Nooooo! Could it possibly get any worse at this point? Can things just stop being painful for…um…like everyone whose name starts with a K? Rin and Fluffy and Sango and Miroku seem to be getting along well still. Is that happiness too good to last? Will Sango's plan work? Does Sango even care at this point, or is she too pissed off at Inuyasha and Kagome to give a crap about whether they're happy or not as long as she gets her performance? Don't you feel sorry for Sango? But still, don't you think that maybe she needs to get laid or something so she'll mellow out? Cause really, is this play THAT important? By the end of the production, will anyone be happy anymore? Find out in this thrilling new installment of…
*****
Center Stage
Part 11
*****
"You should cut your hair." Kikyo reached forward wrapping a black lock around her finger as she casually put a hand on Inuyasha's chest. "I think it looks kind of weird like this."
"Inuyasha likes his hair long." Kagome was standing nearby since rehearsal had just ended and she was gathering her things.
"I don't know." Inuyasha gave her an angry look. "Maybe it's time for a change."
"Fine, cut your hair off." Kagome shoved a book in her pack and shouldered it, rolling her eyes at the boy. "Don't come crying to me when you look like an idiot. Remember second grade?"
"I didn't ask you." Kikyo pressed herself closer to Inuyasha, who was wincing at whatever memory Kagome was referring to. "Just go home. We're having a couple's conversation, and outsiders aren't supposed to interrupt."
"Don't be a pain, Kikyo." Inuyasha's voice was soft, but it was still loud enough for Kagome to hear, and even if she hadn't heard him, she could definitely hear Kikyo's indignant response.
"What? She's not your girlfriend, Inuyasha. I am, and my opinion should be the most important." Kikyo yanked at his forelock slightly, and suddenly Kagome was reminded of her conversation with Naraku almost two weeks ago.
"They're both very controlling. I never suspected that two girls like that could be so vicious, but that is a mistake I would forever regret making."
Naraku's story…it had seemed so farfetched, but when he showed her a picture that clearly showed him in bed with Kikyo and Kagura, she'd been too surprised to know what was right anymore. He had told her that the picture was something they made him carry as a reminder of who he belonged to, and over the past days, she had started to see more and more truth to his story than she'd ever expected could exist. If it is true…if they really did that to Naraku…I feel so terrible for ever thinking badly of him, since he's been through so much. It must have been so traumatizing for him…and to think they'd spread rumors to ruin his reputation so that no one would believe him! It almost makes sense, though. He's really not a bad guy, now that I know him…
"Kagome, there you are." Naraku greeted her with a smile, and she returned it warmly, still feeling bad for not believing the other boy right away. "I was hoping to ask a favor of you."
"Oh, sure, ask away." Kagome tilted her head in curiosity.
"The fact of the matter is…since what happened, those girls do not really allow me to have friends." Naraku looked a bit embarrassed, so Kagome nodded at him encouragingly. "My parents worry that I have become very solitary, and I was hoping that you would come to meet them. Do you think that you could come over to my house for dinner tomorrow night?"
"Oh…um…" Kagome wasn't sure if she should be going over to Naraku's house to meet his parents or anything. At the same time, she felt guilty at her hesitation, bred from all the bad things she'd heard about him in the past. "I think that would be all right. What time would you like me to come by?"
"I would not want to rush you right after rehearsal, so I think that it would be best for you to arrive at around seven." Naraku told her politely. "But please…don't tell anyone where you're going. I would hate for Kagura and Kikyo to find out, as they would be very angry with me."
"Oh…all right, Naraku." Kagome offered him a sympathetic smile before looking around for Kouga to give her a ride home.
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"Kagura, there you are." Kouga heaved a sigh of relief as he caught up with the girl who was headed toward her bike parked out behind the school. "You've been leaving rehearsal so fast the last few days, I didn't have a chance to talk to you." Kagura didn't pause to look at him as she continued around the corner with Kouga hot on her heels. "Also, you haven't been eating lunch with us. I was kinda wondering…is something wrong?"
"What would give you that idea, you fucking genius?" Kagura snapped at him as she reached her bike, zipping up her jacket and pulling out her helmet with violent motions.
