Yako stood outside the concert hall, staring up at the massive building as her heart pounded in her chest. She could hear the distant sound of cheering and the faint echo of music over the blood pounding in her ears. She wanted to move forward, but at the same time she was too frightened to move another centimeter towards the building where the demon, Aya, was awaiting her arrival. Turning her tail and running back to her apartment sounded like the best idea at the time as she tried to coax her shaking legs to propel her forward. But each time she contemplated the thought of running away, she could hear Neuro's voice in her head.
"Coward."
She shook her head, the cheering from inside growing louder as the music that had accompanied the din stopped. There wasn't any turning back now- sooner or later she'd come face to face with the cruel creature who wanted to tear her apart with or without Neuro at her side.
"A person who is just a human wouldn't have been chosen to be the container of the Ultimate Mystery." She chanted silently to herself as she finally managed to move her legs in the direction of the concert hall. "A person who is just a human wouldn't be able to summon a demon tool." She took another few steps until she found herself standing before the glass doors of the building. "The trick to mastering the skills you've been given is to stop thinking about yourself as just a human…" She reached out, gripping the door handle. Just as her fingers wrapped around the cold metal, the cheering of the crowd vanished, along with the other noises of the city behind her, leaving her ears ringing. Aya knew she had arrived. Yako gulped, taking a long breath as she squeezed her eyes shut, slowly pulling at the handle of the door. "…And start thinking of yourself as something more!"
She flung the door open, walking inside the dead-quiet hallway, opening her eyes wide to find she had company. Two security guards stood at either side before her, faces looking blank and clouded eyes fixed on her. Yako braced herself, expecting some sort of attack. Thinking back to her experience with Hime, they could morph into frightening creatures at any moment.
"Miss Aya has been waiting for you," they both said in unison, turning away from her and heading down the empty hallway. "Right this way, please." Yako stood her ground as the two of them began to walk away. It could very well be a trap, and she didn't know whether to follow them or to stay where she was. And as if they had read her mind they stopped, standing statue-still until she finally decided to follow after them.
Much to her surprise, the two security guards didn't turn on her and attack, but silently lead her down the winding hallways of the concert hall without as much as a word. It didn't stop Yako from being paranoid as she looked back and fourth whenever they came across an intersection of hallways. As expected of a possessed space, anyone who Aya didn't want to witness her true colors were no longer in the concert hall, but the lack of any sort of attempt to attack her beforehand didn't seem right.
Soon after, the two security guards lead her into a spacious room covered from floor to ceiling in mechanics, catwalks covering the ceiling. It didn't take long to discover where she was as she turned to a thick wall of fabric, a voice calling her from the other side.
"What a surprise, I didn't expect you to come alone." Aya's voice cackled, echoing from speakers hidden in the darkness as the curtain slowly rose, bathing the backstage in spotlights. And in the center of the stage stood Aya, showing off a wide, toothy grin. Behind her, to Yako's surprise, was the entire audience, still present in her possessed space. "I hope you don't mind having your final performance being in front of such a large crowd." Yako glared at her, slowly walking to center stage, Aya's hungry eyes following each and every move she made until the two of them were face to face.
"And where, might I ask, if your comedic chorus line, Neuro?" She asked, her grin growing wider as she acknowledged the fact that the one who always protected Yako was nowhere in sight. Yako refused to answer, staring straight into her eyes.
"Nothing to say?" Aya chuckled. "It must be stage fright- your shaking gives it away." With a showy display of hand gestures, she brandished her demon tool. Yako leapt backwards, summoning hers as well, already feeling it sucking energy from her through her fingertips.
"Those useless blades again?" Aya scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Well, go one, try using them. I didn't get to see how useless they really are in your quivering little hands last time." Yako felt her body react on its own as she charged forward, wildly swinging one of the swords at Aya, who leapt gracefully through the air and easily avoided the attack. At the same time she quickly ran her fingers across her guitars invisible strings, a screaming high note echoing loudly. Gasping, Yako forced herself backward, watching as the floor where she once stood exploded into a shower of ripped up boards and splinters.
"Ready to give up yet, Yako?" Aya cackled, appearing behind her. Yako whipped around, swinging both blades in Aya's direction only to have both blows blocked by the guitar and was sent sliding backward a few feet. She could feel her entire body quivering violently; her fingers tightly wrapped around each sword handle so tightly it stung. She'd never been so terrified, and she found herself thinking to herself over and over just how frightened she was- frightened of Aya, frightened of her demon tool, frightened of dying...
"Coward."
"I won't give up!" Yako growled. "I refuse to give up!" She charged forward, feeling as if the blades themselves were pulling her entire body as she swung them at Aya again who blocked each blow but was slowly being knocked further and further back.
