To Dance with the Devil

If there was anything Kagome learned it was that when one danced with the devil, they never won; even if the so-called devil was their husband, notorious and elite gangster, Takahashi Inuyasha. Too bad Kagome was stuck with him, till death do them part.

.xx.

To Make Plans with the Devil

The anger that Kagome felt was something unlike anything she had ever felt before. What balls did the man have to call her after she clearly was ignoring him on a number she didn't recognize? She didn't care if he needed to talk, if it was a matter of life or death, or if he wanted to apologize for being a dumbfuck. A jackass dumbfuck to the power of infinity times infinity!

New caller ID name.

"No, we don't." And Kagome hung up, blocking his number before he could attempt to call back. What was he going to do if she didn't give him the time of day? Show up at her door?

Kagome snorted and rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion.

Yeah right.

.xx.

Kagome's eye twitched while she opened the door to her shrine. 'Lo and behold, the object of her nightmares was standing at the foot of her doorstep dressed impeccably – as per usual—in a midnight blue suit and grey dress shirt. A partially undid blue tie with little anchors over it rested around his neck, but apart from that slight imperfection, he looked as if he just groomed himself to be presented in front of Kagome.

"Leave me alone."

She tried to slide the door shut but he was quick to intercept her with his leg. "Ten minutes is all I need."

"That's ten minutes more than I'm gonna give you."

"Aren't you the least bit curious about why I want to marry you?"

She was.

"No, I'm not."

"Even after you've paid back my loan?"

She was very curious.

"Maybe because you're a twisted fucking individual?"

Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk. "Careful, sweetheart."

"I told you never to call me anything other than Higurashi."

"Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to." Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders and effortlessly pushed the shrine door open and strolled in, as if he owned the place. Kagome seethed and clenched her fist. Her eyes flickered to his hip where she saw the bump of his holster, okay so if he wasn't armed and dangerous, I would've kicked his ass straight out of my house. She followed him, stomping with every step she took. Sango wasn't home, she was at a prenatal yoga class, Souta and her father weren't home, and neither was gramps. Of all the days, today is the day I'm home alone. Great. Just fucking great. He's going to kill me for my "brazen", she mentally made air quotation marks, attitude.

"It's quaint here."

"My old house was quainter." She spat with unhidden disgust. Inuyasha exhaled loudly and turned around, his eyes hard and his expression serious.

"You need to—no…" He was fishing for words. How the hell did Inuyasha Takahashi, sole ruler of Japan's underworld and self-made billionaire, at a loss for words in front of a single, defenseless, high-strung woman?!

"I need—you—"

Kagome scowled. "You want me to marry you because…?" She knew that was where he was heading. Call it the female intuition.

He was almost thankful for her choice of words. "Because if you don't, there are people in this world who will kill you."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Oh gee, thanks for a cliché romcom plot, Takahashi. Marry you or face impending doom. You have successfully wasted my time, you may leave now."

"God dammit woman," two strides and he was in front of her, grabbing by the shoulders and giving her a firm yet gentle shake. "Let me speak. Sit. Listen." His eyes flickered to the couch but Kagome made no move to sit down.

"You speak, I'll listen however I want, wherever I want, sitting, standing, or doing the hokey-goddamn-pokey!"

Inuyasha struggled very hard not to laugh; he would've if it weren't for the situation. Despite wanting to be firm and strong, Kagome made no sense when she was riled up.

"When did your mother pass away?"

That caught Kagome's attention really quickly. "My… why do you want to know? You probably already know."

Inuyasha's face was stony. "Yes. I do know. Now answer my question, when did Korari pass away?"

Kagome's insides trembled. What was he going on about? Why did he want to know about her mother and how did he know her name? His extensive research maybe? Despite trying to defy Inuyasha's orders, Kagome did, in fact, need to sit down. Wordlessly he followed, sitting down beside her. He was close enough that their knees were touching and Kagome could smell the underlying musk of cologne and male.

"Ten years ago." She answered her voice tight and her throat constricted.

Inuyasha studied her, his eyes flickering from her one orb to the other. "Ever since then you have been in danger. Not your father and not your brother. You have been. Our cards were played right and I was able to find you, unharmed, and now require marrying you to keep you safe."

