Disclaimer::::
I do not own Harry Potter or Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro characters. Only my OC Character (s).
I don't make any profit from any of my stories on this website.
Rated M for future sexual content and language
"Characters Speaking"
Characters Thinking
/Author Comments/
~~~Chapter Twenty~~~
~~~Previous~~~
Everyone is back to normal. They are no longer brainwashed and being controlled. The cure HAL provided proved to be quite effective. All of the criminals that were created via Electronic Drug have disappeared.
Unfortunately, Yako got much more fame than she ever wanted. Neuro is, of course, happy with the results.
Neuro is reading the newspaper, Yako on the front page. "The mystery Denjin HAL created was quite delicious, but it cannot be classified as an ultimate mystery." Neuro burns the newspaper with his hand as it glows green. "I am searching for the ultimate mystery. It's hiding somewhere in the surface world."
Yako is standing in front of the window, facing outside. "Hey. The ability to think, the ability to continue thinking. It's really a harsh ability. The professor and HAL couldn't do it. To forget her."
"Forget? Idiotic." Neuro appears next to Yako, puts his leg under her chin, and dangles her from the ceiling. "It'll turn out like this if you forget, Yako."
"What the heck is this?!" Yako demands.
"To forget is also to forget how to evolve. It's nothing different from the world dying slowly. Even though I cannot understand his feelings for one woman, until now..." He mutters the last part, but I hear him. "But if Haruka forgot, there would be no Denjin-HAL. And if Denjin-HAL forgot, there would be no mystery. Do not forget, Yako. Do not forget anything. My teasing, torture, the tears you shed for Aya and HAL, you shall not forget."
"Neuro," Yako mutters.
"By not forgetting, you evolve." Neuro points out.
"I get it..." Yako agrees. "Even if you didn't say it, I still will not forget."
"It's great that you understand." Neuro praises sarcastically.
"Then...let me down." Yako queries.
"That's a no-no." Neuro denies.
Yako lets out a sigh of disbelief. I let out a chuckle as Yako gave in.
~~~Present~~~
I change into my Chinese violet and black princess dress and my light purple coat before heading over to the office. Yako isn't back yet, but she hasn't long finished school, not to mention she keeps on being followed by her fans.
Neuro and I leave the office when Yako calls me about a person being found dead along with his dog outside. We get there when Yako mentions seeing Sai. Neuro pulls her nose, making her stop talking. "Sensei, don't jump to conclusions."
"Hey, don't enter without permission," Ishigaki warns.
Neuro lets go of Yako's nose. "Ouch!"
"I'm sorry, I came because sensei called us," Neuro admits.
"Yako-chan, did you see Phantom Sai?" Sasazuka questions.
Yako goes to answer when Neuro pulls on her scarf. "Sensei must've seen illusions due to hunger." He drags her via her scarf through the door. "Okay, Sensei, we should leave it to the police-san. Let's go back."
Neuro lets Yako go as we get outside. Yako climbs over the yellow tape. "I really saw him. That has to be Sai!"
"This doesn't seem to be the type of crime Sai would do, though." I point out thoughtfully.
"I'm not interested in your shitty reports. But that table seems like something that suits my taste." Neuro states.
"Believe me!" Yako states before her phone goes off.
"Is it Akane? I told her to look up the origins of that table." Neuro admits.
Yako takes out her phone. "Oh, yeah."
"How many mysteries do I need to fill up my stomach?" Neuro comments as he continues walking.
I let out a sigh. "It hasn't been long since he ate HAL'S mystery."
Yako lets out a sigh. "Has he still not recovered?"
"It looks like it." I agree softly. "We better catch up with Neuro."
We follow Neuro to the shop where the table was made. "It seems like this is the place. Excuse us! Is there anyone here? No one?"
Neuro moves Yako before him, and a bowl of noodles covers her head. A woman storms past angrily. "You're the worst! You aren't even human."
"Ouch, that hurt." A male voice states, moving the tabletop off himself. "What's that woman doing...she thinks this is her own place." This man has spiky black hair and brown eyes. He has a small beard and a moustache. He is wearing a red shirt underneath a creme jacket, black trousers, and black shoes. He opens his eyes and sees us. "Customers?"
