The It Couple
Chapter Thirteen
"Oh, man," Miroku said, applauding with everyone else as Inuyasha walked offstage, "This is turning out to be an interesting night. Kagome's playing her part even better than I thought she would."
Sango sipped her drink. "One thing you can always count on, fools in love or lust always behave in fairly predictable ways when you push them."
Miroku smiled and put his hand on hers for a brief moment, squeezing her fingers, then releasing her. "I bet I could still surprise you once in a while."
"No offense, Houshi," Sango said, reaching over and cheekily tweaking his nose, "but I doubt it. Come on, let's go collect the man of the hour and get to the afterparty before the rest of the crowd starts to rush the exit."
They stood as soon as the show director called for a commercial break, and Miroku dutifully picked up the train of Sango's dress and held it up. He moved to put his arm around her lower back, and she gently grabbed his wrist and leaned in toward him.
"Warner's watching us like a hawk," she said quietly, her breath ghosting across his ear. Resisting the urge to bend her backwards and ravish her right then and there, Miroku sighed and merely placed a hand on the middle of her bare back, a friendly gesture to any prying eyes.
"Did I tell you," he murmured as they got out of everyone else's eyeline, "that you look amazing in mauve?"
Sango craned her neck to look at him, and the smile she gave him was dazzling. Honestly, if she'd ever wanted to try being in front of the camera instead of behind the scenes, Miroku would be one hundred percent behind that decision.
Hell, I'd be her press agent. For free.
Still smiling, she reached up, grabbed him by the chin, and gave him a quick kiss before turning back around and leading him outside the hotel doors to arrange for transportation to the afterparty.
Okay, maybe not for free...
Miroku was pretty sure his face was stuck in a dopey-looking grin. Oh well.
"Champagne?" Kouga said, popping the bottle and holding it away so none of it spilled on their clothes, "We have to celebrate your first red carpet as a bona fide celebrity. How's it feel?"
Kagome, her brain still a little muddled from the brief interaction with Inuyasha, hesitated to answer. "Ask me again tomorrow."
"Oh?" Kouga leaned in close to her on one elbow, flashing a charming smile, "Does that mean I might get a second date?"
Kagome felt her face flush a little, and she returned his smile with a weak one of her own. "You honestly want one? With me?"
"Yeah. What can I say, I find you fascinating and I'd like to get to know you a bit more."
"Well...maybe?"
Kouga put a hand over his heart as if it were beating too fast. "She said maybe!" he yelled at the limo driver, who glanced in the rearview mirror looking not a little bewildered.
Suppressing a small giggle behind her hand, Kagome took the offered glass of champagne when handed to her and took a generous swallow.
"You ready to party all night?" Kouga asked, downing his entire glass in one fell swoop and refilling it.
Kagome honestly didn't feel like doing much more than going home at this point and zoning out (her brain still seemed to be betraying her over and over by flashing images of Inuyasha's furious face like a strobe), but, oh, what the hell. Kouga had been nothing but a gentleman, as promised, and since she was bound to hear about all this from Kikyou in the morning anyway, she should make the night last as long as possible, right?
"Sure," she said with a shrug and a warm smile.
Kouga raised his glass to toast. "Here's to being the belle of the ball, Miss Cinderella."
"You guys go on ahead," Inuyasha said, keeping his face impassive, his hands shoved into the pockets of his obscenely expensive jacket, "I think I'll just go home. Not really in the mood for this."
"Negative, friend," Miroku said, beckoning him into the limo, "You won an award tonight so you have to play extra nice with all the bigshots and show gratitude. Otherwise, what will they think when voting opens for the Globes next month?"
Inuyasha scoffed. Once again, it was time to play the game and kiss ass all evening.
"Why do I even bother with this career," he grumbled, climbing in the car after his agent.
"Because you're damn good at it. Also, you don't want to hurt Kikyou's chances too, do you?" Miroku scooted next to Sango (who had Inuyasha's brand new award cradled in her lap), already lighting a cigarette now that they were out of the nonsmoking areas.
