InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ That's Show Business ❯ First Boyfriends, Now Blackmail... ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha or anyone else mentioned below. Please respect copyrights!

ïˆowdy y'all! I'm havin' a great time just bein' me! Sorry to leave you at that little cliffy, but I was in a weird mood. So sue me. Not really. Don't hurt me! Honestly, I love you all. I don't know why, but I like how this story is going, so I've temporarily abandoned my first one ("Lost and Drowned"). It's only a temporary drop, though. Like it matters in the least. On with the show!!!!

~*~*~*~

Kouga embraced Kagome again and she sighed into her boyfriend's shoulder. He had on a strange leather traveling cloak and smelled of the ocean. His long, jet-black hair was tied back with a scrap of brown cloth and his eyes glittered like wet sapphires. Kagome leaned back to look him in the face, but still had her arms around him.

"Oh, Kouga! It's so good to see you! And so soon! Not to seem rude, but what are you doing here?" His smile widened as he stared lovingly at his girlfriend's face.

"My trip to Iceland with Greenpeace finished early, so here I am! I couldn't stand being away from you for so long…" He began to nuzzle her neck and she laughed.

"Kouga! Please, we're in a public place!" she whispered.

"Just let them stare," he muttered and continued. She laughed again, but the smile quickly fell off her face when she saw the elevator open behind them. Inu Yasha strode out briskly, completely preoccupied with something, until he saw Kagome and Kouga. Inu Yasha stopped dead in his tracks and narrowed his eyes. Kouga stopped kissing Kagome and followed her line of sight. As soon as his eyes rest on the hanyou, he began to growl.

"Stop it, Kouga. Hi, Inu Yasha! What are you doing out so late?" Kagome tried to sound cheery, but somehow her face didn't match her voice. He didn't even look at Kagome when he answered; he was too busy staring daggers at Kouga to look away.

"I forgot my book at that café. I was on my way out when I saw you two…"

"Oh!" Kagome gasped as she searched through her purse. Finally, she came across the book. After unhooking Kouga's arm from her waist, she walked calmly over to Inu Yasha. A smile played at the corner of the hanyou's lips while his newfound rival looked like he had been slapped. Kagome handed the book back to its owner.

"You have my book?" Inu Yasha asked. He quickly flipped it open to make sure that the music was still there. Sighing with relief, he hugged Kagome. She was taken completely off guard, but quickly recovered and hugged him back.

"Thank you so much, Kagome. I thought I had lost it!" She let go of him and backed up a bit. Kouga's growling became more and more audible by the second.

"Did you really write that song?" Now it was Inu Yasha's turn to look slapped. He felt his jaw drop, but did nothing to stop it. A contempt smile rested on Kouga's face.

"Y-you listened to my song?! I-it-you-I…" He seemed to choke on something unseen. Confusion sank Kagome's brow. Quicker than counting, Inu Yasha's disbelief turned to fiery anger.

"You nosey, selfish, do-gooding little WENCH!" Kouga snarled and leapt on Inu Yasha in a flash. They fell to the ground kicking and scratching. A group of elderly ladies shrieked in surprise and dashed over to the lounge as quickly as their little legs could take them. Security guards advanced on the men who were succeeding in staining the gold carpet red. The burly guards grabbed both men by the scruffs of their necks. Even though they had been pried apart, they were still scratching the air in attempts to get at each other. Kagome stood between them with a stern look on her face.

"Now listen you two, " she snapped, waggling a finger at both of them like they were naughty children, "you'd better behave. Now that Kouga's here, he'll be seen with me more, especially at work. Yes, at work, Inu Yasha. So you'd better learn how to get along or else shut up and pretend the other isn't there. I'm going to bed and I hope that you two are as well. We have a big day tomorrow." She turned on her heels and calmly walked to the elevator. She pushed a button and waved at them as the door closed. The security guards let them go and the two men glared at each other.

"Listen, if I see you anywhere near Kagome again I'll kill you," Kouga spat at Inu Yasha. The hanyou just growled and trudged up the stairs to his room. When he got there, he kicked off his shoes and unzipped his duffel bag. After a few seconds' search he found what he had been looking for. He pulled out a jar of peanut butter (strictly contraband) and unscrewed the lid. He was about to indulge in his favorite comfort food when he saw that something white poked out of the half-empty jar. Inu Yasha pulled it out. It was his script.

`Now what were you doing in there?' he thought as he licked the peanut butter off of it. The rest of his night was spent devouring the amber paste.

