Waiting for you

Disclaimer: (Yoko: Tactics is not hers, as well as Kan-chan, Haruka-chan and others, especially me! XD )

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the future)

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy

Pairing: Slightly Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, spoilers for manga and anime, OOC-ness, grammar and other errors, around 1500 words, a minor original character is included for a few chapters, added a minor section of details for Sakuya.

Japanese terms:

-sama – This word means 'lord' or used to show great respect towards someone

-san – This word means 'mister' or 'miss'

I will try to make this story as interesting as possible…The plot is there, only that I need time to type and edit it (I am having an important exam now). I do not have a beta reader, so please forgive my mistakes. Thanks for reading and I hope you will review.

Important note: I am informed of Kantaro's name. His name is spelled as 'Kantarou' in the beginning of the anime. However, in the end, his name becomes 'Kantaro' without the 'u' at the back. Nevertheless, since it is not a big matter, I will leave his name as 'Kantaro'. Hope you do not mind.

: ooo :

Chapter 3-Of missing and searching

"Moo-chan?" Sugino looked down at his so-called 'wife', the little green creature with the ever gentle expression on the handsome white-winged tengu's face. The adorable demon 'moo-ed' again to inform the long haired tengu about something important.

"What is it, Moo-chan? Do you find out Kan-chan or Haruka-chan's whereabouts?" the worried demon fox asked nervously. She was dying to search for both of the mentioned men. The three of them had been searching for both of them for hours, and yet, they were still clueless. Tired and also irritated for being unable to find any of them, Yoko was desperate when Moo gave a soft signal.

The green demon 'moo-ed' repeatedly as Moo was only capable of saying the same word; 'moo'. Nevertheless, demons were special for they did understand the language, unlike normal humans. "You are saying that Onikui is at 'that' place? And that guy is back to his own village?" Sugino asked for confirmation even though he knew pretty well what the reply would be. Moo nodded eagerly as a reply.

Yoko, who was watching them all the time, was amused at Moo's ability. The demon was really amazing. Moo seemed to be able to do many things that other demons were incapable of. 'Unlike me…I can't do anything for any of them but house chores and working…,' she thought sadly and unknown to her, her head was looking at the ground and her bangs were covering her eyes. By seeing this, the so-called God, Sugino's eyes softened and he placed a reassuring hand on her small shoulder.

"Do not think too much. You are the one who said that 'we must find both of them quickly'," he said, as if he could read the younger female's mind all too well. "Now that we know of their whereabouts, why don't we go on the separate ways?" Sugino asked with the soft voice in a brotherly way. Upon hearing this, Yoko nodded almost too quickly as an agreement. The white-winged tengu smiled. "Okay then, I would go for Onikui and you go for Kantaro okay?" he asked while his hand patted on Yoko's head as if she was his younger sister.

The demon fox found this comforting and relaxing. She gave a thin smile and replied, "…yes. I will go to search for Kan-chan. Please bring Haruka-chan back, Sugino-sama," she was used to call Sugino like that, since she admired and respected the tengu. Even Moo 'moo-ed' and wished Yoko 'good luck'.

Sugino's smile faded and returned with a frown. "Who will go and search for that heartless guy! He charmed Moo-chan with a spell, I am sure!" he exclaimed childishly while hugging his 'wife' tightly, not wanting to let go. His sudden outburst was none of the unusual when speaking of the infamous folklorist, Kantaro. Yet, it made the demon fox almost fell on the ground comically. When she regained her composure, she packed and was ready to leave on a journey to Kantaro's hometown. Somehow, she had this bad feeling. It was as if something bad had happened, or would happen. She was not sure, but certainly she would find out soon.

"Do not worry…I will bring Onikui back…if not for that guy's sake, I will do it for your sake. However, if he chooses not to…," Sugino's speech was halted. He was the black-winged tengu's friend for so long and thus he knew the famous orge eater's attitude too well. Despite his charming face, he could be stubborn when he wanted to. If he did not want to come back, no one and nothing could make him to change his decision.

Up to this point, the demon fox knew it very well. Even though Haruka was here for not so long, she could read him quite well at times. Nevertheless, she would be persistent if necessary. Now, however, was not the right time to argue for her top priority was to find Kantaro first. "It's okay…I understand. But please try your best, Sugino-sama." With that, Sugino nodded while his white silvery wings appeared. Then, he flew off, with Moo was still in his arms.

"Kan-chan…please does not let anything happen to you…," she silently wished as she set off to the destined village alone…

Meanwhile, the crimson-eyed youth was still on his bed. When he learned that Haruka's bowl was safe, he was relieved. Despite his appearance and behaviors before, he knew very well that the bowl was too important to his slave. And because of that, he would not do anything bad to this dirty and yet priceless bowl. It was just one of his acting. He acted to throw away and broke the bowl, actually it was another bowl that was similar to Haruka's, in order to…Well…now that not this mattered. As long as the bowl was safe now.

"Yoko must be worried…," Kantaro murmured. Sakuya had gone out of the house to buy new bandages for him. In this huge house, you would expect there were many recipients. But in fact, this house was only occupied by Sakuya herself. Her husband was dead in an accident, and they had neither children nor relatives. Now that she had gone out, Kantaro was alone in this house. He was beginning to feel weird. His head was spinning and his body began to burn. And it was not helping him a little when he began to cough violently as well.

