CHAPTER 1

The rock star Priss Asigiri leaned back in her chair after an especially strenuous performance that night. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and chugged down the last bit of water from her thermos. Priss looked down at her cell phone on the mini table in her dressing room and picked it up. She checked it and sighed – no messages. Priss had been expecting a call from Lina to set up a date for that weekend. But things had been getting a bit hectic around Lina's office and their plans may have been put off for the time being. Kicking off her shoes, Priss walked into the small bathroom and ran the water for a quick shower.

Priss moaned pleasurably as the luke-warm water cascaded down her toned body, relaxing every sore muscle and giving her skin a beautiful glow. She cleansed herself and spent a few extra minutes just standing under the water and enjoying the feeling of the water flowing through her hair. When she felt she was satisfied, the singer stepped out of the shower and dried off. She reached into her knapsack and pulled out her favorite leather outfit. Priss dressed herself and proceeded to pack her things away, wanting to get home before it got too late.

"Hey, great job tonight Priss! You really knocked it out of the park this time," one of the band members called after Priss as she made her way out the back door. She shifted her motorcycle helmet to her other arm and waved to her band partners as they put away the equipment.

"Yeah, thanks. Well…see you guys later, then. Stay out of trouble," she answered.

"Heh Same goes for you, babe!"

Priss raced along the nearly empty highway, her powerful bike a blur as she sped past the occasional car. She grinned under her helmet – nothing made her happier than riding her motorcycle. Objects zoomed by and often at times she felt like she was flying, like nothing in the world could touch her. It was truly an exhilarating experience. Making her way home, Priss slowed down as she rounded a corner. Her lone trailer came into view and…

…SCREEEECH!! Priss applied the brakes and came two inches from striking a dark lump in the middle of the road. Irritated, Priss quickly hoped off her bike and walked over to see what had almost caused her to wipe out. She manipulated the headlight so she could see better and held her breath at what she saw. A single small hand poked out from under a dirty cloth, not moving…Priss cautiously tipped closer and pulled the cloth away, revealing the dirty face of a seven year-old girl with long tangled black hair. The singer straightened up and looked around her, wondering where the girl had come from. Sighing, Priss gently scooped the girl up and carried her to her trailer. She flicked on the light and lay her down on her bed, then went back outside to turn her motorcycle off.

"Great, what the hell am I supposed to do now?," the singer growled to herself. The little girl was still asleep, at least Priss thought she was asleep. When she got closer to check, she heard that the girl was breathing shallow. And when Priss lay a hand on the girl's forehead she pulled it away – the little girl had a fever. Standing up, the singer quickly walked into her kitchen and rattled around for some kind of medicine. She came across a bottle of aspirin and shook two pills into her hand. Priss stared at them for a minute as she tried to contemplate on how many she should give the girl. She really knew nothing about kids, but she knew that she had to do something.

Sitting down on the bed with a glass of water, Priss lifted the girl's head and shook her gently.

"Hey, can you hear me? Come on, take this…" Priss opened the girl's mouth and slid a pill to the back of her throat, then trickled a bit of water in her mouth. She was half convinced that she would chock, then sighed in relief when the little girl swallowed. The girl opened her eyes slightly to look up at Priss, smiled lightly and fell right back to sleep. Setting her gently back down to rest, Priss let the girl sleep off her fever and went back into the kitchen. She remembered how hungry she was and went about fixing a sandwich. Priss piled on ham, turkey and salami on both halves of a cheese-steak roll and was just about to drown it in mustard and horseradish before stopping herself. She put the sandwich together and cut it evenly in half, setting one half aside. The rock star put the mustard and horseradish on her half and carried both sandwiches back out into the living area.

Priss looked over at her sleeping guest every so often after bites of her dinner, listening to one of her albums with the volume turned down. The other half of the sandwich was placed in front of the girl's nose. Priss wasn't sure why she was even bothering – she usually wasn't the most compassionate person. But perhaps it had something to do with Lina…Ever since the two starting seeing each other, something in Priss started to change, something she couldn't really explain or understand. But it was bringing out the best in the popular singer, as far as her Knight Saber battling skills as well as her performances on stage. She didn't even realize that a small smile had appeared across her face.

