Waiting for you

Rating: PG or K+ (rating will go up in the next chapter for violence and for safety :3 )

Genre: Action/adventure, tragedy, slight suspense

Pairing: None in this chapter, not even Moo and Sugino XP

Warnings or notes: AU (for Haruka's past), spoilers for anime (I picked some scenes from it), grammar or other errors (English is not my mother tongue…), confusions, OOC-ness, aound 1400 words, and Haruka is being a meanie here. :lol: Yeah, finally the meeting between Haruka and Kantaro!

I am sorry for the delay:bows: My laptop was broken after I uploaded the last chapter. It took me quite a time to get it fixed and typed a new chapter. Therefore I hope my readers are not annoyed with my delay. :hands cookies: And hope you all will review:bows: Thanks for reading as well!

Before you start reading, I might as well tell you all that this chapter will answer most of the puzzles. Most, but not all. For some things would remain mysterious until the next chapters:chuckles: And yeah, it is quite confusing, so I will post a summary at the end of the chapter for you all. :smiles:

Japanese terms:

Kindly refer to the last chapters for the familiar words. I try to minimize the usage of Japanese words here and only use a few in conversations. Please forgive me I was wrong somewhere when using them. :bows:

: ooo :

Chapter 9-Lost memories

'Kantaro…are you here?' asked Haruka in his mind while his sharp eyes surveying around the thick forest, hoping to see a familiar figure of the crimson eyed exorcist. Upon seeing no one, he let out a shallow sigh. "If you want me to find you…," he murmured as his black shiny wings appeared behind him in a jerk under his mind control. When he sensed such strong power behind the barrier, he knew it was none other than Kantaro. He also knew the young man planned to drive or shall I say 'lure' both Yoko and Sugino out of the forest. But why? This was the only thing Haruka did not know, yet he wished to know.

That was one of the reasons why he chose to stay behind and asked his white winged friend to take Yoko away. If Kantaro did this on purpose, that could only mean one thing. His master wished to settle things with him alone, with no interruptions. And so he obliged. Yoko said Kantaro was deeply injured; therefore he should not have been able to come this far if that was true. Haruka was curious; was Yoko telling the true or was Kantaro playing another act again to trick the female demon as well?

Just before he set off to break the barrier, he felt a strong electric shock all over his body. It was strong enough to kill an ordinary human and enough to make him scream. However, being typical as he was, he tried his best not to do so. In the end, he let out a stifled scream. As long as he could feel the pain, his mind was filled with flying images. They were playing in his mind like a video clip in a swift way.

A familiar figure was standing in front of him, chanting something he could not hear properly. He could not move for he was paralyzed. When he finally saw two pieces of rock were blocking his view, his eyes glowed dangerously at the person. "You…"

"I swear, one day I would seek revenge," he heard his own voice saying those words with full of hatred.

'That is…'

"I will seal you demon under the name of Minamoto clan!" A serious fight ensued between his old self and an unknown man, whom he thought was familiar.

A pair of hands was full of fresh red blood. They were dripping from those sharp nails that looked almost like an animal's claws.

"Onikui tengu! Run!"

'My memories…?'

A long haired youth with white wings smiled softly at him. "Onikui, want to have a drink?" invited the demon with a little green creature sitting on his shoulder and a bottle of wine in his right hand.

'Sugino…? Urgh…it hurts…'

Pairs of frightened eyes were begging for sympathy. "Please, spare my live! You and I are brothers! We are demons as well!"

"Humans and demons are never partners. Leave before I kill you, human," he said, glaring at a long haired man.

"I hate myself for being a human…therefore I chose to become a tengu instead…," someone's voice rang behind him.

'My head hurts…my body hurts…Those memories…those forgotten memories…What is happening?' his hands held his head as he fell on his knees. 'They are coming back…' As those memories filled his mind once more, his eyes became crimson in color. It glowed dangerously and viciously. He was becoming more like the vicious and emotionless Onikui, and less Haruka, the softer and cool other side of his.

After all those flying images stopped, his face was changed. His aura was stronger; it felt like a devil's instead of the normal Haruka. His sharp fangs were lusting for blood. His razor-like claws were itching for tearing flesh. Shortly, Haruka was no longer in command of his current body and mind. Onikui Tengu, the strongest demon of all, was back into the world once again. He was reborn into this world again. Would chaos ensue then with his rebirth?

"Ichinomiya Kantaro…," was his last words before his wings flapped off towards somewhere.

Meanwhile, in an isolated temple, a young exorcist finally accomplished the complicated spell. By the time he had finished chanting, he was drained and exhausted. A few drops of sweats dripped onto the ground as his knees finally gave in. He felt sorry for his male slave when he heard the stifled scream. Yet, what he was trying to do was for his sake. So, he continued on, even though his heart felt heavy. Even though he knew he was in danger, even though he had to pay an extremely high price. It was all fine to him, because it was for him.

"Haruka…," he tried to stand, but without leaning on the wall for support, he could not make it. He grabbed the dirty old bowl, which it was placed on the altar. Then he leaned on the nearest wall for support to stand. After a few steps, Kantaro felt that he could walk on his own. However, he continued to lean on the wall for support until he reached the door. From there, he had to depend on his own.

