Chapter 2 “A Voice from the Past”

Chapter 2 “A Voice from the Past”

15 years later…

Kyoko paused in front of the office door not wanting to go in. She’d been at the all girls’ boarding school as far back as she could remember and being called to Mrs. Crap’s office had never been a good thing. It gave the words ‘Oh Crap’ a new meaning.

“Come in Hogo.” Even muted from the other room, the female voice seemed harsh and unyielding, the kind that basically grated on people’s nerves.

Kyoko flinched wondering how the hell the old lady even knew she was standing there. She took a second to glance around her, looking for the secret spy camera she had never found then shrugged and opened the door.

Seeing that the head mistress was not alone in the office, Kyoko shifted from one foot to the other wondering what she’d done to get in trouble this time. Since the school was in the middle of nowhere and there were no males allowed on the premises, she’d never been in the same room with the opposite sex and instantly looked away from him.

“Take a seat Miss Hogo, we have much to discuss.” Mrs. Crap said with all the snootiness she could. Even she seemed to be rattled that her righteous school had been invaded by a man. “This is Mr. Sennin, a lawyer who has been in charge of your family’s estate since you were placed here at our school. He has brought to my attention that his job is now finished and all rights of the estate revert back to you as of midnight tonight.”

Kyoko blinked several times in confusion. Her family’s what? She’d always been told that she was a ward of the school and assumed that meant she was an orphan. Her birthday was tomorrow but… Kyoko flinched from her thoughts when Mrs. Crap suddenly stood and headed for the door of the office.

The old woman’s back was stiff as a board and her heels clicked loudly on the hardwood floors of the office. She looked down her nose past the annoying glasses that hung from the end of it. “I will leave Mr. Sennin to explain the rest.” The door closed with a resounding boom, leaving Kyoko and the man alone within the office.

“May I call you Kyoko?” Mr. Sennin asked politely. Personally, he was glad the old heifer had left them alone.

His voice was aged and rough but soft and sweet at the same time, making Kyoko finally raise her emerald eyes to meet his. He was dressed in a business suit like a lawyer, but his smile belonged to someone’s grandpa because that smile reached all the way to his twinkling gray eyes. She nodded, needing a moment to find her voice.

“You know my family?” Kyoko asked the one question she thought she’d never get an answer to.

“I knew them very well. Your grandfather was my best friend.” He sighed as he took Mrs. Crap’s chair and pulled it around the desk next to Kyoko’s. “Your grandfather brought you to me when you were only three years old with very explicit instructions and a will. He was killed in a freak accident only a couple hours after leaving my law firm.”

The old man took a deep breath as if the memory still hurt him deeply, then he started to explain. “Your grandpa came to me in confidence. He told me that everyone in your family was in danger. Your parents had just died under strange circumstances and he feared for your life… afraid you would be next I suppose.”

He fidgeted as if struggling to explain. “You see… your mother and father were found in your family’s living room, seemingly mauled to death by some kind of animal.” His eyes darkened at the memory. “But there was never any evidence found of animals having been within the house.”

Mr. Sennin frowned, “When the police arrived, they searched for your younger brother Tama, but he’d disappeared without a trace. You were with your grandfather at the county fair during the time of your parent’s death. But when the investigators had searched the house; it was your room that had the most damage done to it. That’s when your grandfather brought you to my office.”

“They’re all gone?” Kyoko felt like she was caught in the headlights… finding out she did have a family and knowing she’d lost them all within the same breath. “No one has ever told me any of this. They just always said that I was a ward of the school. I’ve never even been allowed off campus.” She blinked wondering if she might’ve been better off not knowing.

Mr. Sennin nodded, “My instructions were to send you to a secluded boarding school as far away as I could find from your family’s home, then not to have any form of contact with you until your seventeenth birthday. I’ve always sent the school fees by way of an off shore account so they could not be traced.”

He looked around the room feeling regret for her isolation. “The only reason I picked this place was because the ground here is sacred… blessed by the monks who live in the monastery right up the mountain. Their ancestry and traditions are the oldest in the world… and the most powerful. I also asked that you never be allowed off school grounds. You see, your grandfather, he was convinced that if you weren’t hidden away somewhere… that the demons would find you.”