Kantaro's senses were starting to wear off. He could no longer feel anything. He could only see very blurred surroundings as his body was falling off the bed. The last thing he saw was the floor and the last thing he heard was a yelp of surprise. Then everything was black. He had collapsed; fell off from his bed onto the ground in his very weak condition.

"Kantaro!" the all too familiar voice yelped when she rushed to his side almost immediately. With a great effort, she helped him to his bed. She pushed the collapsed youth gently onto the bed and tended him as soon as possible. Things worsened when she learned that Kantaro was feverish. It was no wonder that he had collapsed. He was having a high fever, a real high fever. She scolded herself. She should have bought the medicine just now.

Time seemed to pass swiftly as she paced here and there to tend Kantaro. She was tired, but she would not stop. Kantaro was her savior long time ago. She owed him her life. Thus, she would do anything in her power to save him. Just when she was hoping for a helping hand, someone appeared on the window and looking very concerned. "Kan-chan!" the girl had a shoulder length hair and she was gasping for air. Apparently she was running and was exhausted.

Sakuya had seen this girl and she recognized her as Yoko, Kantaro's assistant (she did not know that Yoko was a demon, or that she was Kantaro's slave) for she had seen her once long time ago. Immediately she went to invite her in. "Yoko-chan!"

"Sakuya-san, Kan-chan…What happened to Kan-chan!" Yoko almost ran to her master's side. Upon seeing his master's sweating and painful expression, she was on the edge of crying. Sakuya closed the door and patted on the demon fox's shoulder gently.

"He fell from a cliff back there. I found him and with a little bit of effort, I managed to bring him back here to tend his wounds. Now he has a high fever…," she replied almost too calmly. "Luckily you are here now…He was calling for someone named 'Haruka' when I first brought him in. And I heard your name as well. I assume something happened and he was unable to contact you or this Haruka."

'Haruka-chan…,' Yoko's face showed regret and sadness when she was reminded of Haruka. 'I wonder if Sugino-sama manages to persuade him…'

"Thank you, Sakuya-san. I will take your place and take care of him…," she said while wiping the tears that had managed to fall down and moved near to watch Kantaro. Her crimson-eyed master stirred and was breathing in a short, fast pace. Sakuya watched her in silence for a moment before deciding to leave both of them alone.

"I will leave him to you then... and Yoko-chan, if you ever need anything, please tell me okay?" she said, almost becoming a whisper and with that, she went out of the room.

"Ha…ru…ka…," a sudden soft call startled Yoko. It was her master's voice, and it sounded very desperate for some reasons.

Her eyes softened as she reached for her master's bang and gently pushed them out of the way. "He will be here soon, Kan-chan," she whispered. Seeing her master in such serious condition was not a favorable thing to her. It was true that she knew he had huge risk at times, but never like this. Even when he was injured in the past, it was never this serious. To fall from a cliff…

"Just hang in there, Kan-chan…I will find Haruka-chan."

: To be continued :

Edited: Woot…The third chapter done as well! Yeah, a few changes on details…but nothing affected the story much. Just some mistakes I did of the storyline.

Addition: Please take note that Sakuya is a minor original character. To avoid confusion, I will write details of her below. The story won't be affected even if you do not read it.

Name: Tatsumi Sakuya (maiden name: Inoue Sakuya)

Age: 29

Appearances: Long tied hair, pair of sapphire eyes, pretty face with motherly smile. She has quite a strong stamina despite the fact she looks lovely.

Personalities: She is a determined woman that would do anything to repay Kantaro's kindness. She is seen as a kind and caring woman. Intelligent and quick mind are her strong points. Apart from that, she is a good wife.

Relationship with Kantaro: She sees him as her friend as well as savior and nothing else, although her parents believed that she had a feeling for him ever since he saved her.

Background: She is born in Kantaro's hometown and she was a rich man's daughter before she married to her husband. As a child, she was taught to get away from Kantaro and she obeyed without a word. Once she was almost killed by a ghost if Kantaro was not there to save her. Since then, she respects him and feels that she owes him her life. Thus, she always gives her best to help Kantaro whenever he is in a trouble. However, her family found out and punished her for this. When Kantaro was kicked out of the village, she was unable to help due to her parents. Later, she was married to Tatsumi Ryousuke, a young owner of a famous trading shop at the age of seventeen. Her husband died when she was 24.

Actually I dislike adding original character(s) into any fanfiction, but in this situation, I could not help it since she is an important support-character.

Reply to reviewers:

Rubydream: XD Thanks for the review:hugs: Sometimes I wonder just what Moo-chan can do so I use her as a radar in this fiction :lol:. Anyway, your review made me so happy. :glomps: Aww…thanks again!

Fuji Rei: Yes, your question is explained in this chapter. What Haruka saw was another similar bowl that Kantaro had. XP Thanks for the review!

Akai-Akegata: Thank you for the review. I am happy to know that you like the story so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try to update sooner okay:smiles:

WhiteSherry: Aww…thanks for such warming review:hugs: I hope you like this chapter!

Khealchan: I am happy that you reviewed in the last chapter:smiles: I will make it a happy ending, but the story-line so far is quite angst and torturing for Kantaro :lol:. I hope you do not mind and thanks for the review!

AnimeWrite2: Thank you for your short but encouraging review. :bows: