Horticulture

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the setting, Yusei Matsui has that honor. This story is mine.

It would only seem natural that after four years of working as the monstrous Neuro's co-slaves that these two particular individuals would find a special bond between the two of them. They had both felt the bond, these two unfortunate souls. After all, was it not unique for two people in similar circumstances to feel a sense of safety and comfort within one anothers presence?

As perceptive as she had become over the years, private investigator Yako Katsuragi never realized the dissapearance of her sense of personal space and privacy since she met Neuro. Four years of being poked, prodded, shaken and overall manhandled had dwindled any discomfort a girl her age would fear as a result of being so close to a male. While there was certainly fear of proximity in the beginning, this fear was from the basic animalistic instinct of self preservation rather than the popular social fears that many young girls felt of appearing awkward or impolite. By all logic, if a girl like Yako were to find that she had fallen asleep on a dangerous gangsters lap over the course of an eight hour research investigation then one could conclude that there would be no surprise or embarrasment. However, many would point out that Yako Katsuragi was a girl that defied any preconceived notions of logic and sense.

As unlucky as such a situation may seem, there were several things that made such a horrible event appear more fortunate. The first was that she was safe in her office, even if there was a dead person in the walls and the furniture radiated with a demonic energy. The second was that powerful and dangerous gangster was Godai Shinobu, an old and trusted friend. The third bit of fortune for poor Yako was that he appeared to be asleep as well. Whereas she had fallen asleep on his lap, he had draped his right arm and head over the arm of the couch. Yako was too preoccupied with her last bit of fortune to notice that Godai's left arm was draped over her waist. The final bit of fortune that seemed to shine down on Yako was that her Master/Assistant Neuro Nogami did not appear to be in the room.

Yako breathed a sigh of relief and attempted to quietly move out of Godai's grip before he had awakened and Neuro had returned. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Akane, the office secretary twitching at the anticipation of gossip or joy at such a ridiculous sight. Yako frowned and made a mental note to bribe the peice of hair with a salon visit in exchange for silence.

Yako was snapped out of her plans of bribery when she felt Godai's hold on her waist tighten as her back came in closer contact to his chest. Her heightened sense of awareness fueled by her adrenaline surge allowed Akane to realize that Godai's deep breathing was gone, and that he was awake. She could feel his chest rumble as he muttered a greeting.

"Hey."

Akane awkwardly shifted to lie on her back so that she was looking up at him. After her eyes instinctively scanned the ceiling for Neuro, they settled on Godai who still appeared to be half awake. She smiled up at him and muttered a response back.

"Hey Godai, how long..?!" her question was cut short when Godai suddently shifted her to sit across the couch with her back against the arm and her legs draped across his lap. The palm of his right hand gently pushed Yako between her shoulder blades and towards him as his left hand rested on her hip. Yako's lips moved in an attempt to question Godai on what he was planning to do when they were covered by his own.

His lips were soft, with the exception of the cold metal of his peircings. Yako never would have guessed that the former yakuza member could express an act with such tenderness and affection. Rather than push him away and scream like any sane girl would, Yako revelled in this moment. In the four years since she had met Neuro, she had forgotten how wonderful it felt to be so close to somebody without fear of violence or death. The warmth of his body and the tenderness of his kiss filled her heart far better than the best gourmet food she had taken her private joy in for years.

Yako felt herself become grounded in reality again when Godai broke the kiss and looked away from her. She could see his ears begin to redden and wondered if he was blushing.

"Ugh. I thought I was dreaming for a minute." he turned his head back towards her and let out a hollow laugh. Yako could tell by looking at his eyes that he was lying. She could only smile and offer "It's okay." as an automatic response.

"But..." Godai's hand went back to her hip and his eyes became filled with it's usual look of sincerity and seriousness. "Yako, was it so bad?"

Yako responded by resting her hands on either side of his neck with a comforting smile and shaking her head. "No, Godai. It was very pleasant. In fact, I woud like," Godai didn't wait for her to finish as he brought her in for another kiss.

---

Neuro had only returned an hour later with his arms full of shopping bags. Yako instinctively checked the logos on the white paper bags for any suspicious names that would indicate what danger would lie ahead. She wanted to relax a little bit when she recognized the name of a local flower shop, but she lad learned long ago that nothing was truly safe in the presence of a mystery-eating demon.