Kyoko flinched in surprise. “Demons?” That was her secret and she’d never told anyone. Her roommates always asked her about her nightmares when she would wake up screaming, but she would simply tell them she didn’t remember the dreams. She cast her eyes down not wanting him to see the fear within them.

He cleared his throat wondering if he’d said too much and quickly turned to his paperwork as if he could stack it even neater then it already was. “Put it this way, I trusted your grandfather just as much as he trusted me.”

Kyoko tried to block out the visions that were trying to form in her mind. The mental family portrait that she had secretly harbored in her heart was now covered in blood. Blinking the vision away until all she could see was the kind man that had spoken to bluntly she asked, “What happens at midnight tonight? Mrs. Crap said…”

“Mrs. Crap,” Mr. Sennin laughed then cleared his throat. “You have to admit that the name fits her.” He shared a grin with her then placed his folder of paperwork on the desk in front of Kyoko. “There’s a rather large house and an even larger sum of money that reverts back to you tonight at midnight. You may stay here as long as you like, or you can return home to the place you were born and finish out your senior year of high school.”

Kyoko’s lips parted and her emerald eyes had grown bigger as he spoke. “I have a house?”

He looked a little sheepish as he answered, “Yes. It’s on the edge of town and the land behind it is yours as far as the eye can see. It even has a heated in ground swimming pool within the flower gardens behind the house that you can’t see from the road. You’ll have all the privacy you could ever want.”

Seeing her bite her lower lip, he tried to ease her fears. “The house is not in the middle of nowhere like this place is. There is a huge house directly across the road and there’s always lots of cars coming and going. I’ve noticed because my wife and I have gone to your house once a month to clean it for the last fifteen years. We even recently stocked it in case you decide to come home.”

A slow smile spread across Kyoko’s lips as she reached for the one thing she’d always wanted. Inside the folder was a picture of a big house with a well-manicured flower garden and a long driveway. Home… she had a home, a place where her family had once lived and been happy.

Looking back up at Mr. Sennin, she smiled once more and gave him her answer. “When can we leave?”

***** Kyoko stood on the front lawn looking up at the house where Mr. Sennin said she once lived with her family. The house was two stories, solid white, with huge columns holding up the roof of the front porch that went all the way across the front of the house. She had been standing there for almost ten minutes just taking it all in, but the sun was quickly setting and she focused her attention on the front door.

She’d been so nervous leaving the girls' school and taking a plane across the ocean, but now that she was home, a quiet serenity had settled over her. Mr. Sennin had been a lot of help sending her luggage ahead of her and having his wife deliver it to the house. He’d even had her school records sent to the high school in town so that tomorrow all she would have to do was show up for class.

Seeing headlights move across the front of the house, Kyoko looked over her shoulder at the residence across the small two-lane road. The house was about the same size as hers, but different. Every light in the other house was on and with so many cars in the driveway… it looked full of life. Both were set close to the road with nothing but land around them as far as the eye could see. It was like they were the only ones out here on the edge of the forest and mountains.

The headlights in question were actually a jeep that came to a screeching halt almost in the front doorway of the other house. She heard grinding gears before seeing the door of the jeep open. Swinging back around, she realized how lonely this house really was.

Hearing the jeep door slam, she took off up the steps with the key and had the door shut protectively behind her before she even got the light on. For some reason, she wasn’t ready to meet the neighbors with their happy family and normal life. Flicking the light switch on, Kyoko released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

***** Toya jerked the jeep into park and climbed out looking back at the house across the road. He could have sworn he’d just seen someone standing in the front yard. A dark eyebrow rose under his bangs as light appeared in the front room. He leaned against the jeep wondering who was in the Hogo house.

“Did you get the pizza?”

Toya nearly jumped out of his skin when Kamui spoke from less than a foot behind him. “Damn it Kamui! One day I’m gonna take your head off before I realize it’s you sneaking up on me like that.”

Kamui smirked, “Wasn’t killing me once enough for you?” His stardust colored eyes lit up seeing the pizza boxes scattered across the back seat. Knowing Toya’s driving, it was a wonder they’d even survived the trip. Picking them up, Kamui started back toward the house only to realize Toya hadn’t moved.

