Chapter 10 - It Must Be True
After much arguing, yelling, screaming, and slamming, Sango, Inuyasha, and Kagome came to terms and agreed to attend the interview on 'It Must Be True'. A day had passed and Inuyasha was back in his human form. With that relief, it was time for the day of the interview.
Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sango all sit in one black limo together. Kagome is sitting farthest away from Inuyasha. She wears a black off the shoulder sweater with a black tank top underneath. Her bottom finishes with a white miniskirt and black and white Chuck Taylors. Sango sits near the driver's window with her legs crossed in dark blue denim jeans and a puffy black jacket that stops just below the belt line. Her hair is tied up in a high pony tail and she wears her regular magenta eye shadow. She holds a clipboard in her hands and is looking through several papers. Inuyasha sits in the corner of the limo eating a bag of potato chips as he looks out in the window. He wears a white button-up shirt with a white tank top underneath. A few of the buttons are unbuttoned and show part of his chest. He finishes it off with a pair of white shoes and blue jeans.
'Maybe this won't be so bad. . .I mean, it's only lying in front of millions of people and fans out there, right?' Kagome thought to herself sarcastically as she looked out at the window. Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud sound of crunching chips.
"Could you stop chewing so loud?" Kagome asked Inuyasha irritatingly. He paused at his snacking, and gave her a glare.
"I'm not loud. . ." he finally replied. He stuffed several chips into his mouth at once and began crunching them with his mouth wide open. "This would be chewing out loud." he said mockingly. Kagome rolled her eyes.
"You're so immature, Inuyasha." she said smugly as she folded her arms across her chest. Inuyasha just kept on munching on his chips and growled at her.
"Am not. You're one to talk. . . how old are you, anyway? Twelve?" Inuyasha seemed to be begging for an argument. Either that, or he was just too blind to notice that Kagome was already pissed off at him. Sango looked through her papers and tried to ignore the two's conversation.
"For your information, I'm 21. That is, if you can count that high." Kagome smirked to herself.
(A/N: Yeah? I see it too. . . 21 looks a little old for Kagome, huh? Ahh. . . well, she DID drink a lot of alcohol and that's the proper age. Not to mention that she's now married. . .so. . .nyeh! :D)
"Yeah? Well I'm 24. That makes me three years older than you in case you had any trouble figuring it out. Either way, I'm older so you should respect your elders you wench." Inuyasha wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and placed the bag of chips next to him. "I'm 21. . if you can count that high." Inuyasha gave a poor mimic of Kagome's insult.
"Oh, right. Real mature, elder one. And even if you are older, that doesn't matter now. . . we're husband and wife, remember?" Kagome rolled her eyes as she held up her left hand to reveal her wedding ring. Inuyasha looked down at his lap and clenched his fists.
"I am not your husband." he said sternly. Kagome looked at him oddly.
"And I am not your wife. We just have to pretend we are in the mean time, remember?" she stuck out her tongue at him. "Or do you need the information spoon-fed to you?" she added as she mocked his past insult.
"I'd rather ruin my reputation other than pretend that I'm in love with you." he grunted. Kagome's lips gave a sudden pout, but was brought together in anger.
"Oh yeah? Well I'd rather pretend I was in love with that Kikyo other than you!" Kagome fought. Inuyasha punched his seat with his fist.
"Don't you mention her in this conversation!" he exclaimed. Kagome was taken aback by his reaction. Sango quickly looked up from her clipboard.
"Would you two just stop arguing for one minute?! Gosh, I swear you two act as if you were allergic to each other." Sango said stressfully as she returned her attention to her clipboard. Inuyasha growled at the manager and gave her an evil glare. Kagome just rolled her eyes and took a sip of water from her bottle.
There was silence between the three in the limo. The only sound to be heard was the sound of the car riding over the concrete.
". . .that would be better than having to be married with her." Inuyasha mumbled as he broke the silence. Kagome shot him eye daggers.
"I didn't ask to be married to you either, meat-head!" she exclaimed.
"Would you quit calling me a damn meat-head, you pop-singing wench!?" he yelled back.
"Wench?! How dare you call me that word!"
"Well, I just did. . . what're you gonna do about it? Sing about your misery and do a little choreographed dance?"
Sango slapped her clipboard on the leather seat next to her and looked up at the two. "Enough! Ever since you two have found out that you were married you've been feuding like crazy! You two are both mature adults and should act that way also! Now instead of fighting, just cope with the fact that you two are legally married and play it off as a happy couple for a while, okay?!" Sango shot both of them evil glares.
