READ THIS DISCLAIMER, DAG IT!

This story's got SAD parts. It also includes things I don't condone and do not advise you to do like- cheating, drinking, keeping secrets, holding onto silly angst, or mixing whiskey and rum. If you do it, I hold no responsibility.

So. Enough of that, more importantly,

This story is DEDICATED TO kurono-aijin!

This is all for you Kuro, who wanted long fics from the sentences challenges. (Sorry it's such a crappy fic) K. Shutting up now.

ENJOY!

P.S.- Here's the surprise guest- Yako's husband!

P.P.S.- I love you reviewers so much! You have no idea how much of an emotional boost that gave me, seeing all those lovely reviews when I opened up my e-mail. (I've been having a REALLY rough day)

Sadly, two of you I can't respond to through PM. So I'm putting my thanks and response to Miss Mayinga and anon at the bottom!

Cheers! Qrzi.

#09 - Wise

Yako's husband was many things. Blind was not one of them.

Take, for instance, his wife, his dear, so very precious wife...he loved her. But she didn't love him.

He knew that.

That 'assistant,' that oddly dressed man with a dangerous aura and a strange bright smile...That man hated him.

He knew that.

And his wife, the acclaimed detective... He sighed. It was really his own fault, if you thought about it.

What had he been doing?

Really?

Years ago, he met the girl, then the assistant...and he had understood with time, how the assistant was more than he appeared and very much a demon when he was dealing with criminals.

Literally.

And with more time, he had seen how it was, how that girl's oh-so-obvious fake smiles that became more and more strained with time.

Then he began to notice how she glanced toward the 'assistant'. How she'd reach her hand out to touch him when the assistant's back was turned, only to take it back. The look in her eyes...

That girl, his now-wife, loved that odd assistant.

And it hurt her to love him. Because the d-...assistant could not love her back.

And it hurt him, the man who would become her husband.. To see that look in her eyes, that weary, desperate look.. He realized he loved her.

That realization gave him strength and with that he found the courage to walk up to Yako and asked her out with a large crowd surrounding them while the assistant stood there, green eyes burning.

Her response surprised him.

And that response led to another date. And another. And another, until finally-

He proposed.

She said yes.

It was foolish of him, he knew that. Foolish to ask her to enter into a commitment with him, when she didn't love him.

Especially when he knew that she didn't, and wouldn't, ever love him.

But he did it. He did it, in the blind hope that maybe, he could make her forget about that d-...assistant.

Nope.

It didn't happen.

Things only got worse.

And even more worse.

He knew what was happening.

He knew everything.

The details were all there.

Yako's husband was many things, in denial was not one of them.

He was not one of those husbands who would bluster on and on about how it was impossible that things be such, that their wives would not and never ever would do such a thing.

He was not ignorant, either.

He never turned a blind eye.

Instead, he saw everything. And because of that he knew.

He knew how Yako had cried at the wedding. Not for joy, but for the desperate wish that the d-..assistant would do something to stop her from marrying him, to prove that he loved her.

He knew how Yako's smiles had been fake. And how sad and happy, Yako had been, all at the same time, after her dance with that assistant.

He knew how Yako had cried and cried in the first few weeks they were married. And how she had made a wish that the assistant would love her back.

He knew how she had gone to dinner with those stiff American clients and had an affair with said assistant.

And he knew how she had broken things off with that assistant and cried for the longest time, putting up a smiling face when her husband arrived home.

He knew.

And yet, he did nothing.

Yako's husband was many things...Foolish...Love-sick...Selfish...Coward.

He loved her, with all his heart and soul, and even he saw, all the toll that this deception, this great pretending was putting up on her, on all of the players in this grand charade-

But he did nothing.

He wanted to believe that everything would change. Could change.

That one day Yako would forget about the assistant and somehow love him back.

But the truth was...it wasn't going to happen.

He knew that.

There was a better chance of Hell freezing over! (But what did he know about Hell? That d-..assistant was more likely to know than he.)

But even as he knew, that Yako would not love him, and that she loved the assistant but believed the assistant could not love her and that the assistant did truly love her, somehow, even while being a d-..

Things were a mess.

He could fix that, though... But...Yako's husband was a selfish man.

He wanted her by his side.

But she was suffering. That desperate and weary look was back in her eyes, stronger than before.

The look he had wanted to cure her of.

He had wanted so desperately to be the solution..but he only succeeded in being part of the problem.

This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her to be happy but he couldn't be the one to give her that.

So...maybe..no matter how much it would hurt...for her sake at least..

Yako's husband was many things. But he was not blind or in denial. He was not wise, either, but perhaps, for her sake...he could be.

To Miss Mayinga: I'm curious as to why you opted out of the PM feature, but anyway, I think I solved this, (by reading the chapter, you already have an idea of what's going to happen right?) with the characters having emotional maturity and reasonableness. I think I did.. You might disagree. In any case, the proposal of marriage in the case that what you wished for happens was a bright spot in my day. Sorry though! I'm not going to marry until I've got 75% of the stuff on the list of things I want to do list done! (Yes I know what you meant. I'm just messing with you.) The open relationship was an interesting idea.. I though, would have an issue with that, since well, cheating/adultery has played a big role in my family. (It kind of follows the tune of this story except my dad's not a demon. Last time I checked anyway). But in the end, I really wanted Neuro and Yako to be together and so no, the "big girl panties" aren't going to go on. I hope this lives up to your hopes of emotional maturity/reasonableness.

To anon: Well... As you can see from the chapter, someone might own up.. Yeah, I agree it's frustrating, but that's the way it goes! (On the bright side, things are going to get better!)