'This is all I could do for you…,' his mind said as he gritted his teeth to gain some strength not to give up. By then, he could feel some pain were back to him once again. Apparently the spell he had cast earlier was beginning to wear off. The barrier he had set up to lure both his female demon fox Yoko and the once human Sugino was gone too. Seemed like the spell he cast on Moo would have worn off as well. He knew, once it was done, chaos might happen to him. Yet, ironic enough, the young exorcist with red eyes smirked. His mission was accomplished.

Before he could go any further, he sensed a very strong threatening aura. At once he knew who was coming for him. It was Haruka…no, it was the once sealed strongest demon of all that everyone was afraid of, the Soul Eater tengu. The exhausted youth was not afraid, for he planned to find his ex-slave as well. Only that, now his ex-slave found him.

"Ichinomiya Kantaro…," once the tengu landed, he glared at Kantaro threateningly. Trying his best to show no weakness, Kantaro smirked slyly.

"So, you are here, Haruka…"

"I am not Haruka anymore. I refuse to be your servant…your slave anymore. I am on my own from the past till now," was the reply.

Kantaro gave him his trademark innocent look. "Oh?" In his mind, he was feeling glad that the tengu did not manage to see through him. But on a second thought, would the current Haruka spare him if he knew his serious injuries?

"I once said; if I regain my memories, I might kill you. And you accepted that. Your ancestor sealed me, and I swore I would seek revenge. This time, this day, my revenge shall be fulfilled," the black winged tengu's eyes glowed dangerously. He showed his sharp claws at Kantaro as a sign of declaration. "And I see you are very fine to me. Unlike what Yoko told me earlier," he added bluntly. In his mind, he thought Kantaro even tricked the innocent Yoko in order to make her volunteer to persuade him to go back. Apparently, his ex-master did not leave quite a nice impression to him.

Kantaro's eyes softened for a moment before he pulled out a paper spell from somewhere under his sleeve. "I see. For a long time, I wished to fight the strongest demon of all to have a test on my own power as well," he said, trying hard to act calm. Sweats were dripping on his clothes, yet he ignored it. "Yoko? Well, we shall not talk about that as for now." It was not necessary to let Haruka knew of his injuries. In fact, he did not wish to reveal it at all.

Both of them exchanged looks with hidden desires and meanings as they raised their own deadly weapons for the upcoming fight. Kantaro with his only trusted ofuda-s, and Haruka with his claws. Who would the God of victory side with? The young injured exorcist, or the strongest demon of all?

: To be continued :

Okay, I promised a summary. This chapter takes place between the time Sugino and Yoko's departure and when Kantaro hears Haruka's scream in the last chapter. I just elaborated on what happened to Haruka after his companions leave him. At the same time, Kantaro sets a ritual to unseal Haruka's origin power (that also means he is freeing him from the servitude like a reviewer's guess).

Images that fill Haruka's head are the ones he has lost when Kantaro reseals him with his current name (Bold is used for Haruka's memories). Thus, after he regains all his lost memories and power, he changes back to the vicious Onikui Tengu and means to get his revenge. You must be wondering why Kantaro's parents disapprove him of having an onmyoji's abilities and deserts him when it was their ancestor that sealed Onikui Tengu. Well, I will leave that first for now. XD

Maybe you wanted to ask why Kantaro does not tell Haruka of his serious injuries. Actually, in my opinion, Kantaro is like a puzzle and he is always planning something. But I kind of like his attitude so I try my best to make him mysterious as well as manipulative. :P There won't be any thrilling events if Kantaro reveals the secret! XD Also, the current Haruka surely do not care if he is hurt or not (by judging how he hates the Ichinomiya-s). Anyway, see you in the next chapter!

Replies:

NaStUkO-ChAn: Aww…I am sorry for the cliff hanger (again):hides: I am evil ne… :sly smile: but please don't kill me:runs away: Lol. Hmm…actually I already revealed Kantaro's actions in this chapter. I hope you like it na, although it was different from your guess…I am really sorry for the late update as well:bows deeply: Please don't be annoyed ne? And thanks for the review!

Yummy Yaoi: Thanks for the review:hugs: I am happy to know that you like this story…My first Tactics fic! XD Hope you like this chapter!

Rubydream: Hehehe, thanks a lot for such kindness:glomps: And I would like to apologize for the delay… :hides: Stupid laptop…Ah, anyway, hope you like this chapter!

Kazuha: Thanks for the review and the visit to my blog:hugs: I am sorry for the boredom of the last chapter. Hopefully this chapter would cover it up? XD Hope you enjoy this chapter then:smiles:

Chakura: Wow! It was great for you already figured out what Kantaro was trying to do:cheers: I feel sorry for Haruka in this fic of mine, because it makes him look bad! XD (Haruka: You ruin my reputation, evil author!) :laughs: And thanks for the review!

Jewelclaw Lady of Wind: Hm…hehe. Bingo, your guess is correct:cheers: I am happy that someone knew what I am planning. :grins: Even though I also like when readers are in suspense… X3 Thanks for the encouragement as well:hands cookies: And sorry for the delay!