Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note or the song lyrics near the end, those belong to Sarah McLachlan and her song entitled 'Stupid'

Chapter 28

Unexpected Changes

The date went extremely well that night. The food had been delicious, the conversation never dwindled, and Noriko laughed for the first time in quite awhile. It was all in all a very good night. Unfortunately though it was over and work was looming ahead of her in a matter of hours.

Groaning, Noriko pulled the blankets over her head, her mind kept wandering back to what her father had told her earlier. That Ryuzaki wasn't wearing the necklace even though she had asked him not to take it off.

"Stupid jerk," she grumbled under her breath as she flipped over on to her side.

She sighed and closed her eyes, doing her best to push all thoughts out of her mind so she could try and get at least a few hours of sleep before the work day began.

After a few minutes of focusing on her breathing, Noriko began to drift off to sleep. Her body relaxed and all tension drained from her body as absolute darkness engulfed her.

It was all the same. The same dimly lit room with all the computer monitors and the same scene where she was forced to watch as L had a heart attack and died in front of her eyes as Light smirked in triumph. There was one difference though, at the end. She was shown the room Watari had used as his office. The old man's dead body had lain limply on the cold floor, his glass had fallen off and lay beside his head and one of his arms was raised over his head as if he had been reaching for something. So it was no surprise when she was awoken by Reiji who had heard her agonized screams in response to seeing not only L, but also the kind elderly man's deaths and knowing that Light was responsible for them.

Her eyes flew open as her body jerked into a sitting position, she blinked at Reiji through her watery eyes before letting her head fall onto his shoulder. Her whole body shook as she strained to keep the sobs from exploding from her lips, she clutched her sheets to her chest and clenched her eyes shut hoping to banish the visions of the two dead bodies from her mind.

She barely registered the fact that Reiji had placed an arm around as she leaned against him until she finally managed to regain control over her emotions. She swallowed and took a deep breath before sitting up and looking at the concerned face of the handsome man she now lived with, worked for and as of the previous night, dated.

"Are you alright," he asked.

"Fine," she replied, her voice hoarse and raspy.

"Somehow I think you're lying," Reiji replied with a small smile.

She managed a small chuckle as she wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. "Sorry for waking you again."

"I'm more worried about you than I am about being woken up."

"I'll be alright."

"Would you like me to stay with you for a little while?"

She shook her head. "No, it's ok."

After a giving her an uncertain glance, Reiji stood from her bed and bid her a goodnight and returned to his own room. Once she heard the door to his room across the hall shut quietly she laid back and curled into a fetal position.

"I'll be ok," she mumbled quietly to herself.

She would soon find out she had been wrong.

It was Monday afternoon and Light walked beside a tall, dark haired woman he had just left class with, talking amicably with her until he saw a familiar figure hunched over on a bench reading a book. A scowl threatened to pull down his lips, but he managed to keep his composure and smiled at the raven haired detective as he looked up from his book.

"Oh, hello Yagami-kun," Ryuzaki greeted, his usual bored tone lilting slightly with fake enthusiasm.

"Hey. I'm sorry Takada, but I'd like to speak with him, I'll talk to you later ok?" Light said as he smiled charmingly at the pretty woman.

"Oh, ok. I'll talk to you later then," the woman, Takada, replied before walking away.

"Are you sure that was ok? You two seemed to be having a private moment," Ryuzaki asked.

"Never mind her," Light replied, his voice taking on a caring tone. "Are you sure you should be out here? I mean, I thought you were thinking of going back into hiding?"

"I figured it would be ok as long as you're not Kira. You are the only one on the outside that knows I am L, besides Nori-san. Because of this, if I am killed within the next few days then the task force, and the other L's, will assume that you are Kira. Did I not tell you," Ryuzaki asked when surprise flitted across Light's face. "I'm not the only one who calls himself L. Anyways, you had said you miss me at school so I thought this would be a change of pace...College is fun after all, if you don't die."

"Yeah, it's been boring without you around. There's no one on my level here," Light replied.

"And what about the brilliant Takada-san?" Ryuzaki asked, his dark eyes studying Light's reaction.

"She's the only one around here who seems to be able to hold a decent conversation," Light answered.

