Disclaimer- I don't own Death Note

Chapter 40

Plans and Plots

"Why would someone kidnap Noriko? It doesn't really make a lot of sense," Matsuda said. The young man was sitting on the sofa in the loft of the apartment that Light and Noriko shared, worriedly watching Light while the young man typed furiously away on the computer in front of him.

"We have no idea why someone would kidnap Noriko," Mr Yagami answered. "But we need to find her."

"How are we going to do that when we don't have any idea who even took her," Mogi asked.

Aizawa nodded in agreement, but didn't speak up.

Everyone jumped when Light's phone rang, breaking the silence that had descended over them and turned to look at Light. The brown haired boy grabbed his phone from where it sat on the desk beside him and flipped it open, hastily bringing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Light Yagami," a distorted, mechanical voice asked from the other line.

His eyes narrowing, he gripped his phone tighter for a moment, but answered with a quick, "Yes. Who is this?"

"That's not important. What is important is that I have something you want and you have something I want."

"Noriko, where is she," Light demanded heatedly.

Everyone in the room remained silent, but with as much high tech equipment as they had at their disposal, Mogi and Aizawa fiddled with a few objects in hopes that they could trace the call.

"Now, now just calm down, your little girl is just fine, but she won't be for long if you don't cooperate. Understand?"

Light sighed, gritting his teeth together to keep his anger in check. "Yes, I understand." He wanted to know who would dare to touch Noriko and he wanted them to pay for it. His worry for Noriko was overshadowed by the feeling, but he barely noticed.

"Good," the voice replied. "Now listen carefully, Light Yagami, or you won't see your girlfriend again."

"I'm listening," Light said, his hands shaking.

"Several months ago the Japanese police as well as a task force headed by L acquired an interesting notebook from a former employee of Yotsuba, his name was Higuchi."

Light's eyes widened. Someone else outside of the task force knew of the notebook's existence and he had a feeling that whoever he was dealing was extremely dangerous and that he would have to step carefully to ensure Noriko's safety. It hadn't occurred to him that he could possibly be dealing with someone who could actually be a danger to her. He had felt certain that all he would need was to just know who the person was and then find a picture of them online since it was highly likely that someone who was kidnapping the fiance of the police chief's son had a prior record of criminal activity.

The voice on the other line continued. "This notebook was believed to be the weapon used by Kira to kill criminals. However, the killings are still continuing which leads me to believe that there is more than one notebook in the world. Am I right?"

He ground his teeth together, he had no idea how to respond. Should he deny the truth or confirm it? And what would happen to Noriko if the person he was speaking to knew he was lying?

"You're taking far too long to answer the question, Light Yagami. You were a member of the task force that was hunting Kira, weren't you?"

"How do you know all of this," Light inquired gruffly.

There was a sort of chuckle in response. "Didn't L tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That he wasn't the only one."

His brown eyes widened, he had thought that L had always been bluffing, but was it possible that he hadn't been? Were there other Ls out there? Even if there were other Ls he didn't see any of them going this far just to get their hands on the Death Note, it wasn't Ls style.

"You're probably thinking that I'm going about things differently than the L you knew would, aren't you?"

Growling to himself, Light turned away from the watchful eyes of the task force members and scowled at the desk.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. There are others that were trained to replace L in case something should ever happen to him, but not all of us go about things as nobly as L. We will do whatever it takes to get that notebook, including blowing your little girl to bits if you don't give us what we want."

"The notebook, you want the notebook," Light stated, ignoring the gasps of the men behind him. "And what makes you think I'll give it to you?"

Another chuckle greeted his ears and he clenched his hand around his phone, he was being taunted and he in no way liked it.

"Because if you don't, I'll make sure the whole world knows that the real L is dead."

His eyes widened again, it was on surprise after another and he was beginning to wonder just how much the people who had Noriko really knew. And how it was that they knew what they did. L was dead and all the information that had been at the task force headquarters had been erased, the little that hadn't was stored in the computers at his feet. Light was trying to think, to process what was going on, but he found that he was too tense and felt too cornered to do much. It was as if L had come back to taunt him, but this time, L wasn't just a scrawny, sweet loving man who sat in a chair all day, staring at computer screens. He also would never have gone this far to get what he wanted, threatening the life of an innocent person wasn't his style.

"What do you want," Light finally asked in defeat.

