A/N:

Hi~ I'm back! Big thankies to Enemotou and StarlightAT, the awesome reviewers of this story. I love you guys. Thank you for all the follows and favourites too!

Um... I quite like this chapter. I think it's come out pretty nice, and it has clues about Izayoi's past... I hope you guys like it too, and please drop me a review to let me know what you think! I mean, if I'm screwing this up with a capital 'S', at least point me in the right direction, please?

Enjoy!

Warnings: Mild language, non-graphic mentions of blood.

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, don't own the light novel or the anime. I do own my headcanon, though. XD

Promises

In which Izayoi meets a few unpleasant people from the past, and Canaria makes him a promise (a promise which he doesn't quite believe, but would really like to).

The bat had been deposited in the nearest animal welfare shelter, but not before the stupid hag had double, triple, and quadruple checked that the clerk had her number and that he'd contact her about the bat's well-being ASAP.

Izayoi wondered if she'd noticed the man surreptitiously dumping her contact information in the dustbin as they left the building.

It didn't matter either way, he thought, because either the bat lived or it died, and neither would particularly affect his life. But then again, Canaria was showering him with with assurances that the bat definitely wouldn't die, since it'd survived the entire trip away from the falls and to the shelter with no visible ill-effects, and no matter how often he told her that he did not care, she simply smiled and added another reason why it would survive. So he was expecting the pathetic creature to make it out alive, and that counted for something, he supposed.

Whatever.

They'd decided on a cafe for lunch, and were feasting on sandwiches and chips, which Canaria noted idly would do horrible thing to her figure. Izayoi, kind soul that he was, offered to eat her chips for her. She politely declined his offer.

Pity.

"Izayoi-chan, what do you think of the trip so far?"

"It's okay." He replied, discovering that his plate was empty and reaching towards hers, only for his hand to be slapped away. Canaria pushed the salad to him instead, and he scowled at her. Salad was no substitute for chips, and she knew it.

She just smiled at him with the sweet, innocent but somewhat mysterious smile that Izayoi had come to learn was her poker face. Her mask and default expression, apparently. Smart. It wasn't good to let people see too many of your emotions, because emotions were the key to figuring out your thoughts.

"Do you like the world more now?" Izayoi thought about that for a moment. He had liked the Iguazu Falls, yes, had enjoyed the majestic view and the beautiful scenery. He had enjoyed the freedom and freshness of the wilderness, the beauty and the concept, the discovery of the unknown.

Did he like the world more for it?

"Not really." He answered. The world was populated by such a disgusting species, after all, full of cruelty and greed and horror and pain, and even if there were a few pretty places on a map, it was simply like sticking a small, pretty band-aid on a huge, gruesome, gaping, bloody wound - it was simply not enough.

Canaria smiled mischievously, a determined glint lighting up her eyes.

"Then I'll have to bring you around until you do. I'll make you admit that you love this world."

"Try it, stupid hag." Izayoi challenged, sure that she couldn't do it.

"I will. Thanks for the encouragement." Canaria replied, smiling sweetly. Izayoi scowled at her, crunching down on a piece of lettuce, when a dull thud sounded, and he glanced up to see Canaria face down on the table, her golden hair splayed across the dark wood.

"Oi, this isn't the place for a nap, stupid hag." She didn't move, didn't respond.

"Wake up already." He grabbed his glass of water, dumping the entire glass onto her head, but she didn't flinch, even as her bright hair was soaked and clumped together.

Strange… She probably wasn't acting, and she wasn't sleeping, and she wasn't dead - she still had a pulse, so that left…

Drugs.

That was when the cafe door banged open, men and woman flooding into the cafe and raising their guns to point at Izayoi and Canaria.

"We've got you now, you little freak." A man snarled, his ugly mug twisted into an equally ugly smile.

Oh, come on.

"Stupid hag!" Izayoi yelled, filled with blind fury and red hot rage that flowed through his veins like fire, filling his vision with crimson. "What kind of idiot are you?" He practically spat, as he shook her limp body. What type of idiot was she, to not notice that her food was drugged? Izayoi's food probably hadn't been, for various reasons, the main one being that drugs, unless in incredibly, astronomically high concentration, did not work on him. Canaria flopped lifelessly as he shook her, and Izayoi glared at the men surrounding them.

