Defy Not The Heart

Is that why he’d lain down beside her? To keep her warm? Her blush deepened. ‘Aww, that was so sweet,’ she shook her head from side to side. ‘No, no, no! What am I thinking? Not sweet, not sweet,’ she sighed, smiling softly at him. ‘I give up.’

She slowly, cautiously bent down, gripping the blanket, and froze when he suddenly moved in his sleep. She stood back, waiting to see if he would wake up. He didn’t. So, she quickly threw the blanket over his sleeping form, grabbed her bag, and then made a mad dash for the door.

Shinbe opened one eye as he watched her retreat. Once she was out of sight, he laughed inwardly, 'Another lucky save.' Then he frowned wondering why he didn’t have a handprint on his cheek… or a crack in his skull. He slowly stood up and counted to ten, then followed to see where Kyoko had gone.

Once outside, Kyoko leaned against a nearby tree realizing she should have probably stayed in bed. Her heart was pounding and her body was sore all over. She bent down massaging her legs. She remembered dancing with Tasuki last night after she’d ate the tainted fruit but it felt more like she’d been hit by a truck. A nice hot soak in the hot springs would ease the muscle cramps.

She once again made a mental note to never eat fruit at a party again. Then a thought struck her. Toya will pick up Shinbe’s scent on her clothes. Ahh! The last thing she wanted to do was get Shinbe in trouble when he didn’t even do anything. She stumbled away from the hut, groaning at the lingering hangover but determined to wash not only her pain away but her clothing too.

*****

Toya growled deep in the back of his throat as he surveyed the village they had come to. He gritted his teeth knowing they were too late. The village was in shambles. It seemed that no matter what they did lately, they were always one step behind Hyakuhei and his demons. He scowled, searching the village for survivors.

"There must have been a piece of the talisman hidden here for him to have bothered destroying the whole village." Toya's golden eyes grew dim with worry.

"We need to help them," Suki said softly as she walked into the village with Kamui by her side. She bent down to check on a crying child that seemed to be sitting there lost and alone.

For a moment, Toya closed his eyes to the familiar scene as his blood boiled. He knew Hyakuhei had almost every piece of the talisman in his possession and didn’t care whom he hurt to get the rest of it. After all, Hyakuhei had even killed his own brother. Now the guardians were trying to protect Kyoko from the same murderer.

If Hyakuhei succeeded in collecting all the pieces of the crystal, he would be able to break into Kyoko’s world and take many demons with him. They couldn’t let that happen. He felt a cold chill crawl up his spine and knew something was wrong.

‘Kyoko,’ the word echoed within his mind like a warning.

"You two, stay here and help. I have to go check on Kyoko, now!” Toya shouted, tearing off in the direction they’d come from. He knew something was not right… he could feel it clear down to his soul. He should have never left her without his protection, not with Hyakuhei’s demon spawns so close. He couldn’t shake the fear of losing the other half of his heart.

"I won’t let him touch you," Toya vowed in his headlong race to reach Kyoko, before danger did.

Chapter 3 "Kiss of Jealousy"

Kyoko set off in the direction of the hot spring. She was tired, sore, and couldn’t wait to just be able to relax in steamy water. She stumbled on a rock and wondered if it was going to take weeks to get her balance back after getting drunk only one time.

“Damn it… Geez, now I sound just like Toya,” she said to herself with a giggle.

Shinbe followed quietly, peeking out from behind trees ever so often. He had to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape him when he heard the comment about her sounding like Toya. It was great to find out he wasn’t the only one in the group that held complete conversations with their self. If he was crazy, then they made a great couple. He stayed back long enough to let her gain some distance between them.

Finally getting to the secluded hot spring, Kyoko rummaged through her bag. Finding what she needed, she arranged her bathing supplies by the side of the water. She quickly undressed, easing her aching body into the steaming water. “Umm, this feels so good.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her legs, trying to ease the tightness that were slow in leaving. Finally satisfied, she lay back in the water and completely relaxed.

Shinbe leaned against a tree as he watched in fascination of her daily ritual. She was graceful and pure… he suddenly felt guilty again for his actions. He turned his back to the scene and placed a hand over his heart where the pain seemed to tighten.

He shouldn’t be here… he was not a good man. She was going to hate him when she realized what he’d done to her. He frowned as the weight on his chest became that much heavier. But still, he couldn’t resist the urge to turn around and stare longingly. He sighed longingly as he watched her sink into the water.

