I've recently discovered FMA (Full Metal Alchemist) and have to say – it is really good. But don't worry; Inuyasha is still my first love.

Um… I know some people says the whole arsonist thing is really random – but it's not, promise. It actually does tie into the plot - Le gasp! -

Arigato for all of your reviews, as always! -Hands everyone a Inuyasha plushie-

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or Mulan, or Disney, or Billy Joel. See! I'm poor!

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Make Me

Kagome was feeling a trifle hot.

It might have been the fact she was standing in front a smoldering bedroom that had been alight only half an hour earlier, but personally Kagome felt the heat was coming from an irate superstar --- speaking of which…

Inuyasha hefted the police officer by the collar and snarled viciously into his face. "Some crazed lunatic has made my bedroom into a bonfire and you are telling me to calm down?"

"Err… well…"

"Do you know who did it?" she asked, rescuing the man from a possibly early and miserable death.

He looked gratefully at her as he was flung down rather ungracefully. "Well, no, but they left a message. Mr. Takahashi…" he handed him a brown crumpled note, the edges slightly burnt and crisp. "Does this mean anything to you?"

The hanyou superstar took the note with distaste, before smoothing it open and processing the words.

A closed look slammed deeply onto his face.

"No, officer, it doesn't." He bit the words out harshly.

The note fluttered to the floor as he Inuyasha strided off. The officer sighed and bent to pick it up. "I didn't think it would."

Kagome thought rather the opposite, but her curiosity butted in at that moment. "Why? What does it say?" Taking it from him, she skimmed over the words.

Goodnight, my angel,

Time to close your eyes,

And save these questions for another day,

I think I know what you've been asking me,

I think you know what I've been trying to say.

>>>

Kagome sat at the (marble) dining table, picking listlessly at her food. The whole atmosphere had taken a rather tense feel after the note had been read, and Kagome couldn't figure out for her life what it meant. Admittedly, she was no cool headed detective, but Kagome thought herself that the words were rather sweet. It being a verse from one of Billy Joel's songs; the lyrics had a comforting feel to it --- well, until you took in the whole arsonist thing.

Then it just felt plain creepy.

Things had only worsened once they discovered how the fire had started --- a bottle filled with petrol had been lit and then laid on the bed. Apparently the arsonist was smart enough to get past security and into the mansion.

The note itself had been tied to the door handle with a neatly knotted red silk ribbon.

Security had been tight before, due to the fact Inuyasha just radiated money and attractiveness, but now it was so taut that Kagome felt practically claustrophobic from all the people watching her every move. She couldn't imagine how Inuyasha felt.

Sango nudged Miroku and gestured over at Kagome. He took the hint.

Reaching behind the poor girl he groped her Gluteus Maximus and ---

THUMP

"I meant cheer her up, not fondle her ass!" hissed Sango.

"…?" Miroku ignored the enraged Kagome and looked at Sango confusedly. "Isn't that the same thing?"

SMACK

"Humph! Stupid pervert…" grumbled Kagome, standing up from the dining table and starting to walk away from it.

"Kagome!" Sango called out. "They're serving oden later… don't you want it?"

"…Oden?" Kagome scratched her head. "Uh, no thanks, Sango. I'll pass." The raven-haired girl then sauntered out of the dining room, leaving a gaping Sango in her wake.

>>>

"No, we're all fine, Mama. No, we don't know who the arsonist is. Yes, Inuyasha is still getting on my nerves."

"Well, I suppose you do have a contract, after all. You should always keep promises. And I thought you were going to change him, sweetheart?"

Kagome sulked, twirling the dark green phone cord around her index finger. "Well, how am I supposed to change him when I don't know what the problem is?"

"Has he got a problem? Because, Kagome sweetheart, it might just be a clash of personalities."

She scoffed. "Right. Because he just hates hanging out with supermodels and toying with their emotions, for one. You know, they call him 'Two Times Takahashi' because he calls you the first time to seduce you, and then the second time to dump you. I swear, Mama, if that's the work of a suffering man then I don't know what hell is."

"Kagome, darling, give him a chance. It sounds like he had a bad childhood."

Kagome knew her Mama couldn't see, but her eyes bugged out anyway. "Bad childhood? I want to know which part of the 'bad childhood' made him start smoking! What'd his parents do, give him a cigarette and tell him to 'light up?'"

"You're being awfully harsh on him, sweetheart. I don't know if it's a personality clash or if you're just being hard on him because of… the whole thing with… Papa, you know?"

"…"

"You mustn't let that influence your view towards him. Inuyasha has nothing to do with it. Try to be a little nicer to him, Kagome, OK? You never know, you might find a bridge between you two, and then if you're good enough friends, then maybe he'd tell you his problem."

