CHAPTER 6: "There'll be Peace when you are Done."
It was Wednesday, and club activities were allowed to resume once more despite previous announcements, which was a welcome break to the absolute chaos that had been the whole week leading up to it.
The Neighbors Club- MY club- was open once more, and our first topic of the day was a simple one.
"The Police obviously think that someone at this school is a mass murderer," I declared soundly.
"No way, Yozora!" The Cow said. "There's no way that could happen! I mean, there's only been what- One actual murdered student here? Some girl got amnesia and that's it."
"Haven't you been paying attention to the news?" I asked- "Bodies were pulled up from the harbor! Multiple bodies! We're dealing with a Serial Killer among us!"
Kobato and Maria both whined in fear at my shouting- and good! They should be afraid!
"Look, Yozora," Kodaka spoke up. "I doubt there's actually someone who's going around killing people at this school."
"So you're on the Cow's side then?" I asked.
"What-?" He seemed to falter.
"They're interrogating students one classroom at a time!" I said, "There's no other reason for that than to see if everyone's identity's check out! I've heard some students have had the Police come and check their homes already!"
"Rika will admit that it does sound fishy!" Rika said, "Pardon the pun. But, um...Rika wonders why the everyone seems to think its someone at this school? They have a sketch of the suspect, don't they?"
"From what I've been able to gather, they think this Serial Killer has a type!" I said. "They're looking for someone who goes and roots out perverted thinkers!"
Another frightened squeak from the two girls. Hmf, there's something weird about that, but I just can't place my fingers on it... Regardless, I continued.
"And also, they think this killer is a mass hypnotist! Able to manipulate the minds of everyone around us into thinking that she's one of us!" I wanted to say more, but...
"This last month has just been one cascade of misfortune," Yukimura said so quietly that somehow we all managed to hear it.
Immediately, I felt like a jerk for going on about a killer with her in the room. What was I thinking? I should have been more considerate to that fact, shouldn't I? She'd just tried within the last week to-
So I said: "That's why it's so annoying! That these Cops are just coming in and trying to find someone pretending to be a student just after someone tried to...To..." And I stumbled over my words so badly that even the Cow gave me a sympathetic look. I settled for crossing my arms and turning to face a window- "I just wish that everything would go back to normal already!"
What was normal, even? Trying to figure out ... something... Something...
Something felt weird.
Everything was just so out of whack after Yukimura had tried to jump... Our whole inter-group relationships were changed so drastically...
We were all well on our way to maybe, just possibly, becoming friends on our own, when...
When suddenly Kodaka and Rika are working to keep Yukimura stable, when suddenly the Nun and the Vampire don't argue, when...When even the Cow seems to be out of place with events.
And then there was a knock at the door.
Much to my surprise, it was Yusa who was knocking at the Neighbor's club door.
Much to my confusion, she wasn't wearing her school uniform. Hadn't I heard something about her catching a cold? Funny, she didn't look sick at all... though, those clothes did look somewhat dirty and wrinkled. Had she been sleeping in them or something?
"Erm...Uh..." She was touching her index fingers together nervously, "May I please come in?"
For a moment, I wasn't sure what to say.
There was something off about all of this.
None of the others knew had happened in the hallway that day, not even Kobato...I turned to look at Rika, who just gave a shrug.
So I turned back to Yusa and said, "Sure, come on in."
Yukimura placed a cup of tea on the table in front of where Yusa, Aoi, was sitting.
Kodaka was sitting across from her, slightly confused and embarrassed.
Rika was eying the girl carefully...
Yozora...was looking at Kodaka? What was going through that girl's mind, I wonder...?
Kobato-chan and Maria were sitting on the couch...aww, were they holding hands? I tried to sit up just a bit to see for sure, but then Yukimura stood between me and them and I couldn't see. No fair, Yukimuraaaa!
"So," Kodaka began, talking towards Yusa, who, apparently, was a girl from my class. I'd heard that someone had gotten a cold, and had been absent... But this was her? She didn't look sick, just...Tired?
"I-" Yusa spoke up, then stopped for a second before repeating: "I want to apologize for my behavior the other day!" And then she bowed her head forwards, her small height leading to her nearly hitting her head against the table. "I don't know what came over me to say it...but everything I said was what I truly feel..."
I raised an eyebrow, looking at Kodaka, "What's this...?" I tried to ask, but then...
"I take it there's a reason you were even thinking about what you said?" He said before I could even start talking.
"I...I've always liked people like you to begin with. I love stories about them too..." Yusa glanced around the room at all of us with her red eyes...funny, she almost looks like a lost little puppy dog. "But..." she seemed to finally admit something even to herself, "my mother left us recently, when the Rising Sun Hack happened. And my father...he..." I had no idea what any of this was referring to, but the Rising Sun...
