A/N: About time! A Nougami Neuro section has at last been added! LITTLE FANDOM SHALL BECOME BIG!
Disclaimer: All characters here are not mine, I repeat, not mine.
--Chapter 2: Recall--
Whatever Yako had expected from Neuro, being able to find proof for her innocence was not one of them. Yet, somehow he had.
"So, will you allow me to take the place of your current lawyer?" Neuro was smiling a confident smile; he knew what her answer would end up being.
Yako hesitated. Sure, this guy found evidence for her case, but there were still reasons to not trust Neuro. 1. He treated her as if she was below him. 2. The excessively cocky attitude was starting to get on Yako's nerves. And, 3. She knew basically nothing about him except his name.
Then again, he had already done more than anyone else…
"Well? I don't have all day."
Yup, it was that cockiness that was getting to her, however; "Fine," Yako sighed. She was pretty sure she was going to regret this later.
"Now then," Neuro said once they had sat back down in the living room, "I only know the rough outline of this mystery. In order to solve this, I need you to tell me everything that happened in this home the day your father died. And by everything, I mean even a detail a wood louse like you would dub trivial."
"Wood louse…?" Yako shot him a glare, which was completely ignored.
"Think you can do that?"
Yako closed her eyes. Could I? Every detail…
"I'm going to surprise him!"
"Yako! What are you doing here?"
"Goodnight, daddy. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Yako."
"I heard crashes, is everything all right?"
As though it were a film that kept playing itself over and over again, Yako saw that day run through her mind. "Yeah, I think I can."
--x--x--x--x--x--x--
1st floor.
Katsuragi Yako was very excited. It had been months since she last went back to large apartment that was home. It's not that she was a daughter that was particularly estranged from her family, but she had been rather busy lately. Most of that time was eaten up by the huge project Professor Harukawa demanded from his students. The human brain never seemed more painful to learn…
2nd floor.
Yako shrugged it off. "This weekend, I take a break from all that. It's been awhile since I spent some time with dad anyways."
3rd floor.
Thinking about it, Yako realized she had practically forgotten what it felt like to be home. Idly, she wondered if the doorbell had been fixed yet.
4th floor.
Heh! She couldn't wait to see the surprised face on her father's face!
Top floor.
Ding dong.
It was fixed. "Hang on," a muffled voice with a sleepy edge called, "I'm coming." With a click, the door was unlocked. "Now, if this is about that plan I promised, I just—Yako!" The black-haired man lost any trace of sleepiness. A bright smile came over his face as he bear hugged his daughter. "I thought you were never coming home!"
"Gah, well, I'm home?" said Yako in a strangled voice, "Can you…stop hugging so tightly?"
"Oh," her father released her, "There! Now come in, come in!"
The living room was just as Yako remembered it; bright, cheery, and filled with strange furniture that looked like they were pieces of art instead of something to be used. Ah, how the couch just asked to be sat on….pfft. Who cares about that? Yako rushed into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Yup, still stocked. Yako picked up knife and began to prepare…a feast.
--x--x--x--x--x--
"Yako, are you really going to eat all that?" Yako's father stared at the rapidly disappearing mound of food his daughter had piled on the kitchen table.
"I hwot rue roo me." said Yako, mouth filled with food.
"Uh, what?"
"I swaid," Yako swallowed, "I thought you knew me. Because if you did, then you wouldn't need to ask that."
Her father sighed. "With you around, the food bill is bound to triple, no quadruple!"
"Hey!"
"You know it's true."
"Let me vouch! I—" Ding dong.
Her father got up and ran to the door. "Look, I told you that the drawings would be—oh! It's just you, Shirota."
A man with long yellow hair and dressed stiffly in a white, formal suit stood at the door. "I've come to borrow some of the utensils I spoke about earlier."
"Right, right! I'm going to get them right now!" With that, he ran back into the kitchen and shoved some equipment into a white bag. "Here, is that everything you need?"
Shirota shook his head disapprovingly, "You still treat your kitchen utensils with such little respect! What if they were to chip while you toss them around so carelessly?"
Her father laughed nervously, "Sorry, I'm just not like you I guess."
Shirota scoffed and his eyes landed on Yako. "The black hole is back." He turned and gave a slight wave goodbye, "Thank you; and good luck not going broke."
