A/N:

I fixed up this chapter with the help of Kanrei's review. I didn't like it much in the first place, and I was wondering how to fix it. I just found inspiration and patched the whole thing up. It's pretty much the same stuff, but with a lot less dialogue and more focus on Izayoi's thoughts, so it comes out quite different from the light novel. All in all, I think it worked out. Please tell me what you think.

Thanks so much Kanrei! :3

The second half is purely headcanon, and I quite like how the last bit turned out. Izayoi is a little heartless in this chapter, 'cos Canaria is the person who's supposed to give him back his conscience.

Thank you for following, and please review so that I can improve my writing or keep going on the right track.

Canaria

In which Izayoi meets Canaria, and what he does counts for something (though he's not quite sure what).

The first time he met Canaria, Izayoi was in the ruins of an abandoned facility in the mountains, dripping wet from being out in the storm that had turned the sky black and the world grey. He was bored out of his mind and angry because of it, a burning fury that coursed through his veins, urged on by the powerful, coursing heartbeats that thumped against his chest like the beating of a drum.

The world was stupid and boring and he was realising it with startling, infuriating clarity as he waited in the cold, wet facility for somebody to figure out the clues he'd provided them with and finish the damn game he'd started already, so that he could go back to the orphanage, which was, at least, warm and dry.

He'd amassed money he'd earned from turning his foster parents in, using it to host a game. A simple, simple game that apparently, nobody could play. The first person to find him within the time limit of a week would receive briefcases and briefcases of money, more than enough to be an excellent incentive, and he'd given the participants clues. He'd even gone out, deliberately, and wandered about so that they would find him with more ease.

How damn hard was it to find a ten-year-old boy who wasn't even trying very hard to hide?

Four minutes to the end of the game (and, by extension, four minutes to the demolition of half the earth - he was so bored and so angry and it'd relieve some boredom, at least, right?), a petite woman wearing a white overcoat strode in and began talking to him, and Izayoi didn't get to see her until later because she was standing in the shadows, but she had a voice as sweet as a songstress's and a musical, tinkling laugh, and one of the first things Izayoi learnt about her was that she disapproved of foul language - at least, she disapproved of Izayoi's foul language more than she wanted the prize money, if the way she prioritised criticising his language over getting her hands on the case was any indicator.

Which was just plain strange.

And she knew about Izayoi somehow, knew about his problem child tendencies and the foster homes and orphanages - sorry, welfare organisations (the name made him want to laugh; since when had any orphanage cared about his welfare?) - he'd been in.

She knew about all twenty four welfare organisations and thirty-one pairs of foster parents. She also knew that amongst the foster parents, twenty-one of the adoptees had been convicted of having committed some sort of crime on the sly, and that no foster parents or orphanages dared to take him in anymore.

Well.

In turn, Izayoi learnt that she'd had no trouble finding the briefcases of money he'd hidden in the deepest recesses of the ruins, apparently slipping past multiple traps he'd set up and dismantling one of them. But she hadn't taken the money and gone - she'd just come back out and met him in the facility, which told Izayoi she wasn't too interested in the cash.

And she said she was more interested in Izayoi.

Which would, of course, be the case. He was intelligent - far more so than any child had a right to be - and strong enough to shatter the world into tiny, irreparable bits of jagged edges and rough sides. He was the boy who no orphanage or foster home could keep, the non-human that could kill a man with a sweep of his arm.

Izayoi knew this. He also knew that the woman - Canaria, he learnt her name was - knew it too.

She was smart. Smarter than anyone else he'd ever met, smart enough to figure out his identity from a picture he'd posted on the internet as a challenge, a picture of the twenty briefcases of money and the note he'd stuck on them; the note which had explained the rules of his game. Smart enough to realise that the picture had been taken to mislead the crowds; that the background of the photo could not be used to decipher his location.

She gave him tips on how to improve any games he hosted in the future.

When she finally stepped out of the shadows, Izayoi found that she had short flaxen hair that fell in golden waves to her shoulders, and emerald eyes that sparked with reflected light. She looked to be in her early twenties, was unexpectedly beautiful with delicate, well-proportioned features, and had also apparently climbed the mountain in a white overcoat and high-heeled black boots.

