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 Fly with the Devil

"So…" Kagome started slowly as she towed behind Inuyasha in the airport. "What's in Egypt?"

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder. "Like I said, vendors and partners… of the sort."

"Legal or illegal?"

It was then that Inuyasha knew that her inquiry of anything being legal or illegal was going to be recurring during the course of the marriage. And, speaking of marriage, Inuyasha then realized just how heavy the generational family heirloom engagement ring felt in his pocket. Just because he was marrying her out of duty did not mean that she would be stripped of her right as the first Takahashi bride.

Take that, Sesshomaru.

"Day one, illegal." No point in lying to her. She could know how he made his money, she just didn't need to know who and what he was involved with. "Day two, legal."

"And day three?"

It was then he slowed down to allow her to catch up. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder which Kagome was quick to shrug off, followed by a glare that clearly said watch it, buddy. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Day three we sightsee and you need to get used to me holding you."

"No, I don't. Can we go to the Temple of Ra?"

Inuyasha passed their boarding passes to the gate agent while simultaneously telling Kagome that the Temple of Ra did not exist.

"It does, I saw on the history network that the lost Temple of Ra was located."

"You were probably watching Indiana Jones," Inuyasha couldn't help but snort. "But there is a plethora of other temples that we may visit, that actually exist; Luxor, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Amun-Re, Dendur, and Kalabsha… to name a few."

Kagome didn't appreciate the tone he took with her. "Well quit being a jackass about it. I was referring to the Temple of Amun-Re." She stressed the ancient name of the Egyptian Temple. "Honestly, you're such a—"

"Careful." He cut her off. His annoyance was rising and he did not want to be held responsible for spewing curses at his soon-to-be-fiancée in the middle of a goddamn airport. All the woman had to do was board the damn airplane, drink champagne, munch on some cashews, and call it a day. But no, she had to ask questions.

"I thought you had a private jet?"

He noted her change of topic and was silently thankful. "I do. But I leant it to a friend."

"Which friend?"

"You wouldn't know him."

Kagome paused. "… legal or illegal friend?"

Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh. His annoyance from moments prior was beginning to dissipate and he was half wondering how the woman was capable of such a feat. Typically when he was annoyed well… he tended to remain annoyed for the remainder of the day. Voodoo. His only explanation.

"Illegal friend, if you must know."

"I must." Came her snarky response before she stepped onto the airplane and handed her boarding pass stub to the flight attendant. After locating their seats, Kagome quickly snagged the window seat and left Inuyasha to stash his carryon into the overhead compartment. Lucky for her all she had was her gym bag with three outfit changes and a nice black dress (complete with two pairs of flip flops and heels). Sango had insisted the dress needed to be packed, just in case.

"You were quick to book two seats." She observed.

Inuyasha shrugged, sliding in to the seat beside her. They were in business first class – Inuyasha travelled no other way when he wasn't taking his private plane – and he could tell she was slightly in awe. "The other seat was booked for one of my men but we changed the booking last minute."

Horrified, Kagome's head snapped over at him. "Did I—"

"No." He was quick to cut her off. She was as readable as an open book and, for some reason that worried Inuyasha. Keeping a poker face was necessary in his world and although he didn't intend for her to get involved in his underworld life, he couldn't very well let her be as transparent as a window. "Juromaru is catching the next flight with his brother."

"… legal or—"

"Illegal. Most of what I do is illegal."

Kagome nodded while biting her cheek. "Alright then." And at that moment Inuyasha knew she was disengaged. Inwardly he cursed; all he wanted to do was have her trust him so that they could be at least amicable with one another. But he felt as if the more he did, the more he told her, the more untrusting she became. The only win that he had in the lose-lose situation was that he had managed to have her trust him enough to agree to marry him – I have to court and propose to her while in Egypt –, but everything else he did was moving him one space back.

Why the fuck is this so hard. He rubbed his face and flagged the flight attendant down to grab him a bottle of beer. Inuyasha felt Kagome shift slightly and idly looked over to see her pull a book out of her purse.

He managed to glance at the title.

Ten Steps to a Successful Marriage with a Man You Don't Love
By: Yoko Nagasaki

It was taking all of Inuyasha's willpower not to snort out loud and roll his eyes dramatically. Was she for real?! Who the hell did something like that? A book… she's getting advice from a book.

"Is there a chapter on marrying a mob lord?"

Kagome cocked her eyebrow and narrowed her eyes at him. "Sure. Chapter 3, marrying a dangerous sonofa because somebody is out to murder you… or something."