Following Toya’s line of vision, he looked across the street not seeing any cars in the driveway. He barely acknowledged the fact that a faint light could be seen downstairs. “The old lady was over there earlier today, probably just cleaning it again. I guess she forgot to turn the light off.” Kamui shrugged. “You coming?”

“What are you, my babysitter?” Toya gave the halfhearted insult not even bothering to look at him.

“Nope, but I am the pizza guru and I say if you don’t hurry, you won’t get any.” Kamui took off laughing when he heard Toya’s growl.

Toya waited until he was alone in the driveway before he started toward the Hogo estate. He’d been in the house many times over the last fifteen years looking for clues as to where the priestess had disappeared. When they’d first come into the human realm and entered the house, the guardians thought they were too late. They quickly realized the priestess had not been among the dead. They could still feel her life force within this realm and the demons were still hunting for her as well.

In the first memory Toya had of this house, there’d been ambulances and cop cars everywhere. The mother and father were dead, and the children and grandfather were missing. Without revealing themselves to the humans, the guardians had waited and watched. As soon as the house was empty, they entered it… smelling the evil scent the demons had left in their wake.

A couple of days later, the body of the grandfather was found with his neck broken. The coroner’s office ruled it an accident but the brothers knew better. The old man was clutching a scroll that Shinbe removed from the scene before calling 911. Shinbe was also the one to decipher the scroll. The old man had snuck back onto the property and been in the middle of trying to make the house and land consecrated ground to ward off demons when he’d been killed.

The demons never strayed far from this area and over time, the humans caught on enough to think that the town was haunted. The feds had even sent their paranormal and extraterrestrial investigators many times thinking maybe it was an alien invasion. But they were usually a little too late to find the evidence. Toya and his brothers would try to get there first, to kill the demons or to at least cover it up.

For fifteen years the guardians had lived in the house across from this one and blended in with the rest of humanity as best they could. Kamui even became quite the computer geek to keep the government from red flagging them. No one ever asked how five young men had an endless supply of money and a huge house on the edge of town.

Toya stayed in the shadows as he stepped around to the back of the house. Glancing over at the pool, he noted it had recently been reopened. His gaze narrowed on the crystal clear water seeing a red hue slide through the liquid as if reaching for him. Narrowing his golden eyes, he took a step back from it.

The creepy vision disappeared as he watched the steam rising off the heated water and he tried to shake off the feeling that he’d just stepped on his own grave.

He shrugged off the possibility that someone could’ve sold the house. If it had ever gone up for sale, the guardians would have been the first to know and they would have bought it. Besides, if some stranger had secretly bought the place, the fact that the house is haunted would quickly get rid of the new owners… or at least it would be haunted if it needed to be. He and his brothers would make sure of that.

Toya held his hand over the lock on the sliding glass door and heard a soft click. Slipping inside, he closed it behind him and stood listening. The house was so silent at first that he thought he’d been mistaken, but then he heard a soft voice coming from the living room. Following the sound, he stopped near the shadowed doorway.

There was a girl standing in front of the cold fireplace and she was looking above it at the wall. Toya glanced up seeing the huge family portrait that had always been there. It was of a man with silver hair, almost like Kyou’s. But this man’s hair was shorter, coming only to his shoulders. His face seemed very young, but there was a look in his eyes that held wisdom beyond that of a mere human.

The muscle in Toya's jaw jumped knowing the man was mortal… very human, and very powerful in his own right. This man had once been called a wizard… just not in this lifetime. Now they just call them scientists and physicists. Torsion fields and worm holes were never meant to be tampered with by humans. His appearance hadn’t changed no matter how many times he and his family was reborn into the world.

Toya’s gaze moved to the beautiful auburn-haired woman cuddled up next to him. She was holding a toddler in her arms while the father had a small girl with auburn hair sitting in his lap. The children couldn’t have been more than a year apart in age. Toya had come here so many times… staring at the picture. He was sure all the guardians had.

The little girl’s eyes sparkled like emeralds even in the muted color of the photo. She had her father’s eyes. Her lips were pouted as if the photographer had just told her to be still and a pretty blush colored her cheeks.

