Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

This is based off Return Engagement by Kay Hooper. Enjoy!

Good Graces

"Miss Higurashi, if you would keep to your mark!"

Oh, that voice again! How dare Taisho interrupt their filming—again!—for a stupid critique that made no sense! Since they'd started shooting at seven o'clock that morning, he'd been nothing but a pain in everyone's sides—particularly hers. All he did was antagonize her, goad her into verbal battles where neither came out a winner. In fact, the whole problem was him! He would complain that they were behind schedule, yet drag them all around just because he thought they weren't doing something right! And he wasn't even the director!

Spinning on her heel to face her tormentor, she hissed, "Excuse me? This is exactly where I was told to stand by our director! Please forgive me if I follow his instructions rather than yours!" Kagome placed her fists on her hips, cocking them to one side. "So, if you could be so kind"—she used a sweet tone, a matching smile on her mouth meant to annoy him further—"shut up!"

InuYasha Taisho moved out of his relaxed position near the camera, unfolding his arms from his lean chest to move towards her with inhuman grace. "I never heard him tell you to attach yourself to Kouga like a second skin. You may be in the right place, but apparently I need to remind you that I don't back smut films." Despite the fire flaring in his golden eyes, his words were calm and cool, deliberately used to annoy her all the more. The only thing that gave him away were the twitching of the dog ears atop his head.

Kagome immediately tensed at the insult, taking a moment to count to ten so she wouldn't go for his throat. "Don't you dare insult me with such insinuations! Everyone here knows that I am nothing less than professional when I am shooting! You have some nerve!" She stomped the last few steps to be face-to-chest with him, stabbing her index finger into his chest to emphasize her point, her stormy gray gaze meeting his amber one. "Don't think for one moment that I will take that lightly!" How dare he speak about her that way! As if she were unprofessional in the least!

"I would move that finger, Miss Higurashi, before you get more than you bargained for," he growled, the threat in his eyes quite clear; if she pushed him too far, he would be anything but professional.

She reluctantly removed her finger, not wanting to expose a past she wasn't ready to face. Crossing her arms over her breasts, she said haughtily, "I may be under contract, but that doesn't mean I won't file a lawsuit for sexual harassment and slander should you keep up this attitude. I am merely doing my job and if you have a problem with that, fire me." It was the best threat she could come up with on the spot. It wasn't that she was conceited, but she knew she was a hot commodity for any Hollywood movie. Though her acting career had been rocky for her first few films—she'd been extras and minor characters—it had flared up when she landed a starring role in a low-budget horror film that had captured the interest of the nation quickly and swiftly. After that, she'd almost constantly been in starring roles, and she was good at what she did.

The anger was rolling off him in waves, sparking her own fury. He tried to laugh coolly, but it came out as more of a bark. "From what I saw, you were plastering yourself to him like an advertisement for the red-light district."

She turned to glare at him. "Well, you would know the best what that looks like," she responded furiously, regretting being the one to make it personal. She hated making herself seem too upset with him. There were already rumors floating around that perhaps their feud was really just pent up sexual frustration; they had no idea.

Keeping her gaze steady on his arrogant face was proving to be more difficult than she'd realized. Her eyes kept straying down his body, memories of him flashing in her mind before she could stop them. He was all lean muscle and dog hanyou grace. He walked with the gait of a hunter and she would shiver whenever she remembered what it had been like to watch him approach her with that predatory look in his eyes and that swagger that made him seem almost lazy. Even now, with rage filling her, she wanted him, though she would never admit to it.

Keep yourself together, Kagome!

He never moved his eyes from her, just stared her down, making her feel almost small. Another thing she would never admit to.

"Don't you try to intimidate me! Just because you're backing this film doesn't mean that you get to tell us how to do our jobs!" She tried to remain fluid, but she knew her actions were rigid, mostly because of her effort not to throttle him. He had that ability over her: no matter how much she forced herself to keep on her poker face—which she was excellent at, otherwise—he could make her lose her cool. She'd never met a more infuriating male in all her twenty five years.

Giving a nonchalant shrug, he retorted, "I'm just protecting the money I put into this picture. And the fact that I do have money invested here gives me the right to tell you how to do your job. I can't have my project bombing because you can't help jumping the leading man." He smirked self-assuredly. "Besides, that money I put into this is paying your salary." Obviously pleased with himself, he waited patiently with arms crossed for her to retort. If a headache hadn't been forming, she would have tackled him and clawed his eyes out.

"And that means what, exactly?" The tone in her voice, that uncharacteristic twinge of pure emotion, had heads swiveling towards them as nothing else could have.