"What did you do to her?"

If Canaria was going to die… If they had poisoned her…

He hated drugs, and he hated the damn irritating people who always came after him.

Izayoi didn't usually hate them, of course, since they were distraction enough from his boring, unchanging lifestyle and no threat whatsoever, but drugging his only decent playmate was too low, even to him.

Calm down, you damn idiot. Focus. You've got to keep a clear mind, or you might kill the damn lot.

What's so wrong about that, actually? I've forgotten. I hate the world, I hate people, I hate the stupid, crappy lot.

Why do I even care that the stupid hag might die? It's dumb.

He was so much angrier than he should have been, but with good reason.

Damn, he hated drugs. Just hearing about them pissed him off.

"She's only drugged with sleeping pills, kid. Calm down. Just come with us and your mama won't be hurt." Izayoi had no mother, especially not that stupid hag.

Damn, he needed to calm down, or somebody might get killed, and while he wouldn't particularly mind the deaths of those thugs, having his playmate killed would be a downer.

Then the rage no longer blinded him, and was sucked into a burning fury that smouldered in his heart, a fire that scorched and burned and melted, roaring in his chest.

And he was able to think calmly, able to evaluate the situation.

He was one ten-year-old boy, and there were ten burly men and woman circling him in the cafe. The waiters and waitresses had taken cover behind the counter, and one of them had to have been the one to have drugged Canaria. One of them was a lackey of the organisation after him.

Didn't they have better things to do with their time than chase him? It was, frankly, annoying.

Still, if they wanted to play, that was fine. Izayoi's grin widened. Oh, yes, he would play.

But he would not play nice. He never played nice with people who did not play fair.

"Stupid, smelly hag. I will say it one last time. If you do not wake up, I will beat these bastards within an inch of their lives." No motion from the stupid hag. "They might die. I won't care." Not a sound, not a twitch.

"Fine. Entertain me, you bastards."

And before the thugs knew what hit them, Izayoi was on them, moving faster than the eye could see, a blur of blonde hair and navy jacket that shot among them like a bullet and took them out faster than guns. And the men collapsed, unconscious, beaten black and blue in the split second that Izayoi'd had with them, his fists flying faster than their minds could comprehend and taking them down.

"Boring!" He spat. "So boring." He looked down at their limp bodies, wishing they'd get up so that he could play more. They did not move, though, and it was no fun beating up defenceless opponents. With a sigh of annoyance, Izayoi turned and walked over to Canaria.

"Stupid hag. Wake up!" He said, splashing a cup of water over her face. She did not react. WIth an annoyed huff, he lifted her limp body on his back, ignoring how her legs dragged on the floor as he lugged her from the cafe.

He did not look back as he made the long trek back to their hotel, refused to meet the eyes of any terrified passer-by or take to heart any of the dark mutters and glances that were cast his way. He ignored the uncomfortable prickling sensation he got from their judgemental stares, long used to the feeling, and continued on, though his speed was considerably slower thanks to Canaria's weight and her awkward positioning on her back - he nearly dropped her once, or twice, or a bunch of times.

Still, what the hag didn't know wouldn't kill her.

There were probably people who were tracking them, and Izayoi was leaving a pretty obvious trail; a ten-year-old carrying a grown woman on his back was hard to miss, after all, so their pursuers were probably going to track them.

He didn't particularly mind, since he was feeling annoyed at the moment and needed to let it out.

Finally, finally he reached the hotel room, and Izayoi immediately deposited Canaria on her bed before flopping into his own, feeling tired for no apparent reason. He could sleep; he would wake immediately if anyone came for them.

Izayoi was experienced in that.

Heavy eyes sliding shut, Izayoi snuggled under the sheets, yawning, and surrendered to the blissful restfulness of sleep.

Crimson liquid, sliding down his arms and making his palms slick. The air heavy with the metallic stench of blood and fear, mingled in a toxic combination that weighed heavily on his already slumped, tired shoulders.