“I’m home Momma… Papa,” Kyoko reached out and touched the elegant wood that framed the picture. Her sight lingered on her little brother as she tried to put his face to memory. “Tama.”

Tama’s eyes were the same color as hers, even though in the picture some of the baby blue hadn’t yet faded… but she could tell their true color. He was smiling like he had just done something wonderful… so full of life. Mr. Sennin said Tama had vanished when her parents were killed. Could he still be out there somewhere?

“I wish you were here with me Tama. It would be nice to know at least one person at school tomorrow.”

Toya forgot to breathe as he reached out and gripped the door frame to steady his suddenly weak knees. He took a quick step back, deeper into the shadows as the girl turned full circle to look around the room. When her emerald eyes caught the light… the breath he’d been holding rushed out of him as if he had been punched in the stomach.

She had long auburn hair, and at that moment her lips were once again in a state of melancholy. His golden eyes trailed down her school uniform, the likes he had only seen in catholic high school movies. The skirt was short, reminding him of a cheerleader’s uniform followed by long shapely legs. She’d unbuttoned the shirt enough that Toya knew the nuns would not have approved.

He had seen her before… on the other side of the heart of time. The maiden statue that held the time portal in her hands… this girl mimicked the stone, born into flesh and blood. He’d found the priestess and she was breathtaking. He closed his eyes to the phantom memory of kissing her… it wasn’t his memory to keep.

Kyoko bit her bottom lip feeling frightened now that she was out here in the world without Mrs. Crap and all her rules. Maybe it was because this was her first time for everything. “Come on Kyoko,” She said out loud to break the thundering silence as she picked up her suitcase. “If you want to be ready for school tomorrow, then you’d better go find a bedroom and unpack.”

Toya stood there a few moments longer… relearning how to breathe.

***** In the foothills, miles behind the Hogo house, a tremor could be felt as the scent of the priestess was carried across the land by the October wind. Blood red eyes flashed open and the claws of demons could be heard scraping against stone walls as they reached for her.

Endless caverns and tunnels had long ago been dug out by those same claws. Tunnels that had slowly been shaped into elaborate hallways lit by torchlight from stone sconces. Carvings of demonic victories decorated almost every surface while the natural quartz rock in the ground added a glittering luster to the otherwise dark and dreary surroundings.

The large caverns were transformed into separate rooms containing bedrooms, bathing rooms and even what would have been thought to be a throne room with a chair carved from slick black rock. More quartz stone was inlaid in the walls of the rooms, reflecting the dim light of the torches and amplifying it. Semi-precious stones had also been found to inlay in the walls while long curtains of silk and brocade hung from the ceilings… procured by unknown means.

It was a castle built underground to protect a very precious thing, even more precious than the stones in the walls.

Within the bowels of the caverns, in one of the bedrooms, emerald green eyes were shadowed by curiosity as they quickly glanced up at the silk-covered ceiling, wondering what had agitated the demons. Feeling the still air stir beside his bed, he looked to find the man who’d raised him from a baby and given him everything he had ever wanted… even the power to control demons.

‘Hyakuhei, have the guardians found us?’ Tama asked almost looking forward to the fight. Being a teenager was hard enough for a normal boy… and Tama was nowhere near normal.

The corners of Hyakuhei’s lips curved ever so slightly into the hint of a smile. Everything within him stilled as he inhaled. “It is the scent of the priestess that has rattled the demons tonight… I do believe she has come home.”

Tama’s eyes lit up with dark excitement. ‘My sister has finally come back to us?’ He threw his senses outward, trying to feel her by using the power Hyakuhei had shared with him. He inhaled deeply, tasting the sweetness in the air but he could also taste the power of the guardians nearby.

If they had just let Hyakuhei go to his sister in peace, then none of this would have happened. They’re evil creatures… thinking they’re better than the demons. It was the guardian’s fault that the demons went after his family when they’d first come into this world.

On their arrival, the demons had run free… killing him and his parents because Hyakuhei had been injured the second Toya had shattered The Heart of Time. That injury had cost the demon lord control over the demons for a little while.

