The Opposite Of Attraction – Part Ten: The Honesty

Aamalie: This chapter was an absolute BLAST to write, once I got to the good parts. x3 If you don’t enjoy, you…uh, suck. Yeah. So enjoy, all of you. And please take the time to read the notes at the end.

Disclaimer: I’ve been writing fanfiction for over two years now, and I still own nothing. T.T Leave me alone!

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The first thing that Sango’s mind registered the next morning was that something was off. She wasn’t necessarily sure as to what it was, exactly, and wasn’t until she opened her eyes to stare at the back of the living room sofa. She blinked several times, trying to remember just how she had gotten here, when she last remembered telling herself to walk up the stairs and go to bed. Apparently, she’d never gotten that far.

Yawning and wiping the sleep from her eyes as she sat up, Sango pushed the cashmere blanket that had been covering her off of her body and got off of the couch…Only to realize that there was already a cameraman filming her. Resisting the urge to groan—waking up with a camera in her face was starting to get annoying—she took a gander at the watch on her wrist. It was still early enough, she noted with some relief; it wasn’t even nine yet. Stretching for a minute, Sango then stood up and decidedly made for the stairs.

She had a bone to pick with a certain someone by the name of Miroku. Just what had he been thinking, leaving her to sleep on the couch? She’d thought he’d at least had some grain of chivalry in him! Reaching the top of the stairway, she headed straight for the bedroom door and all but burst inside—

—Just as Miroku stepped out of the bathroom…

Wearing nothing but a towel.

He blinked.

She stared.

In a very unsurprising manner, he was the one to snap out of it first, his face breaking into a wide grin. “Sango! Good morning, I trust you slept well?”

“Uh…”

It seemed very likely that some part of Sango’s brain had short-circuited, because no intelligible thought was making itself known. Well, other than the two words that kept repeating themselves over and over again like a broken record: Say something, say something, say something…

It wasn’t until Miroku approached her and touched one of her very red cheeks gently while asking her if she was all right that she did say something.

“Pervert!”

And then, she did something quite unremarkable and extremely predictable.

She slapped him.

“Oww… What was that for? I just wanted to make sure that you hadn’t fallen off of the couch while you were sleeping, or something like that,” Miroku groused, rubbing the side of his face with a wince with one hand. The other, quite fortunately for Sango, still held his towel around his waist.

“You—! You know what that was for! And speaking of the couch, just why exactly did you leave me out there? Hm?” She marched up to him, getting right in his face and poking him in the chest and forcing him backwards several steps. “You have some explaining to do, buddy!”

“I would, and gladly at that. But, why ruin this moment with small talk?”

Sango paused, frowning. “What moment?”

Miroku grinned smugly. “Well, it’s not everyday I get backed into a wall by a beautiful woman, you know. Especially not when I’m exactly dressed…”

Sango jumped backwards, her face heating up.

“I—I didn’t…You! Just…” she stuttered, completely flustered. After a good minute, she collected herself, turning around and marching out of the door without another word, the cameraman on her tail. Still grinning, Miroku just shook his head in amusement and set about to getting dressed.

—

As soon as he was properly clothed, Miroku went downstairs to find Sango waiting for him in the kitchen. When she turned her attention to him, he couldn’t help but give her a saucy wink. “Hey there, beautiful.”

“You’re incorrigible,” she sighed, before pushing a piece of paper his way. “Here, I found this on the counter when I came in here.”

“Oh?” Miroku picked up the folded sheet, opening it and reading what it said aloud. “You can't tell from everyday conversations what is true and what isn't. If you want to find out the difference, come into the foyer at 10:30 a.m.”

Sango didn’t miss the slight frown that crossed his features as he read it. Resisting the urge to adopt a similar expression, she settled her chin on her palm. “What do you think?”

Immediately, he was smiling again.

“I’m game,” Miroku assured her. “You?”

“…No objections here.” Sango finally sighed, plucking at a lock of her hair and making a face at it. “I think I’m going to go take a shower…”

“Alright. Shall I make breakfast then?” he inquired, refolding the note and absently tucking it into his back pocket. Sango nodded her assent to his suggestion as she stood up from her seat. “Pancakes?”

“Sounds fine. You’re a better cook than I am, anyway. I’ll be down in a bit.”

“Okay.”

She left without another word and hardly a glance his way. He listened until he could hear her footsteps on the upper floor before he let out a hefty sigh, running his hand through his hair in aggravation. “Get your act together, Miroku. This is pathetic.” Scowling at himself, he made for the phone.

