The It Couple
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ding-dong.
"Pizza's here!" Kagome called to the kitchen, where Miroku was grabbing more ice. She heard him walk to the front door.
She sat on the very nice leather sofa, wearing a tee shirt and pajama bottoms and her hair in a bun, nursing her third drink of the evening and staring at the DVD menu for "The Shining" waiting for them to hit play.
Miroku reentered the room, dressed in his own comfortable robe and balancing three large pizza boxes, which he slid onto the coffee table.
"What kind did you get?" Kagome said eagerly, all but pouncing on the boxes.
"I don't remember," Miroku slurred, "Hold on, ya filthy animal, let me at least get you a plate and napkins. You're gonna ruin my couch."
Kagome removed her hands from the pizza and held them above her head, taking another sip of her whiskey sour in the meantime.
Once they were properly outfitted with all the flatware and spill-proofing they'd need, Miroku flopped onto the couch beside Kagome and hit play on the remote.
"I love this fucking movie," Kagome commented through a mouthful of cheese-and-sundried-tomato pizza.
"It doesn't suck," Miroku said with a smirk, taking a huge bite of whatever monstrosity he'd ordered. It seemed to have mushrooms, bell peppers, and fresh jalapenos, among other things. Kagome didn't envy his stomach lining.
They'd already gotten through the first third of the film when Kagome felt her phone go off. She jumped to answer it, and when Miroku laughed at her own eagerness, she rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh," she said, feeling slightly deflated as she checked the caller ID, "It's just Kouga. Probably drunk-dialing again."
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Kagome Higurashi," he said in a mocking, scandalized tone of voice, "You're quite the little social butterfly, aren't you?"
Kagome groaned. "Shut up," she said.
"No, I'm serious!" He playfully elbowed her in the shoulder. "Not one, but two A-list actors vying for your attention? How do you manage it? Blackmail?"
"So help me, I will smother you in your sleep."
He laughed and took another bite of pizza.
"Here are your cigarettes," Nazuna said testily, tossing them across the kitchen island at him.
Inuyasha looked up from the bottle he was batting across the countertop from one hand to the other. "Thanks," he muttered, opening the pack and lighting one. He was pretty damn drunk, and it was doing a fantastic job of numbing his soul right now, which felt like a fucking open wound. It felt like fucking road rash. Like someone had cut him open and poured lemon juice into the cut.
Was he being dramatic? Well, maybe. He was an actor, after all.
"Just do me a favor," Nazuna said, dropping the car keys onto the table, "If you're going to kill yourself, one, find a quicker way, and two, make sure you die outside so I don't have to look at your corpse."
Inuyasha scoffed. "Now you're acting pissed at me," he took a swig of the bottle, "Is this just I-Hate-Inuyasha Day, or what?"
Nazuna sniffed and said, "No. But I do hate what you're doing to yourself. Have you even eaten anything in the last several hours?"
Inuyasha raised the bottle to answer her question, and she sighed.
"Alright, I'm making you a sandwich. For Miss Kagome's sake. If you died of alcohol poisoning, she'd never come over anymore."
Inuyasha scoffed, but there came the pain train again. He tried calling her again. No answer. No way to leave a message.
He buried his head in his hands.
"So that's where I'm at right now," Miroku said, taking another swig of his whiskey sour, "Hopelessly attached to a woman who's hopelessly attached to the job. I'm not sure which of us wins the misery game, but we're close, right?"
Kagome was actually on the verge of tears again. "That's - oh my god, that's so sad, Miroku!"
The movie played on in the background, long since forgotten. Miroku took a drag of his cigarette. "You're telling me," he said grumpily, "It's all my fault she's like this. I taught her how to play the dirty game. I just never thought that a girl that young and inexperienced would take to it like a fish to water the way she has."
"So she's ignoring you now?"
"We're both sort of skirting the issue," Miroku said, "But it's fine. I'm sure eventually she'll miss me. Or she'll delete my number from her phone altogether. One or the other."
Kagome's lips were curled into a pout of true sympathy. "Oh god, Miroku. I'm sorry," she said, flopping back drunkenly into a reclined position on the couch, "I have to say, you've been a lot less power-mad and dangerous this season than you ever have been."
Miroku disappeared behind a cloud of smoke. "Getting to know Sango, it was like, I was suddenly ashamed of who I was. Don't get me wrong, I'm still the best, and I'm a heartless bastard, but…" He trailed off for a moment. "She makes me want to be better. For her sake as well as mine. And I want her to be better too."
Kagome all but squealed. "God, that was a good line. Yours?"
"All mine. Best talker in the biz, kid, remember?"
She giggled and took another sip of her own drink.
"I'm still a little mad at her," she confessed, "but hearing you explain it from your end makes me...well, it makes me understand her a bit better, if that makes sense."
"For all her posturing and skill, she's still a kid too," Miroku said, "She's going to learn eventually that you can't get so emotionally involved or obsessed with outcomes. That's a bad habit when paired with ambition like she's got."
