(Be careful what you wish for...)
Mysterious
Case 06: Possession
Exhausted, Yako collapsed into the couch at the detective office and closed her eyes. "Get up slave!" Neuro refused to give her a moment of peace.
"I'm tired!"
"There's no time to rest, there are mysteries waiting to be discovered."
Yako leaned her head back on the couch allowing a soft whimper to escape her, "I wish you knew what it's like to be me!" Then she fell into a deep slumber.
"Stop complaining and get up!" There was no reply so Neuro picked Yako up by the neck, she was limp, alarmingly so. "Dishrag?" Neuro put her down on the couch, relatively gently. "Wake up!" How strange, her heart was beating and her breaths were even, but she wasn't moving. Neuro focused on Yako, lifted her arm and pointed, but there were no words of accusation to accompany the movement.
Normally, possessing another being should be impossible and even possessing a small part should be difficult. This time Yako didn't even twitch when Neuro used his power to move her arm. Even if she was unconscious, her subconscious defenses should be enough to keep him out, unless she was subconsciously willing to allow him to possess her. Becoming curious, Neuro attempted it, entering Yako's mind as easily as he would enter a virtual world.
"This is not surprising..." Neuro was surrounded by food, he expected Yako's mind would be full of it.
"Neuro!" Yako, or at least the image of her, ran to him and hugged him. "You'll always be with me, right?"
"What has gotten into you, slave?" Neuro attempted to push Yako off, but she wouldn't let go.
"Please stay with me forever, I really like you."
Neuro figured it out, this was Yako's subconscious, she was honest and confident without the worries of a conscious mind. "If you like me so much, wake up and serve me like a good little slave."
"But I'm happy like this," Yako's subconscious continued clinging to Neuro.
"I'm not giving you a choice, wake up or I'll make you wake up!" Neuro attempted to leave Yako's body, but her subconscious wouldn't let him. He couldn't allow her to overpower him, even if it was inside her own mind, so he tried harder, until he was in the outside world, but something felt strange...
Neuro got up from the couch, the office looked different, slightly bigger. He looked at the empty couch, Yako wasn't there. "Slave?" He stopped with an expression of shock. "What is this?" This wasn't his voice, it was Yako's voice.
He looked down at his body, which wasn't his body at all. He held his hands in front of his face and touched his head, which were not his. "I'm still in her," Neuro tried to get out of Yako, but he couldn't. He tried to go back into her subconscious, but he couldn't do that either, he was stuck.
The door to the office was opened and Godai entered. "I'm back... Where did Neuro go?"
'I can't let salve number two find out I'm stuck like this," Neuro thought, "He had something to do. You should research more mysteries while he's gone."
Godai studied Yako's face with disapproval, "don't make that blank face, you look like Neuro."
"What's wrong with looking like Neuro?"
"Everything!" Godai finally noticed Akane's frantic movements, "what's up with Akane?"
The braid reached for the keyboard but Neuro, in Yako's body and in her voice replied, "nothing! Right Akane? There is nothing wrong, unless you're trying to tell me you want a haircut."
The braid went limp and still, deciding it was best not to reveal what she had witnessed. Godai shook his head, "you're spending too much time with Neuro, he's rubbing off on you."
"Good, because Neuro is the most genius, handsome, talented, amazing being in the universe and I admire him a lot!" It might not be what Yako would say, but it was what Neuro thought she should say.
"I know you have a silly crush on him, but this is going too far. Maybe he hit your head too hard," Godai looked genuinely worried, which indicated Neuro's Yako act wasn't working.
Neuro was about to say something, but he stopped, feeling a sharp pain in Yako's stomach. "So hungry!" He went over to the desk and dug around Troy's drawers, pulling out a wad of money, payments from their clients that not even Godai was daring enough to steal from Neuro's desk. Yako only got a small allowance out of it, though Neuro didn't particularly need the money.
"Are you insane? Neuro's gonna kill you!" Godai warned.
"It's alright," Yako smiled overly sweet, "master Neuro is merciful and kind, he'll forgive me if I say I needed food to have extra energy to serve him better."
"It's your funeral..."
xoxox xox xoxox
Neuro went to the elevator, to find an out of order sign on it, so instead he took the stairs, losing his footing and sending Yako's fragile human form tumbling down the steps. "Ow!" Bruised and pained, Neuro pushed Yako's body to her feet and kept walking, grumbling about how weak humans are.
The scent of okonomiyaki reached Neuro and he was drawn to the cart he had never seen before. "What will it be, sugar?" A brown haired lady wearing blue was cooking okonomiyaki with spatulas. "Everything!" All the money was spent on food. Neuro ate quickly, so quickly the food didn't properly go down through Yako's throat which led to a few near death experiences. Other than that he bit Yako's fingers several times by accident, but somehow managed to survive the meal.