"What do you mean?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.
"I only mean," said Miroku, gesturing with his cigarette, "that the press still thinks of you two as the ideal pairing. The It Couple. So any bad attention you generate might find its way to her chances at Oscar gold, especially since she's already neglected to show for these awards in the first place."
"Champagne?" Sango said too quickly, pulling the bottle out of the ice bucket and holding it aloft.
Another red carpet, another thousand flash bulbs going off in her face, but mercifully this pre-party one was much shorter. No long interviews to teeter through in her heels. Kagome thanked the blessed mother.
Posing for the photos, Kouga moved this time to put his arm around her waist, still smiling. Kagome ignored the voice in her head screaming at her to tone it all down, put a hand on her hip, and gave the cameras a shy smile.
Once all that was over with, they walked into the private party area, where it seemed almost every top star in Hollywood was dancing, drinking, schmoozing, gossiping, smoking, ordering their assistants around.
It was almost funny, she thought, how strong the urge was to pick up a tray and rush around with it, catering to demands. Key word being almost.
"Come on," Kouga said, "You want to meet Colin Farrell?"
"Um." She rooted to the spot instinctively.
"I promise he doesn't bite!" Kouga laughed, tugging her hand and pulling her along.
After that wonderfully awkward meeting, in which Kagome surreptitiously pinched herself above the elbow to remind her mouth not to vomit out stupid fangirl idiocy and to just politely introduce herself, and in which Colin Farrell politely shook her hand and gave her a cheeky wink in greeting, she allowed herself to be led to a table in the far corner of the dark room, where Kouga ordered drinks for the two of them.
"What's in this?" she asked, raising her voice slightly over the pounding club music.
"It's a Greta Garbo. Cherry liqueur, lime, and most importantly, rum."
"A Greta Garbo? How Hollywood of you," said Kagome with a grin, taking a sip. It was good, but a little sweet for her tastes. I'd kill for a Trooper Ale right now.
A group of young Hollywood elites were calling Kouga's name from across the dance floor (Kagome was sure she recognized a few sons of famous people among them), and he shot her a quick look of apology and a shrug before going to join them.
Kagome sat and sipped her drink, trying not to stare at the crowd of beautiful people in front of her and most certainly trying not to feel more self-conscious. There'd been quite enough of that for one evening, surely.
Kouga returned much quicker than she'd expected, and she couldn't help the flash of gratitude that flowed through her. "Come meet all the guys," he said, pulling her out of her seat, "They were asking about the hottie I had with me."
"Inuyasha," Sango said, scrambling to catch him as they exited the limo and headed up the red carpet, "Your award!"
He took it without a word, smiling and waving at the pit of photographers gathered to catch the group as they entered the afterparty. A few poses with the award held aloft and he was through, free to drop the shit-eating grin, sigh, and crack his neck.
There weren't a ton of people here yet, mostly B-listers and technical people (though he did note Colin Farrell sitting in a cloud of smoke at one end of the room). Despite himself, he scanned the crowd with narrowed eyes, searching for someone quite particular.
"She's over there, Inuyasha." Miroku threw a thumb over his shoulder as he handed the coat check girl his suit jacket and Sango's fur wrap, "Give me your jacket, unless you want to die stylishly of heatstroke in here."
Inuyasha did as he was told, handing Miroku the jacket and the obscenely heavy award, then trailing his gaze to where his friend had pointed.
There she was, as naturally as can be, holding a cocktail and laughing with Kouga's arm draped over her shoulders and surrounded by about six other young men, all laughing right along with her.
"What the hell," he muttered, "She's sure working fast, isn't she?"
"Did you say something, Inuyasha?" Sango's tone of voice told him she had heard exactly what he'd said. Her eyebrows were raised disapprovingly.
"No."
"Great!" she said, looping her arm through his, "We'll leave Houshi to check the coats. Come on, let's get a table."
