[FFML] [fanfic][Yotsuba&!][Azumanga] Pretty Neighbor 2nd Visit, Chapter 25: Koiwai & Police?

[Mythril Moth]

This is kind of a weak chapter, sorry about that. Also, sorry for it taking 
so long; I've been busy trying to play catch-up to myself on the website 
version. (So far, we're online up through chapter 20; not much farther to go 
before getting caught up!)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRETTY NEIGHBOR 2ND VISIT
Chapter 25: Koiwai & Police?

by Mythril Moth
disclaimers and previous chapters can be found here:
http://www.mythrilmoth.net/pn2v/pn2v.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Midnight had come and gone; the rubberneckers had finally cleared off, and 
three night-duty police officers had taken over guard duty for the Koiwai 
house.

Koiwai absently twiddled the car keys Miura had tossed him before boarding 
the ambulance. Fuuka came out of the house, a tote bag slung over one 
shoulder; Yotsuba was curled up asleep in her arms, gently sucking on her 
thumb. "So, she finally cried herself out?" Koiwai asked.

"Yeah," Fuuka said, sighing. "Poor thing...forcing her to watch something 
that horrible..."

Koiwai's jaw tightened. "I'm starting to have thoughts along the lines of 
skinning Asagi alive. With a potato peeler."

"She does seem to bring out the best in everyone," Fuuka said with a tired 
sigh and a shake of the head.

The small family went out the gate, nodding to the uniformed officers on the 
sidewalk, and headed for Torako's car.

"So, what did the inspector say when he called?" Fuuka asked. In the last 
hour, Koiwai had gotten a phone call from Miura and another one from 
Ishiyama.

"They're arranging a safe house for us," Koiwai said as he strapped in and 
started the engine. "We'll be able to come and go as we like, for the most 
part, but not without an escort, and I'll be the only one allowed to return 
home for anything."

Fuuka sighed. "Dammit, this just..."

"I know," Koiwai replied. "But hey, I got some good news from Miura."

"Oh?"

"Torako's out of the emergency room and recovering," Koiwai said. "And her 
sister's waiting with the girls at the hospital."

"Her sister?" Fuuka echoed.

"Yeah, the one she told us about, remember?" Koiwai said. "Miura called her 
and she's there. She's anxious to meet Yotsuba."

"I'm a little surprised by that," Fuuka admitted. "I mean, from what 
Torako-san told us about her family..."

"She told us her *parents* hated her," Koiwai reminded her. "She never 
actually said her sister felt the same way. Just that she was jealous of 
her." He shrugged. "Her number was in Torako's phone, so I guess..."

"I see," Fuuka replied. "So, we're just gonna sit and wait with everyone at 
the hospital, or what?"

"Seems that way."

-----------------------------------

"What was it Sensei said about the neighborhood Asagi's mansion is in, 
Ena-chan?"

"Um...she said there were maybe a half dozen or so really rich people who 
had places there?" Ena recalled.

Minamo's eyes widened and her face paled. "NO," she gasped. "Not there. 
ANYWHERE but there...!"

"You know the neighborhood?" Miura asked.

"One of my favorite students lives in that neighborhood," Minamo said, a 
note of sick dread in her voice. She frowned. "We need a couple days to get 
ready before we can hunt this bitch down, right?"

"At least," Miura nodded.

Scowling, Minamo pulled out her phone. "Sakaki-san?" she asked. "I'm sorry 
to bother you so late at night...yes, it's Kurosawa-sensei. You live pretty 
close to Chiyo-chan, right? Yeah. Listen...I can't go into details, but I 
just found out there's someone really dangerous living in Chiyo-chan's 
neighborhood. Like yakuza dangerous. I don't know which house. Yeah. Yeah. 
I've got someone here who can describe her for you. Just...keep a close eye 
on Chiyo-chan, okay? But don't be obvious about it. These are pretty scary 
people. They assaulted my sister with a flamethrower. ...yeah, you heard me. 
No, she's alive. Yeah. Thanks, I appreciate it. Just...keep Chiyo-chan safe, 
at any cost, alright? And yourself too, I'd rather not wake up to find out 
you're dead or they're gang-raping you on a webcam or something. ...sorry. 
Didn't mean to upset you. Anyway, just...be on the lookout, okay? Yeah. I'm 
in Hyogo prefecture right now, my sister's in the hospital down here. I'll 
come home day after tomorrow. Here, let me hand you over to Miura-chan, she 
can tell you who to watch out for..."

