Here's the 4th Chapter which immediately follows the previous one.

I hope you'll like it. Enjoy reading! =D

As usual, the things in parenthesis are only heard by Keiichi/Shadow.

Chapter 4: Trust

Keiichi turned his head to see Kurumi standing behing him, in her Astral Dress, looking at him with an amused look. As Keiichi hadn't answered her question, she repeated herself:

"How did you manage to get hurt so badly?"

"Who knows? Maybe I was involved in an accident?" He said without looking at her.

"(Tsk, had I know you could be so cynic...)"

"My my, why do you look so angry? Have I done something to you?"

"I cannot feel any anger. It's not in my personality." He said while waking up.

"Is that so? I didn't know about it. And why is that?" She asked while putting her hand on her mouth.

"I do not control this part of my emotions. Ask Nii-san when you'll see him." He answered.

"Why are you so cold towards me then, Kamigami-san? Don't you have any confidence in me?"

He completely turned around and Kurumi could see his eyes: they were completely emotionless. One could lose itself inside them if he looked at them. He raised an eyebrow and answered her:

"Confidence? Me having confidence in you? Why would I do so?"

"Well … I am a Spirit like you are, so I don't see any raison you wouldn't."

"Then I will answer your first question for you to understand my raisons."

"Please do."

"I was nearly killed by a Spirit. A Spirit like me, as you said. I do think that's a good raison for not trusting anymore, isn't that?"

"My my, you were overpowered by someone. That's so surprising of you. I thought you said you couldn't be hit by anything." She said while smirking.

"(Geez, she's getting on my nerves...)"

"Maybe I would be able to win against you then."

She walked towards Keiichi with a large grin on her face. What was she thinking? Did she really want to do that? Keiichi had been really weakened by his fight and he certainly couldn't have another right now, espacially against Kurumi. However, his emotionless face was leaving and his was staring at her without doing anything.

"Don't be stupid. I cannot be touched by anything. He can be touched when he's fighting, but not me."

"Oh, you're talking about Mr. Voice, don't you?"

"(Can I kill her?)"

"Yes, it's him. And he's not a voice, I'd like to say. Please remember it."

"Yeah yeah, I'll remember it. How may he call him, in this case?"

"Just call him Shadow, like the AST wanted to do. He seems to have taken like on it. I don't why though..."

"(Anyway, we don't have time to space. We have to recover to repair Dimensio. Have you forgotten about it?)"

"Oh yeah that's right. I have to recover from my fight. I'd like to repair Dimensio as soon as possible. I'll take my leave."

"Wait a minute!" She said while cutting his way.

"What do you want again, Tokisaki-san?" He asked while sighting.

"Did you really think I'd let go like like?"

Keiichi frowned his eyebrows. What did she mean by that? Was she about to fight him too? Even if she could not hit him, it didn't mean that he could fight back. She seems to be at her full power when he was hardly standing up. He doubt to be actually able to win in a close fight – no, he knew he wouldn't be able to. He had to gain time, so he began to talk to her.

"What do you want already? To fight me? To steal my Spirit energy?"

"Who knows?" She said, faking the tone he previously had.

"Geez...why can't you be clear just one time? Well, I guess that it gives you some charm."

"My my, your praising me was unexpected. But you're wrong, I do not plan on stealing your energy. Even if it would be very useful." She said mischievously.

"That's pretty kind of you."

"I just want to say that even if you think you are untouchable, you wouldn't win a fight against the AST. They just have to deploy more powerful weapons."

"So I will hide and be careful. I've got no other choice."

"What if I protected you?" She suggested while toying with his hair.

He wasn't expecting her to say something like that. She just asked him to trust her and to be protected by her – which meant to be defenceless against her for a given time. How could she think he would be okay with that? Didn't he just tell her he wouldn't be able to trust anyone except himself? What was she planning to do once he'd have accepted? Keiichi didn't have any answer to these questions, but he couldn't deny that he wanted someone to trust in. Maybe he would give her a chance to gain his confidence. Not a complete trust, but what to begin one.

"Do what you want." He said while turning his back towards her.

"My my, so you're going to trust me like that?"

"Who knows?"

"Isn't that a little careless of you? I'm surprised you take my worlds like that."

"What do you mean by that that?"

Keiichi couldn't remember what happened after that. He just remembered passing out and seeing Kurumi with a large smile above him. He had used too much power and had collapsed because of that. What a foolish mistake he made.

