Whoa! What's up with Kikyo? Will she stop being so…open and stuff? It's kinda freaking me out. Why am I getting freaked out by the characters I'm writing? And how about Kohaku, breaking in on the scene again? What's he up to? Is it even mysterious, what he's up to? Will the three reviewers that "helpfully" point out whether or not Inuyasha was in this chapter and how long it's been since he's in a chapter stop harassing me? When did I ever say that this fic was all about Inuyasha and Kagome? Cause…people seem to think I said that. Speaking of those two, will they ever get together, or will Teresa carry through on her oft-muttered threat that if one more person asks why I'm not writing another chapter centered around those two, I'll just leave their relationship how it is for the rest of the story, cause I'm starting to get kinda miffed? Do you guys just want me to write a facsimile of every other Inuyasha story here? Cause I can. Anyway, what about Sango and Miroku? Did they "make up" properly? Will Rin continue to be oblivious to her fanboy Kohaku? Will Kagura turn him into a personal servant? Will Kouga get upset? I wonder, I wonder, do you know what I wonder in…
*****
Center Stage
Part 16
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"Mom and I made cookies! Do you want some?" Shippo popped into Kouga's bedroom where he and his girlfriend were sprawled on the bed, textbooks open and looks of concentration on their faces. Kouga immediately picked up a pillow and threw it at his younger brother.
"Stinker, you're supposed to knock first." Kouga reminded him.
"Mom said you're not supposed to call me that!" Shippo stuck out his tongue, tiny hands on his hips. "Anyway, it's not like you two are kissing and stuff. You're studying. That's what you told mom."
"Don't mind him, he's just grumpy because he hates analyzing Wuthering Heights." Kagura informed Shippo, getting up and retrieving the pillow. She paused as she bent over, kissing the cute boy on the top of his head. He still sported bruises from Naraku's gang, and it hurt to see them, but they were also a reminder of why she tried to keep away from Naraku for Kouga's sake. "I think we'd both love some cookies. What kind are they?"
"Peanut butter with chocolate chips." Shippo was not at all phased by the kiss, as he'd been the object of all of Kouga's female friends' attention and adoration for as long as he could remember. "That's Kouga's favorite, and I thought he'd want some cause he's been doing so much homework. Cookies make homework easier, mom says."
"Yeah they do." Kagura smiled down at him. He was so utterly adorable.
"You're such a mama's boy." Kouga, very maturely, returned Shippo's earlier gesture by sticking his tongue out at his younger brother. "Just go get the cookies and stop bugging us."
"I wasn't bugging! Kagura likes me." Shippo pouted before Kagura patted his head and shot Kouga a disapproving look. The look on Shippo's face was so smug, Kagura would have sworn that if he had a tail, he'd have been wagging it. "I'll get some cookies, but only for you, Kagura. Kouga's being mean."
"What? You little runt! I get cookies too!" Kouga reached for another pillow to throw at Shippo, but he was out the door before he could get hit. Kagura turned to Kouga, returning the pillow to the bed by throwing it at his face. "What was that for?" Kouga asked, batting the pillow away.
"I don't understand brothers at all. You claim to love each other, but you're worse with him than you are with Inuyasha, always bickering." Kagura rolled her eyes. "Unless…that means that you love Inuyasha even more?" The comment was well worth it for the twisted face Kouga made at her.
"Ugh! Are you kidding? That guy's a fucking idiot, and the only reason we're always fighting is cause he's had it out for me since day one." Kouga assured her. "I don't even care about him."
"But…he is your friend, right?" Kagura climbed back on the bed, sitting with her legs crossed as she reached for her math work. "I mean, you guys try to fight all the time, but I think that really, without both of you lusting after Kagome, there really shouldn't be any more problems between you."
"Keh," he snorted, pushing his thin rimmed reading glasses up on his nose. Kagura had never known he wore them until she came over to study with him the first time, and he had seemed very worried that she would think they were stupid, but she thought they only made him look cute. "Speaking of Kagome, what the hell is up with her lately? Do you have any clue?"
"Actually…Kikyo figures that Naraku told her about what happened between the three of us, used his pictures and all that. But of course, he probably just told her that we attacked him instead of what really happened. You have to admit, with the pictures and Naraku's ability to manipulate people and act…well, it wouldn't seem that farfetched that two girls could overpower one guy, really. Almost makes it seem more believable than the truth of the matter." Kagura sighed, shrugging her shoulders as though it didn't bother her.