Kagome frowned. "Your story makes no sense."

"I can't go in to detail. Not yet, at least." He wasn't lying. He couldn't.

"You can't drop such a bomb on me and then say you can't tell me the whole story!" Kagome was vehement; he was upsetting her by being so cryptic. Why should she believe him? "And besides," she was voicing her latter thought. "Why should I believe you?"

Inuyasha anticipated that and pulled a folded piece of paper out from inside of his blazer. "Here."

Kagome looked at him and down at the piece of paper – a letter?—before taking it hesitantly. She unfolded the letter and, without missing a beat, tears sprung to her eyes. It was her mother's handwriting; she knew by the way her mother dotted her i's… It was a letter her mother wrote to… Inuyasha?

Dearest Inuyasha,

Thank you for all that you have done. It is upsetting that everything that you and your family have done for me wasn't enough. I leave knowing that as long as you're around, my baby girl will be safe. Please make sure you care for her and protect her as much as you and your brother have done for me. I love you and Sesshomaru as if you were my own sons.

Please don't ever tell Akira, Kagome, and Souta what happened.

With all my heart,

Aunt Korari

Kagome was trembling and was not aware that Inuyasha's arm had wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her against his firm chest. She dropped the letter and stared blankly at the palms of her hands. "Wha-what happened to her…?"

Inuyasha brought his other arm around and pulled her directly in to his chest, crushing her in a hug. "I can't…"

"Tell me." Her voice was shaky, disobeying the stern tone she wanted to use. "What… happened to… mama?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes; remembering the day Kagome's mother died, vividly. But he swore… he swore to Korari on her deathbed that he would not let any of the Higurashis know what transpired the day she died until he and his brother, Sesshomaru, were absolutely certain that the Higurashis, particularly Kagome, would be safe from any harm.

"I promised her I wouldn't tell." He tried to keep his voice level and not bossy. He needed Kagome to trust him and what he provided was the little piece of the truth he was willing for her to see.

Although Kagome heard him, she wasn't listening. "Why did she say… Auntie? Did you know my mother?" She pushed herself out of his chest and gripped the collar of his shirt. "Did you know my mother?!" She shook him, rather violently. Her tears began streaming faster down her cheeks. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MOTHER?!"

Inuyasha covered her hands with his own hands but said nothing. He wasn't used to saying or doing nothing, but with Kagome he threw all his rules and customs out the window. Kagome was a different kind of exception. Kagome beat his chest and in an effort to help calm her he gripped her wrists and pulled her in to his chest again.

"What happened to my mother?" She sobbed against him, wetting his shirt.

"Will you trust me now?" His voice was hardly audible, just above a whisper.

"No." She tried to pull away but his hold was too strong. "Let me go! I demand answers!"

Inuyasha did pull back, but just enough to look down at her. His arms were still wrapped around her torso. "I know. I can appreciate you wanting answers. My mother and father are deceased, too, and I can empathize with you." Kagome's eyes were beginning to widen. "But trust that I cannot tell you yet the details of that night. All I need you to know is that I'm here because of your mother's dying wish and I need you to marry me."

"Leave." She murmured and, in a heartbeat, he dropped his hold on her.

"Leave. Leave my shrine, leave my property, and leave me alone."

Nodding, he stood up. He picked the letter up off the floor and tucked it back in to his pocket. "I'm only a call away." He offered before leaving, quite reluctantly. He had taken Miroku and Kouga's advice to heart and he was hoping he hadn't royally fucked up.

There was no way he was going to break his promise to his mother's best friend, stubborn Kagome or not.

.xx.

It was past midnight.

Inuyasha was staring in to the eyes of a double-crosser; a man that took Miroku and Kouga weeks to locate. They were in the basement of one of Inuyasha's many warehouses; the man was tearing up, his body battered and bruised from the many beatings he had to endure thanks to Inuyasha's plethora of followers.

But now he was facing the devil, himself.

