"Thank you my lady, you have the loveliness of a summer's ripe peach," Miroku said, reaching for the beer brought over from a scantily-clad waitress.

"Oh, you! I bet you say that to all the girls!"

"No! No! You are truly a peach of the sweetest harvest. Soft, gentle-"

"Yet luscious and passionate?" interrupted a stripper passing by. Miroku gave a nervous laugh. "I read romance novels. As matter of fact, I just finished 'The Summer of my Peach Blossom' the other day." The waitress 'tsk tsked' him and began to walk away.

"Strippers read?" A man in the next booth mused aloud.

"Shigure, quiet!" his companion scolded him. The stripper turned to him and gave him a bop on the head.

"A funnyman, huh? It's a good thing you're so cute, otherwise I might not let you off the hook so easily."

An idea sprang to Miroku's mind.

"Well, anyway, it's nice to meet a fan," he said nonchalantly, taking a swill of his beer.

"Wait, are you trying to tell me you wrote that?"

"They call me Karitani Noa."

"No!"

"You think a guy like me reads romance novels for fun?"

"Girls! This guy is Karitani Noa! Pleased to meet you. The name's Mimi," she cooed, sitting in Miroku's lap. A group of girls began to gather. An outraged Shigure stood up.

"Hey! I don't know who you are, but you are a fraud. I am the man who writes under the pen name Karitani Noa!"

"Who are you calling a fraud? How dare you claim to be me!" Shigure crossed his arms.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you name five books that you supposedly authored?" Miroku scratched his head.

"Well, uh, um. Roses of…um Love, ah…." Mimi jumped off his lap.

"It figures! You guys are both full of it"

"But, Mimi! Wait! Mimi?"

"But I am the real author," Shigure pouted.

"I don't think they're falling for it anymore," said Miroku. Shigure turned to his friend.

"Hatori, will you please set the record straight?" Hatori sighed.

"Shigure here, as laughable as it seems, is the author."

"You're mean, Haa-san!" Shigure pouted some more and rested his head on Hatori's shoulder.

"Wow, no kidding, huh?"

"Do you think I need to impress you?" Miroku bowed his head.

"Well then! It is an honor to meet such a creative genius! I owe much of my success with the ladies to you. My name's Miroku."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! I do love compliments! I am Sohma Shigure. This is my dearest cousin, Dr. Sohma Hatori. Well, you know our professions. So tell me, how do you make a living?"

"I am but a humble servant of the public. I teach literature to the students at Takaya High School. However, I like to think of myself as a poet at heart."

"Mmm, high school girls," remarked Shigure.

"They are beautiful," Miroku agreed. Hatori shook his head.

"Perverts. You're both perverts, you know that?"

"Oh, come on, I've caught you staring at Tohru on more than one occasion. You're not as innocent as you let on, Haa-chan!" Hatori rolled his eyes and sipped his ice-water. "What you need is a stiff drink to loosen you up!"

"I can't. You made me drive you here, remember? So Miroku-san, have you met our cousins Yuki or Kyo? They are students at Takaya High."

"Tohru too!" interjected Shigure.

"I can't say that I have. Then again, I only teach the upperclassmen. But why are we talking about the 9-5 life when there are so many beautiful women around?" As if unable to help himself, Miroku reached out and rubbed the bottom of a particularly shapely girl. A large man grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"It's a hands-off zone, here, buddy! Try it again and I won't be so friendly!"

"Sorry. It's this cursed hand! I can't control it!" The scene was interrupted when a slender man with long white hair burst into the club. He wore turquoise snakeskin pants with a silky white shirt.

"I'm here!" the stranger announced. Shigure's eyes lit up.

"Aya-chan!"