"You what," Noriko asked in confusion. Blinking down at the detective that was perched in a chair in front of the monitors that she was so used to seeing him in front of she scratched at her head and waited for the raven haired man to explain himself. She had woken up not long before from several hours of sleep and while she still had a bit of a headache, she was feeling much better than she had been earlier. She had also showered and changed into some clothes that had been waiting for her. A pair of plain jeans, a white tank top and a red sweater.

Not bothering to take his eyes from the monitor in front of him while he popped a lollipop into his mouth, L mumbled out a response from around the treat. "Ligh'-kun is goin' ah trade the Death No'e in his fa'her's possession for 'ori-san."

Sighing, Noriko walked over to the detective's chair and spun him around to face her. He blinked up at her lazily and with a hint of mild annoyance, but said nothing, just wriggled his toes on the cold metal of the chair. "Why is Light trading the Death Note for me when I don't want to go back to him?!" She snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at L.

Popping the lollipop out of his mouth, he shrugged. "Light-kun doesn't need to know that. He just needs to think that he can get you back."

"Then what? I'm not going back to him, so what are you planning for that?"

"Simple," L replied, popping his lollipop back into his mouth. "Nori-san is gonna die."

"Excuse me," she asked after a short pause. "I'm going to die?"

Huffing at Noriko as if to imply she was being simple-minded, L removed the lollipop from his mouth again. "No," he drawled. "Nori-san is going to fake her death."

She blinked repeatedly at the detective she had missed so much and asked, "Eh...Why?"

Appearing to be annoyed with her, L rolled his eyes. "It is the most effective way to keep Nori-san-"

"Would you stop that already," Noriko cut in. "I'm right here, there's no need to keep saying my name."

Undeterred by her interruption, he continued. "It's the most effective way to keep Nori-san safe. Unless of course Nori-san wants Light-kun to keep searching for her and trying to get her back?"

Growling at his refusal to acknowledge her request and knowing that he was doing it in part to pick on her, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Of course not, but to actually fake my death seems a little much, don't you think?"

"Not if you're serious about wanting to leave him forever," L replied seriously, his eyes that were rimmed with bruises looking up at her and studying her reaction.

Green eyes widening, she wasn't sure what to say. Of course she didn't want anything to do with Light ever again, but a part of her was always going to love him. They had been friends the duration of their lives and she wasn't sure that she could just fake her own death and leave him heartbroken, because she knew he would be. It was hard, trying to decipher her feelings for Light while L watched her in away that made her feel just a little too exposed. Fidgeting, she looked away from the dark eyes that were boring into hers. "I...don't know... I've known Light forever and I know that what he's doing is wrong and I want to stop him. I told him I would stop him, but... to fake my own death... It just seems like too much."

"I see." Spinning back around so that he once again had his back to Noriko, L stared at the monitors before him blankly. "We can come up with something else if Nori-san would like to go back to Light-kun."

"No!" She objected, turning to stare L's hunched back, tears in her eyes. "I don't want to go back to him, I know it's not safe for me anymore, he's too consumed and obsessed with me. He'd make me look like a lunatic if it would mean he could keep me as his."

"You're right, he would. That was his plan actually, to make Nori-"

"Dammit, L, Ryuzaki, Ryuga, whichever one you want to go by," Noriko snapped. "Stop saying my name! It's like you don't want anything to do with me and are trying to pretend that I'm not here."

"You can call me whatever you'd like. As for not wanting you here...you're right."

She looked as if he had slapped, her jaw dropped and she could only stare at his back while hot tears gathered in her eyes. "Then I'll go. Just tell me what it is you want me to do, I'll go along with your plan to fake my death as long you give me a way to start over so that I can finally just put all of this behind me and move on." With a shake of her head, she turned to walk out of the room.

"Noriko."

Pausing near the doors, partly in response to hearing her name and partly in surprise over hearing her full first name from L's lips, Noriko waited to hear what L had to say for himself.

"Would you mind getting me some tea? Don't forget the sugar, please."

It took her a moment to process the words that had been spoken, but when she did, she pivoted on her heel to glare at L's back. "I thought you didn't want me here?"

At first, he didn't respond and Noriko was beginning to think that she wouldn't get an answer, but he finally spoke. His voice was so quiet that she barely heard what he was saying.