Those people who had taken over the internet and the TV and all to take down a corrupt politician...
Or something like that... I'd never paid much attention to the news.
"My mother turned out to be a supporter of theirs," Yusa said, "she worked at the TV station, and helped set that final broadcast up. My father took it hard...and, he started to take his aggressions out on me because I look like her."
Wait- what?
A glance around the room, everyone seemed surprised by this...I... "I don't know what even to say to something like that." Oh, damn, did I just do that thing Kodaka always does?
"Verbally!" Yusa then said- "Verbally, I mean! He hasn't... He wouldn't...! He goes out at night for that!"
"Rika isn't sure verbally isn't the worse of the two she was thinking of," Rika said silently, though I think she was sighing a bit in relief on the inside like we all were.
"So," Kodaka frowned, "you wanted me to..ah...ask you out..." Why did that sound like he was substituting words? Why did Yusa seem relieved when he said it like that? "Because...?"
"Because he...he said I'd never be able to find a husband because of what my mother did. And...and when he found out I'd said what I did, he..." She sniffed. "He kicked me out of the house. Sometimes I wish he'd just choke on his words for being such a dick!"
And there was the whole thing.
"Ah," Kodaka said, glancing at Rika. They nodded, then he looked at Yozora...
"Do I even need to say it?" She asked him, then turned to search one of the desks, "I'll go find the paperwork..."
"Huh?" Yusa seemed confused. "What...?"
"If you want a place to hang out at to avoid that stuff," Kodaka said, "you're always welcome to come here during the day."
"And!" Rika spoke up- "If you need a place to spend the night, just ask any one of us!"
Wait- what are you volunteering me for!?
I got a slap in the face with the fly-swatter for that.
"I said that aloud, didn't I?" I grumbled.
"Yeah, you did," Yozora said, smirking slightly as she twirled the flyswatter around.
"Y-You really want to be that kind to me?" Yusa asked Kodaka.
"Like I said before," he said, "I'm not that kind of person."
And then she started to cry- "Thank you!"
Then there was another knock at the door.
"Rika will get it!" I said, moving over to the door, and opening it with a crack to peer through it.
"Hi there," The Police Chief waved, "I'm Katawase, Mayoi, Police Chief." She motioned to the tall man next to her, "This is Detective Yuki, Shinjuurou, and his assistant," she motioned to the young boy grinning up at me, "Inga." She flashed her badge just to be sure- "We thought we just saw one Yusa, Aoi, heading into this club room, is she here?"
I frowned- "What's this about, officers?"
"We just want to ask her a few questions," The Detective said. "We've been wanting to get in contact with her for the last few days, but she's been absent from school."
I made sure to stand in the doorway as I opened it a bit more to block their view into the room- "Why do you want to talk with her? If she was here, I mean."
"We're concerned that she may be the next target of a serial killer," the Assistant said rather happily, "we just want to see if she recognizes a sketch is all!"
It couldn't be helped, they heard Yusa yelp from inside in surprise.
With a sigh, I said, "Rika will let you in now!"
And I let them step into the Club Room.
They re-introduced themselves to Yusa, and then showed a printed out sketch of the suspect.
"Do you recognize this woman?"
All at once, there was a sense of...
Of...
I'm not sure what it was.
But...most of us seemed to recognize the sketch.
"Yeah..." Yusa said, frowning. "I recognize her, but... I don't know from where...?"
"I recognize her too," Kodaka said, "but I don't know from where either."
"The news maybe?" Yozora frowned.
"Rika vaguely knows her too..." I said.
"Nope!" Maria shook her head- "Don't know her!"
"I don't know her either," Kobato agreed.
"I've not seen her before," Yukimura said.
And then...
"I saw her once heading down the hallway outside," Sena said.
"You did?" The Detective asked. "When and where?"
"It was earlier today, when I was coming to the clubroom," Sena said. "She was just going around a corner, and I thought it odd that I didn't see her after I went around the same corner. I thought she might have been someone there to visit another club room."
"So she might still be here," The Assistant breathed.
"That's really cocky of her," The Chief said.
"Helps the theory though," The Detective said, and motioned for the Assistant to go outside, possibly to check the other club rooms.
"What theory?" I asked.
They seemed to speak as if they'd rehearsed it...or just happened to say it so many times before that it was muscle memory by now.
"The woman in this picture, who we've tentatively ID'd as "Yuuko", is a master hypnotist. She's able to make people see her as someone else," The Chief said. "She's the prime suspect in a series of murders going back across the last week."
"We think she's stalking around this school to find her targets, people with perverted streaks in them," The Detective said. "It's not always the students she's after, though, the latest victim was the guardian of Atsuhiko, Hirokazu."
