He's never truly understood.

I see it in his eyes, and feel it in his mind.

I'm reminded of it every time he watches me, thinking that he's being subtle. Every time he turns away, hoping I won't hear the jumble of confusion I cause in him.

Did he believe his stolen glances and unspoken words would go without my notice?

Surely he must know better. Nothing escapes me.

And if he knows how apparent it is, why attempt to hide anything at all? Perhaps he's just as foolish as all the rest.

He's certainly as weak. Something pulls at him from his pathetic human heart, forces him to feel things he'd much rather ignore. And, vermin that he is, he doesn't even have the strength to do that.

And still he persists.

His peculiar anxiety is irritating; I find it hard to dismiss, once I've taken notice. And he continues to glance every now and again at me, when he deems me too unobservant to see. Even now, separated by the walls between us, his thoughts find their way to my face, as though he thinks I won't notice. It's beginning to grate on my nerves.

He's interrupted my meal with his foolish concerns, and I don't appreciate it. I have enough misgivings, most not my own at all. I don't need his inane reservations as well, and most certainly not while I'm eating.

I hear the door open behind me, and realize he's finally come to put an end to this meaningless apprehension. Several moments before, I would have been glad that he's finally come to finish it. Now, however, I am beginning to loose my patience.

I stand, my lips pressed together, a dark look in my eyes.

When I turn to face him, he's near my table; he's approached me, as though to finally speak what's been troubling him.

He needn't have bothered. I've heard it all before.

He flinches back slightly at the look I wear; I hear him think that it was a mistake, and that my eyes are horrible when they stare that way.

My lips curve into the parody of a smile.

//Well, Hornfreak?// I ask without speaking, watching in empty amusement as his eyes widen at the mental voice. //You wished to tell me something.//

It is not a question. I don't have the patience for his games, and I already know what he intends.

"I did, Legato-sama." He recovers admirably from his surprise and meets my gaze, cold as it is. "Vash the Stampede has defeated the Cyclops. She took her own life."

I glare vaguely at him, mood darkening a shade more. This was not news I'd been expecting; it had not been foremost in his mind-- not even, perhaps, his reason for wishing to see me.

I allow my displeasure to become evident in the crease of my brow, and in the slight frown on my lips.

"She was human." I say, finally. Dismissively. "She was unable to live up to His desires. If she has failed, it is best that she no longer serves Him."

I level my gaze to meet the Hornfreak's once more. "He is too perfect to be soiled by human weakness."

I feel the anger building in him before even he recognizes it; I hear the words before they spill from his lips. He can't stop it, any more than I can understand it.

"How can you mean that?" he demands, before he even fully realizes what he's saying. "You're human, I'm human- we all are. He's the only one that isn't."

Of course He isn't human. It's obvious in everything He does. It's the very way He is.

He's something angelic. Something Godly.

I stare for a moment longer at the man that stands before me, panting from the force of his words. This is all he's been wanting to say, then? Something I've known all along?

I turn away again, and take my seat.

Perhaps he'll leave me alone, now that he's spoken.

But he doesn't.

I hear the confusion in his thoughts, as I begin to eat again. Understand that he expected- wanted- a response.

But there is nothing to say.

And so he speaks, to fill the silence. "It isn't right, you know." The anger is gone, from both his words and thoughts. He moves closer, and lays a hand on the shoulder that isn't adorned with spikes.

I lift another mouthful to my lips, and wonder if he intends to make a point. Not even he knows; it's being spoken as it comes to him. I hope he'll tire of it soon, and leave.

He's unsure, however, if his words were clear. In truth, they aren't; he could mean so much by a simple 'it isn't right'. And so he struggles to clarify, to make me understand what it is that he finds wrong.

"…the way he treats you." he finally concludes.

My head jerks up, fork halfway to my mouth and completely forgotten.

"Knives…" he says, and I can hear the distaste in it. Then he turns to me with his eyes, sad and deep and bitter, seeking to understand. The anger is building in him though; I can feel it in his mind and his voice, as he finally speaks what he came to say. "Legato-sama… how can you let him do that to you? Why do you even follow him?"

For several seconds, I can only stare as he continues. I almost can't comprehend what he's saying-- how he could blaspheme as he is, against a being so utterly perfect.

"He acts like you're nothing, and all you ever do is try to make him happy." He leans in closer, and his voice shakes a little. "The only time he even looks your way is to hurt you- he's a monster, and--"

His thoughts are reeling faster than his words, and I can feel that he believes everything he says.

I have him screaming on the floor before he can finish the sentence.

"Who are you, to question what He does?" I demand. The question is punctuated by the snap of bone, and a sharp cry.

"You are human, as am I." He screams again, as I twist him more violently. "You are as unworthy as I am. You have no right to question His actions."

This time the noise of pain is longer, interspersed with harshly gasped curses. "Remember that," I instruct.

I prolong his agony, knowing that no matter how intense, the punishment cannot equal his crime. Seconds pass, and the curses dissolve into whimpers as he fights for control of himself.

My gaze remains on his form as I finally release him. He lies almost motionless, except for the sharp motion of his chest as he gasps for air. I stare down at him, my eyes hard and unforgiving.

"He is divine." My belief is absolute, and my words are cold. "We are nothing."

I turn and walk away. I've lost my appetite, and the food has long since grown cold.

The only sound in the room is his pained breathing, my footsteps, and the scattered sounds that his thoughts make as they try to understand. Oddly, he is hurt by what I've done.

He tries to hate me… but the hurt is dominant, and the confusion.

I stand in the doorway, out of his sight, listening to him breath. He doesn't even know I've stopped.

Slowly, I open the door and step outside. I stand for a long moment, my hand on the frame.

'It isn't right.'

His words echo in my mind.

He believed them. He believes them.

For half a second, I nearly open the door again and go back inside. I almost demand that he explain what he meant, despite the fact that I'd hear it all before it was spoken, before it was even completely coherent.

'It isn't right… the way he treats you.'

His words are an enigma to me. I am, after all, only human.

I put them from my mind, and walk away.

My Master is waiting.

~owari~