He called her a hag.

When Canaria said that she wanted him to admit his loss with a "sense of defeat", he allowed killing intent to leak out, annoyed by her audacity.

She had won the game. But he had not been trying hard. He had hardly been putting much effort into it, after he'd discovered how stupid most of the earth's inhabitants were.

Izayoi had been going easy on them, and Canaria had barely been able to find him in time.

And, above all, it was not in him to bow his head and give up defeatedly. It was pathetic and weak and humiliating - it was also the perfect opening or the opponent to kick him while he was down. He was not going to ever say anything defeatedly; showing a sense of defeat revealed weakness, weakness that could be deadly, weakness that could be used against him.

He expected Canaria to back away, or maybe even reveal fear, after he loosened his tight control over his killing intent and allowed some to blast out, washing over everything in a furious, chilling wave.

Instead, she wasn't even fazed, and then she asked him why he'd hosted the game.

And...

Izayoi didn't know. He didn't know anymore, after waiting and waiting and waiting and being so so so bored for a whole week, he didn't know anymore.

And then Canaria told him. She told him why he'd hosted the game; it was so that he could find somebody comparable to his own power, so that he could have a high tension, heart pounding, blood racing, exciting contest, and she was right. She was completely, absolutely, definitely correct.

It infuriated him. He'd wanted somebody to play with, somebody to challenge him so that his mind would be so damned bored, so that his mind wouldn't fall to bits with the sheer boredom of it all.

In the wake of that, how pathetic was the stupid game he'd ended up with?

Restless and annoyed, he slammed a foot down, smashing into the floorboards and shaking the entire facility to it's foundations. A wall collapsed, allowing a violent gale of wind and rain to blow in and revealing the dark skies where lighting danced.

Canaria just watched unflinchingly, and then she strode up to him, standing right in front of him so that the top Izayoi's head was only level with her chest.

Unconsciously, he took a step back.

She told him that a host was responsible for congratulating the victor of the game. She wanted him to admit defeat.

"And when your game has ended..." she said, before she uttered a few words, a handful of words that changed his life.

"Let's start a new game together."

Izayoi was stunned into silence, shocked into speechlessness.

Admittedly, he gaped, rather stupidly, at her, eyes wide with shock as he froze, unable to respond.

He'd never foreseen those words. He'd never thought she'd want to play a game. He'd been so sure for so long that nobody would want to associate with him, unless it was to use him.

So what was this?

He didn't understand. He couldn't understand. It went against everything he'd ever known about humans.

Canaria had won the game. She had the satisfaction of beating Izayoi, and would receive a few million yen, twenty briefcases worth of money. The game was over, she could leave, and Izayoi would go back to being bored. Her objectives were fulfilled, she need not ever interact with Izayoi again.

But she was choosing to stay.

So he asked the only question that would give him an understandable response.

"Then… the game's prize is?"

Canaria knelt so that she was at Izayoi's eye level, startling him as she inclined her head so that their foreheads touched. He very nearly jumped, and his eyes widened even further as he stared into hers, which sparkled with a mischievous light.

But he didn't pull away.

Her answer didn't help him understand.

Her answer made no sense.

Her answer confused him more.

Canaria said, "if I win… I can get a sharp tongued son. If you win... Then I will always be your playmate for life. An additional condition would be: I will also prepare a great place for you to rest and relax. How about that?"

Izayoi was lost.

Even if he became Canaria's 'son', he could still try to gather evidence to turn her in if she got boring, and even if he couldn't, she seemed intelligent enough to provide him with entertainment.

And if he won, she was interesting enough to be a fun playmate, plus, having a great, safe place to rest and relax seemed appealing enough.

But he could not comprehend why she'd even want him as her son, and as much as he puzzled over it, Izayoi was utterly stumped. Canaria seemed intelligent enough to understand that Izayoi becoming her foster son did not necessarily force him to obey her, so it seemed unlikely that her ulterior motive was using him, but if that was so, then Izayoi had no clue as to what was going on. Izayoi... Izayoi wouldn't make a very good son. It had been proven thirty-one times over.

