Chapter 10 _Heat of Memories_

Chapter 10 "Heat of Memories"

Kyou had calmed down after ridding the room of the sofa. He now lay in his own bed under control, thinking about what had just happened. Her scent was still fresh within the thick blankets that covered the mattress.

He closed his eyes, tapping into the memories of the past. He remembered a time about a month before the final battle when.... within his mind’s eye, he could see it all as if it had only been yesterday....

Kyou stood on a hill overlooking a small canyon when he caught the scent of Toya, the priestess, and the other guardians that traveled with them. A burst of golden feathers rent the air as the shadow of his wings shattered into existence. He closed the distance quickly to find them in the heart of the canyon, in the middle of a battle with a nest of snake-like demons.

Quickly, he began to assess the situation before him. Shinbe was helping the dark haired girl Suki fend off several snake demons that were seeping out of the ground and surrounding them while the fire sprite took Kamui high into the air and out of harm's reach. He had often wondered why they called Kaen a fire sprite when it was obvious that when the fire appeared around his feet… he could only be a dragon. Such a strange creature to befriend the youngest of the guardians.

His gaze continued down the battlefield to land on Toya who was using the twin dagger’s ice and fire magic to clear a path to the others. He noted that Kotaro was missing from the group, but this was not unusual for he had his own lands to protect. He searched out the only reason he had come.

Kyou then saw the priestess standing alone with only her spirit darts to defend herself. She was notching the crossbow and as he watched her small hands, blue flames appeared, forming into spirit darts. As she released the dart, the three demons in front of her turned to dust.

His eyes narrowed in anger at her neglect. She didn't see the ones coming out of the ground behind her. Without another thought or breath, Kyou had her in his arms, high above the battlefield. Her emerald eyes turned to the ground, and saw the demons were now surrounding where she had stood only seconds before. She gasped. Then turning those same eyes to Kyou, her lips parted in wonder, "Why did you save me?"

Kyou couldn't pull his eyes from hers, and he had answered her with the only response he had at the time, "I wanted to."

Even to him, his voice had been softer than normal, and he had wondered at his protectiveness over the priestess. What she had done next had shocked him. She had thrown her arms around him and given him a heartfelt hug, whispering the words, "Thank you Kyou."

Even though he had stiffened at her body now flush with his, she had tilted her head back to smile straight into his eyes. To his own surprise, his arms had tightened around her on their own accord.

Kyou's thoughts shifted to another memory that had happened within that last month before she had been taken beyond his reach. In the privacy of his own room, his face softened and the corners of his lips tilted into the faintest hint of a smile…

***** Kyoko rounded the corner to the flight of stairs leading down to the ground floor. In her haste, she ran straight into a living brick wall. She instantly stumbled backward as two strong arms wrapped around her to catch her from falling to her death. Looking up into ice blue eyes, she felt a blush spread across her cheeks along with the whisper of a mysterious breeze.

"I just love it when the woman of my dreams falls for me," Kotaro smiled down at her with total affection. He watched her hair flutter softly in the breeze that his guardian powers always sent her way… as if reaching for its priestess.

He’d been standing there for the last twenty minutes half lost in thought, hoping to catch her before anyone else did. Much to his delight … catching her had held two different meanings.

"Would you like to join me for breakfast, Kyoko?" he asked as he righted her and took a gallant step back.

Kyoko was happy to see a friendly face this morning, especially after the ‘boo-wiggly’ night she’d just had. "Why, I would love to join you, Kotaro,” she swept her arm ahead of her. "If you would be so kind as to lead the way." She just loved pretending like he was royalty. He struck her as what a self-assured prince would act like.

"I would prefer to take my Kyoko’s arm, if I may?” Kotaro held his arm out to her. When she slid her arm through his, he led her the rest of the way down the stairs, secretly keeping an eye out for any guys who turned their head to look at her.

Once they reached the bottom floor Kotaro couldn’t stop himself from asking the question that had been on his mind all morning, "I heard you had a little trouble last night." His voice became soft and his ice blue eyes darkened attractively, "Are you all right?"