~*~*~*~

"Cut! That was perfect, Kikyo, perfect!" Naraku smiled at the Prima Donna. However, his flattering smile twisted into a pained grimace when he looked at Inu Yasha. "And as for YOU! Where are you today?! You're not saying your lines right, your accent is off, and-do you have a black eye?"

"No, sir. And I'm just a bit…distracted." He tried to look at his feet, but Naraku grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him up off the ground.

"GET UNDISTRACTED!" he bellowed, dropping the hanyou. "PLACES!" The scene started over, and over, and over. At last, Naraku was satisfied. He checked his watch to find that it was already ten. Resignedly, he dismissed everyone, but Inu Yasha lagged behind. The hanyou cleared his throat and the director turned around.

"Oh, I didn't know if everyone had left or not. What's on your mind, Inu Yasha?" He seemed a lot calmer after hours, but Inu Yasha knew that his boss would become unglued soon.

"Sir, about my contract." Naraku's left eye twitched.

"What about it?" he asked in a harsh voice.

"I'm terminating it." His voice was smooth but forceful.

"WHAT?!" He charged at Inu Yasha like a bull and breathed twice as hard as one.

"I hate acting, you know that. I'm just so sick of living my life in the way that everyone but myself wants!" Inu Yasha was surprised at how calm he was, but Naraku wasn't having it. A crooked smile plastered itself onto his face.

"You're not quitting."

"What do you mean, `I'm not quitting'?" Inu Yasha asked in a highly agitated tone.

"You can't. You are going to finish this movie, whether you have a say in it or not." The hanyou stared at him hard.

"I have a say in what I do! You have no control over my actions!" Naraku's smile grew wider and viler.

"Who says I don't? You see, if you were to quit, I might suddenly remember something…and let it slip to the media…" A sweat droplet fell down the side of Inu Yasha's face. He felt his hands begin to shake.

"S-something like what?" He stuttered and Naraku laughed.

"Something about your mother…and your father…"

"B-but you can't do that! That's blackmail!" His voice shook with nervousness and he completely lost his cool.

"I can do anything I want. Now, run along back to your nice little hotel room and don't tell a soul about this." He didn't have to be told twice. Inu Yasha dashed out of the studio and drove off as fast as he could on his rented motorcycle. Soon after he left, Kagome exited the studio and hopped into her Mustang. The nerve of her director! If she hadn't have been eavesdropping-no-passing by, she would have given him such a slap. But this struck up some new thoughts about Inu Yasha. What happened between his parents that would make him so afraid? What was he hiding from the world? She had to know.

At the next light, she whipped her cell phone out of her purse and called him. After two rings he picked up.

"Hello? Inu Yasha, the worthless spokesperson of Hell, speaking." Kagome tried as hard as she could not to laugh.

"Hello. Kagome, the annoyed dialect coach, responding." And odd sound filled the earpiece and it took her a minute to realize that Inu Yasha had dropped the phone.

"K-Kagome?! How the hell did you get this number?!"

"Do you always start phone conversations so colorfully?" She asked. She turned at the light and motored down the street.

"No, I-how did you get this number?!" he repeated. Kagome sighed and switched her phone to speaker. She attached it to its holder and spoke at it.

"From Sango," she chirped.

"How did she get it?!" He was sounding more and more exasperated.

"From Miroku," Kagome laughed.

"Well…what do you want?"

"I want to talk to you."

"Obviously."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at that coffee shop. You know, `Bach to Basics'." Kagome turned left and headed into town.

"Alright. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"What? You're-" He never got to finish, because she hung up on him and giggled. `This is going to be an interesting evening.'

~*~*~*~

"I just wanted to start off by saying I'm sorry," Kagome began sincerely. Inu Yasha took a swig of freshly brewed coffee and raised an eyebrow at her. The café was warm and inviting, unlike the weather. It was absolutely pouring outside and the toasty refuge was the perfect place for the two down-and-out moviemakers to spend their evening.

"Sorry for what?" He asked, thoroughly puzzled.

"For Kouga." Inu Yasha's face contorted as he took another drink of coffee.

"What about that bast-I mean-your boyfriend?"

"Well," she began, completely ignoring his snide remark, "I know that he can be a bit protective, but deep down he's a good guy."

"I'm sure he is," the hanyou scoffed.

"Come on, Inu Yasha, I'm not asking you to marry the guy! Just please…try to get along."