Hyakuhei had still been inside the time portal when it was shattered… causing his corporeal body to turn into that of a shade in order not to be destroyed. Had the guardians not done that, then Hyakuhei would’ve remained in control of the demons. Neither Tama… nor his mom and dad would have been killed.

Hyakuhei had found him lying in his crib. The demons hadn’t damaged his body like they did his parents, but he was dead just the same. Remembering how much the priestess had loved her little brother in the past… Hyakuhei used his remaining strength to become whole enough to breathe some of his life force into him, reviving the soul that had not yet left the body.

All this time, he and his savior remained hidden from the guardians, waiting on Kyoko to return. Over the past years, Hyakuhei slowly regained some of his strength but it still drained him when he used that energy to turn his body from a shade back into flesh and blood. As soon as that store of power was spent, he would return to being a shade. The only advantage of being a shade was that he could spy on the guardians… even be in the same room with them and they would never know it.

Many times when Tama was a child, he’d silently asked Hyakuhei why they didn’t send the demons to attack the guardians. He had simply replied, “There is no need for war when there is nothing yet to fight for.” Since Hyakuhei had used his life force to bring him back to life, not only could they communicate through a mental link but Tama could also see the shadows of Hyakuhei’s memories from his point of view… feel his feelings. He knew Hyakuhei was right to wait.

Tama remembered the stories Hyakuhei had told him about his sister. Tales of the human girl who’d accidentally stepped through the time portal so long ago… bringing an entire village of humans with her into the demon realm. Hyakuhei and his twin brother Tadamichi had stopped the demons from killing Kyoko and the humans who suddenly found themselves within the massive demon realm.

While under their protection, Hyakuhei had fallen in love with her and given her the power to be his priestess… the power to cross between worlds so she could come back to him. In a jealous rage, his twin brother Tadamichi had stolen her from him and thrust her back into her own dimension, sealing the portal between worlds. It had been a malicious act full of jealousy over the priestess.

Hyakuhei’s heart had been shattered. He’d then turned from his brother in anger and claimed the demons as his new allies. Becoming their master, his war with the guardians had been for one reason… to find a way through the heart of time so he could reclaim his lost priestess. Because of the power he’d given her, the priestess was now immortal… being reincarnated over and over as the key to the portal between worlds. But with the passing of time, she had forgotten her true power and her love for Hyakuhei.

Tama’s eyes burned with hatred for Tadamichi and the guardians. ‘What will they do to her?’ he envisioned the portrait he’d seen within his family’s living room when he would slip in and out of the house without the guardians noticing. She was lovely and he wanted his sister back.

Hyakuhei silenced the demons that awaited his command knowing he would have to be careful for now. He looked down at the young man he’d raised to be the dark prince of the demons… Kyoko’s little brother. When he had first broken through the time portal, he had come for Kyoko, had wanted to raise her by his side until she came of age for him to claim her. But the old man had hidden her away from the demons that had attacked the family.

His most lethal demons had already killed the boy and his parents before he could tighten his hold on them. It was those same demons that he now held imprisoned within his body so he could have power over them. Without his ironclad control, the demons would have killed every human they’d come across… spreading death like a plague.

Knowing Kyoko was still alive and would one day return, he’d wanted a gift for her… her little brother. He gave Tama some of his life force along with the power to help him rule over the demons. From the first moment Tama had drawn breath, they had a telepathic link. And though the boy had never spoken a word to this day… they could hear each other’s thoughts. Since then, Tama had stayed by his side willingly… just like his sister once had.

“She is of age now… they will desire her.” Hyakuhei's anger at the thought could be heard in his voice. “They will attempt to gain her trust by telling her they are protecting her from the demons. Once she befriends them, they will try to claim her and her power to control the time portal.”

‘So she’s safe for now,’ Tama mused. “But we can’t let her stay with them. She doesn’t belong there.” His emerald iris’s expanded then darkened to ebony. ‘Do you have a plan?’

“We will have to be cunning. I was not able to bring many demons with me into this world and my own powers are fleeting. When your sister’s powers are awakened by the guardians and we are reunited, my powers will be restored.” Hyakuhei could feel the sway of the demons inside him as they rattled their prison walls wanting the power that lay within the priestess. If the demons could get to her, they would force her to open the time portal and let the rest of the demons into this domain.