Breakfast could wait for a few minutes.

As for Sango, she wasn’t exactly pleased with herself either. In fact, she was to the point where she was sorely tempted to start hitting her head repeatedly against the bathroom wall. However, due to the fact that ceramic tile was more likely to hurt than ordinary plaster would, she decided to avert from that particular action, instead opting to just berate herself ceaselessly as she took her shower.

‘What in God’s name is wrong with me?’ she wondered as she stood under the shower nozzle. For some reason she didn’t understand, she was being unreasonably suspicious of Miroku… And, as far as she knew, there was absolutely no reason for it. There was nothing he had done—aside from his typical acts of lechery—which called for her sudden, mysterious mistrust of his motives.

Besides, what were his motives for coming onto Opposites Attract, exactly?

To get to go onto a free trip to Hawaii? To kick back and live in a mansion for two weeks without having to worry about paying any bills for his stay? To meet her, Sango, and drive her up the wall with his constant flirting, sweet talk and romancing? (Not to leave out the groping, of course…)

When she looked at it from that angle, what exactly was wrong with the way he had been acting that was getting her all upset? So what if he had looked annoyed when he saw the note that had been left for them. Maybe he just didn’t like surprises.

Maybe she was just subconsciously trying to find something wrong with him.

A sardonic grin flickered over Sango’s lips as she lathered her hair with shampoo. ‘That’s it. Deep down, I’m scared of liking him too much, too fast, and this is my brain’s way of trying to find a way to stop me from liking him. Or I’m being paranoid. Either way, I need to stop with this idea that he’s hiding something, because in all likelihood, if he is, it’s something silly. From now on, I’m going to stop looking for closet skeletons where there are none, and trust Miroku.

‘Because I want to.’

—

After eating their pancake breakfast, Miroku and Sango made their way towards the foyer, as the note had directed, with ten minutes to spare.

“Any clue as to what this might end up being?” Sango asked Miroku as they walked through the house. He gave a snort and slanted a brief look towards her.

“Not a clue, actually. But, if it has anything to do with ex-girlfriends…” he winced and shook his head in clear disgust at the thought. Sango, however, tilted her head towards him, regarding him curiously.

“Why do you say that?”

A sardonic smile flitted across his mouth. “Let’s just say that very few of my past relationships have ended well. Even fewer were actually serious enough to be worth the headache at the end of it.” He sighed and ran this fingers through his hair. “Truthfully, when I think about it, I probably have the worst relationship history on this island.”

“Did, uh…The fact that you’re something of a lecher have anything to do with it? Maybe?” Sango inquired with raised eyebrows.

Miroku laughed. “Maybe. For some of them.”

“And the others?”

“Oh,” he said evasively, “this and that.” Fortunately for Miroku, they entered the foyer before Sango could call him on his vague answer. Waiting for them was none other than Kagome herself.

“Hello, you two!” the hostess chirped upon seeing them. “Glad to see that you got the note. I’ll bet you both have been wondering recently about how honest your Opposite has been with you since arriving here, right? This is your chance to find out! What do you say?” She gave the couple a cheerily expectant look to which Sango politely smiled and nodded. Miroku merely looked on. “Wonderful,” Kagome told them. “Right this way.”

Turning, she took them out through the front doors and outside, and then around the side of the house on a path of stepping stone dug into the dirt neither had noticed beforehand. At the end of the path was a patio hidden by a slight hill, decorated with ivy growing up the sides and surrounded by landscaping. And, beneath the sun-dappled roof, someone was waiting.

“May I introduce Dr. Goshinki? He is a professional polygraph reader, and will be helping us in our little…experiment today!”

“Polygraph?” Sango repeated. “As in…”

“A lie detector,” Miroku finished bluntly.

“Beat me to the punch line,” Kagome groused good-naturedly. “But oh well. I’m assuming that the both of you are up to this little test of honesty?”

Neither objected, so the young hostess launched into an explanation of what was going to happen. First, one of them would be hooked up to the polygraph and Kagome would ask a control question to ensure more accurate results. Then, the other would be allowed to ask a maximum of five questions that could be answered with a yes or a no. There were no restrictions on what the questions could be about, so long as there were only five and they didn’t require elaborate answers. After each question was answered, Dr. Goshinki, who would be seated behind the ‘subject’, would alert the inquirer to whether the answer had been answered honestly with either a nod of shake of his head. Then, the positions would be traded and the process repeated.