"Is this what you came to talk to me about?" She took a sip of her espresso.

"That, and I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"I, um, heard you and the director talking, and…he can't do that to you! Blackmail's illegal!" Inu Yasha sputtered and choked on his coffee.

"What the?! D-d'you ever mind your own business?!"

"No, not really." He smiled in an unbelieving way.

"You…are…the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met." He chuckled softly, shook his head, and took another drink.

"Well that's nice!" she chirped in an agitated tone. Resigning to the hanyou's remark, she continued. "But please, I want you to let me help you; that is, if you need it. You know that I'm always here for you, right?"

"Yeah, with Kouga standing between us."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"So…" she distractedly stirred her espresso with some bisscotti she bought. Inu Yasha gaped at her suspiciously. "Aren't you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Kagome rolled her eyes like it was obvious.

"Tell me what Naraku is blackmailing you with!"

"What?! NO!" He barked. Kagome jumped at his suddenness. He just crossed his arms and looked away, indicating that the conversation was over. She mimicked him, just to be a pain.

"Fine. But I know you want to tell me. Sooner or later, your conscience is going to squirm and begin eating you from the inside out. Of course, by the time you get up the nerve to tell me, It'll be too late. Just tell me now; save yourself the trouble."

"You know, with all of your creative `ideas' about me having a conscience, you ought to be the one writing this movie, not Nobunaga." Kagome giggled and finished off her espersso. Inu Yasha smiled ruefully and began the somewhat long process of downing his coffee.

"Thank you, but I think I'll let him do his job. He might be a bit absentminded…" Inu Yasha snorted into his cup. That boy wasn't `a bit absentminded'; he was a danger to himself and those around him. "…But he's good at romantic comedies. And-I dunno…I'm just not that romantic of a person."

"You?! Don't make me laugh! You're a sucker for sweet stuff and you know it." Kagome took a bite out of her bisscotti and pointed it at him.

"Yeah, and you're the expert on this," she droned sarcastically as she chewed. "I'm sure that love is your area of expertise." His face flushed a bit and a scowl presented itself on his lips. "Have you ever had a girlfriend? Ever?!"

"Yes, I have!"

"Did the relationship last more than a week?"

`Shit, she's got me there,' he thought. She obviously read his mind, because she sat back and let a contented smile pass over her face. He flushed a deeper shade of red and began to growl.

"Yeah? Well, how long have you and Kouga been together?! Huh?!"

"Two years." `So much for that plan, genius.'

"That's just because you're perfect, and let me tell you something Miss Higurashi: Life's not perfect."

"You think my life is perfect?!" She balked.

"I didn't say your life was perfect! I said that you act like you're perfect! That's why everyone hates you so much." A terrible look of pain fell on her face like the rain had been earlier. Her eyes filled and began to shine. Inu Yasha suddenly realized exactly what he had said and his snow-white ears drooped like those of a scolded puppy.

"Oh, Kagome…I'm sorry. I just-I didn't realize-you can hit me if you want to." A tear leaked down her cheek and she laughed at how pathetic he was acting. Seeing her cry only made him feel worse.

"N-no, please Kagome, don't cry." Although she knew that he was sorry, she couldn't stop sobbing. His comment was the final puncture in a dam of pent-up emotion. She just let tear after tear fall into her empty coffee cup.

`All of my life…' she thought `…there goes Perfect Kagome! No preppies allowed, Kagome. Kagome's such a perfect little angel! I'm so sick of it.' Inu Yasha whipped a twenty out of his wallet, slapped it on the table, and grabbed her by the wrist. He yanked her out of her chair and dragged her to his bike. The pavement was slick and wet after the sudden shower.

"What are you doing you crazy half-breed?!" She screeched. He ignored her insult and set her on top of the blood red Harley.

"Here," he said, chucking her a helmet. "Put it on."

"What? Where are we going and what-what about my car?!" He smiled in a simple way.

"You can get it later. We're going to cheer you up!" She mouthed the words `cheer me up' in confusion as the hanyou sat down on the seat in front of her. He started the engine and snapped on his helmet. When he was renting the Harley Davidson, he swung by a bike shop and had a helmet with ear holes custom made. His pearly white ears stuck neatly out of the black plastic.

"Hold on!" He yelled, revving the engine.

"TO WHAT?!" She shrieked, and she soon realized that the only thing to hold on to was Inu Yasha. She clung to him in fear as he shot down the damp road.