Say hello to chapter 21! Wow, this story has gone so far.

Remember, from now on, chapters will be put up on Sundays.

Disclaimer: Oh how I wish DGM was mine, but it's not...

The sun hung in the cloudless sky, its harsh light touching the forest floor in little patches. Though she had started out as the one leading them away, Toko found that it was the twins who were leading her now.

Neither spoke. Neither did she. She'd been caught. They'd found out another secret she was keeping from them. Another thing that made her seem weak.

She was weak after all…

"Guys…" she eventually spoke up, glancing from one to the other uncertainly.

Debitto took a breath, and released it slowly. Was he angry? Toko braced herself, waiting for him to start yelling…

"Why didn't you tell us?" his voice was softer then she had expected it to be. He turned to the side to look at her, and she in turn, turned away.

"You didn't need to know."

"What the hell makes you think that?" his voice was harsher now, but not angry. Still, Toko refused to look at him.

"If I told you, it'd make me seem…"

Jasdero spoke now. "You're not weak, Toko." he said quietly. The two stopped walking, forcing her to stop as well. She bit her lip, staring at the ground.

"Exactly." Debitto said, "That you've had to deal with this… And it's all our fault… We're so sorry…" his hands clenched into fists. "Those stupid humans…" he growled, making Toko finally look at him.

"You talk like you're not human yourself." she said quietly. To her right, Jasdero stiffened. This didn't go unnoticed by her.

"I need you guys to tell me everything." She said, looking first at Jasdero, then at Debitto. Both seemed frozen.

"Why did you come back?"

Debitto blinked, looking slightly relieved. Obviously, this was something he could answer.

"We're looking for something." he said. "We planned on being quick about it, but…" he trailed off, then shrugged. "We got side tracked."

"What is it you're looking for?" Toko asked. This question wasn't met as well as the first.

"Ah, well… we can't really… tell you." Debitto said slowly, and seemed to shrink back slightly, expecting an angry reply. Toko only sighed.

"Are you ever going to tell me where you've been gone all this time? Why you didn't…" her voice seemed to catch in her throat, but she forced the rest out, "Why you didn't come back?"

Jasdero's arms wrapped around her, and she didn't flinch away. "We're sorry Toko… If we knew that you… that things were so bad here, we would have come back sooner…" he said, burying his face into her hair.

"You still haven't told me where you were…"

"We're sorry Toko… We can't tell you that either…" Jasdero murmured.

That was it. She pulled away from him, out of his grasp, and took a few steps back from them.

"Why? Why do you have to hide things from me? Why do you lie to me? What's so secret that you can't tell me? Why-"

Debitto took a step forward and pulled her into his chest, his arms wrapping around her now. How easily she switched from one to the other.

"Toko, if we told you, it would be so much worse. You're a lot safer not knowing." He said.

"Debi…" Jasdero said nervously.

"Why would it be-"

He cut her off again. "Please, just accept that we can't tell you." One of his hands ran slowly through her hair. "So please stop crying…"

"I'm not-" she started to say, then stopped. Shit, she was. She blinked trying to stop them from coming.

"What are you doing that would be dangerous if I knew?"

Debitto laughed, though it wasn't cheery. "We can't tell you, remember?"

Toko sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, well-"

Debitto suddenly froze, his eyes wide and his arms locked around Toko. She looked over to Jasdero, and saw that he wore the same expression Debitto did.

"So, this is where the freaks went." A smooth voice startled Toko, and she squirmed in Debitto's grasp to see behind her.

Cain took a few slow, easygoing steps towards them, moving the small knife from one hand to the other. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said, snickering.

"Dero, get Toko away from here." Debittosaid slowly, loosening his hold on the girl. She gave him a confused look.

"W-what are you going to-"

"I'm gonna kill him, that's what." Debitto gave a low snarl, his eyes locked on the boy in front of him, who was laughing now.

Toko's eyes were wide with alarm. "Debitto, no! You can't kill him! You can't fight him! I don't want you to get hurt! What if he…" she gave the knife a terrified glance, refusing to imagine the image of it stuck into Debitto's chest.

Without warning, Debitto pushed her away, towards Jasdero, who caught her. His brother gave him a scared look.

"Debi, you can't! If Dero leaves, then you can't use-"

"I'll kill him without using that." Debitto growled. "I don't need a weapon to kill a pathetic kid like this."

"Brave words coming from someone who's unarmed." Cain sneered.

"Debitto, no!" Toko yelled, struggling against Jasdero's hold on her in vain. "You can't!"

"Dero, get her away, now!"

Before she could react, Jasdero had thrown her over his shoulder and was sprinting away. Debitto faced the boy.

"You're gonna wish you hadn't done this, human."

"And I'm gonna make you eat those words, monster."

"Jasdero, no, put me down!" Toko screamed. The scenery went past them quickly as the boy ran. The only reason she wasn't struggling more was that she was afraid the boy would drop her if she did.

"Jasdero, please-"

"I don't like this any more than you do!" Jasdero said, slowing down until he was walking. He carefully set Toko down, and grabbed her arm as she turned and tried to run back.

"Jasdero-"

"Debitto can handle this. H-he… He'll be fine."

"How can you know that? He has nothing to defend himself with!" Toko yelled, beating her fists weakly against Jasdero's chest. She clung to his vest, pressing her forehead against his chest, forcing tears back again.