Kyoko moved even closer to him, wanting the safe feeling that she realized came with being near him, if you didn’t count the fact that he had a way of calling her ‘his’ all the time. But she didn’t mind… she took it as his private joke because of the mischievous smile that always came with the comment.

“Last night…” she chewed her bottom lip then sighed. "I really don’t remember much. I went for a jog before bed when demons came out of nowhere and attacked me. I think as soon as I used the power from the Guardian Heart Crystal… I must have passed out," she didn’t tell him about what happened when she woke up in Kyou's room.

She could still feel heat in her cheeks from all the confusion. She figured he would want more detail but Kotaro’s next question caught her off guard.

"Kyoko, have you had any memories yet?" Kotaro’s voice was low and secretive, but rang with honesty as he glanced at her. His eyes grew soft with hidden warmth. He had to resist the urge to kiss her slightly parted, pink lips.

Yes… he remembered a lot… maybe not all of it, but enough to know he was in love with Kyoko… then and now.

They came to a table within the café and he took the seat beside her, instead of in front of her, still waiting on her to answer him. He’d spent the last several hours thinking of nothing but her and seeing flashes of the past. The more he remembered the calmer he became… but the more he wanted to know. His hand rose of its own accord to massage the ache that was deep within his chest. In one of the pieces of shattered memories… he had somehow… lost her.

Kyoko looked around seeing they were far enough away from others not to be overheard. Turning back to him, she gave him a sad smile as she tried to explain something even she didn’t fully understand.

"Kotaro, I know we used to fight together, and I know I feel safe with you, but so far… all I remember is feelings, not actual memories." She watched his blue eyes twinkle with mischief.

"I’m hurt Kyoko. You really don’t remember being my mate?" Kotaro leaned in almost nose-to-nose with her, knowing he was joking, and wishing he wasn’t.

Kyoko didn’t miss a beat, knowing he had turned from serious to playing with his last statement. Widening her eyes, she put her finger to her lip as if she were thinking really hard. Then holding that finger up as if a light bulb had just appeared over her head, she grinned.

"Why yes, the only thing I can't figure out is…” Kyoko paused dramatically, “…what happened to our three beautiful children, my dear," she watched as his eyes widened and tried to hide her own smirk at getting one over on him.

’So she thinks she can play my game and win,’ Kotaro smirked to himself but kept a straight face. Leaning closer he asked, "So, you want three children, huh? Immortal or human?" his voice had turned seductive, causing Kyoko to blush.

Mentally erasing her imaginary check mark from her imaginary scoreboard, she wondered why she even tried to keep up with him. Hoping the game was over… Kyoko sighed in defeat, and then smiled knowing he had enjoyed winning.

Looking quickly away from Kotaro, she scanned the room only to find herself now eye to eye with Toya, who was standing only a couple feet away, glaring daggers at her and Kotaro. She stiffened when she heard Kotaro laughing beside her.

She felt like crossing her eyes and making a face at him but checked herself and refrained. He probably wouldn’t laugh anyway. Seeing that angry spark in his golden eyes made her feel desperately panicky and perfectly tranquil at the same time… and it was annoying.

Kyoko frowned and turned back to Kotaro curiously, "Kotaro, why is it you and Toya don’t get along if we were on the same side in the past?" This question had been bugging her for a while. If she didn’t know better… she would think they were brothers, the way they fought all the time.

Kotaro threw a smug smirk at Toya while answering her, "That’s because he used to try to kill me every time we ran into each other." He turned innocent eyes on her as if he had never provoked such a thing.

Kyoko raised both eyebrows at this. "Why?" she asked in a shocked voice.

Kotaro shrugged, "Toya has always been jealous because I’m faster than him." He grinned as he added, "And because you always stood up for me… instead of him. That AND the fact that you loved me with all of your heart and he was too emotionally constipated to say anything about it."

"Shut the hell up,” Toya slid into the seat in front of them. "Don't believe a word coming from this dumb ass, Kyoko," his eyes took in her red cheeks and he smirked when he noticed she moved over a couple inches, creating distance between her and Kotaro.

“Something bothering you, Toya?” Kotaro slid over the couple inches Kyoko had just created between them and placed his arm across the back of her seat. "You know, you really shouldn’t talk like that in front of my woman." He cocked his eyebrow as if he were deadly serious.