He growled knowing not only would he have to be smarter than the guardians… he would have to outwit the demons as well. He’d found that the only way to overcome evil was to be that much more.

“Once your sister is by my side, I will bring over my army and the guardians will no longer be such a hindrance. For now, they expect the demons to come for her, and they will,” Hyakuhei informed him.

“While the guardians are busy, Kyoko will be contacted by her long lost brother and he will warn her of the guardians’ deception. But we must take our time and be careful or we will put her in danger. If they think she is going to betray them… then they will not awaken her power. Instead, they will turn on her.”

Jealousy twisted Tama’s voice as he felt the pull from the minds of the demons around them, ‘They cannot keep her.’

“No,” Hyakuhei smiled knowing an even deeper plan, “But first… we will let them think that they can.”

When Tama frowned and looked back up at him, Hyakuhei had vanished. Using his telepathy to communicate he asked, “Are you going to see her?” his voice was wistful and full of melancholy. He wanted to see his sister but knew he had to wait on Hyakuhei to make sure it was safe.

“Shhh,” Hyakuhei’s whisper was haunted as he severed the connection between him and Tama. Another benefit to being a shade was teleportation. He materialized within the living room facing the picture that held both her and Tama. His attention slowly turned toward the stairs.

Refusing to teleport, he forced himself to take every ounce of pain the delay was causing him as he walked up the stairs and leaned against the open door frame as she came into sight. He had known seeing her would hurt and he savored every moment of it. Her suitcase was open on the bed and she was pacing back and forth, hanging clothes up in the walk-in closet.

She was the only one in the world that had the ability to simply take his breath away without even trying. Her auburn hair was in long layers with loose bouncy curls… the body of a goddess… his priestess. He watched as she slowed then stopped next to the bed, seemingly lost in thought. She crawled up on the mattress and curled up into a ball, hugging one of the pillows to her chest.

“It’s so quiet here Momma… Papa. I wish Tama would come home. Then maybe the silence wouldn’t be so deafening,” Kyoko sighed as she lay sideways on the bed not even bothering to crawl under the covers. Blinking a couple of times she felt exhaustion claim her.

Hyakuhei sat down on the bed beside her, watching her breathe. ‘It won’t be long Kyoko… you will get your wish. You will never be lonely again.’ Using a moment’s energy, his body shimmered into existence as he took the cover from the bottom of the bed. He slowly slid it up and over her body then leaned down and gently kissed her temple before vanishing.

***** “He’ll kill us all if there isn’t any pizza left!” Kamui had a tight grip on one end of the pizza box while Shinbe and Kotaro had a death hold on the other end. Kamui let go as soon as the door opened then laughed when Shinbe and Kotaro slowly set the box down in front of Toya’s chair like they had been protecting it for him.

When Toya didn’t go off on them as he normally did, Kyou glanced up from his laptop and watched Toya take a seat at the table… the wrong seat. He cocked a dark eyebrow when Shinbe and Kotaro shrugged and opened Toya’s pizza box. They started devouring it. Toya didn’t even look at them.

“Toya,” Kyou prompted, going on high alert when Toya didn’t acknowledge him.

Flipping the laptop closed, he grasped Toya’s shoulder and started to shake him but Toya flinched, looking at him as if coming out of shock. Kyou silently wondered if Toya had run across another demon that was lurking near the house. He spread his senses out invading his brother's aura but felt no hint of contact with demons… instead he found something more disturbing.

“Has something happened?” Kyou demanded hearing the rapid thumping of Toya’s blood just under his skin.

Toya nodded… then scared the hell out of everyone at the table when his lips lifted in a smile. Toya never smiled. “I think we need to go to school tomorrow.”

“Here, you want your pizza back?” Shinbe dropped the piece he’d just taken a bite out of then smacked Kotaro’s hand, making him drop his stolen piece back into the box as well. He slowly slid it across the table till it was in front of Toya.

“You could’ve just fought us for it instead of wigging everyone out with that creepy smile,” Kotaro complained.

