The It Couple
Chapter Six
There was absolutely no reason to return her call, he knew. No doubt she'd toy with him again until she was bored of that, and then ghost him once more.
Luckily, Inuyasha got a call from Miroku about five minutes later informing him that he was going to do a photoshoot for Entertainment Weekly today. Normally he would have been annoyed at the late notice, but not today.
He met Miroku at the photography studio around noon, head still spinning from the thought of the phone call that morning. Let her wait. Let her see that he wasn't waiting around for her. God dammit, he was famous, and he could enjoy the benefits of that without needing Kikyou Higurashi.
This, of course, was what he ranted in the car to Miroku on the way to dinner that evening. Miroku seemed to humor him, as he always did, but in that exasperated, patronizing manner he was a master of.
"I think you're doing the right thing," Miroku said, rolling up the cuffs of his blue button-up as the car pulled into the valet line, "Make her wait on you for once. Let her come crawling back."
"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed, feeling more and more confident, "Let her be the one to miss me for a change!"
They exited the car and Inuyasha handed the valet his keys.
"So you don't think I should call her back, right?"
"No."
"Alright, good. Me neither."
Sango was letting herself soak in the tub. Walking in those 6-inch spike heels had been murder on her legs last night (but dammit, they made her into a nearly 6-foot tall Amazonian goddess and it was worth it). A little candlelight, a lavender bath bomb, and some classical music on the speakers. Good way to spend a Sunday evening.
And of course, there went her phone.
"Hello?" she said, refusing to open her eyes. She was not getting out of this tub for another hour; she had lit candles, dammit.
"Sango? It's Kagome."
"Hey there," Sango said, "Did you get the dress all ready to go for Friday?"
"I'm getting there. Finally got her to choose one. We're going with De La Renta. Draped-silk taffeta in malachite blue. It's honestly gorgeous, it really is. I just have to call Ms. Paulson and arrange a house-call alteration for the night before."
"Will they do that?"
Kagome laughed on the other end. "They will for Kikyou Higurashi. She's a walking advertisement for their clothes."
"Point taken." Sango sank a little lower in the tub.
"I was just calling to check on the transportation arrangements. Is the studio sending a limo for us or should I get it arranged?"
"That's actually something I was meaning to talk to you about," Sango replied, "We've decided to put everyone in one car. An extra-large stretch, of course, but still."
There was pointed silence for a good ten seconds. "What."
"I thought we'd mentioned it to you!" Sango said, trying not to feel too guilty, "Houshi and I were talking, and we think it's best this season to push the reunion narrative between Kikyou and Inuyasha. I mean, she already said on live TV that they're still friends and talk all the time, so we're just...sort of going to go along with that line of thinking."
"You want to put Kikyou, Naraku, Inuyasha, and god knows who else in one limo for this premiere." It wasn't a question.
"And Kouga Okami and whoever he's dating right now; I think it's Amy something."
"Ayame. Just goes by Ayame." Kagome's voice was still flat and disbelieving.
"What, like Cher?"
"Yep."
"Huh. Okay, then her. It's a great plan, admit it."
"Have you thought about how you're possibly going to get Kikyou into that car?"
Sango grinned. "We figured we could call upon you for your sisterly magic."
There was a heaving sigh on the other end of the line.
"Kagome," Sango said gently, "This is the way to repair Kikyou's public image. Everyone's been thinking of her as the whore of Babylon for almost a year, let's get her making nice for the cameras and winning back some goodwill from the press."
"You're right," Kagome said. Her voice was muffled, like she had a hand pressed over her face. "I'll talk to her. No promises, but I'll talk to her."
"You're a great sister."
"No, I'm a great assistant. I'll talk to you later, Sango."
Sango hung up the phone and immediately dialed Miroku. She didn't even wait for him to say a greeting.
"I think we got it. I'll be taking your compliments and tributes for the next few minutes."
The next morning, Kagome was on the phone with the dressmakers when Kikyou came barging into her home office. This ought to be good. Kikyou had kicked and screamed for hours yesterday when Kagome had told her the studio's automotive arrangements. The only thing that had finally calmed her down was Naraku's boneheaded statement that he would be there to protect Kikyou in the event of another "horrible attack" from her ex-fiance. Even so, there'd been relatively little peace for Kagome since.