“This is so much better than the small bathtub at home in the modern world,” Kyoko broke the silence as she glanced around. It was more like a hidden swimming pool really. This spot was so peaceful and secluded. Trees and small shrubs surrounded the hot spring, giving her absolute privacy. ‘The stone ledge on one side would be nice for sunbathing.’ she thought randomly with a smile. She hummed in contentment as she floated on top of the water.

After floating in the water for a moment, she decided she’d better get on with the cleansing part. She lathered her hair then ducked under the water to rinse, coming up with a splash, only to put more stuff on her hair and do it again. Then before getting out, she took time to scrub her clothes clean, hoping the sun would dry them quickly.

Sneaking closer, Shinbe watched intently from the security of a bush about ten feet away. He took in the curves of her body. Gods, she was beautiful… like a goddess emerging from the spring. She tied a cloth around her upper torso before wrapping one around her hair then ever so slowly she dried her body.

He’d watched her bathe in secret many times before, but never been able to stick around long enough to enjoy this part. Usually someone came looking for him before she had time to finish. He sighed as she slowly ran the cloth down her long legs. Pain found him causing him to grit his teeth as she put on those small pieces of clothing that covered her most precious places. It was all he could do not to take the few steps that would put her within reaching distance.

A crunching sound suddenly came from the opposite side of the hot springs. Shinbe heard it, and so had Kyoko because she stood frozen in place. They both listened intently for more sounds. Another twig snapped but this time it came from a bush closer to Kyoko. He watched in horror as Kyoko walked straight up to a large shrub, holding her towel in front of her like a shield, and called out.

“Okay, Shinbe! I know it’s you! Come out… so I can slap you!” Kyoko waited, eyeing the shrub wearily. Shinbe was a known peeping tom. She cocked an eyebrow in annoyance, and he was the only one around so…. The bush shook gently. “I know you’re there, and when Toya finds out your spying on me, he’s probably gonna kill you. Not to mention, I’m sure Suki won’t mind beating on you either.”

The shrub shook again and a long black pointy leg came out from behind the tangled limbs.

“What the…!” Kyoko turned to run just as a very large demonic scorpion climbed out from behind the vegetation. She ran towards her clothes where she had left her crossbow inside the pack.

“Kyoko! Get down!” Shinbe came running out of the opposite bushes with a big stick raised in his hand like a spear. He threw it at the demon. The red eyed scorpion saw it coming and swung one leg around, blocking the pointed weapon, and sent it sailing through the air. It landed at Kyoko’s feet, just as she bent down to pick up her crossbow. Her brow twitched as she realized just how close that had come to hitting her.

Shinbe ran towards her, bending down to pick up the stick. With a quirk of an eyebrow, he looked at Kyoko and grinned crookedly. “Why Kyoko, I do believe you are just a little under dressed for killing a demon.” His grin grew wider at the look on her face. Then her look turned to pure horror.

Feeling a foreboding chill race up his back, Shinbe turned around, swinging his makeshift staff wildly as the scorpion demon lunged at them. He was able to hit one hairy leg, but the other struck him in the side, throwing him away from Kyoko. Shinbe’s blood froze as the deadly scorpion stalked closer to the priestess.

He knew the demon possessed creature could sense the power within her. Knowing he had to do something fast, he used his telekinetic powers to lift a good sized rock, and flung it as hard as he could, smirking as it struck the scorpion on the head.

The demon screeched and swung its head around to pin a glare at the wounded guardian. Shinbe lay on the ground struggling to get back up as the demon came after him again. He rolled just in time to point the sharp end of the stick up as the demon came crashing down on him. Shinbe’s amethyst eyes glowed as he whispered a spell to soften the monsters hard flesh.

Kyoko screamed Shinbe’s name in panic as she watched the demon descend on him. Everything happened so quickly that she didn’t have time to even blink. One moment the demon was jumping on him, and the next, the end of that same stick was sticking out its back as black blood oozed to the ground. She watched as the possessed scorpion twitched before becoming limp and falling heavily on top of Shinbe.

“Shinbe!” Kyoko screamed in panic. She ran to him seeing the blood pooling on the dirt around them at an alarmingly fast pace. She gave a mental cringe hoping none of that blood was coming from her guardian but it was hard to tell with the oversize spawn covering everything except one side of Shinbe’s face. His eyes were closed and for a moment her heart stopped as fear washed across her.

