The Heart Of Time

He glared at her harder, trying to intimidate her. "You got a scholarship didn’t you… and HE said you are a PRIESTESS!" Toya growled in her face, coming closer with every word till they were almost nose-to-nose. He folded his arms inside his loose sleeves and huffed at her. "Bet you don’t even know what a demon is," He grumbled, suddenly realizing she was getting cuter by the second and that annoyed him.

Kyoko flinched, her temper spiking. She knew what demons were. She’d studied them all her life and if her family was right, she had even met some… but she couldn’t remember. Still, she didn’t like Toya’s high and mighty attitude so she just cocked an eyebrow as if silently asking him if he wanted to bet on that.

Suki seemed to want to come to Kyoko's defense, "Toya, can't you be civil for one damn minute? She’s only been here a couple hours, and before you run her off, I’d like to convince her to stay." She looked almost sad at the thought of losing Kyoko so quickly.

Toya raised an annoyed eyebrow, glancing over at Suki, "Well, she didn’t even answer my question. Do you think she can handle it?" he turned the glare back to Kyoko.

"I can handle anything you can think to throw at me, asshole," Kyoko informed him, her words beginning to ice.

Suki and Shinbe glanced at each other. They’d never heard anyone but themselves and the owner of the university stand up to Toya like that, except maybe Kotaro. Then they both smirked, knowing they were definitely going to like this girl named Kyoko.

A waiter showed up at the table with a tray of food, and Kyoko turned her attention from Toya to him. The guy stared at Kyoko a little too long, and her senses started to tingle, telling her something was up. She looked up into dark eyes that didn’t seem to fit the boyish face belonging to the young man.

Something about him drew Kyoko in… though she didn’t know if she really liked the feeling. Sure, he was cute to look at but something about him made her slightly uneasy. She blinked trying to rid herself of the spell the young man seemed to emit without even trying. The mood was ultimately broken when she heard a low growl come from beside her.

Toya felt coldness crawl across his skin and growled at the guy, seeming to shake him out of his daze. As the boy’s eyes refocused on Toya's, they seemed to shimmer from jet-black to a silver-blue as he turned and fled the table.

Kyoko gave Suki a confused look, but Suki only shrugged it off, taking a bite of her own food. Beside her, Shinbe coughed into his hand trying to hide his weird sense of humor as he watched the guy race across the room. Kyoko was getting some very weird vibes from this guy ‘Toya’ and wasn’t going to rest until she found out what his problem was. She leaned back in her chair and studied him for a moment.

His long hair was the strangest color of midnight with thick silver highlights running wildly through it, and his eyes were beautiful… HE was beautiful. 'Mental note to self, smack yourself later for thinking that.' His eyes were flaming gold dust, no doubt about it. He would have been cute if it wasn't for the look he was now giving her.

Suki sighed. She needed to have a talk with Kyoko about making Toya too mad. He did have his line and it wasn’t good to cross it. And it wasn’t fair that Kyoko had no idea she was pissing off a guardian.

“I have found that if you play with fire… you often get burned,” Shinbe informed the silence at the table and was rewarded with a heated glare from everyone before they all decided to ignore him.

Toya stole another glance at Kyoko. So, this is who he was supposed to be watching? Kyou had to be kidding. Kyou had just told him about her coming this morning, with a level warning that he was to watch out for her and make sure she was safe at all times.

He narrowed his eyes now wondering about the boy who had just stood by their table. The way he had been staring at Kyoko had angered him. Was the priestess really in danger? Why would Kyou take such an interest in keeping a mere human safe? Kyou never treated anyone with respect, so what made this wisp of a girl any different?

Sometimes Toya hated the fact that Kyou was his appointed guardian, but he did have to admit he owed him a lot for taking him in. He also knew when Kyou did something that there was always a good reason for it and that alone made him wonder about this girl named Kyoko.

Shinbe, who noted the tension at the table could be cut with a knife, glanced at Suki with the biggest puppy dog eyes. Knowing he could make Kyoko smile again with his antics, he began to lay it on thick.

