The worst to come.

Enjoy~

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Chapter 3

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The sunlight from the open window fell upon Haruka's sleep slacked features. He tried to ignore the bright warmth by burying his face into something soft and silky, but the light pulled him too far into consciousness. That and a strange huffing wheezing noise.

Now that he heard it he frowned as he tried to identify it with his eyes still closed. It sort of sounded like someone trying to gasp for breath after being under water for too long. Now that he focused on it, he felt the form in his arms was moving erratically.

Once he realized the form was moving in time with the wheezing breaths, Haruka pulled the figure away from him. "Ka... Kantarou...?"

Face flushed a bright pink, Kantarou's eyes were half lidded staring out blankly. His breathing was so hoarse that it had to be hurting his throat, and his entire body was shaking. Haruka frowned at how the red eyes seemed so much duller than they were the previous nights. They looked lifeless.

Once the thought entered his head, Haruka felt his heart thump hard in his chest. "Kantarou...? Kantarou.. Can you hear me?" The writer didn't make a move of acknowledgment, which actually frightened the tengu. "Hey.. Snap out of it... Kantarou.. Say something!" When he still received no reply he gritted his teeth and sat up.

He roughly pulled up his master with him and shook him lightly. "Dammit, Kantarou! Answer me!" As he shook his master he suddenly stopped when he noticed something. The silver head lolled back and forth bonelessly, and the dead crimson gaze never moved. 'Is.. Is this what he was warning me of...?'

Hesitantly he reached out and took hold of the smaller hand hanging at the writer's side. He lifted it up and released it. The way it fell back down instantly like dead weight made Haruka's breath catch in his throat. "Kantarou..." His hand gently caressed the burning cheek. Those eyes that always seemed to look at him in adoration now seemed like they saw nothing at all. No spark of any kind.

"He.. He's not there.. Just a shell..." Saying those words made him feel just as empty. His emotions getting the better of him, Haruka pulled the lifeless form to him and held onto him as tight as he could. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I can't protect you..." he mumbled on a broken whisper.

The sound of the door sliding open alerted him that someone was about to see him like this, but he didn't care. 'I promised I wouldn't let him go...'

"Haruka-chan? What are you doing with... Wha.. What's wrong with Kan-chan?" Youko's voice asked quickly.

Haruka buried his face against the cloth that covered the mark he had made on his master's shoulder. "The fever is taking over him... He's not there anymore..." he said. Voice muffled by the cloth.

Youko dashed to their side quickly. She was about to pull the ill man from the tengu, but when she saw the desperate hold Haruka had on him she bit her lip. "Haruka-chan... What happened last night?" Though he didn't answer, she easily saw his unbuttoned shirt and the two dark bruises surrounded by teeth marks that were on the once flawless skin. 'A passion mark...? If... If that happened.. Haruka-chan must be heart broken...' she thought sadly as tears welled up in her eyes.

Pushing those feelings aside, Youko moved to the Tengu and placed her hand on his tense shoulder. "Haruka-chan...? We need to give him another bath... And get him more ice..." she told him gently.

"I'll do it... Maybe.. The water will jolt him back to his senses..." Without even looking at the kitsune, Haruka gathered his master in his arms and stood. As he carried the trembling body away, Haruka called out. "Youko.. Find something we can used as a rope..."

"A rope?!" Youko yelped. "Why do we need rope?"

Haruka paused at the door and glanced back with a shadowed look of pain on his face. "Kantarou told me that today will be the fever's peak... He may be driven mad with it... We need to be ready in case we're forced to restrain him to keep him from hurting himself."

Although she was still uncertain, Youko nodded. "Okay... I'll see what I can do..." Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she clutched tightly at the sleeves of her kimono. "He.. He's gonna be okay... Right..?"

The tengu looked at the lifeless being he held and remembered the words spoken to him. "He said he would... We just need to help him through today. Then everything will be fine." The thought of the folklorist lying to him yet again wore heavily on his mind, but he tried his best to ignore it. "Let's get going... It's going to be a long day."

"Right.. I.. I'll change the covers for his bed and then I'll get some ice." Youko stated before gathering up the sweat dampened blankets.