"Heh, you've certainly prepared an interesting performance," Aya chuckled, a look of annoyance showing through her usual grin as Yako's blades and the neck of her guitar clashed. "But, I think it's time we moved such an interesting display center stage!" Before Yako could react, Aya had already played a loud and screeching note, and all there was time to do was cover her face as she felt something like a violent gale push her backward. Pain shot through her as wounds were opened up and down her body. The force pushing her backward calmed as she fell to the wooden surface of the stage, moaning in pain as she tried to push herself back up. Eyes focused on the floorboards, she watched as small droplets of blood dripped from her body and onto the ground around her.
"Does it hurt, Yako?" Aya laughed, her shadow falling over her. She slowly lifted her head, each movement she made sending waves of pain through her body. Aya looked down at her with pride, relishing in watching Yako as she struggled to meet her gaze. "I can make it all go away, you know?" She knelt down, gently grasping Yako's chin, causing her to hiss in pain. She could feel her sharp nails slowly digging into her chin. "If you allow me to take the Ultimate Mystery, you'll be freed from all of this pain."
"No…" Yako muttered under her breath.
"What was that, you annoying insect?" Aya growled, grasping a handful of Yako's hair instead of her chin. Yako cringed and cried out in pain before slowly opening her eyes, angrily looking back at Aya.
"I said NO!" Yako yelled, using all her strength to lift one of her arms and swipe at Aya with one of her blades. She narrowly dodged, letting go of Yako and jumping backwards. Yako fell back to her hands and knees, finally finding the strength to slowly push herself to her feet despite how much her body ached.
"How dare-!" Aya gasped, feeling something warm slowly ooze down her cheek. She brought a hand to her face in panic, fingers brushing against a gash that marred her cheek, a steady trickle of blood flowing onto her fingers and down her hand. "My…My face…." Aya's expression grew ugly as she grasped at the wound on her face. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!"
"I refuse to let you have the Ultimate Mystery," Yako uttered, wobbling back and fourth on unsteady legs. The paralyzing fear she had felt before seemed to have vanished as she looked at Aya with an unwavering stare. Her quivering had stopped entirely, replaced with an almost soothing calm. "Because it rightfully belongs to Neuro!"
"LIKE HELL IT DOES!" Aya shrieked, still covering the bleeding wound on her face with her hand. "THAT WEAKLING DESERVES NOTHING! THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY BELONGS TO ME!" Yako charged forward at Aya, who finally uncovered her face to grasp her guitar, using the other hand to play yet another ear-shattering chord.
'A person who is just a human wouldn't have been chosen to be the container of the Ultimate Mystery!' Yako found herself thinking again as she charged straight into Aya's attack. 'A person who is just a human wouldn't be able to summon a demon tool! The trick to mastering the skills you've been given is to stop thinking about yourself as just a human…' Yako loudly yelled as she tightly gripped one of her blades and sliced the air in front of her as she ran. She could feel the invisible attack meant for her blow past her on both sides, destroying the stage around her.
"WHAT!?" Aya cried in shock as Yako continued to charge. Before she could play a second note, the guitar suddenly fell from her grasp. The single second that past seemed like hours to her as she watched as Yako's second blade sliced her arm clean off at the shoulder, removing her hand that had been holding her demon tool along with it.
Time sped back up to normal as Yako barreled past her, almost losing her footing as she stopped herself and turned around to face her foe. Choked gasps escaped Aya's lips as she grasped at the profusely bleeding nub that used to be her arm. However, she remained standing, grip on her major wound growing dangerously tight to the point where she began to mar her own skin. Her entire body shook as a low growl rose from her throat.
"I guess I underestimated you…" Aya muttered darkly, still facing away from Yako, who was panting from exhaustion as she fell to one knee, using one of her swords as a crutch. "You're certainly much more than just a weak little human, and it's certainly peaked my appetite…" She slowly turned to face Yako, a furious glare on her face that twisted her features into something ugly. "You may have ruined my face and taken off my arm, but I'll make sure to destroy you as slow as I can before I claim what's rightfully mine!" Yako flinched, half expecting Aya to leap and attack. Instead, she heard a sickening squishing sound as a chocked gasp exited Aya's lips. Uncoiling from her defensive ball she'd rolled herself into she came to find a familiar set of claws poking out from Aya's stomach, covered in blood.
"I'm certain she told you earlier that the Ultimate Mystery doesn't belong to you."
Yako gasped, finding Neuro angrily staring at Aya from behind.
"Neuro!"
"Y-You…" Aya moaned, a heavy flow of blood escaping her lips and choking off any other words she had to say as it bubbled from her mouth down her chin and neck.
"I must admit, you delivered quite the amusing performance," Neuro told her, seeming amused by her pain. "But even the best shows must come to an end."