"Yeah," Kagome said, and they both fell silent for a while.
"Anyway," Miroku said, "You tell anyone what I just said about wanting to be a better man, and I swear I'll retroactively amend your contract to include televised appearances every single year for the rest of your life."
"Good luck with that," Kagome smirked, "I'm getting the hell out of town after all this. I'll send you a postcard every Christmas, though."
"Morning, Kagome." Sango was there to greet her at the door of the TV studio, holding out a coffee. Her entire manner was utter friendliness. Kagome knew she still felt bad about what she'd done and was going overboard to make up for it.
"Thanks," Kagome said gently, taking the coffee and sipping it. Anything to soothe this aching head of hers. Maybe she could do the whole thing in her sunglasses? Eh, probably not. Oh well.
Before Sango could say anything more, Yura Kaminoke, dressed entirely in hot pink, all but ambushed her.
"Good morning, dear!" Yura threw her arms around Kagome's shoulders and gave her extremely loud air-kisses on the side of each cheek, "It's so good to see you! Love that outfit, by the way."
"Thanks," Kagome said dully, looking briefly down at herself. Miroku had suggested dressing up as Kagome-like as possible ("Send the message that you're the one doing her a favor, not the other way around," he'd said), which meant a full-black ensemble of black skinny jeans (ripped at the knees of course), black skull-print tank top, and her trusty old combat boots. Kagome shrugged off her leather jacket and draped it over a nearby couch, dropping her backpack next to it.
"Let's get you into hair and makeup," Yura said, looping her arm through Kagome's, "I'm just so excited! I get to introduce you to the world, properly this time!"
Kagome forced a smile on her face.
"So we're definitely on board with the whole punk-rock, heavy metal styling thing you've got going on here," Yura looked her up and down, "It's a good contrast to your, shall we say, more glamorous big sister?"
Kagome shoved her hands into her pockets and didn't reply.
"This is Mayu," Yura pointed out a girl barely out of her teens wearing a belt with all manner of hair and makeup tools tucked in it, "She'll take good care of you. Mayu, I want her looking like a rock goddess. Understood?"
Mayu looked way too excited for her own good as she gently ushered Kagome into the makeup chair.
"Okay, so I'm sure you've seen how this works," Yura said, sitting in front of Kagome and crossing her legs, a notepad in her lap. "I ask you questions, and for editing purposes, try to remember to rephrase the question in your answer, okay?"
Kagome, her hair twisted and braided into almost Viking-style plaits, her eyes ringed with smoky black, simply nodded and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees.
"You look amazing, by the way!" Yura seemed very eager to kiss her ass. "We didn't even need to style your clothes at all! You've got quite the personal style, don't you?"
"That's certainly one way of putting it," Kagome said with a small smile, "My sister would call it 'trashy.""
Yura gave a polite laugh and quickly turned to her notepad. "All right, Kagome, let's get started."
"Five, four, three…" The cameraman counted down.
"...Good afternoon, all you lovely people at home! I'm Yura Kaminoke, sitting here with the girl everyone's been talking about for weeks - Kikyou Higurashi's baby sister, Kagome Higurashi! Thanks for being here, Kagome!"
"Thanks for having me," Kagome said warmly. Just off the set, right behind Yura's right shoulder, Sango gave her a grin and a thumbs up.
"So the first question I have for you is what's been on everyone's mind - just where in the world have you been hiding?"
Kagome fought back a laugh. "Uhm…" She glanced at Sango, who nodded for her to continue. "Well, until recently I was employed as my sister's assistant, so now that I'm about to move away, Kikyou wanted me by her side during this year's awards season."
Sango looked a little surprised at the 'about to move away' part, but Yura pressed on.
"How sweet! What's it like, being Kikyou Higurashi's younger sister?"
Sango mimicked pointing a gun at her own head and blowing herself away and Kagome couldn't help but smile brightly.
After what seemed like thousands of questions about Kikyou, about Inuyasha, about Kikyou and Inuyasha together, about her favorite 'Kikyasha' movie, and on and on and on, Yura finally leaned in. "Okay, Kagome, that's the important stuff out of the way. This next part's all about you. I'm going to send you some rapidfire questions. Don't think too hard, this is all lighthearted fun, all right?"
Nothing you do is ever lighthearted fun. "Okay." Another warm smile. Killin' it.
"Chocolate or vanilla?" Yura began.
"Chocolate." You should win a Peabody Award for reporting. Fuck Syrian refugees, you've got the real news here, don't you?
"Favorite movie?"
"'Man Bites Dog.'"
"Not one of your sister's films?" Yura looked a little downtrodden.
Kagome swallowed. "Well, I doubt she'd name one of her films as her favorite, either. It's very different when you're on-set making the thing every day, right?"
Yura sniffed. Sango just nodded at Kagome and shot her a wink. Kagome couldn't help the smile.
"Bucket list goals?"
"I want to be a photographer. And live in paradise." Her smile turned into a grin.
"Fashion inspiration?"
