The long wait

Amaya sighed again, she became more anxious to know what her father was getting up to and as the time went by she missed Hotaka more and more. It had been a few days since they arrived at Sango and Mirokus place, and she started to grow bored. Or at least with this much anxiety she found it hard to enjoy herself.

Kazuki spent more and more time with the three children of the house hold. He stuck particularly close to Sen who he spent a lot of his time alone with. Amaya could swear that once she spotted him offering her a daisy.

Kagome walked up to her, "Are you ok Amaya?"

"I miss dad." She sighed and continued to prod a dandy lion with her finger.

"I miss him too." Kagome said and then hugged her daughter. "By the way there's a boy at the front door waiting for you."

Amaya gasped, for a moment she hoped it was Hotaka, but she knew that it couldn't be him. She walked through the house and opened the front door and there stood Tanaka.

"Hey there Amaya." He said blushing and gave her a daffodil.

"Ah, thanks." She said shyly and accepted the flower.

"Did you want to come out and play with me?" He asked. "There's this really cool spot I like to go to sometimes. I thought it would be fun if you came with me!"

Amaya looked behind her hesitantly towards her mother Kagome who was listening from a distance. Sango told Kagome that she knew where Tanaka likes to go and that it wasn't far. Kagome then smiled and nodded.

Amaya wasn't so sure about this and she felt a little strange going to play with someone who she only just met a few days ago, but at the same time it felt nice to spend time with someone since Kazuki was always too occupied with his new friends. Now she knew how he felt when she was always off with Hotaka.

"Are you alright?" Tanaka asked, he looked at Amaya with concern. She didn't realise she was day dreaming.

"Ahuh." She nodded quickly and shied away.

"Is something bothering you?" Tanaka asked again. He was genuinely concerned about her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said softly, looking down sadly.

"By the way, why did you and your family move in with Miroku? You live far away right?"

Amaya nodded. She was still very timid and fell silent again.

"Oh that's ok." Tanaka said and smiled throwing his arms back behind his head while he walked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

She hesitated before speaking again. "How long have you lived here?" She asked him.

"Who me? I've lived here since forever! It's really cool here! There's always somewhere new to explore! HEY there it is!" He said and started running. "Common Amaya!"

Amaya was in her new pink dress that Sango bought for her and as she ran after Tanaka it swayed and rippled in the wind. For the first time in days Amaya found herself having a good time.

At the bottom of the hill was a stream with a huge log beside it that Tanaka came to rest on. She slowed down to a halt and began to examine her environment. There were trees all around them that blocked the view from any outsiders. The only way to see this place was to walk down the narrow path they had just come from. Autumn leaves danced in the wind behind her on the dirt path and all around the small grass area. All the taller trees were dark green and lush like in a rain forest while smaller ones were bright with Autumn leaves.

She looked down to the stream that was flowing steadily, small bubbles arising every time the water collided with a small branch or rock sticking up in the water or when it went down a miniature waterfall.

Tanaka was looking over his shoulder watching her examine this very secret place.

"Not many people know about this." He said to her. "Sango knows only because she followed me once and threatened to tell my parents my secret hideout if I wasn't careful playing here or if I ever did something naughty, but other than that she said she wouldn't tell anyone."

He laughed with a cheesy smile on his face.

"Only two other people know about this place; my best friend and now you."

"Why did you show me?" She asked feeling amazed.

"Because." He said facing the other way so she couldn't see the blush he was concealing. "You're cool." He blushed more furiously. For someone so boastful he found himself shying away from her. It wasn't his usual nature to be timid around people, not even strangers, but he liked this girl and found himself acting not quite himself.

They played for the rest of the day in his secret hideout; they walked across logs over the stream and crossed to the other side. Jumped from rock to rock and chased each other around the open grass area. Tanaka even took Amaya into the woods behind the stream to go exploring where they found all sorts of birds and strange forest animals.

Pausing for a moment Tanaka stood still staring at something, Amaya was giggling and skipping in the opposite direction until she noticed that he wasn't following her.

"Amaya, come quick." He whispered to her without turning around.

She trotted up to him and followed his gaze. There were strange balls of light floating in a tiny opening. The yellow light shone through the leaves, small specks drifted in the air making the place look magical.

"See those." He pointed to one of the balls of light. Each was a different colour, but this particular one was green.

"Yeah." Amaya nodded.

"Those are fairies." He said, Amaya gasped in excitement.

"They're actually a type of demon, but they are friendly. Most people believe they are magical creatures that can grant wishes." He watched Amaya as she marvelled at the tiny creatures floating around in the afternoon glow. One of them came close enough for her to actually see it's form and figure and indeed it was a tiny little person with beautiful butterfly wings. The fairy smiled tenderly at her and fluttered away.

"We can't tell anyone about these." Tanaka said. "People might do horrible things to them." He turned away and started to walk back to the stream. "Common it's getting late." He smiled brightly. "Remember we're not allowed to misbehave or Sango will tell someone about this place."

Amaya stared at the fairies for a few moments more before turning away and following Tanaka back out of the forest.