InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Scenes ❯ Take 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ok this chapter was particularly difficult to write. I'm not sure why. I don't know if it flows as much as I would like it to.

As for the reviewers, thank you so much! It's such a reward to know that my efforts are appreciated.

FF.Net Reviewers:

YFate: Thanks :) First reviewer! Yay!

4gVn sOuL: hahahaha thanks for waiting for this chapter!

-- : Thanks so much, `Anonymous reviewer', as much as I would love to know who you are to thank you properly, I respect your privacy :) I loved your review though. I feel like sometimes authors do InuYasha a disservice by making him brash and angry and well...dumb. And yes I think Kagura might actually be a bit of a regular in this story. I think she makes a funny druggie! Thanks again!

Clouds of the Sky: here's your update! lol thanks for reviewing!

MyInuYashaObsession: I would love to know what story it reminds you of! I don't want anyone to think I'm stealing their ideas lol!

MM.Org Reviewers:

Tweak: Thanks :) I can't promise updates every other day but I can definitely do every week!

Ezaangel(nsi): Thanks :) I always try and make my stories original - I mean, I know some celebrity focused fics are somewhere along the lines of “I just won the contest to spend a month with InuYasha,” and I didn't want to make it one of those (no offense to anyone whose written one like that. One of those stories is one of my favorites. Dead Famous I believe it's called)

Grace317: Well I think you'll be happy to know that there will be quite a bit of InuKik in the beginning cause he is living this double life. And don't worry - I'm not going to turn her into a vindictive ho as soon as she and InuYasha are over. :)

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Behind the Scenes

Take Two

Persephone

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“And we're on in 5...4...3...2...1.” The graying cameraman sighed and scratched this week's accumulated stubble beneath his chin.

The camera zoomed up to the face of a blonde suited woman sitting rigidly on the end of a stiff leather chair. “Gooood Morning Los Angeles! I'm your host, Shannon Farryl, filling in for Julia this morning!” She all but sang into the camera, flashing her best Barbie smile. “This morning I've been talking to award winning actress Kikyo Hiroshima,” Barbie paused as the sound crew blared a lively applause recording over the speakers surrounding the stage, “about her starring role in the upcoming film, Remember Those Nights, opposite InuYasha Takahashi.” The cameraman drew the camera away from Barbie and centered it in front of the stage. “Unfortunately, our time has almost run out! We have time for one last question.” Barbie turned away from the camera and faced Kikyo, sitting poised and relaxed in her chair, ankles wrapped around each other and tucked beside the chair. “I think I can speak for your entire fan base, myself included, when I say we are dying to know what the scoop is with you and your costar!”

Kikyo shifted slightly in the chair to keep from grimacing at the use of the word `scoop.' She was no amateur interviewer. She knew what the viewers wanted. She squirmed some more, gnawed on her lower lip, and avoided eye contact with the camera. They wanted the chemistry portrayed onscreen to be more than just acting. They wanted real life passion. And she would give it to them...well...sort of. “All I can say, at the moment Shannon, is that working with InuYasha has definitely been an eye opening experience.” She smiled coyly. That would give them enough to make assumptions.

Barbie let out a quick, nearly inaudible sigh at the lack of scandal in the movie star's response, but quickly fixed another smile on her face. “Well that's all we have time for now! Be sure to stick around for your News Today at nine with Anthony Ramirez. For now, this has been A.M. L.A. with Shannon Farryl. Thank you for watching. Have a fabulous day.”

“And we're off.” The cameraman sighed heavily and began to shove his equipment back into their respective cases.

“Thank you so much for being here, Miss Hiroshima.”

“Oh yes, it was a pleasure.” Kikyo politely shook Barbie's hand before turning towards her temporary dressing room. The moment she was out of public eyesight, her shoulders slumped and she ran her fingers tiredly through her hair. By the time she walked through the doorway of her dressing room, her bra was half unhooked. She expected Kagome already inside, folding her clothes and packing up her makeup. But it wasn't Kagome. “Jesus Christ!” One hand flew over her rapidly beating heart while the other steadied her against the doorframe. “Where is Kagome?”