Shinbe could sense it, Kyoko was still terrified and whatever it was making her feel that way, he had to destroy. With a shudder to fight the pain, he opened his eyes to find her staring down at him, pale as a ghost. His heart thudded hard as he realized she was frightened for him. He could feel warmth in his veins as her fear eased from seeing that he was alive.

Shinbe spoke in a raspy voice, “Kyoko, please. Help me… get it off.” He strained to shove the dead beast off, but his arms were trapped between it and his body. Even possessed, the mindless demon should not weigh as much as it did, and should not have put up such a fight. His eyes narrowed sensing a shattered piece of the crystal so close to him, “Kyoko, it’s riding the power of a talisman… find it.”

Kyoko quit pushing at the gigantic creature for a moment, trying to focus her power to scan its body. When the guardian heart crystal had shattered and rained down across the demon realm, it had sent demons of all sizes into a frenzy to find the powerful shards. This must have been a small scorpion at one time… until it was lucky enough to be possessed by a demon then come across one of the missing pieces and get one hell of a power boost.

“There!” she gasped as she noticed a small electric blue glow coming from its neck. Stifling the urge to retch, Kyoko looked into its still open mouth. Making a face, she reached in and grabbed the crystal, watching as the scorpions size automatically began to shrink. Quickly, she pushed and it slid to the side enough that Shinbe was able to push it the rest of the way off before it shriveled up smaller than the size of her hand.

Kyoko looked down at him, his long midnight blue hair obscuring his face, but from its movement she could see he was trying to catch his breath. Her gaze traveled his body looking for wounds. His side was bleeding profusely where the demon had hit him hard with its pointed leg. She looked around blindly for something to stop the bleeding. Then she ran to her towel, knowing it would be good to press against the wound.

Shinbe sat up giving a disgusted glare at the dead little bug. With his hand over the slice in his side, he turned his attention back to Kyoko and silently watched her run to get the towel she’d discarded in her haste. His gaze roamed her body, completely forgetting about the pain he was in.

'She has forgotten she is still unclothed,' he thought, 'Well, I’m not going to remind her.' He tried to keep his expression calm as she came back with the towel.

Kyoko sat down beside Shinbe, tugging on his trench coat, trying to see the wound. "Shinbe, do you think you can remove this," she fingered the cloth. "I need to see where all of this blood is coming from."

Her voice was still breathless and soft to his ears, almost seductive sounding. He was so mystified about how much she really cared that he forgot to fantasize about her asking him to take off his clothes.

Shinbe removed his robe-like coat, and undid the icy-blue shirt underneath. It fell off his shoulders and slid down his arms to lie in a pool around him, baring his chest and taunt stomach muscles to her, along with the gash on his hip. He reached down and pushed that side of the lose pants down a couple inches, so she could better see, but left his arm across his lap to hide the evidence of his erection.

Kyoko swallowed as she tried to stay focused on the wound, instead of what surrounded it. Placing a hand across his exposed skin to steady herself, she pressed firmly with the white cloth, watching it turn crimson. She felt his muscles jerk under her palm and it sent heat shooting up her arm. Her startled emerald eyes went quickly to his, locking with his amethyst gaze.

He noticed the blush spread across her cheeks as their eyes met and wondered at it, feeling his own flesh heat where her soft hand was touching him. "Kyoko, are you all right?" He watched her nod weakly as she looked back down at the towel, removing it gently to see if the bleeding had stopped. Seeing it had, she went to wet the rag so she could clean the rest of the blood off him.

Shinbe looked down, thinking to himself, 'No wonder it quit bleeding, all the blood has rushed to another destination.’ He sighed, quickly clearing the thought away as she came back and kneeled over him, giving him another view of her bra-clad breast. His darkening amethyst gaze darted back to her face. He knew she had to put some clothes on if he was to keep his dignity.

Kyoko was slowly wiping the blood from his skin, making sure to be very, very gentle when she heard him say her name in a husky strained voice. She stopped her movements and lifted her face towards his. But the way she was leaning, she found herself only mere inches from his face. His eyes almost glowed and he seemed so much larger than life at that moment. Her focus slowly lowered to his lips as neither of them said a word.