“So, which of you wants to take the chair first?” Kagome asked.

After a moment of indecisive silence, Sango volunteered herself, saying, “I will, so long as the pervert here promises not to ask me anything lecherous.”

“You wound me,” Miroku told her, the twinkle in his eye betraying his serious expression. He pressed a hand over his heart. “You wound me deeply.” Sango only smiled wanly at his dramatic display as Kagome directed her to sit at the iron wrought and glass table the lie detector had been set up on and Dr. Goshinki immediately began to attach the various sensors to her body. It didn’t take too long for him to finish, and before long Kagome had already asked her a mundane question about her favorite color.

And then it was Miroku’s turn. He had taken a seat directly across the patio from her, maybe about three yards distance from her. It was a prime position for him to be able to see both Sango and the doctor easily. For a moment, he just looked at her contemplatively, elbow on his knee and chin in his palm.

Suddenly, he asked, “Is your favorite color really pink?”

…Why did that tidbit of information always get that same reaction?

“Yes,” Sango sighed, not bothering to say anything further. It wasn’t worth it—she knew that from past experience. Miroku’s eyes flicked past her towards Goshinki, and he laughed lightly a few seconds later.

“I’ll have you know you’re priceless, Sango,” he said, shaking his head and leaning back in his chair as he regarded her. Then, the grin on his face suddenly changed into something more along the lines of a smirk - a very devious smirk. “So…”

She raised an eyebrow. His smirked broadened.

“Sango, do you…” He paused for dramatic effect. “…Think I’m sexy?”

Sango’s jaw dropped.

“Wha—”

“Yes or no only, please,” Dr. Goshinki reminded her from where he watched the polygraph.

Sango swallowed down her surprise, telling herself to think logically, if she could do such a thing over with such a ridiculous question! Of course she thought he was good-looking; handsome and, yes, even sexy. But that wasn’t something she was comfortable with admitting! And, with this machine on, she very well couldn’t lie and expect to get away with it. So even if she said ‘no’, he’d still know that she actually felt the opposite, and she’d just be humiliating herself further.

She took a deep breath, figuring she’d might as well say it and get it over with.

“…Yes.”

Miroku beamed. And then he beamed some more after getting confirmation from Dr. Goshinki.

And then he beamed some more, just because he could.

In the meantime, Sango wallowed in the wonderful throes of embarrassment.

Eventually, he got serious again, although the occasional giggle still escaped from Kagome. Miroku cleared his throat and looked her dead in the eye. “Okay, how about this: If a situation arose and the stakes were high… Say, life or death. Would you trust me with your life?”

Words escaped her. How, she wondered, could he go from asking her such a silly question to such an…important one? He wanted to know how much she trusted him. Somehow, that warmed her, and Sango felt a shy smile curve her mouth.

“Yeah,” she admitted. “Call me crazy, but I think I would.”

Something very similar to a squeal of excitement came from Kagome’s general direction. Everyone gave her an odd look, and the hostess blushed when she realized that the attention was on her. “Uh… Don’t mind me! Two more questions, Miroku!”

“Ah, yes,” he said lightly, looking back to Sango. “Alright. Sango…” He grinned dashingly. “Do you think I’m sexy?”

She paused, then rolled her eyes. “I already answered that.”

“Yes,” he said, “but I want to hear it again.” He gave her a plaintive look and Sango gave in.

“Yes, Miroku.”

“Why thank you, Sango. You’re not half bad yourself.” When she finally laughed, Miroku took a moment to look rather pleased with him. Then he stood up, stretching a bit. “Okay, one more question? Hmm…” His features grew quickly serious again, and Sango marveled a bit at how swiftly he could switch moods. At one moment he could be a lecherous, joking fool, and then the next he could be intensely soft-spoken, his words breathtaking and honest.

She had a feeling she was about to be treated so some of those words anytime now. And how right she was.

“Would you believe me…” he began, his violet-gray eyes focused solely on her. “Would you believe me if I told you that I would very much like to spend time—a lot of time—with you after we leave this island?”

Sango was glad she was connected to the polygraph. It gave her a perfect excuse to forgo a sarcastic answer.

“Yes.”