"So Suki, are you still going to the club with me tonight? It is Saturday night and I would hate to miss out on dancing with you by dancing with a dozen complete strangers.” Shinbe went into a dazed look as if dreaming of dancing with a throng of other women just to prove his point.

Suki gave him a level look wondering if she should slap the stupid look off his face, then turned to Kyoko. "Kyoko, I need a chaperone," she grinned. "You'll go with me won’t you? It’s too dangerous to go alone with just… him," she gave Kyoko a pleading look.

The corners of Kyoko’s lips twitched seeing Shinbe come out of the dazed look and wink at her again. "Suki, I would love to go with you guys. That way we can tag team Shinbe if he gets out of control."

They both gave Shinbe a pointed look and Shinbe groaned. Kyoko couldn’t help it as she busted out laughing again. She really liked these two.

Toya watched Kyoko out of the corner of his eyes. Damn, she was pretty when she laughed like that. He groaned inwardly. Where the hell had that come from? He slumped down in his seat annoyed with his train of thought. 'Damn it!' Now he’d have to go to the club tonight just to watch out for her. She was still smiling at Shinbe and Suki when she turned back.

As she glanced at him, his pulse skipped a beat and the temperature within his blood went up several degrees. Toya realized she had more power coming from her now that she was happy then she’d had a moment ago when he’d pissed her off. He felt uneasy for the first time in a long time.

When Kyoko's laughter died down, she turned to Suki, "Hey, I’m not even sure what classes I’ll be in Monday or where to go for that matter. Do you know where I can find out?"

Before Suki could answer, Toya answered the question watching her closely. "All scholarship students are taught the same. So, you, Suki, and Shinbe, along with the others, will be in the same classes. The only separate class will be when you are with the owner." His voice was lazy as he leaned back in his chair.

Kyoko frowned, "What class does the owner teach?"

Shinbe supplied the answer this time, his amethyst eyes lighting up with intrigue, "For all of us it’s different. That’s why he teaches us separately. He helps us with our special skills.” He leaned back thoughtful, then added with a smirk, “You, I guess, would be strengthening your priestess powers."

Kyoko's anger spiked again, wondering how the hell the owner had known she was a priestess. The scholarship had said nothing about it. She had gone for the last couple years trying to bury the same powers for which the owner had given her a scholarship for. She wanted to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.

Looking down at her plate, Kyoko said in a strained voice, "Maybe this is a mistake. Is there any way I can talk to the owner of the academy now?”

Toya narrowed his eyes. Kyou had told him she might ask to see him, and although Kyou never wanted to see anybody outside of class, he had told Toya to bring her directly to him if she had any questions.

"What’s wrong, are you scared?" he taunted her and was rewarded when her stormy eyes shot straight to his in annoyed anger. So, this girl thought she could handle him. Well, it might be fun to watch her try that look on Kyou. He had seen the fear that Kyou could instantly instill in someone without having to say a word.

"Fine, I’ll take you to see him as soon as you’re ready," Toya challenged wondering if she would take the bait.

Kyoko lost some of her anger on hearing this. Shoving her plate out of the way, she nodded, happy to call his bluff, "Ready when you are." She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What’s the rush?" Toya stood up with a smirk. "Might want to put a lid on that temper of yours because he will sense it," he snickered at her, thinking she had no clue what she was getting herself into.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes at him then stood up, glancing back at Suki and Shinbe. "I’ll talk to you after I’m done, if you will come get me. I’ll be in my room waiting and we can make plans for tonight." She winked at Suki then looked back at Toya and added in a deadpan voice. "That is, if I decide to stay."

He turned away from her with a huff and she watched his retreating back, then waved at the others over her shoulder as she followed him. She quickly noticed how other students would get out of Toya’s way hastily and wondered at it. “What was he? The school bully?”

Kyoko was not going to give him the satisfaction of running to catch up with him, so she took her time walking, purposely falling behind. Still slightly angry with him she nearly blushed when her eyes strayed to Toya’s rear end. Watching his hair brush over the seat of his pants, giving her a glimpse of the firm roundness that lay beneath it only irritated her more. Infuriating and cute was just a horrible combination.

