It was all so sudden.  The feel of Haruka’s body beside him, so close he could hear him breathing, the tengu’s long arm stretched lazily over his waist.  Waking to see this, it was all so new and strange and Kantarou was not sure it was a good thing.  He had power over Haruka, and now Haruka held him too.  But wasn’t this what he had wanted all along?  For Haruka to be close beside him?  And this was the closest anyone had ever been before.  But was he even himself right now?  Sickness, exhaustion and death had plagued him relentlessly these past few days.  Even in sleep that dark feeling was there, burning prophecies of his own demise into his unconscious mind.  It was disconcerting to say the least.  Still, even before all this, Kantarou had looked to Haruka with a longing deeper than a desire for friendship, or even trust.  And now here they were, where Kantarou thought he wanted to be.  Here he could touch Haruka, and the tengu wouldn’t flinch away.  Haruka had reached out to him, after all.  The thought made Kantarou frown.  It had been easy, on reflection, for the tengu to get his way, but Haruka was not him.  Kantarou was sure Haruka would not do something like that just to win an argument, as he himself might have done.   Kantarou reached up and touched a lock of Haruka’s dark hair on the pillow beside him.  It was soft, almost as soft as the look on Haruka’s face; content and comfortable.  Tengu, Kantarou thought, really were so very pure, almost innocent.  It seemed then as though Haruka wanted to be there too, by the side of his so-called master. 

  Kantarou looked more closely at the hair he held and chuckled to himself.  Split ends.  Haruka could be very vain, and this would make for a perfect thing to tease him about.  Haruka stirred at the sound.

  “What are you laughing at?” he mumbled, opening one bleary eye. 

  “Nothing,” Kantarou replied, far too cheerfully.  Haruka pulled Kantarou into a close embrace and closed his eyes again, yawning widely.

  “Go back to sleep, Kantarou.”  Kantarou squirmed in Haruka’s arms.

  “You’re squashing me, Haruka.”

  “Ah, sorry,” Haruka apologized, still only half awake, and loosened his arms. 

  “Haruka?”  The tengu murmured something unintelligible in reply.  “Haruka?  You’re dribbling on my pillow.”  Haruka opened his eyes fully at that and stared at his master in disbelief. 

  “I am not,” he retorted. 

  “You are, now stop dribbling and get up,” Kantarou ordered jokingly, laughing at Haruka’s disgruntled face.  “I don’t know what Youko-chan will say if she sees us like this!”  Haruka rubbed his eyes.

  “Same thing she did last time, I suppose.”

  “Eh?”  Kantarou sat up in surprise.  “When did she…oh.”  Kantarou lay back down.  “I didn’t know she saw that.”

  “Of course she did,” Haruka said, his arm returning to its former position over Kantarou.  “She checked on you all the time.” 

  “What did she say?” Kantarou asked, a little concerned.  “When she saw us?”  Haruka smirked.

  “Something like, “About time.”  I wasn’t really sure because she didn’t seem to be able to stop giggling.”  Kantarou smiled and nodded.  He’d have to cook dinner or something for Youko in thanks, he thought.  Not that he was any good at cooking, so maybe buying her dinner would be a better idea. 

  Kantarou shivered then as he felt Haruka’s hand brush lazily up his back.  The tengu was looking at him curiously, watching his reaction.  His breath hitched as Haruka ran his thumb down Kantarou’s spine looking decidedly pleased with himself.

  “I think it is too,” Haruka said, then leaned down to kiss Kantarou sloppily.  Kantarou placed his hands against the other man’s chest and pushed him gently away, laughing affectionately. 

  “Haruka!  You’re still half asleep!” Kantarou complained.  Frowning slightly, Haruka humphed to show his displeasure at the rebuke, but continued to gaze at Kantarou. 

  “Haruka?” Kantarou asked, more serious now.

  “What?”  Kantarou averted his eyes and blushed.

  “Sorry I…fell asleep didn’t I?”  There was silence for a moment before Haruka shrugged.

  “You were tired.”  There was silence again, then Haruka closed his eyes.  “There is time,” he said, his lips curling into something of a grin, “For other things…”  Kantarou did not think he had ever seen Haruka look quite so lascivious before and he blushed more deeply, thankful that the tengu had chosen that moment to close his eyes.

