The It Couple
Chapter Forty-Six
"And the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor goes to...Inuyasha Takahashi!"
The ballroom erupted in applause, and Inuyasha did the familiar song and dance of standing up (after squeezing Kikyou around her shoulders in a sweet and familiar gesture, because he wasn't fucking stupid), buttoning up his jacket, giving a wave of acknowledgement to the crowd, then making his way up toward the stage, fielding handshakes and hugs from industry insiders all the way.
He took the award from the presenter's hand (a notable film critic whom Inuyasha was very, very glad to not have to address personally right now and let slip that he'd forgotten the guy's name), and stood at the podium, looking out into the well-dressed audience.
"Thank you very much," he said in a subdued manner, then at a pointed look from Miroku, he upped the enthusiasm.
"This is a very pleasant surprise," he lied smoothly, holding the statuette aloft, "I of course have to thank the Broadcast Film Critics Association for this honor. This movie was a very difficult one for me to undertake, and I'm very pleased that you all seemed to appreciate it." Understatement of the goddamn century. Difficult my ass. This was the worst fucking time I'd ever had on a film set. Sweating the entire time, sand up my butt crack, and all while Kikyou was having a torrid and all-too-obvious affair with that goddamn bodybuilding asshole. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and kept talking.
"My ever-present thanks to my agent, my friend, Miroku Houshi, and to Sunrise Studios for their continued support of my career." Miroku and Sango, sitting a few tables apart, seemed to glance sidelong at each other before raising their glasses toward him in a salute, thanking him for the acknowledgment.
He cleared his throat and continued, forcing the smile onto his face once again. "Special thanks, of course, to Kikyou Higurashi." He'd gotten used to this bit by now. Mention her name, applause applause applause, knowing smile to the crowd, move on. Kikyou, in the audience, smiled and blew him an air kiss. He looked away quickly and felt more like a whore than he'd ever felt in his life.
He wanted out of there. Quickly.
He was suddenly compelled by either a self-destructive or an altruistic part of him to thank Kagome. By name. Because she was the reason he was still standing here.
Is she even watching? Am I even a part of her life anymore?
"I'm very proud of this movie and all of its wonderful performances," he said, giving that extra little nod at Kikyou as per Sango and Miroku's gentle hints, "Thank you all very much again."
The music played him off, and the crowd stood up in an ovation as he walked offstage with one final wave.
Once he was hidden by the curtains, he slipped past the crowd of people, all of whom were whispering their continued congratulations and clapping him on the back saying stuff like "Well done! You deserve it!" and so on, and found a nice dark area to lean back against a backstage wall and let his head thump loudly against the brick. He sighed and closed his eyes.
"Kagome? What are you doing here?" Inuyasha came up behind her and ruffled her hair, shouting over the sound of the pounding nightclub music.
He'd brought a few buddies from the cast and crew out to have some drinks after taking them out for dinner, as a thanks for all their hard work and to apologize for the long day of shooting. It had been hell trying to get just one shot today; the dust had seemed to kick up and block the camera lense anytime they'd tried to film. By the end of the day, they'd got it, but they'd had to wrap up soon after when they started losing daylight. The crew had been in low spirits after that one; they were going to be yet another day behind schedule.
Kagome was sitting at the bar, leaning over a bottle of beer, her shoulders hunched and her face buried in one hand. When she realized Inuyasha was right behind her, she jumped, and the look she gave him when she turned to face him was one of both horror and sadness.
"Inuyasha…" was all she said.
"Thought you'd be at home with Kikyou," Inuyasha said with a smile, bewildered though he was at the stricken look on her face, "You know, refilling her wine glass and changing the volume on the TV for her since she's too tired to do it herself." He chuckled good-naturedly. She didn't return the laugh.
"What's wrong with you?" Inuyasha said, looking around, "Did you seriously come here all by yourself?"
Kagome's eyes seemed to fill up with tears, and she stammered out a few nonsense syllables before clamming up and shaking her head.
"Kagome?"
She looked up at him, those blue eyes wide and beautiful, her eyelashes dotted with droplets of moisture.