"Slave, tell me what this is." Neuro said as he began to bring something out of his bag. His back was to her, which eased her anxiety a little bit. Even though Godai had left twenty minutes ago, she felt like she had just committed a crime and the couch was a crime scene. At the moment, Yako didn't think she could bear Neuro's penetrating gaze at either herself or the accursed couch. She felt Neuro's hand clamp down on it's familiar place in the back of her head and shove her face in what smelled like potting soil. She took a few moments to sputter and collect her senses before she could more closely inspect the item.

It was an ordinary bonsai sapling in a tiny green porcelein pot. Yako smiled faintly as she recalled an old bonsai that was in her fathers office. She could sense the heat of Neuro's hand on her neck again before she quickly explained "It's just a bonsai sapling Neuro! Stop!"

She felt the heat leave and Neuro quickly sat at his side of the desk and gazed at the tiny plant. She could see some of his triangle clips hover towards the direction of the sapling.

"You sense a puzzle from this?" Yako asked, incredulous. It was certainly an odd indicator, but she rejoiced in the fact that this seemed like a moderately low-danger puzzle.

"It's a peice of wood." Neuro declared as he poked the sapling with an elongated gloved finger. It began to take the shape of a blade and Yako quickly snatched it away to prevent him from taking it apart.

"You can't take apart living things and expect it to survive!" she reminded him. Neuro merely floated into the air and continued to stare at it from his upside down position.

"Bonsai trees are actually really fascinating." she explained as her fingers ran over the base. "They're just like ordinary trees, only we cut them at the tap root and prune the branches in a way to where they grow small, and we can keep them in houses. They can live for even one hundred years, bringing happiness to it's owners." her eyes took on a glazed look as more memories returned of the little bonsai that she loved to prune when she went to visit her father's office.

Neuro was much more perceptive, and instantly realized the connection between his slave and the bonsai. "Eh, maybe if I can cut you the right way I won't have to look for a new slave in a hundred years." he observed aloud, revelling Yako's obvious grimace.

"But then, that would imply that my ranks has risen from tree louse to a tree." Yako replied in a bravery that surprised Neuro. 'How interesting.' he thought. "Well, more like a weed."he corrected. Neuro waited for her usual response, but was somewhat sullen to learn that she had already moved towards Akane and the plant.

"What are you doing, Slave?" he asked as his hand gripped the back of her head again. Akane grunted and went slack until he let go. "I'm simulating winter for it." she admitted as she rubbed the sore spot in the back of her head. She refused to turn her head and fixated on the small patch of wall the braid occupied. "So that when I can put it in the sunlight later, it'll flourish. Hey, Akane is it okay if I placed it in your section?" Yako asked the twitching braid. Her fingers habitually stroked through the smooth strands as the hair peice pracitcally vibrated in a positive response.

"Ah, so are you ignoring me, Slave?" Yako could hear Neuro's smooth tones that were a sure indication of danger. In another move that surprised Yako herself, she faced Neuro and calmly stated her case.

"There's no mystery about it, Neuro." she told him. "It's just an ordinary bonsai from an ordinary shop. There's no reason for you to sense a puzzle from it." Her eyes fixated on the annoying triangle clip that was hovering towards the bonsai. Neuro merely shrugged and ripped the sapling from it's soil in a burst of speed. Yako let out a shriek of shock and despair as the sapling was crushed in Neuro's demonic hands and fell through his fingers onto the floor.

"No...Neuro.." she choked out as she sank to her knees and weakly reached out to the sapling peices. Yako couldn't explain it, but for some reason this was much worse than throwing away food or any physical abuse he had exacted upon her.

"Eh? I'm making it stronger." he explained in an oh-so-casual tone that always brought her on edge. Her fingers curled into fists and her cheeks began to heat up as she felt her underlying feelings of frustration and sorrow overcome her. She glared up at Neuro from her position on the floor and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"You killed it. You had no intention at all of improving it. You just wanted your stupid puzzle!"

Neuro only observed in mild amusement as the tiny investigator belted out a half-hearted accusation. On a normal day, he would have properly disciplined her, however there were more pressing matters at hand. "Why is it pointing at me?" Yako asked, vocalizing his own quandry. Indeed, it appeared that strands of his hair were pointing directly at his slave. Clearly she was hiding an interesting puzzle inside of her that only appeared after he destroyed the bonsai.

