Author's note:

Thank you, for those who reviewed my last chapter, this chapter wouldn't be here without you and my beta reader 14Phantom, I appreciate the support and encouragement, if you enjoy this chapter please leave a review or it may take a while for chapter four to come out =P

Please enjoy, and review!

~Kingdom of Stars~

Chapter Three: Trust

I felt his eyes on me the whole time. I wondered what he could be thinking. Then finally, he spoke.

"Hey, what's your name?"

My eyes went wide and I popped my head up.

"It's Kaori." I mumbled nervously. Kazama stared at me with his crimson red eyes for several long seconds before standing. I gasped. How could he be moving, he was shot at so many times. I noticed a patch of mud was soiled with blood where he had laid. I realized that the oni must be unimaginably strong. Would it be smarter to fear him instead of seeking his aid? There were so many unanswered questions accelerating through my mind, all of which I was too afraid to ask. Still, I couldn't help myself from asking him the obvious. I just had to confirm it. This all seemed too much like a fairy tale.

"Umm…are you really uh?" I sputtered hesitantly in fear of asking him something that would anger him. He seemed irritated at my wavering question.

"What; a demon?" He asserted. I sheepishly nodded my head.

"Don't concern yourself with that. It's none of your business; you just need to get to Edo?"

I nodded, shyly.

"Then I'll take you there, since you did kill Shiranui."

"Really!? You'll let me travel with you!?" I sprang to my feet with a huge smile on my face. He gazed at me for a moment.

"Hmph."

Kazama grunted with slight disgust and started advancing to the woods. I kept myself at a distance behind him cautious of his demeanor. From time to time he would look over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of me. Every time I stumbled or gasped Kazama would look in my direction. He remained silent as we treaded through the sweltering forest. It was uncomfortable not knowing what was on his mind. I really wished he would have shared more information about the oni with me. I was dying to know everything about him. I doubted he would ever open up to me. Most of all I wondered why he hated humans so much, as well as the Shinsengumi.

My wrist began to ache and I held it gently, trying to hold back my moaning. It was still broken and the pain intensified whenever I moved it. I wondered if he even cared about my injury or even cared about me.

But now he was taking me to Edo because he had a debt to pay. Even though I really wanted him to accept me he still seemed disgusted by my presence and that made me feel lonely and unwanted. Still, I was grateful just to be back on my way to Edo where I could find the Shinsengumi. That was my top priority after all.

I had to find him.

I wondered what kind of relationship Kazama had with the Shinsengumi , since he acted hostile when I mentioned their name. It would be important to know if we ran into the Shinsengumi together.

"Hey, Kazama."

"What is it?"

"Um, what do you think of the Shinsengumi?" I mumbled, intimidated by his ominous temper. He paused in his tracks to turn and glare at me. Kyo had said Kazama fought one of their members recently, so that must mean Kazama and the Shinsengumi are enemies. I knew we both are on opposite sides of this war but still, I hungered to know what his affiliation is with them.

"What do you mean?" He gave me a cold solemn gaze. He stood in front of me, still as a statue, waiting impatiently for me to respond. I choose my next words carefully.

"Well, what is your relationship with them? Are you really enemies?"

"It would be best for us not to confirm our connection with the Shinsengumi, don't you think?"

I gasped. What was I thinking, Kazama was right. If we confirmed that we really were enemies that would mean at least one of us would have to die, and by one of us that means me. Besides if we were going to cooperate with each other we shouldn't reveal that we are on opposite sides. For all he knows I could be a spy of some sort. It was obvious we were enemies though, since I defended the Shinsengumi's name, and because he actually fought one of them before.

"You're right, I just…" I didn't know what I was saying anymore. I yearned to know more about Kazama and the Shinsengumi. What if he's trying to find the Shinsengumi himself? What would that mean for us? Will he eventually just kill me anyway once he fully realizes my connection with the Shinsengumi? I don't understand him at all, and I find it hard to trust him. He began to turn from me.

"Wait, tell me one thing, is that why you're going to Edo, to find the Shinsengumi like me?" I stuttered nervously.

"I already told you we shouldn't discuss it; don't let me catch you mentioning their name again." He growled with his back turned to me. I cautiously scurried over to catch up with him, while still maintaining a distance between us. We traveled a little ways further before Kazama halted suddenly.

"Quiet." He muttered in a harsh whisper. He put his hand on the top of his sword and listened carefully for something.

"Was that you?" He said glaring at me, his crimson eyes wild with disgust. I stared at him puzzled.

"Nuh, no, what's going on, did you hear something?" I whispered.

"Shut up!" He remarked in a furious low voice. Then I heard it, laughter growing in the distance. I gasped and dashed toward Kazama, closing the gap between us. Was it those furies from before? I shivered with fear, wondering if this malevolent man would actually protect me this time. I kept myself about a foot behind him, fighting the urge to cry. Kazama sniffed the air, glanced down at himself then at me.

"Their tracking us like before, it's the scent of blood." He muttered at a low-key. "I know a river by here; we'll head in that direction, and wash the scent off." He took his hand off his sword and waited a moment for a response from me. I was still struggling to keep myself from weeping. I felt like such a useless burden to him.

"Once we get to the river the safer route will be completely out of your reach, you won't be able to turn back if you change your mind."

"No! Whichever way is the fastest to Edo is the route I'm going to take, I can handle myself." I uttered suddenly trying to sound strong. Kazama wasn't fooled he knew just how frightened I was, but it seemed he didn't care. He walked past me and I staggered behind him.

"Foolish woman." He uttered under his breath.

My mind wondered on our way to the river. I couldn't stop thinking about Kyo's words. He said he was going to kill someone named Chizuru to end Kazama's interest in the Shinsengumi. Perhaps he was looking for that Chizuru person, like how I was trying to find someone. I ached to know, what Kazama had to do with the Shinsengumi and who Chizuru was to him. I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from impulsively asking him.