"No..." Yako denies.
He points at Yako. "I've seen you on TV! You've received a medal from the prime minister!"
"Yes, this is the female high school detective, Katsuragi Yako-sensei." Neuro introduces.
"Nice to meet you." Yako bows slightly. "I'm wondering...what was wrong with that lady just then?"
"Nothing much..." The man denies it. "I just told her to become a table. Seriously...women these days don't even have the heart to be a piece of furniture. Detective-san, do you want to be her substitute?"
"No, thank you." Yako denies.
"If you don't want to be a table, a chair will do." The man offers.
"I'm not here to do these kinds of things." Yako denies it once more.
"Then, what are you here for?" The man questions.
"An owner of a table that you designed died in an unexplainable way," Yako states.
"Is it that red table?" He queries without hesitation.
"You're not surprised..." Neuro states.
He walks by Yako. "That table design is one of the hottest modern styles. The material is high-quality wood from the Ibase of the Himalayas."
Neuro moves from behind Yako. "I've seen the real thing. It sure is an amazing piece."
"Yeah." The man agrees, looking at Neuro. "But still, it kills. People." Yako lets out a low gasp of surprise. "This isn't the first time. Previous owners were also like that...Screaming in pain on the table, they seemed like they wanted to destroy the table before dying."
Yako still looks surprised while I look to see Neuro's eyes glowing his usual green.
"Ikeya-san." A young man walks from the left, hands in his pockets. He has blonde hair slicked back and brown eyes, and he is wearing a black shirt, brown jacket, grey trousers, and black shoes. "Oh, you have customers?"
"Oh! It's Otsuka." Ikeya walks towards him. "Nope, these three are not customers. They seem like they're here for information on the red table."
"That is..." Neuro trails off.
"He's my former apprentice, Otsuka." Ikeya places his hands on his shoulders with a smile. "He used to work here with me making furniture. But now he works by himself, as a famous professional designer."
Otsuka is told about the red table. "Red table...you mean Troy?"
"Yeah." Ikeya agrees.
"Troy?" Neuro queries.
"The name that Ikeya-san gave the red table. Do you know the legend of Troy? Hiding the troops in a giant wooden horse. Losing on purpose, leaving the wooden horse behind when they left. The enemies brought the horse inside their gates, thinking it was loot. The troops hiding inside the horse could then penetrate the castle walls easily. It's a story like that." Otsuka comments.
Ikeya looks away and closes his eyes. "In my view, I think that the wooden horse must be a totally amazing piece of design. It must've been suspicious to leave it outside the walls. Even after considering that, they brought it in. The magnificent female horse. I followed the story as a standard to design Troy. I thought to myself that it doesn't matter now that I've made what I wanted to. That was my last piece of work in my crafting life."
Otsuka places his hand over his mouth, face pale. "But I can't believe it's the same as the legend, killing people inside the walls."
Ikeya stands up. "But there's nothing bad about that. Everything has their own feelings. That table named Troy might just be killing by its own intent."
Yako looks down deep in thought. But is snapped out of it when Sasazuka's voice is heard. "You're Ikeya Tooru-san? We would like to hear more on what you've just said."
"Sasazuka-san!" Yako exclaims in surprise.
"My god, first detectives, now police? What's with this..." Ikeya trails off.
"You should understand most clearly what's going on with this," Ishigaki states.
"I have to be suspected in the death of the owner? Do you have any physical evidence?" Ikeya queries.
"That's what we're investigating now," Sasazuka admits.
Otsuka walks behind Ikeya. "Ikeya-san, did you set the switch on Troy?"
"Hey!" Ikeya scolds after his eyes widen.
"Switch? What switch?" Ishigaki questions.
"Baka, learn to keep your mouth shut." Ikeya scolds.
"It won't matter, right Ikeya-san? You can't be the murderer." Otsuka denies. "Considering that, why not spill the beans? The wood Ikeya-san likes to use is high-quality wood that doesn't change shape easily. Using that, Ikeya-san will set a little switch on some of his works. For example, this table."
He leans down and crouches near the table drawers. He opens the first and last drawer. "If you close the first and last drawer at the same time, it results in forcing highly concentrated air between the drawers. Please look under the table carefully..."