"Slaaaave" Neuro all but sang. He never would have guessed that such a delicious puzzle would spring forth from his silly weed. Yako began to take a few steps back when she noticed that Neuro was attempting to frighten her by revealing disturbing images from the darkest depths of the underworld. Yako sucked in her breath as she attempted to muster up the courage she needed. There was little that scared her after four years of working with the mystery eater, and so Yako had easily been able to stand her ground against the assault. After a few moments, Yako recognized signs of Neuro becoming increasingly agitated. His smile was becoming wider, and his expression was becoming more undreadable.

"Of course, it was that easy then it wouldn't be as delicious." Neuro concluded as the office seemed to melt back to normal. "Ahh, but I've never been so close." Unable to stand the anticipation, Neuro tackled the young investigator and forcefully pushed her against the floor. Yako let out a hiss of pain as the familiar feeling of a new bruise ripped through her body. "Get off..." she grunted as she made an earnest attempt to push him away from her. Neuro was not in the mood for any resistance as demonstrated by the rough way he used one hand to restrain both of her wrists above her head and he other to keep her shoulder painfully pinned to the ground.

"It must be like smelling that garbage you call food before you eat it." Neuro groaned as his tongue poked past his sharp fangs and dragged across her collarbone. He had never experienced such a tantalizing taste. Each time he got closer to Yako, the stronger and more complex the puzzle seemed to become. He briefly wondered if it was the same in all cases, since he had never attempted to contact a puzzle in such a manner. His tongue continued to swirl across the struggling investigators skin and he worked his way up the side of her neck and then her right cheek.

From his position on top of her, he could feel every move his slave was making. She was beginning to tremble, and he could hear the strained tones in her voice. "Neuro...it's not funny. Stop it."

"Tch...you should know your place." Neuro responded coldly as he tightened his grip and continued his sampling. He wanted this puzzle his slave was hiding to grow and become more delicious. It was at that moment that Neuro tasted something unusual that no other puzzle had yielded. While it was unpleasant at first, Neuro revelled in the emotions it contained. Curiosity got the better of Neuro and he spared a look at his slave.

"Ah, you're crying Yako." he stated obviously. He had rarely witness the girl cry before. Humans, he observed, cried as a response to sorrow or guilt. The humans who contained puzzles cried when their dark emotions were released. Despite this, Neuro realized that he had not made any progress at unlocking this puzzle, he had merely made it grow and increase in calories and complexity. Indeed, he had expressed his desire for humans to evolve and create more complex puzzles for him to solve, but he had never imagined it would come from his very own slave in only a manner of years.

"What a good little slave. Let this puzzle inside you grow. I'll even help you. Aren't I just so nice, weed? No, not weed. You're more like a produce bearing plant." he mused aloud. Yako could only squeeze her eyes shut and turn her head away from the horrible hellbeast that would not stop bullying her. In the midst of her hatred and despair, Yako concluded that she would prefer Neuro's school yard bullying tactics over this new level.

"Look at your Master, Slave." Neuro ordered as his grip on Yako tightened again. She stiffened at the new wave of pain but it only strengthened her resolve. She could feel fresh tears flow down her cheek, which Neuro eagerly lapped up.

"Such raw emotion in these that criminals carelessly shed. I can only realize now how it makes the taste of an unlocked puzzle even more rich. Having it alone..." he took a moment to bury his nose into her cheek and then the base of her neck, "It's something you would call an appetizer."

'So don't spoil your appetite!' Yako wished to scream at him. He was doing things to her that was sending an unfamiliar tingling to her chest and into her stomach. It was such a large transition from the feeling of safety and warmth she experienced only less than an hour ago. He had so quickly stolen the warmth that radiated from her heart to her fingertips and replaced them with a cold numbness that caused her to shiver. How far would Neuro go to reach this puzzle that had formed inside of her? It had been there all along. Fragments of hate and resentment had always floated deep inside of her and began to form into a wall to protect a secret inside of her heart. Yako could not yet comprehend what this secret was, but she knew that it was something that she could never let Neuro learn. Everything was happening so fast that she needed time to think. Would he tear her apart too?

