Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note still

Just a little note, L's birthday chapter technically takes place during this chapter. Towards the middle actually, but I wanted to do it separate since this is already 21 pages long... And it was a little treat.

Also since I did a special chapter and had said everyone would hate me after chapter 32, I was wrong. It's this chapter I think everyone will hate me for...

Chapter 33

Kira Returns

"Well, Higuchi could have committed suicide," Mr Yagami theorized.

Noriko shook her head from where she sat on one of two couches in the large room she had seen many times in her dreams. Ryuzaki and Light were in front of the monitors and computer screens, Mr Yagami, Matsuda, Aihara who she now knew to be Aizawa, and the one man she had never met until now, Mogi, were standing around a large table in the center of the room. Papers were strewn about the table as they tried to make sense of Higuchi's death.

"I didn't kill Higuchi, I don't know why he died," she heard Rem proclaim.

Noriko scoffed and looked at the back of Light's head with slightly narrowed eyes. Sensing her eyes on him, he turned to her and smiled, it was meant to be reassuring, comforting, but it wasn't. She didn't want to be there, near him, but she didn't want to leave him alone near Ryuzaki and Watari either. When she turned her eyes away from his and brought her knees into her chest, he sighed and turned back to Ryuzaki.

"You know, Ryuzaki, maybe Noriko should go home, she doesn't look like she wants to be here," he observed.

"It was her choice to be here, she may leave whenever she wishes," Ryuzaki replied, popping a sugar from a bowl in front of him into his mouth.

"I'm staying. Thanks for your concern Light, but isn't your girlfriend holed up in a room around here? Save your concern for her, it's wasted on me," Noriko spoke up bitterly.

"Nori," Light sighed. "She's not-"

"I don't want to hear anything from you, it's all lies anyway," she snapped before he could continue.

"Oh, hey. Listen to this," Aizawa called suddenly. "There's a few rules in here that we should think about."

Noriko listened, only partially interested, while the 'rules' were read aloud from the first page of the Death Note.

"The person whose name is written in this notebook shall die. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind while writing his or her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details should be written within the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds. There's also a how to use section on the back cover. It says that if the person using the note fails to consecutively write names of people to be killed within thirteen days of each other, the user will die. It also says that if you try to make the notebook unusable by tearing it up or burning it, all people who have touched the notebook shall die. Wouldn't the thirteen day rule clear Light and Amane then," Aizawa asked, looking up as he finished reciting the rules.

"Yeah, Light and Misa were confined for over fifty days and they definitely weren't able to write any names down during that time, but they're still alive. Isn't that proof that they're innocent," Matsuda asked happily.

"You should release them Ryuzaki, it's obvious they're innocent now," Mr Yagami said to the detective who was staring blankly at the screen in front of him.

"You're all idiots," Noriko mumbled.

"What are you saying, Noriko? Light's been cleared, this means-"

"All it means, Matsuda, is that the lying, cheating bastard is cleared and I don't care," Noriko hissed blandly. "You don't even know if the rules are real, yet you're all willing to simply let them go?"

"Nori-san is right, we should find a way to test the notebook." Ryuzaki spun slowly around in his chair to face the surprised group of detectives.

"You can't mean to use it?" Mr Yagami cried.

"No one needs to use it." Noriko slipped from the couch and walked over to Aizawa who was holding the notebook and looking at her questioningly. "May I see it," she asked as she held out a hand.

Aizawa glanced to Ryuzaki who nodded minutely before handing the notebook to Noriko. She almost pulled her hand back when the cool leather of the notebook touched her fingertips, it sent a chill down her spine and made her want to retch, but she forced it down and took hold of the notebook. She had touched it after Higuchi had died on the freeway, saying she wanted to see what they all saw. No one had questioned her, but they did find her unmoved attitude a little odd.

Pretending to be reading over the words written there, she wandered a little way from the group and pulled something discreetly from the pocket of her black slacks. Turning back around, she held up a small lighter and dangled the notebook in front of her, between two fingers, with a smile, she struck the lighter and brought it to the notebook.

"Let's test this shall we?"

"Noriko," Light shouted.

Everyone aside from Ryuzaki raced towards the girl. Light who was hindered by the handcuff that had connected him to Ryuzaki for the past several weeks nearly pulled the uncaring detective from his chair as he ran at Noriko. Being that the chair was on wheels, he just tugged him a few feet before getting close enough to snatch the lighter from Noriko and take the notebook from her. The bottom corner was just begin to catch fire so he tossed it on the ground, Aizawa and Matsuda stomped the flames out while Noriko stared, unaffected, at Light.

"What are trying to do, Noriko? Are you crazy, you could have killed us and yourself?" Light shouted at her, but his voice wasn't angry, it was concerned, sad even as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"I don't care if I die, as long as I take you with me," she growled in reply so quietly that even Ryuzaki who was now standing with his hands in his pockets a few feet away couldn't hear.

"Nori," Light whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him in a tight hug.

Her eyes widened and she froze for a full second before shoving him off herself and slapping him harshly across his cheek. The sound echoed through the room while she fixed him with an angry glare. "Touch me again and you'll see just how much I've changed," she warned before turning and walking to the couch and sitting back down.

"That was scary," Matsuda laughed nervously.

