Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Chapter Ten: Trust in Kentamaru's Left Hand


"I'm a half demon," Kenta snapped as he slid a silver ring onto his index finger. The glowing from his claws dimmed slightly but did not disappear.

"What did you do to him?" Mitako demanded, though she lacked any real confidence and dignity as her voice quavered in fright. She tried to back away from him but was up solidly against a tree.

"I got rid of him." Kenta said harshly, sliding the other ring onto his thumb. The pink light from his claws disappeared with a slight hissing noise. He was scanning the area around them in a hurry, not really looking at her.

"Was he alone?" he asked her, golden eyes piercing through the darkness for any sign of another enemy.

"What?" she replied dumbfounded, not really comprehending his words over the pounding of the rain and what she had just been witness to still vivid in her mind.

"The neko youkai. Was he alone?" he said louder, stepping closer to her.

She understood him this time. "Wha- yes! He was alone. He is, er was, the fastest tracker Kashiro had. But the others shouldn't be too far behind."

"Alright. That's what I needed to hear." Kenta said, reaching out and grabbing her arm just above her wrist and tugging her along with him as he made his way through the forest.

"Where are we going?" she demanded with more force this time as she got over the shock, pulling her arm from his grasp.

"We need to get out of here,' Kenta stated loudly, not turning around. "While the rain will throw off our trail," he explained as he hurried through the woods at a feverish pace. Just as he said those words the rain lessened but did not completely stop. Kenta cursed under his breath and sped up.

He bounded away from her as he reached the cave that had been their earlier shelter. "Canis!" he hollered, and she noticed the worried and panicked edge his voice took on. She came up behind him and looked into the depths of the cave. It was completely dark and empty.

"He's gone!" she breathed, her heart pounding as she scanned the cave for any sign of the youngster.

"Kenta?" a tiny voice called from the back of the cave. Mitako looked again and now noticed two big golden eyes peering fearfully out of the darkness among a mass of white hair.

"Its alright Canis come out now!" Kenta called, relief washing over him as he fell to his knees in the mud. Canis darted out of the cave, barreling straight into the older hanyou's chest. Mitako noticed that he was cloaked completely in something long and dark.

After a moment Kenta peeled Canis off and stood, grabbing his haori from around his brother and throwing it on himself.

'Hid his brother under his haori,' Mitako realized as she watched them. 'Completely masked him by sight, and the smoke would have masked his scent…genius,'

Kenta turned to look at her, dusting off his sleeves and straightening his haori. "Are you alright to run?" he asked her. Once again she was in shock and couldn't comprehend his words.

"Damnit!" he swore stalking over to her. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" he demanded looking down at her and sniffing the air around her for sign of injuries. She backed away, clearly taken aback by his show of concern, but mostly for his arrogance at sniffing her.

"I'm fine!" she assured him as she backed away. Kenta snorted and nodded his head as he looked at her neck.

"They really want to kill you," he said softly, as if it were a mere observation just coming to his attention now.

"Yeah…they really do." She replied softly, one hand going to her neck. There would be bruises later from when the neko had attempted to strangle her. She looked back up at Kenta but he had turned already and was behind down so Canis could climb easily onto his back.

"So does this mean…?" she called to him. He didn't turn to look at her.

"Yeah…" he called back to her. "I believe you."


They ran through the rain and the storm. With Canis on his back the girl was able to pretty much match his pace. They ran in relative silence, rarely exchanging words. After ascertaining that the situation was real and rather serious, it suited them both fine to concentrate on running for their lives as opposed to making idle conversation.

The girl sped up to run side by side Kentamaru. Kenta chanced a glance in her direction. Her navy blue hair was flying free and her face was screwed up in concentration. She was exerting herself to keep up with him, he realized.

Looking ahead another thing occurred to him. Something that he had been too caught up with concern for his brother ad his own life he had overlooked.

"What was his name?" he asked as the rain slowed even more and the clouds slowly dispersed to reveal a brightening sky.