  “Haruka...” Kantarou asked again.  “Then, last night… you didn’t just…kiss me…so I wouldn’t go back to the house?”  Haruka studied Kantarou’s face.  It was true in essence that had been exactly why he had done it.  But it wasn’t like he hadn’t wanted to.  Or thought about those things before.  Or wasn’t going to want to do them again.

  “Not just because of that,” Haruka admitted.  “I wouldn’t do that.”  Kantarou nodded again and sighed, half in relief, half in weariness. 

  “I’ll be glad when this is over,” he said, closing his eyes and pulling the blanket further up over himself.  Haruka watched him lay there for a moment before sitting up.

  “Fine.  I’ll go now.”  Kantarou’s eyes snapped open and he grabbed Haruka’s arm.

  “I didn’t mean it like that, Haruka…” he protested.  Haruka laid a hand on his head and almost-smiled.

  “I know.”

 

***

 

  Haruka hated flying in the rain.  There was no way to avoid getting soaked to the skin, and no way to stave off the cold chill of water-saturated air and clothes.  Not to mention it messed up the feathers of his wings.  Haruka smiled to himself, remembering Kantarou’s delicate touch as the human had smoothed his feathers down only days before.  That warmed him a little.  He hoped he would get the same treatment when he returned home this time.

  Below him, Haruka noticed the now familiar street which led to the Suzuki house.  He really didn’t want to go back there.  Even without having to worry about Kantarou the house was disturbing; the very wood it was built from felt malicious and blood-stained.  And he did not trust that maid or Sudou.  Haruka could not help but feel they were somehow involved in all this.  Maybe it was the strange looks they kept giving each other, or the convenient way Sudou had stopped him helping Kantarou.  Whatever it was, they had been in that house a long time, so who knew what it had done to them.  Haruka seriously considered just throwing lightening at the house from above, those two who were likely inside and Kantarou’s wishes be damned.  Or maybe burning the place to the ground.  That would be even more effective.  But he doubted the local population would approve, and knew that Kantarou would be furious.  That human never seemed to want to do anything the easy way.

He could see the house now, dark and ominous looking in the grey light of the rain clouds.  And there was something else.  A feeling, like Shinto magic and the harassed souls of the unrestful dead.  The aura of death he had felt before at the house, but the magic was new.  It was the magic he hated.  Haruka was sure that Sudou had something to do with this; he just knew that human could not be trusted. 

With the rain starting to come down in ever more powerful sheets, Haruka came to a difficult landing at the side of the house.  Wiping water from his eyes, he silently summoned his staff and crept through the sodden garden towards the back of the house.  Originally, he had intended to knock on the front door, demand entrance, fry the room and go home, but Haruka got the distinct impression that was not going to be possible.  It was odd, he thought, that neither he nor Kantarou had sensed any kind of magic in the house before.  Kantarou was usually very aware of such things, though of course his condition of late might explain how he had not noticed.  And Haruka had been so focused on Kantarou that he had paid attention to little else.  But now, out in the cold rain, focused on nothing but the house, the spiritual power and the presence of demons and death burned his senses. 

Rounding the corner of the house, Haruka could hear the faint sound of voices.  The door to the kitchen was open slightly and he approached it cautiously, stepping as lightly as possible through the puddles of rain collected around the house’s exterior.  He felt cold water beginning to seep into his shoes.  Inside, there was a crash, as though something had been dropped on the wooden floor, then the sound of footfalls running.  Haruka carefully peered through the opening of the door, but there was no one there.  Pushing the door silently aside, he stepped into the kitchen.  On first inspection everything seemed normal.  Out of the rain now, Haruka could hear the voices much more clearly.  He was certain it was Sudou and the maid, and they sounded as though they were having an argument.

Haruka stepped up onto wooden floor, not bothering to remove his shoes.  He gripped his staff tightly and crept noiselessly out of the kitchen into the corridor, straining his ears to hear the continuing quarrel.  The sense of demons and death grew stronger.