"Who's here with you?"
"You should leave," she whispered quietly.
"Leave?" Inuyasha raised and eyebrow and motioned over his shoulder to the crew guys, who were all gathering around the far end of the bar and ordering drinks, "We just got here."
Kagome glanced briefly at the group, then back at Inuyasha. "Please," she said, putting a hand on his forearm.
"What's with you? Seriously," Inuyasha bent closer, his brow furrowed, "Kagome, talk to me. What's going on?"
Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, a deep breath out.
"Here you go, miss," the bartender showed up right in the middle of all of this, pushing a tray with a bottle of Dom and two glasses across the countertop at her. She caught it with one hand and just gave a pained nod, then looked up at Inuyasha, looking like she was ready to cry again.
"Wait a second," Inuyasha said, "Is she here?"
Kagome didn't answer, just looked at him, sad as all hell.
Inuyasha cleared his throat and was immediately brought back to reality by another roar of applause from the muted crowd outside.
The award statuette was heavy in his hand, and he let it collide with the wall with a metallic clunk.
Miroku raised a hand to call for another glass of champagne, using the motion of the gesture to casually glance over at Sango, who was of course sitting at Warner's table, right next to Lana. Sango was wearing that same backless black dress again, the one she'd worn to no less than two other public appearances this season. Not that he was complaining, that dress was amazingly sexy on her. But it was sort of weird, what with her being so concerned with going all-out for the red carpet and so obsessed with press attention, that she'd let herself be photographed not twice, but three times in the same dress, even though they weren't exactly the ones the press were clamoring to see.
Miroku furrowed his brow and turned back to the table as his champagne glass was refilled. He took the glass in his hands, watching the bubbles swirl, his mind going a million miles an hour.
Something was going on with Sango. Something more than just job-related stress.
Maybe she has a new boyfriend who's got her all distracted.
For just a moment his guts recoiled in a brief, mad jealousy, then he let himself relax and let out a snort under his breath. Who was he kidding? She didn't even have time for him, and he saw her practically every damn day.
No, it was something else. Something he was now determined to find out. And let nothing else be said about Miroku Houshi but that he was good at finding shit out.
He cast her another glance out of the corner of his eye to find that she was looking right at him, and he quickly disappeared behind his champagne glass and then stood up to welcome Inuyasha back to the table.
"Well done, pal," he whispered as Inuyasha all but collapsed back into his seat. Onstage, they were presenting the award for Directing, so they had to be as quiet as possible.
Inuyasha just set the award in front of himself on the table, eyeing it glumly. Kikyou, of course, immediately leaned over in her seat and planted a kiss on Inuyasha's cheek, whispering what looked like "Congratulations" and maybe a few somethings more into his ear.
Inuyasha didn't reply or react, just stared at the award, his blank look slowly morphing into a contemptuous glower.
"Inuyasha," Miroku mumbled under his breath, "Fix your face. Photographers."
The grumpy look disappeared and was replaced with what looked like zen-like concentration once again.
Kikyou, for her part, seemed not to notice Inuyasha's clear discomfort and looped her arm around his as the stage was cleared once more and another presenter came along to present some technical award.
Finally, it was time for Best Actress. Miroku sipped his champagne as Kikyou seemed to cling to Inuyasha with even more fervor than before.
The presenter stepped up, gave the whole spiel about actresses being the guiding light that would bring the masses to enlightenment, all the wonderful bullshit Miroku had come to expect.
"And the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress goes to…"
Kikyou brought both her hands, and Inuyasha's hand caught between them, to her face. She was obviously trying to keep from hyperventilating.
"...Kikyou Higurashi!"
And there it was. The first actual award Kikyou had won this awards season. She'd been royally snubbed by absolutely everyone else (the lesser awards, of course), but here she was. She had a chance of snagging the Oscar after all. The Globes would reveal how much of a chance, of course, but still, there was a chance.
She stood, planted another loving kiss on Inuyasha's cheek (which he took with a mild smirk, like, okay, sure, let's just get through this bullshit), and walked through an applauding crowd to the podium.