"Hey, come on now." Kouga took off his glasses, setting them aside as he edged forward, taking Kagura's shoulder and squeezing it in reassurance. "You know what really happened, and it's stupid of Kagome to believe Naraku. I don't doubt it, though. She's always been a little too trusting of people she doesn't really know. She came over to my house after only knowing me for a week."
"But…it's not like you're a bad person." Kagura pointed out, a slow smile growing on her face.
"I could've been. How well can you really know a person after a week?" Kouga asked, eyebrows raised. "I thought you were a total bitch for almost a month after I first really met you."
"I'm not a bitch?" Kagura looked extremely put out. "Obviously, I've been way too nice to you. From now on, I'll make sure you know what kind of a girl I am." She stuck out her tongue playfully and turned to her math as though seeing nothing besides the problems in the book.
"Fine, fine." Kouga threw up his hands, picking up his glasses and his copy of Wuthering Heights. "You try to compliment a girl and all you get is pain."
"It didn't sound like a compliment to me." Kagura informed him, turning toward him with the book in tow. "Never mind that, though. I'm stuck on this one. You're good at trig, right?"
"Math's like the only subject I'm good at." Kouga told her, rolling his eyes. "My dad always throws a fit when he sees my grades. 'If you can get A's in math, you should get A's in all your classes!'" Kouga imitated in a gruff voice. "Whatever. I figure that with math and art, I can just be an architect, but dad doesn't listen."
"I didn't know you could draw." Kagura sounded positively fascinated, as art was her own favorite subject.
"Well…I'm not really that great. But I get by. You're a lot better than I am." Kouga told her, shrugging off her unspoken inquiry.
"You're better at math than me. Together we could be one really damn good architect, huh?" Kagura teased.
"Hey…you know, maybe we should go to college together." Kouga's eyes lit up at the idea. "You could help me with my drawings and I could help you with math."
"I haven't even put serious thought into college yet. My mom keeps hinting at how useful it would be…but I don't know. I just want to be an artist, you know? I thought animation sounded fun…I don't know, I'm not sure." Kagura blushed slightly. She didn't like admitting that she was unsure about anything.
"Well, I'm applying at art schools…we should look at places together." Kouga's eyes were so hopeful that Kagura turned and kissed him on the cheek.
"My mom would love you for making me get on the ball with this whole college thing." She told him, smiling brightly. "And it would be great to get out of this town. To get away from…everything. But before we get all worried about the future, would you please show me how I'm supposed to work this stupid equation?"
"Let's see it…" Kouga's brow furrowed in concentration as he looked down at the problem. "Oh, this isn't too bad. See, if you take the sine and distribute it through here, then you'll end up with two sine plus two cosine sine right here and that's just…um, Kagura, are you paying attention to the problem?" Kouga had noticed the way that Kagura was looking at his face, her eyes wide and dreamy.
"You're so cute when you're explaining things." She told him, offering a sheepish smile. "I think it's time for a study break."
"I don't—" Kagura cut off his protest with a firm kiss, and he stopped arguing at once, taking his glasses off before leaning in to deepen the kiss, his arms going around Kagura's back to pull her closer. They tumbled over almost at once, and there was a brief battle of rolling one way and the other before Kagura broke the kiss, triumphant as she sat up, straddling him.
"I'm on top." She told him. "Because I'm in charge." She giggled as he reached up, tickling her sides so that she'd be unable to resist when he reversed their positions.
"What were you saying about being on top?" he whispered, lowering himself for a kiss.
"Ew! You guys are supposed to be working! Not kissing!" Shippo's voice alerted them to the fact that they suddenly weren't alone. Kouga blushed miserably as he nearly leapt away from Kagura, picking up his book and proceeding to read from it upside down.
"Oh…hi there Shippo." Kagura giggled, getting up and fixing her mussed hair slowly, as though she wasn't the least bit embarrassed. "Kouga was just helping me with my math. Are those my cookies?" she climbed off the bed, approaching Shippo, who was smiling at her unsurely. "Wow, these smell great, Shippo. You made these?"
"Mom and I did them together." Shippo stuck his chest out, handing the plate to the older girl. He definitely liked Kagura. She was pretty, she smelled good, and she was three hundred times nicer to him than Kouga. Also, she never treated him like a little kid, because after all, he wasn't little. Just sort of short. Kagura's face lit up as she bit into one of the cookies.
"Mmm, these are great. Thanks a lot!" Kagura bent down to kiss his cheek before heading back to the bed. "Tell your mom thanks as well, okay?"
