The It Couple
Chapter Sixty
"...so anyway, congratulations, pal. I really mean that. Sure, we did most of the work, but…" Miroku winked at Sango before continuing the phone conversation, "...So are we going out tonight to celebrate? Somewhere obscenely expensive and full of debauchery? But not too much debauchery, considering you're still on the paparazzi's hit list right now…"
Sango lit a cigarette and took a drag, then handed it to Miroku, who took it eagerly as he kept chatting away.
"...Kagome left, you say?"
Sango sat up straight, fixing Miroku with a look of alarm. "She what?"
Miroku held up a finger to shush her as he listened to Inuyasha speaking on the other end of the phone. "...Well, that's kinda fun, isn't it?" he said eventually, "She went shopping, did she?"
Sango covered her face with both palms and took a deep breath.
"That sure sounds like Kagome," Miroku said, rolling his eyes, "Well, guess we'll see you both tonight then. Hopefully something terrible won't happen before then...hahaha, just kidding!"
He hung up and fixed Sango with a smirk. "Well, isn't this dandy. Bet you a hundred bucks I know where she's really headed."
"Fuck," Sango said, grabbing her phone, "I'm calling her."
There was no answer. Of course there was no answer.
"What do we do?" Sango mumbled into her hands, sinking back onto the pillows.
Miroku took a drag of the cigarette, thought for a minute, and ashed it on the bedside tray.
"We hope and pray she's not going to punch the bitch out in public," he said, sliding back onto the bed and enfolding Sango in his arms, "That's all we can do. A public catfight would be hot as shit, of course, but it would be devastating to our side of the story."
"That's quite a lot of cameras," Kanna mused, her face pressed up against the window of the car, sticking her tongue out at the paparazzi waiting outside Kikyou's gate.
It was a lot of cameras. No doubt bought and paid for to stand watch outside the queen's castle just in case there was a chance to milk the publicity some more. Kagome felt that fear bubble in her guts again, but shook herself out of it. Anger trumped fear of public humiliation every time.
As soon as she rolled the window down to try and punch the gate code in, the shouts of "Kagome! Do you have anything to say about your sister? Are you seeing Inuyasha? Were you seeing him behind her back? How do you feel about being labeled a homewrecker by virtually every gossip site?" were almost deafening. She ignored them, glad her eyes were shielded behind her sunglasses, as she reached past them and punched in the numbers.
It didn't work.
Of fucking course she changed the code. Of course I have to actually ring up to the house.
She pressed the buzzer, fighting to keep the scowl off her face. Kanna, to her right, was now making a ridiculous face at the paps by smushing her nose upward like a pig's on the window glass.
"Hello?"
Ah, and of course Kikyou answers the buzzer herself now, rather than making one of the dozen maids do it. She's probably been keeping the house phone near her at all times. This is so great. This is just fabulous.
"It's Kagome," Kagome said, keeping her tone polite and fighting to keep the malice out of it in front of the flashing cameras.
A prolonged pause. And then, "...Kagome? Oh. It's good to hear your voice again. I thought -"
"Can you let me in? I want to talk." Don't give her a chance to spin it her direction. Keep it short and simple.
"...Of course I will! I've missed you."
"Uh huh. See you in a minute." Kagome rolled up the window and waited for the gate to swing open, honking at the paps to get out of the way before she continued up the drive.
Hojo answered the door and Kagome and Kanna ducked inside before he could say anything.
"Oh! Miss Kagome. Um...I don't know if you should be here…" He looked around nervously.
"It's fine, Hojo," Kagome said, keeping her sunglasses on, "Kikyou let us in. I'm sure you're off the hook. Where is she?"
Hojo swallowed, then said, "She's out by the pool."
Kanna put her hand in Kagome's, a show of that quiet solidarity that Kagome was growing used to, and drawing on that strength was what helped Kagome take those steps forward toward the backyard.
Kikyou was in her strapless white bikini again, laying out in the sun, talking animatedly on the phone. If she noticed Kagome approaching, she gave no sign until Kagome plopped herself onto the adjacent pool chair.
She seemed content to keep Kagome waiting with her arms and legs crossed for a few more minutes, then hung up with a cheerful laugh and a promise to see whoever it was soon. With a small, bored yawn, Kikyou sat up and stretched, then fixed Kagome with a smirk.
"I see you brought your little mascot," she said, nodding at Kanna, who was standing directly behind Kagome. "How precious."
"She's not my mascot," Kagome said, irritated on how she was suddenly on the defensive. "I don't parade children around as props, unlike you."
Kikyou laughed and sank back onto her pool chair, crossing her long, tanned legs. "I'm honestly proud of you," she said, her voice sickeningly sweet, "I wouldn't have thought you had the nerve to show your face anywhere in this town."
"I just came to get the last of my stuff," Kagome snapped, "That is, if you haven't destroyed it all already. And to say what I have to say, right to your face. Rather than behind your back."
"You always were sanctimonious as all hell," Kikyou sneered, "Say it, then. I'm sure this will be good."