The terms were too loose. If Izayoi lost... He didn't think that there was much Canaria stood to gain.

Placing his hand on the back of his head, Izayoi weighed the benefits and possible problems in the game prizes, before finally giving an exaggerated nod.

And when he finally admitted his defeat - which was not the same as giving in with a sense of defeat - Canaria reached out her hand and took Izayoi's, tugging him along as if he was an ordinary, completely normal ten-year-old child.

And, once again, Izayoi didn't resist, walking hand in hand with Canaria to the door.

And suddenly, the horribly boring, stupid world seemed a bit more interesting, and a little more fun.

"Izayoi-chan, what do you think of the world?" Canaria asked from Izayoi's side.

Izayoi stared out at the expanse of water, which sparkled softly in the evening light and gave off a soft orange glow. The two stood side by side at the end of the jetty, watching the sun set over the sea.

"I hate it." He said sincerely. "It's stupid and crappy and filled with stupid, boring people." Filled with far too much horror and greed and pain, and far too boring, far too stupid. "What are you doing?" Izayoi asked as Canaria suddenly dropped to kneel on the ground, pulling out a map and unrolling it with much gusto.

"There are plenty of wonderful things in the world, Izayoi-chan. You just have to be able to find them."

"I bet they're all crappy."

"I'll prove that they're not. It's time to start operation 'Get Izayoi-chan to like the world'!" She exclaimed enthusiastically as she held down the edges of the map. "Where would you like to go, Izayoi-chan?"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Since you shall become my son once I win this game, it's only right that I start teaching him the basics in life, such as loving the world you live in."

"What makes you think you'll win, stupid smelly obaasan?"

"How rude! Obviously I'm planning to win the game and get a sharp-tongued son."

"And as I told you, I'm not planning to let you win."

"We'll see. So, pick somewhere you want to go. I picked the seaside this time, since you said you'd never seen it before. It's your turn."

"I can pick any place I want? No conditions?" Izayoi asked as he knelt beside Canaria.

"It has to be a place on earth, and cannot be at the bottom of the sea, deep in a volcano, or something equally deadly." Canaria deadpanned.

"I actually value my life, stupid obaasan."

"Yeah, yeah. Take your pick, Izayoi-chan. And stop calling me that while you're at it. I have a name, and it's Canaria." Izayoi just continued peering over the map, apparently ignoring Canaria's every word.

"Oi, smelly obaasan." He said. Canaria sighed exasperatedly.

"Geez! Were you even listening to me?"

"Let's go to Iguazu Falls." Izayoi gestured at the map in the general area of the falls.

"Fine with me. But why would you want to go there?"

"There's a demon rumoured to live there, right?" He asked, still staring at the map. "It should be interesting to find and defeat it."

"That's true. Alright then, Izayoi-chan. We'll make preparations and arrange the trip tomorrow, and we shall depart on Thursday."

"Alright." Izayoi stretched widely before shoving his hands back in his pockets. "What do you want to do now?"

"Ever seen fireflies before?"

"Nope." There had been no point, in Izayoi's opinion, and not many opportunities to see them. He had decided that it was not worth the bother of hunting them down just to watch some boring, glow-in-the-dark bugs fly around and buzz in his ears.

Canaria grabbed Izayoi's hand, pulling him along, and Izayoi trailed somewhat reluctantly after her.

"It will be interesting, at the very least." She told him, and Izayoi cast her a doubtful, disbelieving look.

"We're going to watch some glow-in-the-dark bugs fly around in circles." He said. "How do you expect that to be interesting?"

"Just come. The world is meant to be explored. At the very least, Izayoi-chan, since you're already bored with the world, you should try and explore new things instead of simply writing them off as boring and crappy." Izayoi could see some truth in that, and Canaria took his silence as agreement, or at least realised that he was thinking about her words. "Correct? If you cannot find amusement or excitement in the things you already see, hear and know, you can find interest in learning and exploring new things."

Izayoi definitely saw a point in that.

And thus, the boy found himself standing in a clearing in a marsh nearby, staring around at the numerous, flying light sources, which whirled around him like some sort of glowing hurricane, albeit less violent and turbulent.

