Defy Not The Heart

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Shinbe cracked one eye open and peered over at Toya. “That’s gotta hurt,” he tried to smirk, but passed out before he could manage it.

Toya looked up at Kyoko from his prone position and growled at the way her lip trembled. How dare she take the letch’s side, after what Shinbe had said?

Kyoko turned on him, tears welling in her eyes. “What have you done?”

He had no chance to reply as her brother and grandfather came running out into the courtyard. Grandfather with his demon scrolls in his hand, ready to flatten anything that dared hurt his granddaughter.

Kyoko began to sob, not knowing what to do, “Help me get Shinbe into the house.”

Tama and grandfather didn’t ask any questions as they picked Shinbe up to carry him into the house. Grandpa simply narrowed his eyes toward Toya while Tama refused to look at him at all. They walked off leaving Toya still lying on the ground.

Toya didn’t bother to move. He knew Kyoko was so angry with him that she would probably use the damn spell on him over and over again if he dared go into the house. It wasn’t fair. Didn’t she understand he was only protecting her?

The light of the moon reflected off the silver highlights within his dark hair as he turned over with a heavy heart. Pushing off the ground he went back through the heart of time.

*****

When the sun rose above the maiden shrine Toya was still pacing back and forth in the clearing, trying to figure out what the hell happened. How was Shinbe able to pass through the heart of time? It simply wasn’t allowed. The question rolled over and over in his mind driving him crazy.

Suki came into the clearing with Kamui and Kaen, looking for Toya and Shinbe. She spotted Toya and waved to him.

‘Damn, this is all I need,’ Toya cursed inwardly as he watched Suki approach. She stopped and stared at him for a long moment before she spoke and the worried look in her eyes caught him off guard.

“Toya, are you okay? What happened?” She reached a hand out to touch his face, and he flinched. She stared at the healing wounds that adorned his face, and the dry blood on his clothing and hands. She looked at his hands again. Toya never let blood dry on his fingers like that. What was going on?

“Toya, whose blood is that?” When he didn’t answer, but turned his face away from her, she glanced around looking for Shinbe knowing he’d tell her what was going on. When she didn’t see him, panic filtered into her voice as her eyes widened, “Where’s Shinbe?”

Kamui had been standing at the edge of the clearing with Kaen when he sensed Toya’s agitation and closed the distance between them. He’d heard the question and he prayed he was wrong about the answer. Hoping to calm them both down, he tried to make a joke by asking, “Toya, don’t tell me you killed Shinbe?”

Toya gritted his teeth, “I didn’t kill anybody, you little runt, so shut up!” He turned away from them glancing down at his bloody fingernails… he hadn’t even noticed them.

‘Did I?’ Toya thought to himself. That last hit to Shinbe had to of caused some serious damage. He remembered his claws digging into the flesh of Shinbe’s side as he flung him into the tree. Toya knew his claws could be deadly when they grew longer during battle… to not just demons but all immortals, including guardians.

He should not have fought his brother but he’d been in such a rage that he hadn’t been able to stop himself. Why had he lost his temper like that knowing his demon blood would be in danger of surfacing? He usually had more control then that. Damn it. Had Kyoko not come out when she did, he didn’t know what he would’ve done to him. He’d never fought with Shinbe before… what the hell was going on here?

That panicked feeling came over him again when he felt the stares of Suki and Kamui on his back. Shinbe was his brother… a guardian. What had he done? Not looking at them, Toya balled his hands into fist and suddenly yelled, “I didn’t do anything!” Needing an escape, he darted off across the clearing, towards the woods.

Kaen and Kamui looked at each other sharing the same ominous feeling.

*****

Kyoko sat at her desk, needle and thread in hand. She decided to sew Shinbe’s trench coat since it was shredded in some spots. She had to keep herself busy, because with Toya gone and Shinbe passed out… she couldn’t even ask anyone what the hell had happened. She had a feeling it was her fault they were fighting.

“It was just a stupid kiss,” she mumbled guiltily.

