A/N: Chapter four! Ummmm… is this too long maybe? Heh... Don't kill me please. I started this one from scratch and I just couldn't stop. Oops? For those who care and bother to read this I thought I would let you know that I have read the first two Tactics manga and have watched all the anime. So that's where all my info comes from. I know more about the anime but I tend to base all I can on the manga. See the notes at the end. ENJOY!

This chapter is dedicated to White Sherry, Arai-Hime, Nikkler, Chakura, Dadaiiro, and Hayama4 my awesome reviewers, and my soon-to-be new beta Barbel!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Tactics anime, manga, or characters.

Through the Eyes of a Child

Chapter Four: Difficult Lessons

The next day Haruka awoke to a strangely quiet house. It took him a moment to remember all that had happened. Getting up he went to check on Kantarou, who he assumed was still asleep. Haruka found the silence unnerving. He was used to the ruckus of the other Ichinomiya household. When he reached the boys room the door was open and no one was inside. Panicked Haruka rushed downstairs and was relieved to find Kantarou kneeling in front of his parent's shrine staring at Haruka surprised.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you? I was trying to be quite." Haruka shook his head and waited for his heart to stop racing. If he was going to be this jumpy he was sure there would be harsh consequences for his health. "Well seeing as you're up why don't you get dressed, I'll see what I can do for breakfast, and we'll get going." Seeing Haruka's questioning glance the boy blushed and continued. "You're probably going to need some other clothes. I mean you didn't have anything with you when I ran into you last night so I assumed…"

"You don't need to worry about that. I don't have anything to pay for it with anyways." Haruka cursed himself for sounding so cold. Old habits die hard he assumed. Nonetheless Kantarou smiled and winked.

"Now what kind of host would I be if I didn't help you out a little?" His smile faltered a bit. "Besides money isn't a problem here. My parents left everything to me and the business they owned still sends money to me." Then he was smiling brightly again. "Also I got a message from Unkai-sensei. He is in town and would like to meet with me, which means another lesson! You can come with me to if you don't have anything else you need to do." Haruka smiled slightly at the boy's enthusiasm and told him there was nothing else he had to do today. Kantarou blushed furiously, but quickly regained his composure, "You do smile! I was beginning to wonder."

A little later they had set out and were soon inside a nearby tailor shop. A round man appeared from a back room. "Ah! Welcome to my store how may I… Kantarou-san! How may I help you today?" Haruka frowned as the middle aged man approached rubbing his hands greedily.

"It's not for me Kudou-san. I was hoping you could help my friend here." The man had barely said, 'But of course,' before he whisked Haruka away for fitting. The tengu was quickly annoyed by this 'Kudou.' Haruka tried one thing and the shop-keeper was already throwing something else at him. The shopkeeper was obviously wringing this visit for all it was worth and had his customer try on all manner of expensive clothes. The only thing that stopped Haruka from walking right out of there was Kantarou's obvious enjoyment. The crimson eyed child smiled and clapped each time Haruka tried on something new. He even laughed a few times when Kudou had managed to get the dark haired man into some ridiculous outfit. But the boy noticed how uncomfortable his friend was and only let the torture go for a short while.

Before long the two were on the street a few boxes heavier. They had eventually come to a compromise since Kantarou had wanted to get almost everything the tengu had tried on. Haruka had managed to bring the number down, much to Kudou's annoyance. Nonetheless the man was smiling and bowing as they left, telling Kantarou to come back anytime. Haruka saw his master roll his eyes while his back was still towards Kudou, but he turned and smiled and thanked the man politely.

They passed several children on the road. Some gawked at Haruka while others glared and whispered while pointing at Kantarou. The tengu watched his master carefully, but the boy ignored them, facing straight ahead and placing a masking smile on his face. Two particular boys caught Haruka's eye. They were the pests from the day before. They jeered at Kantarou but the soon were met with Haruka's glare and took off running. When Haruka turned back Kantarou was looking up at him with a grateful smile.