"I will!" Shippo was obviously very pleased with himself as he shut the door to leave. Kagura turned to Kouga, raising one dark eyebrow.
"Now then, where were we?" she asked, her voice low and sultry as she lowered his book with one hand.
"I think I was on top." Kouga grinned mischievously.
"No, I mean on the math." Kagura rolled her eyes, offering him a cookie. "Geez, Kouga. I came over here to do my homework, not to fool around."
"Oh…yeah." Kouga pouted, but he supposed that at least he had a cookie. Small consolation though it was, it was better than nothing.
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"No, here, give me that." Kohaku waved a girl with brown pigtails away from the curtain ropes. "Okay, I know I've shown you this before, Ayame, but you can never get it right."
"Sorry…I keep forgetting." Ayame had the grace to blush, shuffling her feet sheepishly. "The ropes all look the same."
"Yeah, but Ayame, this is your only job. My sister gets pissed at me when you do it wrong, so pay attention. The outside rope," Kohaku grabbed the thick rope closest to the stage to demonstrate, "closes the curtains. Inside opens them. Got it?"
"I guess…what's with the little ropes?" she had been curious about them for some time now, fascinated with the thick knots that held them together.
"Don't touch those. These two," he pointed to ropes that seemed random to Ayame in the clutter, "are for those black back drop curtains, and we're not using those. The rest go up there," he pointed far above them, "and hold up the lights in that first row. If they fell…Sango would kill everyone who didn't get taken out by the lights."
"Your sister's so scary." Ayame offered a nervous giggle. "But she is really cool, to write this play and stuff."
"Yeah, it's an experience." Kohaku smiled slightly before he caught sight of another crew member digging through the supply cabinet and ran off to stop her. "Tsuyu! No, I told you that if you need something from in here, I could get it for you. You guys keep losing stuff and it's driving me nuts." Ayame sighed, turning speculative blue eyes to the curtain ropes.
"Inside…opens? Or outside…um…I suck at this." Ayame grumbled, not noticing that someone was witness to her dilemma.
"Wanna know a trick?" Kouga's voice made her cheeks pink immediately as she whirled to face the lighting technician.
"Kouga! What are you doing…um…did you need something?" Ayame oftentimes watched him from behind the safety of the curtains. She had a good view of the light board from there and could easily see his dimly lit face, but Kouga was rarely backstage during rehearsal, even though Sango had just called a break after Ayame had failed to close the curtains on cue yet again.
"Ungh, Sango wants me to get blue filters on the middle row to see how they look during the night scene." Kouga rolled his bright blue eyes. "Tell you what. I'll teach you a little trick to remember the ropes and you can help me change the filters. If the break goes long cause I'm doing it alone, Sango'll pitch a fit."
"Oh! Yeah, sure." Ayame knew her face was still red, but she couldn't help it. Kouga was, in her opinion, the hottest guy in school, and she had joined the play in hopes of being able to get closer to him. Her friends would die of jealousy if they heard that she actually talked to him. "What's the trick?"
"Easy, really. Never have two O's." Kouga told her.
"Never…have two O's? I don't get it." Ayame was confused.
"See, outside and open are both O words, right? So that's wrong. That means outside must be close and inside must be open. Only way it works, see?" Kouga explained.
"Never have two O's…that's clever!" Ayame almost swooned. Kouga was helping her! "I think Kohaku was getting mad cause I couldn't ever keep track of which was which."
"No problem." Kouga shrugged. "So here's what we'll do. I think Kohaku's off getting the filters, but we need to lower the lights to put them in anyway. What do you know about knots…um, what's your name?"
"Ayame." She answered breathlessly. "I don't really know much about knots. I mean, I can tie my shoes and all, but that's about it." Kouga chuckled as if she had been joking, even though she'd only been blabbering nervously.
"Tie your shoes, that's good." He shook his head. "Well, Ayame, I'm gonna show you a couple things, okay? You don't mind heights, right? Cause we gotta go up on the catwalk for this."
"Oh! I don't mind at all!" Ayame giggled, blushing at his answering smile. How could one man be so gorgeous?
"Oh! Babe, there ya are!" Kouga's face suddenly lit up as he spotted the assistant art director, and the interaction momentarily brought Ayame back to earth. What was so great about Kagura that she deserved such a wonderful boyfriend? As far as she could see, the other girl didn't really treat him very well. At Kouga's voice, Kagura looked up from where she'd been talking to Sango, beaming at Kouga. "I'm filtering the middle row. Wanna help?"