It was, admittedly, a very beautiful and somewhat magical scene, with the glowing lights dancing above the marsh in the darkness of the night, the air cold around him and the warmth of another by his side.

"What do you think, Izayoi-chan?"

"Mm…" It was fine, he supposed, and a lot more interesting than he'd thought it would be.

"Well, you seem less bored than usual."

"I guess." He replied, glancing away so he didn't have to meet Canaria's eye. A chiming laugh echoed around the clearing as he watched a firefly fly by with unusual interest.

"I told you it would be fun."

"Shut up, shitty hag."

"What?! Stop with that disrespectful way of addressing me. You should be politely regarding me as 'Canaria-oneesan'."

"Cut the crap. There's no way a hag like you could be my oneesan." Canaria took in an irritated breath, obviously about to launch into a long, enraged tirade, and Izayoi turned away, feigning disinterest as he glanced around at the small lightning bugs that lit the dark clearing.

Yes, it was definitely rather interesting.

Perhaps it had been worth it to come with Canaria. After all, he'd had nothing better to do.

"Okay, Izayoi-chan! We've arrived at the Iguazu Falls!" Canaria said, spreading her arms out wide. She was a drama queen, Izayoi thought, glancing at her.

"I can see that, stupid hag."

"After I've gone through all the trouble of bringing you here, and you still act that way." Canaria said, folding her arms and looking down at Izayoi with her usual smile still in place.

"It's for the sake of the game or your project, is it not?" He replied, turning to look out at the falls from the bridge they were standing on. The falls were large indeed, and there was, he supposed, a good chance that a demon might live around them, in some cave or another.

The thought set his heart racing and blood rushing with excitement, and he couldn't help the wild grin that spread across his face, or the glint in his eye which he knew made him look somewhat maniacal.

And as they set off down the trails that would take them into the greenery around the falls, Izayoi couldn't quite wipe that excited expression off his face, but if Canaria noted that it looked slightly creepy, she gave no outward reaction towards it, simply striding ahead with, still smiling sweetly, and teasing him about how excited he looked even as the other adults in their tour group edged away from him, pulling their children with them. Izayoi almost rolled his eyes, but restrained himself, more than used to that reaction.

"Of course." He replied, still grinning as he clenched a fist. His blood was boiling with anticipation, his heart thrumming at the thought of a good fight.

Amazingly, Canaria did not object, did not give the usual lectures adults always gave about how one should stay out of fights, in their usual, adult-like inability to understand Izayoi. Instead, her smile turned understanding, and her eyes sparkled with almost as much excitement as Izayoi felt.

Canaria, Izayoi thought, was a woman who knew how to appreciate a good fight, and a good game. And that was very good, since they were going to be stuck travelling the world together for who knew how long playing their game, and then he'd either end up as Canaria's son, or she'd be his playmate for life, which translated to a lot of time spent together.

And unless Canaria tried to harm him or use him, Izayoi couldn't bring himself to mind - the amount of time they'd be spending in close proximity to one another, that is. She was nice enough, for a human.

The rest of their tour group was obviously unnerved, though, potentially due to the fact that Izayoi was leaking killer intent in his excitement.

They trekked along the paths, and Izayoi relished the cool, fresh air, Canaria removing her coat because it billowed out behind her and smacked people's faces, causing a nuisance and making Izayoi laugh. She waved off his sarcastic remarks, folding it neatly as Izayoi smirked.

The tour ended soon enough, and Izayoi shoved his hands in his pockets, turning to Canaria.

"So? Where do you think the most likely position is?" The two had only gone on the tour because they had agreed that it was the fastest way to scout out the area, and because some of the places the guide had brought them to had been excellent vantage points. After, there would have been absolutely no point in them wandering aimlessly, without getting a decent idea of where a demon would be hiding.

"There were a few caves that looked promising, and there's plenty of greenery that it could hide in." Canaria said, and Izayoi nodded. He'd thought the same, and with a grin and a careless, excited laugh, he turned back towards the trail, starting off with Canaria close behind.