After her grandfather had stripped Shinbe of his garments, she’d taken them and washed the blood out of them while Tama helped grandfather treat the wounds that were already healing. If it wasn’t for the fact that Shinbe was a guardian and had the extra advantage of quick healing, he would have bled to death within minutes. As she looked at one of the rips in the fabric, she envisioned Toya’s claws there and shivered.

He was pretty beat up, but the bump on his head was the worst of it. Her grandfather said he’d probably be out for a while from that. He had also informed her that when two guardians fight each other, it’s a little more dangerous than when two humans go at it. Grandpa and his legends… she didn’t need a legend to tell her this was bad. She just hoped Shinbe didn’t have brain damage. For him to be unconscious for so long was not a good sign. She prayed he’d wake up soon and tell her everything was okay.

Kyoko had sat by his side since her grandfather had bandaged and tucked him neatly into her bed. She hadn’t slept since it happened in fear that he’d wake up without her knowing.

Shinbe slowly opened his eyes to the dim light of the room. Where was he? He stared up at the white ceiling in confusion. His head, boy did it hurt. He tried to look around the room, but that hurt too. There was pink everywhere. Where was he?

“Ouch!” Kyoko pricked herself with the needle and put her finger in her mouth, sucking on it. She had turned slightly in the chair and Shinbe saw her, the light from the desk lamp shining on her face.

“I must be in heaven,” Shinbe whispered through his dry lips. He watched as Kyoko’s eyes went wide, and she slowly turned to look at him. He tried to smile but his head hurt too much so he closed his eyes again.

Kyoko nearly toppled the chair over trying to get to his side so quickly. “Shinbe no, please don’t go back to sleep yet,” she pleaded with a tremble in her voice. She was rapidly on her way to tears. Shinbe opened his eyes smelling the salt in the air. Was she crying? He tried to sit up, only to have a searing pain course through his temple.

Kyoko put her hand on his shoulder, “Don’t try to sit up. You were hurt really bad.” She wiped the back of her hand across her wet cheek and smiled when he opened his eyes again.

“You think so?” He tried to smile, but his head just didn’t feel right. He raised his hand to the back of his head cradling it in his palm. ‘Hmm, big lump,’ he looked at Kyoko questioningly.

Kyoko couldn’t stop herself, “You big jerk, you could have gotten yourself killed.” She burst into tears, bringing her hands to her face, she sobbed.

Shinbe reached his hand out and ran the back of his finger down her cheek, “I’m sorry Kyoko, I hope Toya looks as bad as I feel.”

Kyoko uncovered her face and stared at him, “I wouldn’t know.” She turned from him and walked over to the desk, picking up a pitcher of water and pouring some into a glass. All of a sudden, she felt mad at both of them. They were supposed to be hunting the talisman together, not fighting each other.

“You don’t know?” Shinbe tried to quirk his brow, but realized there was nothing on his body that didn’t hurt. He decided right then, that the next time he fought Toya, he would do more than just defend himself… next time he would fight back.

Kyoko came across the room and helped him sip the water. She smiled down at him, a glint in her eyes, “I haven’t seen Toya since I put the taming spell on him near the shrine house.” Somehow, she knew that would cheer Shinbe up.

He attempted to laugh, but wound up coughing. “Taming spell?” Putting his hand to his bandaged chest, he groaned, “Please don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

Kyoko got a pained look on her face, “I’m so sorry, Shinbe. We couldn’t take you to a human doctor without… well, you know. Grandfather tried to patch you up as best as he could and most of the seeable wounds have healed.”

Shinbe blinked at her, rather than try to nod his head, “I understand. Thank you for caring for me.” Curiosity got the better of him, “But you haven’t gone to see Toya?”

Kyoko stood up, turning her back to him. “No, I’ve been here with you, waiting for you to wake up,” she walked to the desk, picking up the bottle of aspirin but set it back down knowing it wouldn’t help a guardian. “What were you two fighting about?” she whispered, not wanting to hear the answer. She picked the bottle back up figuring it couldn’t hurt.