They brought their heads back in shock at her outburst. Sango straightened her hair with her shaking hand and took a deep breath.
"Now, are there any questions?" she said cheerfully. Inuyasha and Kagome just shook their heads on command and kept quiet. Sango looked out at the window and gently tossed her clipboard next to her. The two flinched at her action, but said nothing.
"Well. . ." Sango said calmly as she took a deep breath. "It's show time."
"And we're back on today's show of 'It Must Be True'. Hello, I'm your host Kikyo and today we have a special treat for you! Today we have guests Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi here on the spot today to talk about their new marriage. How does that sound, huh?" several cheers were heard in the background.
Kagome stood backstage and watched as Kikyo smiled and waved at the audience. She observed her face with the smiling hostess and realized that it was true. They did have a few similarities.
"Great. I look just like her. . .that just adds another weight of oddness." Kagome mumbled under her breath.
"Don't count on it, Higurashi. She's way better looking than you." a voice came from behind her. Kagome instantly twirled around to see Inuyasha behind her staring off at Kikyo. She raised an eye brow.
"I don't recall asking you, Inuyasha." she replied as she rolled her eyes and walked behind a screen to a mirror so she could put on some lip gloss. Inuyasha just grunted and rolled his eyes as he resumed looking at Kikyo.
"And in just about a few moments, we will return with the couple and ask them questions about their marriage. Stay tuned! Because I'm sure you don't want to miss out on this!" Kikyo waved at the audience once more, and the camera man's voice yelled out with a 'Cut!'. Kikyo then instantly rolled her eyes and her smile faded into an irritated expression. She dropped down her once waving hand and placed it on her head to fix her hair. She walked over backstage, coincidentally passing up Inuyasha.
"Why, Inuyasha. . .hello there. It's been a while, hasn't it?" she said acting shocked to see him there. Inuyasha smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Don't act friendly with me, Kikyo. Who have you told?" Inuyasha asked sternly. Kikyo gave a fake little pout.
"My, what ever so you mean, dear Inuyasha? Told who, what?" she asked innocently. Inuyasha let out an exasperated sigh.
"Stop playing dumb, Kikyo. You know what I mean. . .about what's in my blood? Who have you told?" he asked more powerfully. Kikyo gave a piercing laugh.
"Oh, that. Well. . .I never really thought about that little secret till now. And frankly, I couldn't care less about it."
"Oh? And what would you call that little stunt you did on yesterday's damn show?" Inuyasha's stepped closer to her. "Inuyasha, you dog, you!" he mimicked her. Kikyo just looked at him and gave a giggle.
"Inuyasha, you think too deep into things. Even when we were engaged you had that silly little habit." Kikyo teased as she lightly pushed his shoulder. Inuyasha gave her a look of disgust.
Little did they know, that Kagome was still behind the make-up screen and was able to overhear their conversation. At first, as she heard their beginning conversation, she felt guilty for eavesdropping. But then, as Inuyasha's tone of voice became more serious, her curiosity overcame here. She leaned her ear on the screen as she held her lip gloss at hand.
'They were. . .engaged?!' Kagome thought to herself in thought. 'And she knows about his demonic blood? Perhaps she was the only one to know. . . that is, besides Miroku. . .'
"Cut the shit, Kikyo. How did Naraku find out?!" Inuyasha burst. Kagome nearly fell over the screen, but kept her balance.
'Naraku!? How'd he get into this?' she questioned herself. Kikyo's silent gasp was heard and there was silence between the two. Suddenly, there was a sound of a deep, menacing laugh.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Inuyasha's irritated voice came.
"My, Inuyasha. . .you also still have that little temper. You were always a dog at heart." the laugh was heard once more. Kagome could just picture Inuyasha's fists clenching. "But now that I'm on this show. . .you really must be careful the way you act with me. You may never know if I have a hidden camera somewhere. . .recording every awful thing you do. Or perhaps a hidden tape recorder. . .getting the dirt straight out of your mouth." the laugh came louder and Kagome flinched at the threat.
"And Naraku. . .Inuyasha, do you honestly think my heart is cold enough to sell you out to him?" Kikyo's voice asked mockingly. Inuyasha's angry smirk was heard.
"Well, it was certainly ice cold when you left me for him." Inuyasha grunted. Kikyo looked at him in shock and held his eyes. His amber pools had a fierce tension, but deep inside she knew what he really felt. He was hurt. She opened her mouth to talk, but was stopped as she heard the camera man call to her.
