Defy Not The Heart

Shaking her head, she bit her bottom lip. Where on earth had that thought come from? She glanced over at Shinbe. How could she ever forgive herself for causing this to happen? She hadn’t meant for anyone to get hurt. She slowly walked over to the bed, watching him as she sat at the edge and reached her hand out to smooth the ebony-blue hair from his eyes. At least he was sleeping peacefully.

Her gaze roamed over his face, lingering on his lips. They were so soft in her dream, that’s what had caused her to try to kiss him when Toya had caught them. She had just wanted to know if they were as soft in real-life as in her dream… and they were.

Kyoko looked down at the blanket that had fallen, exposing his shoulders and chest just below his arms. He still had a bruise on one shoulder and she unconsciously reached her hand out to run a finger over it. Shinbe moaned in his sleep and she jumped, pulling her hand back and putting it to her lips. She guiltily turned, looking away.

Shinbe cracked an eye open, a smirk forming on his lips. He’d felt her weight on the edge of the bed and pretended to be asleep, but he’d secretly been watching her through his eyelashes, witnessing the emotions cross her face as she studied him. As much as his body hurt, he couldn’t help feeling aroused by her presence… it had always been that way for him. He hoped she didn’t look any lower, as he was sure a tent had formed in the lower regions.

When she touched his shoulder, he involuntarily moaned. As soon as she turned away, he sucked in his breath. Slowly releasing it, his lips parted as he inched his hand toward her. Before he could say anything, she stood up, and he let out a disappointed sigh.

Kyoko quickly turned around to see him looking at her, and his flexing hand didn’t go unnoticed. “Shinbe… what are you doing?” she stared at his hand, her head tilting to one side curiously.

Shinbe attempted to hide his hand back under the blanket letting out a groan of pain. Kyoko was immediately by his side, running her hand over his arm, trying to ease his pain, not realizing that wasn’t the kind of pain he was in.

“Please be careful, Shinbe. I want you to get better, not hurt yourself even more,” she looked down at him with sympathy in her eyes.

He smiled up at her, cherishing every moment of her tenderness, “it’s okay, Kyoko. I’m fine. Serves me right for my shameful thoughts,” He attempted a smile, and she frowned at him.

He just admitted to it? Her mind was in turmoil as she sat back down on the bed next to him. The memory of what Toya had said to her in the clearing coming back to haunt her.

“Shinbe, we really need to talk about what you and Toya fought about. He thinks that you are hiding something, and he says I shouldn’t trust you.” She felt uncomfortable asking him this, but he was the one asleep in her bed… so she felt like she had the right to at least ask. “Are you… hiding something?”

Shinbe’s thoughts went back to the night Kyoko came through the heart of time, drunk. What a predicament he’d gotten himself into. Not only would Toya kill him, but Kyoko would probably let him.

He sighed, looking away from her as his cheeks flushed, “No, I’m not hiding anything.”

Kyoko continued to study him. He wouldn’t make eye contact with her and she was convinced he was indeed hiding something. “You know I’m your friend, Shinbe. You can talk to me about anything,” she smiled and brushed her hand across his, causing him to shiver. She pulled the blanket up across his shoulders thinking he had gotten a chill.

He watched her as she continued to stare down at him, her hands still on the edge of the blanket, lightly touching his shoulders.

He whispered her name in a hoarse voice, “Kyoko.”

She glanced up to his face, blushing when she realized where her hands were. She turned her back to him feeling her cheeks began to heat. She’d been staring at his neck, daydreaming about her dream, and feeling the urge to lean down and kiss him there.

“Shinbe, remember when I came back… after the party? Where were you when I came through the time portal?” she asked timidly, not wanting to sound silly, but that dream was starting to affect her in ways that worried her.

Shinbe was taken aback by the question. Did she remember what happened and just hadn’t said anything? He stared at her back, “Kyoko, why are you asking? Did something happen?”

