The It Couple
Chapter Fourteen
"What are we doing, Kouga," Kagome said hazily. She was really wobbly now. Damn shoes. She clung to her date's arm for support.
"Taking the party to the next level, angel face," Kouga said, sliding a hand around her waist, "Caitlynn here has volunteered to let you do a body shot off of her. Isn't that nice of her?"
"I guess…" Kagome said. She still wasn't sure what this involved.
"We'll keep it PG, I promise," Kouga said with a wink, "or PG-13 at least. Caitlynn, salt."
Surrounded by the rest of the young men, Caitlynn gave Kouga a knowing wink and tapped the bottle of tequila salt with a long red fingernail. "Where do you want it?" she said in a flirtatious voice.
Kouga smiled. "Wrist first. Ease the poor girl into it." He turned to Kagome, who stumbled a little, still feeling quite confused. "Alright, hotshot, you're going to take this tequila shot."
Kagome reached for it, but he moved it out of reach.
"Not so fast," Kouga said, "You gotta take the shot properly. Do you know what goes with a tequila shot?"
"Salt and lime?" Kagome offered. God, she was so dizzy.
"Give the girl a prize! Now then," Kouga said, gesturing to Caitlynn, who was slipping a lime wedge between her teeth, pulp facing out, "Caitlynn's going to help you take a proper shot. You lick the salt off her wrist, then take the shot, then get a good bite of lime to cut the tequila's edge a little. It's super easy."
"Uh," Kagome said flatly, "I have to bite the lime while it's in her mouth?"
"Part of the fun," Kouga said, handing her the shot glass, "You can do it, angel face. Can't she, boys?"
The crowd of guys erupted in a raucous cheer. Kagome started toward Caitlynn, staring down at the shot in her hands, then an all-too-familiar voice growled behind her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Okami?"
Inuyasha was dimly aware of Kagome turning to face him, looking like a child caught stealing from a cookie jar, but his attention was focused squarely on the tall, dark-haired man next to her.
"What does it look like?" Kouga said flippantly, placing a hand on the small of Kagome's back, "Showing her the ropes."
"Kagome, put the shot down. You've had enough," Inuyasha snapped, meeting her eyes for a brief second, then returning his glare to Kouga.
"What's up your ass, Takahashi?" Ginta Tesaki, one of Kouga's entourage of enablers, spoke up roughly, "Let the girl take her shot."
"Do you know who she is?" Inuyasha snarled.
"Yeah, she's your ex-fiancee's sister," Kouga said, "You trying to babysit or what?"
"Kagome, put the shot down."
"She's not a kid, Takahashi. She can do what she wants. You're being a hell of a stick in the mud." Kouga crossed his arms, still smirking.
"Kagome, put the fucking shot down now."
"No!" Kagome said, glaring at him hard enough to make him take a small step backwards, "Kouga's right. You're not my babysitter. You're not my guardian. I already have a big sister, I don't need a big brother to deal with too."
Big brother? This bratty, insufferable little-
"I was as good as your big brother, at one point," Inuyasha spat, "but I don't even know who the fuck you are right now. You're acting like an idiot, frankly."
Her glare intensified, and she darted forward and grabbed the blonde girl's arm, quickly running her tongue over the girl's wrist, then tipping the tequila down her throat and jumping forward to seize the lime from the girl's mouth into her own.
There were whoops and cheers from the crowd of young men. Kagome pulled the lime wedge out of her mouth and tossed it to the floor, wiping juice off her lips with the back of one hand, glaring daggers straight at Inuyasha.
"I don't want a fucking big brother," she hissed, slurring her words, "Not anymore."
How was it she was so good at finding the right way to get him right where it fucking hurt? It was infuriating. Kikyou had never even gotten this hurtful, and she was a master at it.
With an inhuman growl, he lunged forward and grabbed her roughly by the wrist. "We're leaving," he snarled.
She tried to shove out of his grasp, then promptly turned away and threw up on the floor, coughing and spluttering. Inuyasha kept hold of her arm. God dammit, Kagome.
Kouga stepped forward to intervene, but Inuyasha used his free hand to shove him hard enough to knock him stumbling back into the crowd of partiers. Said partiers moved to square up as well, but Kouga stopped them by raising his hands.
"Let me go," Kagome muttered, stumbling and almost falling to her knees, her head lolling heavily. Inuyasha held her up and lifted her back into a standing position.
She looked up at him, face still set in a defiant frown, eyes glazed over with alcohol.
Then her expression cracked into one of almost unbelievable sadness, so much so that Inuyasha was taken aback. She looked stricken. Her eyes welled with tears and she seemed to choke back a sob, never averting her gaze from his.
And then she seized the lapel of his vest and threw herself into his chest, crying audibly and uncontrollably. Instinctively, though he was absolutely flabbergasted, he closed a protective arm around her.
"Takahashi," Kouga said.
Inuyasha looked up, his expression murderous.
"Take her upstairs and get her cleaned up. Use my suite." Kouga pulled a key card from his pocket and whipped it at him. Inuyasha snatched it out of the air with his free hand, still glaring at Kouga, and scooped Kagome up in his arms.
There was a clicking sound, and Inuyasha turned to see several young partygoers and hangers-on holding their phones aloft, snapping photos. He fought back a frustrated snarl.
Inuyasha didn't have the time nor the inclination to question Kouga's actions at the moment.
"Where's the fucking private elevator?" he demanded, and Kouga pointed to his left.
"You sure you don't wanna dance, babe?" Miroku asked again, "It's a party; we should allow ourselves to enjoy it."
"No way," Sango said, tipping back her whiskey and smiling, "I don't dance, as a rule. Only at weddings, and even then, only if I'm forced."