"How terrible," Yozora said.
"Is that why we all sort of vaguely recognize her?" Kodaka asked. "She's hypnotized us to forget her face?"
"You and Yusa actually had a direct encounter with her the other day," The Detective said.
"What?" seemed to be the room's general consensus.
"I don't remember..." Yusa said.
"That," Kodaka even finished, almost in a daze.
"She was using a hypnotizing technique on you two when Inga and I stumbled upon the scene," The Detective continued on. "We interrupted the process, and she ran. We chased after but lost her trail after she made a student by the main gates forget her memories."
"That's why you're concerned Yusa might be a target," Sena breathed out.
"Exactly," The Chief said. "With your sudden absence, we were worried that you might have already been attacked, but now that we know you're safe, we'd appreciate it if you stay that way."
The assistant peeked back into the room and said, "She's not here."
"Thank you for your time," and with that, we left the club room.
"Was that really wise to tell them about Yuuko?" Katawase asked.
"Probably not," I said. "But I have the feeling they'll be safer in numbers, and be keeping an eye out for Yuuko if something were to happen."
"It's a good idea, and Yuuko'll probably leave them alone now, too," Inga said. "Everything in that room was dripping with her energy...Even this hallway...The other rooms too. She's covered her scent all over the place so much that it's impossible to tell what's the most recent."
"So she's covering her tracks," Katawase said. "Yuuko's probably stalking one or more of them."
"Basically," Inga agreed.
And so we waited to see what would happen next.
_'Call me, Beep me, if you wanna reach me!'_
The Jukebox was playing some old theme song from the early 2000's, at the request of some jubilant Twenty Year old from America seeking to relive some childhood memories in the middle of a drinking bar.
It was a completely nonsensical thing for a Jukebox to have on it, but given the transformation wave that had hit everything, that the Jukebox itself had developed its own tastes wasn't that surprising.
The man at the bar grumbled and downed another drink.
"Yusa, Cronus-san?" A soft voice asked from behind him.
"Nyeh?" He glanced over his right shoulder as a woman sat down next to him. "What'd'ya want?"
"I hear you're the kind of man who knows how to get down," the woman, of course, was none-other-than Yuuko. Who else would it have been. "And I...am looking to get down," She winked at him seductively.
"Nyeh, go find someone else to bother," He took a swing of what had been refilled into his glass. "It's Thrusday, so tonight I'm busy drownin' myself in beer."
"Oh, well that's just a shame," Yuuko said with a tired sigh- "I've had my eye on you all night you see, and I've only just built up my courage to come talk with you."
"Really now?" There was a devilish smirk. "Well wha'd'ya say to having a few drinks with me, and we'll...ehe...get to know eachother better."
"That sounds wonderful..." Yuuko smiled.
Only God knows how many drinks later, and they were at his house- drunken and stumbling down the halls.
Giggles were had, and loud moans and growls occurred as their clothes went all over...
And then they hit the bed and...
Shink
"Sorry, Cronus, but you're just not my type after all," Yuuko sneered at him, and then with a mighty slash-!
Blood hit the ceiling, and Cronus Yusa roared in pain.
It wasn't the sudden yelling that woke up the neighbors, no, that was to be expected of the man who lived in that house.
No.
What woke the neighbors up was the sudden BANG and a POP along with a brilliant, violet flash of light from every window of that house that lasted for a good minute before fading.
When a concerned neighbor found the front door left open, they expected many, many, horrible things...
What they found was a million times worse.
Cameras Flashed.
Shinjuurou Yuuki, the once Defeated Detective, had a sense of Dejavu as he entered the bedroom.
"Welcome to Casa de Murder...Uh...Seven. I think," Katawase grumbled. "It's way too late for this shit."
The bedroom was coated ceiling to floor and everything in between with blood.
The bed held the remains of a single man, whose head was now lying on the floor, covered up with a cloth.
"So...uh..." I said, staring up at the walls in fascinated horror. "What happened?"
"First glance?" Katawase grumbled- "Guy got his head blown off at the neck from the inside out."
"O...kay?" Shinjuurou looked at the body that was presently being photographed by the Coroner on duty. It definitely looked like the neck had literally exploded. "What with?"
"Ain't got a clue what made him go boom," Katawase grumbled, "and quite frankly, my dear detective, I don't give a damn until I've got three gallons of coffee down the hatch and a ten ton bottle of brain bleach to get the sight out of my eyes."
It certainly was gruesome, especially the...ah...nether regions.
"So what happened there?" I had to ask.
"Guy got his dick cut off and shoved down his throat along with whatever made it go boom, the remains of it are still stuck in his mouth, which is how we know that...urgh," Katawase said without care, rubbing at her forehead. "It's Too Fucking early for this."
