Waiting for you

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this sad announcement every time? Tactics is not mine nyu….

Rating: PG-13 or T for language

Genre: Tragedy, action/adventure, suspense, angst

Pairing: Minor Sugino and Moo

Warnings or notes: Slightly AU, OOC-ness, grammar or other errors, a poor attempt at humor, an original character, around 1800+ words.

Wah! I will be killed for the late update! Sorry sorry sorry…I guess I just didn't have the time to do that…But I will continue this story nonetheless. By the way, a reviewer told me of the mistakes I did in 'Japanese's terms'. I did edit, if anyone of you noticed earlier. I am editing my past chapters to made reading better.

This is the longest chapter so far and it is dedicated to my readers for seeking forgiveness of the delay. Thanks for the support and hope you enjoy this chapter!

: ooo :

Chapter 14-Life is like a dream

'Kantaro is dying…And I am too blind to see it beforehand…'

"Open the door!" yelled the famous Soul Eater tengu as he gave a light kick on a wooden door with a sign 'closed'. After he left the group, he set off to find the nearest town in hope to seek medical help for the mortal, who he had been carrying in his arms. Although Kantaro was light, but carrying all the way was tiring the tengu out.

When he finally spotted a town, he made a quick land and rushed to find some help. He did find a clinic. Apparently there was no hospital in this small town and the tengu had no choice but to accept any medical help offered.

After a few calls and still no response, Haruka snorted. He was soaked from head to toe, and his ex-master was dying! Things could not be any better by now. "Open the damn door!" he yelled angrily while giving the door a hard kick. The tengu could be short-tempered at times. Right now, his patience was running thin. He felt furious enough with those bastards in Kantaro's village that he had not wanted to seek for a mortal's help, yet he had to, having out of no choice.

As a result to his harsh attitude and the powerful kick, the wooden door fell apart and revealed a small living room. At first Haruka would have thought this was none other than an old man's house, if there was not a sign written 'Takizawa's Clinic' above the door. He was going to leave when he saw no one. Yet, his sharp ears picked up some low noises behind a door.

Still carrying Kantaro, he went near towards the door. As if by cue, the door flung opened, which it nearly hit Haruka if he did not dodge in time and revealed an old man. His eyes traveled from what he was looking at the person in front of him and to Haruka's surprise, he shrieked. "AHH!"

A vicious looking man, soaked from head to toe and not to mention stained with blood, appeared from nowhere. It gave the poor old man a heart attack. Before the stranger could open his mouth to say anything, he finally noticed the limp figure in his protective arms; an injured young man. Correction…it should be 'a very injured young man'.

"My gosh! Come here immediately!" he pointed at the room. Apparently it was a patient's room, even though it was quite small. Haruka made no argument and just obeyed the order. Actually, he felt glad that the human understood their urgent situation. Despite the fact the human was old, he was fast and gentle nonetheless. It amused Haruka to see how well he examined Kantaro.

"Please have a hot bath and change your wet clothes to prevent from catching a cold," the old man turned from what he had been doing and gestured at a pile of white clean clothes on a round table. "I can manage it alone," he gave a reassuring smile. Haruka merely nodded and took a last glance at Kantaro before he went out of the room with a set of clothes in his hands.

The demon saw a sign said 'bathroom' so he entered. This clinic might be small, but it was decent. Everything was arranged perfectly in order. For now, Haruka decided to relax his tensed muscles by having a nice hot bath since Kantaro was in good hands. Tossing aside his stained clothes, he sighed deeply. Those blood…those metallic smell of it…it reminded him of his menace self. He could feel it…the overwhelming power stirred within him; the power that was once sealed.

He could also feel the broken seal of Kantaro's. Yes, he was really freed now from all seals. Yet, it did not seem right. He felt something was missing. But what was it? Little he did know he had changed. From a menace demon, he had changed to another being called 'Haruka'. All those months staying with Kantaro and Yoko really did have a strong impact on him. It was unnerving, yet it was also comfortable.

"I am really corrupted," Haruka mussed as he rinsed his body with warm water. 'I always think I do not suit to have this name-Haruka,' he thought silently while he took the clean towel and wiped himself. With a swift movement, he dressed and went out of the toilet, leaving the dirty clothes in the basket, but not leaving without his precious bowl.

