Waiting for you

Disclaimer: (Kantaro: If Tactics belongs to this little devil author, I am dead meat.) XD Yeah, Tactics is not mine, be grateful, Kantaro!

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

Genres: Slightly AU, action/adventure, tragedy, suspense

Pairings: None, unless you count Sugino and Moo as a pair

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU in the beginning, minor spoilers for both manga and anime, OOC-ness, grammar or other errors, poor attempt at humor, around 1600 words this chapter.

I am afraid that Kantaro, Haruka and the rest would be OOC in my story, but a few reviewers told me they are IC in my story! I am happy to hear that, for keeping them in characters is not easy…when my English itself being my third language, poor, lack of vocabulary and such. Anyway, thanks for pointing it out for it gives me encouragement.

So fast I am getting into chapter 8 already…I guess this fiction really breaks my record for the longest story I have ever written and posted in Of course, I would not have this achievement if not you, my readers and also reviewers have been supporting me! I might have given up already if not you all being here with me. Thanks to you all!

Last but not least, kindly leave a review after reading okay:hands cookies: Oh yeah, after this chapter, it will be mainly focused on Kantaro and Haruka! Oh Lord, I dragged my story too far…Sorry.

Japanese terms:

Kindly refer to the past chapters. :bows:

: ooo :

Chapter 8-Atonement and forgiveness

"I call upon the mighty Gods for your aids…," and the chant went on swiftly as the silver haired youth murmured under his breathes. Sweats were obviously forming on his pale skin. He was pushing himself over the limit, and he knew it very well. Yet, in order to complete his current task, he could not stop nor delay just to take a break. His eyelids were very heavy now. They were almost half closing already, yet the young exorcist forced himself to keep them open. He had to finish the ritual no matter what. 'Please oh Gods…come to your child now…For he needs you more than anything…He may be sinful…but he ought to be forgiven…,' his mind prayed heartily while his mouth moved on to continue chanting.

'I will offer you anything for the forgiveness…I will atone my sins…for hurting others, even if it costs my life. Please…give me a chance to atone the sins my ancestors did and for the sins I bear within.'

On the other hand, Sugino and Yoko were already there, where the famous Ogre Eater tengu awaited his master's appearance. As soon as both of them appeared, Haruka's eyes narrowed. His face showed nothing, not even a glimpse of surprise nor confusion. Moreover, he did not say anything until the female demon fox spoke. "Haruka-chan! Please come back!" she pleaded, resisting the urge to run forward and pull the tengu forcefully to go back home like kidnapping.

Sugino only sighed and decided to watch for the response from his friend he knew very well in the past. One stubborn freak with extremely thick skull was more than enough to him, but now two of them were summed up. One stubborn freak plus one thick skull tengu equaled to chaos. The God sighed deeply. Oh, if not for that eyesore exorcist, he would not have been involved at all. Speaking of which, why did he care in the first place anyway?

"If he asks you to come and beg me to go back, tell him not to waste his time and energy," was the firm reply from the strongest of all demons. Sugino raised an eyebrow. Something was amiss with his friend. But what was it and why?

"No! It is not that way! Kan-chan did not ask me to come! I come on my own will! Please…," Yoko blurted out, her hands gripped tightly on Haruka's long sleeves. "Kan-chan is terribly wounded as a result for falling from a cliff! He is unable to come here by himself. He can hardly walk by himself! So…please…please come back. Or pay him a visit at least," she explained as she told Haruka why did she come instead of the crimson eyed youth.

Haruka's eyes narrowed as soon as Yoko's words sank in. His eyes turned to look at Sugino as if asking for confirmation. Sensing a questioning look given by the black winged tengu, the long haired demon nodded slightly without words. Almost immediately, those gazing eyes turned back to look at his female demon friend. For the first time in his life, he was unable to make a wise decision. Oh, how did it make him seem weak and small. 'Ridiculous,' he mentally cursed.

