To avoid attracting attention, Haruka landed near the rear of the parking lot, which was fairly quiet, and simply carried Kantarou the rest of the way. Kantarou's eyes fluttered open for a moment, just long enough to see the tengu's face. "Haru...ka?"

Somewhat surprised at the sound of his master's voice, he said, "Just wait a little longer. We're almost there."

Kantarou didn't have the chance to reply to this before he faded back into his prior unconscious state, but while he was awake, the fact that he was in Haruka's arms rather than Ibaragi's vines was naturally comforting. Not particularly accustomed to dealing with hospital staff, Haruka walked into the lobby and looked around, watching to see what he was supposed to do. Thankfully, Tanuma came in shortly after and guided him to the main desk. "Our friend got in a... He fell out of a tree." The teen told the woman behind the counter, doing his best to come up with a suitable lie.

"What's his name?" The woman asked, not even bothering to look up.

"Ichinomiya Kantarou." Haruka replied, "Where do I put him?"

Apparently, that question got her attention. She glanced up at them, and snickered, "Which one of you is Ichinomiya-san?" She asked, looking from Kantarou to Tanuma. Of course Kantarou looked like he'd lost a fight- which he did, but then, Tanuma was covered in sutras from their earlier practicing.

Somewhat annoyed by the reminder of just how unknown Kantarou was as both an author and exorcist, Haruka decided to use the ever-useful womanizing tactics Youko had taught him. Forcing a gentle smile and soft voice, he said, "Kantarou is right here, miss. He seems to be unconscious from the fall, so I carried him here. I tried to tell him that he'd get hurt, but I'm afraid he, like most others, simply refuse to listen to me." He looked down and away from her as if he'd said something that made him sad, though he was really just trying to hasten the process with deception.

The woman's face flushed profusely as the technique did the trick, "I-I'll call for a stretcher!" With this, she took off down the hall.

"Wow, Haruka-san, you really got her to move!" Tanuma remarked, rather impressed.

"Youko taught me how to deal with women." Haruka muttered vaguely as he turned to meet the stretcher rolling towards them. "Can you stay with him for a while? There's something I need to take care of before Kantarou wakes up. I'll return before sundown."

"I can, but-" Tanuma sighed as he watched Haruka leave before returning his attention to the doctors who were wheeling him away. He tried to follow, but was told to wait for results in the waiting room. Rather than cause a scene, he complied. "Man, that guy's really something else."

"Tengu are a different breed," Madara agreed from his hiding place inside of Natsume's bag. He had carried Tanuma to the hospital in order to at least attempt to keep up with Haruka. "Especially that one."

Haruka's Preemptive Plan

"Sugino." Haruka called from his perch on a high branch of a tree in the mountains of Sugino Village.

Sugino, who had apparently been collecting what he and Muu-chan would call 'dinner,' looked up when he heard his name. "Demon eater..." Suddenly, he seemed nervous and began peeking behind bushes and trees, anything that was big enough to hide a human.

"Kantarou isn't here. In fact, that's the reason I'm here. I'm sparing you the annoyance of dealing with him directly." Haruka stated, hoping that this knowledge would make Sugino more inclined to cooperate.

Returning his attention to Haruka, the former priest asked, "Sparing me? How generous. I'm surprised he let you off the leash long enough to come here."

"He's in no state to protest. He was attacked by Douji Ibaragi and would likely be dead if not for our contract." The tengu explained, coming to the ground to meet Sugino at eye-level.

"You should have left him for dead. Any demon, even some youkai for that matter, who got close enough to smell him would make a nice meal out of him." Sugino mumbled.

"I didn't come here for a lecture. This is bigger than your petty jealousy. Surely you know of the Book of Friends?"

Sugino seemed to think for a moment before he replied, "I think I heard of something like that once. A story the villagers used to tell. It's a collection of names of youkai, correct?"

"The owner of the Book of Friends died quite some time ago." Haruka stated, but was cut off by Sugino before he could continue.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't see what it has to do with-"

"Her grandson, Natsume Takashi inherited the Book, along with her spiritual powers." Haruka finished, "He was taken by Douji Ibaragi as a hostage, so before Kantarou wakes up and demands that we come for you to find him, I'm asking you to do it now and get it over with."

"Well, what an obedient little dog you are, following your master's commands before he makes them." Sugino teased. Haruka opened his mouth to protest, but he held up his hand, "As a favor to you, demon eater, I will accept your request to locate the boy, however, I won't get involved with Ibaragi herself."

"I don't expect you to," Haruka responded, spreading his wings and lifting off the ground, "Provided you don't get caught yourself." With this said, he took off, leaving Sugino to pout by himself at the implication of weakness.

This one was shorter, mostly because I had this "YOU'RE DOIN' IT WRONG!" voice in the back of my head. Haruka seemed too serious, which is funny, because Haruka isn't much of a joker. What do you think?

Also, to anyone who's read my other fic "Against Your Word," you may have noticed a similarity- I like breaking the arms of my favorite characters. Yes, that sounds horrible, but there's a reason. See, for about 6 consecutive years (thankfully not anymore) I spent day in and day out with my right arm occupied by a cane, to the point where it became difficult to imagine characters with two functional arms. Why not break their leg and give them a cane? Because wheelchairs. You know Mello would find a goon to push Matt around, and you know Haruka would carry Kantarou around (whether he wanted to or not.) I didn't have anyone to push (or carry) me around, so I didn't really use a wheelchair unless I had to. Therefore, cane. Learning to do everything with my left arm (at least while walking.)

TL;DR- A broken arm is my way of saying, "I love this one the most."