“Just how long have I been asleep?” Shinbe whispered, trying to keep the pain to a minimum. He had heard her question but… that was best left between him and Toya.

She turned, walking back to him, “Several hours.” Kyoko put the aspirin to his lips and picked the glass of water back up, “Here, take these.”

He did as she said, thinking, ‘She’s been by my side all night?’ He closed his eyes, contemplating this. Then he felt her cool hand on his forehead and opened his eyes back to her.

Kyoko smiled, “I can’t believe you’re here… on my side of the heart of time.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but it did. “Well, now that I know you’re going to be okay, I guess I should go back and tell the others that we won’t be back for a while. You rest and I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Shinbe stared at her, dumbfounded. His gaze flew around the room realizing just what he’d been missing. He was in her world! He must have really hit his head pretty hard for that to have just slipped past him.

Wait. He trained his amethyst eyes back on her. What was she talking about, ‘him not going back with her?’ What if Toya didn’t let her come back? What if something happened to her? He was supposed to go look for the talisman with them. He was supposed to be there to protect her from Hyakuhei.

Shinbe tried to sit up to tell her, but the pain seared through his brain and he fell back against the bed with a groan.

Kyoko stopped in mid-stride, turning back to give him a pleading look. “Please, Shinbe. Don’t try to get up. There is no telling if your healed on the inside yet and I wouldn’t want you to bleed to death while I’m gone,” she said it almost jokingly, but he was still in pain and that meant he could do some damage if he didn’t stay still.

“Kyoko, I can’t stay here. I don’t even know where here is,” he was beginning to panic at the thought of her leaving him. She must have sensed his fear because she spoke quietly as she opened the door to leave.

“Don’t worry, Shinbe. I’ll send grandfather to keep you company,” she closed the door before he had a chance to protest.

Chapter 6 "Misunderstandings"

After finding grandfather and telling him that Shinbe was awake, Kyoko got her backpack and loaded it down with all the things she knew her friends would like. She packed beef jerky for Toya, chocolate bars for Kamui, and of course everyone’s favorite, chewing gum.

As an afterthought, she put in some bottles of soda and chocolate covered almonds for Suki and Sennin. Kyoko grinned, feeling better now that she knew Shinbe would be well again soon. Still… she would have to have a heart to heart with Toya about fighting and the fact he could have killed his own brother. She silently wondered how Shinbe could have come through the heart of time. The shrine would not have let him pass without a reason.

“Probably so I could break up the fight,” Kyoko mumbled under her breath.

She also added the typical supplies she would bring them, like bandages and aspirin. Looking around the kitchen, she wondered if she should check on Shinbe one last time but decided not to. It was hard enough already to leave him. She could still see the pleading look in his amethyst eyes, as if he was begging her not to leave, but she’d only be gone for a few hours. He’d be fine with grandfather and Tama. Zipping up her backpack, she headed for the shrine house.

*****

The small group had spent the last couple hours trying to find Shinbe. They couldn’t even pick up his trail so they had no idea where to begin looking for him. They could only assume the worst, even though they couldn’t find evidence of any wrong doing. It was literally driving them crazy with worry. To make matters worse, Toya had never returned to the hut that evening and it left them thinking that maybe he was behind the disappearance.

When he hadn’t returned after several hours, Suki was positive it was the latter. With Kyoko still gone, it made it all seem that much worse. “I swear if Toya ever comes back, I will kill him myself,” Suki sobbed into her hands as Sennin comforted her.

Kamui sat beside her silent as thoughts of Shinbe lying dead coursed through his mind. But he would know if Shinbe had died… wouldn’t he? He and Kaen had known something was untold as soon as they had stepped foot in the clearing… something about the vibes in the area reeked of anger and something else he couldn’t quite put a name to.

Another piece of evidence was the fact that some of the boulders around the maiden statue had been unearthed. ‘And where was Kyoko?’ This thought caused Kamui to wonder just what exactly had happened… was Kyoko hurt too? She hadn’t come back yet, and he was starting to worry. He sighed knowing Kaen was still out looking.

