Chapter 1

Bouncing on the heels of her feet Hitomi took deep breaths as she counted up and down over and over again. She was used to the anticipation, the noise of the crowd, the last minute hustle as the sound crew went through their final checks before the curtains opened. Since she was a small child she had been singing and acting so it was all second nature to her by now.

At the tender age of two Hitomi had walked into the living room where her parents were tending to her newborn bother and serenaded them with her latest favorite cartoon's opening song number. It was a desperate bid for attention since her only child crown had been stolen but they didn't see it. Stunned that their young daughter had such a pleasing voice the dollar signs registered in her parent's eyes as they simply watched her perform.

Those memories, Hitomi exhaled sharply, were for an entirely different time.

Lifting her arm up she grabbed her elbow with her other arm and stretched it out, working out the final kinks so she was fluid before she put her body once again through the exhausting performance again. Around her Hitomi heard the sound of her friend and manager talking into her walkie-talkie but didn't tune in. One of her outfits she'd change into between songs hadn't shown up from the last concert in Fried and Yukari was irate.

Hitomi honestly didn't care. It was only a concert. Would people honestly care that much?

"Earth to Hitomi," Yukari's voice snapped waving her hand in front of Hitomi's face. "I know you have your ritualistic stretching and zen-like calm before the performance but have you warmed up your vocal chords?"

"Of course," Hitomi cheekily grinned as she dropped her arms and fussed with her skirt. "It's all a part of the ritual. I think I should be insulted, frankly, that you asked."

"Don't start with me," growled Yukari as she fiddled with her ear piece. "What do you mean it 'vanished'!? Nothing simply 'vanishes' into thin air!" she suddenly screamed into the walkie-talkie as she stormed off to, potentially, rip someone's head off.

Adjusting the straps to her dress Hitomi listened to the loud, excited voices of the crowd on the outside of the curtain. She loved her fans, loved her career, but didn't know of a life outside of a career and this existence. Perhaps, you could say, she was complacent with the good fortune she had to make use of what talent she had available to her.

"Hey Kanzaki, you're on in three," the sound technician said as he stepped up to her and she automatically turned to allow access for the microphone to be hooked up. "I'd say break a leg but that'd be a little morbid."

Smirking, Hitomi's eyes twinkled. "Plus you'd feel really bad if I did break my leg and, in turn, Yukari broke yours."

"And there is that, too," smiled Amano as he finished hooking up the microphone and handed her the pack to position in her belt.

Closing her eyes Hitomi quickly ran through her mental checklist of moves, songs, and playful banter she'd use with the crowd. Same old routine yet always wonderfully different with every town they hit.

The roar of the crowd picked up in intensity as the time ticked down reaching its usual fever pitch. Grinning, Hitomi opened her eyes to watch as the curtain opened and she stepped forward to another performance of her life.

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Lazily Van leaned back in the wood chair as his right foot hooked around the legs of the table thus preventing him from falling back as he rocked back and forth in the chair. If his parents could see him he was sure he'd get yelled at about how it was bad for the chair, the table, the floor, and everything else involved. That thought made him grin.

Ruhm was late, but that was no surprise. As the owner and president of Arzas Security, LLC he was always on the run, meeting with new clients, appeasing old ones. The man was a damn good professional and Van respected him for that fact. He was an old family friend and Van appreciated Ruhm taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him.

Idly his ruby eyes flickered over to the television which was tuned into "Astoria Now!", the mediocre celebrity gossip television show that was for some reason widely popular. Perhaps it was their focus on the dirt of the celebrities of Astoria that attracted the viewers? Misery likes company and hearing that celebrities also have shitty lives helps people feel better perhaps.

A click brought Van's attention snapping back to reality as the door sung open and Ruhm ambled into the room, a sheef of paper tucked in his arm as he barked into the phone.

"I don't care what a royal pain the pop princess Millernia is being," Ruhm barked into the phone. "You're job is to be her bodyguard, not her coffee fetcher!"

