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 Reason with the Devil

At seven in the morning, sharp, Inuyasha was parked outside of Kagome's shrine. He, for some reason, wanted to bring his motorcycle (which he had knighted Raijuu once upon a time). He was anticipating a shrieking response from Kagome and, for some ungodly reason; he was looking forward to it. Kagome was a firecracker and, although a tad bit annoying when all she did was get mad at him, she amused him.

That was a lot considering not many women were able to hold his attention for too long.

Punctual as ever, Kagome appeared at the top of the shrine steps at one minute past seven wearing a beautiful knee-length floral dress. She had her purse hanging off of her right shoulder and a gym bag on her left. As gentlemanly as ever, Inuyasha met her halfway up the steps.

"Good morning," he greeted while tugging the gym bag off of her shoulder. To his surprise, she didn't fight with him and allowed him to carry her gear.

"Morning—no Bugatti?"

Inuyasha smirked, for some reason pleased with himself. "No, but I brought the love of my life, Raijuu."

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him and looked over at the motorcycle propped up alongside the curb. It was beautiful, coloured black with red accents. It was something that should've been in a movie but, alas, Kagome was not at all surprised that Inuyasha owned the thing.

"Raijuu?" She managed to say as she and Inuyasha approached the motorcycle.

"Yeah." He did not, at all, sound embarrassed. "Are you okay with this?"

He was expecting her throw a fit, say something about how unsafe it was, say how crazy he was for owning a—

"Luckily I wore shorts under my dress. Are you okay to carry my gym bag for the ride?"

His eyes widened but he quickly recovered from his obvious shock. Kagome looked over at him and he could tell that she seemed somewhat… excited to be riding his motorcycle. Of course, Inuyasha being a Takahashi-blooded man could not forgo the opportunity to tease her. Mobster or not, he took pride in his occasional sense of humour.

"Excited?"

Her eyes flashed and he was bracing himself for the oncoming verbal barrage…

"A little bit."

It was the second time in one minute that Inuyasha was hit with pleasant unexpectedness. He was getting anxious to take her to his favourite coffee shop and have their little chat. Something changed in her within the last twelve hours and Inuyasha was determined to find out what it was before he flew to Egypt.

.xx.

"That was so much fun!" Kagome didn't want to feel giddy, but she did. She had never ridden motorcycle before and she was glad the first time she did was with Inuyasha. She had slid on to the motorcycle and wrapped her arms around her torso. She was unsurprised to feel a taut abdominal with much defined muscles.

Inuyasha threw her a smirk and proceeded to open the door to the café, all while holding on to her gym bag. She tried to take it back from him, but he refused. Something along the lines of: It's a man's duty. Kagome rolled her eyes at him but let him have his moment; her gym bag was heavy anyway.

"Glad you liked it."

Kagome breezed past him through the open door and he followed close behind. She was very aware of how the heat permeated off of his body and penetrated her pores. The scent of him was overwhelming and she was trying to keep a clear mind. She needed it to be clear for what they were going to be having a chat about.

"Maybe I'll bring it around more often."

"Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" She threw back at him as they searched for a place to sit. Eventually they managed to snag a corner booth-esqe seating arrangement made simply for two patrons. Kagome got comfortable in her seat and told Inuyasha her order while slipping money towards him. He simply glanced at the money on the table, snorted, turned, and walked off to order their breakfast.

Kagome was not surprised.

Keep calm. Just breathe, have your talk and… well… I'm so confused.

It didn't take Inuyasha too long to return. The tray he was carrying was weighted down by their two coffees but otherwise overflowing with pastries, and croissants, and so much more. Kagome picked up her coffee cup delicately and wiggled her butt a little to get comfortable. She waited for Inuyasha to settle in before she began to talk.

"Thanks for meeting with me."

He tilted his head slightly to the right. "No problem." He wasn't going to push; he wasn't going to say… Inuyasha decided that as this was her invitation, he would let her steer the wheel and take the conversation in any direction she chose to do so.

Kagome bit her lower lip and her shoulders sagged, just a tiny bit. It was enough for Inuyasha to notice, however. So he decided to push an apology through because he, in fact, did feel like a dick for showing her the letter her mother sent him before Korari passed away. Inuyasha hadn't intended to show her the letter but after all the pushback he had been receiving from her, and the advice and Miroku and Kouga had to offer, he decided to give her a little bit of information… enough to potentially help push her towards accepting his proposal and marrying him.

"I'm sorry for how I handled the situation yesterday."