He grit his teeth. "That means you better watch yourself. As great as our little battles are, there comes a time when someone has to admit when they're beaten." The words obviously came out harsher than he'd intended because he cleared his throat before he began to speak again. Turning from her, he shouted, "Can we get back on track please? We're off schedule again—"

"And whose fault is that, may I ask?" She waited for him to twist towards her once more, smiling sweetly at him. "If you wouldn't keep interrupting us, we'd be done by now and probably at our homes, doing what we want between pictures. Why don't you just go do what you do best: sign checks." Spinning away, she kept a grin of victory from her face with great effort, thinking she had finally one-upped him.

"You know who's in charge here, Kagome," he snapped, stopping her in her tracks.

He'd said the same thing—though in much different tones—to her before. No one else on the crew would hear the double meaning he intended—confirming their once-upon-a-time romance—but it took the lid off her fury. She couldn't help stomping towards him, hands in fists at her sides, and snarling, "You are unbelievable, Mr. Taisho!" For once, she didn't know what to say after that. She felt all eyes on her, questioning both Taisho's informal address and how upset it had made her. They expected her to berate him verbally, put him in his place. But words escaped her at that moment as memories and a migraine beat between her eyes.

He raised an eyebrow in expectancy. "Well? Is that all you have to say to me, Miss Higurashi?"

Clearing her head efficiently, she said in an icy tone, "Goodbye; I have a scene to shoot." She strode away, hoping that he wouldn't take that as a white flag, though she knew she was defeated. He wasn't the one that wanted to keep their past a secret; he didn't have to pull his punches.

There was a long silence before their director yelled, "All right, let's take the scene from the top!"

To get her mind away from Taisho, she did what she did best: acted like nothing was wrong.

Scene Change!

"Lunch break! We'll shoot the last scene and then we're done with filming!" their director shouted, despite the fact that everyone was already leaving. The reminder that this could quite possibly be their last day away from their homes and families—or, as the case may be, girlfriends and boyfriends—boosted everyone's spirits. Cars raced out of the desert and towards Vegas, where they would eat and talk for an hour or two and return to finish what they'd started.

Kagome made her way towards her trailer, smiling at the people she declined riding with. She would just stay with her cat, Buyo, and catch a short nap. She didn't mention the splitting headache that hadn't gone away even when Taisho's presence had disappeared. It seemed to only get worse after that, actually. If you would quit worrying about him, it probably would have gotten better. You're just too tired. Maybe you should just stay home for the month until filming starts for Celebration! That way you can forget all about that woman the tabloids are saying he's with.

She caught the jealousy in her own inner voice but dismissed it. It was natural to be jealous of something you would never get. Sure, stability and love would be nice, but they were hard to find for an actress.

When she reached the door to her trailer, a shadow fell over her just before a hand landed just above her head to hold it shut.

"Kagome."

She had to stifle a moan. He could get his voice so silken when he wanted to, though it never completely lost that gruff edge that put him apart from all other men in Hollywood. It always raked over her skin, giving her goosebumps. "What?" she croaked, hoping it was because of how dry her throat had become during shooting.

"Come to lunch with me."

It wasn't a question.

"No," she said immediately, instinctively. "I'm going to rest in my trailer." Pulling the door just slightly, he allowed her to enter the trailer, but she knew better than to think that he would leave it at that. Even if she closed the door, he would just break the lock and open it. "Water's in the fridge," she said quietly, crashing on the bed in the corner of her makeshift home, annoying Buyo to no end. Fortunately, his love of InuYasha—when the half-demon wasn't tormenting him—kept his mind off it as he went to curl himself around said man's legs.

"You look like you haven't eaten in days."

"I'm on a diet."

She still hadn't looked at him, nor did she intend to until he closed the door to her trailer, flipping the lock. Her head flew up the moment she heard the soft click! Her wide eyes met his amused ones. "Wh-why did you do that?" If she'd had the energy, she would have run to the door and opened it wide. Her tired body, however, stopped her. What was the worst thing that could happen other than a few rumors? Besides, the only people who'd stayed behind were probably in the food tent, stuffing their faces.

His eyes narrowed in quick anger. "I don't understand why you're so afraid someone might find out about our time together three years ago. What does it matter?" he growled.

He'd never understood why she'd wanted to keep it between them. He'd always taken it so personally, as if she were ashamed of him.

But her problem went much deeper than that. She had been a struggling actress and he'd been—still was—a powerful producer, backed by millions—perhaps billions—of money that made him quite influential in their world of glitz and glamor. If they'd come out with their relationship and she'd gotten a part in a movie with his name under the producers, no one would have taken her seriously. She would have been labeled an easy conquest and they'd have believed the only reason she got cast was because she'd influenced him to get her a part.

He'd never particularly cared.