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"No, really…" Kagome flipped the book over to Inuyasha who read the title disbelievingly.

Chapter 3

Marrying a Dangerous Sonofa***** because Somebody is Out to Murder You (or something)

"This woman is fucking psycho." Inuyasha muttered under his breath, referring to the author. He was glad his beer was delivered just at that moment because he took a long, hard swig to get his mind off of the dumb book Kagome was choosing to read. "The fact you hunted that book down doesn't surprise me at the least, Kagome."

"It's still Higurashi to you." Kagome chided. "I haven't formally accepted your proposal and you are still courting me."

"Courting requires a sense of familiarity."

Kagome gently shut the book and turned her body to face him. "Yes, it does. A sense of familiarity that we do not have yet, so I suggest you think of something to familiarize ourselves with each other and then we can talk about you calling me by my first name, okay?" Her adrenaline was pumping and she could see the gears turning in his head, coupled with the vein popped on his left temple and the twitch in his left eye. She knew she was pushing the wrong buttons.

"You will regret daring me like this, Kagome." He drawled her name, as if to make a point.

She didn't care. Yeah, his presence and the knowledge of what he was capable of frightened her slightly… and the fact that his enemies could potentially find her, maim her, and mail her back to him in a cardboard box scared the living shit out of her, but she knew he was harmless. He made it clear that his sole intention was to protect her so the last person on earth that would hurt her… was Inuyasha.

And that meant she could say whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to, and however she wanted to say it.

Power tastes good.

"It isn't a dare, Takahashi." She made it a point to say his last name with disdain. "It's common sense. We have three days in Egypt and if you can't court me properly and successfully ask me to marry you… then you have your work cut out for you in Japan."

There was a twinkle in his eyes and Kagome, somehow, knew she didn't have the upper hand anymore. "Fine," the words tumbled from his lips. "This 'common sense' challenge of yours is accepted. In these three days I will show you things that no other man has shown you before, and you will accept my proposal with no hostility, no attitude, and no sarcasm." Her eyes widened drastically. He took the opportunity to lean forward to his lips were just a breath away from her ear.

"Because remember. I want to marry you… and I always get what I want."

"Not want," Kagome couldn't even control herself speaking. Her mind was saying shut up, but something else in her made her talk. "You need to marry me."

His lips didn't move from beside her ear. Inuyasha's hot breath tickled her neck and sent a shiver running up her spine. "Indeed, but can't a man want and need the same thing?"

Kagome's mind went fuzzy and she was, for once, at a loss of words. Deciding that she was going to accept defeat honourably, Kagome simply turned away from him and picked her book up once again. She heard him chuckle and call the flight attendant for another beer.

It's going to be a long flight.

.xx.

It was only four hours in to the flight and Kagome was getting incredibly bored. She finished her book and watched a movie before going back to reread some chapters in her book. Inuyasha was on his laptop the entire time looking at spreadsheets and emails (he purchased the onboard WiFi access), and other business related things.

Kagome was tempted to start a conversation with him and, not surprising herself, she gave in to temptation.

"So uh… what… illegal stuff do you do?"

Inuyasha didn't look away from his computer but she did see him raise an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want to involve yourself with such insignificant details."

Yeah, I don't. But I'll be married to your dumb ass and—

"Remember, I know what you're thinking."

"Right, right," she did nothing to hide the sarcasm. "You're a mind reader. I keep forgetting… so what do you do?"

Inuyasha looked away from his laptop and studied Kagome for a thorough minute. She seemed genuinely curious but he wasn't about to tell her anything. "Do you think I'm going in to details of such things on a public airplane?"

True… Kagome hadn't thought of that.

"Alright then… apart from Shikon, what else do you do?" She was opting for the legal side of things.

Inuyasha's lip twitched in amusement. "You're bored, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Her sheepish tone made her unbelievably cute. Inuyasha shut his laptop and crossed his arms. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up and the top two buttons were undone. He looked like a business tycoon, from a sappy romcom Kagome once saw, coming home after a long day of business tycoon-y type of work

"You're putting forth an effort to have a conversation with me so yeah, I would say it's obvious."

Kagome bit her lip. "I'm not a jerk."

"Could've fooled me. You've already shed light on why you were so reclusive before which is understandable, but you have to start letting me in or else both of us will be seriously unhappy in this marriage." Inuyasha nodded his head towards her book. "Or did Yoko not teach you that lesson?"