"I see, and what of Nori-san?"

Light gritted his teeth at the way the detective said Noriko's name, he was one of the only people to call her Nori and it was rather frustrating to have Ryuzaki speak of her so familiarly. He also figured that was why Ryuzaki was doing it, to make him angry. "What about her?"

"I would think with how you reacted the other day that you still cared greatly for her, yet you seem to be moving on rather quickly."

"It's not like that Ryuz-Ryuga. I love Noriko, and I plan on explaining things to her," Light replied, his annoyance clear in his tone.

"Shall we get some cake from the cafeteria," Ryuzaki asked, ignoring the comment. He stood up on the bench before stepping down onto the concrete.

Just as they began to walk towards the large building that housed the cafeteria a bubbly, girlish voice from behind them interrupted their trek.

"Hey, Light!!"

Light started slightly at the familiar voice and turned to see that Misa was running right at him, smiling and waving. He had to desperately quell the urge to growl at the girl as she latched on to his arm and batted her eyelashes him. He glanced up to see that Ryuzaki was watching them with a blank look on his face.

'She just has to show up now, stupid girl. What will Ryuzaki think with her hanging all over me,' Light thought angrily as he glared down at Misa.

"I have a shoot near here, so I thought I'd stop by, but I have to be back before two," Misa said excitedly before taking notice of Ryuzaki who was staring at her and Light curiously. "Oh, you must be one of Light's friends. I'm Light's girlfriend, Misa."

'I'm going to kill her,' Light thought to himself as his fist clenched at his side and he looked at her, his irritation clear on his face. 'Right after I say I love Noriko, she has to go and say that.'

"Is that so," Ryuzaki said slowly as he raised his thumb to his lips, partially out of habit and partially to hide the small grin he could feel threatening to break across his face. "I'm Hideki Ryuga."

'What excellent timing,' Ryuzaki thought to himself. 'I just might have to thank Ms Amane later, after I get the necessary information to prove that Light is Kira. You will not win Light Yagami, I will not let you.'

Misa blinked in confusion and was about to speak when Light, rather roughly, spun her around to face him.

"He has the same name as the pop idol, weird isn't it," Light said with a laugh.

"Uh, oh yeah," Misa answered, realizing that the fact that she could see his real name, which didn't match the one he had given, would be strange.

Light glanced over to Ryuzaki, who was now actually grinning unabashedly behind his thumb that was balanced on his lower lip. He hoped that the detective hadn't noticed Misa's odd reaction to his name, he also had to force down a smile. He had won. Misa knew L's real name, and with that he could kill the detective, even control him in the days leading up to his death. He knew he would have to act quickly to keep L from revealing anything about his supposed relationship with Misa to anyone just in case she was ever suspected of being the second Kira. Now all he had to do was get the name from her and write it down, he would use the twenty-three day rule he had discovered during his experiments with the Death Note in order to give himself time to steer all suspicion away from himself as well as find a way to get rid of Misa without him being suspected.

"I've been a big fan since the March issue of Eighteen," Ryuzaki said to Misa, who instantly brightened with the praise.

Before the conversation could continue any further several people crowded around Misa to ask for autographs or pictures of the up and coming model.

Light inwardly cursed as the crowd gathered around Misa, he was impatient, the sooner he could get rid of the detective the sooner he could find Noriko and convince her to come back to him. It would be obvious how much good he was doing once L was out of the way, he knew she would see that.

Misa squeaked when a tall, thin woman suddenly grabbed onto her and dragged her out of the crowd, "You're late," the woman snapped.

"Ah, sorry. I'll call you after work," Misa called to Light as she was pulled away from the crowd.

"Well, I suppose I'll see you in class, we have Psychology together right?" Ryuzaki asked Light.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," Light replied distractedly as the two turned away from each other and walked in opposite directions.

Light pulled a cellphone from his pocket, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, he pressed a few buttons before raising the phone to his ear. The smile faded when the sound of a phone ringing not far behind him reached his ears, he turned to see Ryuzaki pulling Misa's cellphone from his pocket.

"Hello," Ryuzaki said into the phone as he flipped it open.