Kagome's eyes snapped up and locked with his. "Pardon?"

"I apologize for yesterday. I just need for you to understand how imperative it is for you to trust me and using your mother's death was definitely not the right way to do it, but that is the reason why it has to be done." He was studying her as he spoke, trying to see how she reacted, how her face contoured, if she was angry, understanding, confused…

"I get it." She mumbled. "I've been difficult with you but you need to understand that everything was thrown at me and my brother so suddenly. Within a week we find out my father borrowed a substantial loan from you and was unable to pay it off and, as a result, I have to marry you." Kagome sipped her coffee. "If I had known my options were marry you or marry you, I'd have never have sold my home."

"Perhaps selling it was meant to happen?" Inuyasha offered, biting in to a strawberry Danish. "Everything happens for a reason, Kagome." He threw the ball back to her court.

"Regardless, you can appreciate that everything was kind of thrown at me and I was expected to make a decision that not only impacted me, but my younger brother, my father, and my best friend—"

At that, Inuyasha had to interrupt.

"Speaking of Sango, nowhere in my research did I figure out why she's living with you, how she got pregnant and where the father is."

Kagome bit her lower lip. She didn't want to disclose such personal details about her best friend, elite murderous mobster or not. "She well… she needed help and my family was there to support her. The father left when he found out she was pregnant." That was all Kagome was willing to say. She wasn't going to disclose that Kuranosuke Takeda, her boyfriend of three years, took advantage of her and uprooted, leaving the country altogether. She wasn't going to disclose that Sango had nowhere to go, nobody to go to, and no family to lean on. Her mother and father had passed on and her brother was abroad for studies.

That was Sango's story to tell.

Inuyasha took the hint and dropped the subject. "Go on." He urged her to continue her story.

"Yeah… so I was expected to make a decision that would affect everybody. And on top of that you come out of nowhere demanding that I marry you, no ifs ands or buts about it… and that resulted in me selling—" her voice cracked and Inuyasha felt like a douchbag. He hadn't really looked at it from her point of view. "In me selling the only place that I had tangible memories of my mother. And despite all of that, my father never discovered a mermaid and I still have to marry you."

Kagome had to stop talking otherwise she would surely burst in to tears. Inuyasha remained quiet—this was Kagome's moment, not his. She had to get everything off of her chest, not him.

"Was the loan thing a ploy that you and Daddy concocted to have you meet me and go through this whole marriage thing?"

Her question caught him off guard and he ended up laughing. Not because he was stupefied, but because her suggestion was so possible that it actually did not happen.

"I wish that was the reason," Inuyasha ended up saying. "But no, Akira really thought he had a lead on mermaid remains and when the banks weren't extending a loan to him, he reached out to my people. When I caught wind that Akira Higurashi was seeking out a loan, I formulated a plan…" Inuyasha sipped his coffee. "I knew he wouldn't be able to pay me back, and I damn well knew mermaids don't exist, so I used the situation to my advantage to meet you."

Kagome felt like she should be angry, but she wasn't. He was merely doing something he was told to do…

"How did you know my mother?"

"I can't speak about that." He said regretfully. "Anything to do with your mother I can't tell you until we've been married, for at least a year, and the danger that's present is gone. Only then can I tell you, your brother, and your father everything."

Kagome frowned. "A year?"

"There are things that need to be taken care of after the wedding to ensure your safety." Was all Inuyasha was willing to say. "And like I said before, this isn't a temporary arrangement. This is a lifetime commitment and I know how shitty it sounds—you women have your fantasies about fancy weddings complete with pomp and circumstance to the man you love and you're being stripped of that but…" Inuyasha was looking for the right thing to say. "But I can give you everything and anything you want. You want a big wedding? Done… You want to take our honeymoon trip," she blushed at that with eyes widening, "to Bora Bora? Done. Whatever you want, I will give you plus so much more. We can learn to like each other." He hoped that his pitch was good. He was able to convince anybody under the sun to do anything, but he couldn't get through to Kagome.

Kagome bit her lower lip. "And I'll be safe?" Was she considering it?! His heart began racing. "From whatever it is that apparently killed my mother and… your world?"

His world? Oh yeah… his world. Inuyasha nodded. "You have my word. You may think you know what my world is about… but you have no idea and I do intend for you never to find out."

Well that isn't scary as hell. Kagome's thought was dripping with sarcasm.

"I do have trouble trusting you." She revealed.

"Understandably so." Inuyasha managed to interject.

