"You don't look too hot." Kanae noted as she and Yako left the school grounds, Higuchi close behind them. Yako responded with an exhausted yawn before explaining herself.

"I just didn't get much sleep, that's all," She told her. It wasn't a total lie- if she had to guess, she'd only gotten about two hours of shuteye. She just didn't tell her why. Neuro had claimed her bed, leaving her to try and sleep on her floor. If that wasn't enough, every, little noise that came from outside had sent fear coursing through her. God forbid the demon who had attacked before would come back and finish the job while they slept.

"Because you were studying, I trust?" Kanae asked, raising an eyebrow. "We have that massive exam at cram school, after all." Yako felt a nervous feeling rise inside her gut. She'd completely forgotten about it. There was also the pressing matter of Neuro still dwelling in her room that needed attention. She couldn't bear to think of what would happen if her grandparents got back from the restaurant they managed before she did and found him.

"I'm actually going to have to pass." She didn't have to look to tell Kanae's face had morphed into a frustrated frown at the very mention she wasn't going to attend. She could already feel her enraged gaze burn the side of her head. "I have things to do… for my grandparents…"

"You're lying, I know you are!" Kanae groaned, her voice dripping with disdain. "Do you even care about-"

"Kanae, calm down, maybe she's telling the truth." Higuchi interrupted, trying his best to avoid another argument addressing Yako's slipping grades.

"You're too soft on her!" Kanae argued, turning her enraged gaze to him now.

"I-I should probably get going." Yako lied, quickly turning around and heading in the direction of her grandparents house before anyone could stop her. "I'll see you two tomorrow!"

"You better not forget your promise! You're graduating with us- don't you forget!" Kanae yelled at her back as she ran away. She felt a slight pang of guilt, having been reminded of their promise they had made when they first entered high school. But at the moment, the presence of the boy from hell far outweighed her promise to graduate with Kanae. As she ran, she turned back to her two friends, giving one last wave and catching a glimpse of Higuchi holding a very angry Kanae back from pursuing her.

"Sorry…"

"Neuro!" Yako called as she walked through the doors, kicking off her shoes. No one answered back, but it was to be expected. Throwing her bag haphazardly to the side, she quickly made her way down the hallway to her room and threw the door open. A feeling of shock came over her as she came to find her room unoccupied. He was no longer asleep on her bed where she had left him; the only thing that remained were the unmade bed sheets.

"Neuro?" She looked around her room, starting to feel panicked at his absence and at the same time unsure as to why him not being in her room bothered her so. But, for some strange reason, his disappearance was unnerving.

"Maybe he got all his strength back," She thought aloud as she straightened up after having checked under her bed, of all places. "He made it clear he didn't like staying here anyway." She heaved a loud sigh, the exam she had decided to skip now weighing heavily on her conscience.

"Maybe if I hurry…" She began, getting up just as her window slid open. She cried out in surprise, falling back onto her bed and scooting against the wall. But, what she had expected to be the shadowy demon from the night before was Neuro, peering in at her almost as if he had enjoyed watching her freak out.

"Back so soon?" He asked her with a smirk.

"W-where were you!?" Yako shouted, angry and embarrassed. "Why did you leave!?"

"I already told you the air in this place isn't to my liking- there's no way I'd be able to lie around and wait in a place like this." He explained as he climbed in through the window, revealing a deep gash located at his side that had saturated his already worn jacket in blood. Yako couldn't help but gasp, despite knowing his injuries, no matter how severe, healed themselves. Neuro regarded the injury briefly, turning his attention back to her. "But, at least now that you're here, staying in such a place won't be as unbearable."

"Why bother coming here to recover if you're just going to leave and get hurt again!?" She questioned, each word weighed down by concern.

"Things should even out eventually, if I'm careful." Yako couldn't help but groan, Neuro's lack of interest in his own well-being making her feel like a parent of some rowdy, danger-seeking child. There was honestly nothing she could do, though. While she was at school he could do as he pleased. It was certain he wouldn't listen to a word of what she said. But her lack of ability to help him in any way forced her to focus on the small, unimportant things she actually could help, the main focus being his one piece of clothing: his tattered and now blood-soaked jacket. It didn't seem to bother him in the slightest, but it sure bothered her.

"Wait here," She told him, making a motion like she had just told a dog to "stay". Exiting her room, she briskly walked into the spare room of the house where she knew some of her parent's old clothes had been stored. She hesitated as she knelt down before one of the drawers that contained some of her father's clothes, feeling like she was defiling a grave site.

