The It Couple
Chapter Three
The headline was covered in bright pink banners, flashing obnoxiously. God, these celebrity gossip websites were fucking eyesores. Inuyasha stared down at his phone, his face impassive.
"'WE'RE STILL FRIENDS,' SAYS KIKYOU, KIKYASHA FANS REJOICE!"
Kikyasha, he thought, they always have to make a fucking nickname of it.
Still friends. What that girl wouldn't say to get a little bit of public adoration. He had to admire it, really. It was why she was where she was after all this time.
"You saw this, right?" he said, showing the phone to Miroku, who was frowning at his own.
"That's odd," Miroku said as if he hadn't heard, "She usually always picks up right away."
"Who?"
"Kagome."
Inuyasha almost choked on the last bite of his sandwich. "Kagome? You're calling Kagome? Now? Here?"
Miroku gave him a pointed look. "You look surprised. I'm going to have to talk to Kagome at some point, you know. She handles all of Kikyou's scheduling, her outfit fittings, everything. I don't know how she does it, really, it's the job of like five people-"
"I know what she does, Miroku. I've known her since she was a teenager, remember?"
"Well, then you also know we're all going to have to meet together at some point soon."
"I have another thought," Inuyasha said, "How about fuck that?"
"Don't be an idiot. You have a job to do and it's my job to make sure you can do yours."
"Yeah, apparently my job is to air my dirty laundry out there for every Tom, Dick, and Jane to lap up." Inuyasha's fists clenched on the tabletop.
"Part of the biz, my friend. If you want, we can meet Kagome by herself first. Kind of ease our way back in."
Seeing Kagome again would be amazing, for sure. But would she even want to see him? This whole breaking-up-with-her-beloved-elder-sister thing might have put a damper on even a friendship like they had had.
"Stupid idiot! Give me that controller! It's left-down-right-down B!"
"Inuyasha! Wait your turn! Show-off!"
He smiled lightly to himself, then returned his attention to the conversation at hand.
"Yeah. Sounds good."
Miroku stared at him for a second, his expression unreadable, then pressed the redial button.
"Hello?"
"Kagome, darlin, I thought maybe you were ignoring me."
Kagome grinned, reaching up with her remote to pause her movie. "Miroku? It's so great to hear your voice!"
"Likewise. How have you been?"
"Oh, you know," Kagome said, "Same old me."
"How's our leading lady?"
Kagome scoffed. "Same old Kikyou."
"I figured as much. What are you doing tonight?"
"Tonight? Well, Kikyou and Naraku are going out to Greystone Manor so I guess I'm doing that." She dangled her legs over the edge of her squishy, comfortable bed.
"Oh no you aren't. You're coming out with us tonight."
Kagome grimaced. "I don't really know about that, Miroku. You know how Kikyou gets. What if she needs something while she's out?"
"So get her a babysitter. She's a grown-ass woman, Naraku can handle her for the night. As long as she pays for his drinks, I'm sure."
She stifled a giggle. "I really don't think she'll let me go, but thanks anyway."
"Kagome," Miroku's flirtatious tone continued, as it always did, "You've known me for years now. Do I ever take no for an answer? Besides, Inuyasha wants to see you."
The pit of her stomach seemed to drop away. Kagome had never been so thankful that no one could see her face; it was surely beet-red right now.
"You're with Inuyasha?"
"Yeah, you wanna talk to him?" There was a shuffling noise while the phone was passed.
Holy shit holy shit holy shit. Kagome was dimly aware that she was now self-consciously tucking her hair behind her ears and smoothing it down.
"Hello?"
And there he was. Could he hear the blood pounding in her ears, she wondered.
"Inuyasha," she said softly, "It's been a long time."
"Too long," he agreed cheerfully, "Still hate me?"
There was an awkward silence as Kagome fought to find words to respond to that.
"Well, I guess that answers that question," Inuyasha's voice hadn't lost its cheery edge, "Still, I hope you'll come out with us tonight. Even if just for old times' sake-"
There was a shattering noise on the other end. Inuyasha swore. "God dammit, Miroku, who the hell puts their glass of water on the rim of the fucking table-sorry Kagome, gotta go, see you tonight-this is the second glass you've broken and you've been in my house less than twelve hours-"
The ranting faded out and Miroku was back. "Did that convince you enough, sweetheart?" His voice was low, obviously so Inuyasha wouldn't hear him.
"I hate you so much," Kagome muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Alright, you win. I'll meet you. Where?"
"Hyde Lounge, West Hollywood."
"Well, I'm glad we're not going too fancy," Kagome muttered with a roll of her eyes, "See you around 10."