Haruka watched her barely keep her composure, then returned his course for the bath. He realized that the situation had to be bothering Youko just as badly. 'Kantarou has been her master far longer than mine... They've been through a lot together.. She's probably had to take care of him every time something like this happened...' He looked to his master's face and frowned. 'Why would he pick me over Youko....?' It was a question that he never fully understood. The pair acted more like siblings than anything else.

Realizing those were useless thoughts, Haruka growled at himself. He needed to focus only on trying to keep Kantarou as comfortable as possible.

"You'll be fine, Kantarou... I don't care if I have to fight off death for you. I'm not going to let you go."

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For hours the pair of youkai did everything they could for their ill master. But cold baths and ice did nothing to soothe the raging fever. Nothing they did could stir Kantarou from the heated trance he was locked in. As the seconds ticked by they felt their fear rising. Thoughts of life without their master wore heavily on their minds despite how hard they tried to ignore it.

Haruka refused to leave his master's side, while Youko went into a mad cleaning spree to keep her mind busy. Within the first hour the house was completely spotless, but Haruka could still hear her scrubbing the floors out in the hall. He knew she made sure to linger within earshot should anything change. He also knew that she had probably seen the marks on their necks, thus why she was keeping out of the way.

In one sense he appreciated the privacy, but part of him wished that she would stay with him. This was tearing apart both of them. They never really thought of how fragile the manipulative bastard really was. Any near death brushes he had was always waved off with a joke and a smile. But now Kantarou was unable to brush off this.

'He said he would be fine.. But he's a liar.. He's always been a liar.. What if he lied? What if he dies right in front of me from this damn fever?!' Haruka clenched his fists tightly in his lap until his nails bit into his palms. If he lost this man would he lose himself as well? The bond between a youkai and the human that names it is said to last for eternity. But what happens to the youkai when the human dies? The name stays, as does the bond, but how can the bond be one sided? Would there be an empty pit in Haruka's soul that nothing will be able to fill?

Once the question slipped into his head he quickly decided that it didn't matter. "If it can't be Kantarou... Then I'd rather be empty.." he whispered to himself.

"Demon eater?"

Haruka closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sugino... Right now isn't the best of times." he muttered quietly.

Instantly aware of the pain that laced his friend's voice, Sugino frowned but entered through the window anyway. Muu-chan was absent, but he didn't want his delicate wife to see what was bound to be a distressing sight. The moment he caught sight of the weak shell resting on the futon he knew his caution was valid.

A deep frown fell over the white tengu's face as he moved to sit on the other side of the fallen writer. He reached out and placed his hand on the damp forehead only to feel his heart thud painfully beneath his ribs. 'Dammit.. How can this human survive such a fever?' He wasn't about to voice the question. With the way Haruka's normally strong frame was trembling slightly, he knew that he had to keep negative comments to a bare minimum.

"Has he said anything?" he asked quietly, pulling his hand away.

"No. Not since he fell asleep last night." Haruka forced his eyes open to look at the dead red gaze that was locked perpetually forward. "It's like it's just his body here... All he can do is breathe... Even that seems like it's becoming too much for him."

Sugino bit the inside of his cheek when he heard the waver in the black tengu's voice. "Don't look like that. Kantarou's too stubborn to let a stupid fever get the best of him." he chided lightly. Even if his words angered his friend, it was better than the depressed shadow that hung over him.

However Haruka's expression seemed to turn even more somber. His hand reached for the cloth that was soaking in a bowl of water next to him. He lightly wrung out the cloth and placed it gently over the burning forehead. As he did he couldn't help but think of the time where they had journeyed to the mountain god's home to deal with that stubborn dragon.

"Hm.. When we traveled to your mountain to look for those missing children.. He was telling me the differences between black tengu and white tengu. That white tengu were human priests and shamans that were overly confident when they were alive..." The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he finally lifted his gaze to the concerned one Sugino had locked on him. "I made a joke that Kantarou was halfway to becoming one. Do you think that would be possible?"

Sugino blinked in obvious alarm at the sudden question. He glanced down at the human between them and felt a tightness form in his throat. "Well.. As much as it pains me to admit.. He has the power and the attitude. I suppose if he had the will to want it enough, he could..." He glanced back up at the black tengu and gave a strained smile. "But would you honestly want a nut job like him to get that much power? He would make all our lives a living hell."