He was still wiping his hair as he entered the patient room where Kantaro was, and cleared his throat to inform his presence. The doctor turned to him and wiped off his own sweats. "It is a miracle that your friend here survives through these injuries. He has a few broken ribs on his right, a cracked bone on his right leg, head injuries, a few deep cuts and shallow cuts. The others are bruises…Apart from that, it seems like he was carefully tended beforehand."

Haruka was saying nothing and let the old man did the talking all the time. The demon's trained eyes traveled from the old man to the limp figure on the king sized bed. Kantaro's eyes were closed while his breathings were shallow and his skin was so pale...A thick blanket covered his small body. Apparently, Takizawa changed Kantaro's clothes to the ones similar to Haruka's since they were the only clothes available in the clinic.

"And young man, you wrecked my door…," Takizawa, the old doctor let out a sigh when he learned that Haruka was not paying attention to him.

Almost apologetically, Haruka scratched his head and turned to look at the other way, embarrassed. He knew he was acting out of himself by crushing the poor door down, but the situation was urgent! So, instead of answering, he kept silent.

However, in fact, Takizawa did not mean to blame the demon for breaking his property. The old man was more to tease Haruka. After seeing the charming young man's embarrassed look, the doctor gave in and laughed. "I am just teasing. Take it easy. In fact, it might be a good thing that you crashed it down. He is really in a bad shape."

His laughter made the proud tengu flushed deeper than he already was. Just when they were having their business, someone knocked on the closed door. Takizawa rose from his seat, where it was just beside Kantaro's and headed to open the door. When he opened it, Haruka saw Yoko and surprisingly, Moo also were there. Same as Haruka and Kantaro before, they were fully soaked.

"Kan-chan! Haruka-chan!" Yoko exclaimed, totally unaware about Moo's existence might scare the old man. Moo was overjoyed to see Kantaro to be fine in the large and fluffy bed that she went flying towards the lying form. Haruka was actually feeling glad to be rid of the old man's teases.

"Oh, it seems like I am having a number of visitors today. Please young lady, take a hot bath to make you warm. And you too, little one," Takizawa nudged softly at the worried female and patted on Moo's head while giving her a smile. Yoko was shocked to find that when she realized Moo was not hiding whereas she usually would.

"Urm…you see…"

"Yes I know. You are demons right?" Takizawa was still smiling but he turned to look at Haruka, Yoko and Moo accordingly. "This young man here must be your master," he added as a matter of fact. Yoko's jaw dropped. How could a mere mortal know this…?

"I am a demon myself. Although my master left me a long time ago…," Takizawa's short explanation cleared everything. So he was not a mortal after all. His tone was nostalgic when he mentioned his deceased master. "She was a lovely lady…Ahh…Anyway, please suit yourselves," with that, he went out of the room without a word. God only knew where he would be gone to.

Yoko exchanged looks with Haruka. 'So a demon saves Kantaro's life whereas humans despise him…'

After a while, the demon fox decided to take a hot bath like suggested and went out of the room. Moo decided to tag her as she followed her to the bathroom. After a while, both of the female demons came back. Upon seeing them, Haruka took a look at Kantaro's form before he went out. Neither of Yoko nor Moo made any attempt to stop him by having too worried of Kantaro's condition and out of understanding.

'Now…what can I do…?'

As if by cue, his eyes looked at the broken door. He narrowed his eyes when he spotted someone in the rain. "Sugino?" he called out warily.

The other tengu made his appearance with a solemn look on his handsome figure. "Aa, Onikui…" As he was saying that, his wings vanished into mid air like magic.

It was no surprise to the shorted haired tengu that he was not with Yoko and Moo. The demon simply knew Sugino would not forgive the villagers by any means. They reminded him too much of the long haired tengu's past; the past that would be better forgotten in his case. Yet, the black tengu made no comment.

"Settled?" Haruka asked with just a single word. And he gained a short nod for the answer. Closing his eyes, he said, "Then it's good…"

Sugino walked into the house, dripping waters on the wooden floor with his head still low. "How about that guy?" finally decided to drop the subject, the white tengu asked about Kantaro's condition instead. Although, he still refused to call him by name out of habit.