Kyoko blushed. Standing up, she walked to the window and looked out, “No, I just was curious where you were when I returned.” She swung around, smiling, hiding what was on her mind. “I just seem to remember you helping me from the shrine and back to Sennin’s hut,” she lied. She didn’t remember how she got there at all.

Shinbe sighed, closing his eyes. He had to digest this information. So she remembered something… what else did she remember? Now he was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. If she remembered that, she probably remembered what he did too. Or was she’s starting to suspect that maybe it wasn’t a dream. He needed to be careful for now.

He wanted to get up and fix the mess he’d caused but the pain in his head had slowly been getting worse instead of better and right now it was blinding. He felt himself sinking further away no matter how hard he tried to fight the oncoming darkness.

Kyoko glanced back at him. His eyes were closed and his breathing seemed to even out. “He’s fallen asleep,” she whispered softly then sighed. No more questions for now, he needed to rest. She turned back to her desk and sat down, picking up his clothes to finish sewing it but her eyes were burning because she’d been awake for so long. She laid her head down on the desk, his long trench coat still gripped in her hands on her lap, and she fell asleep.

*****

Toya stood in front of the maiden statue, cursing Kyoko. She’d sealed the heart of time, and he was unable to break the spell. Why the hell did she do that? She needed protecting from that damn letch. Didn’t she understand that?

“Damn it Kyoko!” he yelled as if she could hear him on the other side. Toya tensed as he sensed a presence and prepared himself. Kyou? What the hell did he want? He waited for his brother to appear.

Kyou stood at the far end of the clearing, his clothing billowing in the breeze. Tucking a loose strand of silver hair behind his ear, he approached Toya. “You call to the priestess?”

Toya’s hand flexed as one of the twin daggers slipped into existence due to his agitation. “Yeah, what about it?” he wasn’t in the mood to be bullied by his older brother.

Kyou looked past Toya, towards the shrine. “Am I not allowed to be concerned about my brother’s fate?” his expression was emotionless as he continued to stare at the maiden statue suspiciously. He sensed old blood on Toya and identified it as Shinbe’s. He was also sensing Kyoko’s scent, mingled with the guardians.

“Since when do you care?” Toya took a step toward Kyou.

Kyou sniffed the air, narrowing his eyes at Toya. “You failed to claim the priestess as your mate?” His eyes glinted with undisclosed laughter, “How foolish of you to allow our brother to try and claim what is yours.”

Toya growled low in his throat, “What are you talking about, Kyou?”

Kyou could sense the grass was tainted, even if he could not see its evil aura. “Being a guardian, your senses are weak,” he turned his back on Toya and began to walk back towards the woods as his golden wings appeared across his back.

“Come back here, Kyou! What are you talking about?” Toya yelled behind him as Kyou took off towards the sky.

He smirked down at Toya, “You are foolish, little brother. You should never underestimate the enemy.”

Toya turned to glare at the shrine, angry that he could not pass through it. Kyoko’s scent still hung thick in the air. He took off towards the cave he’d been staying in since his return from Kyoko’s time. He didn’t want to face anyone right now. He only hoped that when Kyoko returned, she’d be able to smooth things over within the group.

But for now, he wanted to be alone to ponder what Kyou had said. He knew Kyoko would never be with that lecherous guardian through her own will. But if Kyou was right and Shinbe dared to touch her, the next time, he’d be dead.

*****

Kyoko was startled awake by Shinbe’s moans. She rushed to his bedside, placing her hand on his forehead. He was sweating profusely and burning up with a fever at the same time. “Not good… oh this is so not good,” She whispered as she grabbed the bottle of aspirin and poured some water in a glass. Her hand was slightly shaking at the fact he was, for some reason, getting worse.

“Shinbe,” she gently shook his shoulder, attempting to wake him long enough to get the aspirin in him. “Damn,” she mumbled the word softly then she placed the glass back on the table when he wouldn’t wake up and ran from the room, now beginning to panic.