"Kagura…are you mad at me?" Kouga's blue eyes went wide at the idea. I haven't done anything, have I? I can't think of anything…
"What do you think? I mean…I guess I can understand why you chose to…but still, that didn't give you an excuse to just lie to me like that!" Kagura turned on him, anger flashing in her fiery eyes.
"You can…what are you talking about?" Kouga was utterly bewildered. Kagura seemed to think he'd done something terrible, yet he couldn't think of anything he'd done that might have upset her half as much as she was at that moment. "Kagura, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Wrong with me?" Kagura's eyes widened with fury. "What's wrong with me? I don't know, Kouga, what is wrong with me? What makes her so much better? If she doesn't watch it she'll end up just as bad as I am, and then will you still think you made the right choice?"
"What choice? Who are you talking about?" Kouga's voice started to go up in volume, if only because Kagura was yelling at him and it was frustrating since he didn't have a clue what she was going on about.
"Who do you think I'm talking about?" Kagura's hand raised, striking his chest to emphasize her words. "Your fucking girlfriend, who else?"
"You mean…Kagome?" Kouga was even more confused now. "But…we broke up. A few days ago…right before Inuyasha and I got in that fight. Didn't you know?"
"Sorry, I'm not extremely up to date on gossip." Kagura told him, her voice bitter. "And besides that, you're not a very convincing liar. If you aren't with her anymore, than why did I see you two all over each other backstage?" she demanded.
"All…what the hell are you talking about, Kagura?" Kouga's brow furrowed until realization hit him, and his face cleared. He almost laughed in relief as he figured out why Kagura was so upset. "Oh, god Kagura, you had me confused there. We weren't…doing anything. Kagura, we were just talking."
"That's what it looked like!" Her fists were trembling at her sides with suppressed rage as Kouga edged toward her, trying to make her understand what he was telling her.
"It was a misunderstanding, Kagura." He told her, his voice a bit nervous at how she looked ready to rip his throat out. "I'd just told her that we couldn't be that way, that I didn't even want her anymore after all that shit. Just like I told you I would, I was breaking up with her. And we kissed…you must have seen it, is that what's going on here?"
"Kouga, don't talk to me." Kagura shoved her helmet on over her long hair, jumping on her bike and riding off as Kouga ran after her. Of course, she was too fast, and he was left in the parking lot to watch her go before he turned and went home himself, forgetting that he'd promised to drive Kagome and Souta home that afternoon.
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"Where is he?" Kagome was on the verge of tears. She hated it when her day went from bad to worse like this. First she had to spend yet another rehearsal acting support for Kikyo, probably the only person she'd ever met that she seemed unable of getting along with. It doesn't help that she seems to want me to fall off the stage and never get back up. And then she had to watch Kikyo rub herself all over Inuyasha backstage. To top it all off, she seemed to have lost her ride home somewhere between the end of practice and now.
"What are you so upset about?" Inuyasha's voice caused her to stiffen as she turned to watch him gathering up his things. "You're running around like a chicken with its head cut off."
"You think that's funny?" Kagome asked, her fists clenching as she glared at him. Of course Inuyasha wouldn't have any pity for her. He seemed to love making her life more miserable these days.
"Actually, it kinda is." Inuyasha admitted. "But seriously, is something wrong?"
"I'm fine." Kagome huffed, storming away and running straight into a very irate looking Sango who had been going over some papers which now covered the floor. "Agh! Sango! I didn't see you there."
"No, don't mind me. No one does." Sango threw up her hands, going down to pick up the papers just as Miroku rushed over to help her.
"It's okay, she's had a bad day." He winked at Kagome before helping his girlfriend gather her papers. Kagome was vaguely irritated by the situation, but she didn't want to risk an explosion from her recently short-tempered friend, so she turned around and headed back the way she'd come, forgetting momentarily that she'd been trying to escape Inuyasha when she'd run off in the first place. However, as Kagome had already noted, it was not turning out to be a good day for her, and it was not likely to improve anytime soon.