"Who do you mean?" she called back.

"The neko youkai; what was his name?"

She said nothing for a moment, then. "Why does it matter to you?"

"I'd like to know the name of the one I killed," he said in a solemn tone.

"Do you take the time to learn the name of everyone you kill?" she laughed, attempting to poke fun at his seriousness.

"I…I've never killed anyone before," he said, not looking at her. Her face flushed in embarrassment and shame.

"His name was Yosuke, and as you saw…he deserved whatever it was that you did to him." She said obligingly.

Kenta could tell what she was doing; inadvertently goading him into revealing the nature of his hand. He cursed himself silently. He'd been foolish to use his left hand, but at the time he hadn't really been thinking. When he'd realized that she hadn't been lying, that they really did mean to kill her, nothing else had mattered. He had to save her.

He barely even remembered slipping off his rings just the feel of the dangerous, dormant energy being released.

For now though he did not regret it. Killing this way was much more humane and cleaner. He hated the idea of killing, but when he used his left hand…it wasn't really killing. He would regret his decision to show her his hand later though, when she'd start to ask questions and force him to lie profusely to provide her answers.

He'd worry about that when the time came. Yes for now, he smirked, she could sit and wonder in fear and awe about the power he had shown her.

Kenta looked to the side, expecting to see her running alongside him. She wasn't. He looked back even farther. She was a ways back, her pace slowing considerably. Kenta scanned the sky, the sun was slowly rising.

"Damn," he swore as he slowed to a near crawl to allow her to catch up. She was sweating slightly and breathing hard and Kenta could feel her youki leaving as the sun came closer to the horizon.

"Alright, alright we'll stop." He allowed, as if she had been begging him to let her rest. She said nothing, only collapsed gratefully onto the forest floor. Kenta stopped next to her, eyeing her contemptuously as he swung a sleeping Canis off his back and into his arms.

"Damn you're fast," she admonished between gulps of air.

"I know," he agreed arrogantly as he looked down at his brother in his arms and tried to think of the best way to wake him.

"How do you do it?" she asked, looking up at him as her breathing returned to normal.

"Do what?" he questioned as he let Canis fall upside down, holding him up by one ankle.

"Run as fast as you do for as long as you do!" she said, waving her hand in his direction. "Then stand there and act like you're not even tired."

"I'm not tired." He answered.

"My point exactly!" she exclaimed. "And that thing with your hand," she took a breath. "Are you sure you're only a half demon?"

"Positive," he answered, though it seemed like he wasn't even paying attention to her as he swung a sleeping Canis back and forth like a pendulum. "But I ain't no ordinary half demon." He added proudly. "That's for sure."

She raised an eyebrow at his childish antics with his sleeping brother. "So I am beginning to see…"

Kenta easily swung Canis up, catching him like a sack of rice in his arms and he shook him slightly. "Come on squirt get up. I need to go get breakfast,"

"Aw just let him sleep. I'll watch him," she offered.

Kenta snorted lightly and ignored her. He shook Canis again. "Come on kid UP!" Canis groaned and tried to roll over.

Mitako frowned. "What are you doing? I said I'd watch him." She told him, trying and failing to keep the angry edge from her voice.

"He's slept too long anyway," Kenta told her.

"He's young and growing, just let him rest." She persisted.

"I need you to build a dire," Kenta countered. "He needs to wake up." He said, putting Canis on the ground who was gradually beginning to come to.

"Why are you being such an ass about this?" she demanded, her voice rising.

"I'm not being an ass," he snapped back at her.

"Oh yes. My mistake," she said hotly, "You're not being an ass you just always are one!"

"Look he's my little brother and I'm supposed to be training him!" he told her sternly trying to cap his temper. "How I deal with my brother is none of your concern." This silenced her for the time being and Kenta turned to try and rouse Canis once again.

"Come on Canis, you need to wake up and be on guard."

"Kenta please…" she started again. "Just let me watch him."