"Yeah, no kidding. We should think about locking the notebook up, restricting access to it just to the task force members," Aizawa said, putting a little extra emphasis on task force members, since Noriko wasn't an actual member and it was her they wanted to keep it away from.

"Not a bad idea, but shouldn't we be thinking about releasing Light and Amane," Mr Yagami asked, his excitement at having his son completely cleared evident in his tone and the glint in his eyes.

"Shinigami," Ryuzaki began. "There are more notebooks in the human world, aren't there?"

"I wouldn't know. It's possible," Rem replied.

"If there were, would they all have the same rules?"

"Yes. No matter the notebook, the rules are all the same."

"Ryuzaki, the suspicion against Light and Amane has been cleared. Shouldn't we be ending surveillance on them?" Aizawa pressed.

"Yeah, it's crystal clear," Matsuda agreed loudly.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Ryuzaki said monotonously. "I'm sorry for all the trouble."

"Thank god," Mr Yagami said as he smiled and placed a hand on his son's shoulder as Ryuzaki stood from the chair and dug into his pocket.

He brought out a shiny silver key that he used to undo the handcuff on Light's wrist and his own and then sat back down, dropping the cuffs onto the desk beside him.

Noriko looked away, disgusted by how easily they had been swayed by rules they weren't willing to even test, yet believed without question.

"Yeah, but am I right in thinking that this investigation isn't over, Ryuzaki? Someone other than Higuchi was definitely killing criminals before I went into confinement. If Kira and the second Kira were killing at the same time, and if it's like Ryuzaki seems to think, there are definitely multiple copies of the notebook in this world. Who were Kira and the second Kira? Where are the other notebooks? These are all questions we need to figure out," Light spoke with conviction that made the detectives behind him smile and nod with determination. "The handcuffs are off, but is it okay if I stay here, Ryuzaki, and help you?"

"...Yes, I suppose that would be fine."

"Misa will be leaving though, right?" Light asked.

"Yes. We will no longer have her under surveillance so we can't keep her here. She's an outsider now, we don't want her to be involved. Mogi will also stop acting as her manager," Ryuzaki answered as he stacked individual creamers on top of one another.

"Will I be able to see her outside of here?"

"You wish to keep seeing her?" Ryuzaki asked Light, a little surprised by the revelation.

"Well, she did risk her life for me and was constantly saying she was in love with me."

"Indeed, but what of Nori-san, didn't you wish to repair your relationship?"

"Yeah, but Misa is just a friend. Maybe once she sees that, she'll understand it was all a misunderstanding," Light replied.

"Don't hold your breath...On second thought... do actually," Noriko said scathingly. Glaring at him, Noriko grunted in disgust and turned away.

Light sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair. "I didn't say it would be easy."

"Ryuzaki?" Noriko called.

"Hmm?"

"I don't suppose I could stay here too, could I?"

"Why would you want to do that Nori-san? You have a job and friends now."

"Yeah I do, but I want to help again. I think I can be a little more useful this time around, but I have one condition."

"You have a condition for me allowing you to stay here, isn't that-"

"I don't want to deal with anyone but you or Watari. You and I seem to be thinking the same thing and-"

"Which is?"

She glanced to Light and back to him. "That you were right."

"I usually am," he mumbled with an eyebrow raised slightly and a small shrug.

Noriko rolled her eyes. "Well?"

"...You can have a room of your choice, just talk to Watari. You will have to move your things on your own though."

"I think I can manage that. Thank you Ryuzaki. I'm going to leave for the night, I'll be back tomorrow sometime," she said as she stood up and prepared to leave.

"It's pretty late Noriko, maybe you should get some rest here and I can help you move tomorrow," Light offered, he didn't want her out of his sight, let alone at another man's house.

She opened her mouth to decline, but was cut off by Matsuda.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. It would give you guys a chance to talk and maybe work things out."

Noriko lifted a skeptical brow at him and rolled her eyes. "Not hap-"

"I agree, Noriko, it is late, it would be better to stay here for the night. I know you're angry with Light, but it may be a good idea to let him help you, you two used to be so close, it's hard to see you like this," Mr Yagami said.

"No," she replied dully before turning to the stairs that led to the elevators.

"Noriko, please. Just give me a chance, you never let me try and explain things," Light pleaded.

"I don't care."

"Noriko," Light pleaded quietly as he walked up to her while she waited for the elevator door to open.

"Go away, Light," she sighed tiredly. "I don't want to fight with you, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want anything to do with you. Just leave me alone."

"I can't do that, I love you, Noriko."

Noriko winced like the words hurt her to hear and in many ways they did. She shook her head. "I don't love you."

"That's not true and you know it," Light argued, glancing the elevator doors that were slowly opening.

"It is true, Light," she replied sternly. With a shake of her head, she turned her back to him and walked into the elevator.

Light stared at her when she turned back around, her eyes on the ground as if scared to look at him. When the doors began to slide shut, he stepped forward and got into the elevator with her. She looked up at him, surprise and suspicion written all over her face.

"What are you doing?" She asked harshly, shakily.

"I'm walking you to your car. I'll regain your trust, Nori, I'll prove to you that I love you and everything was just a misunderstanding."

"I told you once, Light, you can't explain away what I saw and you know it. I know what happened, I know what you are, who you are and I won't let you-"

She sucked in a breath and tried to take a step back when he faced her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him in a tight embrace.