When Keiichi was back to his senses, he was always at the same place: on the hill, near the city. It took a little time before Keiichi realized what happened and took precautions to keep him safe. When he looked at his surroundings, Kurumi was nowhere to be seen anymore and he couldn't detect her Spirit energy. Wait, he could anew look for Spirit energy? He looked at himself to see his wounds completely healed, as if he didn't fight at all. What did happen?How long had he passed out? He asked his other self:

"Do you have the slightest idea about what happened?"

"(Don't ask me! I have been out for the time you were.)"

"I was thinking you took the control of my body, but since you say that..."

"(I would never do such a thing. I would always ask for your permission.)"

"Yeah yeah, I know that. I wonder where Tokisaki went. She's such an unpredictable girl..."

"(I don't mind and I don't care. For the time being, we have to deal with the Dimensio problem.)"

"Ah, you're right. Let's begin that. We can't do anything with him." He then realized. "But wouldn't we reveal our position by repairing him?"

"(We'll just have to go somewhere else after having repaired Dimensio.)"

"Well, it's not like they're that of a big threat after all. Let's begin by summoning Dimensio."

Like he previously did during his fight against the AST, he made his sword appear in his right hand. But this time, it was broken in the middle of the blade and its aura had almost disappeared. No longer was it the powerful blade its opponents feared, but a mere broken weapon that needed restoration. Keiichi grew his blue aura around him then made it surround his sword, which began to shine. The missing part was remplaced by a energy part then by criss-crossed lines and finally by a new blade, which seemed to be more impressive than the previous one. Keiichi hugged his blade as if it were some beloved stuffed toy, relieved he was able to repair it. However his joy was cut by hearing a siren that came from the city.

"That's strange. I do not feel any incoming spacequack."

"(Are you sure? I thought the sensors only activated when sensing a spacequack. And I tried to.)"

"Maybe they just want to make the place clean because they found us and are coming towards us... We did emit pretty strong spiritwaves when we took care of Dimensio."

"(No. I do sense people quickly moving, but not in our direction. They are going to the city.)"

"That's even more strange! I don't –" He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.

"(Keiichi, do you feel it too?)"

"Yeah, I am sensing something there. Should we take a look?"

"(I don't know. We should get stronger before I think.)"

"Come on! The AST will be there in 5 minutes. We have plenty of time."

"(If you say so. You command and I repair the mistake, don't I?)"

"Stop saying that. I'm beginning to feel guilty about it."

"(If you say so. You command after all.)"

"Tsk... Anyway, let's go."

Keiichi turned towards the city from where the sound came from and cut the space in front of him with a quick move of his right hand. He passed through the passage he had just created and then found himself in a desert city while the passage was closing by itself. He walked a little but couldn't sense the Spirit energy anymore. He sighed and kept walking, hoping to find the Spirit by chance. All of a sudden, he heard a "plof!" under him as if he had walked in a puddle. Wondering what it was, he lowered his head and found out what it was: blood; a lot of blood. The floor was covered by blood and he was walking on it. He raised an eyebrow and said:

"Well... I didn't expect that."

"(Neither did I. Go to that alley: it seems to be coming from it.)"

"Roger that."

Keiichi kept walking on the blood-convered floor as if it were nothing and was about to reach the alley and something came from it and bumped on him: he didn't fall but the "thing" coming from it did. Keiichi stopped and looked at him: thing "thing" was a 30-year-old-looking man covered by blood and seeming afraid – no, he was terrified. Keiichi was wondering what could have terrified that much a man when this one held on to his coat and begged him:

"Please help me! Please save me from that demon!"

"Calm down. What did exactly happen..."

"(Why do you help him? He's Human! We don't care about Human!)"

"I want to know who did this whole mess. If you tell me maybe I'll be able to help you."

"(Oh... I see... gathering informations...)"

"She was there! I was walking with my friends in the city and a fury killed them! She's after me!"

"She? What did she look like?"

"I...I don't know! All I can say is that she was wearing a sort of gothic dress. She just shot my friends."

"Ow... I see. Are you thinking the same Nii-san?"

"(Yes. The description was too accurate to mistake the person.)"

"Tokisaki, show yourself. I don't want to play with you today." Keiichi said towards the alley.

A girl appeared from the shadows of the alley and stood in front of Keiichi, holding guns inside her hands and wearing a gothic dress. She also had a clock inside her left eye. She walked towards Keiichi but stopped a few meters away.

"My my, if it's not Kamigami-san." She said with a giggle.

"It seems like you're entertaining yourself a lot, aren't you?" He replied, seeming bored.

"It's not entertainement. It's just restoring."

"Well, I have just one thing to confirm. Are you the one who caused that mess?"

"My my, and what if I am?" She asked playfully.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll congratulate you or kill you." He then turned his look towards the man who was hiding besides him. "It only depends on him."