"He is all right currently…," the other replied. It was followed by an acknowledged nod by Sugino.

"So…now what are you going to do? To stay…or to leave?" suddenly the long haired tengu asked. He really knew how to hit the right button, Haruka mused.

"Technically, he is not my master anymore. Thus I don't have to serve him like a slave. However, he sacrificed himself just to return my memories and power…knowing that was my most desired wish…"

Sugino sighed. It looked like Haruka was feeling sorry for what he had done. It was a good thing though. "Then?"

"I will stay," Haruka finally decided with a firmed tone. Then he walked away towards Kantaro's room. Before he entered, he turned to Sugino once more. "I stay just to pay back the debt," and he entered.

The long haired tengu gave a defeated smile. Haruka was still in denial. He refused to admit he truly felt sorry for Kantaro, perhaps a little caring too. When he was left alone, Sugino suddenly remembered someone. "Moo-chan!" and so he barked into the room without a second thought for Kantaro's well being.

Yoko could only smile. Life was like a dream. Sometimes it would be nightmares, and it would be sweet dreams at times too. Kantaro's life was full of nightmares… 'It will be a sweet dream for Kan-chan from now on…Everything would be fine…'

Sadly she did not know…Kantaro would never live long without his spiritual power, which it was a part of his life. Physical wounds would surely heal, but mental wounds would take long time to heal. And Kantaro just did not have much time to do that…

: To be continued :

Just don't be frightened by the last sentence, Kantaro would NOT die in this fiction, but that sentence alone triggers some parts in the ending. So urm…just don't worry. :smiles: And Takizawa, the doctor is just a minor original support-character.

Replies:

Silverkaze013: Haha, thanks for the review. I am sorry for the late update though. Must be cursed by my readers lol! Yeah, thanks for the review on 'Love and family bond'. Yet I just want to inform something, that story is one-shot so I won't continue it. You might want to know this since you added it to your story alert ne?

Kheal-chan: Thanks a lot for the review!

NaTsUkO-ChAn: I am too evil and like to torture Kantaro! XD Hahahaha, I am so sorry for the lateness and for the little request you did in last chapter's review…It seems like I can't include fluffiness between those two…for some reasons. :bangs her head: Hope you are not annoyed! Sorry…nyu…Yeah, thanks a million for the kind review!

Yummy Yaoi: Thanks for the concern and review as well! Hehehe, it seems like there are a number of Haruka x Kantaro fans! I will write more of them in other stories I am planning to do in the future then. X3 Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Goku-chan: Oh you really bought it? Aww…I totally agree with you that the ending is not what I am hoping for:raises banner: It's like…beginning of another new story. Lol, though my kind of ending might not be yaoi-related, but still…it would be fine with me. XD Yeah, thanks for the review and sorry for the delay…:bows:

Arbil: I am a mean author, now I know lol! I think I like to mess with Kantaro's life. But anyway, it would be better soon. :smiles: And thanks for the review! Hope you like this chapter.

Yee Leng: Hai, thanks a lot for such review! Lol, I am not that mean to kill Kantaro, since he is my fave character too! XP Hope you enjoy reading this chapter then!

Tactics fan: Thank you for the comment. :bows: I will update this story till it reaches its ending, but I might take a few weeks for one chapter now since I find time hardly enough for me to write…Anyway, hope you will continue reading till the end! Thanks again!

Kazuha: Aww...I am sorry for that. :( I know it's been long...Gomen! But I hope you like this chapter...:bows: Thanks for the review!

Additional replies (Chapter 1):

Azarea: Haha, yeah, I pity Kantaro for his life. Anyway, thanks for the comment.

DarkKatana: Oh, I am so sorry to make so many mistakes! But I did edit so I must thank you for the information! Yeah, frankly I followed the anime's translations…instead of the manga's. I did watch and read the manga though…Well, I am not very excellent in Japanese so urm…it became like this. Anyhow, thanks again for telling me:bows:

Additional reply (Chapter 12):

Yee Leng: Thanks a lot. This story is created because I kinda don't like the original ending, but Yuzu and Raiko would not be in this fic so I can't really say this story's related to the original's…:sweatdrops: I am talking nonsense lol!