"I'm sorry," She muttered, straining herself to open it and pull out a dress shirt and some pants. Neuro was somewhat tall for the age she assumed he was, so she imagined the selection would fit him to some degree. Apologizing one last time and promising she'd wash the clothes when she was done, she rushed back to her room, shoving the clothes into Neuro's arms, who looked from what she had given to her with a lost look in his eyes.

"Put these on." She told him bluntly, quickly leaving the room and shutting the door before he could ask her why and so that he could change in private. "And don't get too much blood on them!" She shouted through the door as an after thought. Turning back to the empty hallway, she waited until she heard the sound of cloth shifting and falling to the floor before she left, finding herself walking into the small room near the entryway that contained her parent's shrine. She found herself wandering in there from time to time- despite how much it hurt to keep on being reminded they weren't around- usually to apologize for things. And, oh, she certainly had plenty to apologize for. Ungracefully dropping to her knees before the shrine and the photo of her parents lovingly embracing one another that sat before her, she closed her eyes and pressed her hands together in prayer.

'I'm sorry I skipped another important test. I know how much you'd hate for me to skip such a thing.' She thought to herself, getting the minor bits of her reason for visiting out of the way. "And I'm also sorry for bringing such a troublesome person into this house. Please understand, I can't just let him wander around the streets like-"

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice asked her. Yako gasped, opening her eyes and looking up to see Neuro, clad in the clothes she had given him, standing next to the shrine, holding the photo of her parents and studying it closely.

"Put that down!" She snapped, quickly leaping to her feet. Neuro looked back to her confused, like he didn't know why she was reacting in such a way to him removing her parent's photo from the shrine. She snatched it from his hands angrily and set it back carefully in it's rightful place.

"They're the reason the air in this house is so suffocating," Neuro told her, seeming almost amused.

"What?"

"You certainly can't feel it, but someone who's experienced death first hand certainly can." He explained, walking around to face the shrine. "Your inability to let go of your loved ones after death isn't a healthy thing for you or for them."

"I can't just forget them, they were my parents!"

"I didn't say forget about them, idiot," He said in an acidic tone. "You should let them move on instead of tightening your grip around their passing and what could have been. It keeps a piece of their souls trapped here and keeps them from fully enjoying the paradise they entered once they passed." Yako stared up at him, feeling a sense of guilt wash over her as she looked from him to her parent's shrine.

"I'm sure it's not a simple thing for people like you to do," he continued. "But keeping things this way is selfish, I'm sure by now you realize…" Turning to Yako he came to find she had begun to quietly sob. She hid her face in her hands as her shoulders shook.

"I'm sorry…" She muttered. "I…I didn't…" She could hear Neuro groan over her sobs, which was something she'd expected him to do, but what she didn't expect was for him to rest his hand on her shoulder in attempts to comfort her in a passive way.

"You don't need to apologize," he told her. "I'm sure your mother and father will be happy enough with you allowing them to pass on." Yako sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Thank you…"

"Don't thank me, stupid," He grunted, the bite in his voice returning as he removed his hand from her shoulder and turned for the door. "I'd rather you not." Yako remained silent for a moment, looking down at the floorboards before looking back to Neuro.

"Do you know this because someone wouldn't let you pass on?" She asked. Neuro responded with a sad-sounding chuckle, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Don't be stupid. No one mourns a soul bound for hell."

The days spent with Neuro seemed like an eternity to Yako. Even in the short time leaving him in her room in the morning and finding him waiting outside her window for her when she returned had come to be some sort of routine. She could feel herself growing closer to him despite the fact Neuro hardly allotted enough emotions to confirm he felt the same way. She'd become worried when he'd return with yet another injury, she'd become content falling asleep in the same room as him –he'd yet to give up the bed to her at all, though- and she'd also feel embarrassment when he started waiting for her outside of her cram school.

"Ooooh, I spy Yako's stalker!" One of the girls piped up at the end of class, her hands cupped around her face that was pressed against the window. A few other girls parroted the girl, chanting the nickname they'd all come to know Neuro by: Yako's stalker. Yako felt her face grow warm as she rushed to the window to confirm she wasn't just being teased. But, alas, there he was, looking up at them as if he knew he was being spied on.

"I told you, you shouldn't have picked him up that day," Kanae scolded, walking next to Yako to take a peak herself. "Now he's going to follow you around like a lost puppy."

