Yako and Neuro have become closer as a couple, though from an outsider's point of view not much has changed between the detective and her assistant.

A Push in the Right Direction

Mystery 51: Evidence

Yako gently ran her hands through the claw marks on Troy. "If the one who made Troy sees this..." It's not like she expected Neuro to be gentle, but he had to learn to stop breaking furniture.

"You do have good ideas now and then, top slug," Neuro immediately called with the pretence that his desk needing maintenance.

Yako sighed, "I should have kept my big mouth shut."

xoxox xox xoxox

Several hours later at Yako's apartment, she had a good meal and a nice relaxing shower. Neuro had disappeared around the time food consumed her attention as it was consumed by her. She quickly organized her bedroom, picking up her Neuro plushie from the floor where it had been tossed out of the way earlier. She placed it on her desk, she would sleep with it if not for the fact that she feared she would chew it up while dreaming of something delicious, it had turned out cute and she didn't want to ruin it.

While strengthening out the sheets that had been left tangled up before, she noticed that they were torn to pieces, something that had escaped her attention earlier, as her mind was occupied in other things. She threw away the unfixable shreds of fabric, examining the holes and rips on the mattress with a sigh and resolving for simply turning it over and covering it with thick sheets. She couldn't afford to buy new furniture every time... she blushed, the blood rushing to her face at the thought.

"What are you doing, slave?"

Yako jumped in surprise and looked up at the ceiling; she should have expected Neuro to be there. "I'm trying to fix the bed so I can sleep on it, you tore it apart..."

"Don't say it like it's my fault alone when you share the blame," Neuro grinned mischievously.

"That's not... I didn't!" Yako pouted, it was simply impossible to argue with Neuro and besides, he sort of had a point, in a way. She picked up her tortured pillow, she couldn't use that anymore, "I really liked this pillow; it reminded me of a marshmallow."

"Is that why you bit it?"

"I did not!" Yako paused, she had assumed all the destruction was to be blamed on Neuro; though she did play a certain key role in it she had thought her participation was strictly indirect. What had happened to the pillow? Ah, yes, she remembered it clearly now. "I only bit it because you shoved it in my face and tried to suffocate me with it!" Yako tossed the pillow away and rummaged through her closet for a spare.

"How disappointing, I finally get you to obediently call me master and seconds later you rebel and attack," Neuro hopped down from the ceiling. "You bit me, remember? The pillow incident was in self defense, are you sure you weren't trying to eat me? You bit me at the office too, except I didn't have a pillow to shove at you then," nonetheless he did bang her head against the polished surface of Troy. Yako felt every drop of blood she had in her entire body rush to her face, she couldn't deny Neuro's claims. "You're not a submissive slave at all, your master will have to teach you some respect..."

xoxox xox xoxox

It was a brand new day, the sun was shining, the city was buzzing with activity, and Yako was merrily walking down the street back to the office after having purchased some mid-morning snacks. The office would look empty without Troy until the desk was returned. The furniture designer who made Troy with such care nearly had a heart attack when he saw the state it, or she as he insisted on calling the desk, was in. He took Troy back to his shop for repairs, dramatically crying the whole way.

As expected, Yako got blamed for everything. The furniture designer went as far as saying he pitied Neuro, having to put up with the abusive detective and theorizing the reason he always wore that suit was to hide the multiple bandaged injuries he must have all over his body, including the recent stab wounds, which was what the claw marks on Troy were interpreted to be.

People had theorized about the detective and her assistant being lovers long before they even became a couple. They secretly pitied poor Neuro, though they also admired his courage and endurance, imagining Yako to be a merciless sadist. Embarrassed as she was, Yako had given up on trying to clear up the rumors, denial only made them stronger. Instead she just ignored the odd looks and suspicious whispers, or at least she tried to.

However, Yako could not ignore the strange girl who was leaning close to her and smelling her as she walked down the street. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused," the girl replied, taking another sniff, as if to confirm beyond a doubt that the scent was what she thought it was. Her hair was unusually colored, striped in dark purple-black and blond, her eyes a dull gray, darker in the center, like a pair of black holes. "I'm sure of it; the fact that you're wearing his feather on that silly hair clip of yours is no mere coincidence. I can smell it; it has finally happened, I was expecting it. I knew from the day my brother went off to the human world that he would end up with a human mate. I never did understand his fascination with such weak and hideous creatures, but he is an idiot."

Yako looked at her in puzzlement, "you're taking about Neuro?"

"Who else, he's the only sibling I have, and a useless one at that. When we were little he was always trying to get rid of me, I guess he was mad because I was taller, despite being younger. Sure he grew taller than me eventually, but it drove him insane as a child to be so small, he would snap at anyone who called him little," she had a high pitched mocking laugh. Suddenly, she made a dramatic pause and introduced herself, "I am the one and only Nera Nogami! Now worthy sister-in-law, make yourself useful and take me to see my stupid brother."

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro. This story will have around 60 chapters so it's almost to the end, but the last few chapters will be longer than usual. :)