"Hello, Miss Higurashi, it's an honor to meet you," Sango began, trying not to sound like another star-struck fan even though she had probably seen all of this woman's movies at least twice. A star through and through, Kikyou Higurashi had started as a teenage actress in soaps and had blossomed into the most in-demand A-lister of the last five years; that is, if you didn't count her former counterpart Inuyasha's similar career trajectory.
Kikyou was dressed smartly but stylishly in jeans and a silk blouse. She looked like the sort of woman who would never dream of leaving the house without being dressed to the nines.
"Always nice to meet another studio rep," Kikyou said, her voice gentle and sweet, "I owe a lot of my success to Sunrise, as you may well know."
"I do indeed," Sango said, trying to sound more capable than she felt and knowing that the reason Kikyou's eyes had widened upon seeing her was because of how young she looked.
"Shall we? Our chef Kaede outdid herself for you today! Swordfish and roasted vegetables," Kikyou slipped Sango's arm around hers and led her meanderingly through the palacious house. Sango tried not to stare at all the furnishings; each piece was probably more than she made in six months.
"You'll forgive me if I skip the main course," Kikyou continued, motioning for Sango to sit down at a dining table that wouldn't have looked out of place in a medieval castle, "I'm afraid I've been on a juice cleanse for the past few weeks."
"Of course," Sango said, "Your sister already informed me."
"Where is that girl?" Kikyou mused, then yelled, "Kagooooome!"
Sango winced slightly.
"Coming!" Kagome Higurashi rushed into the room. She was probably a few years younger than Kikyou, but they were definitely related. Where Kikyou's beauty was all cheekbones and waiflike elegance, Kagome was a few inches shorter, with large doe-like eyes and hair so wavy it almost curled at the ends. She was wearing her own jeans, acid-washed these were, and a cute little cut-off tank. A tomboy, Sango mused.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Kagome." Kagome thrust out her hand. Her smile was genuinely friendly, unlike the serene smile of her famous sister.
"Sango. We spoke on the phone earlier. Nice to put a face to the voice."
"Who is this?" A male voice muttered from behind Sango, and she turned to see a tall, muscular man with long, dark hair walking in, covered in sweat.
"Naraku, honey, this is the new press agent for Sunrise, Sango Ryogi. She's here to talk about the awards season with us."
"It's Ryoshi, actually," Sango said softly.
"Oh," Naraku's eyes seemed to light up, and he flopped into a chair at the dining table unceremoniously, "Have you started discussing the Oscar pushes yet?"
"Naraku, sweetheart," Kikyou said lovingly, placing a hand over her beau's, "She just got here. Let her at least eat first."
Kagome caught Sango's eye across the table and winked. Sango gave a small smile in return. This girl seemed very approachable.
A small, squat old woman hobbled in, balancing a large tray of food. The dishes clattered precariously.
"Kaede, let me get that," Kagome exclaimed, jumping up to take the tray from her, "You already worked so hard today."
Sango watched the old woman's expression, and it was one of pure adoration.
"Kaede, I need some water. Room temperature, no ice." Kikyou didn't look up from Naraku's hand, which she was paying all the attention in the world.
Kaede nodded wordlessly, and turned back through the swinging kitchen door.
Kagome sighed and sat the tray on the tabletop. Kaede had indeed outdone herself, as Kikyou had said. The swordfish and vegetables looked fantastic.
Sango took her plate and hesitated. Was this like royalty protocol? Did she have to wait for Kikyou to eat before she-
"Go ahead," Kagome said, obviously a psychic and a mind reader, "Kikyou will probably just pick at hers."
"Kagome, please," Kikyou said, her face smiling but her eyes stern, "You're embarrassing me."
Kagome just gave a wry smile and shot Sango a wink when no one was looking.
"So I think the first thing to discuss is the Hollywood Film Awards," Sango said quickly, pulling her small, leather-bound planner out of her bag, "As you know, they're the first in the line, and not extremely important as far as earmarkers for Oscar noms go, but still-"
"Excuse me, Sango," Kikyou's serene smile hadn't moved from her face, "I think you'll find this isn't my first time doing this."
Sango fought back a blush. "O-of course, of course," she tried to recover, "I was just-"
"The Hollywood Film Awards are nothing. Small-time. If I win, of course I'll post a short video on Instagram and Twitter saying how grateful I am, but I'm not getting all dressed up to hear another drunken speech by old Hollywood has-beens."
Sango glanced at Kagome, who was giving her a sympathetic smile.
"It's the December awards we want to start with," Kagome said gently, "The New York and L.A. Film Critics ones. If we do it like we did two years ago, we'll do one and not the other. We don't want to look too eager to the press. Isn't that right, Kikyou?"
Kikyou shrugged, looking bored with the whole thing and taking a tiny bite of carrot.
"And then January is big - Critics' Choice, People's Choice, SAG Awards, and of course the Globes. We're expecting a nomination from the Globes for sure, and we're hopeful about the others. Of course, we'll know more in December.