Mentally shaking her head, she continued to follow him, cursing her roving eyes. “It would take a complete idiot to think someone you can’t stand… is cute,” she mumbled under her breath. “Annoying…. Hostile… and Arrogant maybe… but never cute,” she grinned, already feeling better.

Some strange awareness crept up her spine and her eyes shot above her and locked with dark eyes that were piercing into hers. The guy was leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs watching her. He had ebony waves of hair flowing down his back and over his shoulder, and his midnight eyes were intense. He was very attractive but she felt… threatened.

She looked away from him. 'Kyoko get a hold of yourself. Stop analyzing everybody you see,' she told herself sternly even as she attempted to raise her emerald eyes back up at him.

"There’s the prettiest girl on campus."

Kyoko felt a strong arm go around her shoulders and turned to look, remembering the voice of the guy that had showed her where her room was earlier that morning. She felt the ends of her hair again tickle her face as a breeze from nowhere seemed to caress her cheeks.

She gave him a warm smile but at the same time, dipped and shrugged out from his attached arm. "Kotaro, it’s nice to see you again. Thanks for your help this morning,” Kyoko said in a nervous voice, wishing he wouldn’t act so familiar with her. She thought he was nice and all, but she never said he could put his arm around her.

Kotaro was unaffected as he took her hand in his, "Is there somewhere else I can escort you to, Kyoko?" He looked deep into her emerald eyes knowing he had seen them before… somewhere. And he had a vague feeling he had once happily drowned in them.

Kyoko glanced up the stairs to see Toya had stopped and turned around, looking angry again. She could have sworn she’d just heard him growl at her or Kotaro, she wasn’t sure which.

Toya didn’t know what Kotaro was up to, but he didn’t like the fact he was acting so friendly with Kyoko. A deep growl came from his chest as he issued a warning, "I can handle it Kotaro, unless you would like to take her to go see Kyou." He gave Kotaro a hard stare, knowing Kotaro didn’t go around Kyou unless it was for class or he was summoned.

Kotaro let go of Kyoko’s hand, "I hope everything is alright, Kyoko." He shot Toya a dirty look then turned back to her, "Make sure you watch out for freezer burn here. If he gets out of hand, I’ll take care of him for you.” Kotaro gave Toya a smug look then nodded his head to Kyoko and turned, going back down the stairs.

Kyoko heard Toya huff and she looked up to him as he turned and walked down the corridor, the same way she had gone this morning.

This time she hurried and caught up with him just in time to see him go through the doors that read, DO NOT ENTER. Kyoko wondered where they were going. As she followed his stiff back, it crossed her mind that he was taking her back to her own room. When he did indeed stop in front of her door, Toya turned to look at her and she gave him a pissed look until he waved his hand to the door straight across from hers and knocked.

Kyoko was in shock. The owner was in the room right across from hers? Again, the words of her brother came back to haunt her. ‘No way!’ Without waiting for an answer, Toya opened the door and pushed her inside in front of him.

Immediately, Kyoko turned on him. "I don’t know what your damn problem is but would you please not push me," she made to shoo him away, "Or touch me. I haven’t done anything to you." The hair again stood up on the back of her neck when she noticed Toya was staring behind her.

Kyoko's shoulders slumped. Now she’d done it. Did she always have to pop off without thinking about where she was or who might be watching?

Toya saw Kyoko tense up and he smirked, lowering his eyes to the girl that seemed so small all of a sudden. "Didn’t you want to talk to someone?" When Kyoko didn't turn around, Toya looked back up at Kyou and narrowed his eyes when he noted Kyou was leaning against the doorway of the living room staring at Kyoko as if he were in a trance.

'What the hell?’ Toya thought to himself. Why was Kyou looking at her like he’d seen a ghost? On some level, he did not want to identify the jealous feeling it caused. It sent a creeping sensation across his gut making him want to step in between them and block Kyoko from Kyou's sight. He wanted to protect her.

Kyou was momentarily at a loss for words, seeing Kyoko this close for the first time in over a thousand years. The very air around her hummed with the force he remembered … the same undeniable force that had drawn him to her in the past had not vanished.