Sasazuka goes to the back of the table as Otsuka continues talking. "Before the concentrated air dissipates, quickly open the middle drawer. The compressed air will be released in a specific location, and the small trap door will open."
He opens the middle drawer, and something comes from the bottom right corner underneath the desk. Yako and Ishigaki let out a gasp of surprise. "What is this?" Yako questions as she picks up the card.
Ikeya turns his head to the right. "I...it's nothing!" He stutters. "It's just a small prank."
"If it's poison instead of the card in the trap door, then according to the situation, it could kill." Ishigaki points out.
"Is there such machinery on Troy?" Sasazuka asks.
"There is...but seriously, it isn't me who did it." Ikeya denies.
"Exactly. Why would Ikeya-san kill his customers?" Otsuka states before resting his hand over his chin. "Even though he sometimes thinks women as furniture and vice versa, and is a bit messed up..."
Neuro smirks as I follow his gaze to see Otsuka smirk underneath his hand.
Sasazuka looks at Ikeya. "The high-class furniture which is so passionately crafted...To you, it is like the best woman. You wanted to buy back the woman that you sold."
Ikeya spreads his arms out down by his sides. "Give me a break...If that's the case, I wouldn't sell it in the first place!"
Sasazuka walks forward and places his hand on Ikeya's right shoulder. "Anyways, let's talk about this in detail after we go to the police station."
Sasazuka and Ishigaki take Ikeya out to their car. "FUCK! I don't want to sit on those shitty chairs in the police station." Ikeya moans as he walks to the car.
We watch as Sasazuka drives past us. "Smells like shit," Neuro comments as the car drives off.
Yako looks confused and looks up at Neuro. Neuro looks down at her, his innocent face seen. He waves his arms in front of him. "No...I'm not saying that you smell like shit. Even though you are a piece of junk." Neuro states as he looks to the side before looking back at Yako with a smile. "Anyways, let's not talk about this."
Yako sweat-drops and lowers her head with a flat expression on her face. "You just had to explain it like that with such evil intentions..."
"Exactly, this is it, Yako." Neuro agrees, gaining our attention. Neuro looks in front of him, his eyes glowing green. "Such evil-intentioned explanations will destroy someone's image."
~~~Back at the Office~~~
I was about to sit on the couch, but Neuro gently grabbed my arm and pulled me onto his lap. I blink my eyes a couple of times before I shrug my shoulders, getting comfortable and rest my head against his neck with a sigh of pleasure. Resting against Neuro is comfortable.
I watch as Neuro reads the newspaper before looking at Akane, who has the card from the desk and is typing away. I look beneath Neuro to see Yako on her hands and knees, acting like a chair.
"Why do I have to be a chair?" Yako queries.
"If you're not happy about it, can I rip your intestines out to let me put my toys in there?" Neuro comments nonchalantly.
Yako lowers her head in disbelief. "Impossible...I'll just be a chair."
Akane stops typing and waves about getting our attention. Neuro looks up from the newspaper. "It seems like Akane has finished her translation."
I move away from Neuro's neck as he helps me off his lap. Neuro gets off Yako and wraps his arm around my waist as we walk to Akane. We read the translation, and Yako lets out a surprised gasp.
~~~At the Police Station~~~
Yako opens the door to the interview room, where Ikeya is sitting on one side while Sasazuka and Ishigaki are on the other. Sasazuka is holding a bag with a red bottle inside.
Yako does the movements with her left arm, with no help from Neuro. "The murderer is... YO-eegh..."
Yako is cut off when Neuro hits the top of her head with his closed fist. Yako falls to the floor with a thud. Neuro looks up with a smile. "It looks like it's not."
Neuro asks to talk privately to Ikeya, so Sasazuka and Ishigaki leave the room. Yako sits down and takes out the card, holding it before her. "We've translated the text on this card."
"WHAT?' Ikeya exclaims, surprised, a blush on his cheeks.
"'I'll lend you the woman that I treasure most; this woman belongs to you only. So please be with her forever.'" Yako reads out the translation. "It would be beautiful. That one day, you would get a letter of thanks from your desk."
Ikeya has his head on the table, holding his hair with his hands, making sounds of embarrassment. "God...this is so embarrassing." He lifts his head, still blushing. "That is just a secret message between my customer and me. Should we trade the women we treasure most? It's not something a 3rd person would understand."