"You were passing information to Naraku?" Inuyasha sounded dangerous. He sounded almost inhuman. Standing off to the side were fifteen of his men, including Kouga and Miroku. Inuyasha was still in the blue dress pants he wore to Kagome's place, but he had discarded his blazer and dress shirt and remained in his white undershirt.

"Sir—he… he…"

"No excuses." Inuyasha was lethal. "Just answers. Did you, or did you not, pass information to Naraku."

"I did—" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Inuyasha put a bullet through his forehead.

"Let this be a lesson to anybody who wants to double cross me."

Kouga and Miroku glanced at each other and proceeded to follow Inuyasha out of the warehouse. Kouga didn't spare the corpse a kick to the gut as he walked past him.

Fucking traitor.

.xx.

It was a half past two in the morning. Inuyasha stepped out of the shower and stood in front of the full length mirror in his bathroom, clad in a towel. He studied himself, the nicks and bruises that told stories of all the fights he'd been in. Inuyasha gently ran a finger over his scar before tearing himself away from the mirror.

"Sleep." He mumbled, grabbing his gun off of the bathroom counter and dragging his feet to his king sized feather mattress. Tossing the towel haphazardly on to the armchair in his room, Inuyasha climbed in to his bed naked as the day he was born.

He always slept naked.

Clothes were too restrictive.

Fatigue rocked Inuyasha's body and his eyes were slowly lidding shut—he didn't bother covering himself with a blanket, too much restriction. Just as his eyes fully shut, the ringing of his phone brought him back to reality.

"For the love of—" He grabbed the phone off of his nightstand and answered, keeping his eyes shut the entire time.

"I swear Kouga if there is no point to this call, I'm gonna—"

"Takahashi?"

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open and he was very aware of how quickly his heart started pounding. It couldn't be…

"Kagome?"

"Am I bothering you?"

It is!

Inuyasha had to sit up. "Is everything okay?"

The guards he had posted around Kagome's shrine hadn't called him saying she was in danger. He secretly hoped she didn't find out that he had men watching her to ensure her safety… after her consistant negative reaction to everything he did (except the fiancée thing… he knew that was wrong, but he wouldn't undo it), he couldn't be surprised at her anger any longer.

"Yeah. Everything is good."

Silence…

"Kagome?"

"Can you come to my studio tomorrow? At the end of day?"

This is certainly progress. "I can see if my schedule permits," he offered, knowing full well he couldn't make it. "Any reason?"

"I need to talk to you… about what happened today."

Inuyasha sighed. "Kagome, I told you I can't say—"

"I know." She cut him off. "I know you can't say. But I have questions that I know you can answer, and for that you have to come to my studio after my last lesson."

Inuyasha cursed inwardly. He couldn't go, he had a prior engagement that required him to fly to Egypt at noon the following day. But he had made a breakthrough with Kagome and he couldn't… wait a minute.

"How many part timers do you have?"

Kagome's frown was obvious in her tone. "Why?"

"How many?"

"A few…"

"Can they cover your shifts for three days?"

"Before I answer, why?"

Inuyasha lay back down and rolled to his left side. "I have a business meeting in Egypt tomorrow so I can't come, but, if you're willing, I can bring you along and you can enjoy a few days off?"

"Pardon me? Drop everything and fly to Egypt with you? I can't."

Although he wouldn't admit to it, he felt slightly disappointed. "Reasonable. Then I can meet with you later this week."

"Fine, I suppose."

He really wished he could've met with her instead of flying to another continent. Alas, work was work and he couldn't change that particular plan so last minute. He had vendors and associates waiting for him; the meeting had been planned months in advance.

"We can go for breakfast tomorrow instead." Quick thinking.

There was a pause but the words out of Kagome's mouth sent Inuyasha to the closest thing to cloud nine. "Sure. Can you pick me up seven?"

"I can. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah… good night?" She sounded hesitant and he didn't bother hiding his chuckle.

"Good night, Kagome."

Throwing his phone onto the pillow beside him, Inuyasha flopped on to his back.

Finally! He thought, almost excitedly. Progress.

.xx.

Hints of a past? Hmmm? Stay tuned!

And remember the double crosser Inuyasha killed. He becomes an important guy later on :)