30Hell Hath No Fury
Chapter Seven
Disclaimer: I do not own Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro.
Writer's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. Please enjoy! And please review!
The sun is setting, casting the silent office in shades of pastel oranges and pinks. It has a soothing appeal, a relaxed appeal. Yako sits at her small corner desk (which literally faces the corner, a joke funny only to Neuro.) sifting through old and current news papers. Takumi naps on the office sofa, one of his arms draped over his eyes. Godai, who was just moments ago irritated at being called in so suddenly now sullenly flicks through tv channels on mute. However a sight not so relaxing belongs to Neuro,The sunset is harsher on him. He sits directly in front of the window where the setting sun burns into his back and casts the last of it's brightness onto his red desk;Troy, a red desk that shines with a color reminiscent to freshly spilled blood. His gaze is focused on every thing he looks at, which happens to be anything and everything he can get, newspaper, internet articles, news reports. Papers thrown wherever when they are no longer needed raining down in front of the setting sun's light causing shadows to be cast throughout the office. Wild sounds of typing, stroke after stroke, soft audio of multiple news videos being played. Nothing can escape him, especially not a new delicious mystery such as this; The demon are not gone, but where have they gone?
"Neuro"
He hears the voice distantly but doesn't respond he's close to something.
"Neuro"
He hears again. But still, cannot stop.
"Neuro"
It's a whisper from directly in front of him. He know this voice. It doesn't grate on his nerves, in fact it's quite welcoming. He looks up. Yako.
"Hey, welcome back." Yako says smiling from in front of his desk.
It's dark now, the office lit only by the muted tv and by the lamp on Yako's cornered corner desk. Neuro leans back in his chair, turning briefly to look out the window at the night sky.
"Hmmm Night already." Neuro says.
"Well yeah you've been at it for almost eleven hours now." Yako says
Neuro looks past Yako to the two others in the room, both asleep; Takumi on the couch, Godai slumped over in a chair. The clock on the wall just beyond them reads, 2:47 a.m.
"I think I might have found something if you're interested." Yako says.
Neuro just nods. He wont admit it aloud but she might be the only one who has.
Yako pulls out two cut out news paper articles and lays them in front of him. The first has a picture of a woman with glasses and a round face, maybe in her late forties, the article says she followed a high school boy to his family home and later broke in during the night and tried to have her way with him. She was interrupted by the boy's parent's and was arrested but claims to have no recollection of the incident. The second is about a young girl maybe just 7 years old, in her picture she is smiling brightly with a few missing teeth and pigtails looking completely innocent, but the article reads how she went on a week long crime spree of theft and detailed cons, making millions. Her parents looked non stop for her and when the police finally found her, the girl's parents claim that she seems like a completely different child, and not in a good way.
"I don't understand how you think this has anything to do with the missing demons." Neuro says looking dismissively at Yako.
Yako points to a section in the first article. The older perverted woman.
"This here, it says "Her Partner "Maki" doesn't understand why she would so suddenly show an interest in men when they have been together for over fifteen years." Yako says.
And this, she says now referring to the second article about the little con artist.
"The girl remembers nothing of herself and still remains in psychiatric care where she sings songs in dead languages." Yako says.
"Obviously this has something to do with how odd human being are. Explain." Neuro grumbles irritatedly.
"I think the demon women are possessing these people and making them do things they would never do because it's not actually them doing it! It's the demons!" Yako exclaims excitedly.
Neruo's eyes widen in surprise. The green irises spinning with glee.
"Yako...well well." Neuro says smirking.
"The child, I believe she's still possessed." Yako states.
"Shall we go visit with her then?" Neuro asks rhetorically.
Yako trails behind Neuro as he rushes off ahead of her. He's impatient since he wanted to go last night at 3:00 in the morning! It took Yako a while to convince him to wait until a more proper hour.
The hospital the "girl" is staying at is clean, neat and quiet. Doctors and aides walk through the pristine white hallways at a fast pace; all on individual missions. They hardly even notice the odd pair walking amongst them. Yako can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing. But no matter, they easily arrive at the girl's door. It looks like they can almost just walk right in to the room no questions asked.
"Excuse me, may I help you?"
Neuro and Yako turn to see an older gentleman looking to them for an answer. Honestly they can't say they were hoping to break in and interrogate a young girl because they believe there is a demon possessing her.
"Hello, I'm Katsuragi Yako, and this is my assistant Nougami Neuro. We're here to investigate some new evidence, and we wanted to ask young Makino some questions." Yako answers politely.
"Well, I'm sorry miss Katsuragi. I'm going to have to turn you away, you see it's not up to me to allow such a thing. Such a thing would be up to the girl's parents." The man says.
"It's fine." A voice commands from a little ways down the hallway.
He's sitting in a chair against the wall, staring into a cup of coffee, from the looks of it coffee long gone cold.
"I'm the girl's father I'll allow it." He says, standing and tossing the cup wholly into the trashcan next to him.
"Oh ummm, well I guess it's okay then. I must warn you though, she's very frightening." The man says as he unlocks the door allowing them to step inside.
