Okay, I lied. I'm posting this one on the same day. I already had this one finished anyway! X3
"N-No way…" Yako stared up at Belladonna, the large grey ship that was in the newspaper Neuro was looking at. She shot a disbelieving look at the demon, who was paying no attention to her as he examined the ship. She was a bit scared to know the answer to the question she was about to ask. "Neuro… why are we here?"
"I told you before that I smelled a mystery, didn't I?"
"Well, yes, but…" She looked down at the multiple suitcases she was carrying.
"Let's go." He forced a pair of sunglasses onto her face and pulled her to the registration area by the arm. At this point, the orange haired girl was at a loss for words. Out of all the mysteries for Neuro to choose, it had to be one on a ship, and he just had to sign up as a victim… passenger. When Neuro was done, he started walking up a ramp onto the boat. Yako followed him cautiously, every once in a while looking down at the water beneath them. She wobbled a bit when she got on the boat to find Neuro with the blank smile on his face. "You're too slow, slug."
"Jeez."
"Come. Our room's this way." He started leading the way. The two-tone haired demon almost seemed to be excited about this. Yako, on the other hand, was polar opposite. She couldn't wait until they got home again… and the boat wasn't even moving. Neuro walked through long hallways until he got to the room 777.
'I wonder if he picked that room specifically.' Yako wondered to herself as he opened it with their key. The room was small, but nothing to complain about. Yako dumped the suitcases by the wardrobe and collapsed on the bed, peeling the sunglasses from her face. Neuro closed the door behind him and walked over to the bed, speaking in a low voice.
"All the dead victims were easily traced back to this ship. Supposedly, they jumped off the ship as a suicide attempt; however, the bodies did not sink. What's more, they were completely healthy people with no family issues or problems of their own as a reason for suicide. No dangerous chemicals were found in their bodies." Yako looked up at him to see a demonic green glow in his eyes. "I believe I already know the trick to this, but I wish to confirm it."
"And you had to sign up as a passenger?" Yako grumbled.
"Of course." Neuro responded with another blank smile. "Let's go watch the ship leave port." He latched his hand onto Yako's head and dragged her out of the room. A few long hallways later, Neuro had successfully dragged her to the top of the boat, where some other passengers leaned over the rails to watch as well. The boat wasn't as big as it looked from the outside, so it didn't take long to get to the top. Neuro released Yako's head and looked over the rail as well. Yako walked up beside him and gripped the railing while looking over. So much water…
The ship horn sounded and white foam began forming around the back. The ship swayed a bit as it started to move. Yako clung to the rail as she absent-mindedly looked out at the sea and the land that was getting farther and farther away. Neuro looked down at his slave. She was gripping the rails so tightly that her knuckles were white. Without much of a second thought, Neuro rested his hand on Yako's, making her jump. She glanced back at the demon.
"What is it, louse?"
"N-Nothing… it's just…" Yako's hand relaxed a bit under Neuro's and she tilted it upward. His long fingers curled to her palm. Neuro unexpectedly turned around and started walking back to their room. "Neuro!" She hurried after him and instinctively reached out for him, and froze when he turned to look at her. It was then that she realized she'd grabbed his hand. Time seemed to freeze as he looked down at her with an unreadable expression. All she could do was let her hand go limp and slide back down to her side. Without saying a word, Neuro walked through long hallways with Yako relatively far behind him. They got to their room and Yako returned to her sprawled out position on the bed.
"The mystery hasn't unfolded yet. It will be some time before it ripens. We have time to kill." He walked over to a suitcase and pulled out the brochure. "Let's go swimming."
Yako jerked herself into sitting position. "Swimming? Why?!" She yelled in protest.
"I wish to examine every inch of this boat."
The orange haired girl pulled her knee to her chest and wrapped both arms around it, hiding her mouth behind it. "It's not a boat… it's a ship." She mumbled.
Neuro hadn't put much thought into his louse's behavior, but at this point, it seemed like it would be a problem. She clearly had something against the cruise ship. Did she get scared because of the murders? She'd already seen so many, Neuro thought she would be used to it by now. He decided to dismiss the thought. "Yako, put your swimsuit on. I'm going down to the pool." Neuro commanded as he walked out the door. Once it was shut, Yako moved her knee from her face and stared down at the floor.
"Guess there's no point in hesitating anymore… I have to go there at some point." Yako mumbled to herself. She got her swimsuit from her luggage and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her in case the demon decided to come back. She undressed especially slowly, trying to stall as much as possible. She started wondering to herself what evidence Neuro could possibly hope to find at a pool. Sooner than she would have liked, she changed into a light-ish red two piece. "Why did I even pack this?!" She mumbled to herself. She didn't think she'd be wearing a bikini in front of Neuro. Anything with Neuro involved could end in torturous teasing.
She gathered her clothing, dumped it into her suitcase and headed to the pool. She found herself walking a bit faster every time she felt someone's eyes on her, up to the point where she was running. When the pool came to sight at the end of the hallway, she stopped dead in her tracks and leaned against the wall. She peered around it, feeling embarrassment flooding the rest of her emotions. If there was a slight chance that she could make it to the pool without Neuro seeing her, she would take it. She let out a deep sigh of relief when she didn't see anyone in a blue suit. She started to speed walk toward the pool stairs and once again froze up when she happened to see a tall, lean figure talking to one of the off-duty life guards. This is Yako – try to avoid Neuro at all costs and walk right into his line of vision without knowing it. She felt her face going red as Neuro finished his conversation and walked toward her. So that's why she didn't see him… he wasn't in his blue suit… he brought a swim suit with him. She'd never seen Neuro in anything shorter than long pants, not to mention shirtless. She never expected him to be so…
"You're late, slave." He commented as he bent down to her eye level.
