Thanks for all your reviews, minna! Arigato! Ooher… I just realized I haven't been doing disclaimers for the last couple of chapters… um… whoops? But anyways:

Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me… One day. One day... XD

Make Me

"Pen, check. Papers, check. Pocky, check. Right! Get to work!" Kagome nodded decisively as she sat on the (comfortable, but rightly adjusted to keep her back straight) chair in front of her desk. She laid out her practice papers next to the hefty book with the words: 'Trigonometry for the Brave' printed across the top.

The 'brave' girl picked up her favourite pen – a black fountain pen that was particularly good for chewing when frustrated – and stared hard at the first question.

A sweat broke out on her forehead.

Kagome laughed nervously. "Heh, heh. Stupid questions. They're just making the first question hard to put people off. Let's try the second one…"

"…"

She slid from an upright position to one lying on the desk on the now abandoned papers. "Oh, it's no use…" She blinked unfocusedly at the little letters on the white expanse of a sheet, her eyes unintentionally blurring the numbers.

I wonder… if Inuyasha is still angry. He hadn't gotten over that reporter's question even when we came back.

That question… something about a place called 'Milten's Military school…' What is it about that place that got Inuyasha so worked up over it?

Kagome groaned, at let go of the pen, letting it roll away from her across the smooth maple of her desk. It's just my luck to be perpetually nosy, isn't it?

Even as Kagome was berating herself for this, her mind was already working up fresh questions, until even Kagome had to come to some sort of a compromise.

Well… it won't hurt to ask around. …Yeah… why not?

She grinned, and sat up straight again. "Yeah!" she cheered. "You can do anything if you put your mind to it!"

Her eyes fell onto the ignored Trigonometry papers.

"…Maybe I should rephrase that quote."

>>>>>>>>>

Inuyasha padded softly to the kitchen, seeing perfectly even through the darkness that penetrated throughout the mansion. He opened the steel fridge, rifling through the contents experimentally. His gaze touched upon the plate of cooked chicken drumsticks and a dish of daintily made sandwiches, garnished with slivers of cucumber. Wavering between the two, Inuyasha finally grabbed a couple of chicken drumsticks, and with his other hand, opened a milk carton he drank deeply from. Shutting the fridge behind him, he crept back out the kitchen, munching on the drumsticks as he went.

He traced his way along the familiar route: down the hall, turn left, passing the cinema room – Huh?

His ears pricked and he could hear something playing there.

Stopping, he wedged open the door awkwardly with his foot, and stood there, taking in the sight, astonished.

The room-wide screen was filled with a scene from a movie that Inuyasha vaguely recognized as Midsummer's Night Dream; a hit a couple of months ago. Among the plush red seats that directly mimicked a cinema, a girl huddled down with a blanket, gazing up at the screen with a critical eye. Inuyasha's eyesight identified the inky black haired girl as Kagome, and even from that distance he could see she was holding a pot of which contained noodles of some kind. The scent wafting towards him was appealing in the extreme, and the chicken drumsticks were dulling fast in comparison.

Eventually he began to chew again, almost mechanically, when Kagome suddenly paused the play, right on Titania. She gazed up at the Fairy Queen and sighed – but spun around the instant she heard the chewing.

"Who's there?"

Startled out his reverie, Inuyasha slowly walked towards her, almost sleepily. "Wench, what're you doing up so late?" He lowered himself into the chair next to her, and regarded her over the pot of noodles.

Kagome sighed again. "Couldn't sleep." She dabbled around the noodles with a pair of chopsticks, but didn't lift the food to her mouth. "Don't know why I made this; I've got no appetite whatsoever right now…"

Inuyasha peered into the pot. It was some sort of chicken smelling broth, with long noodles drifting around in it. "What the hell is it?"

She rolled her eyes. "You of all people should know what it is. Instant ramen?"

Inuyasha's brow furrowed. "That's not how I've seen it!" At Kagome's puzzled look he elaborated. "You know, they're in those packets, and then you put them in the pan to cook with some water, and then you add the flavourings to make the base."

The puzzled look cleared and then she laughed, hard. "Oh Gods. Inuyasha, that is instant… sort of. You just have to wait a lot longer. With these you do the same, only the pot is the pan and you sprinkle the flavourings over it, add water and cover up for three minutes, and voila!" She smiled, and handled the noodles to him. "Here, you try it. Don't worry, I haven't touched it."