"Kikyo! You're back on in 5. Get out there!" a man called out. Kikyo turned her head back and gave Inuyasha one last look after she returned to the stage. She smiled and waved at the audience as she gave Inuyasha an odd look.
After the conversation had ended, Kagome instantly brought her head back to herself. She didn't want to hear anymore. It was all too painful. Sure, she hated Inuyasha more than anything, but his personal life with Kikyo was none of her concern.
'Naraku? Kikyo? Inuyasha? How does it all add up?' she thought to herself. Kagome shook her head as she tried to release the nosy thoughts from her head. She resumed putting on her lip gloss until Sango came from behind her.
"Kagome! Get ready. It's almost time for you and Inuyasha to get on stage." Sango said as she dragged Kagome out to the stage.
Kagome walked towards the small chair next to Inuyasha's and sat down on it gently. She crossed her legs and smoothed out her skirt as well as her hair. Inuyasha plopped down on the chair next to her and sat down angrily. Kagome gulped as she sensed how angry he must've been.
"Are you ready?" she whispered. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and looked at her.
"Ready to practically go against all I am and pretend I'm in love with the one person that I'd least likely be married to? And all for just saving my damn carreer? Sure. Make my day." he smirked. Kagome looked at him in shock and rolled her eyes. He was simply impossible! She folded her arms across her chest and looked away from him.
"And we're back! Now, here we are, audience! And as you can see, give it up for the lovely couple!" the audience gave many claps and Kikyo sat down in a chair facing the two. "So, how are you two today?" she asked in a cheerful tone. Kagome couldn't believe how she could act so calm after her conversation with Inuyasha. Kagome looked backstage and saw Sango gesturing for her to speak and smile.
"We're doing just fine, Kikyo. It's great to be here." Kagome smiled as she shook hands with Kikyo.
'How can she just paint on such a believable smile and not look the least bit uncomfortable in front of Inuyasha?' Kagome thought to herself as she smiled and turned her head to Inuyasha. He was smiling as well and nodded his head.
"Okay, let's get to the point now." Kikyo laughed. "Now when did you two first realize you felt something for each other?" Kagome paused for a second, and just knew that Inuyasha reacted the same way. She gave a small, fake laugh and turned her head.
'The very first moment I saw him. I felt the strong passion of hate. Ergh! He gets me so angry that I wish I could just chop off all of that black hair off of his head and make him look like a real guy!' Kagome said to herself in her thoughts.
"Well. . .I suppose it started in our very first movie together. . .well, that was for me anyway. How about you, Inuyasha?" Kagome said as she turned her head. Inuyasha gave her a comforting smile that was obviously plastic.
'This wench is just begging for it, isn't she?' Inuyasha thought to himself in despair.
"For me. . .it was the first moment I saw her." he added charmingly. The females in the audience all were wooed with 'aww's. Kagome wanted to roll her eyes so badly, but resisted the urge as she blinked her eyes powerfully.
"Really? How romantic!" Kikyo commented as she clapped her hands. "And I see you two have your wedding rings on. They're lovely!"
"Yes, I'm quite thankful that I was lucky enough to find such a husband with great taste." Kagome smiled as she nodded her head. She turned to look at Inuyasha. His smile showed a flash of mockery.
'He must be enjoying this. . .that jerk.' Kagome thought to herself.
'And she had the nerve to call me fake. . . that little wench.' he thought to himself.
"Yes, you are one lucky one, Kagome." Kikyo finally said as she smiled. "Inuyasha, I notice this with your ring. Why does yours seem to be turned around? Are you two already having troubles?"
'He's a pain in the ass. . .that's the trouble.' thought Kagome.
"Oh? This?" Inuyasha gave a plastic laugh. "Nah. We're not troubled at all." he casually brought his chair closer to Kagome and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Kagome tensed at their closeness. "It just somehow slipped that way. No troubles at all."
'Except for the fact that she looks like you. . .' Inuyasha thought in his head.
"So, what's it like so far being married?" Inuyasha and Kagome instantly thought the same exact thing in their minds.
'Horrible.'
Sango stood still backstage as she watched the two answer sugar coat all of the questions being thrown to them by Kikyo. She began biting her nails as she thought up of ways to tell them that they had several other interviews to go to. Sango sighed to herself as she couldn't bear to watch any more of the uneasiness. It was going to be a long, long, day. . .