This time, when Canaria's coat blew out behind her, nobody was there to care.

They combed through the forest, examining the canopy of the towering trees and scrutinising every branch, peering into caves they came across. The caves were damp, dark, and musky, the smell of bat droppings permeating the air while said mammals screeched overhead.

But there was no sign of any demon.

A bat flew far too close to Izayoi's face for comfort, and he whipped a hand out, snatching it from the air and feeling something crunch under his fingers. The small creature screeched as something in its wing snapped, and Canaria frowned at Izayoi in disapproval.

Disapproval was another emotion he was used to having directed at him. Izayoi snorted, ignoring her and examining the squirming creature in his uncompromising grip. The furry bat screeched again, small claws scrabbling helplessly at his fingers, and Canaria reached out, gently prying his fingers away. Izayoi considered grabbing harder in retaliation, but he wasn't sadistic - he didn't exactly enjoy seeing things in pain, so he allowed her to pry his fingers away and the bat to slip from his grasp into Canaria's larger, gentler palm. The animal tried to fly away, but something was wrong with its wing, and it flapped pathetically before flopping back onto Canaria's hand.

"Izayoi-chan… Look what you've done!" She said, her voice disappointed and disapproving all at once. Izayoi gave a 'tch' in response, looking down at the pathetic creature.

"Don't just go hurting things like that!"

"Why does it matter?" He asked. People always hurt others for their own selfish reasons, and Izayoi didn't care about the world anyway - he hated it. So what did it matter if he hurt a bat?

"These creatures want to live too, you know? They need their wings to catch food, or return to their nests, and breaking its wing could kill it." Canaria replied.

"So?" Izayoi's favourite motto was 'crush the strong, crush the weak'. If you were weak, the strong would crush you. If you were strong, there was always someone stronger that would come along. Even weak people or creatures could hurt stronger ones, intentionally or not, because of stupidity on the other's part, or intelligence on their own, so it would be stupid to get too close just because something seemed weak. For example… "Stupid hag, put the damn thing down already - it could have rabies."

It was stupid to trust something, just because it seemed weak. Easier to just crush it if necessary.

"Aww… Izayoi-chan, are you worried about me?"

"Of course not, stupid, smelly hag; it'd just be annoying to have a rabid travelling companion."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let's go make camp; it's too late to keep searching anyway."

She turned, leading the way out of the cave, and Izayoi followed.

He noticed that she brought the bat with her.

They ended up finding a small clearing and camping there. Izayoi wasn't sure if it was legal, since he didn't know much about that country's laws, but he decided that it did not matter - it wasn't like he cared; he'd done plenty of illegal things before. Theft, for example, and "accidentally" breaking a few buildings when his foster parents had tried to use him.

He had wanted to eat first, but Canaria had insisted that they look after the bat.

"Izayoi-chan, you hurt it, and now you have to take responsibility." She had said.

"Why?" Izayoi didn't feel much for the animal, or he hadn't at first, but now when he looked down at the tiny, broken creature, which had given up on struggling and lay limp in Canaria's palm, he did feel a twinge of regret.

He'd never killed anything bigger than bugs before. He'd come close, but never quite killed, and that had to count for something, right? So he might as well make an effort to keep the stupid creature alive, at least until they managed to get it to some animal welfare centre. And if it did die after that, he refused to feel anything for it.

It wasn't even human, so it didn't really matter - heck, he didn't even particularly mind if a human died.

"Because it's a living, breathing creature with a will of it's own, and why should we let it die when we can do something about it?" Canaria replied. "We're not killers."

Fine. He had to admit that there was truth in that, even though it was strange that Canaria would immediately presume that he was not a killer.

Then again, most did not suspect a child of murder - children were too sweet, too naive, too innocent and powerless.

Most did not remember that children were also animals, also people, and they had forgotten that cornered animals always fought. Desperation, fear, and adrenaline could do a lot to a human, even one as seemingly powerless as a child.

He sighed, shaking the thoughts from his head and digging in Canaria's bag for her first aid kit. Pulling it out, he nearly gaped at it as he realised that the first aid kit in particular was damn heavy. What did Canaria even keep in there?

