Hollywood Whore

Chapter 15: Abandoned for the Better

He wasn’t sure how it happened exactly, but one moment he’d been making up the most absurd lie of his life and then the next he was left sitting in Hollywood Whore’s dressing room by himself.

Sesshoumaru cringed as the memory of how he’d ended up here replayed over and over in his mind without a shred of remorse for his ego.

“No- I- Actually, Mother, I have a girlfriend. ...her name? Well it’s... Inu... zumi... Aiko...” Sesshoumaru had muttered as lowly as he could, studiously avoiding any and all eye contact with the girl next to him as his own eyes widened slowly with dawning horror of what he’d just uttered.

A piercing shriek sounded throughout the area as both Inuzumi Aiko and his mother yelled out identical screeches of “WHAT!?”

Sesshoumaru flipped his cell shut the next moment and turned to start explaining something he didn’t quite understand himself- though really it wasn’t necessary, it was none of Inuzumi’s business and had absolutely nothing to do with him panicking and blindly grasping for words that would make his mother cease in setting him up with random females just so her own mind would be put at ease.

But as he tried to give some kind of excuse that made an ounce of sense Inuzumi Aiko merely turned around and silently walked down the alleyway route they’d taken into the venue earlier, apparently too scandalized to even verbally berate him for his incompetence.

Between entering the building and sitting on the leather couch inside the band's green room, Sesshoumaru had absolutely no idea where anyone else was, and for all anyone knew- other than that insufferable Inuzumi Aiko- no one was even aware he was still here. Sitting alone. Like a fool.

 

A highly rare moment of pure anxiety hit Sesshoumaru then.

Perhaps everyone had gone about their business, shutting everything down, cleaning the venue, packing up the band's equipment and or abandoning him like Inuzumi did when she glared at him in reprimand, and hissed, "Stay" before slamming the door shut and disappearing earlier...?

 

And that had been at least a half hour ago.

 

Sesshoumaru sighed irritably as he sat back and turned the impossibly large TV in front of him on, the default channel causing him to perk up almost immediately.

 

The new music video of Hollywood Whore's next single, the one they'd filmed here in Edopolis and previewed earlier during the concert, blared to life on the wall sized screen. Eyes successfully tunnel visioned, Sesshoumaru fell into the hypnotic rhythm of the song, eyebrows raising in quiet shock as he recognized one of the buildings the band was performing on top of.

 

"Impossible... He would have said something..." Sesshoumaru whispered to himself as he continued to watch the video play out, a few more generous shots taken on top of the skyscraper his father worked in.

 

Suddenly the door slammed open with unnecessary gusto, startling the youkai who only just managed to catch himself from jumping as he instinctively hit the mute button and turned in his seat to face the room's sudden new occupant.

 

"Ah! Here you are! We were afraid you might have left already," Houshi Miroku said as he walked casually into the room, not bothering to shut the door behind him.

 

Sesshoumaru could do little more than stare at the worldwide rockstar as he leaned against the back of the couch and grinned at him. "I'm sorry?" the demon said uncertainly. He had absolutely no idea what the human was going on about.

The grin on Houshi Miroku’s face slipped off awkwardly as he blinked down at Sesshoumaru confusedly. “Well, Aiko left....”

“She...” Sesshoumaru repeated slowly, more so to himself than the drummer, as he seemed to look passed Miroku with disbelieving eyes.

“Left. Yeah. She was going on and on about having to plan someone’s death in the very near future and said she had to get home. But don’t worry! I had Kouga take her back to her place, so she’s safe-” Miroku paused, considering. “...enough, anyway.” He shrugged, none too concerned.

"She said nothing else?"

 

"She... did leave a verbal... farewell for you..." Miroku said, looking off to the side like he hadn't wanted to admit that.

 

Sesshoumaru remained quiet, waiting.

 

The drummer grumbled to himself, and, shoving his hands into his pockets, mumbled, "And I quote, 'Peace out, motherfucker!'"

 

The demon's brow twitched. Yes, that absolutely sounded as vile as the girl herself where manners were concerned.

 

"I see," was all the youkai found he could appropriately reply with.

 

Miroku laughed the awkwardness of the moment off as he rubbed the back of his neck. "In any case, 'm glad he decided to take time off from his many adventures here in Japan to join us, otherwise you'd be stuck calling a cab or walking all the way home by yourself! I mean, not to sound rude, I'd take you home but I've got a party to go to on the other side of town-"

 

"..." Sesshoumaru's mouth flopped a bit, not fully understanding the American. Don't get him wrong, his English was supremely good, but when someone native to the language started rambling like this it would be hard for even someone like his father- who'd adopted English as his second language- to grasp all the concepts the fast speaking American was jabbering on about.