Before long, Priss began to nod off to sleep. Before crawling into bed, she had placed the uneaten half of the sandwich in the fridge for later. The girl hadn't budged from her spot, and Priss had to scoot her over to make room. Luckily though, the kid's fever had all but disappeared and she seemed to be resting more comfortably. The singer had thrown the dirty torn blanket away and wrapped the child in one of her clean baggy tee-shirts. Priss sighed and stretched her muscles before settling in for the night, turning off the lights and shutting the curtains. She had almost fallen asleep instantly when she felt movement next to her. Priss glanced out of the corner of her eye to see the little girl cuddle against the singer's warm stomach, clinging onto her shirt and smiling lightly.

The next morning Priss was aware of something staring at her and opened her eyes. Sure enough, the seven year-old girl was sitting up on her hands and knees glaring at Priss with big green eyes. The singer grunted and sat up herself, running her fingers through her messy hair. The girl sat back and looked up innocently into the rock star's face.

"So, looks like you're feeling better. You hungry?," Priss asked. The girl didn't speak or even nod her head, just kept staring. Priss sighed and looked away – she figured the girl must be mute. The singer sat quietly for a minute to think about what to do. Maybe she'd go to ask Sylia for help…

"Do you have a name, kid?" Still no answer… Giving up, Priss slid out of bed and grabbed her clothes. But before she could walk two steps, she felt a tug on the back of her shirt. The little girl suddenly looked frightened and her big eyes were wet with tears.

"What…What do you want? I can't help you if you don't say anything," the singer replied. But the girl tugged harder and started to whimper. Priss groaned and pried the girl's hand from her shirt.

"Look, don't think that I'm going to fall for that little innocent routine of yours. You're not staying here, understand? As soon as I'm dressed we're leaving to find your parents. I just didn't want to leave you outside last night because you were sick." The little girl looked away for a second, shifting uneasily on the bed. Priss stared at her for a minute, her eyes rolling as she realized she probably hurt the girl's feelings. Sighing, she reached out and took the girl by the hand.

"Forget I said anything, alright…I can't stand to see girls cry. Come on, let's at least get you cleaned up and do something with that hair." The seven year-old girl smiled and hugged Priss.

"Argh, keep still will ya!? How am I supposed to clean you if you keep squirming?" Drenched in soapy water, the singer struggled to scrub the girl's arms. She tried to climb out of the tub again, but Priss pushed her right back in. The girl took the brush from her and started to play keep-away with it.

"Okay, fine. You do it then!,' the singer growled and scooted back. At least she had managed to clean the girl's hair, and ran a comb through it as the child washed herself…, 'If you wanted to do it you should have just said so." Priss reached over and grabbed a fresh towel and waited for the girl to finish. Finally having had her fun, the girl climbed out of the tub and charged Priss, but the singer was ready. She held the towel out at arm's length as a barrier and wrapped it around her.

"All right, enough goofing around. We have to do something about your hair…it's all the way down to the floor," Priss replied. The girl stared at her for a while then pointed to the singer's own hair and made a small noise.

"Mm? Oh, y-you want your hair like mine? You sure 'bout that?" The girl smiled, showing her teeth.

The sun was bright outside as Priss lead the young girl into the fresh air. Clean, hair groomed and wearing one of the smallest shirts the singer could find, the child walked next to Priss never letting go of her pants. Her freshly cut hair ruffled gently in the cool breeze. She squeaked as Priss scooped her up and sat her on the back of her motorcycle before climbing on herself. She hesitated for a minute, wondering if this was really a good idea. But the girl merely looked up at her with her innocent eyes and smiled again. Priss sighed and pulled out her phone, making up her mind to call Sylia to pick them up. After a few rings she finally heard a click on the other line…

"Yes, hello?," a sweet voice answered.

"Sylia, it's me."

"Oh! Well, hello Priss. How nice to hear from you this morning. It's rare for you to call me…," the owner of the Silky Doll commented.

"Never mind that now. Look, I need a favor…Can you pick us up in your car?"

"Us? You mean you and Lina? I suppose I could. How about I treat you two to an early lunch as well?"

"Uh, sure whatever. But I'm not with Lina…," Priss informed. She paused to look back at her young friend.

"Is something wrong, Priss? You're not in trouble are you?"

"No, of course not! Just…hurry up, okay? I'll explain later." Priss hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. The girl tugged lightly on the singer's jacket. Priss ruffled the girl's hair and sat down on the ground next to her bike.

"Don't worry, everything's fine. We're just going to get a ride. Just sit there for a while for now. If you're good I'll get you something nice. You like candy?," Priss asked nicely. The young girl's face lit up and she nodded her head, but Priss wasn't sure if she was excited over the bribe of candy, or just the fact that the rock star was being friendlier with her.