"No!" Kenta hollered, turning back to her once again. "I am not leaving him here like this!"

"Why? What the hell is the problem?" she hollered back.

"He sleeps deep. You saw him," he offered as an excuse. "If anything were to happen to him he'd be defenseless!"

"I'll be here so just go get breakfast and stop wasting time!" she told him laughingly. "Honestly…"

"You can't protect him!" Kenta snapped suddenly. He had been trying to avoid saying this to spare her feelings but her stubbornness had pushed him too far.

She eyed him precariously "And what makes you think that?" she questioned, a dangerous edge creeping into her tone.

"I don't think it, I…" he stopped abruptly and turned swiftly around, his haori whirling about him like a cloak as he fought back a blush. Mitako was changing back into a human and Kenta still found it rude to witness such a thing.

"I don't think it," he repeated with his back turned. "I know it." He peeked back warily over his shoulder at her.

"So this isn't even about your brother," she said calmly, almost too calmly as she pulled her navy hair back into a ponytail. "This is about you thinking I am weak,"

Kenta rolled his eyes. "No this about you not being strong enough to protect my brother,"

"I've already shown you what I can do with these," she said angrily, standing up and raising her arm to show the needles held to her forearm.

"Keh," was his only reply.

"You want another demonstration on your face tough guy?" she challenged stepping up to him.

"Bring it on human," Kenta sneered stepping closer and looking down at her.

"This isn't about me being weak either…" she realized suddenly. "You still don't trust me, do you?!" she accused angrily.

Kenta said nothing, only stared down hard at her, breathing deeply through his nose.

"I'm up I'm up!" Canis groaned suddenly, staring through sleepy eyes at the two older hanyou's who were staring each other down intensely. "Why are you two fighting all the time?"

They each ignored him and continued to glare daggers at one another.

"You said you trusted me…" she hissed lowly, for Kenta's ears only.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said to her in a hushed voice before he turned his back to head into the woods. His hair whipped her across the cheek as he whirled about.

"I said I believed you." He said over his shoulder "That doesn't mean I trust you."


Kenta returned later to the clearing where he'd left them to hear Canis chatting amicably with Mitako.

"So did you see it?"

"See what?" she asked with a laugh.

"Kenta's hand!"

"I've seen his hands before Canis."

"No! Did he take his rings off to save you?" he pestered, voice thick with curiosity.

"I- I think so?" she said apprehensively, unsure of what the young demon was talking about. "Maybe?"

"You are so lucky!" Canis exclaimed, practically falling over backwards in excitement. "Kenta never takes those off no mater how much I ask!"

"Why? What do those rings do?"

"My brother's a really powerful demon! So he wears those to keep his power from hurting us."

"How could his power hurt you?"

Kenta walked into the clearing then, making his presence known and interrupting their conversation before Canis could blurt something he shouldn't. He strode swiftly to their fire and handed Canis the meat.

"Cook this," he instructed. He could feel Mitako's eyes on him, could feel her scrutinizing his appearance. He glanced her way. She was staring rather unabashedly at the silver rings adorning his hand.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare?" Kenta said to her as he sat down to supervise his brothers cooking.

"No I guess no one ever did." She replied with a smirk.

"Well it is," he said again. "So is asking about someone when they aren't around."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'd rather talk to a gentleman like Canis than a baka like you!" she insulted haughtily.

"Gentleman?" Kenta questioned sarcastically, an eyebrow quirked at her. He turned his head slightly to look at his brother, Mitako following his gaze. "He still picks his nose."

Canis quickly withdrew his free hand from is face and hid it out of sight, blushing furiously. "It was itchy!" he hollered defensively. Mitako rolled her eyes.

"He's just a kid. Don't be jealous because I'd rather talk to someone who isn't a complete ass." She said hotly.

"Keh and you ask me why I don't trust you; skirting around behind my back and asking questions about me to my five year old brother."

"You never give me answers!"

