The Heart Of Time. Amy Blankenship

but she couldn’t remember. Still, she didn’t like Toya’s high and mighty attitude so she just cocked an eyebrow as if silently asking him if he wanted to bet on that.

      Suki seemed to want to come to Kyoko's defense, "Toya, can't you be civil for one damn minute? She’s only been here a couple hours, and before you run her off, I’d like to convince her to stay." She looked almost sad at the thought of losing Kyoko so quickly.

      Toya raised an annoyed eyebrow, glancing over at Suki, "Well, she didn’t even answer my question. Do you think she can handle it?" he turned the glare back to Kyoko.

      "I can handle anything you can think to throw at me, asshole," Kyoko informed him, her words beginning to ice.

      Suki and Shinbe glanced at each other. They’d never heard anyone but themselves and the owner of the university stand up to Toya like that, except maybe Kotaro. Then they both smirked, knowing they were definitely going to like this girl named Kyoko.

      A waiter showed up at the table with a tray of food, and Kyoko turned her attention from Toya to him. The guy stared at Kyoko a little too long, and her senses started to tingle, telling her something was up. She looked up into dark eyes that didn’t seem to fit the boyish face belonging to the young man.

      Something about him drew Kyoko in… though she didn’t know if she really liked the feeling. Sure, he was cute to look at but something about him made her slightly uneasy. She blinked trying to rid herself of the spell the young man seemed to emit without even trying. The mood was ultimately broken when she heard a low growl come from beside her.

      Toya felt coldness crawl across his skin and growled at the guy, seeming to shake him out of his daze. As the boy’s eyes refocused on Toya's, they seemed to shimmer from jet-black to a silver-blue as he turned and fled the table.

      Kyoko gave Suki a confused look, but Suki only shrugged it off, taking a bite of her own food. Beside her, Shinbe coughed into his hand trying to hide his weird sense of humor as he watched the guy race across the room. Kyoko was getting some very weird vibes from this guy ‘Toya’ and wasn’t going to rest until she found out what his problem was. She leaned back in her chair and studied him for a moment.

      His long hair was the strangest color of midnight with thick silver highlights running wildly through it, and his eyes were beautiful… HE was beautiful. 'Mental note to self, smack yourself later for thinking that.' His eyes were flaming gold dust, no doubt about it. He would have been cute if it wasn't for the look he was now giving her.

      Suki sighed. She needed to have a talk with Kyoko about making Toya too mad. He did have his line and it wasn’t good to cross it. And it wasn’t fair that Kyoko had no idea she was pissing off a guardian.

      â€œI have found that if you play with fire… you often get burned,” Shinbe informed the silence at the table and was rewarded with a heated glare from everyone before they all decided to ignore him.

      Toya stole another glance at Kyoko. So, this is who he was supposed to be watching? Kyou had to be kidding. Kyou had just told him about her coming this morning, with a level warning that he was to watch out for her and make sure she was safe at all times.

      He narrowed his eyes now wondering about the boy who had just stood by their table. The way he had been staring at Kyoko had angered him. Was the priestess really in danger? Why would Kyou take such an interest in keeping a mere human safe? Kyou never treated anyone with respect, so what made this wisp of a girl any different?

      Sometimes Toya hated the fact that Kyou was his appointed guardian, but he did have to admit he owed him a lot for taking him in. He also knew when Kyou did something that there was always a good reason for it and that alone made him wonder about this girl named Kyoko.

      Shinbe, who noted the tension at the table could be cut with a knife, glanced at Suki with the biggest puppy dog eyes. Knowing he could make Kyoko smile again with his antics, he began to lay it on thick.

      "So Suki, are you still going to the club with me tonight? It is Saturday night and I would hate to miss out on dancing with you by dancing with a dozen complete strangers.” Shinbe went into a dazed look as if dreaming of dancing with a throng of other women just to prove his point.

      Suki gave him a level look wondering if she should slap the stupid look off his face, then turned to Kyoko. "Kyoko, I need a chaperone," she grinned. "You'll go with me won’t you? It’s too dangerous to go alone with just… him," she gave Kyoko a pleading look.

      The corners of Kyoko’s lips twitched seeing Shinbe come out of the dazed look and wink at her again. "Suki, I would love to go with you guys. That way we can tag team Shinbe if he gets out of control."

      They both gave Shinbe a pointed look and Shinbe groaned. Kyoko couldn’t help it as she busted out laughing again. She really liked these two.

      Toya watched Kyoko out of the corner of his eyes. Damn, she was pretty when she laughed like that. He groaned inwardly. Where the hell had that come from? He slumped down in his seat annoyed with his train of thought. 'Damn it!' Now he’d have to go to the club tonight just to watch out for her. She was still smiling at Shinbe and Suki when she turned back.

      As she glanced at him, his pulse skipped a beat and the temperature within his blood went up several degrees. Toya realized she had more power coming from her now that she was happy then she’d had a moment ago when he’d pissed her off. He felt uneasy for the first time in a long time.

      When Kyoko's laughter died down, she turned to Suki, "Hey, I’m not even sure what classes I’ll be in Monday or where to go for that matter. Do you know where I can find out?"

      Before Suki could answer, Toya answered the question watching her closely. "All scholarship students are taught the same. So, you, Suki, and Shinbe, along with the others, will be in the same classes. The only separate class will be when you are with the owner." His voice was lazy as he leaned back in his chair.

      Kyoko frowned, "What class does the owner teach?"

      Shinbe supplied the answer this time, his amethyst eyes lighting up with intrigue, "For all of us it’s different. That’s why he teaches us separately. He helps us with our special skills.” He leaned back thoughtful, then added with a smirk, “You, I guess, would be strengthening your priestess powers."

      Kyoko's anger spiked again, wondering how the hell the owner had known she was a priestess. The scholarship had said nothing about it. She had gone for the last couple years trying to bury the same powers for which the owner had given her a scholarship for. She wanted to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.

      Looking down at her plate, Kyoko said in a strained voice, "Maybe this is a mistake. Is there any way I can talk to the owner of the academy now?”

      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."