No more. No more, please, please no more.

"Can't I stop now, kaa-san? It hurts. Can't I stop? Are we done?"

"Hush, Izayoi-chan. A few more tests, and we'll be done."

"I don't want any more!" His vision was blurring, his eyes filling with tears which he tried to hold back. The salty liquid would only hurt the wounds on his face more.

"Stop!" He cried, as he watched her pick up another needle. "Stop it! I don't want any more!" She was ignoring him, bring the needle closer and holding his arm in a tight grip.

"Stop it!" He yelled, and finally, finally, after hours upon hours, days upon days, weeks upon weeks of endurance, he lashed out, striking her across the face and sending her flying, a limp doll that was thrown across the room and hit the ground with a painful thump. A man who'd been at the computer got up and ran to her side as Izayoi cringed further into the corner.

"Just stop it!" He cried, angry and scared and hurt as he struck blindly. "Stop!"

A loud smack echoed, an odd crunching sound filling his ears as his hand came into contact with something soft. His palm stung from the impact, and whatever he'd just hit cracked under it. There was a cry, and a thud, followed by gasping, strained, pain-filled breaths and then…

And then there was silence; utter, complete, absolute silence, broken only by Izayoi's soft sobs.

"Izayoi-chan! Wake up, sleepyhead." Izayoi jerked awake, springing up and lunging for the person, only to jerk to a stop as he recognised Canaria.

It had only been a dream, a memory which he'd thought he'd buried, uncovered by the experience of watching Canaria being drugged and the men attacking them.

Damn, he'd been more tired than he'd thought.

"Stupid hag, are you finally awake?" He asked, glancing out the window to find the sky was dark. He'd slept all day, then, and he hadn't awoken, meaning that there'd been no murderous intent directed towards them as he slept.

Strange, he hadn't woken up to the hag moving around. He was getting too comfortable around her, and Izayoi mentally berated himself for the slip-up.

"That's rude, Izayoi-chan! You woke later than me!"

"And you fell asleep first. Who do you think had to drag you all the way back to the hotel? How could you be stupid enough to get drugged?" He asked, face creased in an angry scowl. Stupid, careless hag.

"Sorry, that was indeed my fault." Canaria apologised, surprising Izayoi. "I was not sufficiently wary and failed to notice the threats."

"It wash't even fun beating those thugs up, stupid hag, so dinner better be good to compensate for lunch."

"Yes, yes, Izayoi-chan. I shall let you taste my fantastic home cooking." He scoffed, clambering out of bed, and then everything dissolved into chaos. The windows were shattered, sending sharp shards of glass flying everywhere, and the door was flung open with a resounding bang. Gunshots sounded and Izayoi glanced up, taking in the blur of bullets and reading their trajectories before darting into a safe zone and yanking Canaria with him.

Or at least, he tried to yank Canaria with him. His fingers closed around empty air as Canaria dove to the ground, which Izayoi supposed was a safe enough location.

The gunshots kept coming and Izayoi dodged and weaved, keeping a careful eye on Canaria to pull her out of danger if needed. A bullet grazed his arm as he was distracted, and he scowled, annoyed.

Stupid hag. She should at least defend herself so that he could focus on the fight.

"Hey!" Canaria's voice rang out above the gunshots, sharp and hard, cutting through the noise. "Stop!" And it must have been some sort of miracle, because the big brutes that had dived in to the room and let loose with their guns stopped firing, lowering their weapons to look at Canaria, a petite woman in a white overcoat.

Izayoi entertained the idea that Canaria had magic for a moment before dismissing it for later examination.

"What are you doing?" Canaria asked, and Izayoi groaned. Wasn't it obvious that they were here to attack them and finish what the first group of men had started? "What is your objective?"

"We're here for the boy. Hand him over, and we'll leave you alone." Izayoi tensed almost imperceptibly, glancing between Canaria and the men, placing a hand in his pocket and adopting an indifferent expression. And he waited for Canaria to adopt that smiling poker face he'd somehow gotten used to over the last week, to discuss the situation and finally…

Finally hand him over to the attackers.

