Kimiko: I do not own DGM, and I don't think I'd be the best person to own it either. If Hoshino wanted this taken down, I'd probably cry, then do it because she actually noticed something as miniscule as this.

Rumors and Questions

Kanda walked slowly and quietly towards Allen. The yokai might have still been feeling vicious, as he hadn't yet put his bloody claws away. He could definitely defend against any attack launched by the kid, but that didn't mean he wanted to risk unnecessary danger by approaching hastily.

The kid was standing still, but barely shaking. Kanda assumed he might be breathing heavily from the exertion. "Hey, beansprout," he called. Allen didn't answer. Kanda carefully got in front of the kid and looked straight at his face. His eyes were wide and staring at the ground. He looked shocked and Kanda wondered why. Allen was the one who had killed everyone so easily, not he. Why should the brat be nervous about something that he did himself?

But still, there was something about the blank, anxious child face that made Kanda take pity on him. Before he realized it, he had crouched down to look up at Allen's face. His expression remained unchanged. Kanda grabbed his small, frail-looking shoulders and shook them gently. "Beansprout?" he asked, surprisingly tender. "Hey, what's up with you?" Still no change. Kanda suddenly became more aware of his situation. Here he was, the great warrior Yu Kanda, playing concerned babysitter to a monster child. It was goddamned pissing him off.

Kanda rose quickly and smacked the kid's face with the back of his hand. "Hey, I'm talking to you, you fucking beansprout-yokai!"

Allen finally looked up at Kanda, and his arm changed back to normal. His eyes were watering, perhaps from the stun of the impact. "K-Kanda," he whispered. "This is scary. I think I'm changing. It really scares me because it feels right. It feels like I used to do this a lot, before I was in the shrine. What should I do, Kanda? I'm scared that I'm going to be a monster."

Kanda was blown away by this. He could hardly process what the kid had just said. Allen though he was changing and was scared? Kanda had thought that Allen wanted to be back to whatever normal yokai he used to be. He was the one who wanted to get out of the shrine in the first place. He was the one who had offered to fight with Kanda to end the war. And now, he wanted to stay like a little kid? What about the promise he made?

The war could end if Allen did this kind of fighting more. And Kanda could go back to that place, with that woman.

Kanda scowled at the white-haired yokai. Coldly, he said, "Listen: you're just going to fight in the battles and help end the war faster. That's the promise we made in your contract. All I want is to be able to leave this goddamn war, as soon as possible. I don't really care about what happens to you in the meantime, or afterwards."

Maybe it was a little harsh, but Kanda didn't want to get close to the kid. Something felt weird about staying too long around him. Every time he spoke with the beansprout, he had a strange sensation inside.

Allen stared up sadly at the warrior, but soon steeled himself and nodded. What else could he do? As they walked back to the camp, leaving behind the bloody mess of former opponents, he didn't even realize that he forgot about feeding on the people he killed. Instead, he simply stared at the faintly visible chain linking him to Kanda, following obediently and silently.

It didn't take too long for the camp's afternoon sentries to discover the remains of the attempted ambush at the creek. Within a few hours, the whole camp was abuzz with rumors of what might have happened. No one had seen anyone come back blood-stained or tired from a fight (and once again, Kanda was glad Allen could only be seen by himself and Lavi). Also, the men were still slightly mystified by the extremely easy victory several days ago. Now some of them were saying that supernatural powers were at work, that another army or band of vigilantes was secretly helping them, or that the enemy might be planting such things to get them off their guard.

Kanda thought it was all ridiculous. He sat against a stump near a fire but away from the few other soldiers around, trying to disregard all of the useless babble around him. Even Alma and the others were coming up with random ideas to explain the phenomena.

Kanda sighed and closed his eyes. People always wanted to know everything about what was happening. Sometimes it was best to just lay back and accept the fact that some things couldn't be explained. Like how he had a vicious, child-sized yokai temporarily attached to him, despite how he had never believed in such things until only shortly.

He felt someone poke him and grabbed his katana to behead whoever did it. Lavi narrowly avoided it, holding up his hands in surrender. "C'mon, you don't have to kill me! Can I just say something?"

"I have a feeling that I already know what you want to say, and I don't intend on answering just to satisfy your curiosity." Kanda retorted. He would have left by this point, but he liked the warmth of the fire. So instead, he glared at Lavi, hoping he would leave.

