The search for a new apartment was beginning to weigh down on me. Everywhere I looked, prices were through the roof and although it was Tokyo, it was no excuse to place exorbitant prices on apartments that weren't even worth half that much. I tossed aside today's newspaper in disgust, flopping back onto my sofa. The lease on my current place was ending in a matter of days, so I needed to find something quick. Maybe quick wasn't fast enough. Now! I needed something now.

My doorbell rang softly, not loud like my neighbors. That should be my friends, I thought, racing to the door. Sure enough there they were, boxes in hand and dressed for work… helping me pack, that is.

"Hey!" they greeted in unison, surging through my small door all at once. My best friend Rina came up to me and asked, "How's the apartment search going?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Absolutely nowhere. There's nothing I like in the newspapers I have. What am I going to do?"

We took a break from our conversation so that I could show everyone where the things to be packed were. Once they were started, Rina and I continued our discussion.

"I'm running out of options now…"

Rina pulled out her mobile phone and started dialing before I could protest. "Maybe my father can help… hold on a second." Her voice paused a minute until I could hear a distinctly masculine voice on the other end. "Dad, hi. I was wondering if you knew anyone that had any apartments for rent… eh? No, not for me. For Mika." She paused for a long time while I watched her expression closely. Rina put her hand over the speaker and said to me, "He's taking a look in his book."

While I was waiting, my belongings were slowing disappearing from the walls, being carefully wrapped and shoved into boxes. I wasn't moving because I wanted to; I simply had no other alternatives. The rent was too expensive here and it was the third rise in price in the last two years. I was so deep in my own thoughts that I didn't even realize Rina finished the conversation with her father.

"Good news! One of his co-workers moved out about two weeks ago and the apartment is still available," Rina announced, handing me a piece of paper with a phone number on it. "The price is very cheap from what Dad said. Give the landlord a call and see."

"You are the best!" I exclaimed, giving her a huge hug. "Make sure you tell your Dad thanks for me."

By the time she nodded, I was already dialing the number, anxious to get an appointment with the landlord to take a look at the place. The phone rang once, then twice. On the third ring, a man answered the phone, announcing it to be the Katamiya residence.

"Hi! I'm calling about the available apartment in your complex," I announced. "It is still available, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is still available. Are you interested in taking a look at it?" he asked politely. His voice was a very soothing tenor, calming what nervousness I had instantly.

"If it's not too much trouble," I replied. "When would be a good time?"

"Well," he pondered, "the rest of this week isn't really good for me. It's short notice, but can you come today?"

Unbelievable, I thought. I stammered my way through a positive response, getting all of the information and directions for getting there. He also told me the monthly rent. It was on the high side of my budget, but definitely doable. The only thing that concerned me was the gift money usually given to a landlord when moving in…

After letting everyone know the news, I put the reins for packing into Rina's hands and left for the apartment. It surprised me how easy it was to get to the apartment, with a mere five minute walk from the train station. Perfect!

The building appeared to be a new construction, angled three-story faces going down a slight hill. The landlord lived in building one on the third floor, so I made my way up the outdoor staircase and rang his doorbell. For some reason, I thought the landlord would be an older man, but when the door opened, the man couldn't have been any older than thirty-five.

"Miss Matsumoto, I presume?" he assumed with a smile. "I'm glad you made it."

I gave a slight bow in recognition before speaking. "I'm very excited about this apartment, Mr. Katamiya."

"Let's go and take a look at it, shall we?" He seemed like such a gentleman that I couldn't help but like him. "I'll be right back with the keys." It was only a few seconds before he returned with the keys and was donning his shoes.

He led the way downstairs and into building two. "The apartment actually faces my own. The construction of all of the apartments is similar." I watched him unlock the door and push it open. My mouth fell slack at the airy feeling I got when I set foot inside.

"This is so much better than my current place," I admitted, following him from room to room. It was only a one-bedroom place, but it felt like it was two. Immediately I was in love with the place and the time for discussing prices was at hand. Once the tour was over, I shook my head in surprise. "I love it. Absolutely love it."

Mr. Katamiya gave me a satisfied smile, his gaze lingering a little longer than before. "You don't know how glad I am to hear that. Let's go back to my apartment and discuss the details."

With haste, we returned to his home, entering and removing our shoes. We went into the room to the right of the entrance, which I presumed he used as office space by the pile of paperwork on the table in the middle of the room. I knelt on the cushion before the table, seated directly across from him.

"Here are the terms of rental in this complex, Miss Matsumoto." He proceeded to go through the motions I was so familiar with: conduct, trash days, when rent was due and so on. He finally got around to the prices, to which I paid close attention. "The monthly rent is 75,000 yen, plus the standard two month deposit and one and a half month landlord gift."

One and a half months? That's not standard, I thought. The confused look on my face gave him cause to ask what was wrong.

"I've never heard of the landlord gift being one and a half months," I said honestly. "It's usually only one month's rent."

"That may be true in older construction buildings, but it's more common to find that amount in newer building rentals," he explained. "Will it be a problem?"

I paused to think a moment. "The truth is I can pay for the rent and deposit, but I might be short on the landlord gift. Is there any way we can make an arrangement? I really like this apartment."

Mr. Katamiya's eyes narrowed on me, making me a bit nervous. He was thinking, but it also seemed like a cross between disappointment and deviousness.

"You seem sincere, Miss Matsumoto. Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement, not necessarily a monetary one either," he said softly, covertly reaching across the table to rest his hand on mine. Before I could think, he turned away and removed his hand. Instead, he handed a formatted rental agreement to me and asked me to fill it out. Trying not to think about what just happened, I completed the contract and handed it back to him.

"Great," he smiled, tucking the contract in a new file that had my name on the tab. "When you make your full payment, I'll give the keys to you."