Kagome continued speaking as if he didn't butt in. "But then I begin to wonder why you would need to marry me and not any other girl? You probably have women falling at your feet."

He did. Always. But ever since he made the promise to Korari Higurashi that he would protect Kagome from any harm, he had never been with a woman.

It was his personal choice.

"I do," he didn't want to lie to her. "And you are right. Why you? Why go through the trouble of courting you and convincing you to marry me when I could have anybody." He saw the gears turning in her head and he knew that she was slowly starting to understand what he was saying. "And my only mistake was that I should've been honest with you from the beginning instead of playing mind games with you. I assure you that that will never happen again. As my wife you are my equal, my company is your company, my house is your house, my money is your money. The only thing you will not have control over is—"

"Is your gang related stuff." She finished for him and he nodded.

"You will live a normal life, you'll never know about anything that's happening in the underworld, and nobody in the underworld will ever know how to reach you." Please believe me.

"And you'll tell me about Mama…"

"On our first year anniversary." He assured.

Kagome nodded, very slowly. She had been up all night talking to Kikyo and Sango about what she was going to do…

.xx.

"He showed you a letter that Auntie Ko gave him?!" Kikyo said, disbelievingly. Kikyo's mother and Kagome's mother were twin sisters. Kikyo's mother lived in Taiwan with her second husband and visited every so often, especially to see Kagome and Souta. "How the hell did he know her?"

Kagome shrugged, rubbing her puffy eyes. It was one in the morning and the three girls were still discussing the who, what, where, when, why, and hows of the situation. They had, so far, agreed that Inuyasha probably wasn't lying because he was going through a whole heck of a lot of effort to convince Kagome to marry him. They also agreed that the letter was probably legit, seeing as the details of Korari's death from a decade ago were wonky and the girls knew that the case was closed prematurely.

Sango told Kagome to maintain her attitude but Kikyo was quick to argue and say that Kagome had been a bitch for long enough and she had to give him a chance. He had the patience of the Gods and Kagome couldn't constantly push him away like how she had been doing. She could be firm and show him that she wouldn't bend over backwards for him – or anybody—but she shouldn't be so mean.

Kagome had burst in to another round of hot fresh tears.

"What are you thinking?" Sango whispered.

"I… don't know…"

Kikyo knew her cousin. "You're going to accept his proposal, aren't you?"

Kagome was shaking. "I don't know yet."

"A part of you believes him, doesn't it?" Sango murmured and Kagome nodded, slowly.

"I do. What he says makes sense to me… the whole danger thing, I don't know… but do I want to risk it?"

"You're risking it by marrying the lord of the kingpins." Sango added.

Kikyo punched Kagome's pillow. "This is bullshit. He won't let you not marry him, and he's gonna drag you do the altar kicking and screaming… you might as well accept his proposal and lay down your own terms versus being forced to do it and not have any say in the matter."

"You make sense." Kagome bit her lip and Sango nodded, agreeing with Kagome's statement.

"Whatever you do, Kagome, you always have us around." Sango ran her fingers through Kagome's hair. "I just wish all of this happened in a… less crappy sorta way, you know? There goes the fantastical wedding we've always wanted to throw for each other."

Kagome hiccupped and buried her head in her hands. "I think I know what to do…"

.xx.

"So um…" Kagome was fidgeting and Inuyasha studied her. She was extremely beautiful…

"Will we… you know… um…"

"Kids tend to be the result of a prosperous marriage, Kagome." Inuyasha grinned toothily. Her discomfort amused him to no ends. The blush that covered her cheeks was priceless.

"But I give you my word that until you're comfortable, we will not have to do anything."

That seemed to calm her. A little bit.

"Oh… kay…"

There was silence. The gentle buzz of the background noise hummed in Inuyasha's eardrums. He wanted to reach over and run his fingers down her milky white skin, to assure her that he would do everything in his power to protect her and her family from whatever harm that could befall them. Korari Higurashi was the closest thing his mother had to a sister and Inuyasha grew up loving the woman as if she was his own mother…

So he'd be damned if anything happened to her daughter.

"I was able to get Yura and Souta to figure out my shifts for the next few days." She began slowly and Inuyasha frowned, slightly confused.

"Alright?"

"So um… I can come with you to Egypt and I expect a proper proposal."

No. Fucking. Way.

Inuyasha slowly put his hands on the table. "Are you…"

Kagome shrugged, looking everywhere except at him. "You won't know until you ask me to marry you the right way."

It took everything in his power to not lean over and kiss her.

.xx.

SAY WAAAHHH?!