"Heh, I think she likes the attention!" The girl who had spotted Neuro chuckled. Yako groaned, her blush intensifying as she pushed herself away from the glass and grabbed her bag. She could hear a few people laugh behind her, Kanae included, as she began to storm out.

"You know what?" Yako asked, pausing in the doorway and turning around. "Maybe I do like the attention." She felt even more embarrassed saying it aloud as she continued her rushed exit, briefly catching a glimpse of Higuchi who was looking at her horrified.

"Ooooh, Yako's got a crush!" She heard someone jeer as she left, picking up her pace the closer she got to the cram school's exit.

"You don't have to wait for me here, you know!?" Yako moaned as she walked out the doors to meet Neuro. "You even said yourself it's become easier to stay inside my house, you can just wait there!"

"I could," Neuro smirked. "But that embarrassed face of yours is so priceless, it makes up for being cooped up all day."

"Don't lie, you hardly stay in my room when I'm gone these days." Yako felt a twinge of sadness. The fact Neuro was residing in her room less and less –sometimes to the point where he'd sometimes be gone before she woke up for school- and coming back with fewer wounds meant he was getting his strength back. Which meant he would soon have no reason to stay with her.

"Either way, it's a sight to see," Neuro chuckled just as the sound of someone opening a window above them resonated, followed by a chorus of laughter.

"Yako and her stalker sitting in a tree!" The girls leaning out the window began to chant. "F-U-C-"

"Let's go…" Yako murmured, feeling her face grow hot as he led Neuro away from the building and the mocking chant that continued until they were out of sight. The two of them walked in silence after having escaped the jeers of her classmates. In her mind, Yako desperately wanted to ask Neuro when he was going to leave, but she was afraid of the answer. It seemed better to remain ignorant to when he'd leave her side than to have the actual fact eat away at her.

"Yako." Neuro called over the din of passing cars, breaking the silence between them.

"Huh?" Yako looked over her shoulder, trying to hide the saddened look on her face.

"Can you let go?" The question didn't fully register in her mind at first- to her it seemed he was asking her if she could let him go when it came time for him to leave. But after a few seconds she realized he was talking about his hand she was still tightly holding.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize…" She apologized, keeping her hand wrapped around his for a few seconds more before relinquishing it to him. Turning back around, she clasped her own hands together, trying to imitate the warm feeling she felt holding his hand. It didn't feel the same at all.

Once they arrived at her grandparents house they followed their usual routine: Neuro went around back, leaving Yako to walk through the front doors alone and greet her grandparents and blame her rush to get back to her room on homework. Like always, she executed the lie perfectly and, like always, when she got to her room, Neuro was already there, waiting for her. He sat, perched on her windowsill and looking outside. He looked over his shoulder, acknowledging he knew she was there, and turned back to staring outside.

"I'm sure even you've realized it by now," He began. "But my time of my parting is drawing closer. Soon, I won't have a reason to stay in this place anymore." Yako felt her heart sink, her brain flying into a panic at his words. She knew before he had said them that they were true, but hearing him say them made her feel almost frightened.

"You don't have to…I mean you even said yourself, it's like demons refuse to attack you here!" She frantically answered. "Why not stay here?"

"If I stay in one place for too long, they'll be able to pinpoint my location and send more than weak fodder after me." Neuro explained, throwing Yako an annoyed look over his shoulder. "Eventually, there will come a time where whatever's protecting me and you from being attacked will fade."

"But…" Yako was at a loss for words as she felt the familiar warmth of tears gathering just behind her eyes.

"But what?" He asked, still facing in the other direction.

"I don't want you to go!" She shouted, unable to keep herself from saying the words. She didn't want him to leave. In the beginning, it wouldn't have made a difference if he stayed or left, but now it felt like he was occupying a space in her heart that had been empty for some time, and the very thought of him leaving and that spot being empty again hurt her.

"Don't be so selfish," Neuro hissed, now fully turned to her, his abnormally green eyes looking back at her with disdain. "What possible reason do you have that would make it a good idea to stay here?" Yako bit her lip, unable to tell him. If she told him she had come to like him, he most likely wouldn't understand. From what she'd witnessed, Neuro lacked the emotional range to understand what it meant to be in love with someone. But his glare was demanding some sort of answer, and if she couldn't tell him, she'd have to show him.

"I…" She stammered, taking a few unsteady steps forward until she was close enough to reach out and clutch the fabric of his shirt in her hands. Neuro watched her in surprise, but did nothing to stop her as she continued moving forward, her hands still desperately clutching at his shirt. "I…"

'What are you doing?' She asked herself bitterly. 'Do you honestly think doing this will change his mind?'