When Kagome squealed this time, neither even bothered to glance at her. And, when Dr. Goshinki finished taking the sensors off of Sango and she stood up, Miroku wasted no time in grabbing her around the waist and pressing a brief kiss to her lips (never mind the bit of tongue he slipped in). When the kiss ended, he smiled at her. “You’re turn. Don’t ask me too many hard questions, okay?”

Sango just nodded, and Miroku sat down in the chair she’d been sitting in only a minute before. Exercising patience and wondering when her heart rate would go back to normal, Sango took the seat he’d occupied earlier. It took a bit longer for Dr. Goshinki to give them the go ahead this time, probably due to the fact that he was waiting for Miroku’s own pulse and breathing and such to go back to normal as well. That was fine by Sango. It gave her time to think of what she wanted to ask Miroku.

Finally, after Kagome suppressed her giddiness long enough to ask Miroku his control question, it really was Sango’s turn.

She gave him a bemused smile. “You are aware I hate you, correct?”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Yes. Because, as I’ve said before, that’s just your way of saying that you can’t live without me.”

“Hn.” Sango eyed him, weighing her options. This, she thought, could be a lot of fun, so long as she chose her questions wisely, and didn’t waste any. Then, she struck gold. “Tell me, Miroku. Have you ever…” She imitated his dramatic pause. “…Been hit on by another man?”

He shuddered visibly; repulsed by whatever memory she had dragged to the forefront of his mind.

“Ugh. Yes. You didn’t have to remind me of it, either.”

Sango laughed. Yes, this was definitely fun. However, she realized, there were some more earnest questions she wanted answers to. “So sorry,” she teased, enjoying a few more seconds of enjoyment on his behalf. “Anyway, here we go.” Miroku sobered up upon hearing the more purposeful undertone in her voice, for which she was thankful. “Would you ever cheat on me?”

This time, it was his jaw that dropped, and he just sort of stared at her for a long moment, before: “Um, define cheating?”

Sango sighed.

It figured.

“Never mind,” she said, somewhat icily, “I think you’ve already answered that.” Sango folded her arms over her stomach and stared Miroku, who was looking pretty nervous, down. “Fine, then. Would you ever lie to me?”

His mouth opened, then closed again. A frown then etched its way onto his face and he sighed. “Yeah, probably.”

That stung.

Badly.

It had been bad enough that she had been able to deduce that he wouldn’t be exactly faithful, but to have him tell her that he would be perfectly fine with lying to her? That was something she didn’t want to deal with, not with Miroku, or with any other guy.

‘Well,’ an ironic little voice inside of her mind whispered, ‘at least he didn’t have the gall to tell you he wouldn’t lie…’

She abruptly rose to her feet. “I think those are all of the questions I need to ask,” she said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Without another word, Sango stepped off of the patio and headed back to the house.

Seeing her reaction, Miroku wasted no time in tearing all of the polygraph sensors off of him - an action to which Goshinki gave much protest to - and tore after her. He caught up with her only a short ways from the front door, and had to grab her by the arm to get her to stop. “Sango, wait!”

“I really don’t feel like talking to you right now,” Sango said, refusing to look at him. “Let me go.”

He did nothing of the sort.

“Let me explain what I meant,” Miroku demanded.

“Why should I?” She glared at the ground. “It’s pretty obvious what you meant.”

“I don’t think it was. You’re thinking of how I replied to you asking me about cheating, aren’t you?” Her jaw tightened, and he nodded. “Thought so. Look, I’m sorry about that. I admit, I’m something of a flirt, and I think you’ve figured that out by now. That’s why I asked you what you defined cheating as, because I’m the sort of guy who will go out with a girl but still flirt around.”

“You’re just making it worse,” Sango whispered, shoulders slumping, as she grew more and more disappointed in him. She’d thought he was trustworthy, hadn’t she? But now…

A hand lifted to her chin, turning her face towards him. “Sango, I’m trying to be honest with you. And no, it’s not something I’m good at doing. But I don’t want to break whatever trust you have in me.” He smiled gently at her, brushing her hair back from her face. “Believe me.”

“Still, you said that you would lie, and that’s enough to make it hard to believe you,” she said, looking up at him at last.

“Understandable. But part of me was still thinking of how much I would like to be with you after this show is over. What if I wanted to surprise you then, hmm? You’re so perceptive that I’d have to lie if I wanted any hope of catching you off guard. But if you’re thinking I’d sneak around behind your back?” Miroku laughed. “I think that by now you should know that I’m fairly blatant with my affections.”

