Contracting Love

A/N: Here comes a little plot twist…
Hope it makes you laugh a little.

I’m really sorry, guys. I meant to post this, like, three days ago, but my computer has been possessed and it won’t let me get online right now. So, I had to transfer the story to another computer first. I hope the formatting shows up okay and everything. Tomorrow is the last day of Spring Break for me, but don’t worry, the next chapter is coming soon!
Kiss Kiss!
~Ashes

Lasaire: thanks for catching that spelling error! Much appreciated! And thanks. I kinda thought it would be weird to keep the monk thing. Kinda like a "holy prostitute" or something. ...hm... anyway, thanks!

drake220: yeah, i know what you mean. Fate has smote me many times when it comes to finding a decent man. Grr, I say! Grr! It's women like us who keep the romance novel writers in business and this site opporating.

Anon: You might hate me after this chapter. I'm such a lemon-tease... :-) Don't worry. When it happens, it'all be good. PROMISE!

As always, reviews are welcomed, encouraged, and very much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters. I just use them for my own sadistic purposes…hehehe…

Contracting Love
By Ashes

Chapter 7: In Which Much Is Revealed…

He rose slowly out of the deep slumber. Small things came to him first: the smell of her hair, the warmth of her body, the beating of her heart. The easy sound of her breathing let him know she was still in a deep sleep. *Good,* he thought. He wanted to stay like this for as long as possible before he was forced to leave.

He shifted, snuggling closer to the sleeping woman. He hadn’t stayed the night with a woman since college. He’d *never* stayed with a client. He took care of their needs and his and simply left, preferring a cold bed alone to a warm one that came along with those snot-nosed bitches.

And he had definitely never spooned with one before.

Wakefulness came more fully to him as he assessed their position. They lay facing the large window of the bedroom. It was a wonder he’d been the one to wake first, since he lay behind her and could block out most of the light if he buried his head in her hair. His right arm stretched out under her head, their fingers entwined together. His left hand rested on the swell of her hip, having somehow found a way to slip beneath the waistband of her gray sweatpants sometime during the night. She fit perfectly against the curve of his body, and surprisingly her hair wasn’t choking him.

He knew it was cliché, but he couldn’t help thinking that Sango had been made just for him. It was as if every sinful thing he’d done in life had been forgiven and the gods had seen fit to gift him with this celestial being…

…But he would never truly be worthy of her. After all, he was a walker and a prostitute. She fought for justice for the people while he made money off of other peoples misery. …Like her misery.

He shoved violently at those thoughts, refusing to let his self pity and loathing ruin this moment of perfect happiness.

A soft mewing caught his attention. He raised his head and glanced at the window. Outside on the terrace, a small yellow and black cat paced in front of the window. Curious, he untangled himself from Sango, careful not to wake her, and padded over to sit on the window seat. It was a beautiful cat. Yellow over most of its body, it had black markings on its ears and tail, covering all four paws, and around its eyes. There was also what looked like a black triangle in the middle of its forehead.

The cat meowed at Miroku and pawed at the window twice before sitting on the ledge and looking at him expectantly. The glimmer of a name tag caught his eye as he reached to unlock the window.

“Well, aren’t you a pretty little thing?” he cooed softly, extending a hand and rubbing his fingers together, enticing the cat with imaginary food. The cat sniffed and then rubbed its head against his hand, purring gently. Lifting it into his lap, he fingered the tag. “And just who do you belong to, huh?” The cat blinked.

He was surprised to see Sango’s address and phone number on the tag under the name “Kirara”. He hadn’t seen any signs of a cat the night before. But then, he hadn’t really been paying all that much attention to anything except Sango…

“Kirara, is it?” He scratched her head. “Well, Kirara, you certainly are a friendly kitty.” Kirara responded by flopping over in Miroku’s lap to lie on her back with her paws in the air. She flipped her tail back and forth expectantly and meowed. He rubbed the soft fur, provoking rumbling purrs from within the tiny body.

A rustling from the bed notified him that Sango had finally woken up. He smiled as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and then stared at the cat in his lap.

“Wow,” she said yawning. “She doesn’t usually do that.”

“Do what?” He scratched her chin. Kirara was limp with pleasure in his lap.

“Let people pet her.” Sango sat up and stretched. Realizing that her human was awake, Kirara leapt out of Miroku’s lap and bounded over to Sango, rubbing her head fiercely against her leg. “She’s really protective of me and hisses or scratches everyone else. Even Kagome got the cold shoulder from her for months before Kirara finally warmed up to her. I’ve never seen her act so…passive before.” He smiled charmingly at her and sat on the edge of the bed. “I guess she must really like you,” she blushed.

