The It Couple
Chapter Fifty-Nine
"Guess you're coming home with us for the night, then, kid," Inuyasha said as the three of them piled into the back of a limo waiting in the alley. He told the driver the address, then put the partition up and pressed two fists into his eyes, heaving a great sigh.
He heard Kagome's skirts rustling, and opened his eyes to see her situating herself next to him and laying her head on his shoulder. Her face was unsmiling, her eyes a little vacant. She was clearly not quite...there.
"I have an idea," Inuyasha said, "We should just make this a slumber party. Like the good old days. Snacks and pajamas and a horror movie."
Kagome's lips curled into a small smile and she seemed to relax slightly, just slightly, as she nodded wordlessly.
It was a few minutes of silence before Kanna spoke up.
"Are you two going to have sex?"
Kagome immediately seemed to choke on air, and she doubled over with a few enormous coughs as Inuyasha gently patted her on the back.
"What the hell kind of question is that?" he barked at Kanna, who was staring blankly at him, as usual.
"You're together, right?"
Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, who had righted herself and just gave him a wordless thumbs-up to tell him that she was okay. "Yeah," he said with a somewhat wistful grin as he reached out to brush some hair out of her face, "I'd definitely say that."
"Then why wouldn't you have sex?" Kanna asked, "Unless you're impotent. Are you impotent?"
Kagome burst into cackling laughter, rearing her head back and covering her eyes.
Inuyasha, torn between outrage and a small sense of relief that Kagome was still able to laugh a little after the wringing she'd been through tonight, just glared at Kanna, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. "I am not impotent - okay, you know what, I am not having this conversation with a child."
Sango felt ready to collapse.
She'd of course had to make a brief appearance at the studio afterparty, and even with the chef-catered hors d'oeuvres smelling wonderful, she'd been unable to stomach the idea of eating. Not with Kikyou holding court in the middle of the room and holding that Golden Globe like an infant child as she kept both Shiori and Mayu close at hand.
When Sango had arranged for their travels home after about an hour, both little girls had looked just crushed at the idea of having to leave the presence of their idol. Tearful, sweet goodbyes. Kikyou's whispered promises to see them soon, as everyone looked on adoringly. Even Warner had been so elated with what he called Kikyou's "brilliant show of likability" this late in the game that it hadn't even seemed to occur to him that Inuyasha's place was now firmly under the bus.
Sango had wanted to scream to the crowded room what a crock it all was, but she kept silent. Silent and smiling. And then at the first opportunity, she ran. Ran down the back alley and hailed a cab and sped away.
She stumbled through the hospital room doorway, feeling weighted to the floor by her Givenchy gown and rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm back," she mumbled softly, then she looked up.
Miroku was standing up, braced on the side of the bed, his arm still in the sling, dressed in what appeared to be hospital-issued athletic shorts and a tee shirt. The nurse, the one he'd called a dictator, was sniffing in disapproval as she held out a clipboard for him to sign.
"Hey, Sango," he said brightly, "Gimme a second. It's hard to sign these right-handed. Looks like chicken scratch."
"Wh-what are you doing?" Sango said, rushing up to try and support him. He was quite obviously having trouble standing.
"He's checking himself out," the nurse griped, "Against medical advice, I might add."
"Houshi, are you sure that's a good idea?" Sango asked hesitantly, gripping him gently around the waist.
"Of course it's not a good idea," the nurse snapped, "That's why it's called against medical advice."
Miroku just grinned. "Oh, Martha. I'm going to miss these little flirtations of ours. Have you told your husband yet, or are you going to keep me pining for you forever?" He signed the final form with a signature that looked like 'Markie Horsie'.
The nurse wrinkled up her nose in disgust, tossed a paper bag full of pill bottles onto the bed, and all but stomped out of the room, shouting, "You're free to go. Goodbye!"
"Really though, Houshi," Sango said, "Are you sure you're gonna be okay at home?"
"Hell yes," he said, "Home is where the HBO channels are. Plus, we're gonna need my high-speed internet to keep track of all the shit Kikyou's flying monkeys are flinging our way."
Sango just scoffed and rolled her eyes as she let herself curl up into the crook of his good arm.
"I'm glad you're here," Miroku said, kissing Sango on the cheek, "You can carry Ralph. Hand me that wheelchair over there in the corner."
Kagome had some comfortable pajamas on, her hair down, the makeup scrubbed off her face, and she was curled up between the man of her dreams and the little girl she was starting to just adore, with a movie on the television and a bowl of popcorn in her lap. She should have been feeling wonderful. Content. Happy.
