(I do not own the Characters in FB. I do not follow the Manga, and what was supposed to happen in it. This is my own work of fiction using the characters created for FB.)

Chapter 4: Realization and Determination

There was a knock on Shigure's door. He smiled as he made his way to the door. Opening it, he found Mii, his editor. He blinked as he looked down at her; there was something different about her. Her hair was shorter, and she had on what looked like a new outfit.

"Hello, Sensei." She said softly. The girl seemed nervous, and wasn't making eye contact, "Do you have the first seven chapters?"

She certainly cut straight to the point. It would be a shame to just hand her the manuscript without having some fun. Even if he couldn't start something between them, he still wanted to keep her around as long as possible. Besides, she was fun to tease, "I'm terribly sorry, I never got it done."

"What? What do you mean you never got it done! You had the first five chapters, how hard is it to write two more!" Shigure couldn't resist grinning at her outburst. She was simply adorable.

The novelist's mind worked a mile a minute as he tried to come up with a new gag to pull on her. Suddenly an idea occurred to him, "Oh, Mii, I'm afraid on of the birds in the yard just, well, it's really quite disgusting! It got in your hair and on your skirt…"

Instinctively Mii's left hand reached up to feel the hair behind her head, and her right hand to the skirt at her hip. Shigure stifled a giggle, "Why, Mii! You're trying to seduce me!"

"WH-what!" She blushed as she realized the provocative stance she had been talked into and immediately dropped her hands to her side.

Shigure smirked and slid from the entranceway into the living room. A still flushed Mii was after him in a flash, "That was not funny, Sensei! Now please! I need you to finish that manuscript!"

"Mii, Mii, Mii, I'm afraid I simply cannot work if you pressure me so!" Shigure held back a laugh and pranced around the perimeter of the room.

Mii sighed and chased after him, "Sensei! Please! This is a very important assignment for me!"

She cornered him near the couch, he turned, and she put out an arm to cut off his escape. She tried to catch her breath after having chased after him, and stared up at him. His eyes widened as he looked down at her. He didn't breath for a moment. There were so many risks here. One, the risk he'd slip up, that he wouldn't be able to resist the desire to kiss her, and then it would be impossible to deny his attraction. Two, they would end up by sheer accident in a position that would cause the curse to be revealed. She was so on edge to begin with, that the revelation of the curse would likely either induce a heart attack or cause her to faint.

Their eyes met. Mii blushed slightly and quickly took a step back, averting her gaze, "Sensei, just finish the chapters, please."

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Shigure nodded, and rushed off to his office. Mii stood in the living room, still blushing and silently cursing herself for not being able to hold back the rapid beating of her nervous heart. She sighed and leaned on the wall, closing her eyes. This would be harder than she thought, keeping herself from falling in love.

She inhaled deeply, the scent of garbage and filth that clung to the bachelor's home lingering in her nostrils. This was part of his scent. And she smiled softly as she thought of him. How close they had been to one another just then. She imagined herself in his arms, not knowing that such a thing, for many reasons, could never be.

Mii shook her head. She insisted to herself that she was not in love with Shigure; that she was not, and could never be, attracted to him. She repeated it in her mind, attempting to convince herself of the fact.

This repetition would continue for the next two years, this ceaseless effort to control her own emotions and desires. A constant state of denial she could not leave.

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Shigure closed the door to his office, leaning against it with a sigh. How could he have been so careless? He had allowed himself to be cornered by a woman. Worse than that though, was the fact that he had allowed himself to fall in love. Even only having met her twice, he knew. He'd written enough romance novels to know the feeling. Perhaps the romances he portrayed in his novels had weakened his resistance to the emotion.

He closed his eyes; he could still feel the warmth of her breath. He could smell her flowery, though subtle perfume. What was he supposed to do? After what had happened to Hatori, Shigure could not allow himself to be in love.

He resolved then and there to bury these feelings deep within. Perhaps, with time, the emotions would suffocate themselves. One thing was certain; he would not act on the feelings that had grown within him. He walked to his desk, and picked up the first seven chapters which lay there complete.

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Mii heard a light cough, and opened her eyes. There was Shigure, holding out to her a completed seven chapters. She didn't even take the time to fret over the fact he had had it done the entire time. She grabbed the pages and hurried out of the house.

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For two years, Shigure and Mii were true to their promises to themselves. For two years, they fooled themselves and each other into believing they felt nothing, but people can only run from their hearts for so long.

(Ok, next chapter we're back in the present. This is the end of the flashback, for now, I might add more later. If there's anything you'd like to hear about from their past, let me know, and I'll see if I can write it in. Shout Out time!)

Hatori Obsesser: If I can convert just one reader to the ShiixMii way of life, my mission is complete.

Gakusei Kagome: I'm glad you think it's cute. And I shall continue!

Shary: Don't worry, the romance is coming really soon…tee-hee, consider this chapter a foreshadowing of future event, ne?

Prettypinkpeacock: I read your fic and it's seems pretty good, I reviewed too!