Defy Not The Heart. Amy Blankenship

for any signs of his hot-tempered brother. When he didn’t sense him anywhere, he slowly made his way towards the maiden statue.

      He stood in front of the statue, looking at the image of Kyoko from the past, daydreaming, and never hearing the footsteps that came up behind him.

      â€œWhat the hell do you think you’re doing here, guardian?” Toya called in a low tone from behind. He startled Shinbe so much that he lost his balance and almost fell into the arms of the maiden, had Toya not grabbed him by the arm.

      â€œToya, you really have to stop sneaking up on people like this,” Shinbe said with a growl as he shook off Toya’s hand.

      â€œI told you to stay away from Kyoko. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours, but if I have to knock some sense into you, I will,” Toya’s eyes sparked madly in anger at the thought of his brother, harboring feelings for Kyoko. Not in this lifetime, not if he had anything to do about it.

      Shinbe had had enough of Toya’s threats. He just snapped. “What the hell!” he swung his staff at Toya, who jumped back out of the way. “You’ve had a million chances with Kyoko, but you always chose to close your eyes to it. Now you want to tell her whom she can be with? Whom she can kiss?” he laughed but it sounded angry. “It isn’t going to happen, Toya. You lose.” Shinbe shook his head and steadied his staff, ready for the oncoming rampage. He knew just what Toya was capable of but he was tired of backing down.

      Toya stared at Shinbe in shock. He couldn’t move. He knew he couldn’t use the twin daggers… if he did, he would kill his brother. His eyes began to bleed molten silver as they narrowed on his sibling, “What did you just say? Are you telling me ‘you’ want Kyoko?” Toya growled as he added, “You are nothing but a lecherous guardian. Kyoko would never have you!” He lunged at Shinbe.

      Shinbe dodged Toya’s swing and stood his ground, “Do you think she’d still want you, when all you do is try to control her and act like you don’t give a damn about her feelings?” He dodged another of Toya’s blows and laughed. “Getting slow…” his voice darkened, “or did I touch a nerve?”

      Toya stood staring at Shinbe. Why he didn’t call the twin daggers out, he didn’t know. But he wanted to spill Shinbe’s blood, desperately. He didn’t need blades to do that. “You have no right to talk about what I do,” Toya’s tone was deadly as he lowered his head, his bangs shadowing the red tint that was creeping in with the silver that had already taken over his irises.

      Shinbe quirked an eyebrow at Toya. “Ha, so I did hit a nerve. How interesting. The silver guardian does have feelings… he feels for his priestess. But you have no right to tell Kyoko whom she can kiss. After all, like she said, she doesn’t have a boyfriend. So, the way I see it, she’s fair game.” Shinbe shrugged, turning around and glancing at the shrine.

      Toya took that moment to lunge at Shinbe, “Damn you, don’t turn your back on me!” He hit Shinbe hard, sending him tumbling, his staff sailing across the clearing.

      Shinbe was quick on his feet and rolled, standing up to face Toya. His long, midnight blue hair swayed in the breeze as his amethyst eyes glowed dangerously. Both guardians were silent for a moment as they faced each other in anger. The grass around them and the maiden statue shimmered with an unnoticed aura left over by the enemy.

      Weaponless and at a disadvantage Shinbe placed his hand in front of him, palm up as he called on his guardian powers. The boulders around them started to break loose from the ground they had been trapped in for so long. He knew he didn’t have time to complete the spell when Toya charged at him again. He tried to move out of the way, but felt his legs buckle as he hit the side of the maiden statue.

      The heavy rocks plummeted back to the ground as Toya crashed into him, grabbing him by the throat. Shinbe grabbed the front of Toya’s shirt as they both tumbled into a sea of warm blue mist.

      Instead of landing with a thud as Shinbe expected, he felt himself wrapped in a soft blue light. His first thought was that he must have been dying, since Toya had been strangling him just before they fell. Coming out of the slow motion, the mysterious mist disappeared and they did land… hard. Toya’s hands were still around his neck.

      As his senses came back to him in a rush, Shinbe reached his hands up between Toya’s arms and was able to pry the guardian’s hands off him.

      Toya landed on his back as Shinbe pushed him away. That’s when he realized where they were. “What the..?” Toya stared up into the darkness, seeing the roof above his head. They had slipped into Kyoko’s time? Shinbe was in Kyoko’s fucking time? “No!” Toya growled as he pushed himself off the wooden floor and glared at Shinbe. None of the guardians had ever made it through the heart of time, except him. He was the only guardian allowed here. Jealousy sizzled in Toya’s blood.

      â€œNow I’m really gonna kill you!” Toya charged Shinbe again, getting a blow in to the side of his head.

      Shinbe wasn’t as weak as he looked though. He shook his head as he reached a leg out, quickly fell and kicked Toya in the side, and sent him tumbling.

      Toya growled as he landed sideways against the shrine wall.

      Shinbe leaned against the wooden wall panting hard, trying to catch his breath. His coat was torn in places, and his head was throbbing from Toya’s blow. He glanced over at Toya, who looked none the worse for wear… his only expression was mad as hell.

      Toya crouched down and yelled, “You are not allowed here!” He shot toward Shinbe again, but hit the wall with a thump when Shinbe moved out of the way at the last second.

      Toya may have been stronger, but Shinbe was faster. As he dodged, Shinbe turned and fired a life force blast that would have hurt a god.

      Toya slammed backwards but his anger kept him from feeling a thing. He wiped the blood from his lip as he glared at Shinbe with mercury eyes. He needed to calm down, but even as the thought entered his mind, rage pushed it back out. What he wanted was to hurt Shinbe, real bad. He watched as Shinbe leaned, with his palms on his legs panting and took that opportunity to grab him by his coat, tossing Shinbe out the shrine house door.

      Guardians couldn’t be killed… least that was the theory… it was a lie. Hyakuhei had killed their father and no one was immortal. Shinbe slid across the gravel before rolling to a stop then stood up, wiping blood and grime out of his eyes.

      *****

      Kyoko lay in her bed wondering what had startled her awake. She could hear thumps and muffled growls so she just assumed grandpa was up late watching TV. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Tama burst into her room.

      â€œKyoko!” Tama pointed towards the window. “Som…. somebody’s fighting in… the… the courtyard,” he barely stuttered the words out as Kyoko ran to the window to look out. She couldn’t really see anything because they had obviously taken out the light post that stood near the edge of the yard.

      Tama stood next to her, staring out into the courtyard, just as a flash of red and black appeared closer to the house where the light was coming from the porch.

      He pointed, “Its, its…”

      â€œToya!” Kyoko yelled as she felt panic grip her. What was he fighting… a demon… in her world? She watched as he was suddenly lifted up in the air and thrown backwards into the huge tree she used to climb as a child. Problem was… she didn’t see anything throw him unless he was fighting a ghost.

      â€œTama, go wake grandfather. I have to help Toya.” She quickly grabbed her spirit bow and took off out the door as Tama stood there in shock.

      She ran barefoot into the courtyard, a spirit dart already notched in the bow. Trying to