"That really isn't funny, Ryuzaki," Light said through gritted teeth, walking back towards the detective.

"It seems someone lost it in the crowd," Ryuzaki replied.

"Yeah, it's Misa's I'll give it back to her," Light told him.

Ryuzaki flipped the phone shut, holding the antennae in his fingers he then held the phone out to Light. Just as Light took the phone, Ryuzaki's phone beeped repeatedly.

"Hmm, now it's my phone." He pulled the slim phone from his pocket with his fingers before cocking his head slightly and holding the phone a little ways from his ear. "Yes...Yes...I see, so it's done then?...Good, thank you," Ryuzaki said into the phone before shutting it and returning it to his pocket. "I hate to be the one to tell you this," he began, turning towards Light. "But Misa Amane has just been apprehended as the second Kira. Samples taken from her apartment matched those that were found with the tapes and envelopes sent to Sakura television. The arrest is being kept secret since the announcement would likely cause world wide panic. Her manager has also been arrested on drug charges, that has been kept secret as well."

Light couldn't say anything as he stared, slightly wide eyed, at Ryuzaki. All of his plans shattered before his eyes and he began to wonder just how much Ryuzaki really suspected him now. The phone call he had just made to Misa paired with their odd relationship didn't make things look good for him. It was the first time since

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights were all the same for Noriko who woke up screaming and crying after being forced to watch Ryuzaki and Watari die. Some nights the dream came more than once and sometimes there were subtle variations in what she saw. For instance tonight, Wednesday night, not only did she witness the deaths of the two men, but she was even shown the shinigami as it wrote their names in a small, secluded room before it suddenly turned into nothing more than a pile of ash. Each night Reiji would wake her and talk to her while she calmed down. It seemed that no matter how frequently she had the nightmares the after effect never changed.

It was currently early Thursday morning and Noriko was leaning against Reiji's shoulder, too tired to hold herself up and too shaken to lie back down. Silent tears rolled down her ashen face and her ragged breathing was slowly evening out while her eyes began to droop shut.

She jerked awake and latched onto Reiji when he tried to lay her back down so she could sleep. She looked at him pleadingly as she held onto his arm. Being alone didn't sound appealing to her at that moment.

Sighing and nodding, Reiji laid beside her and held her to his chest. Sleep found her quickly after that, a deep, restful sleep, it was the first time she had slept so soundly in weeks.

When she blinked her eyes open a few hours later, she was alone in her bed and a quick glance at her clock told her she had been out for almost four hours straight. The alarm sounded a moment later and she hastily smashed the off button as she rose from her bed to prepare for the day ahead.

It was no surprise to her when she finished getting dressed in a pair of simple black slacks and a light blue button up that Reiji was already awake and sipping coffee while he read over the day's newspaper.

"You look a little more rested today," he observed.

Noriko flushed bright red, remembering that she had made him stay with her the night before. "Uh, yeah. Thanks."

"Glad to help," he replied teasingly.

"You didn't have to stay, I wasn't really thinking, I just don't really like being alone after the nightmares even though I say I do," she gushed out quickly.

"Then from now on I'll be sure to remember that."

When the work day was finally over, Noriko was more than glad to clamber into Reiji's car and head home. The day had been long and trying. Her phone had rung constantly, she barely had anything to eat and she had had to do a bunch of work that wasn't part of her job, but apparently there was a nasty cold going around the office and one out of every ten people were out sick or incapable of doing anything other than sniffling and blowing their noses constantly.

To say she was in a good mood would definitely be a lie. She was starving and tired and it was taking a toll on her attitude. She barely spoke as Reiji drove them through town and grunted when she noticed they weren't heading straight home like she had hoped. At the moment a hot shower and whatever she could put in her mouth without having to worry about cooking first was all she cared about.

"Where are we going," she asked, trying to keep the annoyed edge out of her voice.

"To dinner, I know you had a long day and thought you might prefer to eat out," Reiji replied, he lifted her hand from its spot on her knee and pressed it quickly against his lips.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Noriko manged to say, blushing in embarrassment at her attitude and now feeling badly for having been in such a gloomy and moody state.

