Hi everyone! I'm back! After the long exam and three weeks sick, I'm finally back to writing business! But as I am a DREADFULLY slow writer, you guys will have to forgive me if I update once in two months!

Now, thanks to my reviewers:

Paper Hearts Bleed Ink

haruilikeyou

AssassinedAngel

SnowCharms

graffitisk8rgrl

silver candle

Neokstar

Let the story begins after a long break!

Arigatou, My Princess chapter 4

A new life? A voice?

Normal POV

"T-Tohru..." The man with silver grey hair mouthed while he slides helplessly onto the floor. The cat, however, looked furiously at Shigure and Yuki, eyes demanding for answers for the incidence that occurred during his absent in the dog's house.

"Where is she??!!" Kyo shouted after waiting for a minute of silence. That question obviously did not registered in the other two men's brain as their facial expression remained blank, both deep in their own thoughts.

"WHERE IS TOHRU?!!" The orange headed man bellowed. Shigure finally snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at the cat. Those red brown eyes of the cat seemed to pierce and sieve through the dog's brain as the latter remained silent. As his telepathy was unable to tell him answers, Kyo shifted his focus onto the rat slumped on the floor. Before he could ask anything, Yuki stood up abruptly and walked to the door tiredly like he had not eaten anything for two days yet determination was radiating strongly.

"Where are you going now?!" Kyo said, catching up with Yuki with a few strides while Shigure dragged his feet along, tailing Yuki. The rat stumbled over a rock but before his face could hit the ground, the orangey caught him at his elbow. No words of thanks was heard but a string of mumbled complains emitted from the helper.

"What now?!!" Anger mingled with worries and fear in the only energetic man in this area was put to a halt when the silver haired man falls right in front of a car. The driver's door opened in a split second and a man with black hair, front bangs covering his left eye got out.

"Help me get him into the car...Quickly!!" was the only thing said by Hatori. Kyo did not bother to ask anymore as all his previous questions were all unanswered. With a very audible snort, a loud sigh and a grunt, they heaved Yuki into the back seat. Just in time, Shigure climbed into the front passenger seat, exhausted and pale.

"Hey!!" Kyo's jaw dropped when he sees that he had no choice but to share the back seat with his sworn enemy. Wasting no time, Hatori started the car and sped off before Kyo even had the chance to properly close the door. Throughout the journey, the cat held tight on the unlocked door, fearing that it might opened suddenly and fling him out of the car while the other occupants remained silent.

Somewhere in the air...

"Miss, would you like to have Set A or Set B?" A tall and pretty lady asked the passenger near the window but received no response.

"Err…Miss? The air stewardess is asking you which breakfast set would you like," the man sitting next to her asked the lady again, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. She snapped out of her own world and mumbled 'A'. The air stewardess placed a tray on the table unfolded on the lady's lap. The other occupants of the plane had already opened their food container and started eating. A pleasant and delicious smell float throughout the plane but it did not seem to stir the lady's stomach.

"I would eat that if I were you, miss. It's a sin to waste although it is not really my business to say that," her flight 'neighbour' said to the lady. Fingers trembling, she picked up her fork. After two bites, she returned the fork to the container and folded her hands once again back onto her lap. A few drops of clear liquid dripped onto her hands. Her 'companion' sighed.

"Are you finished with that, miss?" The air stewardess asked her an hour later. The lady's head dropped a little and the server took that as a 'yes'. When she took the tray, the elegant lady returned the fold table back to its original place, revealing a pair of hands, moony white, clutching onto a boy's cap and a beige ribbon stripe. The man next to her just smiled helplessly.

The man with brownish black hair, a little longer than shoulder length managed to scribble a word or two in his journal before a weight dropped on his shoulder. The exhausted lady fell asleep with tears flowing continuously.

In the streets...

"Hey, did you know? SY is coming this month!"

"Who doesn't know? And his name is not SY! It's YS!"