Kantaro, his master, was terribly hurt due to his fall from a cliff and that explained why he could not come and had not come for him. Maybe he really should go to pay the youth a visit. But the other side of him within himself protested strongly against his first suggestion. Why should he care anyway? He once said if anything happened to Kantaro, his master deserved it. So, what made the difference between now and back then? After all, Kantaro did break his bowl.

"He deserves it," in the end, anger took over the best of him. His long haired friend remained silent and was not surprised at all. On the other hand, Yoko was dumbfounded and shocked. She thought at least Haruka would pay a visit to Kantaro if he learnt that their master was hurt. Normally, when Kantaro was in danger or he was wounded, Haruka would react or at least would try to defend the human. Why this time Haruka remained so unconcerned? It was so unusual of him. Maybe Kantaro's act went too far. Or maybe Haruka did not trust her words a single bit.

Before she could reveal the fact that Kantaro was planning something big behind his little act, Sugino's wings suddenly made its appearance. He jerked his head towards somewhere; a worried expression was shown on his usual calm face. "There is a very strong aura somewhere near here," he stated with a soft voice filled with curiosity and discomfort. "But I can't sense it directly…"

"Me neither." Now that the once-human mentioned it, Yoko the demon fox's sense began to kick in as well. She too could sense a very strong aura coming from somewhere, but it did seem to come from everywhere. That was weird. Unless someone put a confusion spell or probably a shield on that spot, demons like them could easily sense the source of the overwhelming aura like that. No human could be able to cast such powerful spell without being known, as far as Sugino and Haruka could remember.

Wait… a certain exorcist might have done that successfully, and that was none other than Ichinomiya Kantaro. As much as he hated to admit the youth's high spiritual power, Sugino must go to check on him, even if his beloved 'wife' was keeping watch. No one could be certain what would have happened. "I afraid someone goes ahead of us. I must go back to find Moo-chan. That nasty guy might have done something to her!" he hastened his steps, actually forgetting the fact that for being a tengu, he had wings and therefore there was no need of him to walk.

"Sugino," finally, after almost like forever, the other tengu decided to open his mouth and called his friend. To Haruka, the aura was kind of familiar. 'Kantaro's aura…isn't it?' he quietly asked in his mind. On the outside, he showed no emotion as he continued his sentence. "Take Yoko with you."

"Wait!" Yoko protested in a jerk. She was just getting into the main point! Why was she interrupted by something just when she wanted to get into the point every time! This is so frustrating even to the normally patience female demon.

Sugino chose to wait for a moment, even though within his patience was growing thin second by second. "No, Yoko," was Haruka's final reply. Sugino could hear the slight annoyance in his voice, as well as asking the demon fox to stop bugging him. Knowing the best demon for so long ago, he knew Haruka, too, had a plan in mind. Choosing to end the endless persuading of Yoko's, Sugino grabbed by her waist and flew off.

"Stay still, Yoko. Onikui will do something, although he doesn't look like it," he reassured the struggling Yoko. On a second thought, the female demon gave up trying to break free because she did not want to end up falling from the sky to the ground. However, a single tear found its way to her chin. She cried silently as guilt welled up within her.

'I failed to persuade Haruka-chan…,' her mind whispered softly. Even though Kantaro himself forbade her to find Haruka, moreover telling him the truth behind the act he pulled earlier, she had ignored a direct order. She had failed to tell Haruka of Kantaro's act and also plan.

Sugino took a glance at the female demon below. Apparently, he saw her tears and let out a soft sigh. If Kantaro did not approve her of doing this, then why would she feel guilty for not completing the task? Was it because she felt helpless? Or was it because she really cared for her master's sake? The feeling must be strong, Sugino concluded. For a demon to ignore a direct order and still continued on with the plan even though the consequences might be threatening.

"Yoko…I am sure Kantaro won't like you to be sad of this. Because he is the one who ordered you not to do so in the first place," the flying tengu said, trying his best to comfort his current companion. Despite the fact he was very worried of his little green demon 'wife', he still could comfort Yoko. But once again, why did he care so much for being the middle-man of all of them? Well, he could continue on like nothing of these happened, but he guessed, he could not watch helplessly. His friend and his own kind were involved. "Onikui has his own beliefs and reasons for his actions. In fact, everyone has. We have done our best for being the middle-man…," he murmured the last words gently.