The restaurant that they pulled into a few minutes later seemed to be fairly busy and Noriko was rather afraid that getting a table might take awhile, she was too hungry to be patient at the moment. It turned out though that she had nothing to worry about, Reiji pulled up to the valet, who quickly opened her door before stepping around the car to bow to Reiji and then disappear into the car. There was a short wait as they walked through the crowd at the door, but much to Noriko's surprise, and delight, they were seated immediately when Reiji gave his name to the hostess.

"Hanging around with you definitely has its benefits," Noriko commented wryly after the hostess left after sitting them at a table for two in a rather quiet corner near a window that gave a nice view of the long city street and the grand hotel that was just across from it.

Reiji chuckled lightly at her. "Glad to be of service. You seem to be in a slightly better mood."

"Yes well, food has that effect on me after a long day and eating only a donut and a stick of gum. Makes me a little grouchy."

Noriko took a few minutes to glance over the menu before deciding on a nigiri-zushi platter and a bowl of miso soup. She and Reiji talked while they waited for their food, the topics ranging from work to shogi, which Noriko had no clue how to play, but was more than willing to learn. When the food arrived conversation dwindled as Noriko was finally able to put food in her rather unhappy stomach. After she finished, eating everything on her plate and then ordering dessert since she was still somewhat hungry, Noriko sighed happily and leaned back in her seat.

They left the restaurant shortly after and as Noriko was about to step into the car she looked up and froze. Gasping, her eyes widened at what she saw, all she could do was stare blankly across the street. In the alley of the hotel across from her was Watari with two men, each wearing blindfolds and from the looks of it, they were both cuffed as well. Though there was a considerable distance between them she could tell in the dim light that the full moon was providing that one of the men was most likely Light, judging by the hair and build. The other man she only caught a quick glimpse of, but she could see the streaks of gray in the dark hair and knew without a doubt that it was Mr Yagami.

There was a sleek black car waiting a few yards from the door that Watari was leading the two men towards. Its windows were tinted darkly, anyone trying to get a glimpse inside would have better luck attempting to pet a lion in the wild.

"Noriko."

She jumped and glanced down at Reiji who was looking at her curiously as was the young man holding her door open, she blinked several times before smiling.

"Sorry, I thought I recognized someone," she said before stepping into the car. She cast another quick glance towards the alley, but Light and his father had already disappeared from view and Watari was just about to enter the car himself. Looking up at the hotel, Noriko filed the name away for later use.

The ride back home was all but silent as Noriko thought over what she had seen. Not only was she certain that the two had been Light and his father, but she knew that the only reason for Light to be restrained like that would be because L had somehow found proof that he was Kira. Why his father was also restrained and blindfolded as well is what bothered her. There should be no reason to jail his father, Mr Yagami was a kind and very good man. So her mind kept tumbling around possibilities about why he too would be detained.

In the end the only thing she could manage to come up with was that Mr Yagami believed his son to be innocent, like any trusting father would, and had insisted he be detained with Light. The only problem she found with that was that if L had in fact found evidence against Light then why would Mr Yagami go through the trouble of letting himself be arrested as well?

Noriko heaved a sigh and leaned her head back against the cool leather of the seat. Her bright green eyes stared out the window, but saw little as she kept replaying the scene in the alleyway over and over again.

'Will L call me? If he's found proof that Light is Kira, will he tell me? I told him I wanted to know, but would he actually go through the trouble of finding me...Well maybe not finding me, because chances are the jerk already knows where I am and even has my cell phone number. I don't know if he would, he might not since I'm no longer a part of the investigation or Light's life. Well, I'll just have to go and find him, it shouldn't be all that hard. I know the hotel he's in, all I have to do is find out what room, which again shouldn't be difficult. I just have to wait for Matsuda to leave or come in, and I'm sure I can talk him into taking me to Ryuzaki.' Noriko thought to herself.

"Hmm," she hummed as she lifted her head to look out the window only to realize that they had just reached the house. "Oh."

"Are you alright, you've been distracted since we left the restaurant," Reiji asked as he parked the car in the garage and looked over at her.

"It's just that I thought I saw Watari, Ryuzaki's dad, with Light, it just caught me off guard is all. I miss Watari, he's such a nice man and...I dunno really," she finished with a sigh as the dreams came back to her, knowing that Light would ultimately be responsible for Watari's death.