They dropped their goods off at Kantarou's house, storing them safely in Haruka's borrowed room. Kantarou met his Unkai-sensei at a nearby inn and greeted him warmly. The man Haruka saw was hardly any different than the one he had seen at the hot springs when his master and he had been investigating the missing children in Sugino's village. There was no wonder Kantarou had been so surprised to see the man still alive if he looked this old here in the past.

"Kantarou, how have you been? I hope you have been practicing." With some embarrassment, the boy showed his instructor his blistered hands. "I see… You have not gotten much better than." His attention quickly shifted to Haruka and missed Kantarou's look of disappointment. "And who is this Kantarou? Is he a relative or friend of the family?" Kantarou introduced the two men to each other. Unkai gave Haruka a skeptical look. He lowered his voice to speak directly to Kantarou, "Don't you ever think before you act child? You let a perfect stranger come into your home when you are living alone? Don't you have any sense of caution?"

Kantarou scowled and answered with a hint of warning in his voice, "I will not have you disrespecting my guest, Unkai-san. Haruka does not deserve your suspicions." An indignant grunt let Kantarou know he had got his point across, and his voice returned to normal. "Besides, Haruka is a big help when were around the other children," he said lightly. This seemed to catch Unkai's interest.

"Is that so?" He looked at Haruka again as if reassessing him. He gave a curt nod of approval. "I suppose you will be accompanying us? Let us go then, time runs short. There are only so many hours in a day." They left the inn and set off towards the forest where Haruka had found himself just the day before. Kantarou told Haruka that Unkai-sensei had him practice in the forest because there was more of chance of running into a real goblin there. Haruka found that hard to believe but nodded in response.

A little ways into the forest, the three came to a clearing. Kantarou was buzzing with excitement and Unkai was muttering to himself about mindless hyperactive chatter. Eventually the aged man was able to get the boy's attention long enough to start a lesson.

"Now seeing as you have not improved since we last met," Kantarou shifted his hands behind his back, "We will start from where we left off. This time try not to get too enthusiastic, we don't want another… accident." Haruka could only imagine what the man was referring to. Kantarou just laughed nervously. "Now recite the chant I taught you, and remember to concentrate!"

A sudden change came over Kantarou. Haruka had seen this many times before when his older master had gone into his 'business mode.' He lost his childishness and donned a more sober attitude. However seeing the change in a child was slightly different. All nervous energy and awkwardness slipped away as Kantarou folded his hands and slowly began the nine word chant. Haruka watched the familiar aura begin to form around the exorcist.

"Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin… ah…!" Kantarou struggled for the next word. Suddenly the concentrated energy that had built up was haphazardly released. The whole clearing seemed to pulse once, before waves flew out in all directions. Even Haruka had to kneel and shield himself from being thrown backwards. When it passed Haruka saw Kantarou down on all fours his hands hissing with fresh blisters. The boy clenched his jaw tightly to keep from crying out. A few tears of pain leaked from the corners of his eyes. Unkai stepped forward with a tin, opened it and applied a salve to the open wound. Kantarou swore and his instructor reprimanded him sharply.

"Did I not tell you how important it was to remember the words?" Kantarou nodded his head vigorously refusing to open his eyes. "You must complete the nine words or you are left with uncontrolled energy." The boy kept his head bent after Unkai had finished tending to his hands. The old man sighed, "Your mind set was much improved. You were much calmer and focused this time. Well done." Kantarou finally lifted his head to smile at his sensei. "Let's keep practicing, alright?" Kantarou nodded again.

By the end of the lesson the pale boy, along with some of the surrounding vegetation was in bad shape. When Unkai had decided Kantarou had practiced enough for the day, he carefully wrapped both of his student's damaged hands. Overall Haruka was surprised by the harshness of the training. If he not known that Kantarou enjoyed learning so much, the tengu might have interceded and stopped the training for the boy's sake. He had no idea what kind power Kantarou was harnessing each time he recited his famous nine word chant and what the risks were if you did not execute the incantation well. It filled him with a manner of respect for the human. With Kantarou's hands successfully wrapped the three made their way out of the forest in silence.