He opened it to find an assortment of bandages, scissors, knives, needles, and… was that a stethoscope? Why on earth would the hag have a freaking stethoscope with her? There was thread as well, and tweezers, plus a metal bowl, which he grabbed.

Running purely on instinct, he grabbed the bandages, cutting off a good length of gauze and padding the bowl with it, before sticking some leaves and twigs in as well, under the assumption that the bat would be more relaxed in an area which resembled its natural habitat more closely. That meant that it'd be less likely to die of shock, right? He handed the box to Canaria, who deposited the tiny creature into the soft linings. It clawed about a bit, fumbling around, then lay still, and Izayoi thought it looked awfully close to death.

"Oi, smelly hag."

"I told you to stop it with the smelly hag. I have a name, you know?"

"Is it gonna die?"

"Depends. It may, but at least we tried." She looked up from the bowl. "You worried, Izayoi-chan?"

"Of course not. Why would I care?" He replied, glancing irritably at her.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?"

"I don't care about the stupid bat, smelly hag."

"Be honest about your feelings, Izayoi-chan." She said, a teasing note to her voice.

"I am. Why would I care about a stupid bat?"

"Because it is a living being, capable of thought and independent action, possibly with a mate or young back at its nest, which it is unlikely to ever get back to due to you injuring it's wing." Canaria had a finger in the air, explaining things in a very matter-of-fact manner and watching him carefully, as if expecting to see guilt or remorse.

Izayoi made sure that he displayed neither, putting an annoyed expression on his face.

"So?"

Perhaps it had been a little cruel of him to just snatch the creature from the air like that, since it hadn't exactly done anything to warrant such harsh retaliation, but then again, the world was simply like that, with people hurting others, despite the other having done nothing to be deserving of such hurt.

"If you were injured like that, wouldn't you have wanted somebody to help you?" No. Izayoi would not be idiotic enough to let himself be hurt like that, and if he was hurt, he understood that nobody would help him. Nobody cared enough to do so, and Izayoi was already fully aware of that.

"Nobody would come." He scoffed, looking down at the animal again and thinking that it was a very lucky creature to have such a stupid hag come along and decide to help it.

Canaria just sighed, shaking her head and giving him a knowing smile before turning away to prepare the food, calling over her shoulder.

"I would."

"Because you're stupid, hag."

"If helping others and being kind is stupid, then I'll stay an idiot."

"Not like anything you do would cure that stupidity of yours." Canaria laughed at that, her chiming, soothing laugh that made Izayoi feel, somehow, that if that all there was to stupidity, then he wouldn't mind being an idiot.

But actions always had their consequences, and the actions of an idiot would have the worst consequences of all.

"Look after bat-san, Izayoi-chan!" Canaria called in a singsong voice, and Izayoi scowled down at the furry creature, which was resting peacefully.

The next morning, they decided to backtrack to bring the bat to an animal welfare shelter, or, rather, Canaria informed Izayoi that they would do so, and had started off, forcing Izayoi to follow. Canaria did not, until much later, mention that her backpack was surprisingly light, or take notice of the strange lump that made Izayoi's backpack look much bulkier than it had been. She did not talk about how her first aid kit had mysteriously vanished, or question Izayoi about where it had gone. Not until later, at least, whereby Izayoi promptly explained that she'd slow them down with such a ridiculously heavy item in her bag, while he, on the other hand, was very well-equipped to handle the extra weight.

And while that was true, there was a tiny part of him, which said that it did not, necessarily, hate the hag's stupidity, only that it hoped that she would be intelligent enough to avoid, or at least reduce the harm of the consequences. She did not seem like a complete idiot, at least, and was relatively smart, so he thought she might be alright, even if it came with rather huge risks.

That tiny part of him wanted to trust the stupid hag, or at least, aid her a little, so that she would not suffer too badly.

But it was only a very tiny part of him that thought that, and it left almost as soon as it had come.

Almost, but not before Izayoi had taken the first aid kit from Canaria's bag and placed it into his own.

And that had to count for something, right?

A/N:

Thanks for reading, and please drop me a review!

God bless!