After taking a moment to describe Asagi and her top lieutenants to the older 
girl on the phone, Miura hung up and handed it back to Minamo. "Please tell 
me we're not gonna regret what you just did," Miura said. "The last thing we 
need is some random schoolgirl freaking out because Asagi's people are 
scary..."

Wordlessly, Minamo pulled a photo out of her own wallet and handed it to 
Miura, tapping one of the girls in the picture with a fingernail.

"Whoa, wouldn't wanna fight HER," Miura said, blinking.

Ena took a look also, and eeped. "She's huge! She's like a girl version of 
Jumbo!"

"And I thought Neesan had big tits. WOW."

"Sakaki-san is actually very gentle," Minamo explained. "And very quiet. She 
just LOOKS tough." She paused. "Unless she thinks someone's about to hurt 
Chiyo-chan. Then she's every bit as tough as she looks." She grinned. "All 
the girls at school want to be her. A couple even want to date her."

"Can't say I blame 'em," Miura grinned.

Ena thumped her in the head. "You're spoken for. Look but don't touch."


"Yeah, yeah, don't worry," Miura groused.

Minamo observed this exchange, brow furrowed. "Wait a minute," she began. 
"You two aren't by any chance...?"

"Lovers? Yeah. And yes, Miura-chan is a girl," Ena said. She gave the 
teacher a defiant glare, as though challenging her to make something of it. 
Minamo did not rise to the bait.

"So, this Sakaki-san," Miura interrupted, clearing her throat. "If we 
explain all this mess with Asagi to her, do you think...?"

"She'd be able to help? Yeah," Minamo nodded. "Like I said, she's very quiet 
and gentle, but I've seen people get on her bad side, and I think she can 
handle herself in a bad situation."

"Who's the little kid?" Ena asked.

"Chiyo-chan," Minamo replied.

"I thought you said she was your student," Miura commented. "She's our 
age..."

"She's a genius kid," Minamo explained. "She skipped junior high entirely."

"Uoooooooooooh," Ena and Miura breathed, impressed.

Minamo frowned. "And unfortunately, she lives in the same neighborhood as 
our psycho."

Miura winced. "Yyyyyeah, we can't let Asagi find out a girl that smart and 
that cute lives nearby. It'd be...bad."

"Abduction bad?" Minamo asked.

"Gang rape child porn bad," Miura said, scowling.

"Oh good GOD," Minamo replied, sick.

"Yeah. Hate to be so blunt about it, but that's what we're dealing with 
here."

-------------------------------------

Sakaki stared at her phone, the screen of which had long since dimmed. 
Before the screen had dimmed, the time display had read 02:47.

For Kurosawa-sensei to call her at such an ungodly time of night to warn her 
about someone dangerous living too close to Chiyo-chan...

Silently, Sakaki slid out of bed, dressed herself in black from head to toe, 
and left the house.

-------------------------------------

Yotsuba was still cradled in Fuuka's arms, sound asleep, when they reached 
the hospital. The receptionist directed them to the waiting area where the 
rest of the group had taken root.

When they entered, a trim, athletic woman with dark hair stood and bowed. 
"Kurosawa Minamo," she introduced herself.

Koiwai bowed to her. "Kurosawa-san, we are very sorry for what happened to 
your sister."

"Yes," Fuuka added. "Torako-san--"

"Nanami," Miura interrupted pointedly.

"Ah! I'm sorry. *Nanami-san* has become like a member of the family, and 
unfortunately the only real hope we had of getting things under control 
again." Fuuka grimaced. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to sound like--"

"It's alright," Minamo placated. "Fuuka-san, wasn't it? Miura-chan and 
Ena-chan have been filling me in." She noticed the bundle in Fuuka's arms, 
and smiled. "My niece?" she inquired.

Fuuka smiled and loosened her grip a bit so Minamo could see the sleeping 
Yotsuba more clearly. "Oh, she's just too adorable!" Minamo squealed.

"Kurosawa-san," Koiwai said, "I don't know if Miura and Ena explained things 
to you, but..."

"Yeah, I know, she doesn't know who her real mother is," Minamo said with a 
sigh. "So I have to pretend I'm just..."


"Very close to the family," Fuuka said. She shifted uncomfortably. "I'm 
sorry about this, Kurosawa-san. I really am."

Minamo shook her head. "I understand how it is, Fuuka-san. Honestly, I'm 
just glad this precious little girl is even alive." She sighed. "I never did 
completely forgive Mom and Dad for throwing Nanami out. I just hope...some 
day, they'll apologize to her for everything they put her through."

"All things considered, I wouldn't push for that," Miura said darkly. "Be 
thankful you have your sister back, and can actually see your niece, and 
leave it at that."

