I will one day go back to my other stories, but this one eats at me. I keep getting ideas for them and MUST write them down before I become a basket case.

As usual, a shout-out to the greatest reviewers I've met so far.

Melting Snowflake

rbzodiac612

Emerald-Mistress ('Nother chapter. Out of shock now?)

tinkerflyinbell1210

YuffieReincarnated

Kagome

riceball-chan

Sarah Altland

LaRhonda

firevixen73

Shien

Reader

Catlover576

littleduck

Kenya!

As always, my lovely readers, drop me a line!

"What the hell?" He shouted, as Tohru froze in horror. Oh, hell, he was sure to know she was Tohru now...

Tohru began flaying her arms about madly, panicked as she met Kyo's gaze. His eyes were wide, mouth the shape of an 'O' as he simply stared at her. "I know what this looks like, but I--"

Tohru's words were cut off as Kyo lifted his hand and pointed at her face, "What the hell is that green stuff?" His face contorted to that of disgust as he stared at the globs of gook that smothered her pale face. Shaking his head, he held up a hand with palm facing towards her. "No, wait, some chick thing. I do not want to know." Having said that, he turned away from the girl, plopping down on his makeshift bed and discarding his toothbrush.

In the bathroom, Tohru let out a huge breathe as her fingers gently met her cheek taking bits of the goo along with the touch. "Female thing," she murmured, running water in the sink to wash her hands. "Thank God I am a girl." Shaking her head, Tohru climbed into bed, pausing only to grab a blonde wig in case things went awry the next morning.

Kyo was sprawled across the couch bed, a contented look on his face as his thoughts raced over tonight's events and the future seduction of the female snoring quietly in the back of the bus. However, Kyo couldn't ease the nagging voice in the back of his mind. Something was odd about Risa, and while the notion was intriguing it frightened him. Dare he tread on such a dangerous ground? This girl... This pop sensation... Whatever secrets she held, whatever stories she's yet to tell... they all bugged the Sohma male, and damned if he was going to lay around and just let it happen.

That night both parties forged silent plans. One insisted on presuing the unattainable, while the other thought of ways to avoid.

OOxxOOxxOO

The leather clad fingers traced down the black and white photo posted upon the bulletin board. The photo was just one of dozens scattered about the tiny room, each a different pose of the very same female. In each, the girl was unaware that she was being photographed so the camera never had a direct shot of her face. The figure moved away from the board to the bed a few feet away.

The room the person was in was small, cramped, and displayed an obvious obsession. The blue fabric of the carpet was not visible, smothered beneath mountains of pictures. The tiny corner table could only be seen by the wooden legs as the rounded top was buried under photo's. The bed remained clear, aside from the body atop it.

Restless was the being, shown with their actions. Seconds of laying down caused them to move once more. This time, they reached for the doorknob to the closet. Inside was a sight more fearful than the one outside of the closet. The closet was a dedication, a shrine, and it was downright creepy. More than pictures littlered the table but personal belongings were found, and not of the owner's, but belongings from the girl.

A lock of hair, silky and blonde was taped to a side of the table snipped off recently. On a standard sheet of notebook paper one could find 7 pieces of chewed gum, ranging in colors. Towards the back, taped to the wall by tiny strips of clear tape were bandages, some still retained the blood from the injuries sustained by it's former wearer. Candles were strategically placed about the shrine, lit already. Each was the same scent, persumeably the favored of the devotee.

"It won't be long, my love." The owner of such objects whispered to the shrine standing before them.

Their leather-gloved hand shot out once more, retrieving the framed picture in the center of the shrine. This was signed in flourished loops, dotted with hearts and the signature star that the female signed all her autographs with. 'Risa'.

XXooXXooXX

Morning found the two people upon Risa's tourbus still asleep. Well, temporairly they still slept. Sey, the blonde manager of Risa boarded the bus with a perky smile and a chipper attitude, one that Risa was often annoyed by so early in the morning. Sey's first stop was Risa, of course to help the girl retrieve her blonde wig and put it in place before the slumbering male awoke.

"I don't like this," Tohru whispered to Sey. "Sharing such closed quarters with Kyo Sohma!"