An hour later a shiny red sports car rounded the corner and screeched to a stop next to Priss' bike. The engine turned off and the driver's side door swung open. Sylia stepped out in all her glory, adjusting her tight blue dress and fixing her long bluish-silver hair. The leader of the Knight Sabers team waved pleasantly and sauntered up to Priss. When she saw the cute little girl sitting quietly on Priss' motorcycle, she gushed and clapped her hands together.

"Oh, Priss she's absolutely adorable! Where did you pick her up?," Sylia cooed. She reached out to pat the girl on the head. But she ducked and jumped from the bike, running to hide behind Priss.

"Nearly ran her over last night on my way home. She had a fever so I put her up for the night," the singer explained. Sylia walked over to stand in front of her teammate, wanting to get another look at the girl.

"Well, what about her parents?" Priss shook her head.

"No idea. I don't even know what her name is…She either can't talk or just doesn't choose to."

"Priss, what on earth do you have her dressed in? That's not very becoming for someone as cute as her," the tall beauty frowned.

"Well, excuse me for not having an available supply of children's clothes Sylia. Look, maybe you can help…There must be something you can do." Sylia sighed and gently scratched her chin.

"Hmmm. I suppose I could get Nene to look through the AD police database for anything about the girl's parents. For now, why don't we head back to headquarters…and I'll make a little pit-stop at the mall." Priss grunted and stood to brush herself off, motioning for the girl to follow her to Sylia's car.

"Come on, it's all right. Sylia's a friend so she won't hurt you."

"That's right little one. We'll make a day of it, shopping, eating out…You'll have a great time while we try to find your parents, okay?"

"Heh You're enjoying this a little too much, aren't you? Besides, she won't answer you," Priss smirked as she took the girl by the hand.

"Well, it's not every day I get to positively spoil an adorable little girl."

Sylia kept true to her word, stopping by the local mall and buying every outfit she thought would look cute on the little girl. After going through all the outfits at least twice, the young girl seemed to like a dark red and black frilly Lolita dress with a matching hat; Sylia was willing to bet that the young girl wanted to wear the same colors as Priss. And afterwards, the three stopped for brunch at an expensive restaurant. The young girl would only eat whatever Priss ate, and seemed to imitate her actions. Sylia tried every so often to feed her a bit from her own plate, but the shy girl would only slink down in her chair and hide her face. Priss found it a little amusing…

"I don't think she likes me very much, does she?," Sylia sighed with disappointment in her voice.

"Cut her some slack, Sylia. Who knows how long she's been wandering around by herself. Maybe she's not used to people."

"But she seems to like you…Doesn't seem fair."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just hurry up and get out of here. I feel like I'm being stared at," Priss mumbled. And she was right – everywhere she looked a pair of eyes was staring back. She wondered if it was because she was somewhat of a celebrity, or the fact she was having lunch with a beautiful woman. She shrugged it off and finished what she had on her plate, then got up and put on her sunglasses.

"Oh, Priss where are you going? I thought maybe we could have a bit of coffee?"

"Nah, that's okay. I'll wait outside." Priss slicked back her hair and adjusted her jacket. Her young companion took her example, brushing back her own hair and jumping from her chair to follow Priss. She ran to catch up and clamped onto the singer's left arm.

On their way to Sylia's Silky Doll and Knight Sabers headquarters, the young girl sat quietly in the back seat and stared out the window. She seemed to be lost as she watched the scenery zip by. Music was playing quietly on the radio, and when one of Priss' songs started to play the girl's attention snapped back into the car. She tilted her head to the side and reached forward to tug on the singer's jacket. Priss shifted so she could look over her shoulder at her and actually smiled.

"Uh, yeah that's me kid. You like music?," Priss questioned. Her young friend smiled and tugged harder. Sylia chuckled and turned up the radio.

"I think she wants you to sing, Priss." The rock star ran her fingers through her hair.

"Maybe some other time, kid. I'm not really in the mood right now…" The little girl sighed and sat back, tugging at her hair. But she kept quiet and listened to the lyrics of Priss' song 'Ya Know'. It wasn't the first time she had heard it, and after the first couple verses she found herself humming quietly along with it.

In the front seat, Priss turned her head slightly so she could hear the girl over the radio. In reality, the seven year-old actually had a pretty voice and she wouldn't mind hearing the girl sing out loud. She wasn't sure of it yet, but there was something different about the young girl, something special even. She would soon find out just how special the girl really was when they all got back to the Silky Doll.