He stroked the cat between the ears. His voice was low and husky as he said, “Well, I really like her, too,” just before he leaned in and captured her lips with his own.

It wasn’t the deeply passionate kisses he’d bestowed on her before. It was warm and lingering, the perfect “good morning” kiss. Naraku would never kiss her in the morning, she realized dimly. He always made her brush her teeth first. But Miroku didn’t seem to mind her morning breath, and she certainly didn’t mind his.

He pulled back reluctantly, pushing his passion down as far as it would go. It was getting harder and harder to restrain himself around her. He smiled warmly at her and brushed a hair out of her face, his hand lingering on her cheek as his thumb caressed the soft pulse beneath her chin. “I’ll see you tonight.”

She sighed, dreamily. “What time?”

“Six sound okay?”

She frowned. “Better make it seven. I have a lot to catch up on before the weekend.”

“Seven it is, then.” He kissed her lightly on the nose. “Don’t forget.”

“Don’t be late,” she countered.

“I have never shown up late for one of our dates, Sango.”

“You did for the first one.”

He smiled slyly, raising one dark eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Kirara jumped off the bed and followed him to the door where he put his shoes on. She meowed expectantly at him. He reached down to scratch her chin. “And a good by to you, too, Kirara.” She mewed happily as he left.

Sango sat on her bed, perplexed by the fickle feline’s behavior. She’d found the former-stray in the back alley of her apartment three years before badly abused. She was very protective of Sango and hated strangers, *especially* men, and anyone she found threatening. But she’d cuddled up to Miroku as if he were one of her littermates. How odd…

Kirara returned and bounced onto the bed. Sango scratched her chin. “Well, my little wanderer, just where have you been all night?”

The cat mewed and rubbed against her hand. Sango glanced at her alarm clock.

“Oh shit!” Throwing back the covers, and covering Kirara with them in the process, she scrambled to her closet. “I’m gonna be late for work!”

***

The door shut with a resounding “thud”. He looked around at the cream colored walls and matching carpet, the black leather furniture, and deep walnut wood of his apartment and sighed. A bachelor pad it was indeed: cold, calculated, and callous. He never brought women here, and it had never bothered him until now just how sparse his home was. No, not home. At least it didn’t feel like it right now. Today, it was simply a place where he kept his stuff.

Home was in Sango’s arms, wrapped in her scent, limbs entwined, their bodies coming together as one…

“Shit. I’m in big trouble,” he mumbled.

“What the hell did you do this time, Bouzu?”

That nickname could only have come from one person. As Miroku scanned the room, he found his raven-haired ex college roommate lounging in one of the leather armchairs.

Inuyasha didn’t look like he worked at an S/M club. Actually, he looked more like one of those guys who belonged on the covers of romance novels. A couple inches taller than Miroku, Inuyasha had long black hair which he usually kept tied back in one fashion or another…except when he was working. His golden eyes were unusual and feral. Well honed muscles were hidden beneath a white t-shirt. His jeans were faded but stylish and he wore brown Docks on his feet.

Miroku rolled his eyes and flopped onto the couch adjacent from where the other man sat. “What are *you* doing here?”

“Waiting for you, dumb ass,” Inuyasha growled. “It’s Thursday, remember? Our morning workout? *You* didn’t show up. Where the hell have you been all night, man? You look like you slept in your clothes or something.”

“I did.” This was not going to be fun.

“What?”

“Sleep in my clothes.” He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see his best friend looking at him suspiciously. “I was with a client.”

Inuyasha was silent. “…All night?”

“Yeah, all night,” he said, irritated.

“…You don’t stay the night with clients.”

“Yeah, I know.”

A tense silence passed between them. “You gonna tell me what the hell is going on here or do I have to beat it out of you?” Inuyasha yelled.

“Nothing!” Miroku got up and began to pace the room while trying to explain it to his friend without revealing too much about the woman in question. “She’s hired me to take her to her high school reunion on Saturday. I’m supposed to help her get back at some old boyfriend who snubbed her years ago.”

“Help her how?” Was there suspicion in Inuyasha’s voice or was he just imagining it? “What’s your role in all of this?”

