The Opposite Of Attraction – Part Six: The Child

Aamalie: Where does the time go? I’ll spare the lengthy excuses. I’ll just give you three words: Finals, Projects, Social Life. Okay. That’s four. Whatever...

Disclaimer: I’ll own it tomorrow. Too bad tomorrow’s always a day away...

-

“An hour!” Sango grumbled, rifling through the lower cabinets in the kitchen. “Are they insane?”

Miroku shrugged, setting down a screwdriver and admiring his handiwork. “Probably. Then again, you can’t say that you couldn’t have expected something like this to happen.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sango asked, pulling open a drawer and groaning when she found that it was in fact the cutlery drawer. Peachy.

He tossed her glance, testing the cabinet door. “Two words: Reality TV.”

She sighed. “How could I forget?”

“You shouldn’t have. I mean, where else would we find out that we have to child-proof a whole mansion, as you said, an hour before the kid comes to stay overnight?” Miroku grinned. “It’s most definitely not a common occurrence.”

“Point taken. How are we going to do this in time? Can’t we just barricade off all of the bathrooms and the kitchen? It’d be much easier,” Sango suggested, frowning down at the variety of knives before her. Honestly, there were so many that a chef could move in and feel right at home. Or maybe a butcher... Or possibly a murderer. Whichever.

He laughed, standing up from where he had been seated as he worked on the cabinet beneath the sink to saunter over to Sango. “I don’t think that’d work.”

“Why not?”

Miroku shook his head slightly as she searched for a place to move the cutlery set in the higher shelves. He reached over and caught her wrist, catching her attention as well. A crafty look crossed his features, and he tugged Sango closer so that he could lift her hand to his cheek, making her redden at the contact. She couldn’t help but notice how warm and pleasant his skin was against hers.

“Because,” he said, maneuvering her hand so that the soft jut of her knuckles and his lips brushed against one another, “we eat in the kitchen. Also, the kid will probably need to use the toilet every once in a while, you know?”

“Uh... Yeah,” Sango agreed, blushing and obviously flustered. “I...”

“Okay then,” Miroku said, not letting her have time to gather her wits. He pressed a soft kiss- a real, obviously intentional one that could in no way be interpreted as mere chance- against her fingertips before letting go. “We’d better get to work then.”

She looked confused for a second before a slight frown touched the side of her mouth. “Okay,” she said, brushing past him and the cameraman that had started zooming in on them as though nothing had happened. “You take care of those knives. I need to move the drinks.” Miroku blinked, surprised by her sudden efficiency. He had expected at least something of a reaction. What did he have to do? Feel her up?

...Not a bad idea, actually.

He bided his time for a short while, putting the knives up and watching Sango out of the corner of his eyes. She was moving all of the liquor that had been set up on the counter out of sight and out of reach. Miroku couldn’t help but enjoy the way she looked when she stretched to reach the higher shelves; her shirt was short enough that when she lifted her arms above her head, he could see a good deal of skin. What was better was that she didn’t even seem to notice! She was almost completely unconscious of just how alluring she really way.

Suddenly, the perfect opportunity arose.

Sango had run out of room on one shelf, and was trying to put the final bottle of brandy up on a higher one. The only problem was she wasn’t quite tall enough. So, Miroku was simply entitled to come to the rescue, being of a greater height and whatnot. He came up from behind to take the bottle from Sango’s grasp, standing by her as he slid it unto the topmost shelf. As Sango began thanking him for his help, he let his other hand find its way to her bottom. He let out a contented sigh, enjoying the feel even as Sango stiffened considerably. A second later, she had whirled around to deliver a mortified strike across his cheek.

“What do you think you’re doing, you horny idiot!” she demanded, breathing hard as she glared at him. Miroku touched the place where she had hit him gingerly, wincing slightly. It didn’t help that he was seeing stars either. But it was no matter. He ignored the pain (a somewhat difficult feat) and instead leaned in close, resting his hands on the counter on either side of Sango.

“Only for you, Sango,” he whispered against her ear, taking a moment to nuzzle the side of her neck. He shifted closer to her, and he felt her gasp and bring her hands up to try to push him away. Miroku couldn’t have that. He grinned, running his tongue against the outside of her ear. Sango’s breath came out in a warning hiss.

“Miroku!”

“I missed you last night,” he murmured. “You made me sleep on the couch. I like sleeping with you better.”

“Stop implying things.”

Miroku laughed, lifting his head so that he could meet her eyes. Her expression was unreadable. He could tell she was embarrassed, and even a touch mad by the flush in her cheeks and the way she stared at him indignantly, but he couldn’t even chance a guess at what she was thinking. “What am I implying, Sango?”

“You know that answer perfectly well,” Sango accused.

He lifted a hand to touch her cheek idly. “Maybe, maybe not. Hmm...” He shifted nearer to her again, resting his forehead against hers. Sango’s eyes widened, and her hands pushed against his chest more insistently.