"You never truly asked me. You have never once asked me. So how are you to know if I would answer or not?" Kenta argued rationally. Mitako fumed, having lost the argument. Kenta was right; she never had asked him personally.

At this moment Canis shoved their breakfast in front of them, cooked rabbit. "Stop fighting! It's annoying!" he yelled as he plopped back down and began to eat his own share of the meal. The youngest hanyou didn't say another word, his silence very uncharacteristic.

"This is really good Canis," Mitako commented politely after a time. Canis merely grumbled rudely in response. Kenta rolled his eyes and stood.

"Alright, lets keep moving." He said finally. "We need to gain more ground." He waved his sleeve over the fire, extinguishing the flames in an instant.

Mitako rose to her feet stiffly, her body not used to running all night like she had. Canis got to his own feet and headed out onto the path silently, leading the way ahead of the older two.


"Why aren't you walking with your friend?" Kenta sneered as Mitako slowed her pace once again to walk alongside him.

Canis hadn't said a word to either of them since breakfast and was walking a few feet ahead of them, briskly storming down the path. Mitako had been trying to get the little hanyou to talk to her but he had brushed her off, much like his older brother was prone to doing. And each time h did she would sulk alongside Kenta, who would ignore her or tease her until she couldn't take it anymore and she marched back up to Canis. It was becoming a rather vicious but nonetheless entertaining cycle, Kenta had to admit.

"You boys are insufferable!" she fumed and heaved a sigh. "With Kashiro and the guys I could never get them to shut up and leave me alone. You guys barely talk at all and it's driving me insane!"

"Here's a thought," Kenta suggested wickedly. "If Kashiro and those guys were so great…go back to them." He shot her a crooked smirk. "No one here is going to stop you and I am sure they miss you too."

"Very funny," she said dryly, a hint of sadness in her tone. Kenta picked up on it but before he could say anything she changed the subject. "Seriously though, what is wrong with him?" she said, nodding her head towards Canis.

"He's just being a big baby and a brat. Don't worry about him." Kenta assured her.

"Does he get like this often?" she asked worriedly.

"Occasionally," Kenta admitted. "He dislikes people arguing. He sulks around like that whenever our parents fight."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah and it works too. I can't believe that baka is trying it on me. He should know better than that." He laughed incredulously.

"No. I mean your parents are together?" she questioned, brimming with curiosity.

"Well…yeah." Kenta said. "Aren't yours?"

"Far from it." She scoffed. "A half demons parents still together? It's unheard of."

"Well you just heard it."

"It's hard to imagine though. A demon and a human together…" she said in awe, her voice trailing off.

"Um…I guess." Kenta agreed uneasily, scratching the back of his head. He'd known he couldn't avoid this forever. This was where the lying began.

"You're very lucky. You and Canis."

"I suppose."

She stopped talking then, no doubt mulling over her own past and parents respectively. Maybe some of Kenta's scolding had finally started to sink in.

"Kenta," she started apprehensively, and it set Kenta on edge. Something about her…hearing her say his name made him feel uneasy. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You didn't really give me a choice there did you?" he shot back.

She ignored his comment and continued. "What Canis told me; about your hand…is it true?"

"Canis says a lot of things," Kenta told her. "You shouldn't believe everything a kid like him says."

"He said it is dangerous,"

"Well…he wasn't lying about that." Kenta admitted ruefully.

"But he said it's dangerous to you. To yourself." She said questioningly. Kenta grimaced and sighed.

"It's…" he tried to think of a suitable excuse or lie to tell her. Then he frowned. He did not trust this girl. Something about her kept making him forget that one crucial fact. He did not trust her. She had this way of sucking him in, made him forget that she had done nothing as of yet to earn his trust.

Part of him wanted to trust her…the other half just couldn't. Not if she posed a threat to his life or his brothers.

This was going to get difficult; how much could he tell her, how much fact and how much fiction? Lying had never been his strong point, and he didn't like doing it. How much could he tell her with the risk of her finding out who they truly were and giving her an even greater chance of betraying them? A lot lay at stake for them.