Just as her face was inches away from his, her resolve wavered and she began to pull away, trying to hide her face in shame.

"Never mind, I-" She gasped as she felt Neuro pull her back, one hand on her shoulder the other grasping her waist. Before she could comprehend what was happening, his lips locked with hers as he pulled her closer. Thousands of questions swarmed her thoughts as she reached out again, hands finding his shirt again as she clutched the cloth in her fingers. She wasn't sure how to react, but her body seemed to react all on it's own, kissing him back in an almost desperate manner. Was this really happening?

The seconds that passed seemed like hours before Neuro pulled away, breaking the kiss. Yako couldn't help but lean forward, as if she were silently begging for more.

"Please…" She mumbled. "Stay."

She didn't know what to expect Neuro to do, but out of all things he could have done she didn't expect him to push her to the ground. Feeling shocked and hurt, she pushed herself from off the floor just in time to see the shadows in her room bend and stretch, peeling themselves from her floor and walls. And in the next instant the dark shapes darted at Neuro, some restraining him, others piercing his flesh. And, before Yako could scream, another tentacle-like shadow reached out from the tangled mess and wrapped around her mouth, silencing her. He muffled screams continued as she tried and failed to reach Neuro, who seemed too much in shock to speak.

"How crafty of you to hide yourself in a place where none of my minions can attack," a dark, deep voice chuckled. Yako twisted her head to see a tall figure step out from the shadows, revealing himself to be a tall man with long, black hair. At first glance, he seemed like a normal human, but something about him seemed off and it sent a shiver up Yako's spine.

"S… Sata-" Neuro gasped, his words cut off as another manipulated shadow curled tightly around his throat.

"You recovered your strength long ago, you fool, you could have left at any time," the man sneered, approaching Neuro. "But instead, you hid behind this girl like a coward long enough that the problem of your escape escalated to where I, myself had to come and fetch you." The man smirked, tightly grasping Neuro's chin and lifting his head to that he could look him in the eyes as he struggled to fill his lungs with air.

"Or maybe you decided to stay… for a different reason." His grin grew wider as he turned to face Yako, who's eyes were full of tears brought on by fear. She screamed something that was muffled by the shadow gagging her, and tried to back away as he approached her.

"You should feel lucky. If you were anyone else I wouldn't think twice about simply ridding this would of your existence after all of the things you've witnessed." He chuckled as he reached down to tightly grasp her head. She only thrashed for a second, her attempts to escape his grasp coming to an abrupt halt as her body became numb. "Ridding you of all your memories of having ever met this pathetic rat is the most I can do. Fitting, since he'll be able to watch the person he fell so far for live her life as if he never existed." Yako's eyes widened before drooping sleepily, her thoughts becoming fuzzy and what else that was said becoming much too saturated in echoes to hear.

"Yako!" She heard someone shout as her vision was clouded by darkness. She knew that voice, or at least she thought she did. But for the life of her she couldn't remember whom the voice belonged to.

Yako woke up with a start, picking herself off of her bedroom floor. It was as if she'd just had a terrifying nightmare, but she couldn't remember what it was.

"I must have fallen asleep," She muttered to herself, slowly rising to her feet and looking to her bag she had carelessly thrown to the floor, her homework scattered about the ground.

"Oh, yeah, that's right." She groaned, walking over to the messy pile and picking it up in her hands. "Cram school overloaded us with homework." She looked at the handful of papers bitterly, wanting nothing more than to just toss them to the side and crawl into bed. The promise she had made to her friends made her act otherwise as she walked over to her desk.

'It's strange…' She thought to herself. 'It's like I'm forgetting something…'

Yako gasped, snapping back to reality. Akane had gone, leaving her looking blankly in front of her.

"Yako, are you alright?" Higuchi asked, "What happened, where did that girl go?" Yako opened her mouth to speak but all she managed to utter was a quiet, "Ah…" as tears began to fall from her eyes. She remembered everything, down to the very last detail.

"Yako!" Higuchi gasped as she fell to her knees and sobbed. "Yako, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry…" She sniffled, hiding her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry."

But as she sobbed Yako didn't hear the sound of approaching footsteps until the air around her and Higuchi became dead quiet. The words Neuro had told her passed through her head briefly.

"When that time comes…I want you to run!"

'I'm sorry, Neuro,' She thought to herself. 'I can't.'