"I've got the filters!" Kohaku appeared beside them again as if on cue, carrying several of the simple metal rimmed blue filters.
"Oh, sure. Sango, come on and help out a little." Kagura teased the writer, but instead of getting angry, Sango actually giggled before taking Kagura's hand and being hauled up onto the stage. "Where do you need us?"
"Ayame here is gonna help me lower the lights. If you guys can help Kohaku attach the filters, it'll be done in no time." Kouga pointed from the row of lights to the filters that Kohaku held before motioning for Ayame to follow him, which she did with gleaming eyes and pink cheeks. Kagura narrowed her eyes at the girl who was practically floating after her boyfriend.
"Miroku! Hun! Come help us filter the lights!" Sango was waving at her boyfriend enthusiastically, and he nearly vaulted himself onto the stage before crashing into her and embracing her easily, nuzzling her neck and causing her to giggle as she squirmed against him.
"What's up with those two lately?" Kagura nudged Kohaku, dividing her attention between the still cuddling couple and that stupid freshman who seemed to think she needed Kouga to pull her up onto the catwalk from the ladder. Like she couldn't get up herself. And then she had the nerve to trip so that he had to catch her. Kagura's fists balled shut immediately.
"I don't even want to think about it." Kohaku's face twisted as though he'd just tasted something extremely bitter. "They used to just watch movies, but now they spend most of their time in Sango's room. I'd like to think that they're doing homework, but Miroku never brings books over."
"They…could be studying." Kagura's attention was now entirely on Kouga and Ayame who were standing far too close as he helped her untie the rope. He was right behind her, his hands guiding hers through the movements as he explained what they were doing to the girl who looked as if she'd just died and gone to heaven.
"Um, Kagura, are you all right?" Rin's voice only barely caught her attention. "You're all red." She skipped up the stairs and joined them onstage, much to Kohaku's obvious enjoyment. "What are we doing? Isn't the break over yet?"
"We're changing the filters first." Sango offered from where she was still standing with Miroku. Kohaku hadn't been aware that they were even paying attention to anything outside of the pair of them. "Want to help?"
"I don't really know how…" Rin looked up at the slowly lowering row of lights.
"I can show you." Kohaku volunteered immediately. Kagura noted vaguely that he seemed to be a lot more comfortable talking to Rin than usual, but maybe it was because he was focused on the task at hand.
"What does he think he's doing…" Kagura grumbled as she watched Kouga helping Ayame hold the rope and let it down slowly, talking to her at the same time. What had he just said? Why was that girl laughing?
"What's her problem?" Rin asked Kohaku.
"Oh…must be the president of Kouga's fan club." Kohaku pointed to the two people on the catwalk. "I hope he's paying attention to the ropes, cause with Ayame up there, those lights could come down any second." He was obviously not a big fan of Ayame's crew skills.
"He better be watching the fucking ropes or I'll come down on him in about twenty seconds." Kagura was still grumbling angrily. "Does he really need to stand that close to her?"
"They're just holding the same rope." Rin offered helpfully.
"Yeah, but Ayame's favorite hobby is Kouga-Watching. That's why she's practically worthless at getting the curtain cues, but she freaks out if I put her anywhere else. Psycho stalker…" Kohaku shook his head as though he thought Ayame's methods of adoration were far inferior to his own. Kagura could have laughed if she wasn't about ten seconds from climbing up there herself and seeing if Ayame knew how to fly.
"Um, I don't think you're helping." Rin told Kohaku as the girl next to them continued to fume and growl out angry curses. The lights were finally lowered to the height where the filters could be placed over them, but Kagura was watching Kouga help Ayame tie off the rope before nearly tripping down the ladder to get down and help them with the filters.
"Just pop it in like this." Kohaku seemed to think that not all of Ayame's methods were lacking, and he was standing as close as possible to Rin while demonstrating what she needed to do. "Be careful, though. The lights will burn if you touch them, especially on the metal casing." Kagura was viciously cramming a filter into place as Kouga finally reached her.
"Don't break them, babe." Kouga warned her as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck in greeting.
"What, are you going to show me how like you did with Ayame?" Kagura's voice was full of venom as she went to grab another filter, noting with a total lack of surprise that after Sango had burned her finger, Miroku and her had accomplished absolutely nothing. Kagura thought that Sango could have just blown on her own finger, but instead, Miroku was doing it for her while Sango blushed and smiled prettily. What a couple.