'Much better, but I'm still kind of hungry and this stupid body is sore,' Neuro thought after finishing the meal, 'Yako really is a weakling bottomless pit.' Unfortunately he didn't have any more money and it wasn't in his best interest to ruin Yako's detective reputation by stealing, since he was sure her body was too slow to get away with it without getting caught.
Resolving to go to Yako's apartment to empty the refrigerator, Neuro walked down the street, until he saw the apartment building across the street and walked towards it. He suddenly became alert of the rapidly approaching danger announced by the loud horn of the speeding truck.
With an indignant yelp, Neuro willed Yako's body to move fast, shocked at how slow she was, even if he could somehow feel the adrenaline in her body. Fortunately, thanks to some maneuvers by the truck driver, Yako's body escaped with nothing but scraped knees in the pavement. "Watch where you're going Mr. No-Breaks!" It was an indignation that the truck didn't even try to stop, instead doing a hasty, though fortunately effective, dodge.
As if that wasn't enough, a small white car sped by seconds later, chasing after the truck. It passed so close that Neuro could see, through Yako's eyes, the urchin haired driver and the blond passenger clearly, despite the speed. Neuro ran for dear life into the apartment building and got in the elevator, listening to the pounding of Yako's heart.
He went up to the apartment, searching Yako's pockets for the keys and went in. After eating everything in the refrigerator, Yako's body seemed to have physically calmed down, though Neuro's mind was still racing, he could have gotten Yako killed.
Neuro looked at the state her body was in, bitten fingers, scrapped knees and bruises all over. He decided it was best to at least wash the wounds. He headed to the bathroom, picked up a towel and got it wet, using it to clean Yako's scratched knees, producing an unpleasant stinging sensation.
This body had been sore ever since Neuro woke up in it, especially around the neck, and now it was even worse. Then a thought occurred to him, maybe if the vessel died, he would be released. He glared at the mirror, seeing Yako's face glare back at him. "If you don't let me out I'll free myself by killing Yako's body!" Neuro waited, but there was no reply and try as he did, he couldn't get out of her body, or return to her mind to figure out a way to persuade her subconscious to stop being such a stubborn annoyance.
Pouting in frustration, Neuro splashed some cold water in Yako's face, at least it felt refreshing, then he grinned mischievously, seeing the expression form on Yako's face in the mirror. "Since my slave is so filthy, I'm going to give her a bath-ouch!" He felt something, he wasn't sure what it was, but it was painful and now he had a headache.
"Stupid subconscious Yako, quit clinging to me! I really will kill this body if you don't let me out!" He glared at Yako's flustered face in the mirror, she certainly blushed easily, albeit he wondered if the reaction in the body he was unwillingly possessing was somehow linked to his own thoughts. Of course, he would never, ever in a million years blush, it was ridiculous and there was no reason to do it, though he was pretty sure that when it came to humans it was an involuntary reaction. Giving up for now, Neuro went back to Yako's room and allowed her tired body to collapse into bed, dozing off soon after.
xoxox xox xoxox
Both Yako and Neuro woke up simultaneously, they were cuddled close in their respective separate bodies and despite him being the one with the fastest reflexes, she was first one to jump out of bed and hurriedly start asking questions while making demands and accusations.
"Shut up slave, you should be thanking me. You were so tired you collapsed at the office and I brought you here to rest."
"Why am I so bruised and scratched?" Yako was visibly upset, Neuro had never done this much damage before, not in such a visible way.
"I might have accidentally dropped you a few times and dragged you part of the way, you're just such a heavy piggy!"
Yako sighed and sat on her bed, "I wish you knew what it's like to be me..."
Neuro's eyes widened, "don't you dare," he jumped in front of her and held Yako's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Never wish your pathetic existence on me."
Yako was taking by surprise; maybe Neuro did have some form of idea how difficult her life was. Maybe after half-carrying and half-dragging her to the apartment, Neuro felt a little guilty and that was why he was hugging her when she woke up. No way, this was Neuro, of course he didn't understand... or did he?
"You can take the day off tomorrow..." Yako opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again, that was as close to an apology as Neuro could ever get, but it was certainly progress.
End of Case 06
Disclaimer, I don't own Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro. The okonomiyaki chef was Ukyo from Ranma 1/2. The truck that nearly ran over Yako was driven by Magaruma, being chased by Ban and Ginji from Get Backers. Next: Mini Cases 07 "Flirt" and 08 "Son".