Sey tilted her head to the side, hand coming to a rest on her hip as she studied the now-blonde before her. "Most girls would die for a chance to just -breathe- in the same space as Kyo, and here you are complaining?"

Tohru slipped into her Risa personality knowing that 'Tohru' was getting her nowhere. A smile passed over the glossed lips of the petite being before she shook her head, "Nevermind it, Sey. I'll work it out."

"I knew you would." Giving a wink to the pop princess she managed, the natural blonde slipped out the room towards the sleeping Kyo. For moments she watched him sleep in silence, content to watch his chest rise and fall and to listen to the quiet noises he made in his sleep. Her slender index finger poked him in the forehead, a giggle spilling from her lips as the orange-haired rockstar smacked at her intruding hand.

"Five more minutes," Kyo murmured, voice thick with the sleep he was determined to continue doing.

Snickering quietly Sey reached a finger out to poke him once more, as annoying was one thing she did very well. Kyo responded with a twitch, eyes rolling beneath closed lids but refusing to open. Once more, the manager moved to poke him but was stopped when Kyo's hand tightened around her slender wrist, squeezing harshly as he sat up.

"Alright woman, I get your point. I'm awake." Growled Kyo, teary-eyed gaze scanning his enviorment. "No more poking." Finally he released her wrist, using that hand to ruffle his hair a bit more.

The woman couldn't help but stare at the sight before her. His chest was bare, the sheet he used for warmth pooled in his lap, a silken puddle that Sey wouldn't mind taking the place of. His orange hair was messed from sleep, hanging lazily in front of his eyes while other parts of it spiked upwards. It was that look most guys strived for; standing in front of their mirrors forever and thickening the tresses with some namebrand gel.

Shaking her head, Sey removed herself from whatever fantasy she allowed herself to indulge. "You guys have today off, but you're restricted to the bus." An apologetic smile accompanied by a shrug was given before Sey crept off the bus without awaiting a reply.

Risa chose that moment to enter the area that Kyo would be calling home for the next few months. Her hips swayed when she walked, and Kyo's eyes kept track of the movement without hesitation. He'd go many seconds without blinking, transfixed on her slim figure. A glint caught his eyes, sparkling at the bottom of her shirt, yet above the low-rise jeans she had. A brow arched as he stared at her while she sat atop the foldout counter.

"Problem?" Risa asked. Mentally, Tohru was celebrating. She sounded so confident, while inwardly she was a mass of jumbled nerves. Allowing herself a moment, she studied Kyo with an intenst curiousity as he returned the favor.

Pointing towards her belly Kyo asked, "What's that?"

Frowning, Risa glanced towards her stomach to see what Kyo was talking about. Raising her shirt a bit she revealed her pierced belly button, but instead of a ball on the end it was a cat's head, the eyes a sparkling ruby color. "I love cats." Risa had said as she pulled her shirt back down over her fit tummy.

"Oh?" Kyo chucked lowly before standing to stretch, muscled arms raising high above his head as a contented sigh came from his lips. Padding towards the bathroom after gathering his early morning essentials, Kyo continued conversation with the girl. "Why'd you enter this buisness?" Operation: Get To Know Risa was in action.

Risa began toying with the cat's head on the belly-button ring, halfheartedly responding to the Sohma's inquiry. "I like to sing and dance. Besides, it's not like it was hard getting into it." Risa could have sworn she heard Kyo gag on his toothpaste at her words, "What about you? Why'd you enter this buisness? Surely not for the travelling home on wheels..."

In the tiny bathroom Kyo spit the residue of the minty toothpaste from his mouth, taking time to rinse and gargle before he gave his answer. "I needed to get away from my home." Came the careful reply. Tohru knew all this however, and only kept the conversation moving along for the sake of keeping her secret.

"What about a significant other? Surely someone as handsome as you has that loved one back home?" This question was one Tohru wanted to know, for her own curiousity sake.

A moment or two passed as Kyo thought of his answer, not sure how he wanted to respond to that question. "I did." Heaving a sigh, he trudged onwards. "But I had to let her go. I was interested in getting away, in become a star. I wanted to travel with the band. I wanted... everything else but what was in front of me. Was it a mistake? Probably. But do I regret it? Not at all. I'm not one to dwell on the past. Besides, being out there on stage... It's amazing."