Once again Van's face stretched into a smirk as Ruhm dropped the papers onto the table and reached over to lower the volume on the television. "Tell her she has damn assistants to play fetch! Your job is to protect, you idiot."

With that Ruhm slammed his phone shut and haphazardly dropped the phone on top of the papers as he sunk heavily into the other chair. "Seriously Fanel," he groaned running his hands over his face and sinking his heels into his eye sockets. "A coffee fetcher."

"Seems like it was a serious threat to whoever's safety if she didn't have the coffee." Van joked as he let his front chair legs fall to the floor.

Pulling his hands back Ruhm looked at the raven-haired man across from him. "How do you figure?"

"Well if she's a royal pain she'd probably have had him beheaded for not following her orders."

"Shut up Fanel," Ruhm grumbled then grinned. "Great to see you."

The old friends reached across the table and clasped hands before Ruhm went to shuffling through the papers. After a minute or so of silence Ruhm glanced up. "So, are you serious about what you asked the other day? That why you finally showed your ugly face around here?"

"Of course I'm serious. Do I seem like the type to joke around about stuff?" Van steadily answered, his intense eyes measuring Ruhm's reaction.

"No," Ruhm conceded looking down at his papers. "You were always kind of a stick in the mud with zero sense of humor."

"Thanks, I think."

"How pissed off is the family about this?" Ruhm ventured as he reached over and turned off the television that was being ignored.

"Probably to the level that coffee diva would have been if she hadn't gotten her coffee."

"Fanel, I'm being serious."

"So am I."

Full of nervous energy Ruhm stood up and started pacing the room. "But why be a bodyguard? I mean, I'm sure there are better and safer ways of pissing off the family and turning your back on the dynasty than suddenly deciding to be a bodyguard Fanel."

"Being a bodyguard isn't my ultimate career aspiration if that is what you're thinking. I figured it'd pay the bills since I'm officially cut off from the Fanel fortune. Also give me something to do while I figure out what I am doing with my life," replied the raven-haired man simply, his ruby eyes following his nervous friend around the room.

"Christ," Ruhm muttered as he sank down into the chair again, "Goau would have my neck for this, you know?"

"Screw what he thinks. I'm asking you as an old friend to do me a favor and give me a job. You know I have the training and skills to be a good bodyguard and it's just until I figure out what I want to do with myself."

With a sigh that signaled to Van that victory was his, Ruhm once again looked down at his paperwork. "Fine, Fanel. But when your father or brother comes knocking on the door I'm playing stupid, kapeesh?"

"Whatever helps you sleep better at night."

With a glare Ruhm shuffled his paperwork around some more and allowed his eyes to focus on a sheet of paper. With a grin he looked up at Van who simply sat there as though he had all the time in the world.

"Since you seemed particularly amused with the diva and her high demands I actually did get a fairly high-profile person in need of a bodyguard."

"Oh?" Van quirked his brow, unsure he liked where this was going. Heck, he was expecting to probably be a bodyguard of some low-grade sports athlete or a paranoid CEO at most, but a diva?

Luck was not on his side.

"I can see you're all eager attention at this," Ruhm grinned sideways as the young man maintained a carefully guarded blank look on his face. "Her name is Hitomi Kanzaki and from I hear she is a real sweet person."

"The Hitomi Kanzaki?" Van asked incredulously, running his hands through his temperamental locks.

"Know her personally?"

"No," Van said with a groan, his eyes going heavenward. "My sister Merle is only mildly obsessed with her damn music. I swear if I hear 'I don't need promises' one more time I will stab my eyes out with your pen."

Handing Van his pen Ruhm grinned. "Looks like you might be needing this then."

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A/N: Yes, another story. I'm a horrible person with a sadistic streak in my body. It was a long week for me and thus a new story was born as I downed root beer. Remember I am hardcore like that.

Thanks to M for beta-reading and finding amusement in my quirky come-backs for all her beta-reading suggestions. ("Arms on a table…?" "Didn't you get the memo? Tables have arms now.").

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, obviously, of course.