"Do you still have feelings for Light?"

Noriko snorted disgustedly. "No. Not after all that he's done. I mean sure a part of me will always love him, but who he was not who he is. There's no way I could have feelings for a man who...who felt like he owned me and lied to me."

"I see. So what is it that bothers you so much? About seeing this Watari person with Light?" Reiji asked as they both exited the car and made their way into the house.

"I guess you could say it's because Watari is such a good man, and Light is a manipulative, lying bastard, and I don't like him near Watari." Noriko answered, her voice acidic as she mentioned Light's name.

"You must really care for Watari to be so protective," Reiji observed.

"Huh? Oh, well I suppose, it's sort of in my nature to be protective," she said with a small chuckle.

Light and his father were driven to an unknown location where they were separated before being placed into separate cells. Mr Yagami was allowed to be uncuffed in the cell, while Light was forced to remain in both wrist and ankle restraints.

After being placed in his cell, Light refrained from looking at Ryuk, or giving any indication to the cameras that watched him, that there was another being in the cell with him. He sat on the floor, his eyes staring angrily down at the ground as he ground his teeth together.

While it was true he willingly turned himself over to Ryuzaki and had even gone so far as to ask to be confined, Light was still unhappy. Though he had set things up so that he would eventually be able to resume his work as the God of a new world, he was still upset that he was so close to being caught, or killed, all because of Misa Amane and her carelessness.

It had been three days since the girl had been apprehended and only a few hours since Rem had shown up, threatening to kill him if he didn't save Misa, who had given up ownership of the Death Note, but was still in custody. She had done this to keep herself from talking about Kira, afraid she may unwillingly give L the proof he needed to bring Light to justice.

His only option was to turn himself in. He had arranged it so that it would appear he was Kira when the Kira related deaths stopped upon his confinement. Of course since he couldn't have anyone thinking that he really was Kira, he had also been sure that after two weeks a new Kira would emerge and rid the world of criminals in his absence. This would take suspicion off him, at least temporarily, until he could get the notebook back. As even more proof that he wasn't Kira, he had written a few extra rules in the Death Note. It was inevitable that the notebook would eventually fall into L's hands, and Light had ensured that when it did there would never be a way to connect him to the notebook.

However, that wasn't the only thing that was making him angry. When he had gone to the hotel to turn himself in, Ryuzaki, as usual was sitting in a chair, his knees pulled into his chest as he stared at Light with his big black eyes. The detectives hands though, were sitting on his knees as his fingers twiddled and fidgeted around a dark chain. It wasn't the chain that had caught his attention, it was the black cross with sparkling diamonds and a single ruby that dangled from it.

It was Noriko's necklace.

His plan for turning himself in almost flew out the twentieth story window when he realized what it was. Ryuzaki didn't miss the realization on Light's face or the way his face tensed and his hands clenched at his sides as he struggled to keep a cool, calm composure. Ryuzaki didn't say anything about the necklace in his hands as he watched Light's reaction, he could see the way the young man's nostrils had flared and the sparks of anger and jealousy mixed with a strong possessive look in his eyes. He waited for Light to say something, he was sure the young man would, after all it was the treasured necklace of his dearly loved ex-fiance.

Light had asked, his teeth clenched and the irritation he felt showing in his wavering tone as he asked why he had Noriko's necklace.

The raven haired detective had replied simply. She had given it to him, as a gift for luck, when she had left the investigation.

This seemed to further irritate Light who grunted and looked away from the detective, all the while trying to remain impassive and unaffected. He had managed to take a deep breath and then continue on with his main goal in coming to the hotel to see Ryuzaki, after all he would be taking care of the detective. Eventually that necklace would be his, and he would be sure to give it back to Noriko when he was able to prove he was right and that he was creating a better world, all for her.

He clenched his fists that were cuffed behind his back as he continued to glare frigidly at the cement floor of the tiny cell that would be his home indefinitely.