Minamo sighed. "Yeah..."

Yotsuba stirred. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up. "Tigey?" she 
asked.

"Tigey's asleep," Fuuka said.

"Mommy, where am I?" Yotsuba asked drowsily.

"We're all at the hospital," Fuuka replied softly. "Tigey's asleep, so we're 
just waiting for the nurse to say we can see her."

"But she's okay, right?" Yotsuba asked. "Asagi didn't kill her, right?"

"No, Yotsuba-chan, Asagi didn't kill her. She just hurt her really really 
bad."

"Yotsuba-chan?" Ena asked. "There's someone here we want you to meet."

Yotsuba looked up, tilting her head. Minamo moved into the little girl's 
field of vision, smiling. "Hi, Yotsuba-chan! I'm Tigey's sister Nyamo. I've 
been looking forward to meeting you. I hope we can be good friends."

Miura raised an eyebrow. "Nyamo?" she asked.

Minamo blushed. "Old nickname I can't ditch, long story, not gonna tell it," 
she whispered aside.

Yotsuba blinked. "Tigey's sister Nyamo? I didn't know Tigey had a sister."

"Yeah, we haven't seen each other in a really long time. But when she got 
hurt, she called me, and I came."

Yotsuba started to sniffle. "Asagi hurt Tigey really really bad, Nyamo."

"I know," Minamo said softly, reaching out to stroke the little girl's hair. 
"But we're gonna make Asagi sorry for everyone she hurt. It's gonna be 
okay."

"Tigey was teachin' Miura to be a ninja so she can kill Asagi," Yotsuba said 
sleepily. "Are you a ninja too, Nyamo?"

"No, I'm not a ninja, Yotsuba-chan," Minamo said, fighting to keep the alarm 
and worry off her face. "I'm even better than a ninja! I'm a swim coach!"

Yotsuba giggled. "Mommy and Daddy can't swim."

"Really?" Minamo asked, smiling. "Can you swim, Yotsuba-chan?"

"Uh-huh! I can swim good."

"That's good," Minamo replied.

Yotsuba yawned, and made a face. "My head hurts, Mommy," she said.

Fuuka cuddled her closer. "I think...I'll go see if I can get some headache 
medicine for Yotsuba-chan," she said. "And me too," she grimaced.

Koiwai nodded. "You'd probably better get yourself checked out if you can 
find a doctor," he said. "The kind of stress we've just been through can't 
possibly be good for the baby."

Fuuka grimaced. "I didn't even think about that," she said. "I'll be back 
later, then." She bowed as best she could without spilling Yotsuba, and 
wandered off.

"You're not going with her, Koiwai-san?" Minamo asked a moment later.

"Eh, she doesn't need me hovering over her shoulder like a gargoyle. 
Besides, I've gotta talk shop with the girls."

-------------------------------------

The next several hours mostly consisted of people succumbing to fatigue and 
falling asleep in the waiting room, nurses poking in to give minor updates 
on Torako's condition, and whispered, circular discussions of the Asagi 
situation.

Shortly before lunchtime, Inspector Ishiyama showed up. "We're preparing the 
safe house for your arrival now," he informed the Koiwai family. 
"Koiwai-san, might I ask you and your wife to come down to headquarters with 
me to deal with that one matter we discussed?"

"Of course," Koiwai said, nodding. Fuuka left Yotsuba with Minamo and the 
other girls.

At police headquarters, they were led into a briefing room where Yanda sat, 
in shackles and looking miserable. As soon as they walked in, he stood and 
lowered himself into a formal bow of contrition. "Senpai, Fuuka-san," he 
began, "I...I beg you, forgive me. I know what a total jerk I've been, and I 
know I deserve to rot for the shit I pulled, but...I really wanna try to do 
better. Please, can you forgive me?"

Koiwai rolled his eyes. "If we weren't willing to give you a chance, we 
wouldn't even be here," he said. "Knock off the formal act, it's creepy."

Yanda stood, but he still wouldn't look Koiwai in the eyes. "Thanks, Senpai. 
And...I promise, I really will try to help fix this mess. I wanna see that 
bitch squirm after what she did."

"Well, that alone is a great big check mark in your favor," Fuuka replied.

"Yeah, any enemy of Asagi...I'll be honest, though, Yanda," Koiwai said, 
frowning, "I really don't see what you could possibly do to help in this 
situation. I mean...fact of the matter is, you don't have any helpful 
skills. All you have are annoy-people and be-an-asshole skills."

Yanda looked away, casting his eyes to the floor.

"...wait," Fuuka suddenly said.

