Destination: From here
Pairing: KantaroHaruka

NB: a drabble. the sort that doesn't quite make senes. but! i tried!


The days were getting shorter, and the nights longer. Shadows lurked behind every crevice but flittered quickly out of sight when he came near. The clock was ticking, and Sugino was right: it was past time for him to leave.

Haruka surveyed the empty hallway with something akin to fondness. How many times had he stepped through the front door and made his way through this passage? How often had he climbed these creaky wooden stairs to get to his room? How regularly he had come streaking down the hall in haste when Kantaro called for him? How- he clamped his mind shut. No more thoughts, that was enough. And Sugino was right: he really was getting soft.

The house was empty, and it was the perfect time for him to leave. There would be no need for teary farewells, no need to convince Youko that he really was serious about not coming back and no need to see that look in Kantaro's eyes. There would be no need for anything at all, if he left now.

If he left now- because his feet felt leaden and were now rooted to the spot. That was all very well, but nothing could stop him now. He had to leave, and he had to leave now. If he didn't make it this time, then there was no telling if he would get another chance like this again. As his wings sprouted from the small of his back, and he prepared to leave, a voice rang loud and clear, from somewhere behind him,

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Haruka froze in mid-takeoff. This wasn't supposed to happen. Nobody was supposed to be at home. He was supposed to be out doing something somewhere.

"Kantaro." his voice was flat, more so than usual, and he met his master's gaze fully, "I thought you were out."

"I was, but I left something behind."

"I see."

They stared each other down; black meeting red, coal meeting fire, ebony meeting crimson, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Well," Kantaro typically broke the staring contest, "are you coming?"

Haruka's eyes burned into his own, glaring and intense, but he didn't turn away from that painful stare. There was something he was looking for, something he needed to find, some form of confirmation perhaps?

"Let's go then, Haruka. I did tell Miyabe-san that I'd only be awhile," Kantaro pushed open the front door, calmly stepping past a frozen Haruka, "now don't just stand there. Put your wings to good use and let's go."

Scowling, the Tengu followed after his human, unable to protest, being under the youkai spell as he was, but as he took to the air, Kantaro held safely in his arms and giving him a smile that spoke of a million things, he wondered if it was really the spell that held him back.

There never was any question about what was left behind.

end-