"Kenta?" she said gently, waiting for his answer. Kenta bit his lip, torn once again between trusting her or not. What was he supposed to tell her? What was he supposed to do?

"Are you all done fighting?" Canis asked sternly as he walked backwards in front of them.

"Yes!" Mitako said pleasantly, heaving a sigh of relief. "For now," she added with a smirk as she glanced at Kenta.

"Are you guys friends now?" he asked again in a serious voice.

Kenta scoffed. "Fat chance baka." He said irritably, hiding his relief behind his angry façade. Canis's intervention had saved him big time.

Mitako looked back and forth between the two a smirk on her face. "Not quite," she answered Canis.

"Good enough," Canis pouted. "I hate it when people fight,"

He then glued himself to Mitako's side once again, holding her hand and talking her ear off. Kenta slowed his pace, allowing the two of them to overtake him and walked ahead down the path.

He needed time alone to sort out his thoughts. If he was going to travel with this girl, and it looked like she was here to stay, he needed a story to tell her.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, a worried little smile on her face. The war inside him waged once again at the sight of her face. He knew now that all of their lives were in danger…that Kashiro did intend to kill all of them. The proof of it was the bruises around her neck, where her former comrade had tried to strangle her. Yet he still did not know if this girl would sell them out…beg Kashiro to spare her life and take her back in exchange for the lives of the taiyoukai's heir and sons. Even with the risk…he knew he couldn't afford to keep an eye on her all the time when he should be concentrating on defeating or at least escaping the group of bandits after them. He had been turning a blind eye to the danger around them to watch this girl, who he had to admit, had done nothing wrong. He had to trust her completely or get rid of her completely. Those were his only options.

He had to choose…and he had to choose now.


As the sky darkened and the trio stopped to eat there was an awkward silence. Not total silence as Canis ate his food disgustingly loud, but no words were spoken.

"I liked it better when you two were fighting," Canis said around mouthfuls of food.

"Sometimes it's good to be quiet Canis." Mitako said knowingly as she leaned back on her hands and stared up at the sky dreamily.

"Keh," the little guy snorted. "No it's not," he said swallowing his food and pouncing on her stomach. "It's never good!"

Mitako grunted as he landed on her. She sat up and grabbed him by the arms to keep him from bouncing up and down. "Sometimes it is. Not all the time…but sometimes." She tried to tell him but he was sniffing her rather strangely.

"Mitako," he said her name curiously, nose crinkling in distaste. "Why do you stink?"

Her mouth dropped open and she glanced at Kenta for some sort of assistance. His arms were crossed and his eyes were closed but she could tell from his face and the slight twitching of his ears that he was trying very very hard not to laugh.

"You know I'm a hanyou like you right?" she asked Canis, who was testing her patience by pinching his nose and waving his hand in front of his face. "I turn into a hanyou like you when the sun goes down. I am just turning into a hanyou soon," she explained rather tolerantly.

"I'm not stupid," Canis said rudely, his voice distorted by the pinching of his nose. "I know what that smells like baka!"

"Then what else could it be?" she practically growled, quick tempered personality showing.

"When was the last time you took a bath?" Kenta inquired on his brothers behalf, calmly and evenly. He smirked at her, opening one mischievous eye and peering at her. His smirk was arrogant, clear on his face that he was wholly amused by her situation.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" she demanded, her grip tightening on Canis who was now holding his breath.

"A rather simple one," Kenta laughed, the first true laugh she had ever heard from him and it reverberated through her mind pleasantly. He was still smirking at her. "I think my brother is trying to tell you something,"

She tore her angry gaze away to look at Canis. His face was turning blue from holding his breath. Frustrated she let him go and pushed him off of her. He scrambled gratefully to his brothers lap, gasping for air.

"The other boys never complained about my scent." She grumbled.

"They were bandits. How great could they have smelled?" Kenta asked.