"Let me go," she whispered hoarsely.

"I told you, Noriko, you are mine and I will do anything to prove it to you," he whispered in her ear.

"Then don't kill him," she whispered back, her head drooping and her fists clenching.

Light chuckled darkly. "It's out of my hands."

"What?" She asked worriedly, pushing him away and looking up at him in fear.

"Everything will be fine, you'll see." He gently brushed her her bangs out of her eyes and kissed her forehead.

"Don't," she pleaded, taking a small step back so that she was pressed against the cold metal of the elevator wall.

"Come on." He took her hand that she snaked out of his grasp quickly as the elevator doors opened and he tried to lead her out.

She stood still in the elevator for a minute, staring at him, torn and confused. 'It's out of his hands? What does he mean, what did he do?'

"Noriko," he called softly.

She swallowed and followed him out of the elevator. A sense of helplessness washed over her and she was suddenly completely afraid to leave Ryuzaki and Watari. She came to a stop a few feet from her car and bent her head down, she squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do.

'In all those dreams I could never save them, they always died. I'm useless, whatever powers I should have are apparently not enough to stop him. If he's planning on killing L then there is nothi-'

"Are you alright," Light asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

She jerked away from his touch and shook her head as she looked up at him, still biting on her bottom lip. "What do you want?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What are you-"

"Answer the question, Light, what do you want," she asked again.

"Why don't we go for a drive?"

She nodded and finished the walk to her car, fumbling her keys out of her purse and pressing the button to unlock the doors. She slipped into the driver's seat and Light got into the passenger side.

"Nice car, you must be doing pretty well for yourself," Light said.

"It was a gift," she replied with little emotion and barely above a whisper. Starting the red Nissan, she avoided Light's eyes as she reversed out of the parking stall.

"A gift, huh? From Namikawa?" He asked, the jealousy leaking into his voice.

"Yes, from Reiji."

"How well do you two know each other, Noriko?"

"None of your business," she answered blandly. "Where am I going?"

"Anywhere, we're not being watched or followed."

She went silent as she drove to the only place she could think of. The park that was near the N.P.A building. She parked and when Light got out she stayed where she was until he opened the door and held his hand out to her. Ignoring his hand, she got out of the car and brushed past him.

Light sighed, he shut her car door and walked after her, enjoying the feel of the night's breeze against his skin. He had been locked indoors for so long he had forgotten how refreshing it could be just to hear the wind in the trees and the sound of crickets singing in the grass.

Not looking back, knowing that Light was following her, Noriko walked to the swings and sat down. She grabbed the chain on either side of her, resting her head against her right hand as she kicked off her black high heels and let her feet glide over the sand as she pushed herself slowly. Her eyes were focused on the ground in front of her so she never saw Light take a seat in the swing beside her, but she heard the creak of the chains tense under his weight.

"Do you really hate me, Noriko?" Light asked quietly, hurt and sadness in his voice.

She didn't answer immediately, she didn't know the answer, part of her loved him still, regardless of what he had done, but another part of her did hate him, loathed him for what he had become. "I don't know," she answered honestly.

"But you don't love me?"

"I don't know."

"That's not a no at least," he replied hopefully. "I love you, Noriko."

"I don't want to hear it, Light. I may not know how I feel anymore, but that doesn't change the fact that you are Kira, and what you're doing is wrong. I will not let you kill him."

"You still think you can protect him, how, you're only human, Noriko."

She shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm not entirely human, but even then, I'm not naive enough to think I can save him. That's why I'm asking you what you want?"

"I want you to explain what you mean."

"A long time ago there was a war of sorts, between shinigami and the Gods," Noriko began, her voice distant and soft. "The Shinigami felt that they deserved more than the dying realm they inhabited, they wanted more, they wanted the world that had been given to the humans. They were greedy and began killing humans, thousands of innocent people died, but there was one family. One family that tried to protect others. It was a family that believed in magic, and they used what they knew of that magic to protect as many innocent lives as they could

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

The Gods felt pity for the family, but death can't be undone. 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, with the blessings of the Gods, the dead were to protect the souls of the dead. Those amulets, only one is left."

"Your necklace," Light said in surprise. "So that's why you gave it him."

"Yes, I had hoped he'd wear it. It would have made him impossible to kill while his name was hidden, but he doesn't wear it," she answered.

"Interesting. I don't see what good the necklace would have done you though, your name isn't kept secret."

"The amulets are meant to protect the living members of the Mori family, it's just an extra precaution."

"Extra?"

Noriko nodded. "The god's granted the Mori's a few favors for helping humanity...I can't be killed by the Death Note's, but I can be harmed by them as I think you know," she expalinede as she pulled up the right sleeve of the metallic gray shirt she wore to reveal the jagged scar she had received the day she and Light had been on the hijacked bus.

He looked from the scar and into her eyes which showed only tiredness. "I don't know what you're talking about, what does the-"

"I'm not an idiot, Light," she said, readjusting her sleeve and looking back to the ground. "You can kill in ways other than a heart attack, you can control a person before their death too and you used that thief. You used him to get Raye Penber into a situation where he would be forced to show his I.D, and you used that to get the names of the other agents in Japan somehow. I know why you kept saying you were sorry that day, it's because it was your fault that I have this scar, and you know it."

"You've put a lot of thought into this."

