Defy Not The Heart. Amy Blankenship

twin daggers. Morbid fascination had him slowly opening his amethyst eyes to see what was going on.

      "Shut up!” Kyoko yelled, throwing her hand up and casting the taming spell, then instantly grabbed her head in panic as the pain rocketed through her brain.

      "What was that for?” Toya growled as he glared up at her from the floor.

      "Oww,” her mouth made a little ‘o’ as she cringed again. “Shhh,” She added hoping he would get the message.

      Shinbe sighed, knowing Kyoko most likely had a hangover, and Toya wasn’t helping the matter by being so loud. He was glad she could paralyze him, even if he did find it strange that the taming spell only worked on Toya. Sometimes he found himself jealous that she could put a spell on Toya at all. It also didn’t help that Toya was the only one who could leap back and forward through time, following her into her home world. In Shinbe’s mind, it only brought those two even closer.

      He silently wondered if she remembered last night considering how intoxicated she was. Shinbe closed his eyes, feeling his insides clench when Toya snapped at Kyoko for using the spell. So far, everything seemed normal. He reflected back again, trying to remember everything clearly. He found it strange that even for him, last night seemed almost like a dream.

      He remembered just before bringing her into the hut, he’d used a shield spell on them to cover up any scent of their love making, if it had been noticeable. He opened his eyes again, knowing hiding wouldn’t help if she remembered what happened. Then Shinbe forgot to breathe as he watched Toya lean close to Kyoko, sniffing her.

      Toya crinkled his nose up at her, "Kyoko, do I smell alcohol on you?” He sat down in front of her when he heard her pained but guilty sigh. Her hands were still covering her face. "What the hell, Kyoko? Did you get drunk?” Toya couldn’t keep his voice from going a little too high, and he clamped his mouth shut when she jerked her hands down and gave him a death glare.

      "Toya, I’m sorry. But if you don’t get out of my face right now, I’m gonna do something me and you are both going to regret," Kyoko’s eyes narrowed. She raised her hand as if to cast the Taming spell on him again, causing Toya to scoot back quickly and growl in annoyance.

      Shinbe couldn’t help but smirk as Kyoko put Toya in his place. He hid it behind a quick cough. Sometimes those two could be so… entertaining. Another cough caught his attention. Leaning over to look around Toya, he could see Kamui having the same problem of trying to hide his laughter.

      'Damn, she can be really, really scary, sometimes,' Toya thought as he put his hands in his loose sleeves and turned his face to the side. "Fine, you can tell me later!" he peeked at her from the corner of his golden eyes, knowing he had said that a little too loud. Jumping up, he took off out the door, not wanting to stick around if she tried to ‘tame’ him again. It was a good thing that stupid spell didn’t last long or he would be hurting.

      Suki hadn’t said a word as she watched Kyoko in wonder. When Toya finally left, she padded softly over to Kyoko. Bending down, she whispered, "Kyoko, I’m going to go get you some fresh water, okay? You just lie back down and I’ll be right back." She placed her hand lightly on Kyoko’s shoulder shaking her head, wondering how their innocent Kyoko could have gotten drunk. Deciding she’d wait to ask, she turned and left the hut to get her friend some water.

      Kamui couldn’t pass up the opportunity and grinned from ear to ear. “Kyoko, I can’t believe you went out drinking and didn’t invite me.” His smile widened even more when Kyoko gave him a cross-eyed look. Sensing Kaen outside waiting on him, he left the hut to join his fiery friend.

      Kyoko groaned as her head pounded. She should have asked Suki for help to look through her backpack. She knew she would have something in there for pain, and if she could just find it right now, she would probably take all of it. She saw a shadow fall across her and turned to see Shinbe’s amethyst gaze watching her.

      Suddenly, images of him above her, making love to her lips and body coursed through her mind. It was a dream… right? A drunken dream, yeah… she remembered now. Hangover or not, she couldn’t help what she was thinking and felt the hot blush rise up to stain her cheeks. She was instantly thankful one of his guardian powers wasn’t being able to read minds, like Kyou could.

      "Kyoko, are you all right? Is there something I can do for you?” Shinbe felt guilty knowing she thought it was a dream, as she’d said last night. But he needed to know if she remembered anything. By the blush that spread across her face, he thought maybe she did. When she finally spoke, he sighed in relief, and misery. Somewhere deep inside, he had hoped she would remember, and put an end to it all.

      Kyoko gave him a weak smile. Damn dreams… Why did she have to dream of him, of all people? It wasn’t bad enough she’d dreamt of him before in that manner, but she’d never dreamt of him and woke up only to be so close to him that she could feel his body heat.

      She suddenly leaned back, away from that closeness, her emerald eyes wide. There was something in the way he was looking at her, as if he were searching into her very soul. Or getting ready to grope her… with Shinbe one could never be sure. She mentally shook her head, ‘No. Don’t wanna go there, Kyoko, girl, not right now! Think, what was the question?’ “Urmm…”

      "Shinbe, would you mind looking through my bag, and find the box I keep herbs in?” she put her hands to her head again, trying to stifle the thumping. ‘Note to self… never, ever, go to a party with Tasuki and his frat buddies ever again.’

      Shinbe dug around in her bag looking for the herb box. Pulling it out, he handed it to her. Kyoko accidentally brushed her hand across his and Shinbe had a sudden bolt of heat course through his body causing a certain part of him to harden.

      â€˜Oh, how vulnerable she was right now, he could just… NO! What was he thinking? Gods… they were right when they called him a perv.’

      Trying to quickly back away to a safer distance, he accidentally brushed his arm against her thigh.

      Kyoko inwardly cringed at the contact. Why did he have to be the one helping her right now? Why couldn’t Toya still be here glaring and yelling at her. ‘Those lips, those eyes, I… have to stop staring at him like that!’ She turned her gaze back to the herb box as she fumbled through it, looking for the aspirin she normally kept inside. Finding them, she held up the tiny pills.

      Shinbe stared at her, mesmerized. She hadn’t tried to castrate him yet, so she must not remember. ‘Why couldn’t she have remembered,’ he silently sighed.

      She looked back up at him making eye contact that almost rendered her brain dead for a moment. "Water? Please? You have no idea how gross these are without it."

      Shinbe got completely flustered as he watched her mouth the words. Her lips were just so inviting… he could just… he bent down… he looked at the aspirin she held in her hand. Focus.

      "Yes, they do look like nasty little things,” he said, eyeing them, even though he had no idea what they were. The door suddenly opened and he guiltily jerked his head around to see Suki and Kamui coming in with the water jug.

      Suki eyed Shinbe wearily, "What are you up to, guardian?"

      Shinbe backed away wondering if Suki could secretly read his mind or something. She had an uncanny knack for knowing just when he was misbehaving… or at least thinking about it.

      "Oh Suki, please pour me some water quickly. The sooner I take this medicine, the sooner I’ll feel better,” Kyoko offered knowing Shinbe hadn’t been doing anything wrong.

      â€˜Kyoko to the rescue!’ Shinbe kept the cheer to himself.

      Suki poured some water in her cup and started to chatter on about how Toya was having a tantrum about her not returning early yesterday afternoon.

      Shinbe