Lavi scrunched up his face. "I'll tell Alma and Daisya and Marie that you talk to yourself, thinking you're talking to a yokai that looks like a cute kid. I'll say that you think it follows you around everywhere and you make it call you 'Master.' I'll say you're actually a pedophile. I'll—"

"Shut up, dumb rabbit!" Kanda snapped. "If you did, you'd be saying goodbye to your other eye."

Lavi protectively held up a hand to his one green eye. "Why not have your yokai do it? I know that he was the one who was responsible for doing that thing at the creek. I saw it myself, Yu, and I know you can't do things like that, no matter a person hates the enemy." Lavi kept his gaze focused of Kanda, waiting for him to admit his actions.

"I have no reason to explain what I do to you, rabbit." Kanda said icily.

"Then I guess I'll have to ask the kid," Lavi whispered in a low tone. He walked a little farther away to where Allen was lying on his back, staring up at the stars. The yokai sat up and stared at Lavi for a moment, then looked back at Kanda, with an uncertain appearance. Kanda cursed to himself. If he tried to tell the beansprout to be quiet from here, then everyone else would notice. If he went over to them, he would have to explain at least some things.

He decided he would go with the second option. Scowling, he sat down next to Allen and Lavi, waiting for the inevitable.

"So," Lavi said brightly, but quietly. "What's your name?"

The yokai looked at Kanda again, who just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Um, I'm Allen."

"Oh, that's cute!" Lavi grinned at Kanda. "You sure know how to choose them, Yu!"

"My name is Kanda, dumbass rabbit," Kanda growled. "You only get four more questions and then I'm leaving."

Lavi's eyes widened in mock fear, and he turned back to Allen, "All right Allen, how did Kanda find you?"

"I was sealed in a shrine and he got me out if I promised to help him end the war."

"That counts as two questions," Kanda said, getting more irritated by the second. "I know that you were going to ask about that. Hey, beansprout, you're only telling him the immediate answer, okay?"

The kid nodded. Lavi pouted. "Fine, then my third-but-counting-as-fourth question is this: what's your yokai title?" Kanda wondered why Lavi wanted to know this, but said nothing.

"I'm the Bloody Clown." Allen was about to say more but remembered Kanda's warning and shut his mouth.

"Hmm," Lavi seemed thoughtful. "Okay, Allen, now the last one." He paused for a moment, considering what he would ask out of the many questions he had. He smirked dangerously. "Do you like Yu?" Kanda immediately grabbed his katana and swung it at Lavi again, but the other nimbly dodged it and sang, "Answer the question~!"

"Why?" Kanda yelled, brushing aside the stares of the people at the fire. "It's stupid and pointless." He watched Lavi's every move with irritation in his eyes.

Quietly, Allen whispered, "Well, even though he sometimes acts mean, I do like him. I think he's really a good and kind person." Lavi almost fell over with laughter. Kanda furiously stormed off. He needed to get the kid away from Lavi's influence. It might be poisoning his mind, and Kanda definitely didn't need another idiot around him.

Meanwhile…

Colonel Howard Link stood at the edge of the creek. When he had first set eyes on the horrible sight, he was almost sick. Even he, an experienced warrior, couldn't help but feel sickened by the inhuman degradation for human lives. But he had realized something as he looked at the remains. It was truly inhuman. Not human, but done by something even more efficient, deadly and brutal.

He had heard rumors, once, of creatures called yokai. They were fearsome monsters, some of which could easily annihilate a city in a short time. He had heard about them when he was going through his officer's training, and had originally dismissed them as mere myths. But now…

Link thought back to the scene of the battle a few days ago. It had been over remarkably soon and each squad had assumed it was the others who had done most of the hard work. He had walked around the field and seen bodies that had far more damage than was usually inflicted by soldiers under pressure. The cuts on the bodies looked much different than ones created by swords. That, compared to this massacre, certainly warranted some interest.

There was something following their regiment around. Link intended to find out exactly what it was.

Kimiko:There seems to be a type of love triangle in here...Well, you know what TV Tropes says: sometimes you have to murder the hypotenuse.

Flanagan: You're going to kill a character?

Kimiko: [decides not to answer that question] Please review!