“I don’t think he was joking,” Shinbe said as he locked his amethyst eyes with Toya’s overly large golden ones. He leaned back in his chair now that everyone was paying attention. Seeing the dazed look trying to creep back into Toya’s eyes he sighed. “And why would we want to suddenly join the freaks down at Hormones Are Us high school?”

“Because, the girl that just moved in across the street is starting there tomorrow.” Toya’s breathing was a little ragged now that he’d finally said it out loud.

When several chairs scooted back from the table, Kyou slammed his palms down on the tabletop with a rattling thump. “Sit! Down!” It was like hitting the pause button on the TV then very slowly rewinding it. Once everyone had obeyed, he turned back to Toya. “Tell us what you are talking about.”

“She’s alone… she’s her.” Toya rubbed his temple even though he knew guardians couldn’t get headaches. “Kyoko… She was talking to the pitcher above the fireplace. That’s how I know she’ll be starting school tomorrow.”

“What’s she like?” Kamui asked getting the same look in his eyes that had haunted Toya’s only a moment before.

“I didn’t talk to her,” Toya admitted then his shoulders dropped an inch. “I couldn’t, but she was dressed like they do at those boarding schools.”

“We can find out where she’s been if her records have already been transferred to the local school,” Kotaro added helpfully.

“On it,” Kamui fearlessly snatched Kyou’s laptop. He knew a backdoor into the school system’s database because he checked all the surrounding schools regularly for signs of anyone who came and went around the age of Kyoko or Tama.

“You’re sure it’s her?” Kyou asked Toya as he leaned forward in his chair.

“We would have known her on sight. Kyoko looks like the maiden statue… but alive.” Toya closed his eyes savoring the fact that so far he was the only one who had seen her. If he tapped into the part of him that was Tadamichi… then he could even remember what she tasted like. If the other guardians knew his secret, they would have been jealous. “Emerald green eyes, auburn hair but she seemed fragile… like she’s still a little girl.”

“I’ll say,” Kamui agreed as his eyes widened on the screen. “Her records indicate she’s been living at an all-girls school in the middle of nowhere-land since she was three years old. Kyoko Hogo, age 17. All the information is here and I even have her class schedule for tomorrow.” He frowned thoughtfully, “But I don’t see anything about her brother starting the school with her.”

Toya shook his head. “I know we’d hoped they were somewhere safe together but Tama was never with her. She’s completely alone over there. Remind me again why we can’t just tell her who we are.” He already knew the answer, it was just bugging the hell out of him because he wanted to tell her.

Kamui glanced up from the laptop as he answered first. “We have taken this vote before. Anyone in their right mind would just call the police on us if we told them who we really are. She’s human Toya… with no idea of anything to do with being a priestess. We have to be careful.”

Shinbe chimed in, “Besides, the last thing we need or want are the feds snooping around because the cops are investigating us for stalking the girl next door. And if the demons find out the priestess is back, they will probably stir up quite a few messes that will have the feds back in the area anyway. It will be dangerous enough with all of us just popping up in school tomorrow.”

“Plus, if we just up and tell her that demons came after her at the age of three and she believes us… then she would probably blame herself for her family being killed,” Kotaro supplied as another justifiable reason.

Toya glared at the other guardians, once again not liking the answers. “You’ve over thought this, haven’t you?”

“What do you expect? We’ve had fifteen years to turn that question inside out.” Kamui gave Toya an apologetic smile.

“Shinbe, I think you should go check the demon wards surrounding the house.” Kyou nodded to Shinbe and suddenly there were only four of them in the room.

“Damn, he left so fast I felt a breeze.” Kotaro rubbed his arms as if the draft had chilled him.

Kamui's fingers flew across the keyboard as he talked, “I’ve always had it set up as if we’ve all been home schooled by our adoptive dad and we are all in the 12th grade. As of tomorrow, we’re switching to public school so we can graduate like normal teenagers.”

“Oh, that won’t send up a red flag at all,” Kotaro said sarcastically. “Five brothers starting in the same grade, at the same time. Even if the teachers understand what’s going on, we’ll still be the talk of the school by the students. It’s not as if we have a chance in hell of fitting in with real teenagers.”

