness she found. Her legs were growing wobbly the farther she ran. Unsure of where she was even going, she kept running, just knowing she needed to be as far away from the scene as possible, in hopes that would help it fade from her mind.

Noriko turned down random streets, not bothering to look at where she was going, she just let her feet guide her. Over time, Light's shouts faded and so did his footsteps. When Noriko's legs finally gave out she landed on her knees in a patch of soft grass, her body slumped forward, her arms falling limply into her lap. Her ponytail had come loose during her sprint and her hair now hung around her face, hiding her tears as they silently streamed down her pale face.

"It can't be," she muttered to herself over and over while she rocked herself back and forth.

She stilled after a few minutes and looked around herself to get her bearings, she was in a quiet park that was dimly lit by the lamps that were spaced along its several pathways. She had deviated from one of the paths apparently and had fallen in a patch of grass several yards from the nearest walkway. Blinking a few more times, she realized she was in the same park she had been when she had seen Light with Naomi Misora, the same park they used to go to as children.

Standing slowly and shakily, Noriko returned to the path and ghosted along the walkway until she came to the playground. The light wind was moving the few swings, little creaks could be heard as the chains swung back and forth, back and forth.

Hypnotized by the movement, Noriko walked forward and sat herself on one of the swings, she gripped the chain on either side of her body and began to lightly push herself with her feet. Her head rested against her right hand and she stared into the trees that surrounded the little playground. The place was utterly deserted. If she had had enough sense, she would have been frightened to be in such a quiet, secluded place on her own at nearly eleven o'clock at night, but fear would have meant that she would feel something. Right now, all she felt was numb, blank. Pictures of Light hovering over the blond kept flashing in and out of her mind which made the tears that had gathered in her eyes spill over and roll silently down her face.

The two Shinigami flashed in and out of her mind as well and she wondered just what to make of them. She knew what they were, what they were capable of doing. The only question was, why they were there? Of course her mind already knew the answer to this question, had as soon as the door opened to Light's room.

It just hadn't caught up to the rest of her.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." She saw her father out of the corner of her eye as he took a seat on the swing next to her. He wasn't looking at her, he was looking up into the night sky, his green eyes locked on the orb that hung there.

"You knew," she whispered hoarsely, she didn't move to face him, afraid that if she did she would crumple to the ground and not be able to get back up.

She saw the frown that turned down the corners of his mouth and heard the sigh that he exhaled as he looked away from the moon and down at the ground.

"I did," he answered.

"I don't understand, I don't...Is he...Why?"

"It was time you saw for yourself. I'm sorry, Noriko," her father replied sadly.

"He's Kira, isn't he?" she asked, she already knew the answer, but for some reason she needed someone else to tell her, to confirm what she saw or deny it entirely so that she would know she was crazy and that none of this was real. That it was just some sick joke or maybe she was even asleep.

"Yes."

The first strangled sob broke through her lips at his single word, but she tried to choke down the rest that threatened to make her lose control of everything that she was barely managing to hold together. It was like her entire world had shattered like a glass that was dropped from a sky scraper. You knew it was coming, you just didn't know when.

"And the girl?" Noriko asked.

"I'm afraid I can't really tell you much, aside from she just met Light this evening," her father answered hesitantly.

By the tone of his voice Noriko knew he knew more, but she also knew he wasn't going to tell her more. Meaning she would have to find out on her own.

"Oh," was all she could manage to say.

She wasn't sure if her father said anything else for her mind was no longer in the park as she pushed herself rhythmically with her foot. All she could see, all she could hear was the door slowly opening and the look on Light's face when he saw her standing in his doorway, her eyes growing large as she stared the two creatures in the room before her eyes settled upon him once again. Once her eyes found his again, she could see the surprise in eyes as she turned from the doorway and fled, dropping her ring in the process. She could still hear the sound of it hitting the floor and then bouncing twice before it stopped and lay motionless.