Kagome took a deep breath, feeling her heart pounding a mile a minute. "You're my older sister. You will always be my older sister, whether you and I like it or not."
Kikyou stared at her evenly, remaining silent. Kagome continued.
"But I have spent my entire life," she ground out, "pretending that my happiness is second to yours. Your needs always came first. I gave up college. I gave up a career. I even gave up on Inuyasha, when I thought you truly loved him and he loved you.
"And you threw me under the bus at the first possible opportunity. I just want to know if there was one small moment, anywhere in time, where you even loved me at all."
Kikyou raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you love bloodsucking mosquitoes?"
There was silence for a moment, and then all Kagome could say was, "Wow."
It was as if she'd been punched in the stomach.
Kikyou sniffed derisively and readjusted herself in the pool chair. "You can leave now," she said, her voice sounding as if she didn't have a care in the world, "You're blocking my sun."
Kagome stood up, her fists clenched. "Thank you for being honest," she said softly.
Kikyou closed her eyes. "I don't know what you expected, coming here," she said, "but I can at least give you some advice. You should probably go find some desert island and hide there for the rest of your days. You found true love, Kagome. Isn't it grand?"
Kagome turned on her heel and walked away, feeling the angry tears springing to her eyes but refusing to let her sister see them.
"You're a gigantic witch and I hope you grow hairy warts," Kanna said to Kikyou behind her, before running to catch up and taking Kagome's hand again.
Before they could rush back out the front door, they were stopped by Hojo, who had a box of random knick-knacks in his arms. "I thought you would want these," he said, looking over his shoulder toward the pool area, "I'm not really supposed to have saved these, but they're all that's left from your room -"
Kagome fought back a choked sob and kissed Hojo on the cheek, taking the box into her arms and looking over its contents. A few dented movies, her video game controller (no console, of course), and two smashed cameras that didn't look very salvageable. And some photos, including one of her and Kikyou on the day of Kagome's high school graduation.
She picked the photo out of the stack and handed it to Hojo. "You can keep that one," she murmured through the lump in her throat, "Throw it out if you want."
"Hi, Miroku."
The voice on the other end was subdued. It sounded like she had been crying. "Kagome?" Miroku said, "You okay?"
"Peachy."
"How did your meeting with Kikyou go?"
"...How did you - oh, right. Inuyasha probably said something and you drew your own conclusions."
"Ten points to you, sweetheart. You haven't answered my question." Miroku took a sip of coffee and tried to ignore Sango, who was perched over him like a hawk trying to listen in on the conversation.
"About as expected. I got the answer I needed. So now I can fully start embracing hating the bitch."
Miroku wished he could send a high-five over the phone, but he knew that it was neither the time nor the place to be gleeful.
"This is gonna be a hell of a month, darlin. The gossip sites are already trying to pinpoint when you two started 'sleeping around behind her back.' They've already identified you as the mysterious girl in the park all those months ago. Took them long enough, I guess."
Kagome didn't reply.
"I just wish we had some sort of damning evidence on her," he griped, more to himself and Sango than to Kagome, "Something to reveal her as the manipulative bitch she is. If she wants to play dirty, we can too. Taking the moral high ground hasn't worked, and plus, it's for pussies."
Sango nodded, leaning in to speak into the phone's receiver. "Wish you'd worn a wire to that bitch's house, Kagome," she said, with a small smile.
"Yeah." Kagome's voice was very distant-sounding. "Too bad. I have to go. Dress shopping was my alibi. See you guys later."
Miroku hung up. "Poor sweet kid," he said, staring glumly down at the phone in his hand. "She didn't sign up for any of this."
"At least we've got Naraku back in the picture," Sango said with a shrug, "Hard for Kikyou to look like the lonely little victim with that idiot in her corner. And you know he's going to go to the press, declaring his love for her all over again."
"Unless she asks him not to," Miroku pointed out, "She says jump, he asks how high. He thinks she's doing all this press shit for both of them. The poor, naive fool."
Sango frowned as if deep in thought. "Unless…" she said softly, "We can get to him in private when he gets back from Mongolia today. Studio's flying him in last minute. They were as floored by the nomination as we were."
Miroku smiled at Sango. He loved when he could practically see the wheels turning in her brain. "Oh, babe," he said, leaning up to kiss her, "I love it when you talk dirty."
"Your stuff is all broken," Kanna said, peering down into the cardboard box full of the remnants of Kagome's former life.
Kagome didn't answer, just took another bite of her sandwich and stared straight ahead. She was grateful for the oversized sunglasses hiding her tear-stained cheeks. Kanna, bless her, had just let Kagome cry for a bit without saying anything.
They were sitting on a park bench with seagulls all around them, clearly waiting for them to drop a morsel of deli sandwich. Kanna's four or five Belgian waffles this morning didn't seem to have dampened her appetite at all, and she'd devoured her own sandwich in about sixty seconds.
"The wicked witch broke your cameras," Kanna observed, lifting one out and turning it over in her small hands, "You should say a prayer that she gets struck by lightning."
