Happy Valentines Day! I hope you'll enjoy my little one shot! Its based off The Song Next Contestant by Nickleback! I love this band and this pairing, so I had to do a song-fic like this at some point! :) If you read all of this review and say you did, that gives you the special right to choose what I write next. (Also to my loyal readers, I apologize for not updating my normal stories in such a long time... I'm stuck and don't know how to continue, but I promise at least a short update soon!) Please read and enjoy :)

Here I am again, sitting at a bar not drinking a thing because I'm on duty. I'm on duty because she's on duty. Tohru Honda, the waitress at this bar, the most beautiful woman anyone's ever met and best of all, my girl.

She's a beautiful woman, dark hair, light blue sparkling eyes, an innocent face, and an amazingly sexy, sensual, female body. That was why I was sitting here, some people just didn't understand that that beautiful body belonged to somebody already. About a week ago, she had come home from work complaining about men and women hitting on her. They were coming on to her, buying her drinks, touching her, commenting on her body, anything and everything you could image. She was annoyed with it, but her sweet and kind disposition wouldn't allow her to do a thing about it, except to ask nicely for them to stop. This is where I come in… I have no qualms with a good fight, and I had been training in self-defense since I was a child. I even owned my own dojo now. I knew my old teacher, my Shishou, would be angry with me for intentionally starting fights. I knew he would tell me that it was not the honorable path, and that it was wrong, but I mentally justified it by saying that I was only protecting what was mine.

I'd been watching, guarding Tohru for a few days now. I'd learned just how true her tales of work were, how true she was in every respect of her complaints, and how she should've asked for my help sooner. I knew that she had never actually asked for my help, she was too proud to do that, she was always able to do what she had to with a smile on her face, sometimes in my eyes, she was a little too brave. No, instead I had just simply given her my help, I didn't want her to have to deal with unwanted flirtation… and I definitely didn't want anyone to flirt with her in the first place.

In my time thus far protecting her, I had learned a few things. One, that I could judge just by what she was wearing, how many asses I would be kicking per night. From the cleavage bearing blouse and skin tight mini skirt she was wearing tonight, I knew it was going to be one hell of a night. I don't think she even knew that what she was wearing was so provocative; she just dressed like the other waitresses that worked at the bar with her. The second thing I had learned was that even women came on to her. While I didn't necessarily mind her having a… female friend with benefits… I knew that she wasn't interested in the least, and that in her mind their advances were just as bad as the men's. Of course, she had never told me this, and she never gave any of them anything except warnings and smiles, but I just knew it... I could just read her mind at times… I knew her well. The women were just like the men, except I wouldn't hit them, and unfortunately, they were twice as bold and twice as crazy as the men. Most of the guys would ask the DJ or bartender what she would say if they tried coming on to her, but the ladies… well they didn't bother. They just grabbed her ass as if they owned it…

I sighed and wished she would just take the night off. Today I was not in the mood to have to deal with shit-faced morons coming on to my girlfriend. I knew that I wasn't going to keep my temper tonight, but still, I sat there, watching her. Of course, as a general rule, I didn't mind protecting her, but there was just something about this bar that pissed me off. I'd asked her about a thousand times to get a different job, or just simply quit her job and work at the dojo with me. No matter how many times I asked, begged, and pleaded, she never complied. Sometimes she was just so stubborn I couldn't take it, but her doggedness was one of the reasons that I had fallen so deeply in love with her. Though that was true, I still wished that she would just do what I asked… if only for this situation.

I saw a man approach her out of the corner of my eye. I saw the look on his face… it was obvious what he was looking for. I muttered to myself, "Here comes the first contestant…" I honestly tried to give him the benefit of the doubt at first, being my first target of the night, I figured I'd go easy on the guy. Maybe he was just going to comment on her service, or ask her for something. When I focused a little more on him, I knew I was wrong for giving him that chance. He had put his hand on her hip, and was brushing up against her gently. He was definitely commenting on something… but it wasn't her service… Though his wasn't as bad as the usual attacks, I still stood up and crossed the room to meet them.

I shoved into him roughly, wanting his hands off her as soon possible. While he stood there dazed I growled at him, "Is that your hand on my girlfriend?"