“Yes, that you are.” She gave him a weak smile. “I guess I should say I’m sorry. I sort of jumped to conclusions, didn’t I?”

“Not unreasonably so,” Miroku insisted.

“Still, I should have been more willing to listen to you. Forgive me?”

“Hmm… On one condition.”

Sango let out a disbelieving laugh. “What’s that?”

He gave her a rakish wink. “Let’s go visit that spa again.”

Sango blushed, but took his hand when he offered it.

“You’re on.”

—

“Thank you so much for dinner, Inuyasha,” Kagome bubbled, leaning over the center console and placing a kiss on the limo driver’s cheek.

“Feh. Whatever,” he replied, red faced and failing at his attempt at indifference. “Just don’t let Kikyou hear about it. I don’t want her on my ass for fraternizing on the job, or something like that.”

“Deal,” Kagome laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hopping out of the front seat, Kagome made for her hotel room, smiling all along the way. Today had been a good day. Not only had she been an eyewitness to some sweet, "budding" romance, but she’d also gotten a date of her own! And now, now it was time to head for bed and get a good night of sleep before jumping back into the flow of this great new job of hers.

Well, great, except for one thing…

Kagome pushed that thought from her mind immediately. It was no use obsessing over minor details such as the downsides of her job. After all, there were plenty more upsides.

Humming a tune, she approached her room door and opened it with her cardkey. Much to her surprise, someone was already inside.

“Rin! What are you doing in here?”

The younger girl grinned from where she was on Kagome’s bed, watching TV upside-down.

“Waiting for you of course! I wanted to know how all of the romance is going on the show.”

The show hostess grinned, tossing her purse down on the dresser and kicking off her heels before plopping down beside Rin. “Why didn’t you ask Kikyou?”

“She’s busy with all of the paperwork Sesshoumaru gave her, and she doesn’t seem to think that a little intern like me could help her. Never mind the fact that Sesshoumaru is my guardian, y’know?” The teenager made a show of rolling her eyes.

Kagome grinned at the girl. Although there were a good seven years separating their ages, she liked Rin. “How is the old iceman, anyway?”

“Locked away, working with Kagura on a whole bunch of top-secret television stuff, as always. Or so he says. I have a feeling he means something else by working.” Rin wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought. “But let’s ignore that, how about the show? Do you think they’re going to go through with it? Kikyou thinks they will, but you’re around them more.”

Kagome sighed. There was that…thing again. As much as she wanted to forget it, it was there.

“I don’t know, Rin. I really don’t know.”

—

Aamalie: Issue I’d like to address: A lot, and I mean a LOT of you said something along the lines of, “Aww… Miroku’s falling in love!” in your reviews for last chapter. (smacks the lot of you) Hello, kids. Let’s take a look at real life. They’ve known each other for less than a week. Just because they’re starting to feel affection for one another doesn’t mean its love quite yet. It takes a while for people to fall in love. Sure, things are sort of fast forwarded in this fic, but if any of you have actually watched some of the reality shows out there… People do stupid, stupid things when they’re on them. One beautiful example would be Fear Factor.

Sorry for the rant, but... Pacing happens to be a peeve for me when not realistic. xD

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Lucinda the Maid- First of all, you’re awesome. XD You got me inspired to update with your awesome reviewage. Anyway, to answer a few things you commented on. This story should be about 20 chapters long; it depends on how motivated I am. And congrats, you were the only one to catch the Dora reference. Hee. I’m glad to see my works compared to Lies and Cacophony, considering both authors are awesome friends and I’m convinced that their stuff kicks my stuff out the door any day of the week. Though with Corisu it’s not that surprising. I am her beta AND the one that got her hooked on MirSan. x3 And I find your thoughts on what Miroku might be up to interesting… Not so sure if they’re accurate or not. You’ll just have to wait and see.

fluffyfledgling- Miroku? Hiding something from Sango? Where’d you get that idea?

PoF- xD I am just cruising past the mark, aren’t I? It’s crazy how many reviews I’m getting for this… And to think of how much more it would suck if you hadn’t given me such wonderful plot ideas. (glomps)

Corisu- How could you miss the foreshadowing? Good God, woman. You must be blind. Don’t worry, though, I still heart you.

Divine-Red-Crayon- Shh! Stop being so damned perceptive… T.T

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Aamalie: Yay! All done. Now back to waiting for people to log on to their instant messengers and perusing random LiveJournals until I feel like writing Drifting…

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