The It Couple
Chapter Forty-Eight
"Kikyou?" Sango called as she stepped into the front entryway. Hojo, in a very warm bathrobe and clearly grateful to be out of the rain, took her coat without a word and pointed down the hallway wordlessly. He looked very terrified and very out of sorts.
"Thanks, Hojo." Sango patted him a few times on the shoulder as she passed, "Why don't you get yourself to bed now? I'll handle her."
Hojo looked grateful, but he remembered himself and shook his head. "She wants tea," he said, "I have to get her tea."
"Well, go get it, and then make yourself invisible for a bit," Sango said with a kind smile, "You need a bit of a break. She seems to be working you to death."
Hojo was the kind of kid who'd never think of speaking badly about anyone, so he just nodded and wandered off to the kitchen to retrieve Kikyou's tea.
Sango walked into the hallway, rolling up her sweater sleeves for better movement. She'd changed into jeans when she'd stopped at her apartment, though her hair was still wet.
The door to Kagome's old room was open, and the lamp was on.
Ah-ha.
Sango knocked quietly on the open door, leaning inside. "Kikyou?" she said again, softly.
Kikyou was sitting in the center of the room on her knees, her evening gown's gigantic skirt spread all around her. The room around her was in shambles; she'd pulled all of Kagome's books and albums off the shelves, tossing them every which way. Sango knew enough about Kagome to know that she treasured her books and music, and once again she was glad Kagome wasn't here to see this. She might have had to pull Kagome off of Kikyou, and that little sister was a strong one. Sango had had a sore jaw for a week as evidence.
Kikyou didn't look up as Sango walked into the room. She instead let out a huff of breath and continued furiously typing into her phone.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sango crossed her arms and shut the door behind her with her back.
Kikyou shot her a brief glare and returned to her phone. "I'm...deleting...and unfollowing...every bit of evidence...of Inuyasha and that little tramp...off of my Instagram - hey!"
Sango snatched the phone from her and held it out of reach. "That would be a terrible career decision, Kikyou. Oscar voting is still open, isn't it? Do you really want twenty news stories tomorrow morning about how you unfollowed both Inuyasha and Kagome? Cause that's how many it would be. Twenty. At least."
Kikyou kept her glare up, but seemed to be hesitating and turning over the idea in her mind.
"What are you even doing here?" Kikyou snapped finally.
Sango crouched next to her, Kikyou's phone still in her hand. "I came to check up on you," she said, "and boy, am I glad I did. You almost just made yourself into a crazy amount of tabloid news without thinking it through first."
Kikyou sniffled petulantly and reached for her phone. Sango moved it away.
"Can I trust you to be smart about this? And undo everything you just did?" It was honestly like talking to a bratty middle-schooler. Sango needed a drink.
Kikyou pouted, but nodded, and Sango dropped the phone into her hand.
"If anyone asks, you were hacked and everything's fine."
Kikyou nodded as she started scrolling back through her Instagram, fixing the damage she'd just done. Sango watched over her shoulder like a hawk, making sure every little thing was fixed.
"This is ridiculous," Kikyou muttered, "Why her when he could have me? She's not even pretty, and she's obsessed with making a fool out of herself. What could he possibly be thinking?"
"He's probably still a little mad that you threw him over for Naraku," Sango supplied helpfully, suppressing a grin. Best not to mention that what Inuyasha and Kagome had was just about the cutest thing ever. No need to make the queen even angrier than she was right now.
"I threw Naraku over for him!" Kikyou protested, "So what's the problem?"
It's just that simple to you, isn't it? Whoever you want, you just get, with no repercussions?
Sango sighed. There was no getting through to her right now. "Anyways," she said, standing back up, "Now that I've prevented you from going nuts on social media, I just have one more thing to discuss with you, and then you should maybe go take a hot bath."
"What's that?" Kikyou snapped, as Hojo knocked and entered with a cup of hot tea on a tray. He knelt next to Kikyou as she took it, and then backed out of the room, sending Sango a brief terrified glance. Sango shot him a reassuring wink before he disappeared.
"The question of who you're taking to the Golden Globes, now that Inuyasha's clearly out."
Kikyou's face screwed up in utter fury and she threw the cup of tea into Kagome's old television set. It shattered.
"Cute," Sango said, sitting on the bed and crossing her legs, "but that doesn't answer my question. Of course, if it helps, I have a few suggestions for you."
Miroku had gotten Kagome all settled (he'd all but carried her inside, his knees trembling under the combined weight of both her and all her luggage) and was lying down for a merciful round of slumber when, of course, his goddamn phone rang.
"Sango," he mumbled grumpily, his eyes still closed, "I'm sleeping. Call me in the morning."
"Miroku?"
"Inuyasha?"
"I'm coming over. I can't sleep and I have to talk to you. Now."
