Disclaimer: Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro belongs to Yuusei Matsui, who I ain't.
Challenge: Pick a fandom and a character or pairing you like (MTNN, NeuroYako). Then, turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle, and write a drabble -- ten in all -- related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble (you have until the beat stops!); you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!
Notes: Decided to try this after reading KillCupido's "Faint Music, Clear Love", a SasazukaYako response. It was very fun, but difficult, especially as a lot of these songs I barely even listen to! And the time frame... grr... they aren't my usual quality, I swear! Not used to this pairing, so I would really appreciate any feedback ya got.
Number 7 is a Death Note crossover. I just can't help myself when these two fandoms are concerned. And a few of them will contain spoilers from the manga, to warn you.
1) Teeth - Lady Gaga.
Neuro grinned, slowly, at her, and Yako knew she should have left the office hours ago.
Knew from his expression that he'd been wanting to talk to her.
Knew from the knowing smile that it wouldn't be a conversation that she'd enjoy.
But this new case, the one in which a dentist went mad, was particularly interesting for her, so she'd stayed behind that night to find out more. It was one of the first cases they'd had since Neuro had returned -- a result of three years' worth of doing her own thing, and having her own schedule -- and she wasn't quite satisfied, now, with just letting Neuro do the work and not knowing the full story afterwards.
But he was grinning like that... it was unnerving and reminded her of the old days.
He seemed to read her mind.
"Relax," his smile seemed to say.
And suddenly images flashed through her matured mind, of the good things those teeth could do, and it was all Yako could do to smile back.
But smile she did.
2) Rolling Star - Yui
"You've been watching too much anime," reprimanded Neuro upon hearing Yako's newest anime ringtone. "It's a waste of time, Louse. I forbid you from watching any more."
Yako was scowling, but she tried to hide it. "You know," she said sweetly, and Neuro got the distinct impression that she was up to something, "anime is good for understanding the human concious... it covers a wide variety of issues, in absorbing stories of humans."
Neuro remained the same: uncaring.
But Yako continued, anyway.
"There are even detective anime," she said, even sweeter, before going innocently back to her work.
Neuro threw his clock at her, not liking her sudden attitude.
But that night, when his workers had all gone, Neuro found himself on some streaming sites, checking out what his Slave had been talking about...
3) 30 Minutes - t.A.T.u.
He was dying.
His energy was waning.
This fight was a big one.
And all Yako could do was watch... watch the skies.
Sure, she tried to be helpful, alerted the right people.
But, even if she had every confidence in Neuro, these were the most nerve-racking thirty minutes of her life.
Sicks was evil.
And Neuro was the weakest he had ever been.
And all Yako could do was wait, and contemplate what the world -- she -- the world would lose if Neuro were to lose.
Things would change... change for the worse.
He would be gone.
Neuro would die and... what did he mean to her, exactly?
Thirty minutes later, Neuro was rescued.
And Yako reached her decision.
Though she wasn't sure if she'd ever tell him or not.
Maybe it was enough to be by his side.
4) Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
Neuro had no idea what human music meant.
He could well understand the music made by one's pain nerves... that he hummed along to, caught up in its joyous ups and downs.
But human music was quite mysterious to him.
He took Yako to all sorts of places on their dates... but most often, much to her confusion, he took her to concerts.
Because when he was with her, he didn't mind being confused by humans so much. They were still maddening, but seeing the emotions flash by on her face as the tempo quickened or the words "touched" her... it was enough. It was enough to know that she was affected, without having to worry about a song's meaning for himself.
Who said it had to be different for person-to-person, anyway? They were one, just as all couples should be. What she felt, he should feel... to some extent.
5) How I Go -- Yellowcard
Nougami Neuro and Katsuragi Yako, as the story goes, led a very happy life together.
The start was shaky, murky, unclear... how did they meet, what drew them together?
But what soon became clear was that something had drawn them together. And that that something was keeping them with one another -- through better and through worse.
Yet, they were happy.
In the end, it turned out that they were happy.
Their children were told many stories of their parents' deeds. How great they were, how many people they helped and how many lives were saved by them.
And, though they told no one, they had an inkling of who -- or rather what -- their father was.
They'd been told that their parents had met at an All-You-Can-Eat Contest, and had battled it out before realising that they must have a lot in common, with their appetites.
Yet the Nougami children had never once seen their father eat.
And Demon plus human still makes a Demon.
So, they knew.
But they knew that, despite the odds, their parents had been happy together.