"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed once she had the floor. Miroku called for more champagne over his shoulder, keeping his expression stonefaced.
"I am so honored," Kikyou said, cradling the award like it was a newborn child, "to be counted among the amazing actresses who stood here before me. I am so very, very proud to be a part of the women in Hollywood who are making a difference."
Miroku cast a look at the back of Sango, who was obviously downing a glass of wine or champagne or some such. Yes, the women who make a real difference.
"I of course have to thank my costar, and my most beloved, Inuyasha Takahashi."
Applause, applause. Miroku took his freshly-refilled glass and put a good dent in it.
"Inuyasha," Kikyou leaned forward over the podium, putting on that whole wonderful innocent and lovely act, looking right at the man sitting next to him, "You are the reason I'm here right now. And I know that you and I have been through a lot, but that doesn't change the fact that I love you. So very, very much."
Miroku choked on his gulp of champagne. Inuyasha looked briefly horrified, then eased into an awkward smile as the crowd cheered and applauded around him. Thank goodness he was a fucking professional.
Miroku cut a look at Sango as the applause roared. Sango looked over her shoulder at Inuyasha, an eyebrow raised, and there was a sincere look of disgust on her face before Warner seemed to call her name and that look disappeared and she was back to the ruthless woman scorned.
There was a strong urge to gaze after her like a lovesick puppy, but Miroku was able to muscle himself out of it and carry on.
"Thank you so much," Kikyou finished tearfully, clutching her award and being ushered offstage.
Miroku offhandedly wondered if Kagome was watching this.
He pulled out his phone and absently checked her Instagram. Quite a few new photos. Several shots of screaming crowds and stage lights and pandemonium, framed ever so nicely as only Kagome could capture it. A photo of Kagome with some of her Amsterdam buddies, standing outside of a cafe in the light of a lovely sunset. She seemed to have a new streak of color in her hair; it was either purple or blue but it was hard to tell with the lighting of the photo. And was that a tattoo on her arm?
Miroku couldn't help the smile that rose to his face.
No, she wasn't watching. She was busy giving the world hell. Just like he'd told her to.
"Takahashi!"
Inuyasha looked up from his post at the bar, waiting for the bartender to assemble the drinks he'd ordered.
It was Kouga. The last person he fucking wanted to see right now.
"Fuck off, Kouga," Inuyasha grunted.
Kouga seemed to take in the entire sight of him and smirk. "What's wrong with you?" he said, sliding up next to Inuyasha at the bar, under the almost numbing lights of the afterparty. "You just won your eighteen-thousandth award of the season. What could have you so miserable?" The fact that he'd phrased that just like Yura would have didn't endear him much in Inuyasha's mind.
"I said, fuck off."
"Where's Kagome?"
Inuyasha banged a fist on the table and turned to Kouga, giving him his full goddamn attention. "Why do you ask?" he said, dangerously softly.
Kouga noticed the display of hostility, blinked, and shrugged it off as he pulled a cigarette out and went to light it. "I've missed her. She's missed the last two awards shows, and people have noticed. What's going on?"
Inuyasha growled in warning, then reached out to snatch the freshly-lit cigarette from Kouga's grasp before the other man could even take a drag. He inhaled, then replied.
"She's gone. She's done. What more do you want? Should I write it out in crayon for you?"
Kouga looked genuinely bewildered, though Inuyasha guessed that wasn't the first time. From what he knew of Kouga, Kouga would look bewildered if you asked him to do basic math. Well, maybe not basic math. But Algebra II would have stumped him. Yeah.
"She dumped you, huh?" Kouga smirked.
Okay, maybe I've been underestimating him this whole time.
Inuyasha didn't answer, just took another drag of the stolen cigarette. "You say that like we were together."
Kouga lit another cigarette and leaned over on the bar with a knowing look that Inuyasha simultaneously feared and hated.
"Weren't you?" Kouga said softly, "I thought you were my biggest rival in this whole game. Apparently not."
