Author's Notes: I've got a cold. ;_; So it inspired me to do an MTNN oneshot, YAY. NeuroXYako if you squint.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN MAJIN TANTEI NOUGAMI NEURO. If I did, it would suck. -_-"

"AH… AAAAAH… ACHOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Neuro didn't even bother to glance up from his newspaper. He'd been hearing that same sound for an hour now, but had ignored it in the hopes that it would just go away. Obviously, however, this strange fit had no intention of "just going away." It would have to be dealt with.

Frowning, Neuro finally laid the newspaper down. The first thing he spotted was the mountain of used tissues papers that had buried the single tiny wastebasket in the corner. The second was that his slave, who was supposed to be working on a mountain of paperwork that was too far below himself to even look at, was stretched out on her stomach on the couch. Her nose was redder than a cherry and running terribly, her eyes watering like she was actually crying, and her entire body limp with fatigue. To put it simply, she looked absolutely miserable. If she weren't so noisy, Neuro would be thoroughly enjoying this.

"What is wrong now, slave?" he asked instead. Neuro could hardly call himself an expert in the physical health of humans, but whatever was causing his slave to make so much racket and leak such an amount of bodily fluids from her eyes and nose could not be good. "You look like a bigger mess than usual."

"J-Just a… aah… AAH… ACHOOOO!!!! …Just a cold…" Yako sighed dejectedly.

"Will it be over soon?" Neuro demanded coolly, standing. "You're making a mess of the office. No clients will want to come to us with their mysteries if they hear your dreadful trumpeting."

Yako made no reply. That was unusual; even if she was tired or in a bad mood, she would make some sort of feeble attempt at a complaint. Curious, Neuro walked around his desk to the couch, grabbed Yako by the head and yanked her up, rapping her skull hard with his knuckles to see if he would get a reaction. The only thing that happened was that his slave gave a great sniffle, her flushed face and watery eyes giving her an absolutely pitiful look. Then, suddenly, her nose wrinkled, and she gave another shuddering sneeze all over Neuro's suit.

Completely surprised and disgusted, the demon dropped his slave. Yako landed on her face on the floor and let out a moan. Something about her throbbing brain. Neuro was too busy wiping off his suit and thinking of a suitable punishment to care what the louse said at that moment.

"I'm-m sorry… Neuro…" Yako mumbled as she sat up, sniffling again and massaging her temples. "It'll take at least a few days to go away…"

"Get rid of it quickly then," Neuro commanded. "Until then, don't show your ugly, pitiful little self here, or your breathing will pollute the air and scare away the clients."

He had his back to his slave, so he didn't see the hurt expression flash through her watery brown eyes. With a feeble little nod of her head, Yako took the strap of her book bag and dragged it and herself out the door.

It had been three days since Neuro had ordered Yako to leave until she recovered, and the demon was beginning to get suspicious – and impatient. Did a cold really take this long to get over, or was his slave just slacking off? Perhaps it had been a set up from the beginning. What an idiot he probably looked like to his slave for having fallen for such a weak performance.

"You, Slave Number 2," he announced at the end of the third day, pointing a spidery middle finger at Godai, who was lounging behind his desk messing with his pocket knife, "watch the office. If a client comes, notify me immediately."

Godai gave him a hateful look. "Whatever Monster," he spat, going back to flipping the knife open and closed. The next second, the knife was out of his hands, and Neuro had thrown it across the room and right out the window.

"AAAAHH!!!!! WHAT THE-"

But Neuro was already out the door, repeating behind him, "Call me immediately, or I'll throw you out the window too." Satisfied with this threat, he didn't look back.

He'd been to Yako's apartment on several occasions, but it had never been such a mess as he found it in this time. In the kitchen, the sink and the surrounding counters were full to overflowing with dirty dishes, and more bowls lay around in the living room. Every trash can in sight was buried under used tissues – apparently, it hadn't been a set up, she was really sick. Pitiful, fragile human.

Her door had been shut, and when Neuro opened it he was hit by a wall of steam from the humidifier in the corner. The room was clouded with it, much warmer than normal. It was very comfortable for him.

There Yako was, laying in bed with a large bowl of soup and a bottle of Nyquil beside her on the nightstand. She was staring at the ceiling with half opened eyes, the covers pulled up to her chin. Hearing the door open, she turned her head ever so slightly to see who it was. To Neuro's great surprise, she smiled tiredly at him, her dim brown eyes lighting up a little.

"Neuro…" she sighed, "you came to visit…"

"You have been slacking off, louse," Neuro replied, unsure why she was giving him such a warm look. "How am I supposed to consume the world's mysteries if you're sitting in here?"

"Sorry…" Yako said quietly. "I've been trying to get better, but… Well…" She smiled apologetically. Now Neuro was sure something was wrong; why was she all smiley?! That look she was giving him, it was not natural.

He took a step or two closer. "Exactly how long are you going to be lazy like this, Slave Number 1," he demanded. "I have been acting on my own under the cover that you have been ill and won't return to work for several days, but I can only do so much. My cover will be blown entirely if I solve any more cases on my own."

"I'll try to get better faster…" the girl sighed, her smile now gone. Neuro was glad of it, that smile was making him uncomfortable. "Sorry," she repeated, even more quietly than before. She seemed to be fading from consciousness; no doubt the medicine was coming into effect.

Neuro took another few steps towards the bed, and was now standing next to it. There really didn't seem to be anything else to say, so he just grabbed her by the head and shook her gently, hoping the reaction wouldn't be same as before. It wasn't. In fact, it could hardly be called a reaction at all. Yako's eyelids drooped, her body went limp, and she let out a little snore.

"Hm," Neuro huffed, releasing her head. The louse needed rest, and as much fun as he knew it would be to test out, his abuse would not speed up the healing process. He would just have to be patient, something he was very, very bad at, especially when he was hungry.

The demon was preparing to leave, but something stopped him. Yako's hand had taken a hold of his sleeve. She wanted him to stay. How pathetically human of her to require companionship. But the medicine must be pretty strong if she desired his company.

Smirking to himself, Neuro took hold of Yako's fingers with his other hand and pried them away, slipping her hand back under the blankets. He did not have to leave yet. After all, the extra warmth from the humidifier felt quite comfortable.

Yako got drunk on Nyquil. XD No seriously, that can happen. It happened to my mom one time. Oh yeah, that was funny. XD

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