And yet.
And yet, she couldn't help but keep glancing at her phone, trying to see what time it was. Three am. Just a few more hours until the announcements. The Oscar noms.
Inuyasha, for his part, didn't seem to be nervous like she was, just sort of sadly resigned to a bad outcome. He was clearly doing his level best to just watch the movie and have a good time, exactly like he had suggested they do. They were supposed to just try to enjoy their evening and each other's company. Kagome had certainly tried to.
And yet.
And yet, Kagome just couldn't shake the turmoil her mind was in. What were they going to do? How were they going to get through this? From the way Yura had sounded, and from the way Sango had looked so gray in the face, this was shaping up to be a huge cheating scandal. With her sister in the center of it all, playing the wounded angel part perfectly.
It made Kagome's blood absolutely boil.
Kikyou didn't want Inuyasha. She hadn't wanted Inuyasha himself for a long, long time. She wanted the attention she got with Inuyasha on her arm. She wanted to be Queen of Hollywood again.
And the fact that Kagome did want Inuyasha? Not the movie star, not the celebrity heartthrob, but the goofy dork of a guy underneath? And he wanted Kagome back?
Apparently too much for Kikyou to leave it alone. To leave them in peace. She clearly wanted them to suffer. And Inuyasha would suffer most of all. Kagome had been a nobody before, and if she had to escape Hollywood to be a nobody again, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. But to kill Inuyasha's career like this, his Oscar chances, his friendships, his public goodwill, all in one swift stroke…
Kagome realized her hands were shaking with rage, and she fought to steady them, glancing to her left. Inuyasha was just watching the absolutely awful horror film he'd chosen at random and lazily chuckling at all the most ridiculous moments.
She was almost frustrated with him. Looking at him, no one would ever guess how much his life had been potentially ruined tonight. Even in the heat of all of it, all he'd worried about was her, Kagome, and how she would be affected. And she'd reassured him, because of course she had. And now he was just watching a movie and shrugging it off. Because he'd believed her when she said nothing was wrong. She wanted him to be furious. He should be furious.
Feeling slightly dizzy and knowing she was overthinking everything and in no state to be doing so, she gently turned to her right, where Kanna leaned over the arm of the couch, her pale hair curled around her shoulders, having nodded off about half an hour ago. As gently as possible, she scooped the small girl in her arms and stood.
"I'm going to put her in the guest room, okay?"
Inuyasha made to stand up, reaching his arms toward her. "Here, let me take her."
"No, no," Kagome ducked out of his reach and made herself give him a reassuring smile, "I got her. You finish the movie, okay? I'm going to head to sleep too. Got a hell of a headache."
Inuyasha frowned, then nodded hesitantly. "If you're sure," he said, sitting back down.
"I'm sure," she said softly, heading off down the hallway.
She tucked Kanna in (when that girl slept, she slept) and silently made her way to Inuyasha's bedroom.
Only when she was safely under the covers and hugging a pillow for dear life did she let the angry tears spill out of her eyes.
"Hey, Kiddo!"
Kagome, aged nineteen at the time, had been buried in her clipboard, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. She looked up with a start, then smiled at him weakly. "Hey, Jerkface."
Inuyasha leaned against the wooden fence, letting the warm summer breeze blow across his face. "What are you doing all the way over here?"
She looked down at the clipboard and sighed. "I'm doing her Christmas card list."
Inuyasha lowered his sunglasses slightly, knowing he looked quite bewildered. "Kagome, it's the middle of August."
"Don't I know it," she said softly, tucking a stray curl behind her ear, "But you know Kikyou. She'll change her mind at least ten times before I get it right. So it's best to start early, you know?"
Inuyasha frowned, glancing across the courtyard, where Kikyou sat under a shady cabana, sipping a frozen cocktail out of a coconut shell. "But we're on vacation," he said.
"Correction - you two are on vacation. Go enjoy it!" Kagome gave him that don't-worry-it'll-be-fine smile that she was so practiced at.
Inuyasha was certainly trying. But Kikyou seemed content to just lounge by their private pool deck and go get massages at the hotel spa at least twice a day. There was a boardwalk just south of their hotel that he'd been dying to check out, and Kikyou had of course consented to go with him, but it seemed that she was putting it off as much as she could.
He sighed. He supposed he couldn't blame her. Being Kikyou Higurashi was no doubt a full-time job, and he couldn't begrudge her wanting to take some time for herself and recharge.