The man backed up and put his hands in the air, acting as if he hadn't known that she was mine. He had a stupid look on his face, and from my years under the curse, I had learned to take pity on dumb, misfortunate animals. I decided that I would let him off with just a warning. "You do that again… I'll watch you leave here limping."

The man walked away from us quickly, obviously not wanting any trouble. I looked over Tohru checking that she was okay. If it had been any other girl in the world, I probably would've dragged her out of the bar, but Tohru was such a strong willed girl that I knew it would be close to impossible. Another thought crossed my mind after that… I knew that if it really had been any other girl, I probably wouldn't have cared enough to drag them anywhere… Tohru was the only girl for me, and that was why I was so pissed that people were touching her. I leaned over and kissed her gently. She looked up at me reassuringly. Her eyes told me everything I needed to know without her even opening her mouth. She was okay, and she didn't want to leave or quit.

I put my hands on her hips and kissed her forehead gently before allowing her to return to her work. I didn't want to let her go, but it was always rather impossible to get her to comply. So, instead of wishing for the impossible, I walked away and sat at an open booth in one of the darker corners of the bar. One of her fellow waitresses approached me and I ordered a coke, not the beer I wanted. I knew that this was a job I would have to do completely sober, if I were to be even slightly intoxicated… well I wouldn't be able to hold back. Before the waitress could return, I saw another person walking up to Tohru… my Tohru… why didn't anyone understand that?

It was a woman this time… this made me relax slightly. She could usually handle the ladies on her own. I figured that she must've offered to buy Tohru a drink because I saw her put her hands up and shake her head in a polite declination. She had a strict self-imposed rule about not drinking while she was working. I smiled lightly to myself as the woman walked away without another word, looking very much defeated. The waitress then returned with my drink and smiled at me. She said something about wishing that she had a personal body guard like Tohru did. I merely nodded and she walked away from me.

I saw quite a few men and women look in Tohru's direction, they were obviously interested, but no one acted on it. I heard some obviously drunk men near me comment on her, and more specifically comment on her boobs and ass.

"Dat Ass!" One said adding in a wolf whistle for good measure.

Another said "I'd tap that!"

A third let out a low whistle and said, "God look at those tits! What a rack!"

This set me off; I wanted to kill them for saying such crude things about her. I tried to relax myself by sitting still and telling myself that their words meant nothing, and that as long as she didn't hear them saying it, everything would be okay. Their annoying comments had averted my attention from her, so I looked around the room, my eyes in search of my lovely brunette… When I finally spotted her… I saw red.

Some son of a bitch was all over her, his hands were grabbing at her ass, and he was rubbing up on her. From the distance, I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could tell that she was saying no, and that he wasn't complying. "Here comes the next contestant." I growled as I slammed my fist on the table harshly.

I stood up, but before I could do much else, I saw him lean in for a kiss. I saw the fear in her eyes as she tried to struggle away from him. His hands grabbed at her arms to stop her from struggling. My last nerve snapped at that moment. I ran to her at a speed that I had never before achieved.

I growled at the man touching her, "Hands Off!" I didn't wait for him to comply, refuse, or react in anyway; I just removed his hands for him and shoved him with all my strength against a wall. This time somebody was getting hurt, and the way it was looking, it was going to be him.

He tried to get back up, but in my blind rage, I punched him out. There was a sick sounding crack when my fist met his face, I knew I hadn't broken anything, but I knew he would definitely hurt in the morning. He slumped back against the wall, unconscious, but still breathing. Without another word or even a moment's thought, I grabbed Tohru by the hand gently but firmly and led her out of the bar. I then led her into the safety of my car and began to drive off, far away from the place.

She was crying softly in the seat next to me, and though it killed me inside to see her so upset, there wasn't anything I could think to say or do. All I could do was see the hurt in her eyes through fleeting glances as I looked between her and the road. After what felt like an eternity of pain and suffering, I sensed as though I needed to say something… anything to make her feel better… I had never been good with words, and when I was upset it was even harder for me to come up with the words that I wanted to say. I found a spot to pull over and I put the car in park. I searched for the words I wanted to say, and all she did was look at me.

She didn't look at me in the same way she usually did… no, instead she looked at me with fear and tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry… please don't yell at me…" She whispered softly, her voice breaking as she spoke. She was not herself in that moment, something must have broken inside of her, because my Tohru never looked on the dark side, my Tohru was always the optimist. Tohru usually feared nothing and no one, and if she did fear something, it was definitely not me that she feared.

