The Heart Of Time

Kyoko gnawed on her bottom lip, wondering if she was going to have to tell him her every move. "I didn’t know I had to tell you if I was going out," she tried to keep her voice calm, but knew she had to stand her ground with him in order to have some freedom.

"I’m going out with Suki and Shinbe tonight," she said the words firmly, hoping he would not try to stop her.

Kyou took a step closer, only for her to take a step back from him so she wouldn’t have to look up at him. He smirked inwardly as he took another step forward. He literally backed her up against the wall, surrounding himself with her scent.

"Dressed like that?" his voice sounded angry.

Kyoko's eyes widened now that he was only inches from her, and she was looking up at him. He was so tall. What had he said? Her eyes snapped a little sharper. Dressed like…?

"What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?" she shrank back against the wall when he lowered his face next to her ear. She could feel his warm breath on her neck.

"Are you looking for a mate?" he whispered dangerously against her ear.

Kyoko was suddenly afraid of the guardian standing in front of her. The words he’d uttered would have sent her into a rage under ordinary circumstances, but now they just made her want to find a nice dark corner to hide in. If a pin had dropped, it would have sounded like thunder in the silence. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard another voice so close to them.

"Kyoko, are you ready?" Toya leaned against the wall watching them. He could smell Kyoko's fear from ten feet away. He gave Kyou a scowl as he watched Kyoko duck under his arm and walk quickly toward him.

Kyou straightened back up, once again appearing indifferent as he watched Toya step between him and Kyoko, hiding her from his sight.

Now where have I seen this before, he thought with annoyance then stated coldly. "If she is going, you are not to leave her side." The muscle in his jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth, not liking the fact that Toya was seeing her dressed so scantily.

Toya could tell Kyou was serious, and the look in his eyes almost gave him cold chills. "I already know this," he snapped then turned and took Kyoko's hand in his, "Come on." He requested softly.

Kyoko wasn’t going to argue with that, and didn’t mind the fact that Toya was practically propelling her in front of him. ‘The faster the better,’ she thought. At the moment she wanted nothing better than to hurry, now that she was completely wigged-out, she practically flew down the steps.

Toya let go of her hand as soon as he knew they were out of Kyou’s eyesight. He watched as she sped up, a frown creasing his brow. He had picked up what Kyou had said to her. He being a guardian, his hearing was excellent. He had gone to find Kyoko when Suki had practically flown down the stairs, almost knocking him down in the process.

It angered him at the words he had heard Kyou whisper into Kyoko’s ear, and it was all he could do to pretend he had not heard it. He never had thoughts of hurting Kyou but… the thought of Kyou saying such things to Kyoko brought out the worst in him. She’d done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment.

Toya tried to push down the bad feeling he had as they met up with the others.

*****

As they entered the club, Suki noticed that Kyoko was still being unusually quiet and she finally got up the nerve to ask, "What was that all about with Kyou anyway?"

"Nothing really,” Kyoko answered not really wanting to talk about it, and then she remembered what else he’d said, "He did say that from now on, no one is allowed on that floor except me and Toya." She shrugged sadly then noticed Toya was still watching her.

She wondered if he’d heard what Kyou had said, then blushed and quickly looked away not really wanting to know the answer to that question. This was probably her last night of freedom, so she cleared her mind and looked around intending to enjoy herself one way or the other.

Suki's eyes widened when she felt arms go around her from behind and pull her against a strong body. Twisting her neck so she could see, her gaze connected with amethyst ones.

Shinbe dipped his head down to her neck, snuggling against her, grinning. "Come dance with me,” He beckoned in a seductive voice.

“But we just got here,” Suki tried to pull away halfheartedly.

“I know,” Shinbe winked at Kyoko. “I wanted to grab you up before anyone else could.” He deliberately slid his hand seductively across her belly before turning her in his arms to face him. Giving Kyoko a mischievous look he stated, “She might be back.”

Suki nodded, trying to hide the red that instantly splashed across her cheeks. Shinbe led her off to the dance floor, leaving Kyoko and Toya standing there.