It had taken a moment to register that it was only her publicist kneeled over her small suitcase, folding her outfits carefully. Sango shrugged sheepishly, “A little jumpy this morning aren't we?” Kikyo just grumbled and flopped onto the director's chair in front of the mirror.

“What on earth happened to Kagome last night? This isn't like her at all.” Sango was about to answer but was interrupted by a frantic knock at the door. Sango and Kikyo exchanged a suspecting glance. “Yes?” Kikyo called to the visitor.

“Ah! Kikyo it's me! Oh my god I'm so sorry!” Kagome practically fell into the dressing room as Sango opened the door.

Kikyo raised a brow in something Sango pegged easily as amusement. “Well, well, well, Kagome. If I didn't know better I'd say you slept in.” Her black eyes twinkled mischievously. “Unfortunately for you, I do know better. Isn't that what you wore to the party last night?” Kagome felt the heat rise to her cheeks as Sango chuckled quietly. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Kagome. What have I told you about outfit-peating.” Sango snorted loudly and went back to folding clothes.

“Oh shut up you two, it isn't what you think.” Sango leaned on the arm of Kikyo's chair, elbowing her jokingly.

“Dear Kagome, what on earth would we be thinking?” Sango and Kikyo snickered to each other before staring at her expectantly.

Her face was on fire. “I got drunk last night and met a someone at the bar.” Kikyo and her publicist didn't even bother to hide broad smiles climbing up their features. “I passed out and he took me back to his place.” Ah the walk, or in this case, explanation of shame.

“Kagome got some aaaaction, Kagome got some aaaction!” Kagome stared incredulously at her employer and best friend.

“You guys have got to be kidding me!” Sango and Kikyo shook their heads and laughed.

“Oh come one Kagome, you guys didn't do anything??” Sango pried, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“You two are being so adolescent!” Kagome snapped, slipping her heels out of her pumps. Kagome lifted her chin and sniffed rather indignantly before flipping open her sidekick. “Back to business, I picked up your outfit for tonight. The tailor said the alterations were complete but it would probably be good to be on the safe side and try it on one more time. I had the driver take it back to the villa.” Kikyo nodded her agreement. Kagome turned to Sango. “Have you heard anything from the producers about whether or not InuYasha and Kikyo are supposed to arrive as an item?”

“Yes, yes, the producers really want to draw in the publicity for this movie. So as of tonight, Kikyo, you and InuYasha are together.” Kikyo shrugged and turned to her make-up mirror. It was not the first time she had dated someone because of a movie.

A sharp intake of breath from Kagome drew Sango and Kikyo away from their thoughts. “Look what I found!” Kagome sang happily, pulling a thick stack of papers from her bag. She dropped them noisily onto the movie star's makeshift desk. Kikyo looked questioningly at her assistant but Kagome just grinned and gestured to the papers.

“Tabloids?”

“Read read!” Kagome chanted excitedly. Kikyo rolled her eyes, turned back to the gossip newspaper and read aloud.

“The sophisticated party girl? Award-winning actress Kikyo Hiroshima knows how to party with style! She was spotted with a group of thirty-some A-list celebrities at the newly opened club, The Bungalow, in the V.I.P party room. Sources tell us that the bash was thrown to celebrate the premiere of her new movie, Remember those Nights, costarring InuYasha Takahashi, Hiroshima's rumored beau.” Kikyo flipped over to the next paper. “Kikyo Hiroshima was spotted last night with boyfriend and rumored fiancé InuYasha Takahashi at a celebration for their newest motion picture release. Reps for both Hiroshima and Takahashi denied comment on the relationship, but one thing is for certain - love was in the air!” Beneath the small blurb was a picture of Kikyo planting a chaste kiss on InuYasha's cheek with a glass of champagne in her hand. “This is ridiculous!” Kikyo insisted. “This picture was taken months ago! And we haven't even confirmed our dating relationship and their already talking engagement!”