"If… if anything happens to him…"

"I know… Of course I do. He's my brother. But we've learned how to fight well enough while we've been gone. He'll be fine." Jasdero reassured her, hugging her tight.

"I wish you two would at least tell me what's going on…" Toko said quietly, calming down a bit. She felt Jasdero stiffen. He seemed more nervous about discussing it than Debitto did.

"Toko… Dero hates lying to you… So much…" he said slowly, "But… but if you knew…"

Toko pulled away, looking her friend in the eyes. "Knew what? Please, please tell me. I want to know. I have to. It's torture not knowing!" she pleaded.

"If we told you… You'd hate us…" Jasdero said quietly, looking away. He took a step back. Toko took a step forward.

"Dero, I could never hate you. Neither of you." she said softly, taking his hand and pulling him over to a fallen tree, where she made him sit down with her.

She rested her head on his shoulder, startling him. "B-but you would hate us! For sure!" he said quickly.

Toko sighed, closing her eyes. "No. You may be irritating, annoying, and downright rude at times, but you're still the best friends I've ever had."

Jasdero blinked. "W-what about Cassie?"

Toko laughed softly. "That's different. She's more like a sister than a friend."

There was a pause, then Toko spoke again.

"You know what dream I told you about, the first morning you came back? With the snake monster?" she asked. There was a sharp intake of breath from Jasdero.

"Yes."

"It wasn't a dream, was it?"

There was silence from her friend.

"I don't know how that nightmare could be real… But I just know that it was. Which means you and Debitto saved me from that thing." She went on.

"I-it was a dream, Toko…"

"Why are you still lying?" Toko's anger suddenly flared up, and she pulled away from him. "I know it was real! So why do you keep lying about it?"

"Because I love you!"

Immediately, his hands flew to his mouth, and his eyes widened.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Toko. "W-what?"

"N-no, Dero didn't mean to… It's not… I mean-"

"Since when?"

He stopped, removing his hands from his mouth, and took a shaky breath. "Since… since we were little…"

"You mean… back then…"

"Dero… Dero has always loved you… That's why-" he stopped, then started again, "That's why I have to keep lying. To protect you."

"You… love… me?" she said quietly.

She suddenly jumped up, and took a few steps backwards. Jasdero's eyes widened in alarm. "Toko?"

"No! I don't get any of this! Why… I don't understand!"

Jasdero stood up, looking frightened now. "No… Dero didn't mean to say that…"

"But you did! Why… Why me?" Toko asked, near hysterics now. It was all too much. All of this. Nothing made sense anymore.

His lips pressed against hers, and her eyes widened. When had he come so close? He'd been feet away from her seconds before, and he had moved so quickly that she hadn't even seen it.

It was such a quick exchange, and barely lasted a second. But it was so shocking that it seemed to last for ages. He pulled away, his eyes clouded by some hidden emotion.

"I'm so sorry, Toko…" he whispered, and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm going to kill you, monster." The boy hissed, holding the knife up to face the black haired boy. Debitto seemed uninterested in the weapon.

"If you're going to fight, can you just get on with it instead of repeating over and over again that you're going to kill me?" he said, sounding bored. With Toko gone, he didn't have to worry about anything. As long as he killed the kid so he couldn't spill the secret himself.

Cain glared, baring his teeth. "You're gonna regret this then."

With a rather loud yell, he ran towards Debitto, jabbing the knife out in front of him. Debitto sighed, and side stepped him, his speed faster than a normal human's. Cain whirled to the side, eyes wide.

"What the hell?!"

"You wanted to deal with the monster. You might as well be committing suicide right now."

Cain's eyes fell on the crosses on Debitto's forehead. "H-how… But before…"

"Oh, come on. I'm a monster, remember? A monster has to have a disguise."

"Y-you really are a monster!" Cain shouted, backing up. No, he hadn't been expecting this. He didn't want this. That horrible, bloodthirsty look in those golden eyes.

He was going to die. No, no, he didn't want to die!

"No!" he shouted, turning to run. Pointless. Debitto easily caught him by the neck, making the boy scream. The knife still rested in his hand.

"Oh, come on, this was too easy. Not fun at all." Debitto said, faking a yawn as he squeezed the life out of the boy. Best not make it bloody, even though he wanted it that way. If he came back covered in blood, Toko wouldn't like that.

Toko…

"Although I don't like you calling me and my brother monsters, I'm mostly doing this for her." he said, ignoring the boy's gagging as he choked. "For threatening to hurt her. For calling her a monster. Don't get her mixed up with us."

A sharp pain in his side made him release his hold on the boy. He doubled over, his hand coming to his side. He looked down, freezing when he was his own blood.

Cain stood, gasping and panting, over him, the bloody knife in hand.

"You stupid human…" Debitto hissed through the pain. Time to be serious. It took him literally two seconds to jump up and snap his neck with a sickening sound. The boy collapsed to the ground, eyes still side with fear, even in his death.

Debitto took a few steps backwards, away from the body. Shit. He'd actually gotten wounded. It wasn't that bad though. Just a cut on his side. Still, it was bleeding a bit. He sighed.

Without even glancing back at the dead boy, he started making his way back to Toko's house.

Ha! Dero gets her first kiss! (I'm not counting dream kisses.) I was planning on keeping Cain around, but decided not to at the last minute. May the stupid bastard rest in hell.

Ahh, twenty-one chapters and Toko still hasn't found out about them being Noah. Wow.