"That's certainly..." Shinjuurou struggled for the words. "...Odd."
"And you're sure it's Yuuko's work?" I asked, even though I knew what she'd probably say.
"Neighbors saw a blinding flash of pink light through every single window," Katawase said. "Also, check out the blood splatter fringes."
Shinjuurou and I did just that, and we both blinked in confusion.
"Is that a butterfly?" Shinjuurou finally asked.
Every fragment of blood had landed in the distinct pattern of butterflies, almost as if someone had decided to take a spray brush on a computer program, set it to a Butterfly Stencil, and then coat the walls in a blood red coloring.
"Damn it...It's definitely Yuuko, alright," I grumbled.
"Vic's name is Cronus Yusa," I said as we stepped into a coffee shop for a much needed break. "And I don't think I need to tell you what this means."
"After what we heard them talking about when we walked up to that door," Inga said, "Yuuko could've been anywhere in that hallway and heard it just like we did."
"She could have even been inside that room, and just transformed too," Shinjuurou added onto that.
"It's way too early for this..." I peered out at the small line at the counter, then glanced at my watch. 1:13 A.M. "Buncha f'kin' night owls..." I moved to join the line. "You comin'?"
After ordering our coffee, receiving it, and finding a table to sit at, we resumed the conversation I was trying to ignore.
"The one thing we know for sure though," Shinjuurou said, "is that Yuuko wasn't after his soul."
"All that blood on the wall was laced with it," Inga added quietly. "The pink flash of light they all saw was the soul exploding out through his neck with nowhere else to go."
"So this was a revenge killing plain and simple,"I took a sip of my coffee- Ow! Hot...! Hot! "Okay," I forced the grimace away, "so... What's our next move?"
"Informing next of kin, obviously," Shinjuurou said. "If Yuuko is watching those kids closely enough for most of them to recognize the sketch, when the rest of the school population we've asked has said they don't recognize her at all...Then that means she's got something in mind for them."
"You thinking Yuuko's possessing one of them?" I took another, this time more cautious sip of coffee. Ahh, Much better...!
I think I burnt my tongue though...
"That, or she's hiding out in one of the nearby rooms..." Inga grumbled. "That whole hallway smelled like her. The clubroom too."
"We'll have to do some investigating tomorrow during classes," Shinjuurou said, "then ask this..." he reached into his pocket to pull out a flyer he'd found on a poster board, "'Neighbors Club'," he read the name, "more than a few questions."
"I did some digging earlier after our little encounter earlier," I started to recall the information I'd looked up. "Turns out that the older blond chick was Kashiwazaki, Sena, daughter of Kashiwazaki, Pegasus, the headmaster of the school. Yusa-chan's her classmate."
"Odd coincidence," Inga noted, then took a sip out of his own coffee.
"Not really," I said, "the girl in the maid costume? Kusunoki, Yukimura. I think she's the student who tried jumping off of the bell tower."
"They're in the same club," Shinjuurou said, "that makes sense why the Chairman Headmaster guy would go to such lengths to keep it quiet."
"I think that's our trigger event, this girl leaping off of the tower." I brought up my cellphone and scrolled to a picture of the broken gate, "Here, look at this." I held it out for Inga and Shinjuurou to see.
"Wow, that's totally busted!" Inga grinned slightly, then frowned. "Wait a second. What is that?"
"It was the gate keeping students from doing just what Kusunoki did. Climbing up to jump off," I pocketed my phone after they'd gotten a good look. "Apparently, Hasegawa, Kodaka- pudding haired guy- and Shiguma, Rika- the brown haired girl with glasses who, by the way, is also one of THE scientific minds of her generation. She doesn't even have to go to the school, and only does such because Kashiwazaki Senior had her brought in-" I paused to take another swig of coffee, I was starting to ramble- "Well, right, apparently those two FOUND the gate that way when they went to rescue Kusunoki."
Shinjuurou mused... And then snapped his fingers. "Inga- remember the case with the other Rising Sun?"
"Haah?" Inga blinked.
"Where the gold was inside the Tank," Shinjuurou reminded him.
"Oh yeah! I totally tore that thing open like it was tissue..." Inga's enthusiasm fell flat in that moment. "Paper."
"So either Kusunoki's Yuuko's host, or Yuuko was trying to kill Kusunoki by breaking down the gate for her and letting her climb up on her own," Shinjuurou said.
"Kusunoki's also one of the only three club members that didn't recognize the sketch," I added. "The other two, Takayama, Maria, and Hasegawa, Kobato, aren't likely suspects, though."
"Why's that?" Shinjuurou asked.
