Uo tried to force a nervous laugh, but it barely left her throat- Kyo's lips were just an inch away from hers.

Her eyes couldn't even blink- she was waiting. It was agonizing, especially when she knew that any time, he could snap out of the trance. But it was delicious as well, having his eyes lay on her face alone, feeling admired and worshipped silently by those soulful orbs.

"Uo," he murmured huskily, and she realized how beautiful her name sounded.

In fact, everything within and around her felt beautiful. Kami-sama, this feeling she was having right now – she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

To feel like a woman in the arms of a man like Sohma Kyo.

"I'm not holding you back," he said after awhile. "You are free to do what you want after I do this."

She couldn't reply- her everything was in tangled mess. Her heart, mind, soul, id, and ego were suddenly combating each other, rendering her paralyzed.

So when he claimed her lips, all she could do was to respond to him freely, with all her heart.

When his lips touched hers, she suddenly felt that she floated to somewhere higher, perhaps to the seventh heaven people always say.

And her heart, mind, soul, id and ego suddenly became at peace.

A loud, shattering slam on the bumper of the car made the two froze. Instantly, Kyo's eyes became alert. He abruptly let her go and looked out at the window. A car was roaring into life, and it was preparing yet again to hit them.

"Damn!" He faced Uo. "Get us out of here!"

She frowned. "But shouldn't we go back to the office instead?"

Another slam sent them almost towards the headboard.

"Does that answer your question?" he barked. "If we try to get out of this car, the driver will run over us! Take us to the police station NOW!"

She nodded and whisked the car out of the parking lot, tires squealing with the friction of the rough road.

The man's eyes blazed. "My sweet, you can't get away from me. I will kill both you and your lover."

With that, the car made a U-turn and followed the car out of the Sohma business compound.

"It's traffic if we try to pass by the main streets. He might catch up with us," informed Uo as she looked at the side mirror of the car. Sure enough, the black car from the parking lot was on their trail.

"Let's try another route then," said Kyo.

"But if we use the main streets, we can run for help to other people," she said, contemplating the options. "On the other hand, we might just involve them-"

"Uo, just go and turn left, for Pete's sake!" yelled Kyo. He couldn't believe that Uo still had the time to think like that when they were in grave danger.

"Right, right!" Uo forced the steering wheel to the left, away from the main streets.

The car behind them was still hot on their trail. They had gotten past the boundaries of the roads she was familiar with, and were now racing in the alleys.

"You know, it just occurred to me that we might run into dead ends here," said Uo casually. "What do you supposed should we do then?"

"Just keep driving!" barked Kyo, agitated by the fact that they were being chased wildly by someone intending to kill them.

"But this is the only free time I have left to think," she reasoned. "And there is no better time like now, don't you agree?"

"How can you be so calm?" Kyo was beyond belief. It was then that he believed that Uotani Arisa was never like any woman he had met before. Ordinary women would have already burst into hysterics and would have been rendered incomprehensible, but she wasn't a bit like that.

"If I panic, my driving will be affected. I can't afford to panic, knowing that I have a passenger here," she shrugged.

He was about to reply when he felt her stop. "W-What's wrong?" he asked, praying that the car was not breaking down or something. They couldn't afford to have anything go wrong at this instance!

"Overheat," she said just as smoke and an annoying smell of burnt engine filled the car.

"Damn it, why now?" he muttered.

"I think it's a blessing in disguise," she said, leaving the car. "The streets are full of alleys, and we would be able to get by faster when we walk, not to mention that we can slip into narrow streets and the car can't."

When she puts it that way, it actually sounded like a real blessing.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him with her. "This way, Boss."

His forehead creased when he felt how wet and clammy her hands were, as if she was nervous. But how could she be so, when she sounded so cool and calm about everything?

"God, I'm so glad that we were able to find a house with people who are kind enough to let us stay here even for some hours," said Kyo, sighing.

"Yeah. People who are trusting are really hard to find," agreed Uo, combing her hair. "I mean, God must still want us to live."

"I've called Tohru already. Hatori will pick us up now," said the neko, relieved. "I don't ever want to go through such chase ever again!"

"Me either," she said. "I really thought back then that it was the end of my wonderful life!"

He remembered at last the question boggling him so much. "Uo, why is it that you were so calm awhile ago, despite of the fact that the people chasing us intend to kill us? How did you manage to do it?"

"Just presence of mind."

"Some presence of mind," he said, smiling finally. "You are one brave lady."

"Bravery has got nothing to do with it," she said, shrugging.

"But awhile ago, you didn't seem to be afraid of what might happen to you…"

"I'm afraid, Kyo. I'm very, very afraid, especially when I know that an innocent person like you might just get involved with my own hang-ups. Dakedo, I put it in my mind that if I let that fear overtake me, I will surely die, and so will you."  She smiled at him. "You see, true courage is not the absence of fear, but acting despite of it."

He silently admired her words, her wisdom. Ah, now he was surer than ever that he could not find another Uotani Arisa in the world.

"Maybe you should change your residence," suggested Hatori as he, Kyo, and Uo were riding home already.

"I don't think it will work," said Uo quietly. "My stalker always knows where I'm going…which makes me wonder how close he is really to me to know all my activities."

"Maybe we should beef up the security of the condo," said Kyo in one of the rare times that he volunteered a suggestion to any problem.

"I will see to it that we do that," said the clan doctor.

"And maybe we should tell this to the police," said the neko.

Uo sighed, then tried to smile. "Don't worry, I'll do that. You don't have to worry too much. Maybe he would eventually get tired of chasing me. I'm not much of someone to obsess on."

"Why don't you sleep with us tonight?" asked Kyo. "Tohru would approve of it."

She nodded. After what she had been through in the car chase, she was afraid to spend the night alone in her unit, where it was so easy to suffocate her noiselessly with a pillow.

She stole a glance at Kyo, who was still looking grim with concern for her. FOR HER.

She would never have believed it if she had not personally experienced this. Ah, but things had been so different lately anyway. She couldn't trust anything to be what they seemed like nowadays.

She remembered once again the kiss she and Kyo shared in the car awhile ago. It didn't even last a second, but it was enough to fully awaken the suppressed woman within her. The woman in love.

But princes like him fall for girls who are princesses. And I'm no princess.

She sighed and looked out at the window. Kyo had evidently forgotten what transpired in the car already. Maybe he just got carried away by the moment. Or maybe he was just trying to see what a stolen kiss from a tomboyish driver was like. Whatever it was, he couldn't have meant anything serious with it.

She shut her eyes to rest, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep already out of exhaustion. She didn't notice anymore that she collapsed onto the chest of Kyo, nor did she see how his face froze, then softened into a fond smile.

tsuzuku