"Well, how am I supposed to keep you entertained?"
"I can think of a few things," Sango said with a wink, sliding her foot against his leg under the table.
"I mean right here, right now," Miroku said, though she pleasingly noted how hot under the collar he now looked, "Oh! I got it. We can talk."
"Talk?" Sango blinked in surprise.
"Yes, talk. You know, that thing humans do. What's your favorite color?"
"...You want to know my favorite color."
"Yes, now tell me." Miroku massaged the back of her hand with his thumb and sipped his whiskey with the other hand.
"Pink, I guess…?"
"Okay, now you ask me one." Miroku smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"We're asking each other questions, getting to know each other. You know, like a real couple would."
Sango felt her stomach flutter. "A real couple? Houshi, we agreed we'd keep everything under wraps."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to publish your answers in the tabloids, babe."
Sango smiled, but she could feel the goosebumps forming up her arms. "We also agreed to keep it casual, Houshi."
"Who says it's not? I'd just like to know more about you than how exquisite your body is and how you can bend in pretty much every direction-"
"Okay, okay. Ask away. What do you want to know?" Sango grinned, elbowing him gently in the arm.
"Your Zodiac sign."
"Aquarius."
"Great."
"You have no idea what that means, do you?"
Miroku smirked. "Not at all. I just know you're supposed to ask that."
"Well, I'll tell you," Sango said conspiratorially, "My Zodiac sign is Aquarius, which means…" she leaned in close to his ear, "...absolutely fucking nothing."
They dissolved into quiet chuckles. He squeezed her hand again, and against her better judgment, she felt her heart thump.
"Alright, alright," Miroku said, breaking his hold on her hand to light yet another smoke, "Where are you from originally?"
"Hollywood, actually."
"Bullshit. All people from Hollywood are from the Midwest."
"No, it's true!" Sango said, laughing, "Born and raised here."
"Were you one of those little girls who dreamed of becoming a great star?" Miroku asked, offering her a puff of the cigarette.
She obliged, inhaling and handing it back. "Nope," she said, feeling proud of herself, "I wanted to become a bigshot instead."
"You're well on your way," chuckled Miroku, "Alright. What's your family like?"
Dammit. Deflect deflect deflect.
Sango shrugged. "Just like any other. Well, raised by a single mom, but other than that, nothing too interesting."
He seemed satisfied with the answer, and she had to refrain from letting go of the breath she'd been holding in one big whoosh.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kouga sidle out of the side room, looking a bit sheepish, his arm around the waist of a curvy blonde. He caught Sango's gaze and held a thumbs up, shrugging his shoulders.
"Bingo," she whispered, grabbing Miroku's hand and standing up, "Hold my train, we're leaving."
"Where are we going?" Miroku furrowed his brow and stubbed out his cigarette butt, "I really think we should check on Inuyasha and Kagome-"
Sango leaned in and blew a gentle cool breeze across his ear. "We're going to my place," she said, "and I'm going to fuck your brains out."
"Ah," he said with a gigantic smile, standing up readily and grabbing the train of her dress as requested, "Well, let's get this show on the road."
Kagome was stirred somewhat awake by a jostling motion. When had she even fallen asleep?
"What-" she started, then realized where she was, and in whose arms.
"Wake up, drunky," Inuyasha said, sternly but not near as harshly as he'd sounded before. He reached out with a damp white washcloth and gingerly wiped at her tear-stained cheeks.
"I threw up," Kagome said, leaning her head back against what she realized was the tile wall of a luxurious hotel bathroom. She was seated on the floor near the claw-footed bathtub, and Inuyasha was crouched in front of her.
"You did," Inuyasha grumbled, clearly concentrating on getting her face cleaned up.
"Where are we?"
"Kouga's suite, upstairs from the ballroom," Inuyasha said. His face was still screwed up in annoyance, but his touches were almost mind-numbingly gentle.
It just took looking at him to send fresh tears to Kagome's eyes, and her bottom lip began to tremble.
"Cut that shit out," Inuyasha said testily, averting his gaze.
"I just wanted…" Kagome trailed off, a single tear spilling from her eye and snailing down her cheek.
Inuyasha caught the tear with the washcloth. It was cool and soothing on her burning cheek.
She tried again, struggling with the words. "I just wanted to be my own person for once. I got invited and I said yes."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. She noticed he had rolled up the sleeves of his costly dress shirt and removed his vest. There was a grey-black smudge on the front pocket. My mascara, she realized with a grimace. The shirt was likely ruined.
"I know why you did what you did," he said, not meeting her eyes, "and I shouldn't have gone after you like that. But frankly, you've been confusing the hell out of me lately. You must have changed a shitload these last few months we were apart, and I guess I'm just trying to reconcile that fact."
"I've changed?" Kagome said, sniffling.
Inuyasha scoffed. "You're blowing off Kikyou, you're going out to parties with people you barely know. What's going on with you lately? You used to be the responsible one. The one we all could count on."
"Maybe I'm tired of holding everything up by myself," Kagome said, bopping her head against the tile wall with a sob.
Inuyasha said nothing for a moment, then stood up from his crouching position and offered her a hand. "Come on," he said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle, "let's get you home."
"I can't go home," Kagome said, shaking her head dizzily, "Kikyou will be so angry. I can't deal with her tonight." She hiccuped.
Inuyasha gingerly pulled her to her feet. "Then you're coming home with me."
Hi guys! I'm not dead I swear! Between the actual full-blown FLU, final exams, and a little tiny movie coming out called The Last Jedi, I've been a little out of sorts! Please no hate me. I promise my updates will be getting back to a good schedule now. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Reviews are always welcome and thanks for your patience! - meggz0rz