Haruka dropped his gaze to his master and felt his chest ache deeply. "I'd rather face a hell with him than a hell without him." he whispered.

When the demon eater reached out and tenderly brushed away the dull silvery locks from the heated face, Sugino's eyes suddenly noticed the mark beneath his friend's ear. That sight made his eyes narrow. 'Did Kantarou do that..?' He didn't comment on it. Haruka was too unstable at this point to provoke any confrontation. 'If it was done willingly, then this human's passing will rip him apart..'

He would deny it until his dying breath, but he was concerned about the irritating folklorist as well. His wife was already attached to him, so that meant Muu-chan would be devastated. Youko tried to act strong, but she would never recover from the loss of someone that was clearly like a brother to her. Haruka would more than likely spend the rest of his life torturing himself with the knowledge that he couldn't protect his master. 'Possibly his love..'

And for Sugino himself...

'Dammit.. I don't know why, but I like this bastard... He's smart.. I like fighting with him...' He looked back to the demon eater. 'And he brought Demon eater back into the world...'

After hearing another painful wheeze from the human gasping for breath, Sugino felt himself moving before he even made a decision. He carefully placed his hand over the clammy skin of Kantarou's throat and closed his eyes. Haruka watched with a deep frown, but made no move to stop the white tengu. After a moment a faint glow formed around the hand on his master's neck and seemed to seep into the flushed skin. Seconds later Kantarou took in a deep breath, but it was clearer. The struggling wheezing was reduced to a faint rasp as the human began breathing a great deal easier.

Haruka's eyes widened and he immediately lifted his gaze to Sugino's now opened eyes. "What did you do?"

Sugino let out a slow breath as he pulled his hand away. "I can't do anything about the illness, but I can heal the wounds that may be a result of it. His throat and his lungs. It may not last long, but he'll be able to breathe easier for now."

Just hearing his master breathe without pain was enough to ease the tension that was coiled within every inch of Haruka's body. He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as his hands sought out the pale one resting on the blankets. "Thank you, Sugino." he whispered as he clutched tightly to the lifeless hand.

When the demon eater bowed his head, Sugino knew he had done all he could. He slowly stood and walked around the resting human. He stopped next to the black tengu and gently placed his hand atop the bowed head. "He will be fine, Demon eater... He always says that you are his strength. He won't fall with you by his side." He didn't receive an answer but he honestly didn't expect to.

Knowing that he had done all he could, Sugino walked out of the writer's room into the hall. The moment he did he instantly spotted the kitsune curled up on the floor at the end of the hallway. Although she was hardly making a sound, he knew that she was sobbing from the way her hands covered her face and her body shook. The sight made a deep sigh leave him as he moved to the end of the hall.

He knelt down in front of Youko and petted back the soft hair between her visible fox ears. "Youko..."

She lowered her hands and looked up, heavy tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. She only looked into his concerned green eyes for a moment before she immediately leapt forward. Wrapping her arms around him tight as she buried her face against the soft robes that covered his chest. "Su.. Sugino... I'm so scared.." she whimpered, her words muffled by the cloth.

The sudden motion nearly knocked him back, but Sugino's surprise was short lived. He watched her for a moment, but found his arms wrapping around her. His right hand gently petted back her hair in a comforting gesture as he leaned in to whisper into her flattened back ear. "It'll be okay. That master of yours is strong. He'll live forever just to spite all of us."

Hearing those words made Youko give a weak giggle. "You're right... He'd be laughing at me if he saw how worked up I was getting over this." She forced herself to pull away from the tengu and scrubbed stubbornly at her still crying eyes. Once she willed the tears away, she gave the mountain god a small smile. "Would you like anything, Sugino-sama? Tea, perhaps?"

Sugino knew she needed the distraction, so he nodded. "Tea sounds good. Maybe some rice as well?" he added with a little grin as he stood.

Youko took the hand that was offered to her and was soon standing. "Sure. I'll get started on that right now."

He watched her quickly move in the direction of the kitchen. When she was out of sight he let out another sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Damn... It's worse than I thought... Both of them will be torn to shreds without Kantarou..." He glanced back towards the writer's room and frowned deeply.

"Dammit Ichinomiya... You better make it through this..."

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TBC

Later~