"No, it's not! His name is SY!"

"Whatever! I wonder what his full name is… No one seems to know…"

"Well, if no one knows, let me make one for him! Shinoru Yomiko!"

"That is so obvious a girl's name! Don't go changing people's name when you don't even know his family's name! His surname should start with a 'Y'!"

"No, it's not! It should be 'S'!"

Thousands of people walked by without paying attention to the two girls yelling at each other in the middle of the pavement, well, perhaps all except one. The pair of eyes was practically glued on to the two girls, following their every movement and steps. While they are still arguing without paying attention to their surroundings, a loud crash was heard. Everyone on the street turned towards the source of the sound. The thick fog of dust caused by the crash slowly settled down, revealing two girls trembling vigorously in the middle of a pale pink force field as everyone looked with their jaws opened. As more of the dust fell away, a car was seen with its front totally wrecked. The person watching the two girls was no where to be found…

In a studio...

"Ren-chan, are you free this Saturday? The director wants you to do the make up for that singer coming," said the man with brown eyes which matches with his brownish black hair perfectly. His long hair tied into a thin plait swish back and fort as he walked towards a woman standing far at the corner. She was rather thin and tall woman with her brown hair plaited and wounded around her head, forming a crown. Her pale face nodded as the man came near.

"Who is this singer, Ryuu?" Ren's soft tinkling voiced asked so softly. It was just slightly louder than a whisper. A gentle gust of wind blew by carrying the smell of new spring, however, made the man of early twenties shivered.

"What was that sudden storm, Kaze-chan?" He asked the girl which seems so be enjoying the gust. She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

"I told you not to call me that! Once more and I'll mute you for life and even take that earring you're wearing back, this is your last warning, Ryuu! And you haven't answer my earlier question," mocked the girl which facial expression remain unchanged from those teasing and throughout her threaten. Ryuu put his hands up in a sign of surrender and smiled.

"All right, Karen-chan. By the way, the guy's name SY," he said while smoothing his hair messed up by the continuous blowing of wind. Ren, which name apparently shorten for cuteness, stared at the nickname creator demanding for more information. After noticing her silent question, Ryuu shrugged his shoulder and gave her a that's-all-I-know smile.

"He signed the contract with the condition only exposing his initials. No one knows his real name or even his full face. His face was always covered by a half-mask." Ryuu told Karen who listened intently. Although the eyes staring into his was emotionless, he knew that they were pressing him for more.

"Well, though no one had seen his full face before, just half of his face was enough to attract more than half of the world's people to be his fans." Ryuu scoffed. "If they weren't so crazy over him, I guess I'll have more girls around me. This concert is only held for two nights. Fans that are lucky and bought their tickets early could grow really rich overnight for those other fans who didn't manage to get a ticket are willing to pay a fortune to get the ticket. However, many fans wouldn't give up their tickets! It's a bloody battle! Muahaha!" laughed Ryuu maniacally.

SMACK!!

"Idiot, that's not funny!" Karen muttered as the black brown-headed collapsed to the ground with a swell building up on his head. A hand reached up and rubbed the bump. Ryuu got up into a sitting position and smiled gently at the woman who sat down at a nearby chair. Finally her expressionless face showed concern and gentleness.

"You had changed a lot, lovely one…But there are things unchanged and I'm glad about it…"

""I had to…Ryuu," the girl protested, shifting herself in the seat uneasily yet not shown on her face. Little pinkish blush was seen on her pale cheek.

"I'm glad I named you well and your beloved ribbons are going to drop out of you pockets," Ryuu said getting up from the floor and brushed off dust from his body, pointing at a beige piece of ribbon sticking out of her pockets. She took them out without noticing Ryuu walking away. The ribbons in her cupped hands were brought to her chest as a few drops of tears fell to her lap.

SY's POV

'We don't have to let those tears stop us… What's most important is that we try to rise above our weakness.'