"And they weren't dogs," Canis said agreeably, pointing to his nose.

"I'm a dog too though!" she protested.

"Yeah but you smell like a rabid one," Kenta said evenly.

"Alright fine I get the point" she said standing up and storming off in a huff towards the river. Kenta watched as she stormed off, until her mutterings about 'baka boys' quieted. Then he turned to his brother.

"Okay Canis," he started, turning his brother around so they were face to face. "How much have you told her about us?"

"Nothing," Canis said honestly, looking up at his big brother.

Kenta calmed and stared at his brother in disbelief. "Really?" he gaped. "Then what the hell do you talk to her about all day?"

"Animals," Canis told him matter-of-factly, as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Okay…" Kenta said slowly, "Well, she is starting to ask questions," he told his brother.

"Answer them then baka!" Canis scolded, hitting his brother in the leg.

"We have to be careful what we tell her or she might figure out who we are." He warned.

"So lie! I can make something up." Canis said eagerly. Kenta shook his head.

"No we need something believable." He snorted. "I have an idea but I need to know something first and I need your help." He leaned down and whispered something in his brother's ear.

"No problem!" Canis said, jumping up and bowing to his brother before dashing off in the direction the girl had gone.

Kenta sat and waited patiently. There was a loud shriek from the river and the resounding sound of a smack echoed back to him. Moments later Canis sauntered back into view nursing a rather large and nasty goose egg on his forehead. He collapsed down next to Kenta rubbing his head.

"Nope. She doesn't know who the taiyoukai is," Canis informed him.

"Okay," Kenta breathed tentatively. "I think I know what to tell her then…"

"Well, what is it?" Canis inquired after Kenta failed to say exactly what he planned to tell Mitako.

"She is under the impression that we are ordinary hanyous." He told him. Canis looked pointedly at his elder brother's left hand. "Somewhat ordinary," he corrected. "She thinks we're like her; the sons of a full demon and a human."

"Why does she think that?"

"Because there is no one else like us. The only pure bred half breeds in the world are the sons of the taiyoukai."

"But that's our dad! That's us!" Canis pointed out.

"Yes. As long as she thinks our dad is a full youkai, she should never suspect that we are the sons of the taiyoukai." Kenta explained.

"But she doesn't know anything about the taiyoukai. She just said so!"

"She should know he's a hanyou. Everyone knows that. The fact that she doesn't know who specifically is a good thing."

"How?" Canis questioned becoming easily lost in his brother's ramblings. This was something Kenta often did when they were alone, sorted out his problems and plans by talking to Canis. Talking to his younger brother forced him to simplify things and helped them both to better understand what was going on.

"That way, should anyone recognize us or think I'm Inuyasha she won't know who it is and I can deny it like I always do."

"Wow Kenta you're smart," Canis admonished.

"Don't flatter him," Mitako grumbled as she stomped back into the clearing. Her navy hair was darker as it was still somewhat damp; it had dried slightly leaving the many different layers flipping out wildly. "His ego is big enough already."

"Again with you talking like you know me or something," Kenta scolded gently.

"Well I don't know you," she heaved exasperated. "You don't trust me remember? You don't want me to know anything!" once again her voice had risen to a yell. Kenta was beginning to realize that she was rather unstable and not in total control of her voice and emotions at times.

"Stop yelling," Kenta ordered quietly, arms folded calmly across his chest. She fumed at his calmness.

"I hate you! Why must you be so condescending all the time? What makes you better than me?" she yelled at him. Canis whimpered.

"Mitako please don't yell at Kenta," he pleaded softly. Kenta patted his head and stood to defend himself.

"Let her Canis," he stepped up to her. "Maybe I deserve it." He realized now that she was rather short. In fact, compared to him the top of her head came up only to his nose and her forehead was even with his lips.

"Why can't you just trust me? If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it already," she growled up at him, anger blazing in her bright eyes.

"I know. I'm trying. It's hard." He assured her calmly.