When they walk in with the doctor and the girl's father the girl doesn't even care for the fact she has four new visitors. She continues humming occasionally whispering a few words from a language unfamiliar to any other.
"Makino. You have guests." Her father says. Though he does not speak the way a father might address his daughter.
"Yes I know I just don't care for who-" She doesn't finish saying what she was saying, instead she sniffs the air and turns suddenly.
"Oh, my isn't this a surprise!" She says smiling a smile that doesn't belong to a child's innocent face.
The girl eyes Neuro and Yako. It's hard to decipher the look. It could be a look of "Oh I know you!" or simply just a look of "New people yay!" No way to find out by just looks though.
"So I hear you went on quite the crime spree. How did you learn to do all of that? Pretty detailed schemes." Yako inquires.
"What can I say? I'm a child prodigy." They girl says grinning.
"Kind of sudden though don't you think? Considering these were your grades just two days prior to your little...adventure." Yako says pulling a copy of the girl's report card from her bag.
"Pretty average I'd say. Maybe even a little below." Yako says handing the paper to the girl.
The girl snatches the paper away from Yako and looks at the grades as if it's the first time seeing them. She eventually huffs and throws the grades away with a roll of her eyes.
"I suppose I'm just a late bloomer." The girl answers.
"Oh? then what do you say to this?" Yako goes to reach for something in her bag.
"Just what are you getting at?" The girl yells standing from her chair so fast it sends the metal chair flying back against the room's white brick wall.
The doctor and the girl's father look at the chair in alarm. Yako just smirks at the girl.
"I think you know exactly what I'm getting at." Yako says.
"You will answer every question I have, and you will do so honestly. If you do not do as I say, I will send you back to Hell in the most horrifically pained way possible. Understand?" Neuro finally says.
"What are you talking about hell? Pain? You will do no such thing to my daughter." The girl's father demands.
"Oh, please, you have known this whole time she's not actually your daughter right now." Neuro says.
"What? what are you saying, not mine?" The man mumbles.
"A demon. A demon has possessed her." Yako chimes in.
"A demon. A Demon?" The doctor asks.
"Hush Now you idiots!" Neuro commands.
The room grows silent. The girls scoffs.
"I still don't get what you see in them. The only use I've had of them thus far is a decent ride and mediocre fun." The girl says.
"Are there many more of you left here?" Neuro asks.
"Yes." She answers easily.
"Have you all taken a mortal body for yourself?" Neuro asks.
"Not all, but those who got away." She answers.
"All of you got away that night." Neuro says
"Not talking about getting away from you." She says.
"Amanozako then?" Yako asks.
The girl rolls her eyes at Yako and doesn't answer.
"Answer her questions as well." Neuro says.
"Yes. Those of us who got away from her are hiding in the humans." The girl answers through gritted teeth.
"Why not return through the gate in which you came from?" Neuro asks.
The girl swipes a hand behind her bringing the chair forward without actually having to touch it.
"Because, that's where she catches us." She answers, sitting back down in the chair.
"And what does she do with you once she's caught you?" Yako asks.
The girl turns her head and looks at Neuro pointedly.
"Really? You chose this to be yours?" She asks Neuro then turns to look back at Yako."I wouldn't know! That's why I'm here. I'm avoiding it at all costs." The girl practically screams.
Yako shrugs. "You're scared of her. Amanozako." Yako says.
"I am not scared! She is not the reason I won't go there." The girl answers defensively.
"Then what is?" Neuro asks.
"I just don't want to go back, it's fun here." She answers.
Yako leans close to Neuro blocking her mouth with her hand. "She is so scared of Amanozako. that's the real reason." She stage whispers loud enough for the girl to hear.
The girl stands back up enraged. "I am not afraid of her! She's not even at the gate! her stupid flunkies are the ones snatching the women! she takes them prisoner and after a time all traces of them disappear! Amanozako, her energy seems to grow more and more by the day!." The girl huffs, feeling embarrassed for letting Yako get to her and causing her to reveal so much. "I'm sure you've picked that up by now Neuro." She says trying to regain composure.
"I thought that was her." Neuro says.
"Can you find her that way? By her energy?" Yako asks.
"No I cannot. I'd have to have marked her with my own energy" Neuro answers.
"We can all sense each other if we know what to look for or if we concentrate specifically. But we can follow our own scent much easier. That's why demons will mark their mates." The girl offers this information freely.
"You have nobody marked?" Neuro asks.
"I do not." The girl answers.
"And you have not been marked either." Neuro answers.
The girl shakes her head. "No, but your human has."
"Yako, we are leaving now." Neuro says.
"So suddenly why? Shouldn't we ask her for more?" Yako questions.
Neuro turns and heads to the door passing the very silent and possibly forever traumatized doctor and father. "She knows nothing more, we're going to look for the mates of the women who have been taken and have them lead us to where they've been taken and to where Amanozako is likely to be." He says opening the door and walking out.
Yako starts to follow after him but pauses and turns back to the girl. "We're going to clear the passage way to the gate so that you and the other women can return home to Hell. So until then you stay safe." Yako says then she too disappears through the door.