Chapter Twenty One: Mr. Monk and His Problems
"Where's Mr. Brown?" Ryuzaki asked, clearly annoyed.
"We need to get into Misa's room if we want to pull this off," Light observed. The two turned and noticed Shawn and Gus walking towards them.
"Hey guys ready to catch Kira," Shawn said, "...dude why are the door knobs missing?"
"Mr. Brown. Apparently he always cleans all the door knobs in his house using a dishwasher," Ryuzaki replied.
"Hey! Misa wants to get out of her room!" Misa called from behind the door.
"Just hold on," Gus said. The small party could hear footsteps coming from down the hall. They all turned to find Mr. Monk and Natalie running towards them with a box full of door knobs in Natalie's arms.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" Natalie exclaimed, "Okay, give me a door knob." Mr. Monk handed her a door knob and she quickly began to assemble the door knob back to its original place (she had loads of practice). When she was done, the group entered Misa's room. Mr. Monk was about to enter but Natalie stopped him.
"Oh no Mr. Brown, we have to finish replacing the door knobs," Natalie said.
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"Until Aiber arrives, Mr. Brown, will you play the role of Coil?" Ryuzaki asked once when Mr. Monk had finished replacing all the door knobs.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Mr. Monk said.
"Well Martin and Bud are ...hey where are they?" Light asked.
"Come on Mr. Brown, it's not that hard," Natalie encouraged.
"She's right, you'll do fine," Ryuzaki said. Mr. Monk walked over to the couch and sat down in front of Misa. He began to rearrange the coasters that were on the table. Mr. Monk made sure there was a coaster on top of another coaster. It was like a back up.
"Mr. Brown..." Ryuzaki said as Mr. Monk was about to arrange the sets of coasters. Mr. Monk looked up.
"Oh right sorry..." Mr. Monk said, "Misa...I just wanted to confirm a few things. You said you told your sister you were going to Tokyo to meet Kira."
"Yes," Misa answered though her voice seemed a little nervous.
"But then you also went to Aoyama and you were dressed up. Why?" Mr. Monk asked.
"I don't know...I just felt like it...hey! You're not supposed to ask that!" Misa exclaimed.
"Mr. Brown, I know you want to ask Misa questions concerning the Kira case but now is not the time," Ryuzaki said.
"You make it seem so easy," Mr. Monk said as he continued to arrange the coasters, "We found cat hair in your room but there was no cat. Why? Where is the cat? It's been bothering me for a while."
"...Maybe we shouldwait until Aiber gets here," Ryuzaki said. Mr. Monk looked down, disappointed in himself. "Misa's acting is a little off today anyway," Ryuzaki recovered so Mr. Monk would not feel so bad.
"Hey! Misa's acting is fine!" Misa said defensively.
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"Ryuzaki," Watari said through the computer.
"Yes?" Ryuzaki asked.
"...Mr. Brown's distress signal keeps going off," Watari said.
"From where?" Ryuzaki asked.
"...Inside the building," was the answer. Ryuzaki sighed.
"His room?" Ryuzaki guessed.
"Yes." Ryuzaki got up and began to walk towards Mr. Monk's room. Of course Light was with him. Ryuzaki knocked on the door. Mr. Monk answered it promptly.
"Mr. Brown is everything okay?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Yeah...why?" Mr. Monk replied.
"Watari says your distress signal keeps going off. The one from your belt."
"Oh...I was cleaning it."
"Cleaning it?"
"Since it isn't from the usual place, I have to clean it as much as possible."
"I see," Ryuzaki said. He didn't want to show that he was clearly annoyed by this. The belt was not a toy. Mr. Monk did not have to clean it. Ryuzaki left the room and called Watari on his cell phone to tell him that there was nothing to worry about.
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"I knew it was going to go down hill after making so many friends," Mr. Monk said as he sat in a chair to the left of Natalie, "My problems are just annoying everyone."
"Mr. Monk don't say that," Natalie said reassuringly, "It'll pass. Everyone gets into fights with friends and when you spend a lot of time with people they tend to get on your nerves. Like this one time..."
"What are you doing?" Mr. Monk asked.
"What?"
"This is my talking time. You know you're not supposed to talk when I'm talking. That's how it always goes at Dr. Kroger's office," Mr. Monk said. Since Mr. Monk was missing so many of his appointments with Dr. Kroger, Natalie had started playing the role of his psychiatrist so he would have someone to talk to.
"I'm sorry, go ahead," Natalie apologized.
"I knew it was only a matter of time before Ryuzaki would hate me," Mr. Monk continued.
"Mr. Monk, Ryuzaki doesn't hate you."
"Yes he does," Monk mumbled.
"No he doesn't. He's just not use to interacting with people so much. He's not a people person like you," Natalie explained.
"I'm a people person," Monk said. Natalie stared at him for a moment. "Okay...maybe you're right..."
"If it's really bothering you why don't you just start helping Shawn and Gus with Operation Halloween or go talk to Ryuzaki and tell him what's bothering you."
"Natalie, I have trouble talking to people when it comes to simple needs. I don't think we're even friends anymore..."
"Yes you are."
"No..."
"Well I'm you're friend Mr. Monk."
"But I pay you!"
"Not that much! You know what Mr. Monk this is ridiculous! You're acting like a five year old. I'll go and talk to Ryuzaki for you since you're not man enough to do it," Natalie said. Natalie then got up and walked towards the door.
"Natalie! Natalie don't tell him!" Mr. Monk said but Natalie was long gone. She couldn't believe how childish he was acting. Actually she could. She remembered how much Mr. Monk acted like a kid when he and Hal were "best friends". He seemed really happy at the time and it broke her heart when she saw how depressed he was after Hal stopped talking to him. This was precisely why she was going to talk to Ryuzaki. No offense to Ryuzaki but if Monk couldn't become friends with him then there was basically no hope for Mr. Monk when it came to fitting into the world. The two were way too similar for them to not become friends. It was almost as if it was intended. There was probably no one else this similar to Monk unless there was a clone of Mr. Monk out there in the world but Natalie highly doubted that.
"Misa, please stop with the total over reacting," Ryuzaki said into a piece of paper in the shape of a megaphone. For once, Shawn and Gus were in sight of everyone. They had been very busy lately.
"But I thought that was perfect," Misa replied.
"You're over reacting too much like Martin," Ryuzaki replied. This was clearly a blow at Shawn's fake psychic abilities since he overreacted every time he had a "vision". It was at this point that Natalie poked her head in the doorway.
"Hey Ryuzaki, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked.
"Of course Hilary," Ryuzaki said, "Martin, take over." He handed Shawn the paper megaphone.
"Why do you get to be in charge? I'm the responsible one," Gus said.
"But I'm the stealthy one," Shawn replied.
"That has nothing to do with it!"
"Alright action!" Shawn said as he spoke into it. Ryuzaki and Light stepped out of the room and into the hall where Natalie was standing.
"What's wrong Hilary?" Light asked.
"It's about Mr. Brown. He's upset. He thinks you hate him," Natalie said as he gestured to Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki clearly had no idea why Mr. Monk would hate him but he didn't really care what other people thought of him.
"Why?" Light asked. Light remembered all Mr. Monk wanted was a friend and even asked Ryuzaki to be his best friend. He didn't understand what was with the sudden change either.
"It's because he thinks everyone is getting annoyed with him about his problems. Like the door knobs...and the belt...and well everything. Listen I've worked with Mr. Brown for three years and I know that sometimes his obsessive compulsive disorder can get annoying but he is trying his best and I think all you need to do is just go with the flow," Natalie said. Ryuzaki thought about this for a moment. He had been getting annoyed with Mr. Monk's "problems" lately and he couldn't afford to have Mr. Monk in depression. Who knows when he might need him or when his disorder would come in handy especially when they were this close to solving the case. Like Mr. Monk, Ryuzaki did not want to go to square one again all because Mr. Monk was feeling hated. That could be fixed easily.