"Dammit," Kagome muttered. She'd broken the nib of her pencil. "I have to go back to the room to get another one. Do you need anything?"
Inuyasha grinned at her, ruffling her hair. "Yeah," he said, "I need an amusement park buddy. Come on."
Kagome protested, but not for very long, and soon they were buckled into a rickety wooden roller coaster, climbing to the top of a very precarious-looking drop. Kagome had her face in her hands and seemed to be praying to every god in every religion. Inuyasha just laughed.
And then they dropped. Kagome's arms both gripped Inuyasha's forearm so tight that he was sure she'd leave a mark. She was screaming the most incoherent and ridiculous things. Perhaps praying to all those gods had left her speaking in tongues. He, for one, couldn't stop laughing.
The ride ended, and Kagome stood up shakily, her curly hair streaming in every which direction. They exited, and Inuyasha reached out to help her along as they descended the path out of the ride gate.
"You okay?" he asked. Poor kid. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. It might have been too much, too soon. He should have started her off with the go-karts or something.
"That…" she whispered, still gripping his arm like her life depended on it, "...was AWESOME!" She jumped up straight and pulled him back around to the ride entrance. "Let's do it again!"
They went up a second time. Kagome still had her hands over her face, but this time, when she saw Inuyasha laughing, she started to laugh too, and playfully elbowed him in the side.
Inuyasha blinked his eyes open and realized he'd been smiling in his sleep. That had been such a good memory. They'd left Kikyou in the hotel cabana for practically the rest of the vacation, going surfing on the beach, renting a supercar to race around the city streets, doing drunken karaoke in a dive bar with the island natives in the wee hours of the morning…
Kikyou had of course been a little upset with both of them, and had coincidentally given Kagome a bunch of extra work the next week to keep her occupied and out of sight.
He reached across to kiss Kagome good morning and found only an empty spot. Grumbling a little under his breath, he stretched and rolled out of bed, making his way toward the faint noises in the kitchen.
He heard Kagome's voice once he entered the living room, and felt his heart thump like a teenager's again. That sound...every morning...in his home. It was all he had ever wanted. Even with the world outside surely going up in flames, he had this.
Inuyasha rounded the corner into the kitchen to find Kanna seated at the island, wearing one of Kagome's old concert shirts and some way-too-large shorts, with an entire Belgian waffle between her teeth, whipped cream, fruit, and all.
"You look like you're enjoying your breakfast," Inuyasha muttered with a smirk. Kanna just looked at him as she silently chewed.
Feeling that familiar awkwardness under the kid's steady stare, he pulled up a stool and grabbed a glass of what looked like fresh-squeezed orange juice. Nazuna and Kagome stood side-by-side over the stovetop, Kagome operating the waffle iron and Nazuna making what smelled like bacon and sausage.
"Morning," Inuyasha said, taking a generous gulp of juice.
Nazuna returned the greeting brightly and immediately sprang to bring him a plate. Kagome remained at the waffle-maker and glanced over her shoulder, giving him a weak but loving smile and saying nothing.
Inuyasha frowned. "You okay?"
Kagome just nodded reassuringly as she turned back around. "What time is it?" she asked quietly, staring down at the countertop in front of her.
Inuyasha pulled his phone from his pocket and checked. "About seven-fifty-five. Why?"
Without another word, Kagome rushed past everyone and into the living room, where she turned the TV on.
Oh, shit, right. Oscar noms.
"Come on, kid," Inuyasha said, clapping Kanna on the shoulder, "Let's go see how busy I'm gonna be this month."
"The Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film are…"
The person on the screen began reading off names, one by one. Kagome was holding her breath, she knew it. Even Inuyasha's head resting gently on her shoulder wasn't the source of comfort and relaxation it usually was.
Inuyasha seemed to notice. "Hey," he murmured, nudging the top of his head into the side of hers oh-so-gently, "Whether I get this or not, who cares? I have you. That's all that matters."
Kagome gave him a reassuring smile but felt like sinking further into the couch. You shouldn't have to choose. She felt like screaming with frustration once again.
"I've never seen any of these movies," Kanna said, balancing her plate on her skinny knees and digging into her third(? fourth?) Belgian waffle of the morning.
"No one has," Inuyasha chuckled, "Unless you get paid to."
"Oh wait," Kanna said, "I did see yours." She pointed to the screen, where the poster splash of 'The Red Robe' was flashing across the screen, accompanied by text announcing its nomination for Best Editing.
"Sucked, didn't it?" Inuyasha grinned and gave a playful wince, as if bracing himself for Kanna's hot take.