After all, Canaria was a human, and, as a rule, people did not like him. It was a relationship he thought they'd established nice and clear until Canaria came along and decided to make his life more difficult with the puzzle of figuring out her intentions.

Still, the end result of the situation was clear to him. It was so obvious, the path that she'd choose, and Izayoi waited expectantly for her to take it.

She'd hand him over, and when that happened, Izayoi would cut them all down. He'd take down Canaria and the men and leave, ending the game and getting back to his boring, lonely life in a boring world, and maybe go ahead to destroy parts of the world.

It was a little sad that they'd have to end their time together, but Izayoi supposed it didn't matter - he was used to being alone. Pity though, she'd been the most interesting playmate he'd ever had.

"Denied." Izayoi head shot up. Had Canaria just…

"Absolutely rejected. This smart-mouthed brat is playing a game with me, and afterwards, when I win, he's going to be my son, so no can do."

She had. She wasn't going to abandon him, she wasn't going to leave him yet.

They could travel together for a while more, and continue their game.

Izayoi was so much more stupidly happy than he should have been. Still, all he did was mutter: "Stupid hag. I'm going to win."

"Yeah, yeah, Izayoi-chan."

"Stupid woman!" The man shouted. "This thing is a monster, a freak of nature! Hand him over and you can go safely-" He was cut off by his own strangled scream, collapsing in a spray of crimson with a wail that was dragged from deep in his throat, hoarse with agony.

Izayoi stared. He hadn't done a thing - the man had been shot, Izayoi'd seen the metal bullet streaking towards him. And from its trajectory and the movement he'd seen, it'd have been shot by…

"Oh dear! That looked painful." Canaria said, striding towards the men, all of which were lifting their guns to shoot her.

"Next person to insult me or cute little Izayoi-chan will be shot." She said, smiling sweetly as she lifted her sleek black gun.

The woman was an absolute, definite, certified crazy idiot.

Izayoi decided, for the very first time, right there and then, that he liked her.

And as the men began to shoot, Izayoi moved, sprinting towards them and crushing their guns under his fists as gunfire and smoke and screams rang clear in the room.

There was laughter too, but all of it belonged to Izayoi, as he tipped his head back and laughed, scornfully, joyfully, and a lot less emptily than usual.

It took a second for Izayoi to complete a circuit of the room, destroying all the guns of the twenty men who'd been surrounding them, and another three seconds for Canaria to finish them all off with her gun.

"That was dangerous, you stupid hag! Don't make yourself the damn target." Izayoi said irritably. It had been hard enough to protect her from the gunfire by demolishing all the guns; it would have been harder still if the men had not recognised Izayoi as the greater threat and aimed at Canaria instead.

"Izayoi-chan, you protected me! I'm touched." Canaria replied, still smiling.

"Shut up, smelly hag." Izayoi retorted. "Don't go doing stupid things."

He wasn't going to tell her that he'd protected her because she'd defended him first. It'd make him sound pathetic and weak, when really, Canaria defending him had simply been, to him, proof that it would be okay to trust her just a little.

It meant a lot to him, though.

"Oi, Izayoi-chan, did you think I was going to give you over to them?" Izayoi frowned. What was with that question?

"Does it matter?" He asked, turning away to survey the limp bodies of the men who'd attacked them. The men weren't dead, they'd simply been shot in non-vital areas and passed out from shock and pain. Izayoi snorted.

Weak, all of them.

A warm hand dropped on his shoulder, and Izayoi turned to see Canaria.

"Izayoi-chan, do you trust me?" The answer was simple, and Izayoi did not hesitate to give it.

"No." He didn't trust people, not at all, not even Canaria, who'd brought him to the Iguazu falls to challenge a demon and brought him back with a bat instead, who'd showed him fireflies and defended him against seemingly overwhelming odds.

Even though Izayoi still disliked the world, it had been rather fun, and for anyone else, any ten-year-old but Izayoi, it would probably have been enough to make them give their full trust to Canaria.

But Izayoi was different, despite Canaria's attempts to treat him as a normal ten-year-old.