"Y-You never gave me a time limit!" She defended.
"Common sense isn't included in a wood louse's brain, I see."
"…eh…" She couldn't find the words to respond to him… not when he was this close. She felt her face growing redder by the minute. "I-I'm getting in the pool." As she'd said, she started walking toward the pool, and he didn't stop her. She was a bit surprised that he didn't make some teasing remark about her swimsuit, and a bit pleased about that too, as long as it would stay that way. Neuro got in after her. While she was trying to keep herself occupied by swimming laps, he relaxed against the edge and inconspicuously glanced over the whole area.
Yako eventually caught herself stealing glances at the demon. It was unusual to see that much skin. She only ever saw his face, occasionally his arms and hands, though his hands were practically purple weapons of torture all on their own so she couldn't really call that skin. She noticed Neuro smiling widely, the kind of smile that he had on when he found something worth mentioning. She swam over to him and pushed her bangs up with her hand.
"Find anything yet?" She asked.
"I did." He said, staring out at the pool. Yako couldn't tell what he was specifically looking at, so she waited for him to speak. Her eyes traveled to his neck and chest. To be honest, she half expected him to have feathers or something since he always wore that jacket, but it seems he kept his body fully disguised (excluding times when he dropped his disguise around his face and hands, either to eat or scare Yako). His skin was perfectly normal, soft, warm… wait, warm? The demon stared down at the orange haired girl, who's hand rested below his collar bone. "What are you doing?"
"W-What indeed…" Her face went many shades of red and she dunked herself under water, her back towards Neuro. She glanced around under water, trying to distract herself. The ship started to sway, generously giving her something to distract herself with. Bubbles escaped her mouth and she quickly followed them upward. She quickly clung to the edge of the pool, gasping for breath. Her hands gripped the edge until her knuckles turned white and her knees curled in to her chest. She practically clung to the ship for dear life. Once again, Neuro noticed his slave's reaction to the ship. It was clearly too soon for the murders to begin, and he usually protected her anyway, so he didn't know why she seemed so scared.
"Yako…"
Before he could say anything, she squeezed her eyes shut and spoke to him. "Can we go back to the room? Please?" Neuro had seen her scared, and he'd seen her shake, but not like this. She was terrified for some untold reason. Neuro put an arm around her shoulders and one under her legs, pulling her away from the wall. He climbed out of the pool with ease, holding her in his arms. Yako was definitely surprised, but she wasn't about to comment. He grabbed a towel from the racks and draped it over her as he started walking through long hallways to their room. Once he closed their door behind him, he lowered her to her feet. "Um… t-thank you…"
"Go take a shower." He commanded. She didn't hesitate to obey his order. After she took her shower, she sat on the bed and waited for Neuro to get finished with his. He came out of the bathroom in his usual blue pants, but he didn't have his coat on. He wore his white shirt and had his hair tied back. "What have you been so scared of?" He bluntly asked.
"Eh… nothing."
"Answer me."
"I said it was nothing…"
"That's not the answer I'm looking for, slave." He persisted.
"Leave me alone! I told you it was nothing!" She yelled. She hid her eyes when she realized she over exaggerated. There was no way he was going to believe her. She didn't know what she was expecting from him, but she most definitely didn't expect him to turn and walk toward the door. "N…" She didn't want to be left alone… not all alone on this stupid ship… "Neuro!" Without thinking, she desperately threw her arms around his waist from behind, burying her face in his back. "D-Don't go… please…"
"Yako…" His tone was much less than caring. Yako cringed, but kept her arms around him, hoping for the best.
"I'm scared, okay?! I'm scared of the ship… no, the water! I'm scared of being surrounded by miles of open water! I just…" She started getting quieter. Neuro could feel her shaking. "Please don't leave…" She begged. He wasn't about to just leave her… sure, he'd roughed her up and tease her from time to time, but he'd never actually do anything to truly hurt her. Still, he didn't know how to comfort a human, nor was he sure he wanted to. He twisted around in her arms and wrapped his own around her back. "Neuro?" No choice… he walked over to the bed and fell onto it, dragging her with him. He laid on his side, facing her. She looked up at him with questioning eyes.
"Go to sleep." He said as he propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at her. She was about to say something, but he cut her off. "I won't leave, so go to sleep."
Yako cautiously scooted closer to him and hid her face in his chest. "Thank you…" She said quietly. Even without his arms around her, he could feel how tense she was. The ship started swaying again, too much for comfort. Yako instinctively pressed herself closer to him. Neuro started massaging her head gently with his free hand, and sighed to himself out of paranoia. Yako let herself relax. His hands… for once, they felt nice. She felt safe near him, which was saying a lot considering how he usually was, but she started thinking to herself; was there ever a time when she was truly scared of him? Didn't she always know it was a game to him? At last, her breathing started to even out.
