“Haruka?  Hey, you’ve been in there for ages…what are you doing?” Kantarou shouted through the bathroom door.  There was no reply.  Kantarou put his ear against the door and listened for signs of life.

    “Are you alright in there?” he tried again.  There was a moment of silence, then a splash.

   “I’m…fine…” came the reply.  Kantarou frowned.

   “Are you sure…The water must be freezing by now…”

   “No, no…I like it that way…”  Well even an idiot could tell that was a lie, so Kantarou used his ultimate weapon.

  “Haruka…tell me what’s going on in there.”  Kantarou could just hear Haruka squirming as he tried to disobey the command.

  “I’m…stuck…” the Tengu ground out. 

  “Huh?” Kantarou couldn’t even imagine how it was possible to get stuck in a bath tub.

   “I told you I’m stuck now go away,” was the irritated reply.

   “I’ll help you…”Kantarou offered, beginning to open the door.

   “No…No…I’m fine…”  But it was too late.  Kantarou already had the door most of the way open.

   “What’s wrong, Haruka?”

   “I’m NAKED!”  Kantarou just laughed.

   “Well it would be a bit silly if you took a bath clothed…oh my…were you trying to wash your wings?”  Kantarou stared unashamedly at the image of Haruka before him, half turned around in the bath with his wings crammed into the small tub.

   “One of them got caught up in the chain.  I can’t reach it,” Haruka stated flatly with a blush developing on his face.  Kantarou stifled a laugh.

   “Poor… Haruka…” he said between giggles.

   “It’s not funny!”  Haruka turned his face away from his master and continued to try and reach around to untangle the chain from his wing. 

   “Sorry…Let me help you.”  Kantarou took one step forward before Haruka shouted at him, swiveling around so suddenly water sploshed over the side of the bath.

   “NO!”  Kantarou stopped in his tracks.

   “What’s wrong, Haruka?  I only want to help,” he offered.  Haruka frowned at the innocent face of his master.  He sighed in defeat.  It wasn’t like he could get himself untangled by himself anyway, not without ripping out quite a few of his feathers.

  “Don’t be embarrassed.  It’s only me!” Kantarou said, cautiously taking another step towards the now fiercly blushing Haruka.  Kantarou rolled up his sleeves and reached past Haruka’s body to the tangled wing. 

   “The water is freezing, Haruka!  You’ll catch a cold!”  Kantarou worked on the chain as quickly as he could without pulling Haruka’s feathers too much.  Haruka watched him thoughtfully, his young human body leaning across him, his face contorted in concentration.  He was cute, there was no doubt about him.  But beneath that innocent exterior was a serious and somewhat devious person.  Haruka wondered why his master had been so set on finding the Demon Eating Tengu.  On finding him.

  “There.”  Kantarou stood up and smiled brightly.  “Wasn’t so bad was it?”  He shook off his hands and turned to leave but Haruka grasped his arm.

   “Why did you want to find me so much?” he asked.  Kantarou stood for a moment looking at Haruka’s hand around his arm.

   “I thought I could become stronger with you around…” Kantarou answered quietly.  Haruka stared at him for a moment then pulled him down to him with the arm he still grasped and kissed the man firmly on the mouth.  Kantarou drew back in surprise.

   “Ha...Haruka…”

   “For getting me free,” the Tengu stated, and let go of his young master.  Kantarou sat back on his heels beside the bath and smiled softly.

   “Anytime,” was all he could think to say.