Kyoko looked down at the plate laden with all kinds of food that was being placed in the middle of the table, then at the three smaller plates that were placed in front of them. Suddenly finding the plates very interesting, she ignored both the guys and started placing food on her plate, looking everywhere except at them.

'What a way to start your morning.' she thought to herself sarcastically, and she wasn’t talking about the food.

***** Hyakuhei sat in the windowsill of his room holding a small mirror in his hand. Leaning back on the wide ledge, his perfect body now relaxed in his solitude, he let his dark wings free from their daily prison. Black feathers reflected the dawn’s light, giving them a deep purple glow, making his perfection seem even more ethereal.

His hair lengthened to the floor in cascading ebony as he stalked his pray from afar. In his true form he appeared a dark angel… mysterious, untouchable, and sinister. He hadn’t moved in over an hour as he watched the priestess through the tainted looking glass. One of his gifts as a sacred guardian had been the power to use mirrors as a way to see what he wanted. That gift had aided him many times in the past… just as it would now.

His eyes strayed from Kyoko’s form to the two beside her that sat glaring at each other from across the table. The corners of his lips tilted in a knowing smirk. His nephews would never change… always fighting over something they could not have.

Suddenly his red eyes glittered with malice and he whispered, “She will never belong to them… I will not allow it.”

***** Thinking to change the subject, Kyoko glanced at her plate, stirring the food around but not eating it. "You know, it’s not fair. You guys are starting to remember things, and I still can’t." She smiled trying to lighten the truth of the words, "I’m kind of jealous."

Toya snorted, shooting her a golden gaze sparkling with silver flecks, "Just be glad you don’t remember Kotaro." He started loading his plate down with food as he shrugged. "Besides… if you did remember, you would know he was lying about being your mate."

Kotaro started laughing again and Kyoko's eyebrow started twitching. She opened her mouth to say something then snapped it shut knowing it would only dig her into a deeper hole. Sometimes he could be so obnoxious. Luckily, Suki and Shinbe decided to show up at that moment.

‘Saved by the bell,’ Kyoko tried to hide her thankful sigh.

Suki slid in next to her and Kotaro, and Shinbe slid in next to Toya, both of them seemed to be grinning from ear to ear.

Kyoko stopped eating and looked from one to the other wondering what was going on. They both started filling their plates, smiling at each other as if sharing a very amusing secret.

"Good morning, Suki…. Shinbe. What’s got you two looking like you just won the lottery?" Kyoko asked, hoping to direct all attention away from Kotaro, who was still laughing at Toya. ‘And whatever it is, please don’t let it piss Toya off,’ she thought to herself as she took another bite and tried to block out the fact that Toya was actually growling.

Suki nodded to Shinbe still smiling and nudged Kyoko, trying to suppress her amusement.

Shinbe spoke up, his amethyst eyes still on Suki, "Oh, we both had the same dream last night, and everybody that is at this table… happened to be in it." His look turned a little more to the serious side. "The dream was the same, down to the last detail." He gave a secretive wink to Suki as if to promise he would not share the details with the others.

Kyoko couldn’t help it. She had just taken the first bite of her food and started to choke. The next thing she knew, Kotaro had her in his arms trying to help her, pounding her on the back, which is probably what saved her from turning blue.

As she got herself back under control and started to breathe again, she looked up at Kotaro to thank him but before she could say anything… he had her in his arms, hugging her as if he would never let her go.

Kyoko blinked realizing she had just scared the hell out of him. “I… I’m sorry.” She whispered hoping the fear would leave his ice blue eyes. It didn’t belong there and she wanted it gone as quickly as possible.

Kotaro tried to calm his raging instincts and had to force himself to release her. Still shaking, he sat her back down slowly. The startling electric blue color that had leapt in his eyes began to fade back to the calmer ice blue tint as he realized the danger had passed.

The sound slammed back into the room and all at once everybody was asking her if she was all right. Remembering what had made her strangle in the first place, Kyoko looked over at Toya who was too busy scowling at Kotaro to catch it.