Yoko nodded in silent. Yes, Sugino was right. For now, she should really learn to think more wisely. Her role did not end up here for she still had to stop Kantaro's plan. Plan A-'persuading Haruka' had failed, but that did not mean Plan B-'stop Kan-chan' was down in the ruin. Wiping away her tears, her brown eyes finally showed firmed determinations. "Thank you, Sugino-sama. Now we should worry about Moo-chan and Kan-chan."

From far away, a stifled scream rang through the thick forest…Only a certain youth with pure crimson orbs knew the reason behind the scream. There were no other humans nor could creatures in the forest stifle a scream like that, except one.

'I am sorry…for this is hurting you as well…But please bear with it for the moment. Soon everything will be back.'

: To be continued :

A few notes for this chapter…since I made it quite confusing/mysterious.

1) 'Please oh Gods…come to your child now…For he needs you more than anything…He may be sinful…but he ought to be forgiven…'

The above refers to Haruka, and not Kantaro literally. Only in the next sentence it refers to Kantaro.

2) If you remember, Kantaro is somewhere near the forest where Haruka, Yoko and Sugino are in. The shield/barrier is set by Kantaro, yes. It only acts as a bait to lure Sugino and Yoko out of the forest, not to serve as a defensive tool. That is why both of the demons could leave the place.

3) The stifled scream comes from no other than Haruka. The reason? Well, you will know it in the next chapter. :P

4) The last sentence/thought is from Kantaro. This sentence is a big hint of what is he trying to pull off. Yet, I would not tell you directly here:laughs: Evil author? Yeah, I am. XD

Replies:

Kazuha: Hehehe, thank you:hugs: I try to get into the climax soon. Hopefully next chapter I would get into it. :sweats: I wanted to make this chapter as the climax, but it seemed like I couldn't…Aww….Anyway, hope you like this chapter, although I think it is a bit boring…:bows:

NaStUkO-ChAn: Yes, I nearly forgot about Moo being there:sweat: In the end, I had to write a scene where Kantaro stops her…even though it sounds mean. XP Yes, Kan-chan's plan is really big… XD Very important, at least to him. I am sorry to update slower…probably next chapter would have to wait for a while…:sweats: Aww…I am happy to know that you like the gift-fiction! You are welcome and thanks for the review!

Khealchan: Lol…He is not trying to suicide…although it really can cost his life…:laughs: I am making people confuse here…Sorry. :bows: Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Yummy Yaoi: Aww…Hopefully their meeting would be on next chapter…but you see…I always seem to drag my story. :bows deeply: Sorry! Oh no…you are not bugging me, you are actually very kind to give me such encouragement to continue. :hugs: Really thanks for your review! I hope you like this chapter, although it sounds boring to me…Sorry ne…

Rubydream: Aha…someone seems to take a good guess on my story plot. XD Well…your guess is close enough. :grins: Although I won't spoil the story further… XD Aww…don't feel sorry for the late review, actually I felt happy and honored:glomps: For you took your precious time to review both of the chapters! Thank you a lot! Aww…I am so happy to hear from you!

Additional replies (for late reviews):

Chapter 6

Jez-arinn: Thanks for reading, Carol-chan:hugs: I am really happy that you like the characters in my story…I like to see Kantaro suffers too:laughs: Evil authors na? XD Yes yes, Moo-chan is still the best:cheers: Ah, okay! I hope you enjoy reading ne:hugs: I am sorry for my Grammar though. :bows:

Rubydream: Aww…I missed you! I was wondering where is the kind and cute Ruby-chan (sorry for the nick I gave you :lol: but I can't help it! It is cute… XD )? I was really leapt with happiness when I saw your reviews:hugs: Hehehe, yeah, I don't want to see Kan-chan dies too. But actually…Yoko is trying her best already…What a pity Haruka decides to play mean in Chapter 7! XP (Haruka: It means YOU author are the one being mean, you know?) Thanks for the review ne!