"Black hole…broke," Yako twitched irately, "That guy…"
"Don't worry Yako," her father said, sitting back down, "He's always been like that."
"What'd he need anyways?"
"Just some forks, plate, a set of my knives, you know, stuff along those lines. He said one of his apprentices broke his old set, and the place he usually gets them from is closed right now."
"Hmm," grunted Yako, already going back to eating.
"You don't like Mr. Shirota, Yako?"
"Nope. He's a prick who just doesn't get the point of food. The stuff he cooks up feels like it shouldn't be eaten! It's all...stiff and formal feeling. Food is suppose to make you happy for goodness sakes! What he makes," by now, Yako was shooting glares at her plate, "Is an insult to all food!"
"Uhh..." Her father sweated a bit, "What a monster she can be," he thought.
There was a moment of silence as Yako's father hesitated to before saying, "Yako, I've heard that you've been having some money trouble."
Right in mid-bite, Yako stopped eating. "Wh-what?! How'd you know?"
He half smiled. "I'm your father; I'm supposed to know these things. But, what happened? How'd you get into a 400 million yen debt?"
Yako groaned haplessly. "You know even that detail?"
"Stop avoiding the question."
"Alright, alright," she held her hands up in surrender. "Remember that friend of mine, Yuki?"
"Wasn't he arrested a few months ago for illegal smuggling of drugs?"
"That's the one."
"And he was such a nice kid too…"
"Anyways, when he went to jail, the people he was buying the drugs from still wanted the money he owed them, so," Yako gulped, preparing for the certain to follow earthquake, "Yuki told them that I would pay for it."
"WHAT?!" stormed her father. With a bang, he slammed his fists against the table and sent some food flying. "HOW COULD HE JUST DO THAT?! TELL THOSE PEOPLE TO GO GET THE MONEY FROM HIM! EVEN IF IT TAKES HIM THE REST OF HIS MISERABLE LIFE TO PAY IT BACK!!"
Yako shrank back and held her hands out, trying to calm her father. "C-calm down a bit."
"CALM DOWN?!"
"Dad…"
"YAKO! YOU'RE BEING EXPLOITED HERE! YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
She cast her glance downwards, "I know, but..."
"Tch. That brat better watch out," he said darkly, "I'm going to pay him little visit soon." Yako's father shook his head. "Can't you just get those people to get the payment from Yuki?"
"Not anymore," said Yako gloomily, "Yuki's brother is in the business to you know, though in another company. His brother won't pay it off, and he won't let Yuki pay it either. I'm sorta at gunpoint right now; I have to pay."
"Those little ba—, da— them all to hell," her father spat vehemently.
Yako smiled half-heartedly. "That would be nice."
"Well, what are you going to do now? If you want, I could give you—''
Yako cut him off. "Dad, there is no way I'm going to take any money from you, you still need it. I'm old enough now," she drew herself up, "I'll take care of it."
"Heh heh, 'I'll take care of it', eh? In the end, I'll still be the one to pay."
"Can't you have a little faith in me?"
"With the amount food you eat? I don't think you'll be able to save up enough on that diet. Now, excuse me, I have visit to pay to jail."
--x--x--x--x--
Yako shivered and rubbed her hands together as she turned on the heater. Who knew that weather could get so cold so fast? The afternoon was so nice and warm, but at sunset it clouded over and began raining. Not to mention it was freezing now. "Achoo!" 'Dang,' she thought, 'some tea would probably do me good right now…' So, she took the teapot on the stove and poured some boiling hot tea out into two cups. "I'll bring dad some later," she muttered to herself. After bringing with her the holy-shishcobobing-that's-a lot amount of homework along with the tea, Yako sat under the heater to take advantage of any heat she could.
Muffled sounds of rain thudded heavily with the sound of sharp drums against the roof of the apartment. Oh how Yako hated it right now, as she could never concentrate well, even without the rain. Yako banged her head against the table. "I'll never finish this assignment now…"
Drip. The sound of a drop of water falling was extremely close.
Glancing upwards towards the old grandfather clock, Yako saw a patch of wetness starting to soak through the ceiling. Every couple of seconds or so, a drop of water would gain enough wait and fall onto the floor with a quiet plop. "Wonderful," Yako grumbled, "We just had to live on the top floor where raining always goes and makes water-damage." After mentally making a note to call someone to fix the ceiling in the morning, Yako walked into the kitchen to grab a cup to catch the water. She nearly dropped her cup in annoyance as two more drips fell rather loudly.
