Chapter 9: Past, Present and Future-2

The night was freaking cold outside. It was 2.00 am in the morning. I didn't have a chance to sleep yet. My stomach was grumbling like crazy as if it wasn't been filled up the last two days but I have eaten my late night snack about half an hour ago. And still, I ran towards the Sangokudo Park like a maniac or should I say that it's the same as Neuro was chasing me with some wicked blades of his. At the moment of my arrival, I saw Ai was standing where she promised to be. God, why I must met with her at the time like this even though that she annoyed me until my very end? Ai quickly waved towards me as a signal that she was there and wanted me to come over to her. My legs went without my approval and we sat at a bench near the angel and demon pool (weird some kind of pool. Wonder why?) Ai was quiet. It's not normal when you wanted to talk to someone in the middle of someone's sleeping hours but ended up being quiet, it is very annoying. I wondered what she was thinking. Making me woke up from my bed (Neuro always do this, forcefully waking me up but he's a different topic) and didn't have anything to say when I was summon (see, definitely Neuro words) or something important makes me going to blow (at least Neuro wanted me to do his bidding). I stood up and looked at her.

"Ne, Ai-san…. If you have nothing to say…. I guess I should be leaving now. You know, Neuro is very strict about his time. And I should be goi….."

"Wait! Katsuragi-san. Ano…. There's something very important I wanted to tell you but I cannot force myself saying it to you." Ai was staggered. She didn't really know what to say. I went back and sat beside her again. She was indeed in misery. I smooth myself and began to talk slowly to her.

"Oh, ok. I will stay until you finally have the grip on yourselves back. Ok." Ai looked into my eyes and smiled. After a couple of minutes sitting at the bench (and of course some snacks and cups of hot chocolate), Ai began to reveal her intention of calling me that late night.

"Well, Katsuragi-san…. My name is Aisetsuya Reitei. It is my real name. I just arrived at Japan this morning with my brother named Takano Reitei or should I call him Takano Ryuji. We got separated at the Ura- Shinjuku and I fear the most of my brother. I know all about you, Katsuragi-san and also about your assistant. He's not human, right?" I looked at her, fully surprised that she thought that way (even though it is true).

"What makes you think like that? Neuro is normal human. It doesn't mean that his hair color is weird and his cloth is like a pimp, he is not human. He is…." I was confused. No, I should protect Neuro's cover as long as I can. It will be a disaster if anyone finds out his identity. I looked at Ai or her real name Aisetsuya. She didn't hesitated and continues her so called deduction.

"Don't lie to me, Katsuragi-San. You are bad at lying, I see. So it's true that your assistant is not a human. I wonder how you can keep up with this secret for so long. I am always wondering why he needed someone like you to cover for him. That isn't his true nature I presume. I want to ask you something Katsuragi-san…. Is Neuro a majin?"

I was shocked. This time really shocked. How can I deny her deduction any longer? She was striping me out of my disproval. I have to do something about this. This cannot continue any longer. I had to quit talking to her. But how can I be like that? From the past cases that Neuro and I gone through I have never abandoned to explain the human emotions to Neuro. I never feel bad or hard to explain to him about it.

"Um, there's a fine graving pillar in the park. I shall measure its size. From the top 150, 150 ,150. Owh, Yako it's one of your friends."

"What does human make when they are happy, Yako? We, daemon eventually make a lot of tormenting a low life to amuse ourselves. May be I should do the same to you too…"

"What do you mean with higher TV rating? Is it when you use something like actually I'm going to die soon to keep people watching?"

"The more important the password, the more the creator puts his emotions in it. For I, a being from the Underworld will not understand nor feel it."

"Be rejoice, Yako. For I, have created the stairs."

"A nice person in the Underworld is a person who kindly enough make the wound impossible to disappear. That is what we call a nice person."