"...Judas Priest and Lita Ford."
Yura blinked, then continued. Over her shoulder, Sango raised her eyebrow and smirked.
"Ooh, here's a good one. Celebrity crush?" Yura's eyes glinted hungrily. Sango's eyes widened to the size of teacup saucers.
Oh god oh god oh god INUYASHA no I can't say that Yura's gonna try to spin this to her advantage so it should be someone I know at least a little Leo DiCaprio no I'd have to meet him at the Oscars and that would be so awkward hmmm Jason Momoa no he's married that's so rude who do I say who do I say -
"Kouga Okami." Oh, shit. Now I done did it.
"REALLY?" Yura looked like a great white shark who'd just smelled blood. "You don't say! You went with him to the Hollywood Film Awards a few weeks ago, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did," Kagome rushed to recover, "We're really good friends."
"But you have a crush on him, do you?"
"Uh-"
"That's so sweet! You actually look great together."
"I-"
"Anyway, moving on," Yura ticked down her list. Kagome glanced at Sango, who was looking like she could be knocked over with a feather.
"God dammit," Kagome said, taking refuge in her coffee as she and Sango stood in the elevator making their escape, "Did I really just say that?"
"Yeah, why did you say that?" Sango pulled out her phone to text Miroku...something. She wasn't quite sure what to say, which wasn't anything new. She put her phone back in her pocket.
"It was the first name that came to mind!" Kagome growled, "I can't exactly name who it really is, or you'll have an even bigger mess to clean up and you might turn on me again."
Sango winced slightly. Kagome obviously still wasn't eager to think very highly of her even though they were now on at least cordial terms.
"Listen," she said, "Don't worry about this. This is a little blurb that will run for all of three minutes on Yura's pre-awards show. It's not like anyone's going to be paying too much attention."
I think. I hope.
"Anyway," Sango said, "Do you have a dress for the LA Critics Awards?"
"Not yet," Kagome said, "But I assume you have some ideas?"
Sango swallowed. "I do."
"Alright, I'll bite. What are your thoughts, Sango?" Kagome leaned against the elevator wall, an eyebrow raised.
"Well," Sango said, feeling that awkward tension rear its ugly head, "Since the narrative is now that you're the alternative, rebellious, rocker sister, why not actually own it? Show up in that dress you wore to the premiere afterparty. No one in the press saw you in it, and even if they did, it's a nice look to be thrifty when everyone else is wearing dresses that cost more than cars."
"I can't exactly do that," Kagome said, "Not after what I just said about Kouga on TV."
"Why not?" Sango asked. The elevator dinged and they both walked into the studio lobby.
"Because," Kagome said, looking sheepish, "that dress was a gift. From Kouga."
Sango stopped walking. "What?"
"Yeah. For some reason I don't think calling him my celebrity crush on Yura's program and then wearing the dress he bought me to these very public awards would give him the right impression. Or give anyone else the right impression, either." Kagome slipped her sunglasses back onto her face.
Sango's immediate first instinct was to tell Kagome to go ahead and wear the dress. That would at least turn the press attention away from what were sure to be awkward moments between Inuyasha and Kagome that night and instead run with a cute little mutual crush storyline instead.
She looked up and saw that Kagome was standing there, her arm up to hail a cab, staring straight at Sango with a stony look on her face, almost like she had seen the wheels turning in Sango's head. In her all-black ensemble with her hair wild and braided, Kagome looked so fucking cool right now. Self-confidence was a good look on her.
"You know," Kagome said, "I'll be very excited when I'm done with all this and gone forever. You and I could have been good friends if you weren't constantly trying to sell me out."
She got into the cab and drove away, leaving Sango standing there feeling like a speck of dust that wanted to just blow away in the wind.
"Can I just talk to her for two seconds, please? She's not answering any of my calls or texts."
"No can do, Inuyasha." Miroku grabbed a slice of leftover pizza out of the fridge and flopped onto the couch. He was still in his pajamas at three pm. Today was a good day. "She's not here. She went to the Yura interview this morning."
The door opened and Kagome walked in, looking positively fantastic.
"What did you do to your hair?" Miroku asked through a bite of pizza, a bemused look crossing his face.
Kagome smirked at him. "It wasn't me. Looks pretty dope though, huh?"
"If I were a lesser man I would fall at your feet."
"Wait a second, is that Kagome? Miroku LET ME TALK TO HER!"
Miroku held up his phone. "It's Inuyasha," he said to Kagome.
Kagome's smile fell and she immediately once again looked like the shy, unsure Kagome he was used to.
"He wants to talk to you," Miroku said with a shrug.
Kagome's eyes filled with tears and she reached out to take the phone.
Hooooo boy. Miroku and Kagome are bros for lyfe. Sango is still in the doghouse, even if just a little. Inuyasha is a foolish man. Kouga's about to get some interesting news. What else is new. LA CRITICS AWARDS NEXT CHAPTER. Much fashion. Many drama. Such cute. Wow. - meggz0rz