"Oh, sure," Miroku said, rubbing his eyes, "Sleep is overrated, anyway. And you know I'm here to serve."
"This is important. It can't wait. A lot of shit's happened and I need your help."
"Of course you do. You always need my help. I'm surprised you can even tie your shoes by yourself."
"Fuck off, Houshi. See you in a few minutes."
"Yep." Miroku groaned and tossed his phone to the foot of the bed, grabbing a pillow and shoving it over his own face.
Several minutes later, the phone rang, and Miroku sat up, trudged into the kitchen, picked up the phone, and mumbled to the doorman to let whoever was in the lobby up. Then he sat, bleary-eyed, on the couch, waiting for the telltale knock on the front door.
Ah, there it was.
"I just told Kikyou to fuck off," Inuyasha said when Miroku opened the front door. He rushed past through the doorway and began pacing back and forth in the living room, his eyes darting back and forth.
"Sorry, what?" Miroku shut the door with a raised eyebrow and stared at his very famous friend, who was acting like an unleashed dog.
"Yeah, I did," Inuyasha kept pacing, "Well, more or less. I told her I'm not signing the contract."
"And how did she react?"
"She was mad. She left pretty quickly."
"Great. So we've got Kikyou on the warpath now. This could be bad. I'll call Sango." Miroku tied his robe shut and went to grab his phone.
"Sango already knows. She was there. She's going to take care of it, she said."
Miroku stopped, turned, raised an eyebrow. "She did, did she?" He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That explains the phone calls I've been ignoring."
"What the hell is going on with you two, anyway?" Inuyasha stopped pacing and turned to face him.
"Absolutely nothing. I don't know what you're talking about. I just had some personal business to take care of tonight and I didn't want to get distracted."
"What personal business could you possibly have?"
Miroku just smiled cryptically. "Want a drink?" he said, crossing to the bar.
"Hell yes." Inuyasha sank into an armchair with a sigh.
Miroku quickly mixed two Cuba Libres and handed one to Inuyasha. Inuyasha took it and drained a good half of the glass before almost coughing it all back up.
"Ugh, what the hell? This tastes like shit!" Inuyasha cried, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.
Miroku blinked at him, then looked down at his own glass, taking a tentative sip. He grimaced slightly. "So it does," he said coolly, "Guess the Coke's gone bad. Whoops." He turned back to the bar. "Guess we're doing straight whiskeys, then."
"Works for me," Inuyasha said, "You got any cigarettes?"
"Pack's on the balcony."
Inuyasha shoved himself through the patio door in a desperate attempt for nicotine.
"Miroku?" A small voice sounded from the hallway. Miroku, in the middle of pouring a few fingers of whiskey for his famous guest, turned at the sound.
Kagome stood in the doorway of the guest room, rubbing at her eyes, her hair a wild, tangled mess.
"I hate to ask this, seeing as it's your place and all," she mumbled, almost incoherently, running a hand through that tangled mane of curly, crazy hair, "but can you keep it down a smidge?"
"Of course we can. I'm sorry," Miroku said, putting down the bottle and glass and going to her to ruffle her wild hair, "Didn't mean to wake you up. I thought you were down for the count."
"Who's here with you?" she said quietly through a yawn.
"Inuyasha."
Her eyes widened for a split second, but sleepiness seemed to take over and she nodded complacently. "Oh, okay. That's nice."
"Do you want to know why he's here?"
Kagome was falling asleep against the doorframe, and she shook herself awake. "I told you, I'll worry about all that tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Night, kid." Miroku couldn't help the gleeful smile as she disappeared behind the closed bedroom door. He returned to the bar and finished pouring the drinks, then let himself out onto the balcony.
"So, Inuyasha," he said, handing his friend a drink, "Tell me all about what happened with Kikyou." His phone vibrated. "Actually no, tell me in just a second."
"Hello?"
"Houshi," Sango said, trying to keep her voice from shouting into the Bluetooth as she made a right turn, "I'm on my way over. I know you've been ignoring me and we don't have to address that. We can just forget about that right now. This is business."
"Is it now?" She could almost see his irritating, knowing smile through the phone.
Sango frowned and wanted to send a sniping remark over the line, but she knew that would have just fueled Miroku's fire. "Yes," she said, her voice even and professional, the tone that said she wasn't in the mood for any bullshit, not that he cared about that.
"Well, then," he said, "Come on over. Apparently no one observes normal sleeping hours anyway in this goddamn town."
She rolled her eyes and hung up.
"So, I realized almost immediately that that was what Kikyou had been gunning for this whole time. She doesn't want me, she wants the contract. She wants the fame. She wants the money. And she's always wanted that."
Miroku cut his eyes toward Inuyasha, who was leaning against the railing on the balcony, chain-smoking and drinking up a storm, his white hair blowing in the night breeze.
"So are you okay?" was the only response Miroku could think up. Inuyasha had rambled his ear off for a good twenty minutes and hadn't even seemed to stop to breathe.