"I’m fine now," she breathed slowly, wondering if she should tell Shinbe and Suki that it wasn’t just a dream. She was startled when it was Toya who said it.

"So, everyone is starting to remember the past?" Toya started eating again as if he hadn’t said anything.

Kyoko looked at Shinbe… for some odd reason, he didn’t look at all surprised. She glanced quickly at Suki and noticed she was now staring at Shinbe and Toya with wide brown eyes, as if she didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. Toya was still glaring at Kotaro and then she noticed Kotaro's arm still around her and groaned.

"Well, at least I’m not the only clueless one here." Kyoko’s eyes locked with Toya's.

"No, you’re the only important one here," Toya smirked, but his golden eyes were dead serious.

Kyoko smiled gently at Toya thinking that was the sweetest thing he had ever said to her. Seeing the look on his face, she could tell he meant what he had said. She blushed and as if it were contagious, Toya’s cheeks became suspiciously red too.

Both of them quickly looked back at their plates and started eating as if nothing had happened.

***** Hyakuhei’s eyes narrowed as he watched Toya and Kyoko interact. Angry thoughts clouded his already dark soul. ‘Was it never to change? Even in this life… would Toya still be the guardian closest to the priestess’s heart?’

Feeling rage wash through him like a rushing title wave, Hyakuhei lifted the hand mirror up high into the air. Still glaring through the glass at the silver guardian who had caused him so much trouble in the past, he brought the tainted mirror down on the window ledge with a shattering crash, sending a spray of shimmering shards of glass out in its wake.

As the crimson left his eyes and he leaned back against the frame of the window once more, his long tresses of hair began to move. As if obeying its master, the strands of ebony hair scattered… plucking the shards back from the floor and placing them together once more.

With brooding eyes, Hyakuhei returned his attention back to the now flawless mirror.

***** A few minutes later, the table was still silent. Suki and Shinbe stared at each other strangely, while Kotaro and Toya were still glaring daggers at each other heatedly, and Kyoko thankfully found something really interesting about her fork to concentrate on. She almost fell over with relief when Kotaro's two friends, who she had been told were Hoto and Toki, came to the table with a message for Kotaro.

Kotaro broke off his glaring match with Toya with a winning smirk to look up at his two comrades. They seemed to be out of breath from running to find him and he noted the stressed look they both wore.

“What is it?” he nodded as if giving them permission to speak.

"Kotaro, we have been asked to gather everybody in the gym this morning." Toki announced while Hoto nodded confirming it. They were both still a little rattled from getting the message from Kyou when used to only taking orders from Kotaro.

Kotaro nodded at them. “Find the others and gather them." He stood up, as Hoto and Toki took off to do his bidding. He silently wondered what Kyou was thinking.

Holding his hand out to Kyoko, Kotaro asked pleasantly, "Would you allow me to escort you to the gym, Kyoko?" He gave her a charming smile, and then smirked over her shoulder at Toya as if to say he had won again.

Toya narrowed his gaze at Kotaro and mouthed the words ‘you wish’. He smirked when Kotaro cocked an eyebrow at that. He watched with sullen eyes as Kyoko slid her arm into Kotaro’s willingly.

Kyoko nodded. Standing, she let Kotaro pull her along behind him. She could hear a low growl from Toya as she passed him and threw him an apologetic look only to see him shrug as if he didn’t care. She frowned wondering why she even bothered then deleted it from her mind as she felt the others follow behind them.

'Why do I feel so nervous?' Kyoko thought to herself.

As they entered the gym going to the center of the massive room, the others started sitting down, so she did too. She felt a light breeze coming from one side, and knew Kotaro was close to her left side. She cringed and glanced to the other side… yep; an annoyed-looking Toya was close to her right.

Wanting something else to think about, she started watching the others as they came in. So far, it was Suki, Shinbe, Toya, and Kotaro. She watched as Kotaro’s two friends Hoto and Toki came and sat down behind him. She bit her bottom lip noticing Suki still looked confused.

Shinbe watched Suki out of the corner of his eyes knowing she was wondering what Toya had meant by ‘remembering the past’. He could tell she was still thinking about it by the way she was wringing her hands together. In the dream they’d shared… he had kissed Suki and she’d kissed him back.