"Why do you keep me around then?" she demanded, apparently growing angrier the less angry Kenta got. As the sky grew darker she drew a needle and held it up. It was one of the longer ones she usually had stuck in her ponytail. "If you don't trust me you might as well kill me," she said, her voice low. "This one is tipped with poison," she looked hard into his eyes, her seriousness showing in the way her green-blue eyes blazed.

Kenta opened his mouth to speak when he felt youki pulse from her. Blushing like a little kid and hating himself for it, he turned his back on her. He could hear her angry breathing behind him as he fiddled with the rings on his left hand.

When he felt the change finish, and sensed a hanyou behind him, he turned around to face her. Her eyes were brighter, and her ears were turned back, sadly or angrily he did not know and the hand that held the poison needle up to him now had claws.

Kenta took the needle from her hand in the glowing pink fingers of his left hand. Mitako snatched her hand back as if burned. It felt like she had been. For the second time in what seemed like no time at all, she was backing away from Kenta in fear.

"I- I didn't think," she stammered. "I didn't mean…"

"Relax and let me talk," Kenta said calmly as e snapped the needle in two. The poison hissed and disappeared in the aura around his hand.

Canis walked up and hugged Mitako. "Listen to him," he said softly. She latched onto Canis, never taking her wary eyes off of his increasingly scary brother.

Kenta sighed before he continued. "As I was going to say, I don't need your stinking needle to kill you," he said slashing across the empty air in front of him. The glow from his hand left a trail of light in the dark air. Mitako visibly paled.

"Not that I am going to," he assured her with a tiny, smug smirk. "But I can." He informed her as he slid the two rings back onto his thumb and index finger.

"I'm giving you a chance," he told her as she calmed as the light on his hand disappeared. He took a deep breath. "Whatever you ask me, I shall try and answer."

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" she barked at him. Kenta rolled his left hand around, examining it himself as if it were interesting even to him.

"My left hand holds holy powers. Any youkai I cut down wit these claws is purified. It's what happened to Yosuke. If I take my rings off and touch you, you would turn back into your human form."

Mitako was looking at him in a whole new light now that she had relaxed. Canis released her and motioned for her to sit. "H-how is that possible?" she asked, stammering slightly as she sat down.

"Our father is an inu youkai," he explained, making a fist in front of his chest with his right hand. "But our mother…is a miko."

Mitako was in awe as she processed this piece of information. "A youkai and a miko? How is that even possible?" she questioned. "Wouldn't your father be purified by her?"

"Normally yes. But our parents aren't that normal like you said earlier today. They are still together. They love each other and are waiting at home for us."

"Mikos can't hurt someone they love," Canis explained. Kenta kneeled down to their level.

"I am going to try and trust you. And I am going to try and do all I can to save our lives. All of us." Kenta promised solemnly, looking straight into her eyes. He stood up again and offered his left hand to help her up. "Do you believe me?"

Mitako stared at his hand, the bright polished silver of his rings standing out like a light n the darkness. She could understand his reluctance to trust her. She posed a threat to his brothers and even his own life. But here he was helping her, and trying to trust her and she'd admit to herself (never to him) she wasn't an easy person to trust.

"Do you believe me?" he repeated. He was trying. Despite the fact that he acted like a condescending ass majority of the time, he was trying to help her when she had done little to nothing to deserve it. And that said more about him than his general demeanor.

Slowly she reached out and took his hand, a hand with remarkable power. He pulled her to her feet.

"I believe you."


At first. I did not like this chapter. As I typed it out. I realized that I rather like it. Not alot really happened I know but we got to see a lot of how Kenta copes with having this girl around and alot of interaction between them.

I was hoping to get some more feedback on her...but sadly. I dont quite know what happened. C'est la vie.

Interesting Facts
I revealed the nature of Kentamaru's left hand.

What do you guys think about Kentamaru's secret power? Let me know please.

Question:
Nice boys or Bad boys? (Despite his current attitude...Kentamaru is a nice boy)

Deceptress