"Yes, I'll do that," Ryuzaki answered.
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"How about we create a situation where Higuchi is forced to show us how he kills," Ryuzaki offered. Everyone was now by the monitors once more. Ryuzaki's plan had been a success and Misa was able to get a confession from Higuchi that he was Kira. His little dilemma with Mr. Monk, however, had not been going so well. Ryuzaki thought he may have been getting annoyed easily because they were getting closer to the case and he was just getting anxious.
"97...98...99...100..." Mr. Monk counted the sugar cubes in the bag.
"Mr. Brown, are you listening?" Ryuzaki asked. Natalie quickly shot a glare at Ryuzaki. She had been trying to help Ryuzaki just "going with the flow" and leaving Mr. Monk alone. However, it seemed to be getting harder and harder.
"Yeah...I'm listening..." Mr. Monk answered. Monk was always listening.
"Mr. Brown..." Natalie whispered, trying to get him to stop, "pay attention. This is important."
"But counting helps me think," Mr. Monk said as he tried to concentrate.
"I know Mr. Brown but...I think you need to just take it down a little bit. Everyone is just getting antsy with the new information. Just chill out for a little while. Please?" Natalie pleaded. Mr. Monk, however, just continued to count the sugar cubes.
"...Thank you Light. I feel ninety nine percent confident now," Ryuzaki was saying. Mr. Monk looked up.
"One more and it would be an even hundred," Monk observed.
"Yes I know," Ryuzaki replied. Natalie wasn't sure if Ryuzaki was doing this on purpose or not.
"Maybe you could be a hundred percent certain...or even ninety eight..." Mr. Monk said. Natalie looked at Ryuzaki trying to tell him to just go with it. Amazing how they were both acting like children now.
"I feel ninety eight percent more confident now," Ryuzaki said, "We will create a situation where Higuchi will not be able to pass on his powers and have him demonstrate how he kills. We'll use Sakura TV to trick Higuchi."
"Oh no, not the death channel," Gus groaned.
"Oooo! Can we be on TV!" Shawn asked.
"...No...we will get a three hour block and announce that we will reveal Kira's identity at the end," Ryuzaki said.
"I see so we'll use Aiber!" Matsuda suggested.
"Sorry but no. It has to be someone that Higuchi thinks he can kill easily. Someone whose name is easy to attain. Higuchi won't give up if it's someone like that," Ryuzaki said.
"But who the heck is going to play the dangerous role?" Matsuda asked.
"I'll do it!" Shawn suggested, "I could say that I saw Higuchi's face in a vision. He'll have to believe me because I'm a psychic."
"...No..." Ryuzaki said, "I can't give you a dangerous role. If you're killed or anyone of you (he was referring to Natalie, Monk, Shawn, and Gus) I probably won't gain support from America ever again."
"You sure it's not just because you care about us Ryuzaki?" Shawn smirked clearly teasing him. He knew even if it was true, Ryuzaki would never admit it.
"So who else could it be?" Matsuda asked so Ryuzaki wouldn't have to answer Shawn's question. Everyone immediately turned and looked at him. "Why is everyone looking at me?"
"I vote Matsuda!" Shawn said.
"Me too!" Gus said.
"Yes," Mr. Monk said.
"Sorry Matsuda but I agree," Natalie said. Basically, everyone agreed to this but poor Matsuda had no idea how to react.
"Your tribe has spoken," Shawn said and he began to sing the Survivor theme song which was basically just him wailing and looking like an idiot.
"...The only issue is if Higuchi only needs a face to kill then Matsuda will die though that is unlikely based on the facts. Plus this plan is only if the criminals stop dying. We'll wait two or three days to confirm that. During that time, Matsuda, decide if you are willing to go through with this plan. If not, then we'll think of something else," Ryuzaki said.
"I don't need two or three days...let me do it," Matsuda said.
"Can we do it tonight?" Shawn asked.
"No," Ryuzaki answered. Did Shawn have too much candy today? Some people just have no tolerance for the stuff.
"Guys," Shawn said, "Let's do this!"