"Too young," I said. "Plus, did you see how they were dressed? A Nun and a Vampire? Obviously cosplaying. Yuuko's got no real reason to hang around in one of them."
"That's assuming that Yuuko's not keeping her host in the dark," Inga spoke up. "When I...ah...met Shinjuurou for the first time," He struggled with the words for a moment, "I kept him aware of everything that was going on. But I just as easily could have made him unaware of what was going on."
"What about the others and their backgrounds?" Shinjuurou asked.
"Mikazuki, Yozora, she's the one who did the club's paperwork, also done incorrectly I might add, since she lists Takayama, Maria as the Teacher." I chuckled, "That kid's just the sister of a Sister who teaches at the school...But I don't think she actually doesn't know she's not a real teacher. I interviewed her sister, Takayama, Kate. Apparently she just thinks the Nun costume is cute and thinks the paperwork she has Maria do will build character..." I shook my head, then took a large gulp of coffee. Ahh, much better now that it's cooled off some! "Anyways, Mikazuki lists Hasegawa, Kodaka, as a co-founder. His younger sister is the vampire we saw in there. Mikazuki's generally a 'cold' person, from what I was able to gather up, but Hasegawa, Kodaka, has a much larger rap sheet in terms of the rumors circulating about him...curiously, a lot of those stopped after he saved Kusunoki from falling to her doom."
"It all comes back to her, doesn't it?" Shinjuurou mused.
"Seems like it..." Inga cracked a rather creepy grin. "This is going to be fun."
"...Did he always used to be that creepy?" I asked, "Or is it just how early it is and I need more coffee?"
"I blame what little coffee he's had," Shinjuurou remarked, and then casually sipped at his own coffee.
"Anyways," I took another sip of coffee, definitely way too early for this shit, "the Hasegawas are mixed Japanese-British, mother died a few years back, father works overseas...Oh, and get this."
"Let me guess, ties to Kashiwazaki's family?" Shinjuurou asked.
"Got it in one," I nodded, even as Inga went for another sip of coffee himself, then said. "It's ridiculous how tied up all these kids are."
"It's the perfect knot for Yuuko to try untangling..." Inga paused, then added, "or to try her best to keep together while she hides away in it."
"So our suspect pool's been narrowed down to Yuuko stalking them, or possessing Kusunoki..." Shinjuurou mused.
"I'm planning on taking a trip to her house tomorrow morning," I then corrected herself, "Sorry, this morning. Once I get some sleep, I mean. Maybe I'll catch her parents and be able to ask if there have been any changes in behavior...Beyond the Suicide thing, I mean."
"We'll run some tests on the walls during classes," Shinjuurou said, "see if Yuuko was hiding in any of the other rooms and we missed her."
Inga took another sip of coffee.
"You're going to have to break the news to Yusa that her dad's dead," I pointed a finger at him causally while holding my coffee cup with the same hand. I think I'm finally starting to feel the caffeine starting to work.
"I'll leave that to Rie," Shinjuurou said, then taking another sip of his coffee. "If Yuuko's targeting this club now, I want her as far away from it as possible."
"She's not going to like that," I warned.
"Tell me about it," Shinjuurou grumbled. "She wasn't too happy that I got called out of bed just after midnight."
"We'll make it up to her by catching Yuuko," Inga said with a lot of determination and a widening grin.
"Yeah alright, that's enough coffee for you," Shinjuurou reached for the cup, but Inga just held it out of arm's length.
"No! It's mine! MINEEEEE! Do you hear me, Shin-Juu-Ro!?" Inga hissed at the Detective- "MIIIIINEEEEE!"
"Fine," Shinjuurou said, "but Kazamori's going to hit you over the head if you don't calm down before breakfast."
Kazamori slapped Inga over the head with the diner menu.
"Ow!" Inga yelped.
"Told you," Shinjuurou said with a dry chuckle.
"That's for letting me sleep without telling me you were heading out," Kazamori said towards Inga, ignoring Shinjuurou's comment. "I thought for a moment that...that...!"
"I'm sorry," Inga said, bowing his head sharply so fast that it actually hit the table. With a clatter and a "Gah!" Inga flew backwards, hands clutching towards his forehead, and then... BAMPF, he hit his head on the back of the booth. "OWOWOWOW!"
Kazamori, to her credit, only giggled for a split second before reaching over to inspect the damage, "Are you okay?"
"I got hit in the head three times within a minute," Inga grumbled, "what do you think...?"
I just sat there watching for a few moments, and then turned to Shinjuurou and said, crossly, "So you're making me go deliver the bad news to the girl while you and Inga and Kazamori test how well sound travels between walls?"
"Rie, I'd rather not have either you or Kazamori anywhere near Yuuko if she goes off," Shinjuurou said. "Too much risk that she'll attack you."