Inuyasha abruptly turned to face him, and Kouga leaned back in an almost easygoing manner.
"So, what I'm taking from all this is, I can date Kagome?" Kouga said, taking a drag of his cigarette and blowing the smoke in Inuyasha's face.
Inuyasha stood up from the barstool and lunged for him, but he ducked out of it with an infuriating laugh.
"Takahashi," he said, clapping a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, "Your girl is looking for you." Kouga nodded up toward the roped-off VIP section, where Kikyou and Hojo were sitting, Kikyou's eyes trained only on the scene below her. "You'd better get up there."
"The fuck is your problem, Okami?" Inuyasha demanded, slapping his hand away.
"My problem," Kouga said, "is that you got an amazing girl right in your lap, and you're probably gonna win the goddamn Oscar. It's just not fair. The rule of averages should apply at some point."
And with that, Kouga walked away, with one last clap on Inuyasha's back that was way harder than it should have been.
Inuyasha looked up at Kikyou, who looked down at him with a smile and a wink.
"Congratulations, Inuyasha, and Kikyou," Sango said in turn, sliding herself into the VIP booth across from them, holding up her skirt to make it a little easier to maneuver.
Inuyasha sat there, Kikyou leaning against his shoulder, his expression almost muted. He simply nodded in acknowledgment. Kikyou, however, was excited.
"Sango," she said, sounding like a crazed teenager as she held up the award, "This is amazing! This is just like what you said! We're - well, we're-"
"Back in business," Sango finished for her with a gentle smile.
Kikyou smiled. "Just like you said we would be!"
I really wish you would shut the hell up.
Sango gave a surreptitious glance at Inuyasha, who had clearly picked up on the hints in the conversation and was sending her a very suspicious narrow-eyed glare. She pretended not to notice as Kikyou kept talking.
"Inuyasha," Kikyou said, turning to him and leaning even closer, a bright smile on her face, "How are you not freaking out right now? We just both got Critics' Choice Awards!"
Didn't have much to say when Inuyasha got LA and NY Critics Awards beforehand, did you? Sango took a delicate sip of her drink and lowered her eyes.
Inuyasha, for his part, seemed to lighten up a little at Kikyou's prompting and actually let himself smile. Well, not really a smile, but his face moved a little. That should count, right?
"This is all we ever talked about," Kikyou said, as if there weren't other people seated at the table who could hear everything she was saying, "Remember? When we were both auditioning for the-"
"For the silly indie movies with directors we'd never heard of," Inuyasha finished with a very subdued but perhaps genuine smile at Kikyou, "You're right."
Kikyou just gave a quiet squeal of delight and clutched Inuyasha's arm closer.
"Scoot over," a low male voice sounded behind Sango, and she immediately knew who it was and her heart started pounding as she did what she was told.
Miroku slid into the booth beside her, and when he seemed to land on the extra tulle material of her skirt, he gently picked it up from beneath him and lifted it towards her, without even a glance in her direction.
"So you both got Critics' Choice," he said to Kikyou and Inuyasha, who turned to look at him as he sat down, "Well done. But the fun ain't over yet. The Golden Globes will tell all."
Kikyou nodded in agreement. Inuyasha just raised an eyebrow and looked elsewhere.
Sango, from her seat beside him, felt Miroku's phone buzzing in his pocket, but he seemed to ignore it.
"Hojo," Kikyou said, holding her glass up, "I need a refill."
Hojo immediately sprang up from his seat and went to retrieve it.
"This is where the shit gets real," Miroku said, leaning forward, his hands clasped in front of him, and then he finally looked toward Sango for agreement.
Sending him a brief venomous look, she nodded and added, "It really is. The Oscar voting closes a few days after the Globes. So at the Globes, we have to put on the best possible front."
"Front? What do you mean?" It really was amazing, the way Kikyou could play babe in the woods like this. So innocent. So clueless. And Sango knew she was full of shit the entire way through.
"What we mean," Sango said, casting a glance at Miroku, who wasn't even looking at her, "is that this is where we do the official announcement."
