Who will have mercy?
Pairing: Neuro x Yako
Timeline: New Bloodline Arc
It was never said, in so many words:
"I will never let anyone (else) harm you."
"I know you'll protect me from (your) enemies."
No one else, if they happened to observe him abuse her (as was his prerogative) or witness her struggle against his domination (as was herright), would even briefly consider they had such a pact:
"I will rely on you."
"I know you will help me to be strong enough."
Not even the one or two who actually knew the whole story (his true identity, her pitiable state) by virtue of deduction or rude awakening, could fathom it:
"I will let you see my weaknesses."
"I know I can make up for them."
The words remained unspoken. On his part, because he did not waste his time examining things that did not relate directly to the appeasement of his appetite. On her part, for much the same reason…
Wherever she was, Yako did not like it. Befuddled, and with a creeping, uncomfortable sense of Wrongness mixed with an acrid dose of Dread, she scanned the infinite grey-white expanse around her for something, anythingto give her an idea where in the world she was and how she had gotten here.
Nothing. The light, grey as her surroundings, seemed to come from everywhere at once, creating a limitless space without horizon or any indication that what was above her was sky or ceiling. The air was flat and stale, irritatingly lukewarm. The ground she stood on could have been concrete – it was bone-chillingly cold to the touch when she reached down to find out, so frigid she snatched her hand back with an indignant yelp.
Thank goodness the cold didn't seem to get through her clunky school shoes, which were looking oddly worn and torn if she thought about it.
She didn't.
"Wherever I am, I've got to get out of here," she said aloud, almost unable to hear her own whisper over the frightened pounding of her heart. Yako frowned, and ordered her heart to stop being silly. "Save being frightened for something that's actually serious," she scolded it sternly, her voice quavering slightly, but gratifyingly louder, "like Sicks or Sai, or Neuro when he's cranky."
For some reason, that last phrase seemed to be the convincing argument. Yako breathed out, feeling the tenseness leave her body as her pulse slowed down to a reasonable level. She even had the wherewithal to laugh shakily over the notion of cranky Neuro being at all comforting.
"Right then – gotta get out of here." Choosing to forget that she had no idea where (or even "what") "here" might be, Yako turned about several times, hoping against hope to get the least hint as to where the exit was.
"I'm not asking for a glowing green sign," she said aloud to the Powers That Be (someone had to be listening, right?), "but maybe… just a door? An arrow, even?"
She was starting to get dizzy, turning 'round and 'round like a slow-motion gyroscope, and apparently the Powers That Be were busy elsewhere. "Story of my life," Yako sighed. She straightened her shoulders (somewhat painfully, but she ignored that, it wasn't important) and began walking. "One direction has to be as good as any other," she mentioned, as if she was talking to a companion. "Bet Neuro would say something about my being a worm, trusting my intuition like that."
A hollow snicker sounded beside her as if in reply.
"KYAA- NEURO! What are you doing here?" she shrieked, only just managing not to fall on her backside to see him standing right there where no one and nothing had been a moment ago.
"Trusting your intuition is what got you here, troglodyte," Neuro said by way of answer, his voice uncharacteristically snappish as he thrust an accusing (middle) finger into her face.
Yako stared, blinking and wondering if she ought to trust her eyes. His mannerisms, his entire appearance, were… off. His electric blue suit, mismatched goldenrod-and-indigo hair, even his whirly-gig fluorescent green eyes were… faded. Washed-out. He seemed exhausted and nowhere near as sadistically cocky as usual.
"Neuro, did something happen to you? Did you get into another fight with the New Bloodline?" she asked hesitantly. He didn't seem injured, but with Neuro, it never did to go by appearances alone.
Neuro glared at her and she flinched away, squashing down on the sudden surge of Dread that bubbled up in her chest. Something Very Wrong had happened, or was about to. He had not even grabbed her by the head for her impertinent question, had made no further scathing remarks about her intelligence, and in fact, seemed more absorbed in scanning their surroundings in an intense manner that reminded Yako of a predator on the lookout for an enemy than exacting any "lessons."
"Do you know where we are?" she asked in a small voice, aware that she was treading on dangerous ground, but she had to know, and Neuro always knew things like this.
"Of course I do," he snorted, not even sparing her a glance. He moved about in a tight circle (again, she was reminded of a predator, tense with expectancy of an attack), with her as the center… was he sniffing the air?
"Um…"
"It's here."
Without warning, Neuro… shed his human form, like a cocoon, brilliantly fuchsia, golden, and all-colors-in-between feathers scattering as he thrust his enormous beak at something behind Yako, so close and so ferocious that Yako let loose a short cry of surprise as one of his twisted horns clipped her shoulder. For several moments, she was buffeted by confusing maelstrom of feathers, wings, and hoarse, inhuman, angry shrieks as Neuro fought whatever-it-was, never straying far enough for her to get a clear view of who or what the enemy might be.
As suddenly as it began, it ended. Neuro was thrown backward, as though an invisible giant hand had reached down from the blank above, plucked him up and hurled him aside like a broken toy. "NEURO!" Yako shrieked, turning and running to the place where he fell, limp and apparently unconscious.
At least, she tried to.