Noriko's shoulders began to shake and her head bowed. Quiet sobs broke from her throat as she struggled to come to terms with all that had happened and tried to figure out what to do now. No one would believe her if she told them what she saw, she thought Ryuzaki might, but he was so set on proving Light was Kira to begin with she wasn't sure if he would really believe her, or want to believe her so much, that it didn't matter that what she saw couldn't be seen by anyone else. There was no proof, physical anyway, to prove Light was Kira, but did she really want to prove Light was Kira, could she deal with the consequences? The thoughts kept racing through her mind and she wasn't sure she could be held responsible for turning in the man she loved, he may have betrayed her in more than one sense of the word, but she wasn't sure she could condemn him to death the way he had condemned so many others.

For hours she sat in the swing, tears leaking from her bright green eyes, dulling them and making her face red. Her sobs quieted and stopped after the first hour when she could no longer find the strength to keep crying. Her eyes seemed to never run out of the salty water that was continuously streaming down her cheeks, dripping onto her shirt, dampening the black fabric. She began to shiver from the cold and the breeze that had picked up, blowing the scents of what she thought was a mix of lilies and something more earthy, like pine trees.

She contemplated getting up and making her way back to the hotel, but she wasn't ready to face anyone. She knew Mr Yagami was probably there, he had taken to spending more and more nights in the hotels they rented. Not that she could blame him, he was so dedicated to solving the case he didn't want to bring any risks home and he hardly slept as it was. On top of that she was sure that by now Mrs Yagami had called him and the police were likely looking for her. She wondered just what Light had said happened. A lie, of course, whatever it was, apparently he was quite good at that. He had been Kira all along and he had convinced her time and time again of his innocence, or maybe she was just too naive to see it.

"Hey, dad?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"I don't understand something," she began. "I know what Shinigami can do, you've told me that much, but how are they connected to Light and that girl?"

"The Shinigami carry around objects known as Death Notes. These notebooks allow the Shinigami user to kill humans and take their remaining life span for themselves by simply writing their names in their notebooks. There are rules of course, but even the Shinigami don't know them all, except for the Shinigami King.

One notebook is given to each Shinigami, but sometimes they acquire another. If they lose the notebook in the human world, it becomes a part of the world until it is returned to the Shinigami who lost it, or the person who possesses it dies or gives up ownership. Light has a Death Note, he's been using that notebook to-"

"To try and create a better world, right," Noriko finished for her father. "Ok, so the notebook, you write a person's name and they die? They die of heart attacks, right? Can they die in other ways?"

"Yes to all. The notebooks have limitations of course, but you can write out a specific time and cause of death."

"Light's completely aware of what he's doing, isn't he?"

"I'm afraid so. It was his choice to pick up the notebook and then use it. The notebooks do have a strange pull to them that make whoever finds it want to try it just once. But that just once is enough to condemn yourself to an eternity of nothingness, for those who use a Death Note can go to neither heaven nor hell," her father answered.

Noriko frowned and exhaled a short breath as she thought over what she had been told. "How do you know all this dad? And why did I see them, I've never seen them before?"

He exhaled a gust of air as if he were buying time to think. "Well, I'm not your average ghost."

"Then what are you exactly? A Shinigami?"

"Well..."

"Dad," Noriko pressed.

"Not exactly. More like I'm here to make sure you're alright."

"What, are you my guardian angel?"

"Actually yes, that's exactly what I am."

"You're an angel?" She asked incredulously.

"Not really," he replied.

"Daaaddd," Noriko groaned.

"We're protectors, Noriko," he said seriously.

"We?"

"There was a war a long time ago. Between the Shinigami and the Gods. The Shinigami felt that they deserved more than the dying realm they inhabited and they wanted more, they wanted this world. They were greedy and so they did something terrible. They started killing humans, thousands of innocent people died, but there was one family that tried to protect others. It was a family that believed in the old magic, and they used what they knew of that magic to protect as many as they could.

Unfortunately, though they were protecting others they found it difficult to protect themselves, so they created several items that were meant to keep their names hidden from the eyes of the Shinigami. These amulets worked, but they were not perfect. Other people still knew their names and that was enough to get most of the family killed by the Shinigami.