Kyoko knew her nerves couldn’t take much more and she took off to the bar thinking a drink would loosen her up some. She didn’t even look to see if Toya followed. She knew he had been ordered to watch her. It wasn’t as if they were on a date. She almost felt sorry for him.

She turned her attention to the guy behind the bar saying with a shrug of her shoulders, "Whatever the special is." she smiled and he nodded. She laid a twenty down on the bar. She hadn’t a clue what to order; seeing as how this was the first time she had ever been in a bar. She pretended like she had done it a thousand times because she’d witnessed it that many times through movies and TV… she only hoped no one would notice her nervousness.

Toya came to stand beside Kyoko after noticing the bartender kept watching her while he made her drink. He caught the guy’s gaze and growled, warning him to back off. Toya could feel more eyes on Kyoko other than the bartender’s, and he didn’t like it.

Kyoko turned around when her drink was ready and tried to smile at the bartender again as she thanked him, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. 'Well, that’s strange,' she thought, but hearing someone say her name, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Kamui coming. She smiled at him, then took a swallow of her drink, and almost choked on the strong burning flavor.

Kamui watched her set the drink back on the bar almost spilling it. He grinned as she caught her breath, gasping. "You have to watch out Kyoko, the drinks here are strong." He frowned at the bartender disapprovingly, and then smiled when she seemed to be able to breathe again.

"No kidding,” Kyoko wheezed, wiping a tear from her eye. "That drink is mainlining to kill, geez," she groaned, blinking.

Toya nodded to Kamui as if giving him permission to talk to Kyoko. His gaze wandered the room noticing guardian and human weren’t the only inhabitants within the flickering lights of the club. His lips thinned feeling demons hidden within the shadows.

Kamui watched Kyoko smile at Shinbe and Suki as she watched them dance. When the lights flickered from red to green then blue… the electric blue tint seemed to surround her for an instant, causing Kamui’s vision to tunnel and another image surfaced.

Within his mind's eye, he could see Kyoko running from a huge demon. As his sight skimmed the area, he could tell the field she was in dropped off at a massive cliff. He screamed her name in warning but as she turned to look for him… she never saw the dangerous edge of the cliff as she took the next lethal step.

Kamui could feel the adrenalin rush through him as his wings sprang from his back with a shower of colorful sparkles. As he flew over the demon, he shot an angry life force blast that disintegrated the demon on impact. Pulling his wings inward, he let his body dive off the cliff in a headlong rush to reach her.

Just as the ground was coming up at an alarming rate of speed, he grabbed Kyoko, releasing his wings and floating safely to the ground. When her emerald eyes connected with his Kamui asked, “You just wanted me to save you… didn’t you?”

Coming out of the light trance, he knew that couldn’t have been just a daydream… somehow, somewhere, it had really happened. His eyes focused on her and he wanted to once again feel her in his arms just like he had in the strange memory.

Kamui reached out and grabbed her hand, "Come on Kyoko. Dance with me." The moment his hand touched hers, he felt his heart swell with some unknown feeling. Glittering dust of every color leapt into his bright eyes.

She nodded, loving the song that was playing and already feeling the beat of it making her want to move. They headed straight for Suki and Shinbe out on the crowded dance floor.

Toya turned back just in time to see Kamui pull Kyoko toward the dance floor and frowned. Running his fingers through his wayward bangs he leaned back against the bar, fighting the feeling he had to simply take Kyoko and hide her from the world.

“At least it’s not a slow song.” he grumbled under his breath then gritted his teeth not believing those words had slipped out.

Suki and Shinbe were having a great time when Kamui and Kyoko joined them. The guys were facing the girls in a fast dance. Kyoko hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. Three songs later, she and Suki were ready for a break. As they headed off the dance floor, a slow song started.

Someone grabbed Kyoko from behind, whispering in her ear, "My turn," and swung her around into his arms, away from the others, and back onto the dance floor.

Kyoko came face to face with Kotaro and smiled as she felt the light rush of cool air sweep across her heated face. She knew for some reason he was the cause of the breeze.