Raging Hearts. Amy Blankenship

could you Toya? Kyou I can understand kissing me like that, but you? You were supposed to be protecting me! That means my feelings too! You shouldn’t have done that to me! Not when you knew I couldn’t help it! The last thing you should have done was kiss me… like that!”

      Toya felt the spell start to get lighter and he fought to raise himself from the hard packed ground. "Kyoko let me explain."

      "No!” Kyoko screamed. "I can fix this problem. I don’t have a boyfriend in this world and I don’t want a boyfriend in this world! If I get a boyfriend, he will be from my own world. And don’t follow me! I’ll be back in a couple of days and when I come back, I don’t want anyone to ever mention this again! Understand? It! Never! Happened!" She yelled the last part just as she touched the maiden’s hands and disappeared.

      By the time Toya pulled himself up from the ground, he was fuming. "Damn it!” She didn’t let him get a single word in. She wouldn’t let him tell her he didn’t want her to go home or that he wanted her to be his or anything. ‘So, she doesn’t want a boyfriend in this world.’

      Toya’s eyebrow twitched. "What did she mean by that? She didn’t want a boyfriend in this world… that she would get one in her own?" He turned to look at the maiden statue, screaming at the top of his lungs. "What did you mean by that Kyoko? You get back here right now, damn it!"

      Toya sighed, knowing she was way past hearing him. It’d never dawned on him that someone who was from her world would maybe claim her as a mate. He got a chill just thinking about it. No, she was bluffing. She had to be bluffing, and if she wasn’t, he knew how to solve that problem. He would just get rid of the guy. No, then Kyoko would hate him for life. She’d never forgive him if he hurt a human.

      â€œA human could never protect you,” Toya growled in frustration then sensed a presence and looked toward the maiden statue. Kyou’s calm form materialized in the clearing in front of him. ‘Damn! He needed this about as much as he needed a hole in the head.’

      "The priestess has run from you and returned to her world." His emotionless tones were more of a statement instead of a question.

      "It’s none of your damn business Kyou, so why don’t you… go kiss some other girl and leave Kyoko alone." Although they were brothers, both guardians over Kyoko and the guardian heart crystal, Toya still didn’t trust him… especially with Kyoko. "Kyoko is mine, understand? Just leave her alone.”

      "She is yours, you say?” Kyou’s tone was almost bored. "She is pure and has no mate. She is not yours." The wind began to blow through the clearing and Kyou vanished with it, leaving Toya standing there with a sinking feeling as he watched one of Kyou’s golden feathers land in the statues outstretched hands then vanish.

      Toya leaned back against the side of the maiden statue and slowly slid down it until he was sitting… waiting. Minutes turned into hours and Toya blinked up at the sky. When had the sun gone down? He knew that the others were on their way. He could smell their scent coming in on the breeze. He just stayed there, waiting for them to show themselves.

      Suki nudged Shinbe forward into the clearing whispering, “Go talk to him Shinbe. Maybe it will help. We’ll go down a ways and make camp, okay?" She gave him another nudge forward.

      Shinbe knew Toya was probably not in a good mood. He never was when Kyoko went back to her own time but he would do anything for Kyoko and Suki. Right now, one of them wanted him to find out what happen and see if he could say anything that would help. Taking a deep breath, he approached quietly, secretly hoping Toya was asleep.

      "What do you want Shinbe?” Toya said, startling the amethyst guardian.

      Shinbe made his way to Toya and sat down beside him. "So, she still mad?"

      Toya slowly looked over at Shinbe. "What gave you that idea?"

      Shinbe pointed with his staff to the Toya shaped hole in the ground. "Well, that’s a new one, isn’t it?” he couldn’t help but smile at his own joke. Toya glared over at him and his sibling quit smirking. Shinbe sighed. "Did you get to talk to her at all?"

      Toya shrugged. "She wouldn’t let me say anything. She was too mad to listen. Now she’s gone back and I have a bad feeling. We need her here." In his mind he silently added, ‘I need her here.’

      Shinbe nodded. "Maybe it would help if you just went to check on her. After all, you are the only one of us who can do it. And next time, don’t try to explain things. Just say you’re sorry, okay?" he stood up and walked away a couple of steps before stopping and adding. "If she does give you a chance to explain, make sure you tell her that you love her. After all… she’s not a mind reader.”

      Toya waited until Shinbe was well out of sight before standing up and heaving a sigh to steady his nerves. Looking down into the face of the maiden statue, he secretly wondered if Kyoko’s look-alike from the past was as hard to handle as her descendant. In order to find that secret out he’d have to ask Hyakuhei and that was out.

      Reaching for the maiden’s hands, he disappeared into the engulfing blue light. Jumping through the time barrier always gave him the willies. It reminded him of drowning… but without the water.

      The other guardians often griped about him being the only one who could do it but Toya had come to his own conclusion on that… the Taming spell. Fair was fair. He was the only one Kyoko could use the spell on, so he was the only one who could chase her down in her world and drag her back.

      â€˜What am I doing? She’s just going to use that damn spell if she catches me following her,’ Toya climbed up the small flight of stairs and out of the shrine house that set in Kyoko’s back yard. He’d never been very good at listening to that little voice in his head so why start now. The night was calm and cool, helping steady him for the confrontation.

      Looking up at Kyoko’s house and seeing none of the normal lights on, he decided to walk around her house until he saw her bedroom window. This wasn’t the first time he’d chosen this entrance. Besides, it would just be his luck to run into that freak of a grandfather she had.

      Swiftly climbing the tree outside Kyoko’s bedroom, Toya smiled when he noted the window was cracked and her light was out. He put his hands on the window and quietly opened it the rest of the way, cringing when it gave a slight creaking sound.

      Climbing into her room, Toya crept over to her bed. She was half covered, with her small hand curled under her chin, lying on her side with her auburn hair fanned out around her on the white pillow. He slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over her, watching her breathe.

      He loved to watch her sleep. Being a guardian, he didn’t sleep as much as a human so he had many opportunities to just sit and watch her without her knowing. Toya’s thoughts drifted back to the kiss… both kisses.

      The way he saw it, he’d still been himself, even when his demonic side took over… both sides were a part of him. And although she was under that love spell… it was still her. Besides… it was just a kiss. His golden eyes sparkled with silver at the memory of the passionate kiss, making him flinch as the hunger slammed back into him.

      Did she not understand that he could never turn her down, not when it came to her wanting a kiss from him? What actually saddened him was that neither kiss had been real. He growled inwardly trying to chase that fact away. For him, it had been real.

      When the first streaks of dawn came, Toya climbed back out the window and sat on a limb of the tree… waiting.

      Kyoko woke up stretching and opened her eyes. She instantly felt that something wasn’t right. Sitting up and looking around her room she frowned feeling the hot spot under her hand. She instantly noticed the imprint where someone had been there… beside her. She couldn’t help the small smile that graced her lips. Toya had been there with her.