 

He? He who? Was the drummer speaking in English or talking in circles? Sesshoumaru couldn't really tell and instead just nodded his head in mock understanding.

 

"Damn, Miroku, leave the guy alone already; he looks about ready to have a panic attack," came the sudden voice of something sincerely close to heaven. Sesshoumaru slowly turned his head to the side as another person entered the room. That person being none other than Takahashi Inuyasha-san himself.

 

"Heya," the hanyou grinned, walking further into the room to stand in front of Miroku. The two high-fived and exchanged pleasantries as Sesshoumaru attempted to fasten his eyeballs back in his head as he took in the half-demon's ensemble.

 

A surely toned torso covered in a form-fitting muscle t-shirt that was covered by a nicely worn leather jacket, while his lower half was encased in snug black jeans.

 

"Hey, Sesshoumaru, long time no see."

 

Somewhere off to the side, long forgotten by either of the white-haired youkais, Miroku snickered. Sesshoumaru didn't notice at all however as he moved to stand up.

 

"Takahashi Inuyasha-san," the demon breathed out in greeting as he bowed low, golden eyes staring sightlessly at the floor in both wonder and absolute horror.

 

To have his idol see him looking like this? With a black eye and cut lip from his earlier encounter with Mikuni Kouga- never mind him being the reason that whole thing happened? And all because of a careless comment he'd made? It made this moment both shameful and embarrassing instead of exhilarating like it should have been. "I..."

“Alright, enough out of you,” Takahashi-san said suddenly, glaring over at his friend.

Sesshoumaru blinked back to reality, completely missing anything the two had been talking about.

“Aren’t you late for some party?” the hanyou questioned somewhat irritably as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Right. The party.” Houshi Miroku stifled another laugh as he grabbed his coat and started to leave. “See you later, man,” he said to his friend before turning shining violet eyes on Sesshoumaru. “Nice to see you again, too. Night-”

Takahashi Inuyasha slammed the door in the drummer’s grinning face, hearing a loud curse outside thanks to his efforts, and smiled to himself, proud. Turning back around, the half-demon paused, blinking. “Uh, sorry about that,” he apologized.

Sesshoumaru could only nod dumbly. Takahashi Inuyasha-san and he were alone in a room. Together. Again.



"Whoa, you okay? I was only joking before, but now you really do look like you might start hyperventilating. Here take this," the half-demon said as he handed Sesshoumaru a glass of water, taking a seat on the couch and motioning for the other to do the same.



Sesshoumaru sat down, staring at the water in his hands for a while before his manners came back to him. "Thank you," he said quietly then, taking a sip to try and calm himself down. What was wrong with him? Usually he was able to effortlessly converse with others of considerable... wealth, power and beauty, easily. But now...

“So, what’d you think?” the hanyou said suddenly, breaking through the demon’s thoughts.

Sesshoumaru had the grace to blush lightly as he caught the half-demon’s questioning eyes.

They’re so gold...

“Sesshoumaru?”

The youkai bit his tongue, chastising himself for falling into fantasy when the real thing was right here in front of him.

“I apologize, I was lost in my thoughts. What did you say?” he admitted rather sheepishly. And only for him would I lower myself to this... he mentally added. Never mind being reduced to this... he sighed, feeling defeated by his own feelings.

Takahashi Inuyasha-san stared at him oddly for a moment, making the demon’s heart nearly jump in his throat before he responded, composed as ever.

“The music video we shot here in Edopolis, I assume you got to see the preview they showcased tonight?”

Oh, that’s what he was referring to...

“No, actually. I was side-tracked by a... slight altercation earlier, so during the showing I must have missed it.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I did, however, watch it while waiting here for Inuzumi-san...” Sesshoumaru continued, motioning to the TV that continued to replay the music video mutely. The screen played a moment longer before another thought occurred to him. “That building there,” he started saying as the skyscraper came into view. “My father works there,” he said simply.

The half-demon’s brows rose as his mouth dropped open. “S-seriously?”

“Hai,” the demon nodded, curious of the reaction he received.

“Heh,” Inuyasha snorted, leaning back into the couch as he settled his feet on top of the coffee table like the mannerless Westerner that he was. And all Sesshoumaru could do was stare because this was Takahashi Inuyasha-san, King of the Mannerless Westerners (as Sesshoumaru’s mother referred to him as), and he couldn’t bring himself to really give a fuck like he usually would have where decorum was concerned because the hanyou rockstar made it look abysmally appealing in a way only he could.