Kagome shook her head and tapped the flimsy paper thoughtfully. “It's publicity.”

The rest of the tabloids were different versions of the same story, several featuring the kiss picture. “Some bartender probably took a shot with his camera a while ago and decided to sell it.” Sango reasoned, inspecting the tabloids for herself.

“So I guess me and Takahashi are now officially together...”

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“InuYasha, it's wonderful to see you,” Kikyo smiled and kissed him lightly on both cheeks. “InuYasha I'm sure you've met my publicist Sango,” Sango shook his hand firmly.

“Wonderful to see you, as always Mr. Takahashi.”

“Sango, this is my publicist, Miroku.” The man beside InuYasha was tall, dark, and well...handsome. Sango had heard things about this man though. She nodded curtly and offered a stiff hard handshake. Kikyo looked around expectantly and smoothed imaginary wrinkles on her dress.

“And my personal assistant should be here...I don't know what has gotten into that girl lately.” Sango and Kikyo exchanged a knowing look but decided not to let InuYasha in on Kagome's humiliation.

“Sorry! Sorry! Kikyo you forgot your clutch!” A woman came near sprinting out of the villa, two jeweled bags around her wrist and a pair of heels in her hand.

“Oh, thank you, Kagome.” Kikyo turned to her `beau'. “InuYasha, this is Kagome.” Kikyo smiled warmly. “She keeps me sane.” Kagome was out of breath when she reached the couple. Her cheeks were flushed with the exertion and her curls had begun to fall. She quickly smoothed her patterned Nicole Miller tunic and smiled up at InuYasha.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Takahashi.” To be honest, InuYasha looked a little shell-shocked. His eyebrows seemed frozen on his forehead upward in surprise and his mouth hung slightly agape. Somehow he managed to choke out a greeting. InuYasha stared at her blankly. This was the girl who passed out in his arms last night? She smiled brightly and gestured to the limo waiting in the driveway. “Shall we?”

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The limo ride was extremely uncomfortable. Well, for InuYasha at least. He couldn't stop staring at her. She chatted busily with Miroku, whom she had obviously spoken to before. Why hadn't he told him about this beautiful bright woman? She was constantly on that damn phone, texting and whatnot. He considered calling her on the number she gave him only earlier that morning. That napkin was conveniently tucked inside his wallet. He almost immediately decided against it. Things would get messy if she knew who he was. Instead, he resigned himself to making small talk with Kikyo and watching Kagome from the corner of his eye.

The driver opened the divider an inch and called to his passengers that it would be approximately five minutes before they arrived at the theater. At that moment, Kagome came and sat next to Kikyo, retouching her make-up and prepping her for the interviews that would come momentarily. She smiled at him politely but then laughed, “Mr. Takahashi! Where on earth did you learn to tie a tie?” Before he knew what was happening she was sitting beside him, hands expertly tightening his tie. He could smell her perfume. It was a subtle hint of lavender fragrance that teased his sensitive nose. While the beads might disguise his physical appearance, they did not stop his senses. “Call me InuYasha.” She stopped and stared up at him, mesmerized, her hands still on his tie. That voice...it was so familiar...and yet...she couldn't place it with his face. Of course she had heard him before, speak that is, but the way he spoke just now...sounded different.

“Kagome, there's a bottle of champagne in the ice bucket. Let's have a quick toast.” Kagome was startled from her thoughts and blushed prettily, warm pink filtering onto her cheeks. Everyone in the limo nodded in agreement. Well, almost everyone.

“Are you sure that's such a good idea?” InuYasha asked smartly, staring straight at Kagome. She froze for a minute, eyebrows furrowed in question. Sango and Kikyo both stared, perplexed. They were fairly certain that they had kept quiet about Kagome's recent encounter with drinking. That was when he realized his mistake. He had only been poking fun at the girl for their past experiences together with alcohol, but that had implied that he had known her before they were introduced, minutes earlier. “I-I mean I don't want to be slurring my interviews.”