When we reached the river Kazama took off his dark coat and began washing the blood off of himself. His clothing looked so rich, I recalled him saying he was lord of the oni to Kyo. Perhaps he really was a lord. As he kneeled down toward the water his blond hair gleamed in the blazing sun.

"Head down the river and wash up." He said, before he ignored me completely to get to work. I went far down the river just enough to have some privacy. I felt uncomfortable getting undressed so I just stumbled into the knee high water with my clothes on and washed them quickly, trying to get out before catching a cold. I started to see the bright colors of my kimono appear again after brushing all the dirt off myself. I took the pink ribbon I was wearing out of my raven black hair and washed some of the dirt out of it. My hair hanged down the length of my back. I combed the dirt out of my bangs then styled them to the side. I always had my hair styled in this way. My bangs were short enough that they didn't fall in front of my eyes too much, and I had two thin longer pieces of hair, just past my chin, at the sides of my head that framed my face. When I was done I took the sides of my hair and tied them back with the ribbon in a small bow.

I wondered if Kazama was finished washing himself, but I was too intimidated to check on him. It was starting to get a bit chilly outside. I eventually got bored and began playing in the water, kicking and splashing with my hands and feet.

"Having fun?" He grumbled in a bored tone. I jumped startled and blushing, then peeked over at him. He was sitting down leaning against a tree with his left arm resting on his left knee, his eyes watching me with a calm gaze. He appeared out of nowhere, I wondered how long he was watching me play. I felt so embarrassed.

"Get out of there and dry off for a bit." He said. When I didn't move he gave me a stern glare and spoke to me like I was an idiot.

"Get out of the water."

"Oh! Okay!" I scurried out of the water and plopped down next to him and put my hands in my lap. I looked up at him timidly and he turned his malicious gaze away from me and to the river, trying to ignore my presence. Was I that much of a bother to him?

I gazed off in the other direction and wondered what it would be like to see Kazama smile for once. I imagined him smiling at me and giggled at the thought, knowing how unlikely that is to ever happen. I could feel his hateful eyes on my back but I ignored them myself. It was a huge relief being able to laugh about something after going through a series of horrific events. When I had the courage to peek over at him he had his head leaned against the tree with his eyes closed. Could he be napping? I didn't recognize him at first he looked like a different man entirely with his malevolent eyes closed and without his spiteful glares. His face appeared to be relaxed and his mouth was just slightly open, he looked so peaceful. It was hard to believe he had devilish horns before, as well as white hair and amber eyes. Those horns' intrigued me the most. I became curious abruptly, and debated whether or not I really did see horns. I leaned my face in closer to his, observing his handsome features.

I could swear I saw horns before, I know I saw horns.

Unable to control my strong desire to understand him, I raised my hand to his face and hesitated for a moment before touching his forehead where the horns were. At that instant his crimson eyes sprang open and he caught my hand and spun me around restraining me to the ground, my face in the dirt. He jammed my right arm against my back confining me completely; I couldn't move a single muscle.

"What do you think you were doing?" He growled viciously. I realized it was stupid of me to get close to him, we've been on alert this entire time in the woods, for all he knew I could have been an enemy. I knew he didn't trust me either, and I didn't trust him. My whole body ached his grip was supernaturally strong.

"Rrrhmm…" I mumbled in discomfort unable to speak with my mouth full of dirt. Upon realizing this Kazama turned me over swiftly and pinned his hands around my tiny body imprisoning me underneath him. I held my left wrist to my heart and shivered terrified. I felt tears swell up in my eyes that I was unable to hold back.

"I-I-I.." I whimpered. He glared down at me cruelly.

"I…sorry." I sobbed as my body recovered from being restrained so firmly. The sun shined brightly behind his angry face and burned my eyes as I struggled to speak. His hateful eyes remained fixated on me impatient for a better response.

"I just, was curious about you, please-"

"Keep your mouth shut lowly human, and don't ever try to touch me again." He said with utter disgust. Cold wet tears were racing down the sides of my face now, I was crying uncontrollably. His hurtful expression frightened me.

"Please let me go…you're scaring me!" I cried, shutting my eyes. "It hurts…please, I'm scared." I panicked. I felt like the sun grew brighter then peeked my eyes open and noticed that he was off of me now. I sat up slowly regaining my composure. I was still terror stricken by him and turned away unable to look in his direction.

I hate him, I hate him!

I couldn't stand his wicked red eyes or scornful glares. I couldn't bare the aggressive way he treats me. I couldn't take all his hurtful comments or uncaring actions towards me. I couldn't trust him. I couldn't rely on him. I was so afraid of him, it hurt. I would leave him now, if only I knew where I was and if the road to safety was actually in my reach. I was a foolish woman, I should have listened to his warning. Now I was trapped with him, and plagued by my need of him.

He sat a few feet from me and remained silent as I cried. Once I calmed down I heard him stand and begin to move away from me.

"Well, coming?" He grunted in a low tone. He didn't look at me once. I staggered to my feet and reluctantly followed him like before. It was hard to get tears to stop flowing out of my deep brown eyes. Eventually, I became too tired to cry. The sun was beginning to go down. I could feel a chilly breeze swoop around me. My body was beginning to feel strained as I stumbled with all my might to keep up with Kazama's sturdy stride. I felt hungry, exhausted, and tormented. My legs lost all their strength and I collapsed to the ground. Kazama was a little ways ahead of me and I caught a glimpse of him stopping in this tracks as my eyes closed, I wasn't able to open them again. I laid their lifeless, hoping that Kazama would continue this journey without me, hoping I could finally be free from him, a malicious evil, in death.

To be Continued…