"I guess, but I know you, Light. You were my world for seventeen years, then you betrayed me."

"I didn't betray you, Noriko," Light pleaded. "I was trying to protect you."

"From you, right? From what you were doing? Didn't you ever think that I wouldn't approve? You know me too, Light, better than anyone else. How could you possibly think I would want you to do what you did? What you're doing?"

"I was doing it for our future, for you, for our children, and their children. I'm creating a world where everyone treats everyone with respect and kindness-"

"Because they're too afraid to do anything else," Noriko shouted at him before lowering her head and taking a deep breath. "Your reasons are one thing, Light, I can understand them, even say I wish the world was what you want it to be, but...it's not...We are only human, Light, not one of us is perfect. There is always going to be evil in this world and right now, it's you."

"It's a small sacrifice, I'll be the God of a new world, some sacrifices must be made in order to achieve that."

"I will not let Ryuzaki and Watari become sacrifices to your new world," Noriko said, turning her head to look him in the eye. The tiredness was still there, but it was shadowed with determination and courage.

"I can't kill them, Noriko, I don't have the notebook. I don't even have a piece of the Death Note, you saw me swallow the last bit I had," Light told her.

"You have something planned though, don't you? It's too much to think about..." She trailed off and tilted her head up to the moon and closed her eyes.

"There's something I want to know, things still don't add up," Light stated.

Noriko opened her eyes and turned her head slightly, staring at him with one eye visible. "What?"

"The story you told me, about your family, how is it that you couldn't see the shinigami until that night?"

"Normally you can only see them when you're dead, it's been so long since it was necessary to see them that I guess we just stopped seeing them. Then I was shot. I should have been able to see them as soon as I woke up, but my dad didn't feel it was the right time and suppressed that ability. That night I came to see you, I came to apologize. I wanted to make things right with you, I loved you and I felt disgusting for thinking you were Kira. My dad was with me and for the first time, I actually felt his touch when he put his hand on my shoulder as he opened your door."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah, he's been visiting a lot less than usual lately. Higuchi has made his job a lot harder than it should be," Noriko sighed.

"But your dad is-"

"Dead? I'm aware, so is he. I can see shinigami, Light, is the ghost of my dead father that big of a stretch?"

"I suppose not, it also explains why my locked door was opened. But if you couldn't see them when you woke up after being shot, why did you say that L and I had lied to you?"

"I have these...nightmares. I see a lot in them, not all of them are accurate, but there's usually a shred of truth to everything I see. In those dreams, you were Kira, and Ryuga as I knew him then, was L. There were other people, but I could never really see them," she answered.

"You knew Higuchi was Kira, didn't you?"

"Yes. I also know that there's only one shinigami in the living world right now and that's Rem. There's something else too, I can't pinpoint it yet, but there's something threatening nearby. It's similar to the feeling I got from Higuchi and can feel from you, like someone else has a Death Note, but that's not the case I would know if someone else had gotten a Death Note the moment they touched it. I'm still adjusting too, this is still fairly new to me."

"So can you sense the notebooks themselves?" Light asked.

"No, it seems more like I can sense the person or shinigami that's in possession of one. I'm not really sure though, but like I said all I sense right now is that you are the owner of a notebook and so is the shinigami. The major difference though is that you're the threat and not her. To the shinigami the Death Notes are basically twisted tools for their own survival. That is what they were created for, but when you throw a human in the mix that changes drastically. The only way the notebook would benefit a human is if they used it to murder people, whatever the reason may be," she explained.

"And you've been able to sense all of this since you saw the two shinigami in my room?"

"No, since my eighteenth birthday. A little cliché don't you think? Girl comes of age and is gifted with special powers and a few more curves than she had before," Noriko replied.

Light laughed. "A little cliché, but you look amazing, you always have though in my eyes."

"I never did understand that. I was always so tomboyish and plain, and you were the guy in school every girl wanted and drooled over. I never thought about it though, you were mine as far as I was concerned, I guess I just never really noticed until we started going out. I loved you so much, I never said that often, but I did. I would have done anything for you Light."

"I haven't changed, Noriko," he said as he rose from the swing and stepped behind her. He hugged her to his chest, but she didn't respond. "I'm still your, Light. I still love you, I want to make you mine. Forever."

She shook her head, pulling away from him as she stood up and turned to face him. "No. You're not my Light anymore, and I will not be yours. I will stop you, I will stop Kira. I was a fool to think I could convince you to stop what you're doing. I was almost going to promise myself to you, just to save them, but I won't. I can't. I will protect them. Somehow, I will find a way and I will save them."

"You've changed so much since the last time I saw you. I hope you can save them Noriko, they are innocent and I don't want them to die, but if it's for the sake of a better world two lives aren't much of a sacrifice."

"I don't want your better world, I'm perfectly happy in this one," she replied before turning to pick up her heels and walk away. "Have a nice walk back to headquarters. I'll see you tomorrow."

Light watched her go, he was completely relaxed as a small smile tweaked up the corners of his lips. 'You are mine Noriko, you just don't realize it yet. You still love me, I just have to make you remember that.'

Noriko smiled at Lisa and hugged her tightly. "I'll keep in touch, I promise," she said as she stepped back and glanced at Reiji.

He was watching her and Lisa wordlessly from his doorway, his face blank and his posture tense.