The Gods felt pity for the family, but of course death is a permanent thing, they couldn't bring them back to life. So instead the family was given a job in the afterlife, to protect the souls of the innocent, so not only were the living relatives to protect the living world, the dead were to protect the souls of the dead. You could say that it is the family's job to keep a balance in the world of the living and the world of the dead, they aren't alone in this, everyone plays their part, the Shinigami included."

Noriko sat silent for a few moments thinking over the information she had been given.

"Do you understand Noriko," her father asked.

"That family. It was our family, the Mori's, wasn't it?"

"It was."

"So... The necklace, you didn't want me to take it off because otherwise I would be visible to the Shinigami, right?"

"Right, I wanted you to be safe. It isn't really necessary for you now though," he replied.

"Why?"

"Well, the amulet is meant to protect the living relatives, relatives who have not yet died."

"But I'm not dead dad," Noriko pointed out, perplexed by his meaning.

"No, you're not dead, but..."

"I died," she realized suddenly.

"Yes."

"I don't get it," Noriko said, blinking in confusion.

"Well, when you're dead, you don't need magical protection. When you died, you were given the ability to protect the souls of the dead, it's sort of an automatic thing for us Mori's. You were brought back to life though, so it changed things a bit. You should have been able to see Shinigami once you woke up, but I didn't like that idea, so I sort of blocked that part, but once I touched you, I gave you back that ability. Now you're able to protect the living and dead. Although I'd stick with the living, you're not exactly able to see the souls of the dead after all, but you can help them still."

"How?"

"Help L stop Kira, both of them. The notebooks they have should never have been allowed in this world. They're disturbing the balance. Too many souls are vying for entrance into the afterlife at once and it's getting chaotic. Many souls are getting lost, venturing to places they were never meant to go. It's hard to find all of these, to rescue them, but I do what I can," he said with a smile.

"I don't know what I can do dad, there's no proof of what Light's doing, aside from the notebook, but he's smart. It would be hidden somewhere no one could find it, and if it came down to it he'd find a way to get rid of it without leaving any evidence. I'm no match for Light, L is, but I don't see how I can help him, I don't think I can be around him. Not when Light will always be there trying to help find Kira when he's Kira. I don't think I could handle that. I would wind up looking like a crazy person, no one would believe what I saw, and if it helped Light at all he would have me committed or removed from the task force and would force me to live with him. He would make excuses for the girl in his room, who searched him out, not the other way around. Does it make sense that I'm glad he didn't actually cheat on me? Probably not. He's Kira and honestly that bothers me more than the thought of him cheating on me. How can you cheat on someone you spend so much time lying to? I don't know this Light, this isn't the Light I fell in love with, that I grew up with..."

"I understand Noriko, you learned a lot tonight. Take some time for yourself, you don't have to go back there."

"But I won't be helping, I won't be doing anything, I'll be letting this continue. I don't think I can do that, not now that I know what's really going on," Noriko said.

"You're only human, Noriko, well mostly. No one expects you to be able to solve this in a day or even a week. These things take time. When you're dealing with something as complicated as this, time becomes your friend. Let it work for you, not against you. Do what you need to do for you, you'll figure everything out, besides I don't think L is giving up anytime soon. He's quite persistent," her father replied with a chuckle.

"I think it's all the sugar," Noriko mumbled.

"Maybe."

"So what do I do now?" She asked, exhaling gust of air and staring blankly off into the night.

"Whatever you want," her dad answered.

"Well, I don't really have anywhere to go and no money for another...three weeks, until my birthday. That sort of leaves very few options, on top of that, I'm trying to get away from one of the world's greatest detectives, is that even possible," she mused with a snort.

"Anything's possible, Noriko."

"Yeah, I know that now," she replied with an eye roll followed by a sigh. "We must have been here awhile, the sun is rising. It's got to be close to five in the morning."

Her dad nodded in agreement as he looked up towards the brightening sky. Noriko watched the sky gradually lighten from the darkest of blues to a pale blue with a few puffy clouds floating lazily in the wide expanse. The birds began to sing and cars could be heard passing through the streets, people began to wander into the park, either on their way to work or some other appointment.