"It wasn't...good, no," Kanna said, and Inuyasha shot Kagome a knowing glance, still smiling, "But you were good in it."
Kagome felt her heart thump and wanted to curl into a ball hugging her knees and shut the world out for the rest of the day.
"Aw, thanks, kid," Inuyasha said, reaching to ruffle Kanna's hair. Kanna didn't reply, just took another bite of that waffle.
"Houshi, cut it out," Sango muttered, trying to push him away from laying another round of voracious kisses all over her neck. Not that she minded, of course, but she had to concentrate, dammit!
She grabbed the remote and turned up the TV, where the announcers were starting on the supporting actor awards.
"Wait, what the fuck?"
"What the fuck?"
"A nomination for...Naraku?"
"And now, the nominations for Best Actor are…"
Kagome felt her knuckles starting to hurt where they gripped her knees. Inuyasha ran his thumb over the back of her right hand, and she barely noticed.
The list of names was read off.
Sango and Miroku waited until it was over, then turned to look at each other silently.
"YES!" Sango flung her arms around Miroku's neck and kissed him. "WE DID IT!"
"OW! JESUS MARY AND JOSEPH-"
"Oh, crap, Houshi, I forgot!"
"You...forgot? You forgot my life-threatening injury?"
"Oh shut up. You know that's not what I meant. I just got so excited! We have so much to do! I gotta call Inuyasha and congratulate him!"
She reached for her phone, and Miroku's hand closed over hers. "I'd wait just a minute for that," he said, nodding at the screen, "There's still one more little detail we need to find out here. Give it, like, thirty seconds."
"Congratulations, sir!" Nazuna bounded into the living room and threw her arms around Inuyasha, who had bounded off the couch ecstatically when his name had been announced.
"Thanks! Holy shit, they did it. Those crazy idiots Miroku and Sango did it." Inuyasha was like a little boy getting his first video game system for Christmas.
Kagome had cheered more out of relief than anything, and had kissed him joyfully. She laughed as he picked Nazuna up and spun her around once. Then he turned to Kanna.
Kanna's facial expression, of course, hadn't changed, but she swallowed her bite of waffle and wordlessly held out a small fist for him to bump.
This made him double over in laughter before he completed the gesture.
There was so much commotion in this giant living room, the sounds echoing off the marble floors, that Kagome almost missed the sound of a very, very familiar last name being called out for the next category of nominations.
Almost.
She sighed, leaned back, closed her eyes. It was as she'd thought. Still Kikyou's day, even with Naraku's surprise nomination no doubt throwing everyone for a very confused loop. And unless something astronomical happened, it would be Kikyou's win. Over all of them.
The Best Picture nominations apparently also included 'The Red Robe,' because Kanna spoke up next to her. "That seems strange. It really wasn't a very good movie."
"No, but the money Warner threw around was good for sure," she heard Inuyasha chuckle. Nothing was dampening his spirits now.
"Champagne to celebrate!" Nazuna's footsteps were heard bounding out of the room.
Kagome felt Inuyasha settle back on the couch next to her, felt his arms circle around her shoulders, felt him kiss her cheek.
"You okay?" he whispered. He sounded genuinely confused. Of course he did. He was being the optimist to end all optimists.
"I'm fine," she lied, "Just a little tired."
"Well, let's get you coffee," he said, nuzzling her ear, "This is a day for partying our asses off. In my honor, of course, because I'm super important or something now. I'm gonna take you out on the town and we're gonna have a blast."
Kagome opened her eyes and stared up at him, unable to return the smile he was giving her. "I know you're going to think I'm horrible," she whispered, "but I'm-"
The TV suddenly blasted out that same last name Kagome was starting to regret having attached to herself. An exclusive interview. Kikyou Higurashi sitting down with Yura Kaminoke.
"What the hell?" Kagome sat upright and grabbed the remote to turn it up.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Miroku groaned, shoving a pillow over his own face.
His attempt to end it all was thwarted by Sango snatching the pillow away and shushing him as she leaned closer to hear the TV, her face set in a cold fury.
It was vicious. And so calculatingly brilliant. Miroku almost felt that old familiar pull of respect at the sheer gall it took to pull this off. It was almost worthy of Sango herself.
"Kikyou," Yura said, in that cross-legged serious journalistic pose with her face etched in simpering concern, "Your acceptance speech at the Golden Globes was wonderfully empowering. A call for women to not tolerate being treated badly and to lift each other up. You've taken this terrible time in your own life to reach out to help others, but how difficult was it to get up in front of all those people and basically admit you're the victim of adultery?"
