The Heart Of Time

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.”