Kikyo thrust her chin into the air and answered haughtily, “It's tradition InuYasha.”

Miroku clapped him hard on the back. “Come on, loosen up a bit. It's not like you to be so tense.” InuYasha smiled thinly, taking a glass from Sango. That was close.

“To the premiere!” Miroku toasted, fizzing champagne held as high as the limo ceiling would allow. The limo echoed with “cheers” before all glasses were tipped to the sky.

“Ladies and gentleman, we have arrived.” InuYasha felt the limo slow and fall back into the brakes. Kikyo's fingers slipped through his and she smiled at him reassuringly. He tried his best to smile back, but he was could feel that it came out as more of a grimace.

The limo door opened and Kikyo was momentarily blinded. She tightened her grip on InuYasha and stepped out, pulling him with her. The lights flashed about them. She flashed a perfect Hollywood smile for the cameras and led InuYasha in front of the Jaguar sponsored backdrop. This wasn't like InuYasha. He was stiff, arm wrapped tensely around her middle, and grimacing at the camera. Lucky for Kikyo, all it took was a swift elbow in his rib to bring him back to his senses.

Almost instantaneously he slipped into celebrity mode, posing and laughing with Kikyo. They were supposed to be together after all.

“InuYasha!” “InuYasha, over here!” “Miss Hiroshima, who are you wearing?” “Is it true what the press has said about your engagement?”

Kikyo felt her cheeks quivering from the smile cemented on her lips, she half-dragged InuYasha down the red carpet from one entertainment news station to another. She crossed her legs and relaxed into InuYasha's arm.” Kikyo placed a confident hand on her hip and posed. The dress she had chosen for the premiere was a strapless Valentino number with intricate beading across the bodice and trim that ended just above her knees. A beautiful vine-like beaded design crawled up the side of her dress and caught the light of seemingly endless camera flashes.

She smiled for what had seemed like an eternity, kissed a million cheeks, and finally found herself at the theater entrance. Threw InuYasha a relieved grin. “Let's go in already.”

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“You can pull along back,” Kagome told the driver cheerfully, closing the door after Sango and Miroku left to trail their charges. The driver tipped his hat to her and pulled away from the red carpet. Kagome let out a heavy sigh and chewed unconsciously at her cuticle. Sure she knew InuYasha Takahashi. Who didn't? He was famous. But the way he had spoken to her. He had acted so familiar. She shook her head, now was not the time to be thinking about InuYasha.

“Miss? We're here.” The driver called back to her.

“Thank you very much.” She handed him a generous tip and stepped back as he rolled away.

“David!” She waved and walked up to the burly man guarding the kitchen entrance. “It's fabulous to see you.” She stood on her tiptoes and planted a friendly kiss on his cheek. “How've you been?”

“I'm getting by.” He smiled. “You look lovely, as always.”

She spun for him, enjoying the way her tunic lifted slightly. “Thank you very much!”

“Get in there kid, don't you have a job to do?”

A look of mock hurt was thrown across her features, her fingers by her mouth. “Always down to business are we?” She flirted shamelessly. David just laughed and opened the kitchen door.

To say the kitchen was busy would be an understatement. She ducked out of an employee's way and maneuvered her way to the front of the kitchen. Politely excusing herself, she addressed one of the boys working at the popcorn machine. “Do you know where I could find Hillary?” The boy threw his thumb behind him, pointing to a shouting young woman. Her auburn hair was drawn unceremoniously underneath a mesh hair net and her face was red with anger. “Thank you very much.”

“Hillary?” She asked tentatively.

“Ah! Kagome thank goodness someone's on schedule!” She glared accusingly at one of the kitchen boys who promptly scampered behind the popcorn cart. “It's good to see you.” She hugged her briefly before leading her to the film room.