When they had entered the village once again, Kantarou thanked Unkai and he and Haruka head back the house. Finally Kantarou spoke, "I don't know who he thinks he is fooling. He tells me we go to the forest for the chance of meeting a goblin, when I know full well he is protecting me. The others think I'm weird because I say I can see youkai. Come to think of it I don't even know if you believe me. When I was little I was told of the tengu who ate demons. I practice so that I can become stronger and one day find the onigui tengu. If the others saw me practicing I would get a lot of… unwanted attention. So Unkai-sensei takes me to the forest where I can practice without anyone knowing."

Haruka snorted, "You sure you aren't glorifying him a little? The lessons seem difficult and he wasn't exactly lenient much less sympathetic. I can't quite label him as compassionate."

Kantarou laughed, and the sound gave Haruka sense of accomplishment. "Oh Unkai-sensei is a bitter old fossil make no mistake, but he helps me best he can, when he can manage, and without pay. That's a lot more than I can expect from most people around here." Haruka nodded in acknowledgement. "He acts really strict but he really is a kind old man at heart."

Later as Haruka was going to his room for the night he marveled at how quickly the evening had come. It was amazing to think that the Kantarou he was currently staying with had only known him for a little over a day. Already the boy was treating him like a trusted friend. In fact he had been introduced to others as such. Before Haruka was able to ponder for too long there was a soft knock on his door. Kantarou entered somewhat timidly.

"I just wanted to thank you for coming with me today. I realize you didn't have to come to my lesson but it was it was nice having you there. Even though, as you might have noticed, I still need a lot of work." He blushed a little shamefully. "Anyways what I really wanted to say was, tomorrow, we can do whatever you want! That is if you still don't have anything else you need to do on your own." Haruka told him that he didn't know of anything he had to do for a long while. The boy brightened visibly. "Alright it is set then." He stepped out and made to close the door. "We'll do whatever you want." He closed it partly. "We can go to the restaurant down the street they have really good anmitsu."

Haruka remembered last time he had been there. "Alright, tomorrow it is good-night."

"Good-night," Kantarou closed the door. No sooner had Haruka laid down then it was open again. "And ramune, you are going to have to try the ramune!"

Haruka smiled, "And the ramune, but for now good-night, unless you are planning to list everything we can do tomorrow until morning is here."

Kantarou blushed and laughed sheepishly, "Ah… right, good-night!"

A/N: Yeah that was pretty long… Too long? Too short? Too boring? Too weird? Give me feed back people! Please?

References: (For those who are interested…)

(I did not put reference numbers within the story because I personally find them annoying. If you would rather have them please let me know!)

Kudou-san, apart from being a greedy bastard, is an OC. Really I couldn't care less if you stole him, though I don't know why you would want to.

Unkai-san is from the second manga. He is the descendant of those who sealed away the original god of Sugino village. While he is not as powerful as his ancestors I took the liberty of giving him sufficient spiritual powers. I also made him Kantarou's sensei because he was an old acquaintance of Kan-chan's and it they seemed to have the tension of a former teacher/student. You kind of have to have read it I guess…

The nine word chant is also taken from the manga. Completed it goes, 'Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!' In the anime the subtitles show different translations every bloody time!

The anmitsu restaurant is where Haruka and Kantarou meet Yumeyako in both the anime and the manga. Thank goodness the two parallel somewhere! In the manga is called Dessert House Godiva, but I just thought that was odd, not to mention very un-Japanese.

For those near and dear to my heart: MY AWESOME REVIEWERS!

White Sherry: Thank you very much! bows I am doing my best to keep this story on a good schedule that wont leave my readers hanging too long between chapters.

Arai-Hime: Yes, poor Kan-chan. I really do hate hurting him so much, but his childhood was such a tempting story. Thank you very much for you awesome compliments!

Nikkler: Yay! A new fan! Thank you for the input on Kantarou's emotions. When I have so little to go on, I sometimes wonder if I am not letting my imagination run away with me. I'm glad you liked it. I most definitely will not quit this fic!

Chakura: Thank you for reviewing. I will continue and I hope you continue to read and enjoy!

Dadaiiro: You ask all the right questions. Unfortunately if I just told you it would spoil the fun. Keep reading and I'll do my best to keep it interesting!