His golden eyes took in the guardian behind her with a sort of detached indifference. "Toya, leave." A dangerously threatening tone could be heard in his voice.

A growl formed in the back of Toya’s throat and his fists clenched in anger as some feeling seemed to rear up and haunt him from some unknown place hidden deep inside his memory. Without another word, Toya turned and stormed out the door, slamming it.

Kyoko watched Toya leave while her mind was going around and around in chaotic thoughts. All of a sudden, she felt the impulse to run out after him. Deciding not to be a coward, she tilted her chin up and found her courage, finally turning around only to not believe what she was seeing.

Instead of the older man in a starched business suit that she was expecting to see, she found herself face to face with… His golden eyes burned into her own making her feel like she could not look away. His silver hair spilled over his shoulders and perfectly chiseled body. He was tall, and beautiful, with a touch of arrogance surrounding his regal body and a face that could only be a gift from heaven.

Kyoko instantly closed her eyes. What the hell was wrong with her? She came here to ask questions, not drool. When she opened her eyes again he was much closer. She instantly took a step back from the nobility and superiority that surrounded him only to feel the solidness of the door against her back… trapping her.

Without realizing he had done so, Kyou started to walk toward her. But when he noted her retreat from him, he raised an elegant eyebrow, extending his hand toward the sofa. "Would you like to sit down Miss Hogo?" He knew she had questions for him. He would have been disappointed if she hadn’t.

Kyoko swallowed nervously but haughtily raised her chin, edging her way over to the sofa, keeping as much distance between them as she could, if nothing else then in the hope that her brain would function normally. She inwardly gave a shaky laugh.

"First thing I want to know is, what makes you think I am a priestess?" She looked up at him warily and almost freaked out when he took a seat beside her on the sofa instead of the chair on the other side of the coffee table. Kyoko shifted her body and turned watching him, stilling herself from moving even farther away from him and showing her fear.

'So, she wants to play,' Kyou mused idly, but just as quickly shook off his intriguing thought. "What makes you think I would not know that you are a priestess?" he returned in an unnaturally calm voice. She was so small compared to him as he leaned toward her, looking down into her heart shaped face.

Kyoko watched the planes of his perfect face for any hint of emotion and was surprised to find none. He was like a sculpture of perfection and calmness, and that irritated her to no end.

"Do you always answer a question with a question, Mister…?” she stammered not even knowing his last name.

Kyou smiled but only inwardly so she wouldn’t see it. Well, he could tell she still had life in her and he wasn’t disappointed in that. It only made him want to see more. "Mr. Lord, but you may call me Kyou, unless you like Lord better." He nailed her with a heated look.

Kyoko returned that heated look, "Why… Am… I… Here?" She said the words slowly and one at a time, as if she was talking to a child. There, let’s see him glide his way out of that one. ‘Mr. Lord, my ass.’ Kyoko huffed to herself, never breaking eye contact with him.

Having read her mind, Kyou's golden eyes glowed as they narrowed on her emerald ones. He leaned a little closer to her, knowing he would intimidate her by doing so. He could smell it.

"Your priestess powers are weak and untrained, or you would know why I know you are a priestess," he almost hissed at her, losing his composure for only a moment before his calm facade slipped back into place. "I will teach you martial arts along with strengthening… what you lack."

To Kyoko, the last of what he said almost sounded like an insult. Being the little hothead she was known for, she leaned in almost face to face with him, and the sarcasm was thick. "Maybe I only hide my true power, then when I find a deserving target, I release it." Anger was making her fearless, or stupid, at the moment she wasn't sure which one.

Kyou leaned in even closer, dipping his lips close to hers so his hot breath would caress her lips. He whispered in a dark voice, "Priestess.”

Chapter 4 "Pay Attention"

Kyoko jerked back from him, all of a sudden feeling vibes coming off him that she wasn’t supposed to feel. Something was going on here and she felt like she was the last one to know about it.

"I need answers," she whispered in a nervous voice, biting her bottom lip in hopes of getting rid of the tickling sensation Kyou had created. She wished briefly that she could get rid of the breathtaking shivers that decided to take the bullet train through her nervous system.