“Get off, now!” There was a note of desperation in her voice, and Miroku knew at once that he was very close to overstepping the boundaries of what she would allow without defensive, if not violent retaliation. So, he complied, stepping back slowly so that she was no longer pinned against the counter. Refusing to look at him, Sango withdrew her own hands, clenching them at her side. “I... I’m going to go childproof the bathroom,” she said shortly, and then she quickly fled the room.

She couldn’t stop trembling for a good five minutes afterwards.

-

The hour of preparation ended not too long afterwards, and all childproofing supplies were promptly confiscated when the timer that had been set went off. Once that was done, both Miroku and Sango were ushered out of the house and sent to the front lawn to await the arrival of the child that they were going to be babysitting. The only downsides were that, firstly, the childproofing hadn’t been completed, and secondly, Sango was currently ignoring Miroku.

Then again, given the circumstances, that wasn’t entirely a surprise. After all, being pushed up against a counter and being advanced on was not something that was a normal happening in Sango’s life. The fact that she now couldn’t look at him properly without remembering the way he had been pressed so close to her, and the way that his lips had touched her ear oh-so lightly when he had spoken only made matters worse.

Someone upstairs really had to be taking pleasure in her mini-crisis. That was the only explanation.

“So, Sango!” She looked up to see Kagome smiling broadly at her before the show hostess continued, “The child you’ll be taking care of today and tomorrow will be arriving within minutes. Tell me, how do you feel about this challenge?”

“Uh... Okay, I guess,” Sango said, thrown off by the unexpected question.

“Okay?” Kagome pressed.

She shrugged. “I suppose you could say I feel pretty confident about it. After all, I do have a younger brother, so I have at least some experience dealing with younger children.” Sango jumped with she felt an arm slide around her shoulders, and when she looked, she found that that arm was attached to none other than Miroku. “Hey! What’re you!”

He interrupted smoothly, in such a way that it didn’t even seem like he was actually cutting her off. “Why, Sango! I have faith in your abilities, but maybe we could count this as practice for the children we’ll have together one day soon!”

Sango then decisively elbowed him in the side, and that was the end of that.

-

The limousine swayed and bumped slightly as it rushed down the highway, the inviting island scenery flashing by through the window. It was a quiet ride; Kikyou sat in her seat, reading through various official looking documents and completely oblivious to the motion of the car, which would have made most others queasy. It wasn’t until a loud yawn erupted from the seat across from her that her attention was broken.

Kikyou checked her watch quickly, before she began to put her stack of paper away. By the time she was done and looked back up, the other occupant of the limo was staring at her. She smiled lightly at the child.

“Hello.”

He just stared.

“Did you have a nice nap?”

The kid stared some more. Kikyou’s smile faltered slightly, before she hit upon an idea.

“Would you like a lollypop, Shippou?”

The young redhead’s eyes lit up. “Yeah!” he exclaimed, before remembering his manners. “I mean, uh, please.”

“Which flavor?” Kikyou asked congenially, pulling open her purse. “Grape or cherry?”

“Both!”

“Fine by me.” She leaned over to hand both sticks of candy to him. Shippou immediately ripped the wrapper off of the grape pop, but froze just before sticking it into his mouth. He pulled it to eye level, eyeing the lollypop suspiciously.

“Are you sure you didn’t poison it?”

Kikyou blinked, surprised. “Of course not. What would give you that idea?”

Shippou shrugged, popping the candy into his mouth at last. “I don’t know,” he said around the confection. “It’s just that the driver said that I had to be extra, extra careful around you and not trust you or anything ‘cause you might stick me in an oven and roast me alive so that you can have me for dinner, and I don’t want to be eaten. I think it’d probably hurt to get chewed on. I mean, it hurts to get bitten, right? And chewing is just biting lots and lots of times, so it would probably hurt lots and lots.”

The producer gave a weak laugh, glancing over her shoulder at the window that separated the passenger compartment of the limousine from the driver. She was so going to give Inuyasha a nice, long lecture later...

“Yes, it probably would hurt, but you don’t have to worry,” Kikyou assured the child. “I’m not going to eat you, or anybody else for that matter, okay?”

Shippou gave her a critical look that was made comical by the lollypop sticking out of his mouth, before grinning. “Okay!”

Kikyou smiled back, deciding that now was a good time to bring up what was a rather important matter. “All right, then. So, do you remember the two people you saw on the TV screens yesterday?”

“Yup!”

“Good,” Kikyou said. “I’m glad, because you're going to be spending the night with them.”

“I know.” Shippou beamed. “Kagome told me!”

“But, Shippou. I need you to do something very important for me,” Kikyou said with emphasis. She truly needed Shippou’s cooperation if the show was going to play out the way she was hoping for it to.

“Okay!” he said, pulling the sucker out of his mouth in order to see how much of it was left.

Kikyou took a breath. “I want you to be bad for them.”

Shippou almost dropped his candy, but caught it just before it fell out of his reach. The look he gave Kikyou was one of pure and utter shock. “But... Kagome told me to be good for the strangers, since they're going to be babysitting me. And Momma told me to listen to Kagome.”