"…The day I make friends with Takahashi is the day I start smoking."

"Kagome Higurashi!" The voice turned stern, and Kagome instantly regretted her words. "That's not the girl I raised, and you know it."

She sighed, pulling her finger out of the phone cord, leaving a twisted mass of a knot, but Kagome didn't notice. "Hai, hai. I'll try, Mama. …Don't worry, they feed me fine here. And I have a maid to do my laundry. …I'll try."

Kagome clonked the phone down back to its receiver, before staring out the window gloomily. "I was nice to him yesterday… I didn't yell at him when he nearly pulled my arm out of its socket. Although I guess we were all kind of focused on the fire at that time…"

She let out a loud sigh. "Never mind that now… he's probably sulking in another room or something. What's the time?"

Fate decreed the time to be half past ten --- late enough to go to the Cinema room and watch a movie again.

>>>

Kagome had expected a silver head --- instead of the dark brown one she was gazing down at now. "Sango-chan?"

Sango twisted up, allowing Kagome to see the familiar face fully. "Oh, Kagome, it's you! Thank God… I was expecting Miroku."

Kagome observed the fact that Sango could be very beautiful when she smiled. Sitting down next to her, in one of those ever so plushy velvet seats, she looked at the movie screen for an while --- currently playing Mulan --- before asking her question. "Is Miroku really that bad?"

Sango wrenched her gaze off the screen to look at Kagome incredulously. "Did I give you that feeling?" At her nod, she continued. "No, of course not! Miroku is lovely --- only he takes the loveliness a bit too far when female." An unconscious wistful smile took over her lips, but Kagome noticed. "No, I thought you were him because we take turns to come down here --- Miroku has to be there to help with the paperwork sometimes --- and he always cuts my turn short; whining that he's bored. He makes up the most fantastic excuses; it's really incredible what can come out of his mouth."

Kagome would've liked to know what kind of excuses exactly, but didn't want to probe too deeply. Seeing Sango's vulnerable state warned her off from trying to make her spill her guts, just because she was curious. Sango would have to tell her in her own time.

"So, Mulan, huh?"

"Yes" Sango smiled. "It just amazes me how much strength she has --- physically and mentally." She gestured at the screen where the whole of China bowed down to Mulan, including the Emperor. "See --- she's fought for all of this, and she's won respect from everyone, even when being a woman was looked down on." Sango sighed deeply. "I love Disney."

She was surprised out of her dreamy state when she heard Kagome's vigorous laughter. "Still a kid at heart." At Sango's blush, she expanded. "No, it's not a bad thing --- sometimes it's nice to be reminded of how to be kid." She smiled warmly. "How old are you?"

Sango faltered slightly, giving in to the extraordinarily friendly girl. "Twenty-two."

"See! Not that old," Kagome winked at the older woman. "Still young enough to enjoy Disney."

The rich laughter from her startled Kagome; even Sango herself, and they both instinctively knew the tentative friendship had been washed away, to be replaced by a better, far more relaxed and easy going one.

The movie rolled to the credits, but neither girl moved, wanting to provoke this peaceful moment a little longer.

"So, you've learnt that I'm twenty-two, originally intended to be an architect but somehow got waylaid into this job, and I have a brother called Kohaku --- oh, let's not forget the fact I love Disney. Anything else you want to know?"

"Yes." Seeing Sango's mild look of curiosity --- way more restrained then Kagome's --- Kagome struggled how to phrase the question delicately. "Does --- the note --- tie in with Inuyasha's… past, or something, somehow?"

The smile of Sango's face froze, before dropping off entirely. She suddenly felt incredibly weary; sighing deeply. "Yes…" she answered slowly. "How did you know?"

"The note! I think I know what you've been asking me, I think you know what I've been trying to say… doesn't that mention something that happened in his past?"

Sango hesitated again, before, "Yes. So Inuyasha hasn't told you?"

Immediately Kagome jerked up. "Told me what?"

"Figures," Sango muttered, more to herself. "Took me nearly four years, and I'm his manager… Err... Kagome-chan, I can't tell you… you'd be better off asking Inuyasha himself."

Seeing her pout, Sango added, "I know it's hard to believe since he's such an ass, but Miroku and I actually care for Inuyasha's well-being like a friend, and that involves 'no spilling secrets.' Of course," Sango rolled her eyes. "The contracts that we signed do help just a little."

"So… Inuyasha has this huge dark past?"

A shadowed look passed over the older woman's face. "I'd say more then huge," she replied quietly. "More like tragic, too."