"I see." Canaria was wearing a soft, sad smile, which was very unlike her usual, mischievous grin. "Do you trust anyone?"

"Myself." He said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Ah. That's true, isn't it?" Canaria asked, and Izayoi glanced at her, confused. What was she talking about? His lack of trust in people? "Humans lie, cheat, and betray. They hurt others to achieve their goals, do whatever they have to to reach their ends." Izayoi chose not to react or respond, only turned his head away to look at the limp bodies of their attackers, crimson blood staining the beige carpet that coated the room's floor. He suspected that the carpet would have to be replaced.

"Izayoi-chan. They've hurt you, too, correct?" His head whipped up, and Izayoi stared, shocked, at Canaria.

"What are you talking about, you stupid, smelly hag?" Canaria just gave a small, hollow laugh.

"You've already confirmed it, Izayoi-chan~" He gritted his teeth, glowering at the bloody rug and watching as the bloodstain crept towards his feet, the mens' wounds still leaking blood in a constant stream. Somehow, he felt as if his weakness had been exposed. "What happened? What did they do?" Canaria asked, losing her teasing tone, her voice becoming sharper and more businesslike.

"None of your business, hag."

"I suppose so, huh? You don't trust me either. Why do you trust game conditions, though? Is that not equivalent to trusting people?" No harm in telling her. He shrugged.

"The game is my main goal, and if it's fun, then I don't really care about the prize. And if I win, I can just help myself to the prize like it or not." Meaning that so long as he did not lose the game, he would not lose anything except maybe some of his time. And if the other side wasn't going to play fair, then why should he?

Idly, he noted that the bloodstain on the rug was edging towards his toes.

"I see. Izayoi-chan, do you want to cut a deal with me?"

"What?" He asked, turning to her.

"It's not really a deal, but I'll make you a promise: I'll never betray or abandon you." Canaria said, smiling, and Izayoi huffed.

"We'll see." He said, looking out the window into the night sky. Canaria shoved her hand into his field of vision, and Izayoi looked down to see that she'd made a fist, but left her smallest finger sticking out.

"… What are you doing?"

"It's called a pinky swear, Izayoi-chan! Haven't you ever seen it before?"

"No." Canaria's warm, slender fingers wrapped around Izayoi's arm, gently tugging his hand from his pocket and to her other, still outstretched, hand, taking his pinky and wrapping it around hers. When she let her hand drop, their pinkies were intertwined, and Izayoi blinked at them, then up at Canaria.

"It's done to signify that a promise has been made. I will never betray or abandon you. Even if I die, I'll keep watching you until you're sick and tired of me, and then I still won't leave."

"That's creepy, you stupid hag."

"It's a promise, Izayoi-chan."

And Izayoi still doubted her, and he didn't fully trust her, but she was much more sincere than anyone else had ever been to him, so while he still suspected it to be one big act with ulterior motives, Izayoi supposed it'd be okay to check out her character, and see if it was really alright to trust her.

And if he was honest with himself, which Izayoi always tried to be, the idea of being able to trust someone, especially this woman, appealed to him.

"I'm fine, you stupid hag! Leave me alone." Izayoi stood defensively, facing Canaria with an annoyed scowl on his face and one hand clamped protectively over the graze wound he'd received, courtesy of a certain bastard's bullet.

Incidentally, he was also standing on the couch, as Canaria stood in the middle of the blood-soaked carpet, her toes being stained scarlet.

"Izayoi-chan, get off the sofa. It's bad enough that we've gotten blood all over the nice rug." It wasn't his fault that there were boring bastards like that who'd deserved to be beaten up. Anyway, it wasn't like he'd asked them to attack him.

"You're the one who's got blood all over your feet, stupid hag."

"But you've got lots of blood dripping down your arm. Look at the couch cushion!" Oops. The cushion was done for, if the giant crimson stain that coated it was any indication. Ah well. They'd already ruined a rug, and a bunch of peoples' faces, so what was one cushion?

"Doesn't matter." He said.

"Of course it does. High-quality pillows are expensive. Now get down so I can treat your wound." Like the pillow would be a high-quality one.