"And then of course February - the biggie. Good ol' Oscar." Kagome grinned.
Kikyou looked at Kagome pointedly. "Why do I need to be here for this?"
Before Kagome could respond, Kikyou turned back to Sango, her smile gone. "Are you here to talk to me or her?"
Sango stammered. "Well, both, I mean-I think both of you are helpful-"
"Tell you what. I am exhausted, everyone in the press hates me right now, and I've gone a full year without an award nomination. Get it done. Talk to her." Kikyou threw her thumb over her shoulder at Kagome, who was suddenly very interested in her roast veggies.
And with that, the most famous actress in the entire world stood up from the table and stalked off to the garden.
Naraku took a final bite of his swordfish, pulling the bones out with his teeth. "There, now, you see? You pissed her off. Thanks to you I have to go calm her down. Studio publicist, my ass." He shoved his chair back and tossed his fork to the table with a clatter, then left as well.
Sango sat there stunned. What the hell just happened? Man, these people turn on a dime.
Kagome stood to collect the dirty plates, her face resigned.
"I'm awfully sorry," Sango said softly, "I don't know what I just did wrong."
Kagome stopped, leaving the stack on the table surface. "You did nothing wrong," she said insistently, "You'll just find a lot of that attitude in this town. No patience for anyone who's not straight to the point. They're rich and spoiled and forget how to treat people. Hell, I should know. She's my sister."
Sango shoved her planner back into her purse, feeling her face redden. "I'm very new at doing this all on my own. Miroku used to handle all the stars directly."
"I know," Kagome said, coming around to put a hand on Sango's shoulder, "From now on, just talk to me. My phone's always on and I'm here to help."
Sango wondered if jumping up and hugging this girl would be unprofessional. Probably so.
"Listen, I'm actually going out on my own tonight for the first time in forever. I've got to meet an old, old friend who you should probably meet too, and if it's not too much trouble, maybe you can come with me. We're going to the Hyde Lounge."
"The-the Hyde Lounge?" Sango said, "I think that's a little rich for my blood."
"Mine too," Kagome said with a giggle, "but hey, think of it like we're actresses playing a part. You know, Hollywood people."
"I still don't know why you picked this place," Inuyasha muttered, keeping his head lowered as he leaned back against the crocodile-embossed velvet booth, "I prefer places where there aren't lines of autograph hounds trying to get photos outside."
"The reason I picked this place should be obvious," Miroku said, nodding across the velvet ropes where various babes in bandage dresses and stilettos were standing around, enjoying their buzzes and whispering to themselves at the sight of both of them.
Inuyasha had his hair in a low braid and a knit cap on his head, but there was no hiding when your look was that distinctive. He sighed. "Did you at least tell the doorman about the girls?"
"Which girls?"
"Kagome and her friend she's bringing. What the hell do you mean which girls-you schmuck."
"Surely they'd just let Kagome in. She looks enough like a poor man's Kikyou Higurashi to be an asset to their business." Miroku took a drag of his smoke and a sip of his whiskey.
Inuyasha fought back a growl and stood up to skulk toward the front entrance, shoving his way through the crowd of girls.
It's times like these I understand why even Schwarzenegger has a bodyguard, he mused as the girls squealed and clamored for his attention.
"Scuse me, ladies," he said, fighting to keep his voice civil as he pushed through.
The doorman was arguing with some reality show stars who were pulling the old don't-you-know-who-I-am. Inuyasha clapped a gentle hand over his shoulder. When the reality TV thespians caught sight of him, their jaws dropped open and they fell completely silent.
"There are two girls coming to meet us. I'd be appreciative if you just let them in without incident or drawing too much attention. Send them right to VIP." He held up a folded $100 bill in two fingers.
The doorman accepted gladly. "How will I know who they are?"
"If anyone asks to see me, ask them which Judas Priest album is the best one."
"And what's the answer?"
"How is that even a question?" Kagome said, grinning, "'Sad Wings of Destiny' wins every time!"
"Right this way, ladies," the doorman said, "Straight up the stairs to the VIP loft."
Kagome was definitely uncomfortable in her blue lace dress and heels, but she had to admit, getting all dolled up once in a while could be fun. There were even a few stares on the street when she and Sango walked by. No doubt people thinking for a split second that she was Kikyou.
"Who is Judas Priest?" Sango asked quietly as they ascended the staircase.
"Our favorite band," Kagome replied, trying to keep the wistful tone out of her voice and failing.
"Our?" Sango said, then stopped short, dead still, eyes wide and trained on the room ahead.
Kagome turned, holding her breath.
There he was.
Oooh cliffhanger! I am a cruel soul. Please review, it feeds my inner demons and I sort of love that. -meggz0rz