A Light In The Heart Of Darkness. Amy Blankenship

Kyou whispered as he disappeared into the night, leaving behind the image of an avenging angel…

      *****

      The park was always peaceful this time of the day. It was still afternoon and the sun was high in the sky. Kotaro strolled lazily through the trees close to the center where a huge block of marble was sitting. He had no idea where it came from… it had been there for as long as he could remember, it was even older then the city itself. All he knew for sure was that he felt an overwhelming sense of peace whenever he was near it.

      â€˜Who’d figure that a square rock would bring about tranquil thoughts?’ Kotaro muttered to himself.

      Taking another path between the trees, he made his way over to the stone so he could look at it. Even if he’d been completely happy that day… just making sure it was still there made him feel better.

      Kotaro stopped in his tracks when he entered the center where it was and frowned at the individual sitting Indian style on the top of it with elbows on his knees and chin cupped in his hands. Short purple hair swayed in the soft breeze making the young looking man seem very childlike.

      â€œWhat the hell are you doing here?” Kotaro demanded.

      Kamui grinned without looking at him. Instead, he nodded in the direction of the college off in the distance. “Waiting for class to start.”

      Kotaro shook his head and moved on before stopping again and whirling around to face Kamui. “What are you talking about? You don’t even go to this school.”

      Kamui winked before slowly fading out of existence in a flurry of glittering rainbow dust. “I know.”

      Kotaro glared at the dust swirling about before it vanished completely. “Sometimes that boy is such an enigma,” he informed the now empty space then his eyes moved lower as if caressing the stone. He heard the sound of running feet hitting the pavement but didn’t really notice until someone tapped him on the shoulder. He literally jumped and spun around to see Hoto and Toki bent over with their hands resting on their knees trying to catch their breath.

      â€œWhat’s got you two winded?” Kotaro asked with a smirk as he regained his composure.

      Hoto waved a piece of paper in front of him. “For you… from police… important.”

      Kotaro took the paper, “From the police huh? Must be really big to make you two run the marathon.”

      Toki nodded before falling over onto his side to rest. Hoto merely sank to his knees and rested his head on the grass.

      â€œYou two are the biggest wimps I’ve ever seen,” Kotaro complained good-naturedly.

      â€œSide hurts,” Toki whined. “Must get back… to… air conditioned… office.”

      Kotaro sighed in resignation and left them to bake in the warm sunshine before opening the note. His hand closed, crinkling the paper he had just received from the police station not far from campus. Another girl had disappeared without a trace. He had spent a long time investigating the disappearances of many young girls, which had eventually led him to the college where he was now head of security.

      His thoughts instantly turned to his beloved Kyoko. He had found her again and just as he had expected… Toya was not far away. One thing that had surprised him was the fact that Toya had been reborn normal… human, or so it seemed.

      Sometimes he could feel the true Toya lying just beneath the surface… unaware of his own existence, but so far that part of him had remained asleep. “Thank God for small favors.” Kotaro ran an agitated hand through his windblown hair.

      It suited him fine that neither of them remembered the past… it was a memory best forgotten. He wished he had the same privilege to forget… but for him, the memory remained… often waking him up at night in a cold sweat.

      Leaving the park he found himself standing on the stone walk in front of the campus. Kotaro lifted his ice blue eyes in the direction Kyoko lived. He frowned as concern etched his features and had the sudden urge to check in on ‘his woman’.

      The long part of his layered dark hair was pulled back in a band hanging low. The rest of his hair from bangs to crown was in a constant state of looking naturally windblown; giving him the appearance of a punk bad boy but that suited him just fine. This appearance had served him more than once in recent years.

      His body was tall with slender muscles… but looks could be deceiving. He didn’t have an ounce of fat to spare and was stronger than fifty human men put together. The only people who knew of his inhuman strength were those who chose to give him a hard time or dared to get in his way. And those few were too scared to say a word. No one on campus knew Kotaro’s secret side and he wanted to keep it that way.

      Kotaro was responsible for the safety of every person that walked on campus whether it was a visitor, student or faculty member. Young women had started disappearing from this area about a month ago at an alarming rate and mostly from the grid surrounding the college grounds.

      A low growl formed deep within his chest as he inhaled the scents around him. The air had become tainted with an ancient scent… evil. He was getting closer to the one who was responsible for more than just the missing girls… he could feel it. Pushing those thoughts aside for now, he started walking briskly toward the surrounding apartments that housed many of the innocent college students.

      He would go check in on Kyoko and if she would let him, his eyes darkened attractively… he wouldn’t leave her side for the rest of the day… or night. He only hoped Toya wasn’t hanging around her again today. He wanted her all to himself. After all, she was truly his woman and that ‘boy’ would have to get a life.

      His steps slowed for a moment at the irony of it… he was glad Toya at least now had a life. An almost amused smirk appeared as he mentally threatened that life if he didn’t quit hounding Kyoko all the time.

      Just the thought of her sitting next to him on her comfortable couch, eating popcorn, and watching some cheesy movie sounded like the perfect evening. They shared something like that at least once a week and to him… that was his favorite part of the week. He got his uninterrupted time with the auburn haired beauty. It didn’t matter whether they were watching a movie or just sitting on her couch talking… he just loved the feel of her snuggled next to him.

      Kotaro smirked to himself in satisfaction as he wondered what it would be like to always be by her side… day and night.

      His smirk faded at his next thought… Kyoko hadn’t actually chosen him over Toya, yet. At least not in this lifetime. “Some things never change.” He looked upward as if sending a silent sarcastic ‘thanks for all the help in that area.’ to whoever was listening. Something told him the gods had to have the most disturbing since of humor.

      *****

      Finals were finally over and Kyoko had been singing those words all afternoon. She had been a good girl and studied till she was sick to death of it, but it had all paid off. She just knew she’d aced those evil tests. That thought alone had made her want to do a happy dance all the way back to her apartment today.

      In fact, the first thing she’d done as soon as she walked in the door was fling her books across the living room like they were disease infested and finally succumbed to the urge… performing an impromptu ‘happy dance’ right in the doorway, looking like she had a bit of geek left in her after all.

      This was immediately followed by her own rendition of a touchdown dance she’d seen Toya do once, shaking her butt all the way down the hall to her bathroom so she could run a hot bubble bath. Kyoko then decided if she was going to do this it would be done right and went to turn on her stereo and grabbed a few candles.

      She was still making cute victory noises by the time the