"Well I guess I should go," Noriko said, stepping away from Lisa and towards the door.

"I'll walk you down to your car," Reiji offered.

"Thank you, sorry I won't be around for Halloween in two days. Bye Lisa," she waved to Lisa who smiled sadly and waved back.

Nothing was said as Reiji and Noriko made their way down to the parking garage and to Noriko's car that was packed with her things. Most of their talking had been done the night before when she had returned home to find him still awake, waiting for her on the couch. She had immediately told him her plans to leave and move into the task force headquarters, at first he hadn't responded, but then he just told her that she should do what she felt was necessary. They had gone to bed not long after that, both drained from the day and it's dramatic activities.

The morning had been quiet, not tense, but sort of sad and withdrawn on both their parts. Noriko had packed her things in boxes she had picked up on the way back the night before, and with Reiji's help had loaded them into her car. After that she had decided to go into the office and pick up a few things there and say goodbye to Lisa, who she knew would probably hunt her down if she didn't.

Noriko bit at the inside of her bottom lip as they stopped by her car. "I don't really know what to say except thank you. You've done so much for me, I really wish I could pay you back somehow, but-"

"Don't worry about it. Take care of yourself, Noriko, if anything happens, get out of there. You'll always have a job and a place to stay as long as I have anything to say about it," he said.

"Thanks," she replied as she turned to get in her car before turning back around and leaning up to kiss him. She smiled when she pulled away a few seconds later, taking his hand that he had set on her cheek and kissing it lightly before she got in her car without another word.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she blinked them back as she started the car and drove to her new home, and the place where all her recent nightmares took place.

"Did you love him?"

"Hey to you to dad," she said after sniffing and wiping her eyes.

"Noriko," he sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it. And to answer your question, I don't know. I barely knew him," she replied.

"You were pretty attached to him though."

"He was the only stable thing in my life for awhile, I don't want to let that go."

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do."

"You're still only human, Noriko, you aren't a super hero. No one expects you to-"

"I won't let them die. They're good people dad, I have to do something."

"It's not Light that is a threat to them, or even Misa Amane, it's the shinigami Rem."

"I know that, I just don't know what to do."

"I'm afraid that's something you have to figure out on your own, I can't help you. Just be careful Noriko, I love you."

"I love you too dad," she replied as he disappeared slowly.

Noriko had to park across the street from the task force headquarters and walk to the front entrance since she had no way to get to the parking lot without someone else or any way to get through the clearance system yet. She sighed as she set the alarm on her car and jogged across the street.

"Oh come on," she moaned when she neared the thick glass doors to see Light hugging a tearful Misa who was carrying some of her things with her.

Walking up to the glass, she tapped on it, loudly, disrupting the hug and making Misa turn to glare at her, she smiled arrogantly and waved. Misa's anger grew when Light stepped around her to open the door for Noriko, she huffed and even growled before stomping over to them.

"Stay away from my, Light," Misa snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

Noriko raised an amused brow at the girl. "No problem."

"Misa," Light sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "We've been through this, I'm not your Light. You just decided that on your own."

Misa pouted angrily. "But you told me you loved me."

"No, I didn't."

"Aw, come on Light, you're being a little harsh. The girl is clearly in love with you, and didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to be able to see her outside of here?" Noriko asked innocently.

"Really," Misa squealed.

"Yup, that's what he said," Noriko replied, smiling at Light and the disgruntled look in his eyes before walking past him and to the elevator lobby where Matsuda was crying while Mr Yagami, Mogi and Aizawa shook their heads at him. "What's with him," she asked Aizawa as she jerked a thumb at Matsuda.

"He misses Misa," he replied.

"Of course he does. So where do I find Watari? I need to get my stuff moved in and unpacked," she said.

"I'll take you," Mr Yagami offered.

"Thanks."

"Light really cares about you Noriko, he's been a mess this whole time, thinking that you-"

"Not to be rude Mr Yagami, but I don't want to talk about Light. I've moved on, seems he has too, willingly or not," she said. They were in an elevator by themselves, Noriko paying little attention to anything while Mr Yagami tried to have a serious conversation with her.

The older man sighed. "You should give him another chance Noriko, he's thought of nothing but you."

"A little obsessive, don't you think?"

"This isn't something to joke about."

"I'm not joking."

"Just think about it, Noriko."

"Sure," she replied as she followed him out of the elevator and down a brightly lit hallway.

Mr Yagami stopped at an unmarked door and knocked softly. Watari opened the door a few moments later, a smile on his face as he looked down at Noriko.

"Why hello dear, it's been awhile hasn't it? Come on in," he said as he held the door open for her.

"Hi Watari," she greeted happily as she walked in, only to stop in her tracks when she realized where she was.

"Thank you Mr Yagami, I'll take care of her from here," she heard Watari say before the door closed, snapping her out of her stupor.

She swallowed and shook off the cold chill that had overcome her when she looked down at the spot where she had seen the kind old man's body in her nightmares. She looked around at all the monitors on the walls and the computer equipment with a slight sense of awe, it really was impressive when you actually got to look at it.

"Would like some tea, it's Earl Grey, my favorite," he offered.

"Please," she replied, taking the offered cup of hot tea. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. So I hear you'll be staying with us again."