"I hate you water-damage." Yako placed the cup under the general area where the water fell and then glanced at the clock. 10 o'clock. Not too late, but there was no use trying to continue doing homework she knew she couldn't concentrate on. She picked up the tray with the tea on it from her work area and walked down the corridor to her father's room. "Hey, dad!" Yako called, tapping on the door, "Open up."
The lock clicked open and her father drew the door open. "Here," she said, "I thought you might need some tea."
Her father gave a drowsy yawn and motioned for her to set the tea onto a desk. On the way there, Yako nearly knocked over a pile of papers. "That was a prime example of clumsiness, Yako."
"What? How was I supposed to know that was there?"
"That wasn't the first time! Remember when you nearly broke over that red vase in here a few years back? Ran headlong into it, you did. It's still got that chip in it too! Really lowered its value."
Yako gave an impatient wave of her hands and started for the door. "Whatever, you've got two more vases in here! Just go to sleep soon, you look like you're asleep on your feet!"
"I'll sleep once I finish this drawing plan; my employer wants it by tomorrow," he said and gave another yawn.
"What a slave-driver. Goodnight, daddy. I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, Yako."
Soon, Yako was fast asleep in her room.
--x--x--x--x--x--
Yako was no longer asleep, she was just barely awake. Drowsily, she registered a few low thuds and crashes. "That's not normal, Yako. Come on eyes, open up!" A great amount of effort was used before Yako could even open her eyes enough to glance at the clock. 1:37 am, in other words, fairly late.
Loud thuds began to be heard, this time though, Yako could tell it was coming from the door in the living room. "Hey! Is anyone in there?! Open up! Mr. Katsuragi!" a female's voice yelled urgently.
"This time at night…?" Yako grumbled to herself as she forced her body to the door. "Hello?" Yako rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wipe sleep away.
"Yako? I didn't know you were here," the lady with long hair said.
Yako blinked. "Ms. Aya? I should be asking you what you're doing her at this time at night."
"I heard crashes," Aya explained, "Is everything alright?"
"Well, I'm fine. But, the only other person in the house is…DAD!" All traces of sleepiness left Yako as though cold water had been thrown over her. The cold stayed as Yako ran towards her father's bedroom. The door to the bedroom was still open and the bed hadn't even been slept in. Aya ran up from behind her. "He's still in his workroom," Yako said quietly to herself. Without a second thought, Yako rushed further down the hall. "You're acting like an idiot," Yako berated herself silently; "He's probably alright! So why am I so worried?"
Yako gave the door a few knocks. "Hey, dad! If you're going to sleep, you should go in bed!"
No answer.
"Mr. Katsuragi? Are you in there?" Aya called.
Still no answer.
"Mr. Katsuragi?!" called Aya again, this time louder.
"Dad! Wake up and answer already!" Yako tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Come on you stupid thing," she said irately and gave it more forceful jerks, "Open already!"
Aya began to pound on the door, truly starting to look a bit worried. "Mr. Katsuragi! Are you alright?!"
Silence.
A tremor went through Yako, this couldn't be. Her dad was still…right? "DAD! Come on, say something!" Yako gave the stubborn door a kick, and stubbornly the door remained steadfastly closed.
"Hang on," Aya said, turning towards to door that led our to the balcony area surrounding the apartment, "Let's go around and see if we can check through the window."
Yako barely even replied and rushed after her. "Window, don't fail me now."
It failed. No matter how hard either of them pushed, the window remained firmly shut. No peeks could be taken inside as the curtains had been drawn.
"Yako, go get a screwdriver and we'll undo the door hinges."
Obediently, Yako went. All the while though, feeling began to run out from her. A toolbox was retrieved and she set to work. But, for some reason, Yako kept fumbling with the tools. "Calm yourself. Calm down…calm down…calm…dad, you better be alright." Yako slid the nails from the hinges and Aya helped her pull the door off.
"Everything will be fine," Yako told herself firmly as she pulled the door away, "Dad will just be in there, sleeping. He'll wake up, and then…" The door slipped out of Yako and Aya's hands and banged against the wall.
A look of surprise went across Aya's face. And Yako? She felt void.
