"Neuro, where are you taking me?"

"You will see."

Yako followed the demon as he walked briskly. He had popped up at her house that Saturday evening, and had told her to follow him.

"Well, what are we going to do when we get there?"

"Eat."

"Eat?"

She was more than fine with eating, but she was confused. Why would Neuro take her to eat?

Then she sighed, realizing he meant a puzzle. Of course he meant a puzzle, what else would he mean by 'eat'.

They stopped in front of a simple building, and Neuro pushed open the doors, releasing the light from within. It was a restaurant, and an odd one at that. The table cloths fluttered from the gentle wind of a breeze that she couldn't feel, and most of all, the customers! All strange entities that she couldn't name.

"Put these on."

Neuro pushed something into her hand, and she examined it. It was a pair of hairpclips just like hers, but a bit lighter in color.

"Why?" she asked.

"They will protect you from the miasma. This restaurant is for demons, and so it is only natural that it would be filled with the appropriate atmosphere."

She put hers into her pocket, and clipped in the new ones. They felt heavier than her usual two, but were not unpleasant to wear. Neuro sat her down at a table, and a waitress came and put menus in front of them. So far, nothing was what Yako had been expecting. She was still waiting for the catch, or for a customer to die, or for Neuro to tell her that she was paying.

She waited for Neuro to open his menu before opening hers. An amount of trepidation continued to linger in her, but alas she set her gaze on the selection, and immediately began to salivate.

"Are we ordering?" She asked.

He looked amused. "Yes, unless you don't want to."

She furiously shook her head. Of course she wanted to! But then again she became suspicious, "Like... how much?"

"As much as you want, but I would order a mere one dish if I were you. Demon food is quite filling."

One dish? She was not used to such limitations, but decided it would be best to heed her boss's orders. After all, everything with him was the unexpected, and when she turned away his advice she was usually embarrassed or injured.

"What do we pay with?" She asked, wanting to ensure that they wouldn't get in trouble. Another plan had suddenly come across her, of Neuro pushing debt on her from the restaurant.

"Money." He said vaguely.

"Like, human money? Japanese money? Yen?"

"Of course. They earn to spend, and what could they buy here in Japan if they didn't sell in yen?"

Oh. "So, we're just gonna eat here... and nothing bad is going to happen? You're not tricking me?"

He grinned widely, "Yes. We are eating, and I am not tricking you."

"Why?"

"It's a date of course. Isn't that obvious?"

Her jaw dropped.

What. The. Demon World?

"Uh, no. It's not obvious."

"It should be, have I not followed proper protocol? I brought you to a restaurant in the evening, I am not torturing you, and we are going to eat together."

"You... didn't tell me it was a date! And why are we having a date? You are tricking me, aren't you." She looked away, and puffed her cheeks out.

"You offend me so. Of course I am not tricking you." She looked back at him, to see his mischievous grin.

She sighed. He was too hard to read, as always. She looked at her menu, and flipped to the back page, where she saw a more demonic selection. "Grilled triskarthin legs? What are those?"

"Triskarthin is a lava-residing fish. They like to read a lot, but other demons like to eat them and cut off their legs. They grow back, so it's a renewable resource."

"None of that made any sense."

"I'll need to bring you to the demon world at some point..."

"No thanks, so far it sounds like a nightmare."

He laughed, probably at her silly human reaction.

The waitress came back and took their order. Yako ordered something with shrimp, and Neuro ordered some un-pronounceable thing from the demon menu. Seriously, jesjusnalsinjoxbisner? What the heck was that? She didn't even ask, and when the order came after thirty minutes of silence, appearing to be some fleshy brown...thing, she still didn't ask.

Her order came at the same time, and she eagerly dug into it, escaping the silence. Neuro didn't seem to dislike the silence, so she just assumed it was a human thing to interpret it as awkward. It made her feel a bit foolish, so she just ate her food. Neuro was right when he said it was filling.

Neuro also ate his meal, not seeming to particularly enjoy it. She wasn't even sure if he could normally eat things that weren't puzzles, but he seemed fine.

When they were finished, Neuro paid, and they exited.

"So, uh... why did we eat?"

"Did I not tell you? It was a date."

"No offense, but uh, do you know how to date? I mean, I've never dated, but I don't really think that was one."

"How so?"

"I'm not an expert, but it was kind of obvious... we didn't talk at all."

"We talked in the beginning. Do we have to talk more than that?"

"Yes! You get to know the other! That's what dates are for, did you know? Or one of their purposes, at least."

"I already know you, why do I need to know more?" He cocked his head in thought.

She sighed. "Whatever. But that didn't count as a date, okay? And you didn't even ask me out, you just dragged me there."

"Something tells me that was unsatisfactory?"

She didn't know how to answer that without some sort of torture, so remained silent. Neuro also remained silent, but in a more contemplative way.

She went home and took off her new hair clips. She put them in a small box of their own, and smiled at it. Then she went to bed.

[][][][]

The next day she entered the office carefully, hoping to attain as little attention as possible. She hoped Neuro was not somehow angry at her. He was at his desk like he normally did, and she just sat at the couch. She wasn't even sure why she had to come to this place, since she wasn't paid, and was usually sent out to pass out flyers or something.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, and looked up to see Neuro's face. He was standing on the ceiling, looking down at her.

"What, Neuro?"

He walked down the wall and sat next to her on the couch, before suddenly pulling her into his chest.

"Gah! Neuro what are you-"

He kissed her and she stiffened. It was a quick kiss, as she pushed him away violently.

He growled, "What was that for?"

"What do you mean 'what was that for'?! You just kissed me!"

"Well yes, you said the date yesterday was bad, so I researched human displays of affection. Kissing seemed to one of the main methods in this area of the human world. There is also hugging, and hand-holding, and the more discussed reprod-"

"I get it, I get it, but you can't just kiss someone! I'm sure that if you were reading about it there would be advice like being gentle, or things like that."

"But I was gentle."

"I mean emotionally, if you can feel those. Why are you even doing this?"

"Would you like me to tell you?"

"Well, yes."

He smirked, "It should be obvious."

"Please enlighten me."

"Hmm, do not resist too much this time."

"Wha-"

He pulled her into his chest, and embraced her. Her arms fell around him, and he gave her a peck on the lips.

"Neuro-"

He pressed his lips against hers gently, and she went with it, sinking into him.