"I'm fine!" Annoying hag. Stupid hag. Brainless, smelly hag.

Nosy, stupidly sincere, trust-inducing hag, that made him want to believe her probably empty promises. Why did she make him want to trust her?

Damn it. He shouldn't want to believe her, but yet, at the same time, he did, even though he'd probably just end up hurt.

"You are not, Izayoi-chan. Get down here so I can tape up the wound."

"I can do it myself." Izayoi held out a hand for the tape.

"With one hand?" Canaria raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"It's possible." He grinned at her.

"Rejected. Get down here."

"Denied."

"You're not allowed to deny it. Hurry up and let me bandage the wound so that we can go eat dinner without you dripping blood everywhere." Izayoi sighed. He really couldn't be bothered to keep arguing, so he hopped lightly from his perch on the couch and stuck his injured hand out roughly, wincing as the wound twanged with pain.

That had been a bad move.

"See? You're not fine." Canaria said, bending over to spray antiseptic on the bloody gash. Izayoi gritted his teeth tightly, taking care not to let the pain show on his face. The blood, mixed with the antiseptic, ran in a scarlet stream down his arm, and Canaria mopped it up gently with a tissue, before dabbing the edges of the wound dry.

He didn't get it. Why was she being so gentle and kind and protective over him? What was her goal?

Why did she act like she really cared?

Because she wouldn't - she couldn't. Nobody would, and he was destined to be alone. So why did she keep pretending that he mattered to her? It was obvious that she shouldn't.

He wished that she'd just reveal her true intent already, so he didn't have to keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was easier to deal with people who were cruel inside and out, than people who sugarcoated everything, concealing their malice, because when you trusted a person, and let down your guard, the blow of the truth hit like a sledgehammer.

Betrayal hurt, and one could only be betrayed if there was trust in the first place.

Izayoi fully understood that.

So why, why did he feel compelled to trust this woman?

"Izayoi-chan, isn't it time you let me know what happened last night? Who were those people?" Canaria asked Izayoi over breakfast the next morning. They had moved to another hotel; the hotel manager in the previous hotel had been rather… unsettled by the attack on his hotel and the blood in their room's carpet (Izayoi had been right, it did need to be replaced - the blood wouldn't wash out), not to mention the gun-wielding, now unconscious brutes that lay strewn around the room.

The police had been called, which had thus led to a lot of paperwork and incredulous looks when they learnt that the twenty burly men, all of which had been trained elites of an underground organisation, had been taken out by Izayoi and Canaria, a ten-year-old boy and a petite young woman who looked to be in her twenties. That was, until one of them had identified Izayoi as the boy who'd been in the news a couple of years ago, and the one who'd revealed incriminating evidence against many of his foster parents to the police.

They had nearly called Izayoi a freak, and a monster, until Canaria had pulled her gun on them.

The stupid hag, she'd nearly gotten them arrested for threatening a police man - weren't adults supposed to be sensible?

Still, he couldn't deny that he'd sort of enjoyed having somebody to stand up for him for once, and he kind of owed her for that, right?

"One of my foster parents was some big shot of an underground organisation." Izayoi replied, spearing a sausage on his fork. "He tried to use me."

"And?"

"He was a bastard, and I don't like being used by people, so I exposed his crimes to the media and the police. His cronies are obviously pissed. They probably tracked us and found us in the cafe." Izayoi left out the part about them tracking him practically everywhere, no matter how many times he moved, because the hag should have been able to figure it out if they had been tracked all the way there.

"Language, Izayoi-chan." The hag was weird. Most people would have focused on the fact that the underlings of an underground organisation were coming after him, and by extension, Canaria, but the stupid hag decided to comment on his language.

Weird woman.

He snorted, digging into his omelette, and decided that the best thing about hotels was the chefs that always prepared eggs at the breakfast buffets.

"Izayoi-chan."

"What?" Izayoi asked, stuffing a mouthful of eggs into his mouth.

"Did he hurt you? Your foster parent." Canaria asked, looking at him seriously. Izayoi cast her a look. She didn't need to pry into his past. It was a boring, uninteresting place - he certainly hadn't enjoyed it.