Blood was splattered all around the room, trailing down the walls, and staining the floor. In the sea of red was Yako's father. His body was mutilated to a hard to recognize point and sharp knives protruded through much of his body. The flesh had been cut completely open or off in several places, showing the white bone underneath. What was left of the face was drawn in a grotesque scream, cut forever silent. Shards of blue and green china were barely recognizable under the cloak of red from the body. And lying not too far from the body was an empty teacup.
"We should go call the police, Yako."
No answer.
"Yako? Yako!" Aya took her by the shoulders and shook, "Snap out of it."
"D-dad? It can't be."
Aya sighed and decided to leave Yako alone while she went to contact the police.
"Haha, this is just a dream, a bad nightmare," she heard Yako say, "Just a bad nightmare. If I leave and come back, it'll be gone. It'll be gone." As though to prove it, Yako backed out of the corridor and away from the room.
Sadly, Aya shook her head. Reality would sink in eventually. She picked up the phone and dialed. A sleepy sounding policeman answered, "Hello?"
"Hello? Officer, we need you right away. Someone has been murdered."
There was pause. "Are you one of those prankers?"
"No, sir, I'm be serious, someone has—'' A short scream came from towards the red room. Reality had sunk in. Aya wondered, what was going to happen to Yako now? "Someone has really been murdured," continued Aya.
"Alright," the policeman said, sounding slightly more awake, "Give me the address."
Aya did and hung up. When she turned around, she saw a perfectly still Yako staring at the clock. "It's only 1:54, not even 20 minutes has passed. Can you believe it?" Yako turned and headed for the phone, "I need to make a call."
After a moment of silence (save the dialing sounds) another tired voice picked up. "Hello?"
"Mr. Sasazuka?"
"Yako? Do you realize what time it is? Even I'm home and sleeping."
Yako choked back a sob. "M-mr. Sasazuka? Dad, he's…dead."
"What?" Yako could just imagine him bolting up from his bed, "Say that again?"
"My dad, he's…dead."
"I'll be right over." Mr. Sasazuka had barely even finished those words before he hung up.
After the call was done, Yako sank down onto the floor and curled up. She remained mostly silent except for a few sobs. Aya walked over and sat down next to her. "I really don't know what I can say to make this any better, since I don't think there is a way." Sirens were heard off in the distance, slowly getting louder. "Don't worry, they'll find the murderer."
"I don't want to know who murdered my father," said Yako quietly, "I just want my father."
There was a sharp knock, and Aya got up to get the door. It wasn't the police, it was Shirota. Instead of his usual prim self, Shirota actually seemed a bit anxious. "Did something happen here? I—'' he stopped as his eyes fell on Yako. "I don't think I need an answer anymore." The sirens got louder. Yako stood, wiped away some of the tears and walked to the window overlooking the street. The police cars were in sight and even Mr. Sasazuka was seen running down the street. There were two chimes of the grandfather clock, signaling 2 o'clock.
"A new hour. Only the first of many to come after this…to think, I was sleeping soundly."
--x--x--x--x--x--
The officer name Usui looked on with disgust at the scene. Blood everywhere and the mutilation of the body! Even his fellow officers stood out of the room, hesitant to come in before they were needed for investigation. Only a monster would've done something like this…
There were many faces around the room. The woman's was rather calm, but the paleness gave her anxiety away. The man couldn't even look. Sasazuka had a rather shocked expression on. And the girl, the daughter. She was unbelievably blank. No sadness, no tears. Nothing.
"I'll start the questioning," Sasazuka said. "You," he pointed at Shirota, "You're first."
Mr. Shirota nodded and followed.
Sasazuka stopped next to Yako briefly, "Go get some rest, I'll save your inquiries for tomorrow."
Yako didn't answer, but the little machine controlling her obeyed and forced her out of the room.
--x--x--x--x--x--
"And that," Yako concluded, "Was everything that happened." She looked at the clock; 1:37 am, how fitting.
"Hmm, not bad," said Neuro, getting up to leave. "You are sure that that was everything, and it was all precise?"
"Yes."
Neuro nodded. "One last question before I leave; where is your mother?"
"She's been dead for years."
--x--x--x--x--x--
Thank you for all the reviews! I'll try to update this as quick as I can! Thanks for reading.