“Thanks, are you coming later?”

“If I can get away. But I'm not sure. If not enjoy and I'll talk to you later.” And then she was gone, storming after some unfortunate employee. Kagome shook her head briefly at the woman's temper. The film room was dark, and the faint monotone ticking of the projector occupied the silence. “Kagome!” She whirled around.

“Hojou!” She embraced her friend quickly and smiled.

“I haven't seen you in so long!” Hojou was cute, in a boyish sort of way. The kind of cute you might imagine on the cover of Teen-Weekly. But he was a nice boy. A little dense at time, but Kagome liked him.

He smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his head. “Has it really b-been that long?” He stammered, as if to pretend he hadn't been thinking about the woman in front of him since the minute he last saw her. He distracted himself by feeding the film wheel through the projector. “How are you?”

“Oh I'm fabulous. I'm so excited for Kikyo. I've seen some of the takes of this movie and it's amazing!” He laughed lightly and dragged a soft leather computer chair from the corner of the dark room. He set it in front of the wide window, opening the film room to the theater below. Kagome thanked him and sat back, watching the people file into their seats.

Hojou stared back in wonder. She looked flawless. He swallowed quietly, taking in the sight of her textured brown leggings and oversized tunic. “S-so why are you up here instead of down their with Miss Hiroshima?”

She turned around and winked at him, “And miss seeing a movie with you?” She chuckled. “Kikyo tried to make me come down but it's so prim and proper down there. I mean, I like to watch a movie and peace you know?” His heart was soaring. She had given up V.I.P. treatment to spend a couple hours with him...of course; he disregarded the entire second half of her answer.

The lights began to gradually dim in the theater. Hojou rolled a seat up beside her and kicked his heels up onto bar protecting the ledge. “Ladies and Gentleman, would you please turn off all cell phones and pagers. There is no smoking inside the theater. Now for your feature presentation.”

Kagome sighed and sat further back in her seat. She was content.

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It was an hour and a half into the movie when her sidekick vibrated. She apologized profusely to Hojou (who glanced over at her bag curiously) before digging around the bottom of her Swarovski clutch for her phone. She flipped it open, and tried to ignore the backlight that glared obnoxiously up at her. The new text message was displayed clearly enough, though from a number her phone didn't recognize. She had a pretty idea who it was.

“You. Me. Tomorrow night. No alcohol...but that last part is negotiable.”

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Ahh! I didn't mean to make it so long! Just got carried away I guess! I was going to leave it at the paragraph when I said she was content but that wouldn't leave you guys hanging! lol it was the best hanger I could come up with :) BTW I have no idea how movie premieres work. I can only guess :) but it took a lot of time to explain! lol Tell me whatchya thoughhhtt :)

To see Kagome's outfit go to NicoleMiller.comand its part of her Spring 2007 Lookbook. I think its second row all the way to the right :) I wish I had moneyyyyyyyy :(

To see Kikyo's dress go to Valentino.com, select Haute Couture, and the dress is number 16 of his spring/summer 2007 collections :)

Don't worry, you'll know more about Sango's next chapter..

RANT: Ok this is something I just need to get off my chest because it drives me crazy every time I hear it. I hate it when authors make the characters say things like `I hate preps and jocks' what the hell is a prep anyway? Do they realize they are just encouraging the use of stereotypical labels? Not all preps are sluts and not all jocks are dumb. It's a stupid stereotype and authors aren't helping when they make all the cheerleaders dumb sluts. And no, before anyone accuses me, I am not a cheerleader. But I like sports. Does that make me a jock? No because they reserve that stereotype for males. I like to wear skirts and shop at Abercrombie. That doesn't make me a slutty prep. Sure, it'd be naive to say that there aren't bitchy girls who shop at Abercrombie or dumb boys that play sports. But please don't throw everyone into that category. It's a stupid label. kthanks.

Anyway thats not the point :) review please

Persephone