"Thanks a lot!" Inuyasha heard Miroku grumble as they walked off.
"You're shitting me!" One of Kouga's friends, a fellow by the name of Ginta, stared at Kagome wide-eyed. "You're Kikyou Higurashi's baby sister?"
"Guilty as charged," said Kagome, giggling sheepishly. This group were obviously a little rowdy, a little rough around the edges for the Hollywood jetset they belonged to, but that was a little endearing. She'd seen worse at heavy metal concerts before; these guys seemed more like her kind of people.
"You're cuter than she is," another guy piped up, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.
"They're right," Kouga said, squeezing her shoulders.
Kagome elbowed him gently, cheeks pink.
"Oh, I forgot," Kouga said, "Kagome isn't one for too many compliments, guys."
"Uh oh," Ginta said, swirling his highball glass, "Guess that means Kouga isn't getting anywhere, huh? That's his whole strategy with women."
"Shut up, asshole," Kouga said with a grin, "I got other tricks up my sleeve."
"Be afraid, Kagome," Ginta said, "Be very afraid."
Kagome laughed. "I think I can handle him."
Kouga turned to her. "You sure about that?" he said in her ear, his voice suddenly much lower. Kagome's eyes widened a little in surprise.
"I need another drink," she said quickly, ducking under Kouga's outstretched arm and heading toward the open bar with her empty glass.
"I wouldn't go alone," Kouga caught her around the waist, hard enough to make her squeak in reaction, "Look who's here." He nodded straight ahead.
It was Sango and Inuyasha, with Miroku trailing behind. They cut a path through the crowd, all of whom broke into applause at the sight of their Best Actor recipient of the evening. Inuyasha smiled demurely and gave a wave, mouthing his thanks as the trio sat down at a central table. Immediately, they were swamped with well-wishers, obscuring Inuyasha from Kagome's view.
"...You're right," Kagome said, her jaw clenched, "Come on."
Kouga left his arm around her waist and escorted her to the bar.
Miroku was feeling emboldened enough by the massive amounts of champagne and whiskey he'd had at that point to immediately grab Sango's hand under the table when they sat down. He linked his fingers with hers, pleased when she didn't pull away.
She was listening attentively to every person coming up to congratulate Inuyasha, trying to pick up on any hints or clues as to how said person might vote as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences come January.
"You can stop working for tonight," Miroku whispered in her ear, his voice low and husky. She clearly jumped a little and gave a little shiver, which made him want to ravish her all over again, but he could wait for later. Probably.
Sango turned and opened her mouth to say something, but Miroku's eyes suddenly snapped to the woman standing in front of their table.
It was her. Lana Novak, or he supposed it was actually Lana Warner. The woman with whom his affair had ended his career at Sunrise. She looked just as she had the last time he'd seen her, when she'd invited him over to her apartment only for him to discover that she'd lured him there to expose him to her husband. To make Warner jealous.
"Hello, Miroku," she said, her long blonde hair cascading over one shoulder, her smile at once knowing and innocent. That had been her best trick, pretending her intentions had ever been pure.
Sango looked at Miroku's face, then back to Lana, then back at him. Her eyes seemed to light up with realization, and she squeezed his hand in warning. He must look like hell, he mused.
"Lana."
"I hope Randall didn't give you too much of a hard time tonight," she said, "He gets so jealous sometimes."
"Tonight was no problem," Miroku said smoothly, "It was him firing me that was a little harder to stomach."
"I knew you'd land on your feet, though," Lana said, eyes flitting to Sango, who narrowed her own gaze in return, "In more ways than one, it seems."
"Houshi and I are merely colleagues," Sango said firmly, releasing Miroku's hand under the table.
"So I see," Lana said, her smile lovely despite the eyes as hard as iron. She turned to Inuyasha, all social butterfly again. "Congratulations to you for your well-deserved win tonight," she said, and Inuyasha took her outstretched hand and shook it, "Please let me know if there's anything my husband can do to help you out this season. Or anything I can do, for that matter."