"Watch it!" She heard the warning before she collided with Inuyasha, almost falling back before he grabbed her shoulders to make sure she didn't counterbalance too sharply and end up on the floor. "Hey, you okay Kags?" Inuyasha rarely used her nickname anymore, not since Kouga had adopted it for his own use. Before then, only Inuyasha had ever shortened her name in that way, and he usually only used it now when he was too concerned about her to notice the slip.
"Kouga left without me." She didn't want to tell him, but how could she resist the way his eyes bored into hers? Somehow it was impossible to think about how angry she was when he managed to look so damned concerned. Then, when she should have been concentrating on regaining her dignity, Kagome suddenly burst into tears, much to Inuyasha's shock. Of course, he attempted to comfort her, but the fact that he'd seen her crying only upset her more, and she ended up crying for a few minutes before she could regain control over her flighty feminine emotions.
"Calm down…god, Kagome." Inuyasha was completely flustered by the sudden breakdown. He'd never known how to handle such outbursts from Kagome or any other girl, even though he'd known her for so long that he'd had to witness it more times than he thought was strictly healthy. "Look, I'll drive you home. Come on, let's go out to the car." Inuyasha ushered the slightly resistant girl out the doors to where her brother was waiting impatiently in the hall. "Come on, Souta."
"Inuyasha's gonna take us again? Sweet!" Souta ran out ahead of them, racing toward Inuyasha's car and waiting for his sister and his idol to catch up. Inside the car, Kikyo's eyes went slightly wide at the sight of her boyfriend guiding Kagome toward the car.
"What's her problem?" Kikyo demanded as soon as Inuyasha reached the car and motioned for the siblings to climb inside his dusty old Carolla.
"Kagome's riding home with us." Inuyasha told her, his voice firm. Kikyo grumbled slightly, but she didn't comment further on the situation as the car started and they began moving. As Kikyo sat contemplating whether she should let the fact that Inuyasha was driving Kagome home slide or not, a shrill ringing caused her to reach into her purse, pulling out the slim cellular phone that her cousin had long ago given her. She didn't want a gift from Naraku, but it would have been terrible to say no to him, the consequences something she didn't want to think about.
"Hello," she greeted in her typical monotone, ignoring the questioning glances Inuyasha was shooting her. He might be her boyfriend, but it was none of his business who called her on her own personal phone. "Who is this?"
"Is it a bit cramped in there, Kikyo?" the smooth voice that answered her made her hand tighten on the phone until her fingertips whitened slightly as she attempted to maintain a normal façade for the other passengers in the car.
"I'm fine. What did you want?" she tried to sound polite so that Naraku wouldn't become angry and Inuyasha wouldn't become interested in the conversation.
"You know why she's there, do you not?" Naraku continued. "I thought you needed a reminder."
"You did this?" Kikyo lowered her voice to an angry hiss that was barely audible above the noise of the car. "How? I didn't think you had influence in that sort of thing." Even though she was being quiet, she didn't want to let the others know what she was talking about.
"Kagome and I have become quite close, as of late. Rather close indeed." Naraku told her. "Do you want me to make sure this does not happen again?"
"What do you want from me?" Kikyo felt a sinking in her stomach. Naraku never did something for nothing. He was obviously after some sort of favor from her, and she paled at the thought of owing Naraku a favor.
"Nothing much, dear cousin." Naraku told her. "I was only hoping to have your company at dinner tomorrow night at six o'clock."
"Six? Where?" Kikyo couldn't believe that dinner was all Naraku wanted. He probably had other plans set in store for her, but she would be ready for anything he tried.
"Nowhere fancy. I was thinking we could simply eat at my house." He told her. "I wanted to let you know that I'll be setting you two free soon, if you behave for a bit longer."
"Two? Not just me?" Kikyo hoped desperately that Inuyasha couldn't hear her, but he'd stopped shooting her glances of curiosity some time ago.
"Kagura will be attending as well if I can charm her with an invitation." Naraku told her.
"Good luck with that. She hates you." Kikyo reminded him.
"As much as you, dear sweet cousin?" Naraku asked, his voice a bit mournful, though Kikyo knew that he meant nothing in his words.
