It was early afternoon by the time Kantaro was finished collecting information and he and Haruka were standing out front of the large, abandoned mansion. The two of them were just standing there, and neither said a word for the longest time. Haruka looked from the house to Kantaro, worriedly.
On the surface, it looked like Kantaro was checking the house over. Usually, he would scout the place out, trying to make observations before proceeding inside to investigate, but the look on the boy's face betrayed that theory. His face was blank, and his stance and the downward curve of his mouth suggested that he didn't want to be there at all. Haruka sighed and finally broke the silence.
"Lets go."
"Eager to get out of here, huh?"
"No, I mean lets go eat."
"What?"
Kantaro, at last, reacted a little, and turned towards the demon-eating goblin. Said goblin was standing at an angle with his arms over his head, looking bored.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, you haven't eaten in a while, right? Do you expect to perform an exorcism on an empty stomach?"
Kantaro put on his stern face.
"I'm fine."
"Liar."
That wasn't what Kantaro wanted to hear. He turned away from Haruka and started walking towards the house. Figuring that he wasn't going to turn back, Haruka settled for sticking close to the boy. They made their way up to the rusted door, which refused to open. Kantaro was struggling.
"Do you want to talk about anything, Kantaro?"
"Not now, Haruka."
"If not now, then when?"
"I said not now!"
Kantaro kicked the door, hard, and it fell inward. When the door hit the old floor, it kicked up a lot of dust. Haruka shielded his face, but when he opened his eyes again, Kantaro was limping inside. Haruka rushed to his side and held onto his shoulders.
"You overdid it."
"We should split up now, Haruka."
"Don't ignore me! And definitely don't ignore your injury! You have to sit down before you really hurt yourself!"
"Stop it…"
Kantaro's head was lowered, and he spoke in a low, dangerous tone. Haruka didn't know how to respond, but he wasn't about to let go of the boy, as he feared he had injured his leg when he kicked the door down. But, Kantaro wasn't letting him take care of him, even though he rarely did so. Ever. Even then, as he tried to lead the boy away to a place where he could sit, Kantaro was fighting against him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Just let me go and do what I tell you!"
"You're not making sense! Wouldn't it make more sense to stay together? Especially when your leg is-"
"I just want to get this over with so you can go back to your friends, and so I could…"
So he could what? As far as he could see, nobody wanted him to be around. On his own birthday, which he knew everyone was informed of, the only ones who had bothered to show any speck of concern for him was his slave-driver of paperwork and a monster who was sort of cheating on her 'husband'. He knew he didn't want to go back there then… it was too lonely…
"Kantaro… what is wrong?"
"Everything… I-I can't go back there, Haruka…"
"What? Go back where? Home?"
"Home… home is where the heart is, but my heart is breaking…"
"So, what's the problem?"
A crazed smile snaked its way to Kantaro's face, and it startled Haruka.
"Haven't you noticed…? Everyone who goes there goes to see you… and before you, it was for Yoko."
"Is that what all this nonsense is about? You feel neglected? Geeze… you humans are pathetic! Get over it, Kantaro!"
"…"
"Look, you're not alone! This is just like any other day, but why did you pick now to wimp out on me?"
"You don't understand!"
Kantaro broke free of Haruka's hold and limped away as fast as he could into a dark corridor. After suffering from slight shock, Haruka cursed and ran after him. He could tell that Kantaro's mental state was fragile, and he decided that as soon as he found the boy, he would drag him back home and let Yoko smack some sense into him. Haruka wasn't Kantaro's keeper; he wasn't his babysitter!
Though, as he stomped down the hall, he stopped a moment to think. Why HAD Kantaro been acting strangely? The whole week previous, the kid had been jumping around, excited as ever, but for what? Haruka was missing something, and he knew he had to figure it out. Then it hit him, hard.
Not long after he had gotten used to living in his new home, Haruka was sitting on the back deck with Kantaro, eating. The boy was talking about this and that, but the demon-eater was too busy eating to want to pay attention. Then, the boy mentioned something about birthdays. He told him that he celebrated Yoko's on the day that he and her had become friends. Haruka's would be celebrated on the anniversary of his unsealment. Suddenly, Haruka felt like a jerk. He remembered what day it was, and broke out into a run.
Kantaro has gotten tired and slipped into a room in the first hallway he ran down. He could hear running footsteps coming closer, and then Haruka's voice. Kantaro wanted to yell out, but he didn't. He knew it was childish, but he didn't care. He was out of breath and his leg hurt a lot. When he heard Haruka pass the room, Kantaro finally let his weakness show, and slid down against the door. He let his contained tears fall and he sobbed as loudly as he could. He didn't want to feel neglected, but he did.
Kantaro had never been a popular person. People always teased him because he said he could see monsters. No one believed him, and even went as far as calling him a freak and throwing small stones. Though it was tough to go through during the day, by night, his monster friends would show up and talk him into a better mood. But as he grew older, he was running out of places to hide from his pain. If he showed his hurt emotions in front of Yoko and Haruka, they would probably scold him for being foolish, or laugh at his immaturity.
So, Kantaro let himself cry. The tears, however, were starting to feel cool against his heated cheek, and soon, he felt himself shivering. Last he checked, it was a warm day, but he felt so cold, it was like death was holding him in its icy grip. For a moment, his sobs subsided, and the cold felt soothing. He felt like he could let go of everything… but it was not as it seemed.
In the silence, there was suddenly a chilling voice calling out to him. Kantaro jolted and opened his eyes. The room was suddenly glowing with a red aura, and the cold was starting to become intoxicating. His chest hurt, but he could barely move to apply pressure to try and relieve the pain. In front of him stood a tall, pale maiden. She was holding a small ribbon in her hand. Kantaro let his tears fall even more as he found he couldn't move at all, and the woman was coming towards him, holding out the ribbon.
"D-don't…"
"Don't worry, child… I'll take good care of you."
A quiet scream pierced the air, and struck Haruka still as a stone. There was no way he could not recognize the voice, and he looked around a minute to try and figure out where it had come from. Kantaro was in trouble, and it made him even more nervous when he didn't hear anything else after that. There was no noise following the scream, no calling of his name, and no indication of what had befallen the boy.