And they knew that as the two died, their only regret was not spending an even longer time on the earth.
Not that their lives had gone along such an unusual path.
In the end, it turned out that they were happy.
6) The Hand that Feeds -- Nine Inch Nails
Yako was a disobedient slave.
Neuro had rescued her, had taken her from nothing and poverty and given her his home, his life... and some would say his heart.
She was but a peasant girl, he a mighty king. He shouldn't even be looking at her... yet there was something wild in her, something not bred in the stale courts he was supposed to move through.
It felt like he was drawn, inexplicably, to her. Even when she would try to turn against him, hurt him, escape... he wanted her by his side.
Even if he had to cage her.
He'd see how long she could defy his will, then.
7) Momentum -- Ayumi Hamasaki
Everyone was waiting for a miracle, these days. More than the people of the past ever did.
But Yako was not hoping for a miracle, because she doubted very much that Nougami Neuro would appreciate being known by such a human word. Still, she was hoping.
Hoping for help. Hoping for liberation.
Hoping to see him again.
Kira had won, had triumphed at last.
But although his world was one of justice, it was also a harsh one.
There were so many sanctions... no one really had fun anymore. No one laughed, very few smiled.
Yako was not held in high regard by this new establishment: she was a free-thinker, one of liberation and reasoning with criminals over cold, hard, rigid justice.
And this was what had finally sent Neuro back to his true home, the lack of crime, of evolution, and so the lack of food source.
She could only hope that he would come back, but with every day that he did not return it became less and less likely.
Just when things had changed for them, for the better... just when they realised that, somehow, anyhow, they were in love, he had had to leave.
Her heart was with the snow, this time of year when things were colder than ever before. Her heart was with the snow and it would not leave until he returned.
Because the days that she had loved him were the last miracle to her.
8) No Way -- Korn
Demon viruses, it turned out, got worse in the human world.
Neuro's body was jerking wildly, burning up; he was screaming with the pain and refused to settle down. He kept mumbling to himself, about voices calling him away...
Yako could not fathom what was wrong, could not help him in any way... and crying, no matter how willing the tears were to fall, would not help, either.
So she acted as a human would: turned to familiar patterns of thought and behaviour, just staying by his side, as much as it hurt to see.
He was burning. His throat was raw and his vision was gone, completely GONE.
He could feel the virus ripping through him, through his body and towards his brain, all the while knowing that there was no way for him to escape it.
It was all-consuming, he couldn't tell what was around him, couldn't see or hear...
Sometimes, though, he thought he felt something other than his pain, some light by his side that would never wane.
A light that kept getting brighter and brighter, his mind told him.
I feel something, he thought.
No, said the creatures inside him, it's nothing.
9) Cold Shoulder -- Adele
Being outside in the cold weather without a coat, walking through the snow in a romantic walk along a boulevard with a male colleague who was quite dressed for the weather... well, most people could finish that sentence: something along the lines of it being expected for the man to offer his coat.
But it was not so.
This man was a Demon, whose only concept of cold was "humans feel it and don't like it".
And Neuro tended to like what humans didn't -- particularly when they were miserable and he could feel smug.
And, indeed, he was smiling smugly.
"Look at those two!" squealed an ignorant bint to her companion, slowing down to look at Yako and Neuro as they walked across the street. "Aren't they cute together?"
"Oooh, yeah, I see what you mean," said the other girl.
Yako wanted to strangle them.
"Neuro," she whined, breaking at last.
His smile widened.
"Yes?" he asked, voice husky.
She blushed. Damn him.
He knew how his deep voice made her feel.
"I'm cold," she said, resolutely.
And he just completely ignored her, speeding up until she fell behind, alone in the cold, dark night which no longer seemed so romantic.
Damn him, she thought again. Warm one minute, cold the next...
10) Sunshine -- Gabrielle
By the time the news of their engagement reached her, Kanae was not exactly surprised.
She'd known for some time now that Yako was a "treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen" 'victim'.
In the willing sense of the word 'victim'.
Although Kanae knew it had no such meaning to it, she felt like it was the best way to describe her friend's relationship with her boss -- assistant -- boss.
Yako was a willing victim of Neuro's charm -- and his cruelty.
He told her that she would go far, sometimes.
Had been telling her that for years, that she would go further and further...
It pleased her, flattered her. When he said these things... she felt on top of the world.
And his occasional smiles of pleasure when he was with her, rare but strangely beautiful, balanced out his often mean attitude.
It was a strange kind of love, but they were two strange people.
-Fin.