"Maybe the fact that rumors will fly and I'll never hear the end of it from reporters. If you come in here, you need to leave the door open." She started to rise, but gave up on it quickly. Oh, I give up. I just want to take a nap!

His gaze became concerned and he ignored Buyo's cry of indignation when he simply passed the cat to sit on her bed. She stiffened at his close proximity. "You're not feeling well." Again, not a question.

It annoyed her that he would act so concerned about her not feeling well. What did he care? As long as the movie was a hit, did he really care how she felt? And he definitely shouldn't sit so close to her on her bed with the door locked and closed.

Should he decide to do anything, she would have nowhere to run. She was stuck with him until he decided to get up and leave.

Sighing, she said, "I'm fine; it's just hot outside. We're in the desert, you know."

She flinched at how unconvincing her voice sounded, even in her own mind. I'm supposed to be an actress and I can't even lie to him about a little headache.

Keeping herself face down in the bed became quite a chore when he didn't say or do anything. InuYasha Taisho was brash and acted rather than pondered. If he was quiet, it meant he was either plotting or incredibly angry. Either would not be good for her.

"Everyone else is fine. Maybe if you ate something you wouldn't be so tired."

He sounded almost...reasonable. Another bad sign. There was no threat, no ferociousness in his tone. If she hadn't known better, she'd think that he didn't actually care whether she was sick or not.

Of course, she did know him better than that.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not used to the sun like they are. I don't live in Hollywood or Las Angeles." In fact, she didn't live in California. Hoping to get away from the fast lifestyle, she'd moved to her own twelve acre plot of land in Iowa, where she lived between movies with her housemate/keeper Sango, raising two abandoned collies, Jack and Jill.

He made a low noise of annoyance in his throat. "I doubt that's it. Why the fuck won't you just tell me what's going on?" His voice was dark with intent.

Rolling her eyes, she simply answered him, skipping over all the arguing. "I haven't eaten anything other than a doughnut all day, okay? I'm just not hungry."

There was a long pause before he snarled, "What did you just say?" Before she could say anything, he acted.

Agilely flipping her onto her back, he held her wrists next to her head, leaning over her menacingly. His eyes were narrowed to amber slits and seemed to cut straight into her soul. "If you keep this up, Ka-go-me, I'll assign you a keeper! You need to eat, not diet." He spat the word as if it were the worst tasting thing in the world. "It's not safe to starve yourself while you're in the desert, out of air-conditioning for long periods of time!"

There was the InuYasha she knew, back with his flaring temper and arrogant take on her life. "Let go of me, you bully! I'm on a diet to keep in shape, not starve myself! And don't act as if I were a child! I know how to take care of myself!" When he merely lifted one side of his lips to snarl at her, she said with a huff, "Take all your masochistic thoughts out of your head and shove them up your butt. I don't care if you assign me a keeper; they won't last more than a day!" In the heat of the moment, she tried to headbutt him, only to be held easily by his strong hands. "You jerk! Let me up!"

He glared at her for a long moment then did as she ordered. Oh, but the battle wasn't over, she knew. He would tear into her all over again, without a doubt. That's what he always did and would continue doing until the end of either of their lives.

Gritting his teeth, he growled, "Fine. If you want to kill yourself, don't come crying to me."

With that, he stood fluidly and stalked to the trailer's door, nearly kicking a lounging Buyo across the moderate space. He flung it open—breaking the lock—and stormed out, slamming it shut hard enough to rock the entire trailer.

She ran to the swinging door, ignoring her sudden dizziness to shout, "Oh, real mature!" and slam the door as well. Hers, however, was not nearly as satisfying.

Scene Change!

"I...I can't believe you would...would do this to me..." Her voice trailed off, her breathing heavy. She couldn't believe he'd left her in the middle of nowhere when he was supposed to love her. He'd just abandoned her and she had nowhere to go, no one that would come for her. He had simply left her behind to fend for herself with nothing. "I...I thought..." With a sharp cry, she fell to the ground, unconscious before she hit the ground.

There was quiet all around her until the director's voice cut into the silence. "Cut! Print it!" When the cameramen signaled that they were finished, a loud round of applause exploded. "Nice work, Miss Higurashi! Perfection! Now we can all go home!" At that last word, the applause grew to catcalls and wolf howls. The entire crew was ecstatic; the filming was done! Now they could go home and spend some much needed R&R time with their families and friends. And those that just wanted to gamble could go the ten miles to Las Vegas.

Kagome smiled to them all as she rose, though a sudden wave of nausea captured her. She stumbled slightly her first step, but ignored the strain on her body to keep moving. It's so hot. Maybe I can get someone to bring me to my trailer. And still, she pushed herself forward. She wouldn't give InuYasha the satisfaction of seeing her trip because of the toll of the heat on her body. He would no doubt make some snide comment about her inability to keep herself upright. And there was no way he was giving him leave to do that. I'm fine; I just need an ice cold bottle of water and a chance to get out of the sun.