'I just have to wait and be patient. I will kill L and I will be a God of a new world that I will create. In time I'll get rid of Misa too, she would only be in the way and she's a threat to Noriko with her absurd feelings of love for me. Noriko may be a little hard to convince that I am right, but I know she'll see it. I'd never hurt her, she knows that, all I need to do is convince her I'm right. I'll do whatever it takes to prove it,' Light thought as a manic smile spread across his face.

Noriko was unable to sleep that night and after spending about two hours tossing and turning in her bed she flung the sheets off of herself and grabbed the blue silk robe that matched the night gown she wore.

She made her way quietly to the kitchen, feeling like a ghost in the flowing silk robe as she walked through the dark house. After making herself a cup of hot tea she retreated into the living room, where she sat on the couch, leaning against the armrest and bringing her knees to her chest so she could look out the window in the back of the room. The bright moon was still high in the clear sky, obscured occasionally by the few thin, wispy clouds that were floating serenely through the deep blue sky.

Sighing, she sipped at her tea and hummed to herself as she stared out the window. After a few minutes she set her tea down and wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her knees closely to her body and resting her chin on one of them. She continued to hum to herself and before long, without realizing it she was singing quietly in the darkness of the living.

"...lift up the shades

And let in the brilliant light of morning

Steady me for now

For I am weak and starving for mercy..."

She returned to humming softly for a few moments before her voice was heard once again.

"But you come around in your time

Speaking of fabulous places, create an oasis

That dries up as soon as you're gone..."

She went back to humming to herself for a few more minutes, singing snippets of the song that had for some reason popped into her head. Her eyelids began to grow heavy and her cheek slowly inched closer to the plush cushions of the couch. Before she even knew it, she was curled up into a ball, fast asleep on the couch.

The dream was different tonight.

She was standing alone in a dark, drafty hall, her shoulders hunched and her arms crossed over her chest to keep warm. Glancing around, she saw nothing at first until a dim light a little way down the hall caught her attention, she walked towards the light, muffled sounds began to float to her ears as she moved closer. She paused a few feet from where the light was coming from, now fully aware that the light was coming out of a cell like room, the metal bars now being visible to her.

Swallowing, she moved forward and stood directly in front of the cell. Though she wasn't surprised, she couldn't help but to gasp at the sight of Light sitting hunched up on the floor, his arms cuffed behind him and his ankles also bound together.

The brown haired man's head snapped up and Noriko took an instinctive step back as his cold eyes found hers and a malicious grin turned up the corners of his perfect lips. She ran into the wall behind her, her palms touching the cold cement surface wishing that she could disappear from Light's intimidating gaze.

"Nori, I love you. Please, you have to understand. I'm making a better world, I'm creating a world free of evil and eradicating all those who would try and ruin our perfect world. Why don't you see it Nori, why don't you see that I'm doing it for you. I want you to be my queen, my goddess, who is always at my side," Light said pleadingly to her, the malicious smile was gone replaced by a sad frown and eyes that were begging for her to understand.

She shook her head and swallowed. "No, this is your world Light, not mine. I would never have asked you to do this. You don't know me well if you think I would."

"It's because of him, isn't it?" He hissed.

"Who," Noriko asked in confusion.

"Ryuzaki, L, whatever you want to call that meddling, annoying freak. You're in love with him aren't you?" He accused, his eyes narrowing and darkening.

"What are you talking about Light? Can't you hear yourself?" Noriko asked on the verge of tears as she stared at the man she used to love in disbelief.

"You gave him your necklace, your father's necklace. For luck? His luck will run out the second I'm out of here."

"No," Noriko whispered, trying desperately to back further into the wall.

"You will see, I'll make sure of it, that what I am doing is right. That I am the justice in this world and I will do whatever it takes to make you see that," Light said, his voice rising with an insane passion.

"No, you will leave me alone. You will leave him alone and you will leave Watari alone. I will never forgive you as it is Light, for what you have done, but so help me, if you hurt either one of them I will kill you myself," Noriko said with a newfound courage. Taking a step away from the wall and she looked defiantly at Light.

"What do you think you can do? I am God!"

"If you are God, then I am the devil and I will stop you. This isn't you, Light, would you really be ok with all that you have done if you could think clearly?" Noriko asked.