“Hello, anybody home?” Kyoko said in a cheery voice as she opened the door to the hut. She immediately saw how distressed Suki was. Shedding her backpack at the door, she ran to Suki. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?” she dropped to the floor next to her friend because Suki never cried… she was to tuff for that girly stuff.

Suki sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. Her lips parted and she tried to speak, “Oh, Kyoko.” She turned away from her and sobbed again, unable to tell her friend her fears.

Sennin put his hand on Kyoko’s shoulder, looking at his daughter, then spoke in a quiet voice, “Kyoko, can I talk to ye outside.”

Kyoko looked from Sennin, back to Suki, then stood up slowly. ‘Something must be seriously wrong,’ Kyoko mused worriedly. ‘Had something bad happened to Toya, or did they hear some news about the disappearance of Suki’s brother Hikaru?’ she had a very, very bad feeling creeping across her spine.

She followed Sennin outside. “What is it Sennin? What’s happened?” Kyoko never thought for a second that they were concerned about Shinbe. She thought Toya would have told them where to find him.

Sennin turned his back to Kyoko, knowing that he was going to have to deal with yet another heart breaking scene. It was too much for him. It was going to break Kyoko’s heart to find out Toya may have killed Shinbe. He decided to just tell her their fear.

“Kyoko, we believe Toya has hurt Shinbe… and we cannot find either of them,” his voice sounded even more aged than normal, and laced with sadness and a touch of defeat. He waited to hear the shrieks of pain that were soon to come from his young friend. When they didn’t come, he turned, just in time to see Kyoko going back into the hut.

Kyoko sat on the floor next to Suki and put her arms around her friend, “It’s okay, Suki. Shinbe is fine.” She rocked her friend, “somehow… he came through the heart of time with Toya. He’s injured, but he’s going to be okay.”

Suki stopped breathing for a moment, then with a gasp she pushed away, glaring at Kyoko as she wiped a hand across her eyes. “Shinbe… is not dead?” she continued to stare at Kyoko.

Kyoko frowned, “No, he has a lot of injuries, but he’s not dead. I came back to let you know he is recovering.” She silently wondered why Toya hadn’t told them what happened.

Kamui listened to Kyoko’s words and wondered at them. Now he knew why he couldn’t sense Shinbe… he wasn’t even in this world. He left the hut to find Kaen so they could call off the hunt. He wished his other brothers, Kotaro and Kyou, would show up and somehow help him fix whatever was going on. His thoughts turned back to Kyoko.

“As long as they are only hurting each other and not her,” Kamui whispered but the tightness in his chest still didn’t ease. If he had to… he would protect her all by himself.

Suki stood up. “He, he’s been with you all night, Kyoko? We, we saw Toya with blood on his hands,” she stuttered and paused, anger building within and directed at Kyoko for keeping it a secret.

Kyoko stood up, “Where is Toya anyway? When I get my hands on him, I’m going to…” Suki cut her off mid-sentence.

“He’s been with you all this time? Shinbe has been with you in your time?” Suki’s voice held a note of accusation, and Kyoko was dumbfounded. “You waited this long to come tell us. Didn’t you think we’d be worried about him?”

Kyoko shook her head, “I’m sorry, Suki. I didn’t want to leave him until I knew he was…” She saw Suki’s face getting red and backed up.

“All night? Most of the morning we searched for him, fearing he was dead or lying injured somewhere! Now you come back all happy, telling me he’s with you!” She pointed an accusing finger at her friend. “You should have come sooner. You should have… ” She broke off, a sob leaving her body, relieved that Shinbe was okay.

Kyoko put her arm around the girl to comfort her. “I’m sorry, Suki. I didn’t think. His injuries were pretty bad. I was afraid of leaving him until he woke up. I was so worried I was going to lose him.”

Suki pushed away from Kyoko, her anger peaking once again at Kyoko’s words. “You… thought you were going to lose him?” she stared at Kyoko blinking back her tears. “Just what were they fighting about, Kyoko? Were they fighting over you?”