Her co-star met her halfway to the tent. "You were amazing in that last scene, Kagome," Kouga congratulated. He put his arm around her waist in a friendly gesture, smiling down at her. His piercing wolf-demon blue eyes twinkled with genuine praise when he picked her up and swung her around in a large arc. "If you were any better an actress," he said, still carrying her unintentionally, "I would feel really intimidated." Putting her down just beside a chair with the word DIRECTOR printed across the back, he laughed at her immediate call for a water. "But I'm much better than you at your current pace." He winked at her jokingly, smirking roguishly.

"Excuse me?" she said with a smile. It was hard not to play around with Kouga Wolfe; he was easy to be around and straight-forward, though he knew how to be tactful. She couldn't help but join in his games. "I believe I am much better at acting than you, wolf-boy."

She had been in another movie with the handsome wolf-demon and had found his friendship irresistible. Though he had hinted at more, she'd always kept him at an arm's length, making sure it was quite clear that she wasn't interested in him in any way other than a platonic relationship. Even if it was often whispered that there was more than friendship there, she didn't let it bother her. He was still her usual date when she went out on the town and quite nearly her closest friend.

It had been great planning on the part of the casting director to put them on the same movie; box office sales would skyrocket as people around the country wondered whether they would have an off-screen romance to match their on-screen one. Some were hoping to see them become the next Brangelina.

He howled with laughter. "Oh, really?" He easily picked her up and held her above him so he had to tilt his head back to look at her. "You won't be much competition if I hire a hit-man."

Smirking, Kagome replied, "You don't have the balls." A dizziness came over her after he abruptly put her back on her feet. She swayed slightly and gently leaned on him. "Besides...besides I..."

Whatever she had been about to say was lost when she felt her legs give way beneath her. She was vaguely aware of the ground moving to meet her face and the frantic voices of those surrounding her. Everything around her was growing dark and panic set in. What was happening to her? Why couldn't she stand up? Her labored breaths heaved in and out of her chest. Panicked, her eyes sought out the shape of InuYasha, who was rushing to her side, plain fear in his bright amber eyes.

He was the last thing she saw before darkness set in.

Scene Change!

When he'd seen the panicked look in her eyes after she'd fallen, he couldn't control the beast inside him. She had just stared up at him, so scared... Every primal instinct came to the forefront of his mind, making him rush to her side and shove everyone else aside. "Call a goddamned ambulance!" he ordered harshly, barely able to contain his fear and fury. Her shallow breathing was like dozens of knives stabbing into him, relentless in their onslaught.

It didn't escape him that she had most definitely brought this upon herself. Stupid fucking diets, his head snarled, though he didn't say anything aloud. Gently, he sat down and scooped her into his lap to wait for help. The entire crew was racing around them, ignored by the producer. He didn't care what people thought once they finally took in the fact that he was holding her to him intimately.

"The ambulance is on its way," Wolfe said with a glare.

InuYasha knew that not all of what the tabloids wrote was untrue. He knew that the wolf-demon before him was trying to date Kagome, though she wouldn't give him enough time to do so. While she was hopping from movie to movie, he was pursuing her, trying to get her to see him as more than a friend.

Fat chance.

After this little episode, InuYasha Taisho would be a constant in Kagome Higurashi's life. She would not be doing something so stupid like this again, that much was for certain.

"Good," he growled in return, furious that the other man would think that there was even the slightest possibility that Kagome would be his. InuYasha would stake his claim before anyone else could sneak their way into her good graces.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next week: Waking in the Hospital.

Preview

The presence is back, Kagome thought idly to herself, waking momentarily from her slumber, though she didn't open her eyes. It seems so much quieter when he's here. She didn't immediately catch the word "he", but when she did, she couldn't help berating herself. It could be a girl, too. I mean, I don't need a man. Something about lying to herself made her twitchy, and she tried to turn onto her side, but a soft pressure against her shoulder kept her down. Don't do that! I hate sleeping on my back. It's too uncomfortable. "L-let go," she said quietly. She would have flinched at the fragile sound of her voice, had she had the energy to do so.

"You always have to argue with me, even when you're hurt, don't you, Kagome?"

Her eyes would have flown open at the voice, but they were too heavy for her to do something so reckless. Her eyelids slowly lifted until they were filled with his face. "What...what are you doing here?" Her attempt at venom was worse than a gardener snake's. "Where am I?"

Taisho frowned. "The hospital. You woke up a few times before but you weren't lucid." A worry line came between his eyebrows.