I couldn't believe that she had thought that I would yell at her… I had yelled at her before, but I would never even dream of yelling at a time like this. "I'm not going to yell at you!" I said it a little louder than a meant to, and realized that I was actually shouting at her. I brought my hand up to my forehead, and thought about what to say next… I had always had a hard time coming up with the right words in situations like this. I suppose you could call me socially awkward. I finally came up with what I needed to say. I struggled to keep my voice low and soft as I asked her, "Are you okay?"

She sniffled and nodded, but I could tell that it wasn't true by the fact that she wouldn't meet my eyes. She never wanted to bother me or worry me, so she never told me the truth about whether or not she was hurt, or how bad the pain was. Her eyes always gave her away when she lied, so the fact that she wouldn't look at me told me what she didn't… she was in pain.

I tried to be gentle and slow as I guided her chin up so I could get a good look at her. She fought against me for a moment, but then gave in to my inspection. I hated the fact that I needed to do this, and that she was too kind to just tell me where it hurt. I would strip search her if I had to, to find the place where that bastard had caused her pain.

Luckily I didn't have to strip her down to see the marks that the man's hands had left. They were on her arm… red obviously painful marks which were half fading half bruising. I felt tears form in my eyes… I wish she would have just told me… and even more, I wish she would just quit that damn job of hers. "Tohru… why didn't you just tell me?" I asked being careful to keep my voice low and soft. The last thing I wanted was to scare her further.

"I didn't want to worry you…" She said softly in a voice that only Tohru could make. It was that voice that had calmed me down numerous times… the voice that had helped me through the pain of the curse, the voice that had always been honest and kind to me, the voice of the woman I loved… and the voice of the woman next to me who was currently in pain.

Gently I grabbed her and moved her closer to me. I kissed her arms gently on the places that she was hurt. I let my lips linger slightly, and murmured my plea against her skin. "Please quit your job Tohru… Please…" At this point I wasn't even going to ask her to join me at the dojo like I wanted… no right now I just wanted her to be anywhere but there. It frightened me to think of what else may have happened if I hadn't been there to save her… and what might happen in the future if she continued to work there. "Please?" I added softly one final time for good measure.

I felt her relax slightly under my touch like my kisses were actually healing her hurt. She sat there for a moment as if considering her options, and then she returned to her natural demeanor. "I'll quit on one condition." Her voice and her face reminded me like a child with a secret. When she acted impish like this, it rarely meant good things for me.

I braced myself for whatever she would say next, "What condition?" Knowing Tohru it could be anything from a silly "kiss me" to a "you'll cook dinner for the next month." Either way, it was worth it if she quite working in that hellish place with demons for customers.

"The condition is that you'll teach me to fight…" She paused and smiled an even more evil smile, "and that you'll let me help you with the dojo… as a teacher."

I was overjoyed, and at the same time puzzled… she wanted to work with me, which was great! But she wanted to teach when she barely knew how to correctly punch… it was odd, but I knew the perfect place for her. "Of course you can work at the dojo!" I said with a smile, "You can teach the children's class with me if you want." I knew that she would enjoy that, she was great with kids, and God only knew that I wasn't the best at staying calm and gentle. It would be good for both of us to teach together… she could learn from the bottom up, and I could learn how to understand kids a little better… this way I wouldn't yell at the kids anymore, and best of all she would be away from that damned bar.

"You've got yourself a deal!" She said with a smile that drove me wild. I couldn't wait to get her home at this point… to our home, and to our bed.

I turned the car back on and started to drive home where I knew that she was mine, and that no one other than me would lay a hand on her. For all the contestants who had played the game, I was the champ, and my beautiful, strong, independent prize was right there next to me.

Thanksso much for reading! It really means the world to me! Please review and give me some feedback, I'd love to hear from you. I love hearing what you liked and disliked about my story. Even negative reviews are welcome (as long as they are put in a manner that doesn't come off as cruel... I work hard and no one likes trolls or unneeded flames!) I hope you had a fantastic Valentines day! If you're reading this after Valentine's day I hope you just had a lovely day in general! :)