A Demon, His Human, and Her Evolution

Neuro stared at the door to his - well, Yako's detective office - waiting for the high school girl to walk through, forty-three minutes and fifty-two, now fifty-five seconds late, but who was counting? She was becoming more and more bold in her disobedience, and the demon couldn't decide whether or not he was pleased about that. He would punish her either way, but it could be a sign that she was evolving.

Off to the left, Akane was typing away at her computer, looking for more mysteries for Neuro to eat, something his slave should be doing with the newspapers. Emerald eyes glanced at the clock to make sure that his inner clock wasn't completely off. Forty-fiveminutes, nineteen seconds. She was becoming very bold, and, judging from the hint of a mystery coming to his door, it was going to make their new client wait.

The demon stood up as the door opened, his innocent façade firmly in place. "Welcome to Katsuragi Yako's Detective Office. Sensei isn't here yet, so – "

"I know." Neuro opened his eyes, curiously watching the light-haired police investigator standing in the doorway. Vaguely, he wondered if he should have called Godai over, if only to be entertained by his unavoidable argument with Sasazuka. "I already spoke to the other assistant, he's over there now."

Neuro's smile slowly fell as he watched Sasazuka light a cigarette, conspicuously not using one arm, the one that had a blood-covered sleeve. Emerald eyes took in the way he avoided even looking at it, as if he didn't want to be forced to acknowledge the blood there. "Keiji-san… Your arm…" He wasn't worried; he didn't care, but if the man was here when he knew Yako wasn't… Neuro narrowed his eyes.

Sasazuka took his time replying, taking a long draft of his smoke. "She was coming here from school, but came across us on the way. There was a shooting." The detective paused to look at him. "She tried to call you, said you didn't like it when she did things on her own." The demon's eyes flashed to Akane, who was peeking out from the wall where she had retreated when Sasazuka had entered. There were no messages. "When you didn't come, she worked through the murder on her own."

Neuro barely kept the evil grin off his face. His slave was truly evolving if she was able to work on her own. As proud as he was that he was able to polish such a dishrag into a silk cloth, he couldn't help but feel strange as Sasazuka paused again. The blood on the investigator's arm wasn't his.

"Yako-chan got it right, like usual," the feeling inside the demon welled up to his throat, and Neuro let a frown cross his features. "But… the guy went crazy, like usual, only this time…" Sasazuka sighed, concern shining in his eyes.

"I wasn't there to protect her this time." Neuro didn't bother forcing his tone higher to seem more innocent. He had miscalculated. He didn't believe that Yako would be able to get into trouble for one day, so he gave the Seven Hundred Seventy-Seven Tools of Makai a break from watching her. That was a mistake.

Sasazuka nodded once, his dark eyes closed. "The gunner shot her through the shoulder and stomach, he would have gotten in even more hits if I hadn't shot his hands. She was taken to the hospital immediately." Dark orbs opened to stare into emerald. "I know that you're the brains and brawn of this office, but you weren't there, so I won't blame you today, but if anything more happens to her, you will be held responsible."

Neuro scoffed, already making his way around his desk to the door. "You're a smart man, Keiji-san; you should know by now that you have nothing that could threaten me."

The mystery-eater stopped alongside the policeman, his eyes glowing bright green as his grin returned, malicious this time. "I appreciate you letting us onto the scenes and taking care of Yako, but…" His razor sharp teeth were bared in something between a grin and a snarl. "Did you know? If you know where to look, you can find the most dangerous and hidden information…"

The demon moved on to the door, pausing as he moved to exit. "My slave isn't a replacement for your sister."

Sasazuka turned sharply, but the doorway was empty.

Neuro charmed his way through the nurses to the room they were stabilizing Yako in. As Sasazuka said, Godai was there, pacing in the hall with his scowl firmly in place. The demon's frown made the ex-gangster's scowl even harder. "Tch. About time you showed up." He pointed a thumb at the door. "She's been in here for around twenty damn minutes already."

Emerald eyes narrowed irritably. Twenty of the fifty-two minutes and thirty-six seconds that she was late, she was in this place. "Has anyone come to update her condition?" It was going to be a real pain if he needed to replace her this far into the game.

Godai shook his head. "No one." Neuro resisted the impulse to growl angrily. "That pig Sasazuka came to the company and told me what happened, then went to tell you. That was," the blond checked his watch, "ten minutes ago, I think." The mystery-eater nodded distractedly, wondering if he should send his Tools of Makai in there to see what was happening.

Just as the idea was sounding more appealing, a doctor pushed through the door, looking very tired. "Ah, you two must be here for Yako-san." Neuro had to force his face into concern, all the while shoving Godai's head into the wall. "Well, her condition isn't stable yet, but we retrieved the bullets. One was dangerously close to her lung."

The demon was slightly irked to find that his concern suddenly wasn't as false as he would like. Tch. Stupid body, transforming into a human; that has to be why I'm starting to feel these… emotions. It was something he wondered about sometimes, but his slave probably wondered more in her miniscule brain. "Sensei will be alright."

The doctor seemed taken aback by the blunt announcement, but he smiled anyway. "Yes, I believe she will pull through."

The aging man retreated back into the operation room, and Godai finally pulled himself from the wall. "You monster! What are you trying to do, kill me?!"

Neuro paid no mind to Slave Number Two and casually kicked him upside the head, finally knocking him out. Emerald eyes stared at the door in front of him, his face solemn. Yes, Yako would live through this and be stronger for it. However… His gaze darkened. He would have to make sure she wasn't put into this much danger again.

It was over an hour later that Yako was admitted into a recuperating room, and Neuro was allowed to see her. In his hurry earlier, (for he was never panicked) he hadn't noticed the mystery emanating from her, but, now that he was aware of it, he wanted her to wake up and tell him what it was. It had quite a tantalizing scent.

"Ne…u…ro…" The demon's head perked up, strangely grateful that Slave Number Two was still unconscious and Sasazuka hadn't come by again. Caramel eyes stayed closed, but she tried to raise her hand that was clenched into a fist to him. "Myst…ery…"

Even for his advanced mind, it took several moments for Neuro to understand what she was talking about. In her hands, wrapped deliciously in her emotions, she had been able to preserve his mystery. A grin spread across his face as he took it from her, feeding greedily. "Well done, Yako, I think you've finally evolved."

He didn't know how she captured his mystery, but he knew that it was because she was human, and he would never be able to do that. The demon grinned. It seemed that his method of polishing his dishrag was working.

AN: My first Neuro fic, and I doubt I'll be doing many more, because Neuro's character is just so hard to write! You can never make him sadistic and masochistic enough while trying to write in some emotions that, as a demon, he shouldn't feel. It gets a bit frustrating. Please review and tell me how I could make it better!