"No one hates you that much." Kikyo hung up, feeling a bit scared. It was dangerous to speak honestly with Naraku, but at times, he wanted the truth and could see through flowery lies.
"Who was that?" Inuyasha asked as she put her phone back.
"No one important." Kikyo couldn't stop her heart from pounding fervently in her chest. He said he'd set me free. Set both of us free…but can that be true?
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"Kagura." The scarlet-eyed girl picked up the cordless phone as she watched television with no interest at all.
"Hey, it's me." Kouga's voice caused her face to screw up in rage as she clutched the receiver viciously. "We need to talk."
"No we don't." she told him, hanging up on the boy and sighing deeply. How many times had he called since she came home? Five, six? It was becoming pathetic, in her opinion. Did he think that if he annoyed her enough she'd forget that he was a lying cheater? It was utterly ridiculous. As she got up for a drink of water from the kitchen, the phone rang again. She picked it up, growling slightly. "Would you stop calling me?" There was a short pause on the other end before an unexpected voice answered.
"Kagura, love, it sounds as though you've been having a hard day. Would you like me to come over?" Naraku's voice was sickeningly smooth.
"I'd like you to fall off a cliff, actually." Kagura told him, ignoring the twinge of fear that she felt at the sound of his voice. "What the hell do you want?"
"I want only for you to be happy, Kagura, dear." Naraku told her, his voice full of fake sugar. "What can I do to make you know how much I care for you?"
"Leave me alone." She answered easily. She was not afraid of Naraku. She wasn't.
"If that is what you really want, I will do it." He told her. There was a long silence as Kagura almost dropped the phone in shock before regaining her senses.
"What do you want from me now?" she asked, knowing that he'd only make such a grandiose promise in return for a favor from her.
"I want to make you happy, nothing more." Naraku told her, and she could almost have believed him if she hadn't known better for a long time. "Although…I would like a chance to see you once more."
"No, Naraku. Not like that." She refused immediately. "I'm not Kikyo, and you can't make me."
"I don't know what you're talking about." He affected innocence. "I only hoped to have dinner with you tomorrow night."
"Dinner?" Kagura bit her lip, very dubious about his proposal. "That's it?"
"Kagura, I would not dream of taking advantage of you." Naraku told her, causing her anger to rise to an almost palpable level. "It will only be an innocent dinner with a few guests."
"Guests? Like your gang?" Kagura asked bitterly.
"No, I was thinking more along the lines of old friends." Naraku replied. "Although, my other friends might enjoy having a guest for dinner as well. What was the name of your new friend…Kouga, was it?" Kagura's eyes went wide at the thinly veiled threat and she remained silent for several moments, hoping to regain control of her fear.
"What do you want with Kouga?" she attempted nonchalance, but there was still a slight tremble in her tone. "Didn't you hear that I'm done with him?"
"You're such a cruel heartbreaker, Kagura." Naraku's smile was visible in his tone. "If you have no feelings for the boy, what do you care if he becomes closer with my own friends. After all, him and I have so much in common now."
"You're nothing like Kouga, you dirty fucking prick." Kagura's eyes narrowed viciously, but her whole body was trembling. It was always like this, no matter how she tried to stand up to Naraku, in the end, he had the power and she was terrified of him.
"I'm sure we could compare stories…" Naraku continued, as if she hadn't said anything. Kagura gasped, and she heard Naraku chuckle on the other end of the line.
"He…already knows, you know." She told him.
"Does he? Then perhaps he would like to see some proof of your claims." Naraku asked, his tone thoroughly amused.
"I hate you, you know that?" she was so angry she thought the phone might be smashed in her tight grip.
"So I can expect you at my house tomorrow evening?" he asked her as though she had just accepted his previous invitation. "Six o'clock is convenient for you, is it not?"
"I hope you die." Kagura answered before hanging up and throwing the phone away from her. How the hell had she ended up in this mess? And why did she dare to believe that Naraku might actually keep his word? It wasn't as though he'd never lied to her before. "See you at six."
*****
The End (Of Part 11, That Is)