Disclaimer: I don't own Majin Tantai Nougami Neuro, nor its characters. I am just playing a bit with them.
Spoilers for the manga, chapters 67 and 68, you have been warned.
These were those little things that proved to her that He cared. Maybe it was only because he needed her to play the detectives and bear the fame in his place, but she couldn't help thinking that he truly cared. In his own way.
It was weird when Yako thought about it. He had just saved her life. She realized this now, even though just seconds before she was asking him what he was doing. There was nothing new about him throwing her around, but usually, he left the office furniture in peace. No, it didn't serve any purpose to destroy the office. His dear clients came here after all and expected a neat and comfortable place. Not one with holes in the walls and furniture in a poor state.
She barely had the time to ask herself these questions when suddenly a dancing steel ball flew into the office. Pieces of glass were embedded into the couch. Pieces of glass which would have been embedded into her if not for the couch. Indeed, Neuro had saved her life. She didn't question if it was on purpose. Of course it was. Everything, from his stance to his words and the way he stopped the destructive ball showed that he knew it was coming. Yes, Neuro, in his own way, took care of her. And it made her think.
She knew she shouldn't, without a doubt, he was only protecting what he considered his – she was slave number one after all. She was also his cover. But unlike him, she was human, and she couldn't help hoping that he truly cared for her. She spent too much time with him not to care about him, so she wanted the reverse to be true.
He had saved her life, yes. But she wouldn't have been put into this dangerous position if not for Neuro. If not for Neuro… Maybe she would still be moping about her father's murder, the murderer never found. She would have never known that she could be interested in figuring people's motive, the way their mind works. The more time she spent alongside Neuro, watching him solve crime, the more her own capacities were honed. Had he known about this part of her when he decided she would be the one to act as his cover? She laughed at herself. Maybe he had just recognized the same gluttony for food. He wanted to eat the ultimate mystery. She wanted to taste the best food in the world. They were alike in that way.
Furthermore, being obsessed by other problems, having to focus her attention on so many other things, allowed her to stop obsessing over her father's death. It was still really painful, walking home knowing that he wouldn't be there, that he would never be there again. She loved her father so much. But at least, the man who killed him was caught, thanks to Neuro. And she had found, kind of, another family, thanks to Neuro.
Thanks to Neuro, she was coping with her father's death.
So, maybe, despite the way he treated her, she really was grateful for his presence in her life. And, sometimes, when he made some remarks showing he knew her so well, just like that discussion about Sakuba University, it warmed her heart. After all, he was right. She did know its ranking in terms of school lunches. Of course, a lot of people knew how much she liked food, but not a lot knew that she had chosen her high school and worked so much to pass its exams because of theses same rankings. Only her best friend, or maybe her father, would have been able to joke about it. Now, she could add Neuro to the list. And that made her smile in her heart. She didn't know what he was to her or what she was to him, she didn't want to hope for too much, nor to think too much, but she was thankful.