"Yes, Miss Paulson, that should be fine. We need the dress for this Friday. I sent you the measurements so you can alter it and then we'll do a final fitting here at the house on Thursday afternoon, is that okay? 4 pm? Not a problem. Thanks." She hung up. "What's up?"
Kikyou was tapping her finger gently on her lips, looking Kagome up and down carefully, saying nothing.
"That was the people at De La Renta. They're going to get the dress ready for you to wear to the premiere Friday, the one with the malachite silk that you liked so much last week. Should be ready to go by then. I had them alter the hemline to make it a little higher; it'll make it easier to walk and you can flaunt your shoe game. Now we just have to get your jewelry on loan and we're good to go. I've already booked the hair and makeup people." Kagome scribbled a Sticky-Note to herself and stuck it on the giant bulletin board on the wall behind her desk.
"Have you heard from Inuyasha at all today?" Kikyou absentmindedly played with the sleeve of her rose-colored blouse.
"No, why?"
"So strange. I feel sure he would have called me back by now. Oh well, I guess it's you he wants to talk to nowadays anyway."
"Kikyou-"
"Oh, no, it's fine. I just thought that before we meet again for the first time in six months and have to ride in a limo together for half an hour, we should probably have a face-to-face, get the initial meeting out of the way so that we're camera-ready. But hey, you're the assistant, I'm sure you know what's best. He won't return my calls."
Kagome put a hand in her chin. "Do you want me to call him and arrange it?"
"Would you? Oh, that would be great, thank you!" Kikyou threw her arms around Kagome's shoulders and kissed her cheek.
"One more thing," Kikyou said as she left the room, "I changed my mind about the draped silk dress, I want the red off-the-shoulder from Cavalli. You remember. Give them a call and take care of it."
"Right away," Kagome said, forcing a grin on her face.
"We're what?"
"Now, now, Inuyasha, remember that famous temper of yours," Miroku said calmly as he ducked out of the way of his client's flying cell phone, "You're going to break your phone and I'm going to have to spend half a day getting it replaced."
"You manipulative bastard," Inuyasha growled the words out, "'Oh sure, Inuyasha, I'm your friend, I've got your best interests at heart-'"
"You of all people know that I do," Miroku said, holding up his hands protectively in case Inuyasha decided to launch something else at his face, "We have to get the press buzzing about this movie. What better way to do it than see the two of you together again, smiling and happy?"
"So I have to sit in a limo for at least half an hour in LA traffic with Kikyou and that bastard Naraku and god knows who else? This shit isn't worth it!"
"Inuyasha, deep breath," Miroku said, "You're a goddamn pro, okay? You once got mobbed by a group of girls who tried to rip all your clothes off your body. You can handle anything."
Inuyasha just glared at him.
Okay, time to pull an asshole move, Miroku thought with a sigh.
"Besides," he said, casually picking up Inuyasha's phone from the tile floor and reaching to hand it to him, "The whole thing was Kikyou's idea."
Inuyasha's eyes widened. "It-it was?"
"Yeah. She told me not to tell you that, though. I think she might be having second thoughts. So all you have to do is turn on the charm, right buddy?" Wow, I might be the worst human being to ever exist. Where is this even coming from.
Inuyasha's face was starting to betray a slightly disbelieving smile. "Yeah," he said softly.
"And listen, pal," Miroku said, "You might want to actually return that call from her after all. Who knows what might come of it, huh?"
As Inuyasha took his phone back and immediately began dialing, Miroku pulled his own phone out and texted Sango.
"This feels like going too far. I feel like a scumbag. Am I a scumbag?"
The reply from her was "Yeah, probably. Me too. Just close your eyes and picture Oscars and this will all be worth it."
Yeah, they're starting to feel like dicks. Which they are, for sure, at least right now. But you gotta remember, they are in one of the most cutthroat professions in the entire world, and to be good, you have to be a little, shall we say, ruthless? Needless to say, this will probably ending up taking a toll on their friendships with Inu and Kag in later chapters...
Also, this was pointed out in a review and I just wanted to address it - I realize my characterization of Kikyou is basically character assassination, hahaha. I really don't dislike Kikyou as a character, but I had to alter her a bit (okay, a lot) to fit the narrative. Hope you guys understand! HASHTAG KIKYOU DID NOTHING WRONG - meggz0rz