Jeez, I'm starting this kind of late, but you all probably won't even read it until tomorrow anyway! Now that Happiness of those who believe has ended (finally), I can concentrate more on this fic and hopefully put more time into Trust. I'm also co-writing a KH fic with someone, so that'll be up sometime, too (though I'm not quite sure when). Enjoy!

CeTe: Well, I'm glad you like it despite not liking the plot line. Like I said, I'll try and steer away from the more touchy areas of this topic, for your sake, but I probably won't be able to alter it too much without losing the meaning (which I don't want to do). Anyway, if there's any specific points you would like me to avoid, just let me know and I'll try my best to do that. Thanks for reviewing!

alpha2nd: Kanone can be extremely crazy sometimes...he didn't hear me say that, did he? (hides). I know Eyes is extremely occ, but I couldn't have him all emotionless when he was going through all of this stuff or else it wouldn't seem like he appreciated Kanone as much as he does (or will). I'm afraid that you may be violent (poor Ayumu), but in Kanone's defense, he really should have stayed away from his Eyes (trying to get back on Kanone's good side). Am I crazy for being afraid of Kanone? Either way, thanks for reviewing!

"Home?" Eyes thought. He had never had a home before. A home required people that cared for you and loved you, otherwise the place you lived was just a residence. Even that was questionable at times on Chase's farm. Eyes glanced around from his position, which was sitting straight up on the very edge of the bed and looking down at the ground, and saw that whatever room he was in was very cozy and comforting. It had a cream colored carpet with maroon walls. The ceiling and trim matched the carpet as did some of the pillows and the sheets. The comforter and pillowcases, as well as the curtains were the same shade of maroon as the walls. There were a few black and silver accents here and there in the form of pillows and other furniture and the dressers were all a dark cherry wood. Eyes felt very relaxed in this room and almost forgot who he was with. Even though Kanone had been nice up until now, Eyes didn't know why or how long it would last.

Eyes was disoriented when he had woken up and asked the question without thinking; he had been suprised when someone had actually answered. When he looked up to see Kanone smiling down at him, a surge of fear rushed throughout his body and he sat up and looked away quickly. Kanone noticed this and thought it was humorous, but refrained from laughing at the startled boy. Kanone reached over and brushed some matted hair out of Eyes' face to get a better look at him. This, of course, caused Eyes to flinch, and Kanone drew his hand away, "Sorry." He apologized, he hadn't been around someone this shy and jumpy for a while and didn't know how to go about getting the boy to trust him.

Eyes just shook his head, "It's my fault." He said quickly; no one had ever apologized to him, but Eyes had always figured that was because he had always been the one to do something wrong. In reality, Eyes had never done anything wrong, but was beaten into believing that everything was his fault.

Kanone sighed, this one was going to be difficult. Ever since he had taken over his father's "business", he had bought several slaves from other, crueler slave owners and had to get them to trust him. It took some time with some of them, but most just accepted that they had been dealt a bad hand early in life and that things were starting to go right. Very few were like Eyes, but Kanone had heard of Chase's reputation and had avoided his farm because he didn't want to see the man's handywork up close. Kanone had finally decided to go to Chase's because he realized that the people there were probably the ones that needed to be somewhere else the most. Kanone was now very glad that he had gone when he did, any longer and this boy would most likely be dead from beatings, exhaustion, or both. Shaking his head of all these thoughts, Kanone gave Eyes a once-over and decided that a bath would have to be top priority. Kanone really wanted to see his stained silver hair clean and brushed; he just knew that Eyes would look like an angel when he was cleaned up. Kanone had sat down after Eyes had fully woken up, but now stood up again and smiled at him, "You're not too tired to take a bath are you?"

Eyes hesitated, was he supposed to answer? Deciding that the question wasn't rhetorical he shook his head, "No, sir." Eyes didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to calling Kanone his master; it just didn't seem right. It wasn't a lack of respect he had for Kanone; in fact Eyes figured it was the exact opposite. He had been forced to call Chase his master and had harbored a hatred for the word; he didn't associate Kanone with any hatred or evil thoughts, though, so he didn't feel right labeling him as such.

Kanone smirked at the title, "You don't have to call me 'sir', you know." He was actually relieved that Eyes hadn't called him 'Master'; he had reached the same conclusion as Eyes concerning the association with that word. 'Sir' made him feel old, though, and he was only a couple years older than Eyes. This made him think how fortunate he had been in his life; he didn't think he could survive what Eyes had been through.

"What would you like me to call you then, sir?" Eyes stuck with the title for now, figuring no title would be worse. No title at all seemed to show a great lack of respect.

Kanone considered messing with the boy as he had done with others, but quickly decided against it; Eyes would probably take him seriously, "Just call me Kanone." He told him. He told everyone to call him by his first name, nothing else was neccessary. Everyone that worked for Kanone had a great deal of respect for him simply because he was nice enough to deserve it. In Kanone's opinion, respect had to be earned not forced, no matter who it was concerning. If he didn't have someone's respect, Kanone wouldn't expect them to be nice; he would expect the exact opposite, in fact.

"Just Kanone?" Eyes asked timidly. He felt that he should know this, but really had no clue why Kanone would want him to call him by his first name with no title. Eyes had learned very early on from his mother that if someone demanded a title you gave it to them and that if anyone was of higher social ranking than you (which in Eyes' case was everyone) then they automatically recieved a title, even if it was only 'sir' or 'ma'am'. Having someone of Kanone's stature having no title made absolutely no sense to Eyes. In a perfect world, none of it would matter and no one would care about titles or demand forced respect; but this world was a far cry from perfect.