Kagome gave a slight smirk, tossing the last bite of sandwich to the gulls and leaning back into the bench. "You say one for me," she said.
"I need a skull and a summoning circle," Kanna said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world, "but I'll do it as soon as I can." She wavered slightly in her seat, closing her dark eyes for a moment.
"You okay?" Kagome sat up and turned to her.
"Tired," Kanna said, "My medicine is super poisonous but it kills the bad stuff inside me. I find that interesting. Quod me nutrit, me destruit. That's Latin. It's a dead language. I want to learn more dead languages in college."
"Let's get you back to the hospital," Kagome said quickly, standing up and leading her to the car. "I'm so sorry I kept you out this long."
"Why?" Kanna asked.
"Uh, because you're not feeling well?"
"I'd feel better if I lived with you."
Kagome stopped in her tracks. "Wait, what?"
Kanna just fixed her with that stare. "The hospital is lonely and I have no friends. The nurses are nice but they have eyes of pity. I don't like pity."
Kagome, flabbergasted, tried to think of how best to reply.
Kanna blinked. "Is that a good enough reason?"
"Uh, listen. You literally just met us -"
"You can speak to Inuyasha if you want," Kanna said softly, playing with the hem of the tee shirt she was wearing, "It's his house. But what if you didn't let me live there and I died alone?"
Jesus H Christ, Kanna!
"I'll...think about it," Kagome said, feeling very nervous and awkward, "But no promises, okay?"
"That's fine," Kanna said, opening the car door and gently climbing inside, "Promises are often broken anyway. I would like black furniture for my room, please."
It was a very bewildered, silent car ride as Kagome got them back to the hospital. Kanna had spent the entire time going through the box, picking at everything like a curious treasure hunter.
"Do you want me to come in with you and get you settled?" Kagome asked as they pulled into the parking lot.
"No, thank you," Kanna said, turning a broken camera over in her hands, "I have a card key for the elevator. It's my magic pass into the land of dying faster than everyone else." She followed this with a pointed gaze into Kagome's eyes.
Lay it on a little thicker, kid, why don't you? Kagome gave a weak smile, unsure of what to say.
"Oh look," Kanna said softly, pulling something out of the camera, "The memory card is still intact." She pressed it into Kagome's palm.
"I don't think I want to look at any of those," Kagome said, frowning, "Those are probably from when Inuyasha and Kikyou shot 'The Red Robe.' Painful memories."
"The best memories are the painful ones," Kanna said pointedly, "Those are the ones that teach you things. Go look at them and draw mustaches on the wicked witch's face. That will make you feel better. That's what I did to all of Mayu's photos one day when she put ink in my tea. It felt like a beautiful blissful hole of darkness."
"...Okey dokey."
"See you soon," Kanna said, closing the car door and mouthing through the window glass what looked like 'Black furniture.'
"So what do you think?" Sango said, batting her eyes and trying not to burst out laughing, "I, for one, think it would be wonderful."
Naraku scratched his head, then eased into a confident, self-satisfied grin and leaned back in the passenger seat. "I think it could be cool."
"Excellent," Sango said quickly as she exited the freeway. She had oh-so-kindly volunteered to drive Naraku home from the airport for the studio, making sure to let it slip to Warner's goons that his flight time had been delayed so they would feed the false intel to Kikyou's end. She was probably on her way to the airport now, no doubt wearing what resembled more funeral attire, to be comforted publicly by the ex-boyfriend who she was now lauding to the press as the good ex in the situation. Sango felt like cackling her ass off.
"Now remember," she said, "The best surprises are true surprises. She'll remember it all the more if she has no idea."
"You're right," Naraku agreed heartily, "And the studio's really going to give us a movie together if I do it?"
"Not only that," she said, leaning toward him conspiratorially, "They're going to make it their headliner blockbuster of next Oscar season. Your careers have nowhere to go but up, up, up!"
Naraku exited the car ride looking very pleased with himself indeed. As she pulled away, Sango called Miroku.
"I think we got it, Houshi. See you in a few minutes for drinks and some wild celebratory sex."
Mwahahahaha. Just a few more pieces to the puzzle and this story is wrapped up! It kinda hurt my heart writing that last confrontation between Kagome and Kikyou. I can't imagine my own sister just not giving a shit for my entire life. But at least Kagome got that final closure, and she can start trying to heal and move on. With our dear, sweet Inuyasha's help of course. Lol, poor guy wasn't even in this chapter. I'm sure he's at home enjoying some champagne without a care in the world and no clue as to what's going on. Typical.
Also, Kanna would have been out of the story at this point if I didn't just love her so much. So I made her basically adopt herself in the most Kanna-like way imaginable. Hey, they're rich, they can afford fancy at-home healthcare, right? Hahahaha. I adore her.
SONGS!
Kagome - "You'll See" by Madonna (I know this is written from an ex-lover's perspective, but I think it works for estranged relatives too. Poor Kagome.)
Any theories on what's coming next? You know I love your wild speculations! Please review if you can. Love you guys! -meggz0rz