"And what about you and Inga?" I asked.
"If things go the way I expect they will, she won't hurt us," he said in that 'so sure' way that was always so infuriating. "If things don't, then it's pointless to plan because I have no clue what she'll be doing."
I thought on that for a moment as I chewed on a fork-full of strawberry topped pancake...Then I said after finishing, "Then you'd better make sure things go the way you expect them to."
"Will do," He said.
"And don't die on either of us, alright?"
"I'll try not to."
"So what are we going to do for dinner?" Inga yelled from the Clubroom.
From a few rooms down the hallway, I tabbed the radio and said, "Victory Pizza, I believe, and I heard you loud and clear. Shinjuurou-sama?"
Click! "Didn't hear a thing from down here. Looks like this room's the outer limits of hearing range for that clubroom."
Click! "Pizza!? Awesome!"
I winced at the sound coming through the micro-speaker as Inga's voice carried through the walls well enough without its aid.
Click! "Just... Don't use the radio to say that next time, please? You nearly blew my eardrum out with the feedback."
Click! "Oh, sorry. I forgot for a moment..."
I sighed, then clicked in again, "Shinjuurou-sama, how far away are you compared to my present position?"
Click! "Edge of the building. If this is his yelling range, then we've got a good baseline to try to figure out the normal talking distance. Inga, feel free to monologue...Room level, though."
Click! "Yokai!"
And then silence.
That means I'm far enough out to not hear room level voices. Time to begin walking closer.
After two months of having time to adjust to having an organic body rather than a robotic one, I have to say I've come to the conclusion that being a Robot was at least more useful, technologically speaking, for tasks like these.
Add in the hormonal imbalances... and emotional responses.
I've wondered on certain occasions why and how humans put up with their own daily lives...
And then I could hear Inga talking, I stopped walking.
"...just want this Yuuko thing to be over with so I can put it all behind me once and for all." He was saying. "No more powers...no more cases... Just...just figuring things out. That's all I want. A chance for us to figure things out and be able to just... work!" He sounded so exasperated at himself. "I feel like I'm a gear just not meshing...I'm missing pieces and...I just want to be able to figure out how to turn properly...if that even makes any sense... Damn it mind! Come up with metaphors that actually make sense! Gears...really? What am I even thinking here!?"
Click! "I happen to think gears are an appropriate metaphor for our situation," I said.
The sound of Inga fumbling over his words was rather satisfying.
I then added onto the radio- "By the way, I'm able to hear you now. Shinjuurou-sama?"
Click! "Nothing yet. Still walking. Keep talking."
Click! "Understood," I said, and then made note of where I was at. At least two rooms away from the club room.
"So, ah...how much of that did you hear?" Inga asked.
Click! "Everything from 'Just want this' to 'what am I thinking'," I said.
"So pretty much half of that then..."
Click! "I'm going to start searching the other rooms now."
"Oh, alright."
Click! "Feel free to keep talking."
"Right! Sure thing!"
I went into one of the club rooms, and started walking around as I listened.
"So ah...Is it too early to start thinking about names?" He sounded rather distant at middle of this room.
Click! "No, considering the trouble we had naming Kato."
"Right so..." and by the corners, rather un-hearable at all. Back towards the door... "... we could name him Spike, and if it's a girl, we could go with-"
Click! "Don't say Twilight, Sparkle, or Buffy, Please."
"I was actually thinking maybe Angie?"
Click! "Angie? Really?" I stepped out of the room and moved for one of the other rooms.
"Well, they can't all be winners, but..."
Click! "I actually like it. Angie sounds good for a girl's name, even if it does follow that same Vampire theme I accidentally set up there."
"R-Really?" Again- middle of the room, low-quality sounds...
Click! "If it's a boy though, I was thinking Souji."
"I really like that name!" Bizarrely- the further corners of the room were louder despite being further away.
"Strange..." I frowned.
"Huh?" Inga asked.
"There's an odd pocket of space here that has sounds being louder," I frowned. "I'm not even using the Radio right now."
"Ehh!?" And then he realized- "Hey! You're right!"
Click! "Shinjuurou-sama, I've found a spot in one of the club rooms that amplifies the sound somehow..." I looked upwards, and then described what I'd spotted, "An air vent, Iit looks like. Inga, see if there's anything in that room like that."
Click! "Got it!"
Click! "Good find, Kazamori. That's one notch towards Yuuko spying on them from somewhere else."
Click! "Thank you, but I'm not certain that this room is being used by Yuuko for spying."
Click! "Found a vent! It's hidden under the table..."
Click! "Thank you, Inga." I narrowed my eyes up at the ceiling vent. Now how exactly did the vents work out like that?
Up and then...down? Was there a maze system or something?