Inuyasha took the noodles, and gave them a suspicious stare. Losing the staring contest, he looked back up to Kagome and her animated expression, who nodded to confirm. He lifted the ramen to his mouth.

"Mmph! 'his ish good!"

Kagome laughed softly, and then looked back up at Titania.

"So – slurp – why are you – slurp – watching this?"

Kagome hit the play button. "You see her?" She gestured at Titania.

Inuyasha paused long enough to take Titania in. "Yeah… she's hot!"

Kagome blushed furiously, thanking God the cape of darkness was there to hide it – not knowing, that Inuyasha could see her as well as if it was day. "That's me," she said in a strained voice.

"What?" He glanced from the screen to her, but the blush only confirmed her claim.

"I was wearing a wig and contacts… and they put loads of make up on me."

Now that she pointed it out… there was a resemblance. The light wispy blonde hair entwined with flowers intricately into a crown rested on the wig and showed the delicate face that he was getting to know, gradually. Lashes so dark they didn't need mascara framed the blue eyes, and the face paint covered the otherwise porcelain skin.

Kagome sighed again – the one next to him – wistfully. "I loved that dress. It was so beautiful… although I think it'd look a bit out of place here…"

In Inuyasha's view, the dress was indeed beautiful… not that he cared. No, what he cared was about the figure it revealed… and yes, that dress did that very well.

The film rolled to the credits, and Inuyasha broke the silence. "But under Cast, Titania isn't Kagome!"

"I did this play a couple of months ago. And my Mama and I agreed that we didn't want my acting to disrupt my education, so I used another name for my acting."

"Kikyou?"

Kagome smiled slightly. "It means Chinese bellflower. I thought it was a pretty name."

Shutting off the movie, Kagome stood up, bringing the blanket with her. "I'm going back to bed. Night, Inuyasha."

He didn't respond, still staring at the now blank screen.

…Kikyou?

Whether Inuyasha knew it or not, an idea was forming steadily into his head. It was not, perhaps, the sanest idea, but Inuyasha knew fame. He'd known it since he'd been born, and he knew there was a chance the idea would pay off.

'Kikyou?'

Why not?

>>>>>>>

"Yet another happy day," Miroku shoved his hands deep in his pockets. A wry smile twisted his mouth as he looked at Sango, the brunette striding alongside him. "Ready to go drop a bomb on another unsuspecting person."

"Oh joy," she remarked dryly. "Inuyasha's going to pitch a fit."

Miroku grinned. "And who wouldn't? Giving up all those beauteous models and time for sake to go hang around a schoolgirl? Although," he said reflectively, "The schoolgirl is also beauteous – yowch!"

"The schoolgirl is Kagome, thank you, and who is also a guest. You can't get involved with her. And anyways, I think she's Inuyasha's. At least, for now."

He sighed. "Such a shame. Fortunately I have you, radiant Sango – ouch! What was that for?"

"So now I'm second best?"

"Of course not! Kagome-sama's beauty could never compare to yours! Admittedly she has nice legs, but Sango darling, you have a inner glow that-"

"Shut it, Miroku." Inuyasha growled as he turned the corner in front of them.

Sango gave Inuyasha a tired smile and rubbed her temples with long slender fingers. "Thank you. The letch does pile the crap on sometimes." She shot him a glare, before turning back to Inuyasha. "You're not mingling with Kagome enough."

"What? I spent all last night with her!"

"Precisely. You have to do it more. That way Kagome has lots of things to talk about when she goes home and everyone will be satisfied you've done the nice guy bit. The view we're aiming for is that you're still a down to earth guy, still one of 'them.'"

Miroku handed a brief timetable to Inuyasha. "That might help a bit."

"Whatever." Inuyasha crumpled the schedule into his pocket. "I had an idea – and don't worry," He added, as he saw Sango open her mouth. "It ties in with spending time with the wench." His amber eyes gleamed with a sudden ambitious light. "Just hear me pitch it."

>>>>>>>>>>>

"ARRGH! GO AWAY!"

Inuyasha froze in Kagome's bedroom doorway. "Whoa. Wench, you have good hearing."

"Huh?" Kagome looked behind her blearily. "Oh, it's you. No, I was talking to my Trigonometry papers."