"Do not forget, Yako. Do not forget anything. My teasing, torture, the tears you shed for Aya and HAL, you shall not forget. By not forgetting, you evolve. "

Simply to put it, he has no delicacy. Even until now, he didn't find it interesting enough. But still the more I know him; I felt that he had changed a little from what he was the first time we met. The first time we met, he never showed any concern about human being but the more cases we solved, he grow interest in human potential. Every case that we have solved grew Neuro interest times after time. He also defended the human although the reason is because they are his feeding ground. It's kinda obvious for a being like Neuro would protect mere humans lives for own sake. But it just way he was born to be. The need to feed. He only cared about his mental hunger. He will not let his own self going into mess for a trivial matter. I could only stand behind his silhouette and done nothing. All I could do was to be his cover and become an explainer to the human emotions. I could do nothing during his fighting with Sick neither I could contribute much when he was fighting with Sai as I was controlled by Sai at that time. But he didn't mistaken me for Sai (with all the bashing I received from him and my hair pin was taken), I did wondered how he done it. I could never reach the same peak where Neuro was standing. Thinking about him makes me feel small.

"Yako, right now, certainly, you are no better than a cloth used to scrub the toilet. But I understand all things have the same potential. Songs that can move the mind, cells that change in all things and even a bathroom washcloth like you, with the ability and desire, humans can evolve to become anything. And with that evolution on earth, it brings about many different types of puzzles that did not exist in the Underworld. My eyes may not be able to understand the essence of humanity but…. Is that is what you desire, may be someday you will evolve to understand even more humans. For instance, the one that you said you could not understand, that Sai…."

I remembered what Neuro once told me. He believed in my own true potential no matter how bad I am of deducting it myself. No matter how I denied it, I was the one who was entrusted by Neuro to break HAL's password in order for him to eat the mystery. I was the one who solved it. May be Neuro possessed power far from a human abilities, he had a weakness. His weakness that he cannot cover in himself that I bear the right to cover it as long as I could. I will always be grateful to him as he solved my father's murder case (even though he used me as a test subject of pretending how the murder occurred). I will always be grateful that he does approve who I'm really are and does approve my eating habit. He knew that I chose my school because of the cafeteria served A class food and even trying to talk about the university that Harukawa's teaching with considering about I thought for the classes of the food in the university. And we did go together for a camping in a village (but it was not a camping, Neuro sensed a mystery there so we decided to go there) and for the first time I looked at his back because he was sleeping at the floor (the first time I saw him sleeping was at the onsen where he slept at the ceiling and other time he slept at his chair or the cushion) just a few feet away from me (and he left me with a tube full of his poisonous breath, I still remember that smell). And also the torturing that I received after he had defeated DR (he was smiling very sadistically when he first reach the office entering through the window, he use a metal chain to grab me because I tried to run away, and tied me up) and then he fell asleep at the cushion (with some slight hint of agony that he portrayed in his face in his sleep and he didn't untied me), I could have feel his agony.

All the moment that I had been through with have a lot of effect in my life. I could not forget his doing all this time. Neuro is sort of like a child who fills his stomach and then feels like going out to play. I could accept his torturing and his abusing and harassment all because it was he really are. He could neither pretend it in front of me and Godai-san (all because he considers us to be his slave) but he showed some deceivable mimic of faces to splendid other people (especially to those who bring him a sense of mystery). I have gotten used of his attitude even Godai-san (not really actually. He kept fighting with Neuro and ended up bandaging himself) because for us Neuro is someone that we had owed him our gratitude.

"Katsuragi-san, why didn't you answer my question? Is Neuro a majin?" I stunned. Gosh, I had loosened my track a while ago remembering all that Neuro has done towards me. I smiled because I still remembered.

"Ai or should I call you Aisetsuya… you are correct. Neuro is a majin. No matter how you will think about him, as an outsider you have once considered him as a normal human being. That's perspective, is enough I presume. What if he is a majin or not? He is still him. No matter how you look at him, he is still what he tends to be. I'm kinda glad that he picked me as his cover because I have owe him my gratitude for solving my father's murder case and let my life turn normal again even without the presence of my father. I'm glad that I could be a help to him." I looked at Aisetsuya. She was silent at the very moment. She then looked deep into my eyes and sighed. I was rather confuse with her actions and ended up with the silent too.

"Katsuragi-san, I admired the way that I talk about Neuro from your point of view. Really, I really do think so. This morning when I ran and hug him is to make sure whether he is a majin or not. And he certainly is one. Normal people will consider explaining to me that I'm not their lost lover or what so ever but Neuro sat silently without doing anything because he didn't understand it." I'm glad that Aisetsuya explained her situation to me rather in a weird way. I smiled at her and she was laughing very eagerly but then her face changed. She looked worried. I ask her what's wrong.

"Katsuragi-san, if what you told me is true….then Neuro will be in grave danger!"