"No..It's the opposite. I don't want you to leave. You've become a distraction and I need to be able to think clearly, otherwise you could get hurt and I don't think I'd be able to handle that if it were my fault."

Her breath hitched in her throat and she blinked, her mouth working as she tried to find words to say something, anything, but couldn't. After a moment, she turned away and walked out of the room.

"Don't forget the sugar," L called after her.

"Get your own damned tea," she shouted.

"Nori-san is being mean," he grumbled, popping his lollipop back into his mouth and pretending that he wasn't smirking just a little bit, because that was very un-L like.

"What are we going to do? We can't just hand over the Death Note to these people, who knows what could possibly happen if we do," Aizawa spoke up.

"Yeah, who knows," Matsuda agreed grimly.

"We can't just leave her in the hands of some psychopath," Light argued. He was angry over being made a fool of by a self proclaimed successor of L and even more angry that Noriko was being held prisoner somewhere while unimaginable things were possibly being done to her. She was his to protect and he failed her entirely.

"Just calm down, Light," Mr Yagami suggested calmly. "We're not going to let anything happen to Noriko. We just need to think this through and come up with a plan."

Light shook his head. "Whoever we're dealing with knows a lot, I don't think that we're going to be able to fool them. I can't risk Noriko's life like that." He put his elbows on his knees and clutched his head in both hands in distress. "What are we going to Dad? I need to get her back, this is all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Light," Mr Yagami assured the distraught young man. "Don't worry, we'll get Noriko back. Everything is going to be okay."

"Are we really going to give the Death Note to a bunch of criminals," Matsuda asked.

Mr Yagami sighed and looked down at Light's head. "I don't think we have a choice but to go along with the kidnappers right now. We'll take things one step at a time, if there is any chance of getting Noriko back without giving up the notebook, then we will, but for now lets cooperate and see what we can learn about the people who have her."

There was an uneasiness in the room over the thought of the murder notebook falling into the hands of someone who was willing to go so far as to threaten an innocent girl just to get it. Not to mention that from Light's explanation of the phone call it was hard to say just whose side they were on. They had made it seem as if they were in some way connected to L, but the L they had known would never condone this type of behavior. It made them wonder just what type of person, or organization, they were dealing with and how much they actually knew and how they knew it.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Matt chirped, sticking his hands in his pockets and sauntering into the monitoring room. "How are you today?" He plopped himself down besides Noriko who was glaring at L's back while the detective dropped sugar cube after sugar cube into his tea cup.

"Peachy," Noriko muttered, tearing her eyes from L's back. "I've just been told I'm going to be dying soon and that I'm a distraction. I'm just peachy."

"Uh..right," Matt drawled uncertainly, casting glances at her and then at L who seemed to be ignoring them. "Ah, hey, buddy, what's up?" The copper headed boy turned his head to his blond friend that was rather angrily making his way into the room.

"Nothing, why are you so damned happy," Mello grumbled.

Matt sighed, it seemed like no one was in a good mood today, but him. Shrugging, he pulled his gameboy from his pocket and flipped it on. The entire room went silent, the only sound was the occasional slurping sound from L as he sipped on his 'tea'.

"Breakfast?" Watari asked, pushing a cart into the room with several covered plates.

Noriko's eyes widened and she leapt up from the couch. Though she knew that Watari had survived, she hadn't seen the older man yet and was extremely happy to finally see the familiar kind face of the man that looked after L. Now that she knew more about him, it was odd to see him dressed in a suit reminiscent of servants for rich households, but that didn't matter at the moment. Running up to him, she threw her arms around the man.

Chuckling at her, Watari patted Noriko's head warmly. "It's nice to see you again too, Noriko. I'm sorry that it has been so long."

"It's ok, I'm just so glad to see you and that you're alright."

"Yes, thank you. I do believe that if it hadn't been for you or your father-"

"My father?" She cut in, confused as to what he had to with anything since she was the only one who was able to communicate with him.

"Hello, dear!"

Squealing in surprise, Noriko almost fell over when her dad appeared besides her, grinning like an idiot. As it was, she had to bring her hands to her chest to keep her heart from busting out since it was now beating so fast from the scare he had given her.

"Is she ok," her dad turned to ask Watari.

The older man smiled. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Wait, you can see him," Noriko asked, pointing a finger at her dad and very nearly poking him in the nose.