It took everything Tohru had not to scream at Kyo's answer, but she was not Tohru. She was Risa, the fucking pop sensation who knew nothing of Kyo Sohma other than the information he was bestowing upon her now. "Oh..." She said softly, peering curiously to her side to see when Kyo would exit.

"What about you, Princess?" A nickname, an odd one, but a nickname nonetheless.

"Never dated. Never been in love. Never plan on it." Her voice was firm, steady, not revealing the heartache that laced her words when the topic of love came up.

Poking his head out, Kyo flashed her a brief smile. "That's the thing, Princess. No one ever plans on falling in love. It just happens..." His voice was soft, as if he spoke from experience. "You find it in the least likely of people, places, times." Heaving a sigh, Kyo entered the bathroom and clicked the sliding glass door of the shower shut, soon burying his head beneath hot water to hide his blushing cheeks.

Risa sat there on the counter, bewildered as she looked towards the bathroom's general area. Tohru had said the very same thing, and hearing Kyo repeat the words back to her made her want to cry; though it was unclear if the tears would be of sadness or happiness. The petite female was pleased that Kyo could recite a conversation the two had shared in private atop the roof of the house they once shared. Yet at the same time she could feel her heart aching, breaking into tiny shards as it did the night he left her.

"I know, my dear Kyo. I know. Because I'm falling in love with you all over again." With tears glistening in her eyes, she moved back towards the end of the bus, wanting to escape the closed in walls of the vehicle. It was a bit hard to do so when said thing was travelling at 60 miles per hour, but that didn't stop her from wanting to.

Slipping away from her Risa persona, Tohru let the tears trace steadily down her slightly rogue cheeks.Quietly she cried, for the loss of everything dear to her at one point in time. Silently she wept at the irony of it all. She had spent all this time avoiding him, even creating another self to avoid him, but now she could go nowhere. She was forced to face him and the past once more, which proved to only complicate things more. Within her little space she allowed herself those brief moments of insecurities and doubts, letting them all fall one by one in the shape of droplets of water that traced it's way down her face, dropping to the wooden, moving floor beneath her.

Moving to her bed, Tohru curled into a little ball as the tears had finally stopped. Scolding herself, Tohru inhaled a ragged breathe slowly exhaling it as she gazed upwards. "I'm Risa. Kyo's touring mate. Nothing more. I am not Tohru." Over and over the tormented girl chanted this to herself, convincing her mind that Tohru was no more...

A half-hour later Kyo was exiting the shower, freshly clean and smelling of some soap that he had bought. Unfortunealy he had forgotten his shampoo on his original bus, so he was forced to use Risa's strawberry brand. How manly...Not. Wrapping a towel around his lean hips he slid open the doors and welcome the coolness in the cramped "hall" of the bus. His attentions immediatly went to the girl curled into a ball on her bed, and the boy felt his heart strings be tugged upon. Silently he moved towards her, a soft hand coming to rest on the small of her back as he quietly questioned what ailed her.

Risa turned on her side meeting the gaze of the rocker, a faint smile crossing over her face. "It's nothing, Kyo. Forgive me for worrying you."

Kyo was not buying her act. He knew something caused her to become so vulnerable. On stage she was a goddess, yet upon her tour bus away from the prying eyes of the public, she revealed just how mortal she was. Shivering slightly, Kyo crawled further up the bed, still behind the tiny girl. Without asking or putting much thought to his actions, he drew the girl into his arms- cradling her against him. A soft noise of protest came from her slender throat, but his grip tightened and he settled in against him.

"Shh." Kyo shushed, resting his chin atop her blonde head. "I've got you, alright? You don't have to be brave with me."

Giving a nod Risa drifted to sleep within the arms of Kyo Sohma, who remained clothed in a towel. Oh, how the paparrzi would love this touching scene. Kyo didn't understand his actions, his feelings. Why had this girl sparked such feelings in him when dozens of others could not? What inspired him to protect her from the world that threatened her? Once more, Kyo found himself plagued with questions all because of one complex girl, the very same girl who nestled herself in his arms. Pushing the thoughts away, clearing his mind, he too attempted sleep...