As the morning wore on, she got a better hold on her emotions and a few ideas as to what she could do. She just needed more time to sort through them all and then find a place to stay while she prepared. She couldn't face Light, not yet. He would find some way to convince everyone she was insane or that being on the task force was too much for her and Ryuzaki had brainwashed her. He was smarter than her, he was more cunning and put much more thought into what he was doing than she usually did. Her chest ached dully as she thought and she knew that her heart was broken, but she also knew that she would heal. Already was, the man she loved didn't exist anymore, he hadn't for a long time. A part of her had already known that, and in preparation it had already begun to heal itself in advance.

She received many curious stares and figured she was probably a mess and looked a little odd sitting in a swing, people watching. Standing with a small groan, she stretched the taut muscles in her back and neck before walking to the nearest restroom. She washed her face and ran her wet fingers through her hair to smooth it down before leaving and walking the streets of the city in thought. Her dad had disappeared when she had gotten up, but she figured he'd return if he felt it necessary. Once done cleaning up, she began to walk around the city in hopes of figuring out what she could do about a place to stay.

"Ahh," she winced in pain when her elbow hit someone who was walking passed her and caused it to jab her ribs painfully. She had to stop walking and put a hand against a nearby wall to steady herself and catch her breath. It had been nearly two months since she had been shot and nearly killed and her body still had yet to fully recover, she knew it would take time like the doctor had said, but she just wished the pain would go away. The skin had closed almost completely but the internal organs that had been damaged were still healing and it wasn't a painless process unfortunately, the pain was definitely less than it had been and she was quite tolerant of it but it was becoming minorly annoying.

"Noriko?"

Her head snapped up at the sound of her name and she looked around not sure if she should panic and run, or stay put and see who was calling for her.

"Noriko?"

"Oh," she gasped, seeing a familiar face appeare out of the crowd. "Mr Namikawa?"

The long haired man smiled at her, but she could see the look of uncertainty and concern in his eyes as he approached her. She pushed away from the wall and wobbled slightly as she forced herself to return his smile, it must not have been very convincing because once he saw her face he looked more concerned than he already had.

"Are you alright?" he asked tentatively, standing before her scrutinizing her bruised looking eyes and somewhat disheveled appearance.

She laughed nervously. "I'm fine, you?"

"Are you sure, you look..."

"Horrible? Yeah, I figured as much, I sort of had a long night," she said with a forced chuckle as she flexed her left hand nervously and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry, Noriko," he said, noticing the ringless finger of her left hand.

She chuckled dryly which only caused her to want to cry again. 'I thought I was done with the crying, he's a liar. He's not worth my tears,' she thought before she was able to regain control of her emotions.

"No, don't be. I should've known, I think I did know, that it wouldn't work out, but I...I'm sorry, Mr Namikawa, but I think I should go."

"Reiji," he corrected automatically, not taking his eyes from her and watching her worriedly. "Do you have anywhere to go?"

She seemed a little stunned by the question and blinked at him. "Um...Well, I..."

"I thought as much," he responded when she stopped stuttering and just looked at him with a forced smile. "Follow me."

"What?" she squeaked when he turned away from her and began walking, she followed after him without thinking about it.

He turned back to her and looked her over before speaking again. "You may have somewhere to go, but it's obvious you don't want to go there. From the looks of it, you could use a shower, clean clothes and probably something to eat too, I'm not going to leave you wandering the streets with no money and nowhere to go."

"Who said I have no money," Noriko blurted out. Continuing to blindly follow him through the streets that were getting busier by the second, she waited for his answer.

"I assumed. You have no purse and your pockets don't seem to be hiding anything."

"You're good," Noriko mumbled, very nearly colliding with his back when he turned to enter one of the many tall glass buildings that lined the street.

It didn't take her long to figure out the building was a business, people were dressed in pricey suits and expensive clothes wherever she looked. As they walked past what looked to be a reception desk, Noriko noticed the sign behind the woman who was busily chatting away as she pressed a button on the ear piece she wore with a neatly manicured finger. It pronounced the building to be the offices of the Yotsuba Corporation. As Noriko already knew, the company did many things, from heavy industry to resort development, they were even powerful enough to buy military weapons according to what she had read in the papers and heard in the news. Basically, Yotsuba was a very powerful corporation and she was reminded that she was currently walking with the Tokyo branch's Vice President of Sales as some of the people gave her looks that made her feel less than welcome.