Inhaling her scent and feeling his blood instantly heat, Kyou leaned back. He had seen the girl’s small body shiver but not in revulsion. Glancing down, he almost smirked when he saw her arms come alive with goose bumps.

“Why are you suppressing your power? You need to be aware of your surroundings before the past is repeated." The slightly arrogant voice told her.

Kyoko gulped, "What do you mean by that?" She tensed up.

"You are aware there are immortals here at the school, are you not?" His eyes were glittering with something Kyoko had never seen, and his voice was harsh as if he were disapproving. “Demons are closing in around us as we speak.”

Kyoko's eyes widened then narrowed. Was he playing with her? "What would lead you to think that there are guardians and demons here?" she demanded with an indignant scoff.

In the blink of an eye Kyou had her by the arms and jerked her up, his head bowed down within an inch of her face. He growled angrily, "Pay attention."

Kyoko blinked, not believing what she was seeing. Standing in front of her was not who she was talking to just a moment before. She was looking into unnaturally bright, pissed off, golden eyes, and under them was the whitest small fangs, and she could feel the claws that were at that moment unknowingly digging into her arm.

His hair had lengthened to twice the length it had been only a moment before and seemed to almost float around him as if awaiting acknowledgment. With a startled yelp, Kyoko wrenched herself free from him and took a step back quickly, only for him to take a threatening step closer.

"You’re a guardian?" she stuttered lamely.

"And you are the priestess that should have already known that," he hissed stalking her even as he felt his anger fade.

She turned to make a run for the door and instantly screamed when she felt strong arms wrap around her from behind.

Kyou’s body tightened around her as she struggled. He lifted her off the ground as her feet kicked the air in her attempt to escape him. Giving her enough time to realize trying to free herself from him was futile, he placed his lips near her ear and whispered, “You will stay until you are strong enough to free yourself from these arms priestess.”

He then hauled her into the air, only to toss her again on the overstuffed sofa, where she landed with a slight bounce. Now that she was once again face to face with him, Kyoko gave him a furious scream and then blinked again when his appearance turned back to the man she had been talking to.

She glared at him angrily, balling her fist up, "What the hell is going on?"

Kyou stood calmly before her, the only difference this time was his eyes were still glowing, "You will stay here." He leaned down toward her, "You will let me train you." He placed his hands on the back of the sofa efficiently trapping her, "And this time, you will win without sacrifice." His nose was almost touching hers as he hissed the last of the statement, now showing his displeasure.

Kyoko leaned back into the sofa as far as it would allow, returning his heated gaze, but she still didn’t sense any threat from him. Even if he wasn’t human, he had no intent to harm her. She frowned at him realizing what he had just said.

"This time?" Her voice was soft, "What do you mean… This time?"

Kyou inhaled deeply, "You may have forgotten, but I have not." Her scent surrounded him and he felt the familiar twinge of pain around his forgotten heart, but she had to know the truth, "We have fought together in the past priestess, and the time is drawing near that we will have to do so again."

Kyoko's eyes softened for an instant, "Who are you?"

"Your guardian. Kyoko, I know you have forgotten because you sacrificed your memories of us in order to bring the Guardian Heart Crystal back to this world." His gaze searched hers and his voice became a mere whisper, "You must trust me."

Even though he’d just tried to frighten her everything within her was telling her to trust him. "I do… trust you." As soon as she whispered the words, she found herself pulled into his arms. At first she stiffened, then feeling the blanket of warmth that surrounded her, she gave in to the embrace relaxing against him in serene confusion.

Kyou couldn’t help it. He had been carrying the worry of rejection for far too long, and hearing those words lifted the weight of the world off his tense shoulders. He crushed her to him, surrounding himself with her scent as he nuzzled his face into her hair.

"Stay this time," He whispered in a moment of weakness.

Kyoko could feel the tenderness in his words and in his arms but still, he had just scared the hell out of her a few minutes ago, and now he was holding her as if his very life depended on it. She was caught between fearing him and wanting to reach out and caress his smooth cheek.