A sweat drop trickled itself down Inuyasha's forehead. "Uh… OK." He walked over and peered nosily over her head at them. "Sweetie, you've got it wrong."

She shot him a poisonous look. "I know that."

Inuyasha inspected her work for a second, before rubbing his fingers together. "Gimme. A pencil, pen, whatever."

One half of a snapped pencil dropped sheepishly into his hand.

A raised eyebrow. "Huh. Remind me not to set you Math homework." He ignored the scowl as he spoke out loud, guiding her. "Here. Didn't you learn S-O-H-C-A-H-T-O-A?" Scrawling the words out, he deftly solved a problem, and drew up a graph. "Et Vôila."

He moved onto her bed and lay onto his stomach as he watched her grumpily pick her pen up and work out another problem, slower then him but at least getting the answer.

"Humph. Aren't you meant to be a stupid brain dead celebrity who doesn't even know what Trigonometry is?"

Inuyasha grinned, showing off a lot of sharp white teeth. "Well, I did try to cover my IQ by dropping school but my hidden intelligence just found me in the end."

Kagome stopped briefly, looking at him with curious bright eyes. "You dropped school? Why?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms underneath his chin. "Well, it got in the way of my acting, and I only left school because I got-" He cut himself off abruptly. He turned his head away, his bangs hiding his eyes. "Keh."

Kagome, sensing she had hit a delicate spot, stopped her prying. She considered him. "You're so secretive, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha looked back at her cautiously. She'd gotten back to working. Good. I was so close to letting slip there… You cannot afford to do that, Takahashi.

"So are you just going to loll around on my bed all day, watching me?"

Inuyasha shrugged half-heartedly. "Nothing else to do. Sango says we need to spend more time together and she cancelled all my personal appointments. And Miroku's taken my little Black Book."

"What for?"

He regarded her briefly. "It only has women in it. Mostly models or actresses."

Inuyasha thought he saw her roll her eyes. "Typical." She sighed. "Has it ever occurred to you not to date models or actresses? Or anyone not in the fame business?"

"Darling, the only people I know are in the fame business. Even you are sort of in it now."

Kagome sighed. "I know that. It's just… couldn't your taste in women be more… realistic? Or even, people, in that fact."

"So what? You want me to hook up with a fat girl?"

Kagome grimaced at the mental image. "No! It's just that most models and actresses are so… superficial."

Oh Gods. It's started. I knew she'd be one of those annoying wenches, trying to change my views and stuff. Nope, she's just cut straight through the crap and headed for the kind of women I like.

He looked lazily at Kagome. "No thanks… I think I'll stick to my superficial and skinny models."

She sighed. "You're such a jerk, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha chuckled softly. "That's what they all say." The words came out in low, husky tone; surprising Kagome. She turned around to look at him – and wished she hadn't.

Long, silver hair forelocks framed his face perfectly, and the silver bangs spilled down into his eyes. Half lidded, the amber eyes looked as though they were shot through with gold and gave a - probably unintentional - albeit still seductive look. The sleepy smile completed the beguiling picture and for the first time in her life, Kagome fully understood why he was such a pin up that her friends had practically wallpapered their rooms with.

Kagome bit her lip. It was the first time she had admired a guy's physique like that, and she wasn't quite sure how to act next. Bearing in mind it was Inuyasha after all, she decided to pretend nothing had happened.

Unknown to Kagome, Inuyasha had glanced up at her while she'd been admiring him and caught a hint of a blush. He smirked inside. So the wench wasn't completely oblivious to him. Well… it depends on her next reaction now. I won't exactly say no if she offers anything.

"So… I've finished studying. Is there anything in mind you wanted to do?"

Oh ho, yes. Inuyasha grinned a little more mentally.

"I was thinking," she went on. "I haven't been to the park for a while."

The little devil on his shoulder fell over, anime style. Inuyasha sighed internally. Well, at least the wait makes it a little more interesting. Nice to know she doesn't go down with a fight. Give it time…

"Forget the park. I have a little idea…"

>>>>>>>>

"I got you a job, Kikyou."

She blinked. "Say what?"

They were standing in front of a set. Admittedly, an extremely professional, sleek-shined finished set. It was just a teensy awe-inspiring.

"You're going to be an proper actress in this. Lead role and everything. It's a typical love story with a twist. You'll be playing Rosie, a young girl fresh outta high school. Fits you to a tee."