"Nope. He was boring."

"Ah? Really?"

"Yep."

"That's good. At least he didn't hurt you." She said, smiling at him. Izayoi looked away.

"Stupid hag."

"I told you to stop calling me that. Anyway, is it so stupid to be worried about you?"

"Yes. I don't need you to look after me."

"Mm. I suppose. But I want to."

"Why?" Why bother? Why did she want to look after a person who did not need it? Why look after Izayoi, of all people?

He didn't get it. He couldn't understand.

"Go look after some orphans or something. I bet they need it more." Izayoi said, shredding his bread roll and smearing it in butter.

"Izayoi-chan isn't an orphan?"

"Who knows? My parents could be alive. Maybe I'm just abandoned." Probably. They probably hadn't wanted him and thrown him away, as humans were prone to doing.

"So it's not stupid to look after you. According to you, looking after orphans isn't stupid."

"I may not be an orphan. Anyway, I just told you I can take care of myself, so that negates your argument."

"But you need my help most."

"I just said I don't need your help, stupid hag."

"You're not lonely?"

"Does it matter? Loneliness plays no part in whether or not I need your help."

"Not true, Izayoi-chan. Isn't being lonely the most painful thing? It makes you feel empty and hollow and it hurts until you wanna die."

"I don't want to die, you stupid hag."

"But you are lonely." Izayoi stared at her, and she stared back, a smile still on her face but eyes completely serious.

"I don't need your help."

I don't. I don't need anyone. I don't need this stupid hag. I don't need people to help me.

… Because, when I need their help, they'll just let me down. If I can handle things on my own, I should not get used to relying on people - it'll make me lazy.

I'm tired of being disappointed. I'm tired of thinking that I can trust people, but finding out that I've once again underestimated human cruelty.

Stop acting this way, you stupid hag, and reveal your true intent already.

Canaria gave him a knowing smile. "Izayoi-chan, be honest. It's okay to let people help you."

"People won't help." He replied, and he didn't know whether he was referring to how people would refuse to help, or saying that people couldn't help him.

Probably a bit of both.

"People are better than you think." Izayoi couldn't help it - he laughed at that. He laughed long and hard and brash, until everyone was staring at him as his shoulders shook and he tipped his head back, grinning madly, until he didn't know if the sound was amused or happy or scornful or sad, until he couldn't tell if the tear that spilled from one eye to trail down his cheek was from laughing too hard or because he couldn't take it anymore, all the hypocrisy and cruelty and pain that came with interacting with people.

"No," he choked out, and he couldn't tell if he was having trouble speaking because he was laughing so hard or because he was trying not to cry for real now, because everything was stupid and cruel and painful, because everything nice that happened to him was either a product of his own work or a cruel joke played on him by the evil, manipulative people in the world. "No, they're really not." He was still smiling, always smiling, his scornful, hateful, brash smile, but he was angry and sad and hurt inside.

And then Canaria was there by his side, gently wiping the tear from his face and patting his hair, and Izayoi turned to scowl at her, forcing himself back to his senses and pushing her away. Not as hard as he could, but hard enough that she hit the table, hard enough that when she hit the table, all the silverware and cutlery and plates clattered, clinking loudly and drawing attention.

That was when the whispers started, families and couples and waiters and people all staring at Izayoi and whispering about spoilt brats and violent children, disrespectful wretches and ungrateful little monsters. And Izayoi still smiled, a wide, cracked, broken sort of smile, mingled with amusement and marred by anger, a bittersweet grin of broken happiness.

This was how humans really were. Quick to judge, quick to whisper and criticise, and even quicker to hurt.

But Canaria, the strange, crazy, stupid hag, picked herself from the table, smiling her favourite poker smile, and grabbed a napkin, wiping away the tear track that still stained his face. Her touch was so gentle, and as she stared into his eyes, her smile changed into something kind and understanding.

"I know how it feels, Izayoi-chan. I know. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

Izayoi took the napkin from Canaria, grinning his own poker smile, a wide, amused, hateful grin full of scorn.