"Yes, I thought that I might actually be useful now that I know a little but more about how Kira kills. I want to help and I think I'll be able to handle being around Light now. Besides, I've missed you and Ryuzaki."

"It was a bit lonely without you around, especially for Ryuzaki. He will never admit it, but I think he grew used to your company. He was quieter than usual after you left."

"I'll have to make up for that than and pester him nonstop for days. Although since he rarely sleeps I think I will need a lot of coffee," Noriko replied, a thoughtful, but tricky grin on her fce.

Watari chuckled at her antics for a moment and then set his tea cup down and turned to one of the many computers. "Well young lady we should get you into your apartment so you can get settled. There's a lot open as I'm sure you can imagine, but seeing as how Ryuzaki figured you would want to distance yourself from Light and the rest of the task force, I have a few different things for you to see."

"I'm really not that picky. Anything will do."

After unpacking, Noriko had made her way down to the investigation room to find Ryuzaki sulking on the sofa, a wide array of sweets before him while Light and the others sat at the long desk doing various things, all of them relating to the Kira case of course. Walking over to the two sofas, she plopped down opposite Ryuzaki and grabbed a piece of fudge and tossed it into her mouth, she received a small frown from Ryuzaki.

"That was the last piece," he informed her.

"I know," she replied, blinking at him a few times. "That's why I ate it, obviously. You've already had plenty I'm sure anyway."

He didn't respond, instead he reached for a chocolate covered strawberry, but Noriko, seeing this was what he was going for grabbed the tray and a strawberry. She took a bite and looked right at Ryuzaki.

"These are good," she said.

"Yes, I know," he grumbled.

"Oh cheer up, Ryuzaki," she told him, setting the tray back down. "It's not like you to sulk."

"I'm not sulking."

"Uh huh. So did you miss me?" She asked.

"Not particularly. I somehow seemed to be cleaner and less...sugary."

"That's not what Watari said."

"Watari needs to mind his own business," the dark eyed detective grumbled, tossing a chocolate into his mouth and munching on it boredly.

"Maybe you just need to lighten up, everyone may not be on your side, but I am. That's gotta count for something, right?" She watched him shrug and raised a brow.

"I suppose."

Noriko stared at him for a moment as he munched on sweets and continued to sulk, occasionally watching Light as if searching for something.

"Ok, that's it. You're coming with me." Having had enough of the world's greatest detective and his pouting, Noriko stood up and stared expectantly at Ryuzaki.

He looked up at her with his dark eyes for a moment before ignoring her request and going back to his sweets.

"There's cake involved," she sing songed. "Strawberry shortcake. I just so happened to stop at a bakery on my way here."

The detective brightened slightly, he stood up on the couch and then stepped down while shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Thought so," Noriko grinned triumphantly, leading him to the elevator.

Light watched discreetly as the two left, a small smirk on his face.

As the next few days wore on Noriko and Ryuzaki would meet for a few hours a day and go back through all the evidence on the Kira case that pointed to Light and Misa. Unfortunately, there was always something that never quite added up, they needed new evidence, anything new, but there was nothing.

Noriko was always with Ryuzaki, even outside of their personal meetings, something that Light never failed to notice and after the Halloween they had had with a drunk Noriko and Ryuzaki taking turns punching him, he wasn't too keen about their closeness. She had been there for a total of six days, it was now November 4th and they had no new information whatsoever. She slept little and was always by his side, they worked separately from everyone else and would usually close whatever screens on the computer they were looking at whenever someone came to talk to one of them. They fought almost as often as Ryuzaki ate sweets, well it was more like playful bickering, that both seemed to enjoy judging by the smirk on Noriko's face and the light in Ryuzaki's eyes.

"Hey, do you think there's something going on between Noriko and Ryuzaki?" Matsuda whispered conspiratorially to Aizawa.

Aizawa glanced over at the two, Noriko was grinning at Ryuzaki who was glaring at her since she had just eaten the last bite of angel food cake while looking him straight in the eye.

"That was uncalled for, Nori-san," Ryuzaki told her, annoyed.

"What was uncalled for, Ryuzaki, was you finishing the last of the chocolate cake. Don't you know anything about women and chocolate?" She asked pointedly.

"Aside from another round of their usual bickering, no," Aizawa replied.

"I think Ryuzaki likes her," Matsuda theorized, continuing to watch the two.

"Why don't you actually do your work and stop spying," Mr Yagami suggested, he came up behind the young man and gave him a stern look.

Matsuda chuckled and blushed before glancing up at the sound of a beep. "Oh hey. Look it's Misa Misa."

Noriko's head shot up and she looked at the screen that the small blond was on, she was waiting outside the front doors for Light, who Noriko glanced at next. She hadn't failed to notice that a few hours before another shinigami had entered the human world after the threatening feeling she had felt for days suddenly became a full blown dangerous and very real threat after another Death Note was brought into the picture. There was no doubt in her mind that Misa was the one who had picked up the Death Note and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw that Ryuk was hovering around just behind the girl.

"I guess I should go see her," Light said as he turned to make his way out.

"Hey Light," Noriko called, when the brown eyed boy turned to her she tossed an apple from her left over lunch at him, which he caught easily. "I'm not going to eat it, your little model looks like she could use it," she commented before going back to the monitor in front of her.

"This notebook has a piece of the page ripped out, will it still kill if someone's name is written on it?" Ryuzaki asked Rem.