“Sudou-san...”  The maid was crying, her voice high-pitched and fearful.  “Why does she want Ichinomiya-san too?  He has nothing to do with this.”  Hearing Kantarou’s name, Haruka stopped and listened, aware now that the two humans were situated in a room to his left.  They were close.  Sudou’s reply was short and irritable.

“It’s none of your concern.” 

“But he’s...” she tried to argue.  Sudou cut her off shortly.

“I told you not to get too attached to him.”

“I didn’t!  It’s just…”

“This was part of the agreement.  If you want to be rich then stop arguing.”  The maid was sobbing loudly now.

“That’s not why I agreed to this!”  Sudou growled and said something so low Haruka could not understand it, but the maid gasped and gave no further argument.  There was shuffling, then Sudou began a low chant.  Haruka recognized it immediately and found anger rising dangerously within himself.  He was summoning a demon, and Haruka sensed it, crawling through the walls of the house, down towards Sudou’s chants.  The very air itself felt chilled by the presence, but Haruka remained still and checked his anger, listening closely.  An unknown voice spoke.

“It is done.  She is no longer with us.”  It was deep, spiteful, and irritated.  Without a doubt, it was the voice of the demon.

“And Ichinomiya Kantarou?” Sudou asked, cautious but unafraid.  There was a long pause.  Haruka’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“He is not with us.”  A pause, and Haruka decided he did not like what he was hearing.  “Yet,” the demon concluded, then the presence was retreating back upstairs. 

Haruka could take it no more.  He seriously hoped Sudou had not done what he suspected, or Kantarou would soon be shouting at him for killing a human.  Growling audibly, he ripped the door and part of the wall away with his lightening.  The maid screamed and Sudou drew back in terror, then turned and made to run.  Haruka leapt forward and grabbed the man by the neck of his kimono with his free hand.  He spun Sudou around to face him, eyes paling and teeth and claws emerging.

“Wha...what are you?” Sudou stammered, desperately attempting to pull away from Haruka.  The maid cowered on the floor and covered her face with her hands. 

“You will tell me what you have done,” Haruka demanded.  Sudou’s face hardened into a defiant scowl and he threw his fist at Haruka’s face.  Seeing this, Haruka growled and threw Sudou away into the wall.  The man hit the wall hard and fell slumped against it, groaning in pain and trying to stand up.  Haruka pointed his staff at Sudou and repeated his question.

“What have you done to Kantarou?”  Sudou glared at the tengu and said nothing.  Enraged, Haruka released his lightening, the bolt hitting the wall centimetres from Sudou’s head.  The explosion cast thick dust into the air and left the faint smell of singed wood and hair.  Sudou sat, frozen in shock. 

“What have you DONE?!” Haruka shouted, raising his staff again.

“Please stop...”  The maid begged, cowering at his feet.  “I’ll tell you, just don’t hurt Sudou-san!”  Haruka turned on her, eyes narrowed in silent demand.

“Ichinomiya-san...I didn’t want to, but the demon demanded him,” she sobbed.  “At first it was just the family, but then he came here and the demon wanted him.”

“Just tell me what it wants,” Haruka said coldly.  She nodded.

“It’s Kirara.  She wanted revenge, and we wanted...” she trailed off, shame on her face. 

“What?” Haruka asked.  But it was Sudou who answered.

“Their money,” he said plainly.  “After they are all dead, I get the money.  Kirara was just looking for a way to get revenge. They killed her.”  Haruka turned to him.

“Then what about Kantarou?  What does he have to do with that?” 

“Kirara wants to live.  And he presented himself as the perfect receptacle.”  Haruka’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What?” he hissed.

    “He has a strong spiritual sense.  I’m sure you know that.  So he can be possessed more...successfully.  And he was weak when he came here.”  Sudou stood up shakily and stared brushing himself down.

    “And with Kirara’s soul in his body, his was to be trapped here.  The demon thought it would make him stronger.”  There was an edge of smugness in the man’s voice that Haruka did not like at all.  Then like a flash of his own lightening he understood what it meant, and with an immense cry of rage, Haruka flung open the room’s doors, drew out his wings, and threw himself into flight.