"That we're back together?" Kikyou said hopefully, giving a wonderfully-placed and hopeful glance at Inuyasha.
"...If that's okay with both of you." Sango sent Inuyasha a meaningful look, but he looked so broken and out of it that she wasn't sure he was even reading her at this point.
"Have you mentioned the contracts?" Miroku said, leaning his head onto his chin and lighting the cigarette he'd just placed between his lips. He was still refusing to meet Sango's eyes and it was unnerving.
Kikyou's eyes flashed knowingly, but Inuyasha furrowed his brow. "What contracts?"
Sango cleared her throat. "Sunrise Studios, as a reward for all your hard work and commitment to the motion picture industry-"
"Cut the bullshit, Sango. Please. What do the contracts say?" Inuyasha gently pushed away from Kikyou and set up his own post in the corner of the booth, folding his arms across his chest.
Sango opened her mouth to reply, but Miroku cut in smoothly.
"Five years. Over ten mil per film. Complete creative control. You pick the projects. You get the basically unlimited budget."
Inuyasha's jaw dropped a little, until he remembered himself and sat back in his seat again, keeping his face neutral.
"Oh, my god," Kikyou said, as if she was just hearing of this now, "Can you just imagine it?" She turned to Inuyasha and all but pawed at his arm until he relented and let her cling to it. "We can control all of it. Whatever project we want, whenever we want. Just like you always talked about," she smiled demurely and swallowed before continuing, "...when we were just starting out, I mean."
Inuyasha was frowning at the tabletop, clearly puzzling it over. Sango couldn't blame him. This was a hell of a deal. Any actor's dream.
"This is for both of us, I take it?" Inuyasha finally said quietly, "Both me and Kikyou? Together?"
Sango nodded silently. Miroku took another drag of his smoke, his face impassive. Kikyou just snuggled closer into Inuyasha's arm.
Inuyasha sighed heavily. "I need to think about it," he said, his eyes finally meeting Sango's.
"Of course you do," Sango said, trying to be as understanding as possible. Miroku just sniffed as he ashed his cigarette.
"Houshi!"
Miroku looked up, squinting slightly from the chilly, misty rain that was falling. He tossed the remainder of his cigarette to the ground as his cab pulled up.
"Sango," he said genially.
"Do you think he'll take it?" she asked, both of her fists gripping her enormous skirts, trying and failing to prevent them from getting wet or dirty in the rain. Her hair was starting to get wet, a strand clinging to the side of her cheek.
He brushed it away nonchalantly. "If it's a good enough deal," he muttered.
Sango looked briefly confused. "He already knows it's a good deal," she puzzled, "What do you mean?"
Miroku just looked at her evenly, feeling his phone buzzing again in his pocket. "It's got to be worth losing something else. Something very, very precious."
Sango's eyes widened with understanding, and then suddenly she looked like she'd known this fact all along and had just been avoiding confronting it until now. "Yeah," she said softly, looking very troubled indeed.
"You want my opinion?" Miroku said, opening the cab door and turning back to face her, "Not that you ever did, but you want it now?"
She stood there, her dress slowly being ruined in the rain, her wet hair plastered against her forehead. "Yes." She looked like she had so much she wanted to say, and he was of half a mind to let her say it, but then again, he had somewhere to be.
"The deal isn't worth it," he said, and then he closed the cab door and sped away.
Finally, he could answer his phone without people breathing down his neck.
"Hey," he said, unable to help the smile rising to his face, "I got your messages. See you in a few hours."
Ohhhhh lawd. Poor little sad Inuyasha. Does he deserve it? Maybe a little. I still feel bad. Whatevers.
No songs this week. Have to wait til next time when the mood is better because I have the best Kagome song but it just isn't right to use here (since, you know, she wasn't actually in this chapter). Sniffle. I miss that kid.
Hope you guys like the chapter! Let me know what you thought of the flashback sequence; they're honestly so fun to write. There's so much that happened in this story before we even got here, ya know? Hahaha.
Please review if you can! It makes me so happy. Love you guys! - meggz0rz