"Uh, I really don't think this is necessary," Noriko said as she stood beside Reiji as they waited for one of the elevators. "Really, I'm fine." She began trying to back away.

He caught her by the elbow and gave her a glance that told her she wasn't going to win the fight, sighing resignedly, Noriko let him take her arm and lead her into the elevator.

When the elevator finally stopped on the thirtieth floor, Noriko's eyes widened and she tried to stay put in the elevator but Reiji, who hadn't released her arm since he had an idea she would react this way, gently tugged her along with him once they stepped into the large, open reception area. The flooring was a black marble and the walls a shiny light wood except for the wall the elevators were set into and a few others that were painted a deep red to add more color. Twenty yards from the elevators was a circular reception desk with two women who had to be in their early twenties, dressed in black, fitted skirt suits. They regarded Noriko coolly as Reiji led her past the desk and through the brightly lit hall beyond, the walls here were mostly a dark tinted glass that allowed Noriko to see into the modern offices as the people on the interior leafed through paperwork, talked on the phone or drank coffee as they looked over things on the sleek computer screens in front of them. At the end of the hallway were two large black double doors, the walls here were still the dark tinted glass and as they walked through the doors a red haired woman in a gray pant suit greeted them from behind a desk in the center of the room.

"Good morning, Mr Namikawa," the woman chirped with more enthusiasm than Noriko thought was even possible for any human.

"Good morning, Lisa. I'm going to leave my friend, Ms Mori, here with you while I check my messages, she will need a change of clothes if you could arrange it," he replied. He released Noriko's arm and she froze on the spot as Lisa looked her over with a raised brow.

"Yes sir, I'll take care of it," Lisa answered with a smile that was less enthusiastic then it had been.

"Thank you," and with that Reiji disappeared through another set of double doors to the left.

"Uh, hi," Noriko said lamely as she waved at the woman.

"Hello, you're a mess aren't you," Lisa observed arrogantly, looking Noriko over with disdain. "How do you know Mr Namikawa?"

"I don't see how that's your business," Noriko replied, offended and not in the mood for the woman's snide remarks. "Now would you mind doing what you were told and getting me some clothes."

The woman's eyes narrowed at Noriko who held her ground and stared right back. "What size?"

After giving the snobby, and probably jealous, girl her sizes and asking for a glass of hot tea, Noriko took a seat in one of the red leather chairs and stared out the window behind Lisa's desk. She was so lost in thought she never noticed Reiji leaving his office after Lisa's many failed attempts to get her attention.

"Noriko."

"Hmm," she hummed and shook her head blinking at the handsome long haired man before her.

"Let's go into my office, it's more private," he told her, as he turned away from her and walked back to the open doors that led into his personal office.

The corner office was larger than her house had been, the polished wooden floors reflected the bright lights that hung from the high ceiling. Two walls were windows that gave the office a very open feel, in front of the far window was a large elegant modern desk with no drawers and not a single paper out of place. There was a black rug off to the left side that a low glass table sat on top of flanked by two beige chairs and a matching sofa. A few modern art pieces adorned the two walls but the rest of the space was open, and rather intimidating, in Noriko's opinion.

"Please have a seat, someone should be here shortly with a change of clothes for you," Reiji said , motioning to the two chairs that sat in front of his desk.

Noriko just nodded and sat in one of the chairs, her tea cup still in her hand.

"If you'd like to, you're welcome to lay on the couch, I have some work to attend to and you look like you could use some rest," Reiji offered.

"Probably, I don't think I'll be able to sleep though. To be honest, my back hurts too much and my neck feels like.. well like I spent the night in a park swing," Noriko replied.

"You slept in a park swing?"

"No."

"You're a horrible liar," he replied with a laugh.

"I get that a lot," Noriko said with a frown.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"I'll be fine, it's my problem after all, but thank you."

"You know, when you talk to someone you're not actually giving them your problems, you're just making your burdens lighter by sharing them," Reiji said as he sat in the black desk chair behind his desk and leaned into it.