The demon swallowed, forcefully looking away as he tried to concentrate on what the guitarist was currently saying once again.

“...but seriously, poor guy. Your dad works for a man with a serious case of hardassery,” the half-demon chortled to himself.

“Hard... assery?” Sesshoumaru’s brows furrowed. “I’m unsure of what that term means.”

“Uh, a hardass?” the half-demon tried. “You know, someone that’s difficult to negotiate with? Extremely stubborn?”

“Ah,” the youkai’s face lost its previous consternation.

“Mhm, it took us more than a week to get the company’s CEO to let us shoot part of the video on top of his building.”

Hn. Father never mentioned this, and as much as I’d like to think otherwise, my family is at least partially aware of my... extreme interest in the band. I’ll have to ask him about it when I get home, Sesshoumaru thought, frowning.

“Anyway, I- uh, guess I should get you home since you were kind of abandoned here,” the half-demon blushed, sitting up and looking at his hands.

“Hai, Houshi Miroku-san did mention that Inuzumi-san was... unhappy with me and left, though I’m not entirely sure why,” the youkai murmured, unable to look away from the silently sputtering guitarist. Why on earth is he so embarrassed? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? the demon wondered, still entranced.

“Uh, yeah, well... she’s sorta pissed at you for telling someone that she’s dating you... so she split.”

Sesshoumaru felt the blood drain from his face, and quite possibly out of his entire body. Takahashi-san... knew? He thought it couldn’t have gotten much worse than being left to get home on his own but Inuzumi Aiko, but now his idol actually knew he’d told his mother that they were dating? He could only hope the rockstar didn’t believe it...

“We aren’t dating, I just...” God, how much more mortifying could this get?

The half-demon snickered as he stood. “Don’t worry about it. From how I heard it, it sounded more like you were trying to cover your ass for something and just used the first person you could think of. I really doubt Inuzumi cares either.”

Sesshoumaru visibly sighed.

“Though I should tell you while she doesn’t really care, that doesn’t mean she’ll let it go easily. You should prepare for her payback, however that’ll come,” the hanyou added, almost as if he was enjoying it. “In any event, she left, which is why I’m here now.”

Sesshoumaru stared, not understanding the connecting reason (though if he really thought about it, he didn’t really care about the reasons).

Takahashi Inuyasha stared back.

“So... yeah, I’m just here for... damage control, I guess.”

“Oh.” Oh? Could that have sounded anymore asinine?

A few more moments of uncomfortable silence ensued. “Right. Well... Aiko mentioned you guys were going to walk home together?” the hanyou tried again, flipping the TV off and walking toward the door.

Sesshoumaru finally came back to himself and stood as well, nodding. “That was the original intention, though I was going to walk her home. It’s inexcusable to allow a young woman to walk by herself at this time of night.”

The half-demon seemed to stifle a snort. “Well, I guess that makes you the girl in this relationship tonight, Sesshoumaru.”

Sesshoumaru stopped dead in his tracks, face coloring as those words sunk into the filthiest part of his mind. “I... I’m sorry?” he nearly wheezed out. Somehow breathing was entirely too difficult to do right now.

“I’ll be the gentleman tonight and walk you home,” Takahashi Inuyasha-san smiled, amusement twinkling in his eyes as he gestured for Sesshoumaru to walk out first. The demon obeyed blindly, not sure if he was awake or dreaming at this point, and not at all regretting the single, seductive thought that passed his moral reserve as his eyes dipped south of the hanyou’s leather jacket as he walked passed him to get another door.

I don’t think I’d mind if he wasn’t a gentlemen... Sesshoumaru felt his face grow warm again with the thought as he made a rather gallant effort to refocus his eyes on the horizon above the half-demon’s head as they headed out into the night.

~ * ~

Exiting the venue, Inuyasha snorted to himself again, having caught the demon’s flushed face in his peripheral vision. Not missing a beat, the hanyou made it a point to send his best “reassuring” (sexy-as-hell-come-hither) grin over his shoulder, thoroughly enjoying the sight of Sesshoumaru’s jaw tightening for another reason other than anger or impatience.

Oh, yes, Inuyasha thought. I was right with my first assumption. This is going to be way too much fun.

 

 

Chapter end.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed! Also, just so you know, there's a side drabble to this fic called "Hollywood Whore: Pin Up" that you can find at my yGallery account (cuppycake) or my LJ! Check it out! It gives a look into a side... thing... that I probably won't otherwise mention much of from this fic (as of yet)! D8