He hesitated. “…Fiancé. But she’s got real problems with her self image. She’s the sexiest woman I’ve ever met and she doesn’t even know it! To hear her talk you’d think she was the abominable snowman or something! She’s beautiful and smart and successful and…” He sighed, exasperated. “So I’ve been going through these exercises with her to help her get used to me. You know, so we act more like a couple once we get to the reunion.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“The *problem* is that I don’t think I’m *pretending* anymore! I *want* to do those things with her, Yash! I want to send her flowers and surprise her at work and watch old stupid movies with her all night long and crawl into bed and tell her how beautiful she is! I want to wake up next to her in the morning just like I did today and know that she’s *mine*! I want to make love to her, not just have sex! I want to take her out in public and show her off as my *woman*, not my client! Sango is such an amazing woman, I don’t know why she even needs-”

“-Sango?”

He paused and looked at his best friend of six years. There was curiosity in his eyes…and anger.

“Her name is Sango?”

“Yeah…”

“What’s her last name?”

Now it was Miroku’s turn to be confused. “Taijiya. Why?”

Before he could blink, Inuyasha was out of the chair and pummeling Miroku with a fury he’d never seen before. Or felt. He brought his hands up to protect his face. There was no way he was going to Sango’s reunion with a black eye or a broken nose.

“Inuyasha! What the fuck!?”

“You fucked my best friend!” he yelled between punches.

“What!? No I didn’t! What the hell are you talking about?” He tried feebly to turn over on to his side to protect his vital organs.

Inuyasha grabbed Miroku by the front of the shirt and snarled at his best male friend. “Sango happens to be my best friends from high school. And you *fucked* her!”

“No I didn’t!”

“Yes you did!”

“No I didn’t! Inuyasha, I swear! I didn’t! We just slept!”

“If by ‘slept’ you mean ‘fucked’!” He raised another fist to strike.

“Hold on, Inuyasha! Let me explain!”

The golden-eyed man paused, considering. He pushed Miroku to the ground and stood up, his body shaking with barely controlled anger. “You’ve got two minutes to come clean, Miroku.”

He tried to sit up, his side screaming in pain. Oh yeah, something was bruised. He laid back down on the floor, taking in short shallow breaths. “We just slept, Inuyasha.”

“Yeah, a likely story coming from *you*.”

“We just slept!” He glared at the other man. “We were up late watching that old movie marathon that was on last night. She fell asleep in my lap. I took her to her room and tried to leave but she wouldn’t let go of me. So I just stayed. It was just sleep. *Nothing* happened, all right?”

The two men stared at each other, huffing as they tried to catch their breath, and said nothing. Inuyasha examined his knuckles while Miroku tried hard not to think about all the damage his friend might have done.

A thought was forming in his mind. One he didn’t like at all. “Hey, Inuyasha?”

“What?” he said tersely.

“Are you and Sango…close?”

“What?”

“You know. Best friends…in the whole world?”

“Yeah, we are. What‘s it to you?”

“Ever go drinking with her?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. Not for a while, though.”

“About how long would you say it’s been since the two of you got *really* trashed together?”

Inuyasha didn’t actually have to think on that one, but he pretended to. “About five years, I’d say.” Miroku sat up, all his attention focused on the man in front of him. “On New Years one time we both got really trashed and-”

“You bastard!” Now it was Miroku’s turn to pound Inuyasha. The other man was so surprised he didn’t even have time to deflect the first couple of blows. “*You* fucked Sango!”

“It was a long time ago! She was still hurt about that cock sucker and-”

“A pity fuck!? Oh, that’s fuckin’ low!”

“*I’m* low? Oh, that’s it!”

***

Twenty minutes later, bruised and exhausted, the two friends sat on the floor leaning against the couch, icepacks placed strategically over bruised body parts. Miroku had to admit that he felt better. So Inuyasha had taken a shot at him. He’d gotten even. But he couldn’t let the silence go on forever.

“I’m sorry, man,” he mumbled, breaking the silence first.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha said. “I’m sorry too.” This time the silence was companionable, at least until Inuyasha spoke again. “Hey, Miroku?”

He turned to his best friend. “Yeah?”

“If you hurt her,” he said with a smile, “I’ll fucking kill you, man.”

“Yeah,” he said, a smile gracing his own slightly swollen lips. “I know.”

***

A/N: …Because every once in a while, a friendly brawl does a body good.

Isn't it weird how animals know things before we do?

Okay, down to business. Who wants to make a cameo in one of the chapters? I’ll be having a contest soon to see which one of you lucky people will make an appearance at Sango’s high school reunion. It’s gonna be a fun little scene. Can’t tell you much more than that for now. I’ll let you know soon about the rules and whatnot. Until then!
Kiss Kiss
~Ashes