"I am me Nori and I will be God of the new world I create and you will be by my side. No matter what, you will, you'll see," Light said, quietly laughing to himself. "You can't protect them Noriko, they will die. I'll show you." He stood up slowly, the cuffs that had restrained him falling to the floor with a clatter.

Noriko's eyes widened and she backed away from the cell as Light pushed the door open without a problem, the lock apparently having been disengaged.

"What are you-"

"Why are you backing away from me," Light cut her off bitterly. "Do you really think I'd hurt you, Noriko? I would never hurt you, I will protect you."

"No Light, please stop," Noriko choked out as he reached for her and pulled her to him in a crushing embrace. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the feel of his skin against hers, it was cold and made a shiver run down her spine.

"Open your eyes, Noriko," Light ordered calmly.

She shook her head, unwilling to look at him, afraid of what she would see in his eyes.

"Open them, I already told you I would protect you," Light told her lovingly, carefully he turned her around, but kept her held firmly against his chest.

Her heart was hammering loudly, echoing in her ears as she forced her eyes open. Tears instantly filled the green orbs and she raised a hand to cover her mouth as she let out a small strangled sob.

They were standing in the room that she had been to several times already in her dreams, it was the room that she always saw Watari in. The small computer room the man used as an office. The elderly man was lying on the floor, in the same position Noriko always saw him fall into. She felt her body start to shake as she looked at the kind old man who lie dead on the floor in front of her.

"I knew I was right Light Yagami, you are Kira. I was wrong about one thing though, I never thought Nori-san would see things from your perspective."

Noriko turned her head at the sound of the familiar monotonous voice. L's dark eyes were sad as they focused in on the dead body on the floor, he stepped around Light and Noriko to stand in front of his mentor, his hands thrust into his pockets as he stared at them.

She tried to speak, to shake her head, anything to let him know that she didn't see things from Light's view, but she couldn't move. Silent tears slid from her eyes and she bowed her head, her chin resting over one of Light's arms.

"You have lost L, you will die shortly and I will take over the name of L. With Noriko's help, I will create a new world where Kira is supreme," Light said arrogantly.

"I see," L replid slowly.

Noriko raised her head to meet the detective's eyes. He was staring at her, his gaze filled with so many emotions, despair, anger, loss, and she thought a trace of something deeper, something like the look of someone who had been betrayed by a lover.

"The necklace," Noriko whispered as she noticed that L wasn't wearing the necklace, her necklace, her only way to protect him and he wasn't wearing it.

"Oh, yes, here," he stated absently, reaching his right hand into his pocket.

For a moment everything seemed to progress in slow motion. She saw him pull his hand from his pocket, dragging with it a dark chain attached to which was a black, ruby and diamond encrusted cross. She saw it bounce slowly, hearing every sound the thin chain made before it was drowned out by Light, who was beginning to chuckle behind her as he moved one of his arms. The arm that his watch was on.

"No," Noriko whispered frantically, time seemed to have sped up again. "Why?!" She yelled at L and struggled to break free from Light's grasp. "Why didn't you wear it you fool?" She cried, tears continued to flow from her eyes as she watched L's eyes widen in surprise.

He dropped Noriko's necklace, letting it fall slowly to the ground as he clutched at his chest and his knees buckled.

Noriko finally managed to break free of Light and run to L, she caught his head in her lap as he fell sideways to the ground, his body tense and spasming periodically as his heart tried to break free of his chest. "Why didn't you wear it?" She said as laid a hand on his pale cheek. "Why? It would have protected you, it would have saved you? I didn't want this, I'm so sorry..." She pleaded through her sobs as she bent her head into her chest and shook with the violent strength of the sobs tearing through her as she watched the light leave L's eyes as he stared up at her in shock.

Her body shook fiercely as the light died completely from L's eyes and his eyelids fluttered shut for the last time. She squeezed her eyes shut and hunched over from the weight of the pain in her chest and screamed to try to release some of it.

"Noriko!"

She gasped and her eyes flew open, she could feel the tears that still ran down her cheeks and the hammering of her heart as it tried to make it's way out of her chest. Looking around, she realized she was still in the living room and the moon was a little lower in the sky than it had been when she had first come out.