Kikyou smiled softly, then looked aside, blinking back those tears that she always seemed able to summon at the most opportune moments. "It was extremely hard," she said, her voice shaking, "but I think it's important, especially in this business, to let people know that you're human. That you love and you lose, that you get betrayed, that sometimes people you think you know aren't who you think they are at all. It happens to me like it happens to you. And I thought a show of solidarity was appropriate. It happens too often. And it needs to stop."
Sango was chewing on her thumbnail, glaring at the screen. "This bitch," she muttered into her hand, seemingly to herself, "This fucking bitch. Aired the interview right after the noms to be certain everyone important is watching."
Miroku agreed with her, and felt once again like kicking himself. He'd underestimated the lengths Kikyou would go to to make herself into the poor, cheated-on angel in this situation. They all had. And every time they thought she was done, she pulled some other evil little trick out of her hat.
The interview continued, with vague mentions of Kagome and how Kikyou just felt so hurt, how she'd called her sister several times just trying to understand why Kagome had felt the need to betray her like this (another bold-faced lie), how all she wanted was to salvage some sort of relationship with Kagome somewhere down the road, but she wasn't sure it was possible…
"Turn it off," Inuyasha said, clearly a little miffed but trying to shake it off, "We don't need to hear that shit. Let's all just be happy right now." He grabbed the remote out of Kagome's hand and shut off the television.
Kagome had her hands clasped in front of her, and they were shaking again.
"Kagome," Inuyasha said, taking her hands in his own, "I meant what I said. I don't care what they do anymore. All I care about is you. So let's just relax and enjoy the perks and party favors for the next few weeks."
Kagome didn't reply, just stared down at their intertwined hands.
"Besides," he chuckled, clearly trying to lighten the mood, "from what it looks like, this is the last Oscar nomination you and I will ever have to worry about, right?"
"Kanna," Kagome said, trying to avoid shouting, "Should I take you home?"
Kanna turned and looked over her shoulder, her dark eyes giving Kagome a once-over before she seemed to get the hint and nodded slowly.
"Okay." Kagome forced a smile and kissed Inuyasha as she stood up. "Let me get dressed and I'll take you."
Inuyasha made to follow her into the bedroom, and Kagome stopped him with a hand on his chest. "No, you stay here. Drink some champagne. I need to pick out a dress if we're going to go party tonight, right?"
His look of confusion faded into a grin of delight.
A few minutes later, Kagome was pulling out of the driveway with Kanna riding shotgun. "So where should I drop you off?" she said conversationally.
"It doesn't matter," Kanna said noncommittally, "I'm legally emancipated from my parents. They live in New York. The hospital will be just fine."
At Kagome's stunned silence, Kanna turned away from where she had been gazing out the passenger side window and fixed her with that unblinking stare. "Or we could go together. If you want. To do whatever it is that you had to find an excuse to leave the house for."
Kagome swallowed, hesitated, and nodded. "Just so you know," she grumbled, turning out of the gated drive, "What I have to do isn't gonna be pretty."
"Good," Kanna said, turning to look out the window again, dressed in one of Kagome's shirts and some denim shorts, turning up the hard rock playing on the radio. "I find pretty things to be extremely overrated."
Poor Kagome. She's got that side of her that doesn't like to see anyone she loves get hurt. Quite the mama bear, that one. She ANGERS.
This has been quite the month for me. My poor sweet boyfriend got in a motorcycle accident (he's okay though, just a broken collarbone and some broken ribs...sighhhh we were very very lucky) which quite understandably distracted me from writing for a bit. Yay for things starting to get back to normal in the whirlwind that is my life, though!
SONGS!
Kagome - "Rose-Colored Boy" by Paramore (THIS SONG IS A BOP, MAN. And it fits so well right now. Kagome like "INUYASHA GET MAD PLZ BECAUSE I FEEL WORSE THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO JUSTIFY ALL THIS HORRIBLE STUFF INTO BEING OKAY")
Inuyasha - "One Foot" by Walk the Moon ("All that we have is each other...")
Miroku and Sango - "Ship to Wreck" by Florence + The Machine (they kinda made their own bed and now the bed's on fire so this will be interesting to watch, right?)
Love you guys! Hope you enjoy this latest chapter. Please, if you can, tell me what you think! I love all of your reviews and I read every single one of them with great joy. What are your theories on where the Kagome and Kanna Express is headed? I guess it's fairly obvious, but hey, whatevs.
Laters! - meggz0rz