"Wha…?" she gasped, pulled short by an agonizing pain in her chest that doubled her over and left her breathless. She straightened immediately, gaping down at the crimson blotch that had blossomed in the center of her chest, just a few fingers below her collarbone. It was perfectly circular, a symmetrical drop that should not be there and the sense that Something Was Very Wrong descended on her with a vengeance.
Why were her clothes torn?
Why was there blood staining her shirt?
… Why did she suddenly feel so very, very cold?
"N-N-Neuro?" Again, she tried to run to him, but the same excruciating burst of pain jerked her back, as though someone had threaded an invisible chord through her chest and had pulled on it like a cruel child would pull sharply on a puppy's leash.
Neuro roused, pushed himself to his clawed feet with his splayed wings. His beak gaped, revealing rows of shark-like teeth dripping acid as he hissed in rage.
"There's no need to be insulting."
Yako froze. 'Not here, no, no, no, not here, NOT HERE, NOT HERE, NOTHERENOTHERENOT-'
Neuro's face and head melted, shifted, falling into itself until his human mask was back in place, although still framed by curled horns. "And there's no need for you to masquerade like that obnoxious pet of yours," he spat, eyes glowing with rage.
The responding chuckle skittered frisson like stabbing needles up her spine. A large, heavy hand clamped down on her shoulder. Her voice seized in her throat so that she could not even scream.
"Let's get a better look at you," Sicks said, pulling her around, jerking her chin up between his thumb and forefinger.
Yako stared up at him, expecting her heart to burst, her mind to shut down at the utter terror of standing face-to-face with Unadulterated Evil.
Nothing.
This man was not Sicks; just as everything about Neuro had seemed awry enough to disturb her, this… person… wore Sick's face and body and voice just wrong enough that Yako felt the first sparks of embarrassed anger at having been fooled for even a moment.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Let go of me!" When he did not obey, Yako gave him a kick in the shin, pulling at the hand that still implacably, painfully, kept her chin raised so that she could only look up at him.
Not-Sicks seemed merely amused by her struggles, in much the same way Neuro seemed to enjoy her vain thrashing during one of his "abandonment plays." The mental comparison only made her all the more enraged; how darehe act like she was his plaything, when Neuro was…!
A hand made of misshapen, jointed razors slashed down through not-Sicks' arm, freeing her. She tumbled backward, into a warm, soft-yet-firm mass that she knew instantly to be Neuro. Wings folded over her, his wings, pulling her tightly against him, the feathers tickling her nose and cheeks; her body vibrated as Neuro snarled at the not-Sicks, who seemed unperturbed by the loss of a limb.
Probably because he had not lost it. Yako blinked. The person wearing Sicks' face held up his hands, both of them, in a parody of a placating manner. "Be angry with me all you want, daemon, but you know you have no say in the matter. She is coming with me."
"No, I'm not!" Yako exclaimed, struggling to get free of Neuro so she could give the sneering man a piece of her mind.
Neuro, naturally, only held on tighter, squeezing her so hard she could swear her ribs cracked. "You're not taking her!"
Not-Sicks rolled his eyes and sighed. "Daemon, I grow weary of your tantrums – I am a busy man and I'm far enough behind on my collection schedule as it is. Now, come along Katsuragi Yako," he said, pulling on the crimson thread suddenly dangling from his fist.
Yako screamed as agony jolted through her for a third time. Her heart felt as though he had pierced it with fire!
Pierced…
"Neuro…"
She hung lifelessly in his arms, eyes wide and blank. "Did I…?"
He bowed over her frail body, burying his face in her neck as he mouthed the truth, unable to speak it: "Yes."
She was silent for a long moment. "Why didn't you…?" she began, then stopped abruptly. Slender arms curled up over his, her fingers twining in his feathers. "There's nothing you can do?"
Again, he did not speak. "No."
"I see." She leaned her head against his, ashen-blonde sliding over faded yellow. "I'm sorry. I… goodbye, Neuro."
He dug his claws into her, not willing to let go, but she could not feel them. She faded through his arms, stepped free, stepped toward him… turned.
"Don't…" She touched the claw he reached for her, then let it go, neither seeing the fragile thread between them pull taut… break…
Death pulled on the crimson skein of her ended life and led her off into the blankness.
Neuro woke with a start, momentarily disoriented. Below, over on the couch, Yako sighed in frustration as she flipped back and forth between the index of her algebra text and her assignment page.
"Gyaaaah, I don't get this at all!" she cried to herself, wishing she could scream out loud but certainly not suicidal enough to do so with Neuro asleep on the ceiling over his desk.
She had one moment's warning between the soft footfall of Neuro landing beside her and the sudden yank on the collar of her school shirt, before something cold, slimy, and oh, gods, with hundreds of sharp pincer feet and teeth! slipped down her back.
"Neuro!" she screamed, shooting out of her seat and racing around the room, pulling her shirt out of her waistband as she attempted to dislodge the daemonspawn, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!"
"For doubting I'd win," he sniffed, returning to his swivel chair.
FIN.
A/N: I just started re-reading the MTNN manga this weekend (b/c I could) and my iTunes randomly played O, Death, as sung by Jen Titus, leading me to remember, "Hey, yeah, didn't I write a NeuYako one-shot about Neuro imagining Yako dying?" :D