The producer sighed. That girl always got in the way... “If you give them a bad time, a very bad time, I'll make sure you're supplied a year's worth of candy.” It was a daring attempt, but it had to work.

“Five years!”

Look at that. Immediate results. Sort of.

“...One,” Kikyou repeated.

“Three?” Shippou tried.

“One.”

“Two and a half?”

Didn’t this boy understand how much trouble she was going to be in with his parents for promising that much candy to him already?

“Six months.”

“A year!”

“Deal.”

-

Sango couldn’t help but feel a jolt of nerves when the limo rolled into view. She wasn’t sure as to why; maybe it had to do with the fact that she had never actually babysat for anyone besides her own brother. Not that he’d actually let her use the term “babysat” when referring to those certain instances... But why did Miroku have to look so relaxed about everything?

‘Probably because he has five or six of his own kids scattered across the country,’ Sango thought dryly, still irked over what had gone on earlier. ‘Oversexed cretin...’

She could have come up with several more suitable insults, but that was when the car door opened, and out hopped a young boy. He looked rather young, five years at the oldest, with a shock of red hair, bright green eyes, and a cherry sucker in one hand. He turned to push the door closed, pausing to tell whoever was inside to remember to not forget the candy before doing so. That done, he turned back around to all but fly into the arms of the show hostess.

Kagome laughed as she caught Shippou, who was babbling hellos at her. “Hey, Shippou. Good to see you. Let me introduce you to some friends of mine. This is Miroku and Sango.”

Little did they know how long a day was in store for the two of them.

-

Shippou had seemed sweet upon first meeting him. As soon as Kagome had climbed into the awaiting limo and drove away though, everything changed. He became a miniature terror. Well, not immediately. First thing, he turned to Sango, tugged on her jeans, and asked her to show him around. Still nervous, she agreed.

Incidentally, later on, Miroku—having noticed said nerves—took the opportunity to tell Sango not to worry. After all, Shippou assuredly wasn’t going to eat any part of her; it was he himself she had to look out for. And then he winked. And then she slapped him. Strangely enough, though, she wasn’t so worried about Shippou after that.

And then Shippou went haywire.

He ran around the house endlessly, asking if he could play with this or that or that other thing over there. The answer was usually no, but Shippou didn’t seem to mind at all that they had anything to say. He broke a total of two lamps and a dish that had been left on a table before Miroku mentioned that the mansion had a pool.

And people call ‘please’ the magic word. Puh-lease.

Shippou played in the pool for a good three hours straight, taking advantage of both diving board and waterslide- whoever owned the mansion really did have a few bucks under their belt. He also seemed to have a liking for splashing everything. Cameras and their cameramen included.

Then it was time for dinner, and then a bath.

And then the kid finally passed out.

-

Sango collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to go to the dresser and find her pajamas. Miroku chuckled at her display of exhaustion as he found his own clothes.

“Tired?” he asked as he walked to the bathroom to change, leaving the door partially open so that they could talk.

Sango groaned. “You have no idea... I feel like I could sleep for days.”

“I’m sure,” Miroku agreed, tossing her nightwear onto the bed next to her before taking a seat on the mattress himself. “Go change. Jeans aren’t that comfy to sleep in.”

“Too tired.”

“Is that an invitation for me to undress you?” He leaned over her with a grin and a wink.

She peeled an eye open to give him a glare. “No.”

“But if you’re as tired as you claim to be, you couldn’t stop me if I decided to try.”

That’s when she hit him with a pillow.

-

Aamalie: ...I hope my friends from school who read this don’t read this until the weekend. x.x I don’t know where half of the stuff in this chapter came from... x3 Miroku’s such a perv.

And you’ve gotta love Kikyou. She’s so good with kids. It’s one of the things she and Kagome have in common... xD

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Siren of Erised- WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE YOU;.;

Zero27- Yeah. I’m working on length in this story. Cause I did used to write really short chapters...

Kasai to Kasumi- Locking themselves in the room? Who’s to say that will happen? Sheesh... xP You perv you.

SamSam-aka-Sam- GASP! You brought up the Kikyou and Miroku conversation. You’re like, one of two who actually mentioned that. Good eye. :D It’ll all make sense in time.

Black Element- My Christmas was great, way back a month ago. XD And you’re right. No writer’s block. Just lack of inspiration... -.-

Starzki- LoL! Glad you liked. You must write more as well. -pokes-

Breath-of-Ice- What would be wrong with raising the rating? It’s not like I’m going to write a lemon.

Lil’Lyn713- Hmm... You’re perceptive. -wink-

Fledgling- xD hee. I’m glad you like it, but I think you’re flattering me. And how is it cliché-panic-

Goober- Never, ever, ever write a review like that again. It ticks me off to know end, and totally ruined my mood for writing when I read it. I write on my own time. I have no real obligation to write these stories; it’s a hobby, and I won’t hesitate to quit if I get anymore harassing reviews.

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You know the drill!