Kyoko was startled by the question. She didn’t know how to answer. She couldn’t tell Suki that she had kissed Shinbe, and that Toya saw them. This was Suki, her friend who was secretly in love with Shinbe. Guilt washed over her. Was she betraying her friend? She looked down at the wooden floor, suddenly finding it very interesting.

She wasn’t in love with Shinbe but she…. ‘Geez, what am I thinking?’ She balled her hands into fists, getting aggravated at herself for thinking about Shinbe that way, when the one that truly loved him was standing right in front of her. She had to know how Suki really felt.

“Suki, are you in love with Shinbe?” she asked quickly, not meaning to evade the subject of why the two guardians had fought.

Suki turned her back, her cheeks turning red at the question. Was she in love with him? She wondered. Yes, she had feelings for him. But in love, the way Kyoko had proposed? She shook her head. She would never love any man. Especially not Shinbe. That was just out of the question. Maybe she could love him if they were successful at killing Hyakuhei, and erasing Shinbe’s curse. But… no, she just couldn’t fall in love with him. She couldn’t deal with any more heartache.

Confused by her own feelings, she turned back to Kyoko, “You’re avoiding the question, Kyoko! I asked if they were fighting over you?” Now she was the one avoiding a question, but it was one she honestly didn’t want to answer, or think about.

Kyoko sighed, shrugging her shoulders, “I don’t know. Didn’t Toya tell you what happened?” She glanced toward the door wondering why he wasn’t there. “Where is Toya anyway? Is he alright?” Kyoko got a sudden chill, realizing Toya’s absence was what had kept them from not knowing what happened.

Suki exploded, “What?!! Toya took off after we found him. His claws were covered in blood, Kyoko! He was… ” Suki was cut off as Sennin came into the hut.

“Will ye stop your hollering, Suki?” he sat down on the mat and picked up a stick, poking at the fire in front of him. “Kyoko, come sit. And tell us what ye know.”

Kyoko looked to Suki. She didn’t like her friend being angry with her. Why were they all fighting amongst each other all of a sudden? They had always stuck together and defended each other … something just wasn’t right. She sat down and began telling them what happened, from the time at the spring, to Shinbe’s appearance in her time.

Of course, she didn’t tell them about the kiss, just that Toya was angry because she was in her underwear.

“Well, that’s it really. He finally woke up right before I came here. He’s in really bad shape though.” she shook her head, looking down at her hands. “Grandfather says it’s going to take at least a couple days before he can get up and start moving around again.”

Suki’s head snapped up, “What? He can’t stay in your time!” She instantly lowered her eyes, feeling strange again. Where had this jealousy come from all of a sudden?

Sennin put his hand on Suki’s arm, “Calm down, ye wouldn’t want him to travel back if he is still injured.”

Suki sighed, “But that’s too long. We can take care of him just as well here.” She didn’t like the fact that the group was split up.

Sennin chuckled, “Ai, but to get him here, he would have to travel through the heart of time. The stress of doing something not allowed might be too much for his injuries.”

Kyoko stood up, “I really hate to leave, but I only came back to let you know he’s okay. I better get back there before grandfather and Tama drive him crazy.” She picked up her backpack and smiled nervously as Kamui came back in the hut, their eyes locking.

Kamui couldn’t help it as he pulled Kyoko into his arms and hugged her tight. He was in much better spirits now that he knew Toya hadn’t seriously hurt Shinbe. When Kyoko hadn’t come back, he had thought the worst.

“I’ll keep my eyes on them from this side. You go bring our Shinbe back,” he smiled, love dancing in his multihued eyes. He had wanted to let her know that he wasn’t mad at her like Suki was.

Kyoko smiled up at him as she handed him a box of chocolates, “Now don’t eat it all too fast. I don’t want you to get a tummy ache.” She ran her hand through the silky purple highlights in his hair and hugged him back. She was thankful at least one of them wasn’t holding this against her. Kamui had always had the softest heart.

She whispered close to his ear so Suki wouldn’t hear, “If Toya comes back, tell him I need to see him.”