Yako lets out a laugh. "I'm sure you won't let the desk, which you treated as your daughter, kill people."
Ikeya looks surprised as his eyes widen before he closes them, and a smile appears. "That's obvious. OH, THIS SHITTY CHAIR! I WANT TO SIT ON SOMEBODY!" He suddenly yells, his head tilted back.
Yako and I share a look before sharing a smile. He has a weird personality, but he is honest and loves the furniture he makes.
We leave the room and find Sasazuka and Ishigaki sitting in front of the computers. Ishigaki has his computer on, but Sasazuka looks up when we walk in. "The same table, the same poison. These are the only two connecting points between these two cases."
"Senpai...this..." Ishigaki speaks up. "Both victims owned pets. They were also killed by poison."
Neuro looks at the computer screen as his eyes glow green. He places his arm around my waist as he begins to walk away. "Let's go out, sensei, Yuuki."
Yako runs after us. "Wait, Neuro, where're you going?"
"If we get there, we may be able to understand everything." Neuro comments.
~~~At Oh!Tsuka~~~
Neuro is looking at a desk a sales lady took us to after Neuro's request. "This is the table that matches your needs."
"Oh, I see. What's the method of opening the secret trapdoor?" Neuro queries.
"We can only reveal that to customers who have already purchased the table." The woman admits.
"Oh, really?" Neuro sounds disappointed as the sales lady walks away. A smirk appears on Neuro's face as his left eye is completely green and connected to one of his mini eyeball cameras. "Just as I thought." Yako looks up at Neuro, surprised. Neuro closes his eyes. "The names of the victims are on their list of customers."
"What do you mean?" Yako questions, tilting her head slightly to the right.
"This mystery is on the tip of my tongue," Neuro announces with a smirk.
We head upstairs to Otsuka's office. Yako opens the door, causing Otsuka to turn in his chair to look. "Entering so suddenly...what is it?"
"The murderer is... YOU!" Yako points at Otsuka.
He scoffs. "Coming so suddenly, I thought you had something important to say. Are you really a famous detective?"
"Sensei is not lying." Neuro walks into the room. "The person who killed the two and framed Ikeya-san is you, Otsuka-san." Otsuka scoffs and turns his chair, showing us the back of it. "Your speech seems like protecting Ikeya-san. But actually, it's an evil-intentioned explanation to destroy his image. Right, sensei? Yuuki?"
"Yeah." We both agree.
"The poison that was discovered in Ikeya-san's shop could've easily been placed by you, who goes to his shop daily. Also, you've been making tables that have similar trap doors, like Ikeya-san's tables. We saw it in the showroom downstairs."
"So, what can that prove?" He turns his chair slightly. "Yes, I did learn those trap door designs from Ikeya-san. But the table that the victims owned, Troy, is Ikeya-san's design. I never even touched it." He turns away.
"No, no. The tables you made were just preparations for the crime. The names of the two victims are on the list of customers here. The date that their name was added is earlier than the date when they brought Ikeya-san's table. That means the shop that the victim chose first is your shop. After you showed them the table you made, which had the secret trapdoor design, you introduced them to Ikeya-san's shop. Ikeya-san never told his customers about the trapdoor, but you showed them. The method of opening the trapdoor you made is different. That's hint number one." Neuro comments.
I look to see Otsuka is still looking towards the window with that overconfident smirk on his face. I look back at Neuro as he continues talking.
"The other hint is the unexplainable death of the victim's pet. Healthy pets that died suddenly would surely cause fear in their owners. After giving these two hints to the victims...You forced the victim to drink the poison. They then started suffering from the poisoning. The only thing that's on the victim's mind is to find the cure; of course, he'll try and find it. But in the end, they lost their life. In the exact way that one would be if they were killed by the table. That means that both Ikeya-san and his table are innocent. Anyhow, hiding the poison in the table is far too difficult. The table can't bite nor lick."
Otsuka leans forward and entwines his fingers. I look to see that he is gritting his teeth together with the more Neuro spoke. "How do you propose the victims took the poison?"