“Try,” Kamui gave him a level look. “Anyway, give me some credit. I’ll stagger our schedule so that one of us will be in Kyoko’s class at all times. I’ve had our school records updated every year since kindergarten, so our age would match hers if she had ever come back.”

“Just curious,” Kotaro smirked, “But what if the priestess had come back at the age of ten?”

“Leave me alone,” Kamui gave him a glare. “Or I’ll make it so your grades suck.”

Completely changing the subject, Kyou remarked, “If I’m right, the demons could not locate her because of the boarding school being on hallowed ground… for the same reason we could not find her. Up until now, the demons have spread out causing havoc only here and there. But now, they will catch her scent and one by one come back.”

His voice became so cold that it sucked the heat right out of the room, “And just because we have found no sign of Hyakuhei in this world does not mean he isn’t here.”

“We know he’s here,” Toya growled feeling his hatred flare then instantly calmed. “We came to this world so we could be with her and protect her. She shouldn’t be over there by herself even for a minute.”

“We all agree with you Toya… but you have to remember she is an innocent. That’s why we are going to become her new best friends,” Kyou informed him.

“Just how are we supposed to do that?” Toya snapped.

“Didn’t your mommy ever teach you to make friends?” Kamui smirked, but his eyes widened when Toya quickly stood up.

Toya noticed Kamui flinch and raised a dark brow. “I’m just going to see what’s taking Shinbe so long.”

***** Shinbe confirmed his demon wards hadn’t been disturbed, though he worried about the fact that demons weren’t their only problem. The fact that Hyakuhei had broken through the barrier around The Heart of Time spoke volumes of the danger the priestess was really in. Sure, the wards would help hide her and keep the weakest demons from crossing the lines, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Hyakuhei should he come out of hiding.

One thing he knew about Hyakuhei was that the demon lord was patient… patient enough to pretend to be dead for the last fifteen years. What demons the guardians had caught sniffing around, they’d destroyed. But now that the priestess was here… there was no telling what was going to crawl out of the woodwork. She would need better protection.

When he noticed one of the upstairs lights come on, Shinbe quickly scaled the outer walls unable to help himself. It felt as if his very soul was drawn toward her. His amethyst eyes glowed as he looked in the window seeing her standing within the huge bathroom. Toya had been right… he would have known her on sight.

He watched her graceful movements as she reached into the shower to test the temperature of the water. He tried to turn away, but when she started unbuttoning her shirt it had been his undoing… he was frozen to the spot.

“So that’s what the maiden statue would look like without clothes,” Shinbe breathed then started to climb higher so that he could see more of her than just from the waist up. He suddenly lost his grip on the wall when an arm went around his neck and jerked him backwards.

Toya grunted when he hit the ground flat on his back, but that wasn’t as bad as Shinbe landing on top of him. “Get the hell off me!” Toya growled.

“Let go of my neck and I will,” Shinbe hissed as he stuck his elbow in Toya’s ribs.

Toya pushed Shinbe off and quickly rolled to his feet. “You’re supposed to be checking the demon wards, not…” He gestured toward the window, “… you’re a pervert, you know that?”

“I just wanted to see her.” Shinbe started to glance back up at the window but Toya’s dangerous growl stopped him.

“I think you’ve seen enough.” Toya’s golden eyes swirled with quicksilver.

Shinbe debated reminding Toya there was so much more to see but he knew when not to press his luck. “Fine, there’s always the girls locker room at school tomorrow.” That gained him an agitated slap upside the head but he just chuckled.

“Come on, we have a meeting to attend.” Toya started back toward their house pushing Shinbe in front of him the whole way.

All humor left Shinbe’s face as he told the group his fears about the barrier’s weakness. “I know we have killed a lot of the demons that haunt the area waiting on her, but sometimes I wonder if we have forgotten the real problem.”

“We will take shifts watching over her tonight.” Kyou’s order started the age-old argument about who would go first, but Kyou won.

In his shade form, Hyakuhei leaned against the far wall of the same room where they were having their secret meeting. He was barely paying his nephews any attention as his mind drifted across the road to where the girl in question lay sleeping. He thought it was sad that they still avoided saying his name and wondered if it was guilt that kept them from doing so.