Kanone smiled again, "Yes, just Kanone. I don't see why you should give me a title of any sort, do you?" Kanone knew exactly what the boy felt, but wanted to break him out of his shell and needed him to talk and stand up for his beliefs if that was going to happen.

Unfortunatley, Eyes just shook his head, not wanting to argue with Kanone, "No...Kanone." Eyes felt so strange saying that, and almost flinched as if expecting to get hit.

Kanone sighed, "You're lying to me." He saw Eyes freeze in his seat, "There's no reason for you to lie to me; you don't have to be afraid of me. I don't tolerate lying though; you'll learn about my little pet peeves, but I'll tell you right now that lying isn't one of them."

Eyes started to shake, he had managed to upset Kanone when his intention was the exact opposite, "I-I'm sorry, I just..." Eyes trailed off, not sure whether he should defend himself or not; he had never met anyone like Kanone before, he didn't know how to act around him.

Kanone waited and then saw that Eyes wasn't going to explain, "You just what?" Kanone pried. Force might not be the best way to get him to open up, but it was worth a shot; it was definitely the fastest way.

"I was always told that a title showed respect." Eyes explained.

"So?" Kanone asked, baiting Eyes to talk more, "Do you have respect for me?"

"Of course." Eyes answered quickly.

"Why? I haven't done anything as of yet to earn your respect."

"What is he doing?" Eyes wondered, "Why is he making me explain myself when he knows very well why I said what I said?" Eyes quickly glanced at Kanone to see that he was staring, expectantly, "I have to have respect for you, you own me; respect is just expected."

Kanone laughed, finally this boy was starting to have some sort of opinion; even though it was an opinion that he had been forced to believe in, "I don't mean to laugh, but I have to disagree with you. Just because of our relationship doesn't give me any right to demand respect from you. If I want your respect, I have to earn it and vice versa."

Eyes was confused now, Kanone had just said something that went against everything he had ever been taught, "You're wrong." Eyes said as he stood up and looked Kanone direct in the eyes, "Our relationship is exactly why you have the right to demand respect from me, everyone else does, so why wouldn't you?" This outburst shocked Kanone and Eyes realized what he had just done; he had talked back to Kanone. If Kanone put so much emphasis on respect, he probably wasn't too fond of talking back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Kanone was shocked, but only slightly upset; mostly he was just amused, "If you didn't mean it then why did you say it?" Kanone was enjoying this conversation way too much to let it end so quickly.

"That's just what I've always been told." Eyes explained, "I've never known anyone to feel any differently." And as quickly as the courage had come, it left him and he became quiet again.

Kanone nodded, though Eyes couldn't see him because he had returned his gaze to the floor. Kanone walked the few steps that seperated them and placed a hand on Eyes' shoulder, ignoring the flinch that it elicited, "So we've established that my name is Kanone, correct?" He asked, a little amused at the serious nod that he recieved, "And what should I call you?" He got no response, "Well, I certainly can't just call you 'boy' or 'slave', now can I?" Though Kanone regretted those words due to the next ones out of Eyes' mouth.

"Everyone else does." It was true, he wasn't completely sure of his name; he wasn't even sure he had one. Boy had become his new name and Eyes couldn't remember ever having another one. He informed Kanone of this when he asked him his name.

"Well, that could be a problem. What would you like to be named?" Kanone asked, though he doubted Eyes would actually respond; he was right. He only recieved a slight shrug. Kanone wasn't suprised, considering how self doubting the boy was, he wouldn't expect him to offer any suggestions that could influence anything, fearing that he might be blamed if anything ever went wrong. Kanone thought for a moment, "Well then, how about I name you?"

"You'd do that?" Eyes asked, timidly, suprised at Kanone's offer.

Kanone laughed, "Of course, everyone deserves a name." Kanone's mind ran across several names, "John? No. James? No. Steve? Ew, no. Michael? Ick, even worse than Steve. Josh? Okay, I need to stop." All of those names seemed too...ordinary. The boy before him was so unique, he needed a name that reflected that, "Eyes." Kanone whispered.

Said boy gazed up at him with the blue orbs that had inspired the name, "Eyes? What about them?"

"Your name, Eyes. It's perfect. No one has a name like it, I guarantee you. You needed a unique name due to the fact that you're so unique. And what makes you so unique, so striking? Your eyes." Kanone explained.

"Eyes..." He seemed to consider it, "I...I like it." He finally answered, truthfully. He was ecstatic inside, though he remained calm. He had a name; a symbol that someone cared for him enough to take the time and effort to give him a name. And Kanone had done so, he had even provided an explanation to prove it.

"Good. Well, that took longer than expected." Kanone glanced at his clock, and was suprised to see that it was already 10 o'clock at night. He had arrived at Chase's farm around four and it had taken about an hour to get everything sorted out and get Eyes out of there. Then three hours later they were home and Eyes had been asleep for about an hour; their little conversation had taken just as long. Kanone turned to Eyes and smiled, "So what about that bath?"

Hehehehe, I won't go into detail with the bath, we'll just join up with those two in a more appropriate setting. Don't worry, nothing too vulgar occured. And by the way, Kanone's bedroom was replicated after how I'm going to redo mine, I hope it didn't seem too boring with basically only cream and maroon...I have to live with it!