"Excuse me, SY-sama??" I heard a voice calling me. However, I decided to ignore it and concentrate on that melody, that far away voice that had been in my head for two years. It was sweet and warm, comforting and cheering for me throughout these two years. I wouldn't make it here without it but the problem is, I don't know anyone with this voice… It was distant yet familiar…

"Earth to SY-sama!" interrupted the louder voice which I ignored earlier. I wanted to hear that warm, comforting voice again yet that stern voice which was calling me had seemed to chase it away. Knowing that it was gone, I focused on that call, feeling slightly annoyed. It was my assistant, manager, butler, and driver, practically everything except for my friend. He was one of those people who call themselves my 'fans', who doesn't understand me nor could I totally trust but only help me in the other half of my life.

"What do you want, Shiro?" I asked him plainly. One thing that's good about him which made him my assistant was that he wasn't like the other guys who will go crazy over me as if I'm a woman although he collects everything that I throw away or even touched before.

"It's time to get off the plane, SY-sama," Shiro said, annoyed with my previous dreaming. "Did you have another dream about those pretty girls we're going to see here? Don't worry! I'm sure there's plenty!"

"It's not…" I replied dully. Anyone will get used to Shiro's nonsense when you had faced him for two whole years. Sometimes, he gets a bit too much over the line though. As I stepped out of the airplane, a gentle wind carrying the sweet scent of newly bloomed flowers embraces us. The scent was somehow like the voice. I do not know what flower scent nor whose voice was it but it was familiar… Very familiar…

"Ha! Here's our luggage. Be prepared! One you step out the custom gates, you will hear the head splitting screams you love so much!" Shiro teased. Sometimes, I wonder if he would be more popular than me I if he would just sing out to the crowd. Yet, no matter how many times I asked him to be in my place, he would decline it and says it's too hard for him.

"I do not love it!" I stared directly into his black eyes. Following me around for so many years, he learnt that this was the sign for him to go back behind his border line. He smiled and walked in front leading me without another word.

As I breathe in deeply to brace myself to those deadly 'fans' screams', my mind suddenly went blank. What I see with my eyes doesn't seem to register in my brain.

'Walk on bravely facing your weakness to overcome it…'

That voice again! Yet it was louder than usual, more like telepathy. The voices before this was more like a memory in my mind but this was totally different. My brain refocused back to the current situation. Ear-splitting screams sharply pierce through my brains. My mind wanted to retreat but…

'Don't back out…Face it!'

That voice was firm, clear and strong through the sea of yells. I took another deep breath and walked forward, nodding to the peoples gathered around me. Some girls tried to jump to reach for my face, to touch my face I guess… No! To remove my mask! My hand immediately flew up to my face and pressed my mask tightly on to my face. A few strands of my silver bangs dropped covering my vision slightly as I tried hard to locate a totally white head. My sharp eyes spotted it easily among the black hairs and quickly ran after it. Without wasting precious time, he pushed me into a limousine and sped off. My hand relaxed and fell down to the seats with a dull thud.

"Don't drop your guard so easily! I want to see that face under that mask too, you know!" Shiro snickered.

"You wouldn't. I'll make sure you never have a tomorrow," I mumbled to his teasing.

"Even if I would want to remove your mask, I wouldn't stand a chance. Your reflexes are super fast! By the way, you look a lot nicer with your bangs falling over your eyes. They make you look cooler," Shiro winked. I forced a little smile and silently thought, 'That's how they used to be before I became what I'm now…'

I guess that's it! I'm going out for a week, tuition and Japanese classes are starting, Christmas is coming which means more practice on my Christmas piece before the actual day. But I'll try to write as much as I can even when school reopens (3rd January)! Too much ideas is making me spinning in the head but sometimes when you want to write them out, it seems to disappear. Alright! Enough of listening to my excuses!

PS: Asan-chan! Sorry for not leaving a review for you stories lately! I will review again in the following chapters!

REVIEW PLEASE!

Twilight Cherry