"Maybe, but I don't think it's fair to lighten my burdens by ruining someone else's day."

"You wouldn't ruin my day, especially if it made you feel any better to talk about what happened to you last night."

"It's a long story."

Reiji leaned forward and pressed a button on the phone that sat on his desk. "Lisa, hold my calls please, but inform me as soon as Ms Mori's things have arrived."

"Of course Mr Namikawa," Lisa replied her tone no longer light and happy, but almost annoyed.

"I have plenty of time," Reiji said as he looked at her with a small smile.

"That's hardly fair," Noriko mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest only to wince at the pain it caused to flair in her abdomen.

"Your side, it's not fully healed," Reiji observed.

"Mostly, but the internal damage is still healing and it seems I'm not a fast healer. Dying does that to you, I hear."

"Dying?"

"I was technically dead after being shot, but I got lucky and was resuscitated. I was fine until last night, it would seem that running through the city and then sleeping on a swing is bad for your health," she answered as she slouched in the chair and waved a hand in the air absently.

"Care to explain why you slept on a swing?"

"Like I said, it's a long story."

"I'm listening."

"Ok...Well. I guess you remember me being engaged and then that whole thing with me being shot after my step dad escaped from jail and tried to kill me. I was released from the hospital almost a month ago. I had no where else to go so a friend from school and his adoptive dad let me stay with them.

I was told to rest as much as possible which wasn't hard to do since I wasn't exactly feeling well and I had nothing else to do. I've rarely seen Light, my fia-, my ex-fiance, in the past few weeks.

Well, I had a weird dream and wanted to see him, so, smart Noriko decides to leave at eleven o'clock at night with no purse, no money and no phone. I walked to his house and his sister let me in, she was acting a little weird but I didn't think anything of it...Until I got upstairs," Noriko paused and swallowed as she looked down at her hands, she wasn't sure what to say, she was a horrible liar, and she was sure it was already obvious that she wasn't telling the whole truth, but she couldn't exactly tell anyone she lived with the detective known as L and that her ex-fiance was Kira.

"I heard voices. Light's I recognized, but there was another, a female voice I didn't know. I didn't bother to knock, I just opened the door, it wasn't even locked." She paused again to take another breath and fight off the image of Light leaning over the girl. "Light was there, with a girl. A blond dressed in barely enough to cover what needs to be covered. Anyways, he was... he was leaning over her like..."

"I think I understand," Reiji cut in, noticing the trouble she was having trying to continue her story "How did you end up in the park though?"

"I didn't exactly stick around for an explanation. All I really remember is that I had been playing with the ring, twirling it on my finger, but when I opened the door my hand dropped and the ring fell off. I heard it fall," she said quietly, her head tilted forward and she put hands over her face. "I ran, I heard Light calling my name, but I didn't stop. I wanted to be as far from him and that..girl, as possible. I wound up in the park by the police headquarters.

We used to go there as kids, when my dad was still alive. I don't know why I wound up there, but I did," Noriko's voice was beginning to falter and crack as she spoke, "I had been sitting in the grass but I ended up walking to the playground and sitting on the swing, I was so...out of it, I don't really know what happened. I cried until I couldn't anymore, and then next thing I knew it was morning. I couldn't go back to my friend's, to Ryuga's, Light and him are friends, and I can't.." her voice finally broke and she looked down to take a deep breath and reign her emotions back in.

"Mr Namikawa the clothes have arrived, would you like me to bring them in," Lisa's voice asked over the speaker in the phone.

"Just a moment Lisa," he replied.

There was a quiet squeak as he stood from his chair and approached Noriko.

"I'm sorry, we always seem to meet when I'm having a bad day," she said with a small laugh.

"Don't be. There's a shower and bathroom through the door," he said as he nodded to a door Noriko hadn't noticed to her left. "There are towels and everything you'll need in there, why don't you go clean up. I'm sure you'll feel better after."

"Thank you," Noriko said as she sniffed and stood from the chair.