Leaning away from his daughter's hand, Kiyoshi waved her hand away with a silly looking frown. "Of course he can see me, why wouldn't he?"

She blinked, something she realized she was doing a lot of and began to wonder just how much of an idiot she was making herself seem. "Why wouldn't he?" She repeated slowly. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're dead?!"

"Now that's just mean," Kiyoshi pouted.

Raising her hands at him in sheer incomprehension, she turned to Matt and Mello to ask if they too could see her father. Judging by the looks on their faces, however, they couldn't and were looking at her as if she had become some strange creature from another planet. "So just Watari and I can see you?"

Kiyoshi shook his head, grinning. "Nope, the handsome detective can see me too."

Lifting a brow at his choice of words, Noriko glanced over her shoulder at L. He was still ignoring them completely. "Why?"

"Because dear, I helped to save their lives. Once your name is written in a Death Note, you should die, there should be no escaping that, but they did. Of course they had to die first, so now they can see me."

Staring at her father who seemed very happy with his rather unhelpful and confusing explanation, Noriko rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Right. So, L?"

"Hm?"

"Were you planning on telling me that you could see my dead father anytime soon?"

"No."

"Why not?" She asked, bristling slightly.

He shrugged. "Because that would have ruined Kiyoshi-san's chance to make a scene."

She was about to open her mouth to snap at him, but knowing her father as well as she did, she shrugged a shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, he would have pouted and whined for hours."

"Yes, I know."

"Hey," her father whined. "You two are being mean."

"After all the two of you are quite similar," L finished.

"Hey," Noriko protested. "I'm not that annoying, am I?"

L shrugged and didn't reply.

"That wasn't very nice," she mumbled, a cute pout pulling down her lips.

"Breakfast?" Watari asked again, effectively changing the subject and laughing when Noriko's stomach growled when he removed one of the lids from a plate to reveal a mouth watering array of eggs, bacon, roasted potatoes and toast.

"So have you reached a decision?"

"Yes," Light answered, his voice grim and distant as he held his cellphone to his ear. "We'll give you the notebook in exchange for Noriko."

"Good," the same distorted voice that he had spoken with hours earlier replied. "I'll be in touch with more details."

"Wait," Light interjected. "How do I know she's safe? How do I know that you haven't hurt Noriko?"

When there was no immediate response, Light was beginning to think that perhaps the kidnap had already hung up. It was the rustle of cloth and the sound of someone breathing that made him sit up a little straighter.

"L-Light? Are you there?"

"Noriko!" He couldn't help but to stand up quickly, he couldn't stay sitting down when he heard voice shaking with fear.

"Light...I'm sorry...I'm sorry, please..."

"Noriko, calm down, are you okay? Have they hurt you?"

He could hear her sniffling and shifting around. "No, but they will.. I'm scared, Light... I want to see you. I miss you. I'm so sorry.."

His free hand fisting at his side, Light stared angrily down at the ground, hoping no one else noticed just how angry he was. He couldn't stand to hear Noriko frightened and crying, it made him want to forget having her kidnappers names written in the notebook and kill them with his own hands. "Everything is going to be ok. I promise, I love you, Nori."

She sniffled. "I love you too, Light." She paused here for a moment before speaking again. "I don't want you to give it to them, don't give them the notebook. I-"

"That's enough of that." The distorted voice came back onto the line and Light could hear Noriko shouting in the background, he wasn't sure if it was due to being in pain or if she was trying to protest about the phone being taken from her.

"If you hurt her-"

"What will you do, Light Yagami, kill me?" There was a chuckle before the line went dead.

Turning to drop his phone onto the desk and put both hands on the edge so that he could lean onto it for support and glare at its surface, Light shook with rage. 'I will kill you, you bastard. How dare you humiliate me like this. How dare you put your hands on Noriko. She is mine.' His dark thoughts subsided when he recalled Noriko's voice telling him that she loved him, that she was sorry and wanted to see him. A smirk twisted the corners of his lips. 'She's mine,' he thought.

Sorry about the incredibly long wait... I really don't have a reason or good excuse to give you, so if you feel you must throw things at me, go ahead...Just don't throw any sharp objects, k? Hopefully I haven't lost too many readers, I would be really sad if I did..

Please review, I really want to know what everyone thinks since it's been awhile!