Everyone turned to look at her. There was a grin blossoming on her face. It 
wasn't a very nice one.

"Maybe that's *exactly* what we need right now," she said.

"Hm?" Koiwai asked.

"Remember what *else* Miura found on Asagi's computer, other than the porn 
of me and Ena and the original version of Yotsublog?"

Koiwai thought about it for a minute. Then his eyes widened. "Oh yeah," he 
said slowly. "But...did she actually save any--?"

"She did," Fuuka said, eyes twinkling with mischief. "It's on the evidence 
CD with all the other stuff. I saw it. Well, I saw the folder Miura stuck it 
in, anyway."

"What's this all about?" Ishiyama asked.

"Okay, you know that evidence CD we told you about, the one Miura-chan has?" 
Koiwai asked.

The detective nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, there was something else she found on Asagi's computer, besides the 
illegal photos of her two sisters and that damned blog," Koiwai said. "She 
had a whole bunch of pictures of *herself* having sex. And they were REALLY 
kinky."

"No freakin' way," Yanda said, eyes bulging.

"Yeah, it's some incredibly sick stuff," Fuuka agreed. "We only saw ONE of 
the pictures, and it was..." She blushed. "Educational, to say the least."

"Well, that's certainly...interesting," Ishiyama said, "but I fail to see 
how that relates to Yasuda-san and his ability to assist--"

"I do," Yanda said, grinning evilly. "And it's fuckin' BRILLIANT. Good 
thinkin', Fuuka-san."

At the detective's continued look of confusion, Koiwai explained. "We can 
set up a website and post those pictures of Asagi. Then we let Yanda do what 
he did to us." He grinned. "Only, I think two hundred links to the site 
won't do it this time. Think you can spam about a thousand, Yanda?"

"Shit, get me a case of ramen and a couple packs of cola and I can spam all 
day and all night," Yanda said.

Ishiyama thought about that for a long moment. "That's...a hell of a long 
way outside proper guidelines, and there's no way in hell the superintendent 
would sanction something like that. However," he smirked, "I seem to recall 
our computer crimes investigators haven't had a crack at Yasuda-san yet, and 
it's completely within their purview to directly examine a computer 
criminal's techniques, up to and including reproduction of the crime in 
question..."

"Then tell 'em to get ready to interrogate the shit outta me," Yanda said 
with a nasty smile. "Cuz I feel real damn cooperative all of a sudden..."

----------------------------------

Following the visit to Yanda, Fuuka had been taken to the safe house by two 
junior inspectors, while Ishiyama and Koiwai had returned to the latter's 
home to collect a few things the family might want or need during their 
confinement in protective custody. Uniformed officers had been posted guard, 
and saluted as they approached.

"It shouldn't take long," Koiwai said, sighing. "I can only think of a 
handful of things we can't do without."

"Take your time," Ishiyama said. "After all, you may not be able to come 
back here for a while..."

The inspector's phone rang. He answered it with an inarticulate grunt.

//Might I be speaking to Police Inspector Ishiyama?// the voice on the other 
end asked.

"Speaking," Ishiyama replied. "And you would be--?"

//Oh my, oh my, as determined as you are to place me in one of your filthy 
jail cells, and you can't even figure THAT out? How pitiful our police 
are...!//

Ishiyama's eyes narrowed. "Playing these games with innocent civilians is 
one thing. You do NOT want to pull this kind of shit on the police."

//Oh, I have no particular reason to fear the police,// Asagi replied. 
//Pity and contempt, yes. Fear? Not as such.//

"Then I'll GIVE you a reason to fear--"

//No, Inspector Ishiyama, I will give YOU a reason to fear,// Asagi 
interrupted.

Without warning, the vacant Ayase residence exploded.

"What the fuck--?!" Koiwai exclaimed, covering his head as flaming debris 
rained all over the place. The uniformed officers ran around in a panic, and 
neighbors were emerging to watch the latest drama unfold.

//Return my sister and her family to the Koiwai house,// Asagi instructed 
Inspector Ishiyama. //With no more than two officers protecting them. I want 
them where I can keep an eye on them. You have six hours to comply. Every 
six hours the Koiwai family is not snug in their own beds, a residence will 
be destroyed. And the next one will not be vacant.//

The line went dead.

Ishiyama paled. "It...it's not possible...even the yakuza don't..."

"You're not dealing with the yakuza, Inspector," Koiwai said. "You're 
dealing with Asagi. And she's completely insane."

Distant sirens could be heard as the smoking fireball of the Ayase residence 
continued to burn.


==================
Mythril Moth
www.mythrilmoth.net