An awkward silence permeated the room, before Sango sighed deeply. "Well, there was our serious bit… where's out comic relief?"

The doors flung open.

"Sango, darling! My Light of Hope! It is I, Miroku, coming forth to claim you back to hell because I need to bask in your grace and beauty. …And, uh, I can't find the stapler."

Only Kagome noticed the creeping grin over Sango's face as she blushed a dark magenta, before yanking her shoes off and hurling them into Miroku's general direction. "Couldn't you come in a more normal way? Kagome-chan is bearing witness to this, you know!"

Miroku squinted and made out Kagome. "Oh, hello, Kagome! Do you have a stapler?" A quick shake of her head told him she didn't. "Ah, shame, that. Well, back to you then, my beloved Sango! My koi! My one and only --- ow! Heck, Sango, what the hell did you throw?" Miroku strained his eyes to see a family sized chocolate bar at his feet. "Chocolate? Sango, chocolate is a delightful aphrodisiac and is often given as a present between lovers. Why, the family size of this bar is positively---"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING MORE!"

>>>

The next few days meant utter relaxation for Kagome. Hanging around Sango and Miroku, their antics often made her forget about the serious issue that hung over the mansion. The duo were far preferable to Inuyasha and his 'oh so droll' comments.

Needless to say, Kagome felt her grin and newfound peace disappear when she saw Inuyasha emerge from his new bedroom --- unfortunately only situated only a couple of rooms away.

He looked strangely neutral --- not that the dispassionate face served to diminish his good looks.

"…Inuyasha? Are you all right?"

He blinked, as if he'd only just seen her. "Oh, right. I'm fine, Kagome." He waved a dismissive hand, and continued walking on, breezing past her.

Kagome narrowed her eyes and followed him. Kagome? No wench?

"Say, Inuyasha. What exactly have you been doing these past few days? Destroying your liver with drinking binges? Causing yourself lung cancer with cigarettes? Sneaking in women?"

Inuyasha turned around and regarded her, rolling his eyes, obviously deciding to humour her like he would a child. "Yes, Kagome, I have imported six cases of beer from America and have guzzled them all down. I've had my wicked way with two identical twins, and just wait, I'll die in a coughing fit in two minutes."

"And you haven't been sulking about fretting about that note?"

Inuyasha paused again; this time obviously trying to keep hold of his explosive temper. "No," the words rolled out smoothly, with an edge of ice, warning her to back away. "No, I have not been sulking or fretting about anything." The voice reverted back to normal. "Apart from how to get rid of you as quick as I can."

Despite the humourous tone, Kagome looked beyond that and saw the deep worry lines etched onto his brow. The anger of being helpless, and the panic about being pinpointed. "Are you sure?"

Kagome had to muffle the squeak when Inuyasha locked her into a heated embrace. His mouth by her ear. His warm cheek on hers. The shiver she couldn't suppress when he whispered; his breath tickling the shell of her ear. "Kagome…"

Inuyasha was expecting a hefty push, followed by an enraged ranting. Or a sharp lash from the equally sharp tongue. Maybe even going as far as a punch again.

But he didn't expect the sensation of her fingertips grazing his cheek, gliding up, and then finally entangling into his long hair. Loose enough though, to rub against his scalp gently. Inuyasha almost purred. She's surrendered… He could've held her in his arms forever, if it wasn't for her impending words.

"Are you sure?" The words were soft, but firm.

He froze.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he drew back and cut his gaze to hers --- cursing mentally. The slightest hint of a blush covered her cheeks, and she was looking at him quietly, gaze boring into him. Like she didn't want to scare him away, but she knew everything that had happened. Every single, little, filthy detail.

But she didn't look disgusted. No, her eyes were compassionate, kind. Her fingers never stopped their motion, lulling him, compelling him to speak, to confess.

"I talked to Sango… this note ties into your past. It doesn't --- it won't --- hurt to tell me."

It was like a splash of water over him; shocking but waking him up effectively.

No. This bitch has gone one step too far.

"Just who are you to me?" Stepping back, he yanked her hand out of his hair, but keeping hold of it. He looked at her with a gaze of ice. "What do you mean to me? You, Kagome Higurashi, are a tiny, insignificant girl that has only had the fortune to come here because of one reason: I thought it might be fun to mess you around. You have no cause to be here, other for me to toy around with you and break your spirit." His claws dug deeper and deeper, finally piercing the delicate skin and ripping a pained whimper from Kagome. But he kept his stony eyes on hers. "You don't have the right to ask me those kind of questions, and you never will."

>>>

Onegai, review! I worked hard on this chapter… And if you think Inuyasha is a bit OOC here, don't forget he's under a lot of stress.