"On m...me?" He asked.

"Yeah, on you. Did she have a raison to attack you? I won't eat you, so tell me." He asked him kindly.

"M..maybe we did something a little bad."

"Go on."

"We were playing with a little dog. Nothing to be killed for!"

"Playing? What sort of playing?"

"Just...throwing little stones on him..."

"Nothing important, is it?"

"That's right! Nothing important! Polish her off." He now shouted.

"Tokisaki..." He said to her while turning towards her.

"My my, are you going to fight me?" She asked with a grin.

Keiichi was staring at her emotionlessly, without moving an inch. The tension had risen up since a few seconds and it seems to be about to explode at any second. The most unpredicable thing came was coming from Keiichi. He was not showing any emotion, any thought, any harm or kindness. He was just neutral, like a judge would be because dropping his sentence. Suddenly his expression changed into a smile and he said:

"Good job."

He pointed his finger towards the man now standing behind him and shot through his leg. He fell on the ground and held him wounded leg, not realizing what had just happened. Even Kurumi seemed to be a little surprised. The man began to shout at Keiichi who turned towards him.

"Why did you do that?! She's the one who killed them! And how the hell were you able to do that in the first place?!"

"You're wrong. You're the monster."

"What are you talking about?!"

"You're a murderer, aren't you?"

"Wh...What are you talking about? I was declared guiltless!"

"You can lie to Humans, but your mind can't lie to me."

"(He seems to have enjoyed it. My turn to act, I think.)"

"I..I can explain!"

"No need. Let me help you –"

He stood his head a few inch in front of him: yhe expression in his eyes had totally changed and was now filled with hatred.

"To apply your judgment." He finished.

Before the man could do anything, Shadow had pierced his body with his hand, through his heart, making him die immediately. Then he pulled his arm covered by blood talked to Kurumi while looking at his arm.

"Tsk, I should have been more careful. Keiichi won't be satisfied with all this blood."

"My my, I didn't know you could be that cold, Kamigami-san."

"Keiichi can be kind, but not at the point to neglect his duties. He's as powerful as I am."

"I see. So are you going to make me pay for these so-called crime too?" She asked without seeming to really care.

"Since you punished some criminals, we'll let it slip for now. For now, you'll have to deal with the AST, won't you?" He said while seeing people landing around them.

"My my, what a bother. If you hadn't been there, I would already have left the area." She said, looking upset.

"Maybe you want some help?"

"Just return where you woke up. We'll talk there."

"Then, see you."

Without a care for the AST who had begun to attack them, he took his leave and teleported to the hill he came from. After having taken back the control of his body, Keiichi went to the place he had previously woken up, wondering if Kurumi would be able to handle the things by herself. He surprised when he saw Kurumi leaning against a tree, as if she were waiting for him to come.

"Welcome back. You took long, didn't you?"

"How in the world have you come here that fast?" He asked astonished.

"I control time. The one you saw in the city was one of my past self who was recolting time for me?"

"Recolting time?" He asked

"I need time to live. And taking it from people is the way I survive." She then covered her mouth, faking a weak girl." My my, I just revealed my weakness to Keiichi-san! What will happen to me?"

"Ow, calm down ple – Hey, you're toying with me, aren't you? Stop that Tokisaki!" He said.

"What are you talking about, Keiichi-san? Just call me Kurumi, like one would do."

"Geez, you're completely crazy. Such a twisted girl." He sighed.

"Then come with me if you're worried. You wouldn't want an innocent one to be killed like that, would you?" She said misceviously.

"I've got no other choices anyway."

"My my, you accepted so quickly." She added with a giggle.

"(She's crazy, Keiichi.)"

"Yes, she's crazy."

"(She can kill anybody if she wants.)"

"Yes, she can kill anybody if she wants."

"What are you saying, Keiichi-san?" She asked, tilting her head.

"(She's cute in this dress.)"

"Yes, she's cute in this dress." Then he realized what he had just said. "Hey, the hell I would say that!" He shouted at Shadow, noticing a little blush on the cheeks of Kurumi.

"(If I can't eve play with your dumbness, I'll get bored.)"

"Idiot." He turned towards Kurumi. "Let's go, shall we?"

"You command." She said with a smirk.

"Geez, not you too..."

They began to walk, Keiichi walking in front of Kurumi who was smiling.

"Say, were you the one who healed me a few hours ago?" He suddenly asked.

She stopped a little, wondering about what she should answer, then walked again and replied:

"Who knows?"

That's it for the 4th chapter!

As usual, I hope you liked reading this.

Review if you want me to lighten anything or just to tell me your impressions. =)