"I'm still in high school." Kagome pointed out. "But never mind that. How did you do this? Why did you do this?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Pulled a few strings. I'm Inuyasha Takahashi after all. I could throw a prima donna fit if they didn't say yes." He smirked at her. "And as for the second question… I would be a jerk and say, "'Cos I feel like it," but I'll be a nice guy and tell you the truth. Anyways, I got thinking that night when-"

"No!" Kagome interrupted, gasping. "You think?"

Inuyasha regarded her sourly. "I got thinking," he stressed. "When you were watching yourself in that play and I thought I could get you some work."

She lifted an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"They pay a lot of money as well, so…"

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "What's in it for you?"

Damn. The wench's sharp.

"It puts me ahead of Kouga," he stated reluctantly.

She tilted her head up to look at him straight in the eye. "Thank you. And didn't you think about if I didn't want the job? What'd happen then?"

He looked startled, like the thought had never crossed his mind. "You don't want the job? Damn wench, I went through a lot of crap to get you that opportunity and-"

"Just kidding." Kagome cut him off with a sweet smile. "I want the job."

Inuyasha gave a frustrated growl. "Bitch."

"Gullible fool."

He grumbled a little before keh-ing. "All right, I fell into that one. But now, listen up, this is the plot…"

>>>>>>>>>

Cid, the director, was old. He wasn't old by 'Hollywood' years, he was old old. As in fifty-six old. He'd lived long enough to tell the shit from the gold, and whether something would work or not. And right now, that Kagome girl was working out nice. She wasn't Oscar material, but hey, she was still young by Hollywood standards and there was plenty of time to hone her.

He rubbed his stubbled chin and ran a hand through his gray hair. The moustache he had was kept only because he'd heard that they gave people 'character,' whatever that was. Yeah, people kept saying he had that. Quite frankly, Cid only had one word to reply to that – bullshit!

"Cut!" He barked. "Nice work, princess. And you, Takahashi."

Kagome rolled her eyes and called out to him. "Do you mind? I don't take to being called princess too much."

Cid straightened up from picking up the latte he'd stood on the floor. "What'd you say, chickpea?"

A reluctant smile quirked her lips. "Nothing, paps."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. "Paps?"

She shrugged care-freely. "Inside joke."

"Whatever you say, darling."

Inuyasha placed a hand on the small of her back as he led her offstage. He was humming a little tune that Kagome recognized as 'Rakuen' as they passed a couple of hallways until they arrived in front of a vending machine.

Kagome glanced up him, unconsciously admiring the golden eyes. He's in an awfully good mood.

Inuyasha slid some coins into it and didn't even curse when the machine refused to spit a candy bar out. He carried on humming and kicked the machine hard, where upon a whole line of candy bars fell down. He scooped them up and divided half with Kagome, sitting on a nearby bench and munching them cheerfully.

(AN: This always happens to me. I have bad karma with vending machines. And I never can kick the candy out like Inuyasha. Life sucks like that. XP)

Such a freakishly good mood… Would he… I wonder if… he'd tell me why he dropped out of high school. Or what it was about Milten's military school. He's such a… mystery.

"Ne… Inuyasha?"

He looked up at her.

"I… I was wondering," She said out in a rush. "I know I'm nosy and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but… why did you drop out of high school? And what's so… do you have some kind of connection with Milten's Military school?"

Inuyasha dropped the candy bar and massaged his forehead, sighing deeply. "In answer to your questions, no, I don't want to tell you, none of your business and yes, I have 'some' connection."

There was an extremely awkward silence in which Kagome shuffled her feet around and Inuyasha carried on crunching ominously, when a sharp ringing of a cell phone made Kagome jump.

He flipped the phone open."Inuyasha."

Then his eyes widened. "Fuck, no!" Snapping it shut, a dark look spilled across his face as he grabbed Kagome by the arm, dragging her with him and cussing colourfully. "Shit!"

"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome asked meekly. "What happened?"

He glanced down at the girl, a scowl etched onto his face."An arsonist happened."

>>>>>>>>

Dun dun dun... I though a bomb would be a little toocliched - so I went for the next best thing - bring out the flamethrowers, baby! XDArigato for your reviews as always.Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter, people, it's at least two pages longer then the others.