"Noriko, are you alright?"

Blinking several times to clear her blurry vision, she turned her head towards the sound of Reiji's concerned voice. He was crouched before her, a hand on her shoulder, staring worriedly at her, it had taken him longer than usual to wake her. She had been yelling and crying for several minutes before she had finally opened her eyes.

Noriko took in a long shaky breath before collapsing against him. She didn't speak, she didn't have the energy to as tears continued to leak from her dull, red rimmed eyes. Reiji sensing that she was rather out of it, lifted her carefully from the couch. She barely registered the movement let alone the fact that she wasn't deposited into her own bed, but his. He laid her down carefully before lying back down beside her. All she could do was curl into a tight ball and stare blankly ahead of her as Reiji covered her with his sheets. Even though he didn't do anything to comfort her, feeling it would do little to actually ease the pain the dream she had had so obviously inflicted, Noriko felt more relaxed. As long as she was here, she wasn't in that room, she wasn't watching innocent people die all because Light felt that it was necessary to create a new world. Believing it was all for her made it more difficult to stomach, it made her feel that she was the one stopping L's and Watari's hearts since she wasn't actively doing anything to prevent their deaths.

What she could do, she didn't know. She was still trying to figure that out. In her mind one girl going against a mass murderer wasn't a good idea, but what other choice did she have? She couldn't rejoin the investigation, it would be too hard to see the stares from Light's father and the other officers when she told them she too believed Light was Kira. And what was she supposed to tell them about why? That she had seen him with a Shinigami? That would probably only get her committed.

There was a chance that L would believe her, he had believed her before when she had told him her "theories", maybe he would believe her again. There were still problems though, L would want to know why she was able to see the Shinigami and why she hadn't spoken up sooner about it. She couldn't very well tell him that she was an angel of sorts and so was her father and because of that she was able to see things normal humans couldn't.

At this rate she was going to be committed as soon as she opened her mouth. She would have to find a way to deal with Light on her own, or to at least prove he was Kira and then go to L. Without proof there was nothing L could do,and she wasn't sure how much she could do without risking her neck and having to be closer to Light than she was really comfortable with.

Her thought process began to slow as she listened to Reiji's even breathing, she didn't think he was asleep, she was actually certain he wasn't, she could feel his eyes on her face every few moments. His breathing was so steady though, the only thing at the moment that seemed to keep her from losing control of her emotions completely. Eventually her breathing became normal and slowed as her eyes drifted shut, she tried to fight the need for sleep not wanting to see her friends die again, but it was a battle she lost. Her eyes closed and she fell into a blissful darkness, a darkness so thick that even her nightmares couldn't penetrate it.

Hours later she awoke to find that she wasn't her own bed, she also didn't care and pulled Reiji's sheets up and held them tightly under her chin. The bed's usual occupant was missing, but judging by the sound of running water, he was most likely in the shower. She felt horrible, her head hurt and her body felt feverish, she blew it off as just a side effect of the nightmare and hoped that the feelings would diminish quickly. Working while feeling as horrible as she did, didn't sound like fun.

"They're going to get worse. The dreams."

"Why," Noriko asked, not bothering to look up when she felt the bed shift as her father sat down beside her.

"You're going to come of age soon."

"Let me guess," Noriko sighed tiredly. "It's going to be like in the books and movies, kid becomes an adult and suddenly has some strange magical powers right?"

"Something like that," her father conceded.

"So cliché," she mumbled to herself.

"Maybe, but you are what you are. No changing that."

"So what exactly is going to happen?"

"It's different for everyone, for you I'm guessing the nightmares will get worse. You will change too, appearance wise. It's a little hard to explain, you're just going to have to wait and see I guess," he said.

"How long will it last, this little transformation?" Noriko asked.

"I'd say a little over a week since your birthday is on the tenth, eight days from today. It will be over on the eleventh no matter what, you just have to get through it until then, I'd suggest staying home for the time being. Some of the...changes...can be quite painful."

"Will I be able to protect them," she asked in a quiet whisper.

Her father heaved a weary sigh and shifted his weight around so that he could brush some of her hair from her face. "I don't know. The future is a rather fickle thing."

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