Otsuka clenched his fingers tightly. "Looks like I have to show these guys, too, the feeling of a complete desk." I hear him murmur before speaking louder. "This is enough already. All that I need to do is to create furniture that expresses themselves more." He turns around and places his hands on the arms of the chair. "Even though Ikeya-san has good taste, he is missing the key points."
'Who cares if anyone buys it? As long as you're happy, it doesn't matter, right?' Ikeya is too honest, isn't he?
"In other words, it's the understanding and love for the furniture!" Otsuka yells before banging his head on his desk. His desk splits into cubes and stacks on top of each other.
With the desk gone, it shows Otsuka wearing no clothes apart from a pair of white underwear with a black rim. His chair is attached to his back via a metal band. One cube from the desk goes over his right arm, followed by his left. The desk's middle covers his chest and underwear, showing the drawers. Lastly, his hair changes shape and covers his eyes and a red table goes over his neck.
"If the furniture is a woman, then what basis does the user have for using them? Everything about a piece of furniture is its fitting feeling." He moves his left arm, and his lamp is attached to his wrist. "Furniture owns humans. Humans own furniture. Success can only be achieved by combining both! That means this is what a finished piece of furniture is! People who can't understand this beauty, there's only one piece of furniture that can be prepared for them."
He lowers his head, and his eyes are shown. They are now orange with a blue pupil. "A piece of furniture that will, by its own will, take their lives." He moves his fingers on his right hand, and the bottom door opens to show six crossbows with released arrows.
They head straight towards Yako. Yako dodges while Neuro gently pulls me out of the way. "What's with that?"
The door of the desk shuts as he clenches his fists. "Those two who were killed didn't understand anything. The first one was a right brat who used his parent's money, saying it was for the new school year, to buy furniture. The other is just a bastard salaryman who wanted to show off his sense to women." He smashes his arm against the window, causing a part to break. "I've tried so hard to make the furniture and the owner one, but they don't fucking care. Only after owning complete furniture can humans find true happiness."
Yako stands up and looks at Otsuka in disbelief as he continues. "People who look down on furniture can never achieve happiness nor balance. That's why I destroyed them with the power of furniture! And then, Ikeya, who is using the making of furniture as an excuse to not understand the beauty of merging these two things together, is the most sinful of ALL!"
The doors to the middle of the desk open to show five guns. "If you three have nothing to say, I'll finish you off."
Yako's face is blank as she looks on in shock. "Impossible...just from something as small as this, how did it turn into something like this?"
"You should expect it by now," I comment, sighing.
Neuro clicks his fingers, gaining Otsuka's attention. "Imperfect."
"What?" Otsuka demands.
"This level of merging, you can't say that it's perfect. To achieve that, you must merge with all the furniture."
As soon as Neuro stops talking, the ground begins to shake. "Eh? Earthquake?"
"Nope, it's my 777 Tools of Demon World. " Neuro comments.
I hear shouts from outside. "Hey, aren't you going a bit overboard?" Yako queries.
"It's true." Neuro agrees. "This one isn't worth me activating the Tools of Demon World, but..."
"Tools of Demon World?" I question.
The ground breaks open. "777 Tools of Demon World! Evil Tree." It is a large tree with snake-like creatures. Neuro walks towards Otsuka. His face glows before his true face appears. "Itadakimasu." He lunges forward, and his beak is placed over Otsuka's head.
The weapon disappears, leaving a large hole through all building floors. Yako looks over the edge from the other side of the room as I stand next to Neuro. "Now, he's one with much more furniture." Looking down, there's a lot of furniture on his chest and legs.
~~~Next Day~~~
~~~At The Office~~~
"It didn't have anything to do with Sai. It's all because of your scrappy instincts. I've wasted my power." Neuro scolds.
Yako makes a sound of agreement but continues to type away on her computer. "But that had to be Sai."
"Anyways, it's not bad to get this table for our payment," Neuro comments as he has his feet resting on top of Troy, the red table. I see Neuro narrow his eyes and rest his right hand over his left.
I see Yako get out the notebook she got from Sasazuka and gaze at it. They both must be thinking about Sai. He has disguised himself as someone else already and is wandering around undisturbed.
/Thank you for reading this chapter. Please leave a review. Your opinions are appreciated.\