Walking through the door that she had been directed towards she stepped into a small room that had a sink and what she thought was a small closet, there was another door that led to a rather large bathroom. After shutting the door. Noriko didn't hesitate to turn on the hot water in the walk in shower.

She let the hot water steam up the glass of the shower and run over her tired and achy body. Luckily there were all the necessities in the lavish shower and she cleansed herself of the memories of the night before as well as any proof that she had spent the previous night in a park.

'What do I do now,' she thought as the water ran over her. 'I can't go back there yet, I don't think I could handle it. I need to prepare myself for this, right now I'm not strong enough.'

A knock on the door startled her, but before she could respond she heard a female voice calling through the door, she couldn't entirely make out what was said, but it was something along the lines of clothes and by the door.

After what felt like a lifetime, when she had gathered her thoughts and was somewhat put back together, she turned the water off and snatched a towel. She wrapped the towel around herself and opened the door leading to the outer room, sure enough there was a blue paper bag on the ground which she quickly picked up and retreated back into the bathroom with.

She pulled out the articles, which she noted were all new and also quite expensive, that were in the bag and was pleasantly surprised by what she found, she half expected Lisa to get her something hideous. Instead, she was rewarded with a pair of black slacks and a fitted, short, puffy sleeved, shiny red button up shirt that had ruffles on either side of the buttons. Noticing there was a box in the bottom of the bag, Noriko pulled it out and pulled off the lid to see a pair of black peep toe heels, there was note on the tissue paper that read, 'I thought you could use the help.'

Noriko glared at the note and was tempted to just go barefoot, but once she was in the slacks, she threw that idea out the window, they were a bit long and if she didn't wear heels the hem would drag on the ground and cover her feet.

"Great," she mumbled as she shoved her feet in the heels.

After folding her clothes up and putting them in the bag with her boots, Noriko went into the other room in hopes of finding a brush.

It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for and she pulled the brush through her hair as she looked over herself in the mirror. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but her face looked less splotchy and red. Leaving the bag of her clothes in the room, she opened the door and walked back into the office only to pause when she realized that there were three people in the room now. She would have been able to retreat back into the bathroom but the heels on her feet had clicked on the wood of the office floor and all eyes had turned to her.

"Stupid heels," she grumbled bitterly.

"Ah, Ms Mori. You look like you're feeling much better," Reiji said as he glanced over to her with a smile.

"Yes, thank you," she said hesitantly, she had yet to move from where she stood, she didn't know what to do or where to go.

"Who's this Namikawa," one of the two men asked, he looked like he was fairly short, shorter than Namikawa at least, with spiky dark hair and beady eyes. He was smiling at Noriko in a way that made her want to disappear.

"This is Ms Mori, she's a friend. She recently had some hard times-"

"Mori? Wasn't that the name of the girl who was shot at the college a few- oh, uh, sorry," the other man said, he was young with light brown hair and glasses, he cut himself off at the look he got from Namikawa as well as the way Noriko seemed to pale at the mention of her near death experience.

"Ms Mori, these men were just leaving," Reiji said as he looked at the two expectantly.

"Sorry about that, I'm Shingo Mido," the man with the light brown hair said as he stood to leave but walked to Noriko instead.

"Noriko Mori, it's a pleasure," she said with a small bow.

"Pleasure's all mine, I'm Higuchi," the dark haired man said as he walked up beside Mido, Noriko cringed when he took her hand and kissed it.

"We should be going," Mido said, smiling at Noriko. "Let's go Higuchi."

"If you get tired of Namikawa you-"

"Higuchi," Reiji said in a clipped tone before the man could finish his sentence.

Higuchi dropped her hand and grinned at her before turning to leave, once he had turned, Noriko walked back to the bathroom to wash her hands.

"Better," Reiji asked with a chuckle as she walked back into his office.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't know-"

"Of course not, I didn't either. I see Lisa did well with getting you something to wear."

"She did, I'll have to thank her," Noriko replied with a smile.

"Not necessary. How would you like to go and get something to eat, I'm sure you're hungry after the night you had."

"If I said I wasn't, would you believe me?"

"I've seen you eat. So no."

She opened her mouth to say something back, but snapped it shut again and shrugged her shoulders, "Ok then."

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