Shinbe wanted to laugh at the look on her face but decided against it because he knew she’d hit him. ‘Let her think about it for a while,’ he thought to himself then quickly changed his mind. Unable to restrain himself any longer he used his telepathy to mentally whisper in her mind the words… “Not just a dream”.

He was quickly rewarded when the floor rose up so rapidly that it smacked him in the face. Holding the back of his head as he sat back up, Shinbe glanced at her. Her hand was still raised high from the blow she’d just given him and the look on her face told him she would do it again if provoked. Shinbe decided against trying it again and kept his telepathic powers to himself for now.

Kyoko raised her hand to cover the giggle as she watched Suki brain Shinbe in the back of the head and him pop back up like a ‘jack in the box’ and look at Suki as if to say ‘WHAT!… did I do?.’ She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from cracking up.

Trying to distract herself, Kyoko looked back at the door and waved at Kamui as he entered, and then another guy with wild, fiery-colored hair walked in behind him. He looked about the same age as Kamui but she could tell he wasn’t a guardian… but something else entirely. She tilted her head wondering who he was.

Kotaro turned to see Kyoko’s attention was elsewhere and glanced to see what it was. He noticed the question on her face and leaned toward her, telling her that was Kaen and that the name meant fire sprite. He’d leave it up to her to figure out the rest, but from what he could remember, the boy had always been by Kamui's side.

Kyoko tested her senses, feeling the room now full of guardian power. ‘I might not be able to remember the past,’ she thought to herself. ‘But the feeling within this room seems familiar… and safe.’

She leaned toward Toya. "What is this meeting about anyway?" she whispered curiously.

Toya huffed still feeling his anger high from Kotaro’s antics, "How the hell should I know?" This earned him a scowl from Kyoko.

"Fine, sorry I asked!" she hissed, right into his face before turning away from him. “Jerk,” She muttered under her breath.

Toya drew back from her in a hurry once she got in his face, then seeing her turn and fold her arms in front of her angrily, he sighed when he heard her softly spoken insult. Lowering his lips near her ear he said quietly, "It’s probably about training… after what happened last night." His voice softened, “Sorry.”

Kyoko’s head swung back around so quickly when she heard him mutter the word ‘sorry’ that she almost got whiplash, but now she found herself within an inch of his face. His eyes instantly turned a softer golden color, and she felt heat creep across her cheeks.

She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that before Kotaro put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly to try and get her attention.

Kyoko’s eyes widened slightly… Somewhere, someone was growling. She blinked. It wasn’t Kotaro and it wasn’t Toya growling. She felt herself cringe inwardly realizing neither her nor Toya had yet moved.

She slowly turned her head and found herself looking directly at black clad legs in front of her. Feeling like she was getting smaller with every inch that her eyes traveled up him, she finally reached the top… only to find a very angry Kyou staring down his nose at them. Well, mainly at her, she noticed.

For some reason her brain decided to play stupid, and instead of the frightening sight scaring her, she narrowed her eyes at him and thinned her lips as if to say, ‘What?’

He must have come down the elevator. She rolled her eyes and sighed at the fact that everyone was probably staring at her thinking that she really needed to start paying attention if she didn’t want to become his class clown. Kyoko tried to ignore the flip-flop her stomach decided to do just then. With him still staring down at her like she’d just broken some golden rule or something, it was becoming harder to keep herself from flinching.

When Kyou first entered the room, his eyes had instantly sought out Kyoko… only to find her in a dead lock with Toya's gaze. And to his horror, it looked like they were going to kiss, they were so close. His approach was deadly with intent, but he controlled the emotion only to wind up glaring down at them, and growling to get their attention back on the meeting. He’d actually tried not to growl, but the growl had won out in the end.

Now that he had the attention he sought, Kyou tried to cover it up by looking at the rest of the group to make sure he held everyone’s eyes. His voice became laced with ice when he felt Kyoko's anger flowing freely from her… right in his direction.

He arched an eyebrow back at her, "Ready?" No response, "Good, because I will not lower myself to repeat my words."

