A/N: This one's for all my readers that wanted a different pairing than the others. Hope you enjoy. 8)

No Reliance

Chapter 1

She shrugged off the despair that had threatened to overwhelm her. His mantra to act no matter what had become her own and it disgusted her if she thought about it too much. The thoughts that he had willingly been duped by Morizumi swirled in her mind like a hurricane. No man is that naive, she told herself. Morizumi had to be the girl he had told Bo of, there was no other explanation for it. She wanted to scream, rant, rave, put her small fist through the brick wall. She wanted to take the two blades at her waist and put them to their proper use. The thoughts hurt. She had never believed that she could actually feel this kind of pain. It hadn't even been that bad with Sho. How could it hurt so much? What had she done to deserve this?

I fucking fell in love with him! I'm being punished for it. The gods were punishing her for thinking for a brief moment that she was worthy of that emotion. Her mother never loved her. Corn didn't understand what he was saying so casually. Sho never loved her. Fuwa Oba and Oji never loved her. Moko only tolerated her. She wasn't sure about Chiori and Maria. No, she wasn't worthy of love. She wallowed in her misery as she made her way back to the hall where Moko-san and Yashiro-san were. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind to analyze later. She didn't need it effecting Momiji during the audition. She would figure out later how to eradicate or, absorb the source of her pain later. For now, it would be locked away.

She couldn't stop the tears once they started, as she sat alone in her room. She had been avoiding him for the past week. She couldn't bear to look at him without feeling the pain. It was a stifling pain that radiated from her chest, to her neck to her mind. Her heart literally hurt. She was literally suffering from physical pain because of what she considered her own stupidity. She couldn't breathe. The only time she wasn't suffering was when she was acting. Then the idea hit her. She would do as she had told Takarada-san, she would act.

She would create a public Kyoko. She would don this mask the moment she stepped from her room to prevent herself from being a burden to anyone that she knew. She wrote a list of everything that others had told her about herself in conversation or, in passing. If she was too loud, she would be quiet. If she was too emotional, she would be stoic. Sho had told her she was plain, she would wear makeup and dress up a little more. She was without sex-appeal; well, guess what? Natsu and Setsu weren't, and they would help her out in all of these areas. Speaking of that arrogant ass, he would mean nothing to this new version of her. Anything that he had said, anything that she had promised meant absolutely nothing to her now. She was the new Kyoko, and she would say and do as she saw fit.

She spent her evening with a cold compress on her eyes to remove the redness and swelling caused by her lamentations. When she was satisfied with her calmed state, she began to experiment. She combed through her closet and made two piles: one to keep and one to consign. She unfolded one of the moving boxes she had brought with her when she first moved in and began to fold the consign pile neatly and packed the box tightly. What she was left with made her shake her head. Three pairs of leather pants, two pairs of boots, a pair of high heels, a pair of sneakers, a pair of heeled loafers, ten blouses that were bought for Setsu, two pairs of skinny jeans, a suede-leather mini-skirt, two pairs of slacks that she had bought for Natsu and also three blouses she had bought for her. At least it was something she could stylishly work with. She decided that she would definitely need to mix and match.

After she hung and folded the pile of clothing that she would keep she decided that the undergarments would be the next to go. She had four sets that were left over from Setsu and those would be the only ones that she would keep, they made her feel sexy. The rest went in the boxes. She shoved the boxes into the corner. She would take them to the consignment shop on the weekend.

Next would be hair and makeup. She still had the kits that Moko and Ten gave her. It was something that she had to do to keep her sanity. She would use both kits and never look back. As for her hair? Well, you can only do so much with short hair. She decided that since she would be wearing extensions for Momiji, she would spring for them with the money she made with selling her unwanted clothing and get it over with. It was what Director Morizumi and Producer Kuresaki wanted anyway. They would probably be thrilled that they didn't have to put the cost for it in the production budget anyway.

She whipped out her phone and called the salon to make her appointment. Fortunately, she was able to get her appointment first thing in the morning. She silently debated the cost and decided that she could afford it. She would replace the savings she used with the money from the clothes.

She finally washed her face, showered, laid out her clothing for the next day and organized her makeup so everything would be ready and waiting for her in the morning. She shot off a text to Yashiro-san, letting him know she had some errands to run until noon, set her alarm clock and finally cracked open her script to Sacred Lotus to memorize her minimal lines. Tomorrow she would be the new Kyoko by noon and in the afternoon she would practice her sword skills for a couple of hours at the Uesugi Dojo then make her appearance at LME for her LoveMe duties. She hoped that by that time, she would have her mask so firmly in place that nothing would be able to remove it, not even Ren or, Sho.

Thus far, her morning was going rather well. She awakened three hours before her appointment and was able to help out in the restaurant and do a little studying for her French exam. It was supposed to be a comfortable temperature during the day, so she went ahead and slipped into her leather pants, a bell-sleeved peasant shirt and a pair of her lace-up boots, after slipping into her black lace cheeky panties and matching bra. She put on a light coat of foundation, powdered, lightly swept on her blush, lined her eyes, mascaraed her lashes, painted her lips and swept on her smoky shadow. She sighed and shook her head in the mirror. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, calmed herself and called on the new Kyoko to take over. The Kyoko that wouldn't be walked on. The Kyoko that refused to cry anymore for a man. The Kyoko that could be alone and the Kyoko that could make it to the next day without breaking again.

DING...

She entered the salon and approached the desk. "Excuse me. I have an appointment for 9am."

"You're name please." The receptionist asked without looking up.

"Kyouko. It will be for a color, extensions and style." She answered confidently.

The young woman looked up from the appointment ledger, her eyes went wide and she gasped. "You're... Kyouko! You're Natsu! Oh my god!"

Kyoko giggled and nodded her head.

"Kyouko-sama, could I have your autograph? Please?" She practically begged.

Kyoko smiled softly and agreed. She signed the young woman's notepad and was then led to a private stall of the stylist that would be assisting in her change. By the time she was finished, every stylist in the building had her autograph and she had ended up with free hair care products, hair bands and ties, and half-off her visit. She also had a business card and a personal stylist by the name of Miki that would do her hair whenever she needed her. She had a few new friends, a new hairstyle that fell to her waist in a raven black and a fresh mani-pedi.

She waved goodbye, whipped out her phone and called a cab. For a brief moment she had thought of her Corn-stone and Princess Rosa, then shook off the thoughts. She refused to use them as a crutch anymore. Corn had left her and Tsuruga-san had Morizumi-san to chase after. She didn't need either of them. She slipped into the cab and she was off to work.