Inuyasha blinked in surprise. She held his grip for a few moments longer before releasing him.
Miroku was about ready to turn the table over.
"We'll be seeing you, I'm sure," Sango said, voice syrupy sweet, but he saw murder in her beautiful brown eyes.
Lana only smiled, shrugged, and sauntered off into the crowd.
"Who the hell was that?" Inuyasha said, face screwed up in confusion.
"Warner's wife," Miroku said, yanking his pack of smokes out of his shirt pocket and fumbling with the lighter. Damn thing wasn't working. He clicked it over and over. Must be the AC running full blast in here. He tried again.
Sango closed her hand around his and gently took the lighter from his grasp, then clicked it into life and lit his smoke for him. Their eyes locked.
Under the table, her hand grabbed for his and held it again, this time more tightly.
"You're kidding me," Kouga said, leaning against the bar next to Kagome, who was feeling quite buzzed and pleasant at this point, "You've never taken a body shot before?"
"No," Kagome said, shuffling from foot to foot. Her feet were starting to hurt; she should have never listened to Sango and gone with the tallest possible heel ("You need to get as close to his height as possible for good photos," she had said).
"Guys," Kouga said, gathering the group around again, "Kagome's never taken a body shot!"
There were varied outbursts of "What?" and "Seriously?" and guys nudging each other with huge grins on their faces.
"She can take one off of me any day!" Ginta said.
"What is a body shot?" Kagome asked.
"No, no," Kouga said to Ginta, "I think we should let a lady provide her first time. A little less intimidating, if you catch my meaning."
"How about Caitlynn?" Ginta said, waving over a blonde starlet with boobs that almost overflowed her strapless minidress, "Caitlynn's an old pro at body shots."
"What is a body shot?" Kagome asked again. She felt a little dizzy; maybe she should sit down as soon as possible-oh, their table had been taken. Bummer.
"Come on, sweetheart," Kouga said, tugging her along to an adjacent room that was even darker lit than the main hall, "Time to get a full Hollywood party initiation."
"And there go the wild crowd," Miroku said, nudging Sango with his foot under the table, watching Kouga and his cohorts disappear through the archway into the other room, "Typical. They turn these afterparties into their own personal nightclub."
Inuyasha was paying no attention, nursing his own cigarette and looking pensive and moody.
Sango caught the signal from Miroku, winked at him, and said loudly, "Was that Kagome with them? I'm glad she's making friends so quickly!"
Bingo. Inuyasha's head shot up. "What?" he snapped, "Kagome went with them?"
"You know Kouga," Miroku said sagely, "It's eleven-thirty. He's probably breaking out the tequila shots at this point."
"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Sango asked, eyes wide. She wanted so badly to burst out laughing at the stricken look on his face.
"Fuck all that!" he said, loud enough for neighboring tables to turn and look as he stood and stalked toward the back room.
Sango turned to her partner-in-crime and smiled.
"Are we sure she'll be okay in there? Really? I do consider her a close friend, you know," Miroku said.
"Oh yeah, no worries," Sango said, "This is all going swimmingly so far."
Miroku shrugged, nodded, and took another sip of his drink.
"By the way," Sango said, taking the opportunity now that they were alone, "Are you okay? You know, after-"
"You should know me better than that by now, babe. It takes a lot more than that to faze me." He squeezed her hand.
Sango nodded, but couldn't help but notice that his nonchalant grin didn't quite reach his eyes this time.
Words failed her at the moment (for once), so she simply reached up lightning-quick and pecked him gently on the cheek.
Confrontation is coming...mwahahaha. Some of you reviewers have been making predictions on how this is all going to go, and I love seeing everyone's ideas! Here's hoping what I have coming up in the next chapter will surprise you guys, even if only a little.
Also, I will be keeping this story at a T rating, as you guys suggested! I forgot to mention that in the author's note last chapter. Whoops.
As always, your reviews are so appreciated! I am obsessed with how great you all are. - meggz0rz