"Actually, Mr. Katamiya," I began, reaching into my purse, "I came prepared for this. I can pay the deposit and first month's rent right now."

He gave a deep rumble of laughter. "I like a tenant that's prepared!" I counted the money in front of him and handed him 225,000 yen. He tucked the money into a cash box and handed me a receipt noting the payment, then gave me a strange look. "Now for the matter of the landlord gift…"

Quietly, calmly, he unbuckled his pants and lowered his zipper, revealing his semi-aroused penis barely concealed by dark-colored boxers. I knew where he was going with his suggestion, but could I do something like that? Just for an apartment? A very nice apartment…

"We can have a little 'fun' now and I'll forget about the landlord gift altogether," he said softly, still in that pleasant tone of voice I found myself liking.

I couldn't believe the proposition staring me in the face. I can save myself a lot of money by doing this, I thought, but mentally shook my head. He's proposing sex in place of money! What would that make it…?

"You don't have to think so hard, Miss Matsumoto. This is only a deal between a landlord and his tenant," he justified, taking my hand into his. "So what will it be?" His hand tugged me around the table until I sat next to him. Lowering my hand onto his continually hardening mass, he gave me a bright smile.

Why do I still like him, even though he's propositioning me? I nodded my approval of his terms, reaching into his boxers to free his erection. My head began to lower and his hand braced my head against him as my warm, moist mouth wrapped around him, taking him deep inside. It had been a long time since I had a man's cock in my mouth, so I was surprised by the ache of arousal growing low in my loins. I felt his fingers curling at the base of my neck, guiding me up and down on him with unusual slowness. He seemed to know exactly what he liked and wasn't afraid to show me. Unexpectedly, he urged me to rise from him and stand.

The room was silent except for the low hum of his notebook computer, remaining silent even as he stood before me, slowly unbuttoning my shirt, then my pants. I stood in matching navy underwear, watching the thread of lust leap in his eyes. He dropped to his knees and urged my legs open, and instantaneously the scent of my arousal made itself known to us both. I felt his tongue lapping at the soaked cloth between my legs, then his finger looped through my panties, pushing them to one side. His face pressed shamelessly into my womanhood like a man starved, eagerly sucking every inch of me until I thought I was going to come upright. My knees grew weak, nearly buckling before him, but in a moment of insight, he looked up and saw my red face.

"Not yet," he muttered against me, the reverberation of his voice against my clit making me cry out. His hands closely followed by his lips made their way up my body, lightly pressing kisses on my stomach, across my ribs, until he was once again standing with his face pressed into my bosom.

"So beautiful," he whispered, lowering the edge of my bra to reveal my taut nipple. It took no time at all before his mouth was sucking at the crest, his tongue and saliva making me fall apart at the seams. I didn't want him to move from what he was doing, but he did, giving my other breast equal attention. My moans were more intense, breath shallow, especially when he brought both breasts together and lapped his moist tongue across both nipples. My knees gave out, but he caught me before I could fall, holding me against his clothed chest. Words failed me, but sensations, wickedly sensuous sensations, consumed me.

He laid me across the tatami-covered floor, taking a moment to remove his clothing, then returning to kneel between my legs. I was surprised by the touch of his lips on mine, seemingly out of place in all the lasciviousness, but when I tasted myself on his lips, I pulled him closer to slip my tongue into his mouth. I was rewarded by his rough groan, but he rewarded me when his hand lifted my leg and slipped inside me. It was done so smoothly, so eloquently, that I was speechless at the move. Sitting up slightly, his eyes became fixed on the joining of our bodies, his tumescence achingly slow in its entry and exit from my body, glistening with my feminine juices.

"Feels good?" he asked, looking up at me. When I nodded, he smiled and returned to his watch. I was mesmerized by the deliberate motion, bracing myself on my elbows to watch as well. His free hand reached for my clit and with one finger began circling it gently. I fell onto my back, crying out at the feeling, my fingers grabbing onto strewn clothing.

"Ah…" he groaned, angling deeper and harder into me. Our bodies were glistening with sweat, the erotic movement of flesh against flesh pushing us both toward climax. My body arched high into his thrusts until I felt the tension inside unravel and fly across a cliff into the wind of arousal. When I screamed with my orgasm, he began laughing uncontrollably, a free soft kind of laughter that made me smile. His face was bright and body tense, but he pulled out of me, with a hearty groan releasing his white-hot seed onto my stomach, the tension disappearing from him.

We sat in silence for a few minutes until he opened a drawer near him and pulled out a hand towel, wiping away what remained of his juices on my stomach.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"I'm okay. I need to wash up, though…"

"Sure." He gave me directions to the toilet and washroom, to which I disappeared out of his office.

That was incredibly intense, I thought. It didn't feel like I was doing anything dirty because he was so accommodating at every turn. And the sex was great. Something still didn't seem right, but I wasn't going to question it. I took my time cleaning up until I was ready to go back inside and face him.

When I came back inside, he was fully dressed again, holding out the keys to the apartment.

"Here are your keys, Miss Matsumoto. Welcome to Katamiya Commons," he said softly. His hand took my hand and pressed the keys into it. That longing look filled his eyes again, but he looked away this time and released my hand. "If you have any questions or problems, please let me know."

"Thank you, Mr. Katamiya." I gave him a bow of thanks and allowed him to guide me to the door to show me out. "I'll be moving in early on Saturday. I'll stop by if anything."

Once I put my shoes on, I moved to open the door but turned to look at this strangely conflicting man. Instead of saying anything, I merely bowed and left, shutting the door behind me. Strange thing though, I could have sworn he winked at me as I left, I thought. Oh well.

I left the complex and walked down the street to the station, to bid my final farewells to my old apartment. I had something interesting to look forward to this time.