"Humans are scum." He said, and he tossed aside the napkin and wiped away the tears in his eyes with a finger, so that it looked like he had really been laughing with amusement, and tearing from laughing so hard. Perhaps that had been all it had been. "All humans are pathetic scum."

"You're a human, and you're not pathetic, nor are you scum. And I'm a human too, but I am not pathetic scum."

"Because you're an idiot. And besides," Izayoi stared Canaria in the eye, clear amethyst meeting brilliant emerald. "What makes you think I'm human?"

Because what he was capable of? It wasn't normal, not even human. And he'd been told so many times, over and over, that he was a freak, a monster, that he'd begun to believe it. It didn't matter to him, of course, simply meant that he could not interact with humans, and since he hated them all anyway, that was no big loss, was it?

He scared them, they avoided him. Izayoi thought that it was a perfectly satisfactory arrangement, and he was perfectly happy with it, thank you very much.

Or at least, that had been the arrangement until he met Canaria.

"You are definitely a human." Canaria told him, placing a gentle hand on his cheek and allowing it to trail down along his jawline, the skin of her palm soft and cool against his face. His eyes widened in shock, since nobody had ever told him that before, at least, not with this much sincerity.

He couldn't even see signs that she was lying, that this was a trick, even though he knew from past experience that logically, that was what it was.

Just lies, empty words, an elaborate, cruel trick played to hurt him, to use him, to manipulate him.

He had to remember that, even though he longed to trust this woman, this stupid hag who valued the lives of everything, even bugs and stupid bats.

Because people placed even less value on the lives of those they deemed monsters than they did on the animals of the world. It was annoying, frankly, because Izayoi valued his life, and he did not want to be dead. No thank you. Not that day, nor the next, nor the day after. The world may have been boring, but he preferred it to being bored and dead.

"You're definitely a human, Izayoi-chan! A human that's extremely special and amazing - an extraordinarily talented human. That's all."

So why did the hag defend him? Why did she insist that he was human? Had she not seen how inhuman he was? Or - was if possible? Dare he believe it? - had she seen, and understood, but accepted it?

A stupid thought, a crazy thought, an insane wisp of an idea, one that should never have crept into his mind - the stupid hag's influence must have been wearing off on him.

But, he realised, if it was this woman, this idiotic, stupid hag, it was possible.

He trusted her too much, and she was too stupid for her own good, going around being kind to everything and anything, but maybe, just maybe, that combination might allow him some sort of decent bond with her.

And this time, when he thought that, it wasn't just some tiny part of him that fled back into a dark corner after, but a part of his mind and heart that lingered on the thought, so that he couldn't simply forget or dismiss the notion.

He refused to show it, though, simply snorting and turning his face away.

"Whatever, you idiot."

He wondered if she noticed that her idiocy had excluded her from being lumped with the rest of the pathetic scum that humans were in Izayoi's eye.

If she did, she gave no sign, standing up with a smile.

"At least we've established that you're a human. Now, if only I could get it in your head that I'm not an idiot, or a stupid, smelly hag."

"In your dreams, hag."

She would firmly remain an idiot in Izayoi's mind, but then again, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Because she was an idiot, but she was a kind one, a possibly trustworthy one, and she was smart enough, so maybe, just maybe, things would work out right.

It was a hope Izayoi hadn't help in years, a possibility of a bright future even for one as idiotic as Canaria.

It wasn't half bad.

A/N:

I hope I didn't botch Izayoi's character - I was really trying my best for this chapter, and I'm quite happy with the end result.

I gave a lot of clues about his past, can you figure out what happened? There are hints in the second chapter too, actually, but they're very, very subtle and require a lot of reading into, so you can just wait 'till I reveal everything in later chapters. XD

On another note, I don't seem to do cliffies much. Should I start? But it feels so darn mean that I always try to end my chapters on a nice note... Ah well.

Anyway, yeah. Please review if you have time, because they really encourage me to write more - really KNOWING that people like your fic is MAJOR motivation to us writers, you know? And if I really messed something up, I need someone to point it out so I can make the story better!

Thanks for reading, and God bless!