Kyoko suddenly had to fight the urge to growl back at him. ‘Hard Ass’ she mentally slung the word at him then shrank back a little when his cold eyes returned to her for an instant.

Trying not to smirk at Kyoko, Kyou looked out at them all and started his speech. He’d made a decision, "Some of you are starting to regain memories… These are real... As our enemies draw closer… you will remember more... We have all fought this battle before… Last time we failed to succeed... This time… we will not."

Well, he never was much for words. Kyou sighed, narrowing his eyes, "In two days, we will be leaving this place to train... Be ready... We will be gone for however long it takes… Until then, stay on guard." His eyes flashed back to Kyoko and he nearly lost his composure when he noticed she almost jumped at his sudden movement.

"Shinbe, Suki, right front," Kyou watched curiously as the pair went to the right front corner of the dojo.

Suki walked slowly, still lost in thought of the dream she had had the night before. When Shinbe had started telling her about his dream, she'd thought it was a fluke that she had experienced the exact same thing. She’d even played with the idea that he’d somehow made her have the dream by using his powers on her. But now… now she didn’t know what to think. What did they mean by ‘getting memories back’?

She raised her gaze to stare at Shinbe. ‘And he had kissed her in that dream…’ If it wasn’t a dream… her eyes narrowed on the fact Shinbe was still smiling from ear to ear. He was enjoying every minute of her confusion and it was irritating. On instinct, she raised her bayonet and threw it at him, hoping to cut the dumb looking smirk from his face.

Shinbe quickly dodged the weapon, his smile widening. “Come now Suki… so what if it was a memory of a past life instead of a dream. You didn’t look unhappy to me.” He wiggled his eyebrows making a point.

She closed her eyes in frustration. Mysterious coughing could be heard coming from Shinbe and it was putting her last nerve on end. “Shut up and fight,” Suki challenged.

Kyou cocked an eyebrow at the pair then dismissed his curiosity and turned back to the group to continue. "Kamui, Kaen, left front."

Kyoko glanced over and noticed Kamui going over to that side, then she watched as the one she silently dubbed ‘flame boy’, followed him. She noticed the boy named Kaen kept glancing at her as if waiting on something so she smiled at him. She could have sworn she saw flames dancing in his eyes as he smiled back at her then turned to spar with Kamui.

Not wanting to get in trouble again so soon, she turned her attention back to Kyou. She already felt like the words ‘class clown’ were tattooed on her forehead.

"Hoto, Toki, back right. Kotaro, Toya back left,” Kyou looked up to see Toya gritting his teeth. He watched in satisfaction as Toya got up in a huff, and headed toward Kotaro in the back of the gym.

Kotaro’s ice blue eyes lit up as he readied his stance. “This will be fun,” he smirked, waiting on Toya to make the first move.

“You seem to be in a hurry to get your ass kicked,” Toya growled back, determined and also looking forward to the fight.

“And you think you’re the man for the job?” Kotaro narrowed his eyes at Toya. “That will never happen.”

"I’ll enjoy changing your mind." Silver rose into Toya’s golden eyes and they both became a blur as they lunged at each other.

Kyoko didn’t know what to do, so she just stood up and walked closer to Kyou, not wanting to be left sitting there all by herself. Turning to him, she cocked an eyebrow as if asking without words what she was supposed to do. She was still a little ticked off at him, and wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of speaking to him.

Kyou turned around to head back to the elevator, but after a couple steps he stopped. Without turning around he said in a crisp voice, "Follow."

Kyoko huffed, then widening her eyes and tilting her head at a funny angle, she mouthed the word ‘follow,’ as if giving a direct order. Then with a sour look trained right on his back, she followed; mentally smacking herself again for letting her eyes wander down.

She watched his long hair sway back and forth; almost caressing his body. ‘It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong.’ Kyoko thought to herself. ‘I’m just admiring my teacher’s… hair.’ She felt her face get as hot as the sun when she realized where her thoughts were headed. ‘Oh god, I’m never going to live this down.’

Kyou smirked inwardly as he heard her thoughts and toyed with the idea of teasing her. But, if her thoughts were any indication, she was already humiliated enough. Now wasn’t the time for play.