He sometimes looked himself over quickly in the mirror. Nothing serious. Just a glance that would confirm that everything was where it was supposed to be.

That was before he met Gon, Kurapika and Leorio.

Now he would glance into their eyes, and see them putting their entire trust into him. They believed in him. They saw him, not like meat being surveyed like his mother did, not like they were testing his worth.

And sometimes when he would think about them, their group, he would wonder why he trusted them. Doubts would arise. Perhaps they would desert him. They would all go their separate ways. They would have to be taken care of soon, before they first stabbed him in the back. He would fall into the old way of thinking about life, trusting no one, relying only on himself, sacrificing all others.

But one glance at them again would quickly dispel any thought that they were traitors, and desires to get rid of them.

One glance told him that everything was where it was supposed to be.