Noriko sighed and leaned into the couch, it was usual for Ryuzaki to break off from their little investigation and question Rem, but it was a waste of time in her opinion. He wasn't getting straight answers or truthful ones, and while she tried to press Rem since she knew she was lying, it didn't do her much good.

Her eyes flickered to Light as he walked back into the room after his brief meeting with Misa in the lobby.

"That was fast Light-kun," Ryuzaki noted.

"Huh?"

"You're free now, yet you hardly ever leave. Misa comes to see you, but you only talk to her briefly, you can have a love life you know," Ryuzaki said.

"I'm not in love with Misa, Ryuzaki," Light replied. "Or is it that you just don't want me here?"

"No..."

Noriko watched Light walk back to the computer he'd been using with a frown. He rarely left and he was always watching her and Ryuzaki, it made her feel a little like a prisoner and she didn't like it.

"What, the criminals have started dying again?!" Matsuda shouted at the same moment that Noriko walked in.

It was now November 5th and she had been with the team for an entire week. Looking up from fixing the sleeve of her sweater, she saw that everyone was huddled around one of the computer screens.

"Sixteen just last night," Matsuda proclaimed, pointing at a computer screen for extra emphasis.

"All the ones that have been shown since Higuchi died," Aizawa commented, a thoughtful look on his face as he studied the lists of names.

"Kira again, dammit," Light cursed vehemently.

Noriko narrowed her eyes and walked forward, she grabbed a chair and sat beside Ryuzaki while Matsuda, Mogi and Mr Yagami talked amongst themselves.

"And this happens just after Misa is freed," Ryuzaki said as he bit the head off an animal cookie.

"You're still saying that Ryuzaki," Light replied irritably.

"It's a fact, Light, something even you should have noticed," Noriko snapped in the detective's defense.

"This has nothing to do with Misa, she was already suspected of being the second Kira. Even if-"

"You're awfully eager to defend her," Noriko cut in.

"She's already been proven innocent," Light replied.

"No, there's no doubt she was the second Kira, there was plenty of evidence to support this fact, just not enough."

"That's enough you two," Mr Yagami interrupted. "Light is right. We need to forget about Amane. Those who use the notebook die if they don't continue to write names, yet she is still alive. She can't be the second Kira."

"Yeah, you are too obsessed with your theories, Ryuzaki. You keep trying to go back to them," Aizawa pointed out.

"Yes, I apologize....Well, if there's another notebook out there that someone is using, I'll catch that person."

"And I'll help," Noriko chirped, throwing a challenging smile at Light. She noticed an odd smile on his face as he glanced back at the shinigami that was behind them. Nothing seemed amiss so she ignored it for the time being.

"We're talking about a notebook that kills a person if their name is written it. If only criminals die again, it will be harder to track them down then it was with Higuchi," Mr Yagami explained.

"We know how the killing is done now. If we find anyone who may be suspicious we question them and thoroughly examine whether or not they have the notebook," Ryuzaki replied.

"But Ryuzaki, I believe this murder notebook to be real, but even if we catch the person writing names, will we be able to punish them as a serial killer?" Light asked.

Noriko looked over at him curiously. 'Why does he want to know that? What does the punishment have to do with anything at the moment?' She thought.

"Not unless the murder notebook's effectiveness is proven. But that is meaningless to me, once the case is solved it will be up to the court system," he replied.

"Of course you could punish him without using the notebook," Matsuda began only to be cut off by Mr Yagami.

"For that we'd have to introduce the notebook as evidence."

"I'm not talking about that. This person is using the notebook, knowing it will kill people. If we don't want the existence of the notebook revealed, the suspect could be executed in secret."

"It's harsh, but it's likely what the higher ups would decide," Aizawa commented.

"If he were to admit to using the notebook to kill, he would get the death penalty or life in prison at the least. If he doesn't then we could always force him to write his own name in the notebook-"

"Is there a reason why were talking about this," Noriko asked, cutting Ryuzaki off and getting several surprised stares, the conversation was bothering her, it was too close to the one in her dreams that she always overheard. "I mean, we haven't caught him yet, so what difference does it make right now?"

"Yeah, Noriko's right," Light replied. "We should focus on finding him for now, sorry for bringing it up."

'He wouldn't have brought it up if there wasn't a reason for it,' Noriko thought. 'So why bring it-'

"I don't care what country, let's contact them. There should be no problem if we're up front about it," Ryuzaki was saying to the microphone near his computer.

"What are you doing?" She asked, an edge of panic in her voice when she spun around to stare wide eyed at the man crouched in the desk chair next to her.

"We'll have them use the notebook in an execution," he said, answering her question while telling Watari why he was contacting another country.

She was out of her seat, chair skidding across the floor, she glanced at Light and to Rem before looking at the wall that separated them from Watari. Her reaction wasn't noticed, or was at least over looked, everyone else was as shocked as she was, for different reasons though, as they started arguing with Ryuzaki.

"Noriko," Light shouted at her as she suddenly bolted from the room.

"It's no use, Watari will do as I say," Ryuzaki said.

No one had noticed that Rem was no longer in the room with them, hovering behind them as she had been for nearly a week now.

Noriko sprinted down the hall to Watari's room and tried to open the door only to find it locked. "Dammit," she yelled as she pounded her fist against it.