Musical notes dotted his words as he stated "Ahh, I feel like a chef. It's such a little puzzle, but it's growing more and more delicious. Such power is..." he placed his forehead against Yako's the word "Intoxicating" rolled out of his lips and rested heavily inside her mind. There was a look in his eye that truly frightened her. It was a look of a desperate hunger directly focused on her like a pointed laser that reached inside her body and rattled every last sense of safety and trust she had ever felt in his presence.

"Neuro..."

"More..." he growled throatily. He lowered himself over the girl once more and began to continue licking her cheek on her other side. Sorrow and bitterness settled into Yako's heart as she realized that Neuro would never leave, he would never stop, and he would never give up his search for the Ultimate Puzzle. She found herself asking how much longer he would continue, or worse yet, how much farther would he go? She felt a new kind of helplessness that was much different than the one she had felt in the beginning. It was more than just controlling her hand to point out criminals. It was the closest she felt to being completely dominated by another being, and she despised it.

The door to the small office opened and Yako began to feel her spirits lift. The small flicker of hope was quickly extinguished when she realized that Neuro was still "eating". What was more unfortunate was that the person who entered was not a potential customer but was rather a close friend and valuable ally, Detective Sasazuka.

"Neuro, what are you doing?" the detective asked warily. In the beginning the detective had only decided to visit on Godai's request. They had run across each other a short while ago and the former yakuza member had asked him to deliver some sweets to a hard working Yako whenever it was convenient for him. Godai insisted, and Sasazuka could never really pass up the opportunity to pay the young investigator a visit. However, upon observing the scene it was clear that the demon had no reason to stop devouring his appetizer in the presence of one who already knew his secret. "Something like this in such a public place..." he continued, letting the sentence dangle in the air. He realized he wouldn't get a proper response when Yako made a noise which was muffled when Neuro forcefully impressed his lips upon her own. Sasazuka clenched his teeth in agitation and placed a small bag on the nearby table. He could sense that something wasn't right, and it was annoying him.

At first Sasazuka chalked this feeling of unease to the fact that he had felt an unexpected sense of defeat. He had always felt an attraction to the fake Investigator but he only beleived it was because she was so similar to his own deceased sister. The jealousy that gripped his heart came as a mild shock to him, but he realized that it was not due to the newly discovered nature of his attraction. His keen detective skills picked up the tiny details in the room and analyzed them. His experienced nose picked up the scent of earth on the floor. He could also detect a much fainter smell. There was no doubting the familiar scent of copper and salt.

'Wait...' his mind screeched to a halt as he mentally zoomed in on Yakos fingers that were clenched so tightly into her palm that they were drawing blood. Her hair and the floor was damp with what was unmistakably tears. An anger he had not felt in a long time ripped through his body and fueled his strength to deliver a powerful kick to the demons side that sent him rolling limply across the floor. Yako snapped her bruised hands and knees to her chest in a fetal position not unlike a wilted leaf.

"Bastard!" he yelled at the demon. Neuro had placed his hand on the ground and slowly pushed down in order to leverage himself into a standing positiond. Sasazuka did not care what the demon planned on doing, he just wanted to get Yako away from him. He gathered the girl in his arms and prepared to carry her when she swung her feet to the floor to stand on her own.

"I hate you." she forced out through her strained throat. She could not look at him, because she was wiping her eyes and face with her sweater using the back of her arm. Yako swallowed a lump in her throat and forced herself to fully look at the demon who was now supporting his weight with Troy. He was glaring at her with alternating looks of anger, hunger and scrutiny.

Yako let go of Sasazuka with little protest and repeated her statement louder. "I HATE YOU NEURO." Sasazuka could only glare at Neuro in return, even though he knew he would be ignored. There was not much he could say to the demon because at that moment Yako had taken the opportunity to quickly walk outside. 'Even now she's too prideful to run, but too scared to walk.' both the males observed before they filled the room with an intense aura of hatred for the other. This tense moment only lasted for a few seconds until both men simultaneously left the room; the first through the door, the second through the window. Both of their targets were one and the same; Yako Katsuragi.

To be continued.

Thanks for your time, and please leave a review. And I'm sorry for making Yako spend most of the chapter on her back. It will get better.