InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Marriage of Convenience for Whom? ❯ Television Smokes ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. That adorable puppy show belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Productions.

 

A/N: See? I can still update. *Shoulders slump*

Also while I was writing this, I kept feeling a bit confused. I ran it by Beatrix, but if you ever wonder which Kagome/Kikyou or Inuyasha is which PLEASE do not hesitate to let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I can.

 

stormie_pe and every one else who reviewed: Thanks for the motivation.

 

I am really really lost on the plot for this one; I have basically forgotten it. I had most of this chapter written over the summer, but couldn't decide what should happen next. I really want to finish this fic because even though it is a horrid piece of shit, in direct comparison to my other stories I think its one of my better ones, and still has some potential. So while I'm on break from the jaws of school, I'm going to go back, re-read it and try to come up with a usable outline—one I will not lose or miss place. Har.

 

Chapter 9

 

Kagome smiled at the guy leaning across the table so he toy with a lock of her hair. He smiled at her, and her grin couldn't help but widen.

 

He twirled the dark curl around his finger for a moment before sliding his fingers up to tuck the strand behind her ear.

 

Kagome blushed and giggled when he leaned even closer to brush a quick kiss over her lips.

 

“Inuyasha,” she murmured and latched onto one of his white forelocks to draw him in for another, longer lip lock.

 

When he pulled back again, Kagome couldn't help but notice something about him was amiss. It confused her.

 

His hair was long and white as always, but she quickly noticed his ears—the soft puppy triangles—were missing. The hanyou had human ears and his eyes were the bright violet of a non-demon. Yet he still had the fangs and claws of a hanyou. Her mind could not quite wrap itself around this fusion of the two Inuyashas.

 

She blinked and the man before her changed again: hair turning inky black and eyes blinking to amber. White ears poked out of the dark hair, but the claws and fangs were replaced with duller human versions.

 

“Kagome,” he breathed. In spite of confusion, Kagome smiled at him.

 

“Kagome.” His voice seemed more urgent.

 

“Kagome! Christ, if you don't get out of bed this instant—”

 

Kagome shot up in bed, breathing hard. She wasn't sitting in some small cafe staring into the loving eyes of Inuyasha; she was in her room in Kikyou's house with a miffed Sango looming over her. Her sister's assistant was impeccably dressed as always, her long hair falling loosely over the tight black button up shirt that hugged her curves. A black skirt matched, and one her shiny black heels was already tapping impatiently.

 

“May I be the first to offer my congratulations, Miss Higurashi?” Sango smirked down at her as she passed Kagome a morning tabloid. There was a heavy sarcasm in her tone that Kagome found rather reassuring. At least someone could make a joke about the entire mess.

 

Taking the paper, Kagome pushed herself up so she could lean against the headboard. “Thank you, Sango.”

 

Sango only grunted in return. She was busily tapping on her palm pilot, balancing the device on her clipboard. “Alright Kagome, the wedding is in a month so we have a lot to get done.”

 

Kagome froze. “A month?” She dropped the paper in her lap, crushing the seemingly happy picture of her and Inuyasha from the night before.

 

Sango paused in her actions as she looked at Kagome over the rims of her tiny reading glasses. “Is that a problem?”

 

Her attempted to sound confident failed, “No, not at all. Its just so…soon.”

 

“Kagome, this is Hollywood. People have extremely short attention spans. If we waited any longer everyone would get bored and it would all be for nothing. Sorry, but it has to be now or never.” Sango's voice took on a tone that reminded Kagome painfully of an annoyed teacher explaining a remedial lesson to an extremely slow pupil.

 

She tried to recover some respect in the eyes of the older woman. “Can everything be arranged in a month?”

 

Sango smiled cunningly. “That's the perk of being in Hollywood. Everyone rushes to help a star who wants to get married in a hurry so they can cash in too. I could have you guys hitched in a week with all the fan fair the executes drool over—the extra time is only to draw out the suspense.”

 

Her head dropped back down to the schedule on the screen in front of her. “We need to get you dressed so you can go on the morning talk show circuit with Inuyaa…shaa…SHIT!”

 

“What?” Kagome asked nervously.

 

“I put one of Kikyou's appointments down as yours. She's supposed to do the morning shows because a few of them are going to talk about the movie and for some reason one wants Kikyou to reenact a stunt. Looks like you have the morning off, kid. Consider it a snow day,” Sango spoke slowly as she continued tapping on the screen. “I will be back after lunch though. You have to get measured for your gown.” Looking up, she smiled at Kagome. “We've had hundreds of designers call since last night. Everyone wants to have Kikyou wearing their dress on her wedding day.”

 

Kagome looked down at her hands. She knew whichever gown Kikyou and Sango chose would be beautiful, but she was the one who was going to have to live with and wear their decision. I don't even get pick out my own wedding dress.

 

She looked up to find Sango staring at her. “It will ultimately be Kikyou's choice which gown goes down the aisle Kagome, but you can have a say in which one you want.”

 

A broad by very goofy grin spread over Kagome's face. Shopping for a wedding dress was like a cool balm for the ache she had been feeling since the night before.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Kikyou knew Kagome was upset. She knew things had not gone well with the proposal even if everything looked flawless in the eyes of the press. Inuyasha had fucked up again somehow and hurt Kagome. It made her want to do what she did to all of Kagome's erring boyfriends: make him suffer. Nothing would give her greater joy than to pin the prim-Madonna actor to a wall by his throat and as he slowly choked to death, she would make sure he didn't fuck around with Kagome, emphasizing her points by burning cigarettes into his flesh. It would be a waste of smokes, but for Kagome she was willing to make the sacrifice.

