Please Don't

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Miroku fidgeted in his seat, trying fruitlessly to bite back his excitement. He jiggled his feet under the table, eyes peering out the window and darting around for a glimpse of silver. For the first time in a while, InuYasha kept his promise. They were having lunch today.

He took a deep breath and released it slowly. Then, he shook his head at himself.

"Look at me, getting all giddy like a schoolgirl. Let me not set myself up for disappointment..."

His heart felt a little pang at his own thoughts. Would InuYasha flake again? Would all of the planning and excitement amount to nothing again? Would Kagome come first again?

He shook his head once more. "I'm being too pressed. This is my friend."

He went back to staring out the window and got lost in his own little world. Suddenly, he felt two heavy hands smack down against his shoulders. He jumped and his heart lurched against his chest. While he struggled to compose himself, he couldn't fight the smile that tugged on his lips hearing the hearty cackling coming from his friend.

Miroku rolled his eyes as InuYasha plopped down in the seat across from him.

"Oh man! Oh man, Mi-Miroku you should have seen how you jumped, man!" InuYasha managed between laughs. He promptly resumed his uncontrollable cackling.

Miroku just stared at him, his eyes narrowing as he fought back his own laughter. He sucked his teeth.

"Whatever, man. You're late."

InuYasha cleared his throat and dried the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry. I had to do some last minute shopping for the party later."

Miroku nodded. After their late lunch, the next plan on the agenda was a party at InuYasha's apartment. It was going to be a casual gathering of their close friends, just for old time's sake. They were looking forward to it.

"Yeah, did you get all of that done?" he asked.

InuYasha nodded. "But anyway, how are things going, man? I know I've been flaking on you a lot lately. How've you been?"

Despite himself, Miroku felt warmth fill his chest. He smiled.

"No worries, I've been good. Work is going good and everything. I just recently started studying religion."

"Religion?" InuYasha cocked his head to the side. "What brought that on?"

As Miroku explained his newfound interest in exploring what may lie in the cosmos, InuYasha listened intently. Miroku peered into his shimmering eyes, which glistened with curiosity. His own voice faded into the background as he examined the person before him. His eyes scanned InuYasha's perfect face and traced each delicate, yet chiseled feature. He refreshed his memory of every contour and every curve. He spanned his entire countenance, eventually landing on his lips. When Miroku noticed his thoughts going south, he glanced up at the dog ears perched atop InuYasha's silver crown. He smiled again, amused by his friend's cute features.

"So anyway, that's how I ended up looking into Buddhism and that's basically where I'm at with it right now," Miroku concluded his long spiel.

InuYasha nodded, deep in thought. "That's honestly really cool. I'm glad you found something you're interested in and stuck to it. That's hard to do while balancing real adult life."

They shared a knowing laugh.

"No, but for real," InuYasha continued. "I'll pick up one hobby and then abandon it for work before it even gets up off the ground. And then when I finally have time to think about activities again, I'm considering something completely new. I can't stick to just one. I've gone from basketball to fencing to soccer to chess to archery and now I'm on sword fighting. But we'll see whether or not that lasts."