Inuyasha stopped short, seemingly amused that Miroku had even asked this question. "Are you acting like you care?" he said, with a wry smirk and an inhale of his smoke.
"I actually do care," Miroku said, inhaling his own cigarette with a shrug.
Inuyasha took him in for a moment, then broke into a genuine grin. "Yeah," he said finally, "I think I'm just fine. In fact, I feel better and clearer than I have in a while."
"So what are we doing about the Globes?"
Inuyasha immediately scoffed. "Of course that's your first thought."
Miroku threw up his hands. "Hey, you pay me to be the mercenary one. But seriously, what are we doing about the Globes?"
Inuyasha pressed his lips together, staring out at the pitch-black horizon. "I guess it's too much to ask that I bring Kagome as my date?"
Miroku suppressed a snort. "You sure she'd even go with you?"
Inuyasha shot him a glare. "If she did, would you let it happen?"
Miroku gave a small grimace, and Inuyasha noted it, sighed, and gave a resigned nod. "Yeah," he said, "I figured as much. So what do we do?"
Miroku was unable to keep himself from fighting back a small chuckle, who knew why. Well, Miroku knew why. But damned if he was going to tell Inuyasha why without leading him along on a string for a good while first. Once a press agent, always a press agent.
"I have a good idea," Miroku said, "You know all those charities you sponsor?"
"Yeah?" It was Inuyasha's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Find a poor, lonely, sick kid to bring with you to the Globes, and I'll push the angle that you're making a grand statement for awareness and whatnot."
Inuyasha frowned. "That seems a little disingenuous," he said, cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, "even for you."
"You try and find a way to spin the fact that you and Kikyou are suddenly appearing separately on a red carpet and not have it look like a dramatic breakup."
"We were never fucking together," Inuyasha growled.
"That doesn't mean everyone wasn't eating up and you know it," Miroku said, "So we gotta deflect. Just deflect. Until the Oscar voting closes the night of the Globes and then who gives a shit."
"I don't care about the fucking Oscars!"
"So you've said," Miroku replied calmly, "Multiple times. But I do care about the Oscars. I care about your future career prospects. And I promise you, in the very near future and regardless of what further drama your personal life lends us, you will care too. This Oscar has your goddamn name on it. So pipe down, stay put, smile, and win the damn thing."
Inuyasha gave a dramatic scoff and glared out over the balcony. "What about Kagome?"
"Showing up solo. As per usual. Don't worry, she's a trooper and she's used to it. She won't throw a fit about it."
Inuyasha growled under his breath, stubbed out the remainder of the cigarette, and downed some more whiskey. "When does she get back, by the way?"
"No idea." Miroku kept his expression stonefaced and turned away to smile into his sip of whiskey.
Inuyasha leaned even further over the balcony, his hands clasped on the railing in front of him. There was a quiet moment as Miroku watched him close his eyes and let the wind hit his face.
"I don't care about any of this anymore," Inuyasha said, gesturing to the skyline below them, "I just know I want her. And I'll do whatever it takes to be worthy of her."
Miroku couldn't help it. He let out a full-on laugh of relief and happiness. "I thought you'd eventually see the light," he said, raising his glass to a bewildered Inuyasha in a sort of half-assed toast.
"Why are you so happy?" Inuyasha said grumpily, "This has to be throwing a wrench in all your evil plans."
"Oh, it is," Miroku said, "And I couldn't be happier for it. This has been a long goddamn time coming. About time you realized which sister was the better one. Although I still resent you for the fact you were spoiled for choice here."
Inuyasha's frown turned into an understanding smirk, and he turned back to the horizon over the balcony. "My problem now is I have to make everything right with her. Convince her that I'm for real this time. That Kikyou isn't even an issue anymore."
Miroku rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess that will be the tricky part," he said, "but hey. You're the most famous motherfucker in the world. If you can't convince a girl you're the best thing ever and she should sign up to be your life partner, who can?"
Inuyasha didn't look convinced, and Miroku almost thought of telling him to go ahead and let himself into the first bedroom in the left down the hallway, but then the phone rang.
"That'll be Sango," he said, slipping through the patio door and going to buzz her in.
Well, this little meeting is about to get a whole lot more convoluted and maybe even more adorable. We shall see. I'm so glad of the positive reception for last chapter! It warms my heart that you guys apparently smiled and/or laughed as much as I did when that chapter happened.
SONGSSSSSSS
Just one this time, for Kagome, and I think it's especially fitting. "Love On Top" by Beyonce. I am in no way a member of that infamous Beyhive but I have to say, my hometown girl KILLS this song and it's so great. :D
Love you guys and thanks (in advance) for reading and reviewing! I will also be cross-posting this to AO3 when I get time, just so's you know. Byeeeeeeee! - meggz0rz