"Calm down, Noriko," a voice said from beside her.

She looked over to see her dad smiling at her. "She's going to kill him," Noriko argued.

He shook his head. "I'll watch over him. You have someone else to worry about."

"L," she whispered before sprinting back to the investigation room. She threw the door open and ran up to him just as his back stiffened and he gasped in pain. "No," she shouted, skidding to a stop next to him. "Ryuzaki," she called frantically as she grabbed his shoulder.

She cried out in alarm when he began to fall over, she caught him in her arms and was able to lower him to the ground gently. All her dreams and failed attempts to save him came back to her when she placed a hand over his chest and all of his pain became hers. She clenched her jaw and screwed her eyes shut as wave after wave of pain washed over her.

'What do I do?' She thought over and over as she rocked herself and Ryuzaki slowly. She was vaguely aware that someone else was beside her, she opened her eyes to look at Light who was kneeling beside them. He looked worried and frightened, but she knew better when a small smile appeared on his face.

"No," she screamed at him tears filling her eyes.

Light's eyes flicked up to her before widening when he noticed the set of beautiful silvery wings that had suddenly sprouted from her back and were engulfing her and Ryuzaki in a soft white light. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed this, but knew that to all but him, the wings were invisible.

"I will not let you die," she whispered to Ryuzaki who was looking up at her through pained eyes.

"I was right," he said he slowly.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry," she murmured, leaning her head over his so that her hair was tickling his nose. His heart beat was growing weaker under her hand, his was body slackening and becoming tired from the strain that was being put on it, she tried to focus on somehow making that all go away.

"What....are..." his voice trailed off and Noriko looked at him to see that his eyes were staring at the two wings that engulfed them.

She smiled softly at him. "I'm here to protect you, Ryuzaki, now don't die on me. Please don't die."

A strange feeling washed over her, it was warm, comforting and in that moment she felt certain that everything was going to be alright and that Ryuzaki was going to survive. Until she looked into his eyes. They were becoming dull and glassy and beginning to slowly droop shut.

"Ryuzaki," she asked, her voice shaking. "Ryuzaki, stay awake. Please, you have to stay awake."

A choked sob broke through her lips as his eyes closed and his whole body went limp.

"Noriko," a soft voice said from behind her and a hand was paced on her shoulder. "We need to get him to the hospital. I'm going with him, you need to let him go."

It was Mr Yagami, but she refused to relinquish the fading body in her arms and her sobs grew louder as she cradled him carefully against her chest.

"Nori," she heard Light say softly, sadly. "You have to let him go."

"No," she whispered, rocking back and forth with the raven haired man in her arm.

"Nori," Light coaxed gently again, he reached around her to grab her arms and pull them off of Ryuzaki.

"No," she said again, only louder, before she whirled around to face Light, tears streaming down her face. "You," she hissed. "This is all because of you."

"Calm down, Noriko, everything will be alright," he assured her, wrapping his arms around her.

She didn't push him away, or try to get out of his grasp, instead she cried into his shoulder as Ryuzaki's body was taken by the paramedics and Mr Yagami left with them. She had failed, Ryuzaki was dying and Light had won.

What she would do now, she didn't know. It would be hard to prove Light was Kira with the only person who believed it dead and the rest of the task force supporting the very person they were trying to catch without knowing it. Over the next several hours, she hoped and prayed that Mr Yagami would return with news that Ryuzaki had lived that somehow he had been spared. She sat by herself, hunched up in a desk chair, staring blankly at the black computer screen in front of her.

When Mr Yagami returned finally, Noriko didn't turn to look to him as he said the words she feared to hear.

"Ryuzaki is dead."

She stifled the sob that knotted up in her throat. "Watari?" She asked quietly through numb lips. It seemed even her father hadn't been able to help the old man, everything had gone horribly wrong and she had no idea what to do.

Light turned to her from the couch he sat on and glanced up to his father who shook his head. "He was in critical condition, but he isn't expected to make it through the night."

"Excuse me," she muttered, standing slowly to make her way to the elevators so she could go to her room.

Light watched her leave sadly before he hastily got up from his spot on the couch. "Get out here shinigami!" He yelled angrily. "Where are you?! You must know something!"

When he took off in search of the shinigami the other four followed, all splitting up to search for the missing being.

Once he was alone, Light let himself into the small room that housed all of the computer databases and other equipment. It was the room Rem had disappeared into before L and Watari had both collapsed. Inside was nothing out of place until his eyes settled on a pile of sand and a black notebook. A smirk found it's way to his lips as he picked up the notebook and looked it over. The triumphant smile faded when his brown eyes found the page that had three names scribbled on it.

It wasn't hard to figure who the first two belonged to. L Lawliet and Quillish Wammy, it was easy enough to figure the first was L's full name and the second, Watari's real name. The third name however should never have been written down, but he figured it was Rem's attempt at some sort of revenge.

The final name written in barely legible scrawl was Noriko Mori.

Light wanted to be angry, but he knew that Noriko would have been dead by now if the notebook actually affected her.

"So she really can't be killed by the notebook, huh? Interesting." He said to himself before tucking the notebook into the back of his pants and hiding it under his shirt. 'Now all I have to figure out is if she can sense when one person has more than one notebook...' he thought before calling in the others to show them what he had found.

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