"N-No-" Aya coughed, the words being her last as Neuro used the claws he had already buried inside her to slice her body in half. Yako gasped in horror, turning away and covering her eyes as a queasy feeling washed over her from having watched such a thing.
"Yako…" She gasped, hearing Neuro call her name. She quickly looked up to see Neuro standing above her, giving her a look she couldn't quite tell what it meant.
"Neuro, I-"
"You should leave," He advised. "Aya's possessed space will drop soon, and it wouldn't be convenient to get caught in the confused riot that will start once it does." Without another word he turned his back to her.
"Neuro wait!" Yako gasped, but before she could stop him, he disappeared, just like he had before, leaving her alone again as her voice echoed through the quiet theatre. Turning her gaze downward she watched as Aya's bloody corpse dissolved into dust that scattered through the air.
"I should go," She told herself, standing with difficulty. She looked at the space Neuro had occupied for a moment before vanishing before her eyes again.
"…I'm sorry."
It wasn't even a day later and the mysterious incident of thousands of people waking up in the city's largest concert halls was all over the news. Yako sat on her couch, flipping through the channels, each one seeming to be talking about the strange phenomenon. Groaning, she turned the TV off just as a noise resonated from her room. Peeking over the couch, it didn't seem anyone was there, but the chance Neuro was back was enough to force her off the couch, no matter how much it hurt to move around. But once she finally limped to her room, she came to find it was empty, as usual. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she trudged over to her bed and slowly sat down.
"Maybe he isn't going to come back," She muttered to herself, looking to the window that, to her surprise, was closed. Figuring the wind blew it closed she shrugged and shuffled over and re-opened it, looking out at the city below. Allowing her arms to hang out the now-open window, she hung over her windowsill, closed her eyes and listened to the echoes of the city sounds below.
"It isn't smart to leave your window like that, worm." Came a voice. Gasping, Yako turned around quickly- ignoring how much it stung to move so suddenly- coming face to face with the green eyes she'd been waiting to see for days. "You don't know what could break in." Yako opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words to say. The entire time, she had carefully prepared what she would say to him if he ever were to return, but now that he was there she couldn't think of a single word to say to him.
"I…" She muttered, a lump in her throat forming. She wanted to reach out and embrace him, but what Akane had told her before repeated itself in her mind.
"As long as you're the Ultimate Mystery's container, he'll only see you as a tool to get what he wants."
Yako shook her head, turning her eyes to the floor.
"Welcome back," She mumbled, jumping as she felt him grasp the top of her head and force her to look upward at him.
"And why, might I ask, are you crying?"
"I'm not crying!" Yako muttered as she pulled away, furiously wiping at her eyes. "I'm just…" She looked back up to him, staring into his eyes only making her want to cry more. "I missed you." Neuro looked down at her surprised for a moment before taking his jet-black scarf and used it to dry her eyes.
"Don't waste your foolish emotions on me, slug," He told her. And even though he ended it with calling her some sort of insect again, something in his voice sounded different- almost softer, somehow. But Yako couldn't see his face through the scarf he'd used to wipe her tears away, and by the time he pulled away he was facing away from her, making his way onto the ceiling.
"Neuro…"
"You did excellent today." Neuro cut her off as he situated himself above her bed. "Continue to perform at that level and you might become a step above a simple pest." Yako felt a warm feeling in her chest swell, just like the times when he'd say she was special to him and that she was more than just a normal human. But, despite how good it felt, she shook it off. She'd seen what happened when she let her emotions get in the way of things- she wasn't going to risk it again. Neuro was pleased, that was all that mattered.
"I will."
"You certainly had me worried there for a second, Yako," Godai sighed at the end of the photo shoot, looking like he was nursing a headache. "I was starting to think you're period of usefulness to the company had ended."
"No, I was just in a little slump, that's all." Yako assured him, not sure if she should feel insulted or not.
"Well, don't let it happen again. We can't risk loosing another model." He groaned, eyes traveling to Neuro, who was waiting for Yako outside the hallway that led to the dressing room.
"Yako," He continued just before she could retreat. "That man you always bring with you- is he your boyfriend?" Yako looked at him in surprise for a moment before softly laughing and shaking her head.
"No, he's not," She explained, looking over to Neuro with a sad smile. "He's… just someone I like having around."
"Heh, those two certainly got to prove their foolishness, scrambling for the Ultimate Mystery like a desperate pair of starving dogs." A pair of lips smirked in the darkness. "That spoiled brat Hime thought she could rely on humans to do all her work and that airhead Aya thought she could do it all by herself. They totally ignored the most important piece to this puzzle, but I'll use it in a way that will easily help me in obtaining the Ultimate Mystery and finally breaking that prideful servant, Neuro."