 

Her murderous thoughts were giving her trouble. She couldn't keep her hands from shaking as she sat beside Inuyasha on the couch. All she wanted to do was light up a fucking cigarette, suck it dry, and when it was almost gone, put it out in her costar's groin.

 

The fantasy of Inuyasha howling in pain was cut short as the talk show host directed a question at her. Something about the “deeper meaning” of the film. Kikyou had to stifle a snort. Their film had barely had a coherent script much less any meaning.

 

She went for the old stand by: “I don't know, Bob. I feel like there are so many levels to this movie, everyone can find their own meaning,” she winked at the host, grinning as the aged man blushed.

 

Far too easy, Kikyou purred in her mind. She allowed her thoughts to drift back to torture and mayhem.

 

XXXXXXXXXX

 

Inuyasha was watching the woman on the couch next to him. Was she drunk? It was like the night before hadn't happened at all to her. Or perhaps it meant nothing to her.

 

Why should it mean anything? It was all arranged, all fabricated and it shouldn't mean anything.

 

But it meant something to him, and the night before he had thought it meant something to Kagome. When he had set the ring box down in front of her, she had been…happy. Then of course he had been an ass and opened his mouth. He had seen the disappointment wash over her in slow motion at any imaginable depth in his words; he had been able to see, with a physical jerk, when she turned on her charm for the cameras. It was like she had wanted to be happy, but couldn't be.

 

Maybe because she hates you, a tiny voice whispered in his head.

 

He had been though this before—ever since the night before Kagome had called the phone line he only gave when he was a hanyou. She said she needed a friend. What did that even mean for him, the man she was engaged to?

 

Kami, this was a confusing mess. Confusing as fuck.

 

XXXXXXXXXX

 

Without Sango or the stagehands noticing, Kikyou smuggled her tiny cigarette purse onto the stage of the second morning show. The first one had been agony, listening to that crusty only man drone on and on about “importance” of their movie's “message”. Then there had been the endless questions about “their” wedding. Where was the ceremony to be held, who would be there, where were they going on their honeymoon, why was she supposed to fucking care? Sitting next to the man who was being a fucker to her little sister was not helping either.

 

Their second show for the day was for the teen crowd. Kikyou hated kids. She gave her cigarette pouch a squeeze to reassure herself.

 

“If you start smoking on stage, they'll flip,” Inuyasha warned. They had about five minutes before taping began and they were sitting side beside on a gigantic, overstuffed covered in a disturbingly long coat of purple fur.

 

Kikyou snorted so loudly several of the sound guys looked up to see where the noise had come from. “Why do you give a fuck? Its not like you're my husband or anything,” she cooed and leaned over, grabbed his chin and forcefully kissed him on the cheek.

 

Inuyasha tried to fight her off, but she only laughed at him, her nails still digging into his skin. “Oh Inuyasha,” she gave a husky whisper as she let him go. She had always like to fuck with him.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

Inuyasha's mind felt like it was on fire. What in the fuck was going on?

 

But he knew the answer before he even had to ask: Kikyou was playing with him. Toying with him like she always had. There had been a time when he had been infatuated with her sexy confidence, her apathy of other people's feelings.

 

Now it made him sick. Why couldn't she just be like Kagome all the time? Why did she have to keep up the constant bitch act?

 

He stole a look at her from out of the corner of his eye. She had hidden the cigarette purse between them and was easing her its clasp open with one hand while at the same time keeping a watchful eye on the people around them.

 

Inuyasha looked at her hand, the long, smooth fingers tugging on a white cigarette. The diamond in her engagement glistened under the bright studio lights.

 

Wait a second…

 

He had picked the ring up before the date he had been supposed to go on with “Kagome” otherwise he doubted he would have put half as much thought into it. Inuyasha couldn't say he had agonized over the decision, but he had spent more than a few minutes tugging on his hair in frustration while loudly cursing the gods who made so many damn rings that all looked the same, but were just different enough to make it impossible for him to chose the right one.

 

In the studio, under the stage lighting, he was sure as hell the right Kikyou was wearing was not the right he had given her the night before.

 

He opened his mouth to say something, demand an answer, but the host—in all her midriff-pierced glory—had taken her seat and they were counting down the seconds until they would be on air.

 

Inuyasha considered reaching into the cigarette pouch stuck between him and Kikyou and joining his costar in her addiction.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Sango watched from the wings as Inuyasha and Kikyou were grilled for the third time about their new movie. She was bored and frustrated as they were, her mind on the many other things she could and needed to be doing at the moment. The only reason why Kikyou insisted she be there was to make sure the make up girls were doing their jobs.

 

Looking to the other side of the stage, she noticed someone in the wings opposite where she was standing. Tall, dark, dangerously handsome…she knew she had seen the man before, but couldn't place him. Even the black suit with its purple shirt and tie set looked familiar. The man kept watching Inuyasha, occasionally mouthing some of the actor's answers along with him. Obviously he was here with Kikyou's costar, but why was he so familiar?

 

Shrugging the feeling off after filing the man's face in her mind, Sango when back to cursing the clock.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Kagome watched dismally from her bed as Inuyasha and Kikyou chatted on the television about their up coming movie and marriage. She was both tired and emotionally drained from the night before.

 

Cringing, she remembered her call to Inuyasha, the hanyou. What had she been thinking? He didn't want to talk to her on normal footing, much less hear her problems.

 

Kagome clicked off the television at the sound of a knock on the door. She called for the person to enter and instantly Sango appeared in the door's frame.

 

“Not even out of bed yet?” Sango purred. The good mood of her sister's assistant was calming to Kagome's mood. She shook her head in response.

 

Sango checked her clipboard again. “We need to leave soon to be at the dress maker's in time for your appointment. Today they're just going to take your measurements and then we can start looking for gowns.”

 

XXXXXXX