That shouldn't work at all.
There's something weird about this school.
"My...dad...?"
I so did not want to be doing this right now.
"How...did he die?" Aoi Yusa asked.
So. SO do not want.
"Well..." If what Shinjuurou said was true, then... Damn it, how do I make this child friendly? Sigh, guess there's no way around it. "Someone cut off his junk and used it to push something down his throat that...well...made his neck explode."
She just blinked at me, and then, sort of made this wet whining sound from the back of her throat. "Oh My God!" and then there came the waterworks... bound to happen given... "I DIDN'T DO IT!"
"W-What?"
"I was just blowing off steam when I said I wanted him to choke on his words, and-and- I called him a dick too!" Aoi was crying now. "I really didn't want someone to actually cut it off and choke him on it...!"
What.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Silence.
I frowned.
The Kusunoki residence was as silent as a mouse. Neighbors never even noticed it, since apparently the house was always usually quiet. The only sign of abandonment was the massive stack of mail growing in the Mailbox, and a small pile of newspapers by the front door.
Apparently, the night before Kusunoki, Yukimura jumped, she had a fight with her parents, which had been the only sign of activity the neighbors remembered due to it's unusualness...
"What's that?" I asked aloud despite nobody being there. "Is someone asking for help?"
And with that- I kicked the front door open and stormed inside.
"POLICE! IS ANYONE HOME!?"
Silence again.
I quickly began searching the rooms, one by one by one by-
Wait- was that a sword?
I stopped in the dining room and looked up at the Ancestral Katana laying on display on the mantle in its sheath.
Carefully, I pulled on latex gloves and went over to pick up the weapon...
"Please don't be covered in blood, please don't be covered in blood..." And I slid it open.
Shit.
The "Defeated Detective", Inga, Kazamori, and Rie were discussing something with a concerned Aoi Yusa when the Neighbors Club arrived to make use of their clubroom.
"What's going on here?" Yozora asked.
"We're just finishing up with Yusa-chan, actually," Rie then said to the red-head. "Let's head over to the Nurses office, alright?"
"Ok," Yusa nodded, and then the two of them left.
Shinjuurou then said, "Kazamori, you take the kids into other room. They don't need to hear this."
"Understood," and with that, Kazamori turned to Kobato and Maria, "could you two please come with me?"
"What's going on that you're splitting us up like this?" Kodaka asked.
"We're conducting a murder investigation," Inga said.
"Yusa, Aoi's father was murdered last night," Shinjuurou said once Kazamori had lead Kobato and Maria out of the room and closed the door behind her. "Specifically, his dick was cut off and shoved down his throat along with an organic explosive device."
Yozora's face went pale, and Sena looked as if she wanted to throw up. Kodaka got a disgusted look on his face, and Rika...
"Organic explosive!?" She was actually somewhat hyper about that. "What kind of explosive is it!? What happened?! Rika's never heard of such a thing!"
"We're not at liberty to discuss that," Shinjuurou said. "We're just wanting to ask you all a few questions."
"What about Kobato-chan and Maria?" Sena asked.
"They're not suspects," Inga said.
"Wha'd'ya mean I'm not a teacher!?" Maria yelled in surprise.
"I mean exactly what I said," I said to the girl. "Your older sister just pawns her work off on you."
And then Kobato began to ask, "Then...Is she a Nun?"
"What?" I asked. "No. Maria Takayama not even officially registered as a Nun in the school records. In fact, it's for that reason that I just felt like I should inform you of your current status as being incorrectly set as the Club's adviser in the event that it becomes an issue-"
"I'M NOT A TEACHER!" Maria cheered- and then the two girls threw themselves at each other into a massive hug, which only confused me more as Kobato cheered:
"And I'm not going to hell for fucking a nun! YEAH!"
"Wait...What?" I knit my eyebrows in confusion. "I feel like I'm missing something here."
"We broke a whole lot less rules than we thought we did!" they cheered as one.
Needless to say, I was completely confused by this turn of events.
"I don't got a clue what that racket was about just now," Shinjuurou said, "but I think they went into the clubroom with the vent."
"Ignoring that, though," Inga continued on. "We have reason to believe that Yuuko's been spying on you all, atleast during the last few days."
"Why's that?" Kodaka asked.
"Because, as you may or may not recall," Shinjuurou said, "Aoi Yusa said yesterday that she wished sometimes that her father would 'choke on his own dick', to paraphrase loosely, and that's exactly what happened."
"Yuuko's attacks all have a twinge of irony about them," Inga said. "She's like a trickter in that sense. Always giving people their just deserts in a way that's a befitting humiliation to them."
"So what?" Yozora asked. "You think its one of us, don't you?"
And then a cellphone rang.