"This is how I show Ayame." Kouga illustrated by stepping behind her, not nearly as close as he'd been moments ago, his hands barely ghosting over hers as he showed her how to place the filter. "Wanna see how I show you?"
"Sango, gaw, don't do that here. If you're not helping, go sit down…or get a closet…or something." Kohaku lectured his sister, who had just allowed Miroku to treat her burn by sucking on her injured finger. "You guys are disgusting."
"We're helping." Sango pulled her finger away from Miroku, but she leaned forward to rest her body against Miroku's, and his arms immediately went around her. "We're supervising."
"Yeah, sure." Kohaku snorted "At least Kouga and Kagura can help out without having to…oh geez! You guys!" Kohaku threw up his hands as he saw Kouga and Ksgura who were pressed together while Kagura stopped midway through snapping a filter into place, arching her neck while Kouga kissed along the column, his fingers flexing on her hips as she made an appreciative noise. "Stop being…so…like those two!" he pointed to his sister and Miroku who were paying much more attention to each other than to the filters.
"At least they did some filters." Rin pointed out helpfully before snapping the last filter into place and then sighing wistfully. "I can't wait for Sesshoumaru to come back…"
"That's it." Kohaku rolled his eyes as Kagura popped the filter in before turning to capture Kouga's mouth with her own. "New rule! No making out onstage unless it's in the script!" No one bothered to pay him any attention, so he just called up to the girl pouting on the catwalk. "Stay up there, Ayame, I'll help you pull the lights back up. Everyone else is too…busy."
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"Is break over yet?" Kagome came backstage from the hallway entrance with a bag of Skittles. Inuyasha turned from where he was leisurely drinking his bottle of Mountain Dew and watching the people on the stage.
"I don't think so." He told her, pointing toward the crew changing filters. "Some fucking orgy hugfest going on out there."
"Oh…well, you know how all the couples have been lately." Kagome told him before adding grudgingly. "You and Kikyo aren't too bad."
"Kikyo and I don't do that weird ass mushy shit." Inuyasha informed her in a stiff tone. Kagome rolled her eyes and offered her bag to him.
"Want some Skittles?" she tilted the bag and he held out his hand.
"Sure." He ate the candies and then offered her his liter bottle. "Want some?"
"Isn't that like…indirect kissing?" she blinked up at him, wondering if she wanted to be sharing soda with the boy she was supposed to be mad at.
"What do we do onstage then? Ain't that direct kissing?" Inuyasha teased her, and Kagome crossed her arms angrily.
"Whatever. Aren't we fighting?" she was obviously upset that he was right.
"I'm just standing here drinking my pop. You do whatever you want." He shrugged nonchalantly. Inuyasha had decided recently that no one ever listened to him anyway, so he might as well just keep his thoughts to himself so they didn't get him in so much trouble. Kagome muttered something about smart asses before taking his drink and downing a good portion before handing it back.
"Thanks." She told him. "So, where is Kikyo?"
Why do you care?" he asked just as casually as she had.
"No reason." She replied quickly. "So, I see that Sango's a lot more laid back. What do you think that Miroku did?"
"If I told you, you'd just smack me." Inuyasha responded. "I don't care what happened, long as I don't have to listen to more of her bitching at us all the time."
"Really." Kagome agreed. "If they have a problem with our kissing, they can do it for us."
"They are." Inuyasha pointed to the couple who was across the stage, making their way back toward the opposite backstage area. "God…can't they just go to a closet like Kouga and Kagura always do?"
"Or Rin and Sesshoumaru…er, sorry, I know that bothers you." Kagome offered him a look of sympathy.
"Eh, whatever." Inuyasha shrugged, obviously feeling very laid back lately. He'd given up getting worked up about things, since everyone else in the play was so emotional all the time. He didn't want to have anything to do with all that. "So…are you still mad at me? Cause I think we've been fighting a long ass time."
"Hmm…true." She sighed wearily. "Kinda pissed me off, though. You totally used me."
"I used you?" Inuyasha snorted. "Screw this. I'm gonna wait in the hall for them to finish. Talking to you is fucking pointless." He huffed off, his pride injured by Kagome's accusation.
From nearby, Naraku smiled to see that things seemed to be permanently damaged between the two old friends. He had thought that Inuyasha might have presented something of an obstacle, but Kikyo had distracted him nicely and caused such a rift that he was sure there was nothing in his way to his ultimate goal. Kagome would be his.
*****
The End (Of Part 16, That Is)