AN: As noted before, this fic has been heavily revised. If you read the original, you'll need to reread this.

A(n) (In)Decent Proposal

She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted like a petulant child. "No!"

The man groaned. "Damn it, wench!" He looked like he was about to stomp his foot down like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Kagome slunk even farther away, until finally her back was pressed against a car that had long ago been abandoned. "No!" she repeated.

The man growled in frustration and glared heatedly at the girl. He was a peculiar looking man. He had long white hair bound in low ponytail, and two triangular canine—or feline?—ears sat atop his head. As much as the ears distracted her, and as much as she yearned to tweak them, the most attention-grabbing and incredibly distressing sight about him was the Imperial garb he wore so proudly on his person. The blue dress uniform and white trousers signaled that he was a part of the royal military.

Another reason her 15th birthday sucked.

If it weren't for the traffickers putting prices on unwed women's heads, it was the Empire that demanded taxes and fees by way of young, healthy humans.

He roughly grabbed her by the forearm, though paused before pulling. "I'm bringing you in. Make it easier on the both of us, and maybe, just maybe I won't carry you around like a sack of potatoes."

Kagome grinded her teeth, not unlike how the man was doing, and met his glare head-on. "Not gonna happen," she darkly said.

"Why you—" He was cut off when what looked to be a golden pocket watch dangling from his belt vibrated. He growled in a feral sort of way before roughly releasing her arm and standing back up. He pointedly looked at her with a warning gaze, silently commanding her to stay still, as he pulled the watch out and then held it in front of his face before opening the casing. "What?" he barked.

"How's the weather in the ghost town?"

Even Kagome could hear the mean snickers from the other end of the communication.

"What's it to you?" The dog-eared man demanded, his ears twitching irritatedly. "You having one last go before the bigwigs review your records?"

"Oh c'mon, Inuyasha. Just having a little fun. Is the little halfling annoyed being alone?"

Halfling?

Kagome's brows shut up. He said halfling, right? Oh, OK, that sort of made sense.

Halflings or half-demons had been an issue since the demon takeover. In the midst of the mayhem wherein hundreds of thousands died each day, humans and demons were...well, procreating, and half-demons were appearing left and right. The Great Purge quickly stalled that population growth, but like that Inuyasha fellow before her, there were apparently still surviving half-demons around. Though not much better off than humans, even those that wore the Imperial uniform.

As Inuyasha continued trading jabs with those on the other end, the further she scooted away from Inuyasha. Until she heard him say—

"—then get the hunting party. I'm taking my share."

Kagome paled. There was no saving her once the hunting party got her. No, no, no…

Inuyasha cursed like a sailor before snapping the pocket watch shut and reattaching the chain back on his belt. "Useless morons. Can't do any—whoa." Inuyasha stepped back once he looked up to find Kagome in his face, arms crossed, her nose inches away from his.

"You can't do that." She said with as much authority as a 15-year old could muster.

"What?" He stepped back again.

"You can't hand me over to the hunting party."

Finally understanding her little outburst, and regaining his very important personal space, he simply crossed his own arms over his chest and smirked back at her. "I'm getting my fair share. You're not getting out of this." They were at a standstill, each with their arms crossed and silently challenging the other to speak.

Then Kagome stepped forward and unceremoniously grabbed his forelock.

"Hey—!"

The reason why girls like Kagome and guys like Inuyasha found themselves so disadvantaged was because they were, for lack of a better term, single. They offered society no promise of additional working hands in the future. Humans, as weak as they were, held the ingenuity and creativity that many demons coveted. The faster humans repopulated, the faster cities like Tokyo could be rebuilt for the benefit of the Empire. Half-demons, although theoretically holding the best of both worlds, so to speak, would often remain single for the rest of their lives. No demons would mate with them, and humans...well, that was just out of the question. And remaining single meant many things in the Empire. No benefits, no job security, certainly no prestige, and definitely no assignments that amounted to more than an occasional unlucky forager collected for taxes.

Kagome kept a tight grip on his silver hair and pulled his face forward. Inuyasha stared into the eyes of a woman who, honestly, looked like a mad lunatic right then, like a poor soul possessed by a banshee.

What she said next pretty much confirmed his suspicions.

"Marry me."

AN: Teehee. Just imagine an angry woman, an angry Kagome, demanding that you marry them.

...wait, that's pretty scary.