Shinjuurou answered with a "hello" and stood there silently for a moment. And then I watched as he hung up with a "We're here right now, Thanks," and said, "No, Mikazuki-san, we know who Yuuko's been pretending to be, and we're about to make an arrest, even as I speak."
Inga frowned- "So what, this whole show was for nothing then?"
"Not for nothing," and then Shinjuurou turned towards me and asked, "Yukimura Kusunoki, your suicide attempt wasn't just because your parents were upset with you, was it?"
"What kind of a question is that!?" Kodaka nearly shouted.
Rika put her hands on my shoulders, and said, "It's alright, you don't have to answer that..."
And then I said- "You can stop now."
And they did.
The four Neighbors Club members all froze in place, because I had commanded it.
I shrugged out of Rika's grip, and took a few steps forwards to the front of the group.
"You can remember now," I said.
And then they all remembered what I had made them forget.
Sena was the only one who didn't react to the sudden onslaught of memories- hers being the least meddled with. And so she stood on her feet while the others all fell to their knees. "What...Yukimura...?"
I just turned towards Inga and Shinjuurou and asked them, "When did you figure it out?"
"We didn't," Shinjuurou said, "not until Katawase called to let us know that you forgot to clean the blood off of the family Katana that was hanging on your wall in the dining room."
"Damn," I laughed faintly, "it's always something that catches the criminal up in the end, isn't it? Always one tiny little detail..."
"Why are you possessing Kusunoki, Yuuko?" Inga asked.
"Possessing?" I asked- "I'm not possessing at all. Yukimura had a broken soul...I had a broken soul. When I was released from you, I floated, and my soul found its mate in Yukimura. I made her whole...and then she made use of my powers to uncover the truth from her parents."
With a rumble, and a shift of energy, I transformed from the little girls form into that of the older woman, Yuuko, even though it was different from what it had been when I was Inga.
Yes, take a step back, Shinjuurou. Eyes go wide in fear, Inga.
"I was content to slumber beneath the surface, filling in the gaps." I sneered, "And then her parents shattered what remained of her personality when they told the truth." I then quoted Yukimura's mother, down to the inflection. "Because I wanted a son to carry on my family legacy. Not a daughter whose only purpose is to bear children." And then I quoted Yukimura's father, down to his gruff voice, "Because I could give her no heir of my own, so I let her sleep with the Chef."
I sneered, "They thought she would never raise a hand against them. How wrong they were when, as their souls started to leave their body, I took that blade off of the wall and cut them open. And then I hunted down that chef who still worked for the family and I sliced him into pieces before I fed them all to the ocean!"
"But she saw, didn't she?" Inga asked. "That girl whose body you're using saw what you did. And she hated it." He scowled. "It wasn't the fact that her parents wanted something else from her that drove her to jump off of that tower, it was You."
"Clever boy, Inga," I narrowed my eyes at him. "Clever boy."
"She broke down the gate at the bell tower using your powers, and then made to jump," Shinjuurou said. "But they caught her. These friends of hers."
"And I'm thankful to them for allowing her the chance to live, but..." I scowled, "Yukimura is a coward. Too ashamed to even see that they care for her, and every time they try to reach through to her, she forces me to take the limelight instead when all I want to do is rest and recover my energy."
"But all of that must have drained you," Shinjuurou continued. "Your powers must have been really weakened from being separated from Inga. And then there's the hypnotism...Managing Bettenou's powers ontop of that must be quite the strain."
"I have to feed to just to stay alive!" I growled- "She doesn't care that I've been doing all of this for her! I saw the look in her parents eyes as they spilled the truth. The small fraction of soul they were giving up wasn't enough to kill them, so they were going to Kill Yukimura for finding out...I had to kill them to protect her but she just didn't...! I was so drained from that entire night alone that I needed a full soul to just keep going... It's just my luck that the first person I happened to feed on had to be someone from this school. Maybe if I'd gone for someone else I wouldn't have run into this problem of finding you two."
"I guess we gave you too much credit then," Inga said. "And here I thought you were plotting a whole course of ironic revenge when it turns out that you're just making shit up as you go along."
"I guess you-"
And then Sena tried to tackle me.
Damn- was this whole thing just a distraction to get me Monologging!?
I spun around and grabbed her by the chin as she tried to rush me, and I brought her face up to mine before I spoke, not so much to Sena as to the room itself, "Think long and hard about what you want to do next. Otherwise I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something Yukimura wouldn't like."
In that brief moment of indecision, she transformed into a burst of Butterflies and escaped.
Kashiwazaki hit the floor, stunned, and Inga just ran forwards to try to grab another butterfly...
But that was a no go- Yuuko had already escaped.
"Damn it," I grumbled.
So much for sticking to the plan.