Toho barely seemed as though he'd heard his named called, still not having the courage to look Damita in the eye at the moment. Only a slight pursing of his lips let her know that he'd heard her.<br/><br/>The pause before her question was painful; he was imagining all of the different things she might say - that she never wanted to see him again, that she wanted to be released from her father's promise and allowed to return home. Maybe worse.<br/><br/>But her question was almost as bad as any of those. At first, he smiled ironically when she commented that he wouldn't speak to her..he found it hard to believe she'd care. In any case, he was afraid of what she might say when he finally DID speak to her...if she chose to speak to him at all.<br/><br/>He leaned back on his hands, never taking his eyes off of the stream as he pondered the best way to word his response. His knee-jerk, defensive reaction was to say 'Isn't it obvious by now?' But he kept his mouth shut before finally speaking.<br/><br/>"I cannot control myself..I cannot control the Guardian Spirits." He glanced up at her out of the corner of his eye. "So yes. This is why they fear me."