Kagome giggled. He made a joke, albeit a stupid one, but he did nonetheless and it made her laugh. "No, she didn't." Kagome's shoulders sagged. "I'm not good at this."

"Which part?"

"The whole your life is in danger so marry me but I'm actually a super dangerous mob lord and my name alone can get you killed thing."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and licked his lower lip. "My name will not get you—"

The incredulous look Kagome gave him shut him up right away and he retracted his statement. "Okay so it might, but I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you."

That was the entire purpose of marrying him.

"Do I have to take your name?"

"Yes," Inuyasha was quick to respond. That was something he was not willing to negotiate. "You do."

Kagome tried not to snap at him for being bossy. Perhaps he had a perfectly valid reason as to why he wanted her to change her name but was being secretive of the reason. It wouldn't be a first, in Kagome's experience "What if I don't want to?"

He noted her amicable attitude. "I just do. From as far back as I can trace all women who marry in to the Takahashi bloodline have changed their name. It's a mentality thing for our children too—we come from a strong lineage, elite warlords in Feudal Japan and whatnot and we would prefer not to hyphenate their surnames."

"Why does it not surprise me your ancestors were warlords." Kagome muttered. "With you being a mob lord…"

"And your family tree is full of priests and priestesses." Inuyasha was quick to say. "One of your great great great great great grandmothers, Kikyo – your cousin's namesake—was said to have sealed a pesky half demon to that tree in your shrine's backyard."

"Extensive research?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "Very extensive."

The flight encountered some turbulence but nothing that was about to distract Kagome and Inuyasha from their friendly banter.

"What else do you know?"

She was challenging him.

"You mean from my extensive research?"

Kagome nodded. She took off her shoes and crossed them onto her seat. Might as well get comfortable. "Yes, from your extensive research."

"Well," Inuyasha tapped his chin in feign thought. "You were part of the cycling club all through high school and was top in your school, as well as archery. You have a mean left hook, a birthmark on one of your butt cheek—" she raised both eyebrows at that one but he made no effort to divulge, "and you're saving yourself for marriage."

Needless to say Kagome was shocked and impressed.

"Your illegal methods have basically covered it all."

Inuyasha pretended to brush off invisible dust on his shoulder. "It has, but it only gives me facts. I don't know the whys… like why are you saving yourself for marriage?"

Kagome shrugged, rather nonchalantly. "I was saving it for the man I love but… well… that's moot now, isn't it?"

For some reason he felt guilty. He felt guilty for robbing her of such innocuous hopes and dreams, but it wasn't his fault. Inuyasha was fulfilling a promise he made to her mother years ago to protect her from an outstanding danger. Girlish dreams and innocent hopes regardless.

I guess I'll just have to give her everything she's ever wanted… marriage of convenience or not. At that moment, Inuyasha made a vow.

And he was a man that never went back on his word.

"Your turn," she grinned. "You know everything about me but I have no idea about you… other than you're scary and carry a gun all the time."

"Protection." He offered. "But shoot, ball is in your court."

Kagome was, dare she say it? Excited.

"How old are you?"

Inuyasha was stumped. "That's so basic…"

"So? I need to know how old you are."

"Haven't you googled me?"

"I usually don't google jerks who try to have me declare bankruptcy, now answer the question Mob Lord, how old are you?"

Inuyasha had an inkling that the stupid pet name she spewed out was going to stick.

"Thirty two."

"And your favourite food?"

"What the—"

"Favourite food." Kagome repeated, sterner.

"How does this help us in any way?" He saw the look she shot him and decided to stop arguing. "Fine. Ramen."

She wasn't expecting that answer. "Ramen? That's not food."

"It is. It's comprised of the four basic food groups."

Kagome slapped her head. "My word. Fine, whatever you say. Ummm… when did you lose your virginity?"

"What type of fucking questions are these?!" Inuyasha glowered at her. "This is not relevant to our relationship."

"Yeah well, you know all the answers to irrelevant questions regarding my life, so now it's time to return the favour."

Inuyasha was cornered. She was right and he was half contemplating having her on his Board of Directors to push certain deals through. She was feisty, had a mean temper, and evidently got what she wanted… most of the time.

"Fine," his voice was quiet. He couldn't believe he was going to tell her the damn story… Nobody knew the damn story!

"I was fourteen…"

Kagome smirked. "Fourteen? Quick, weren't you?"

"Shut up!"

Ohhh, I struck a chord! "What happened?" She egged and he had to look away from her.

"We did it in the gym change room because our buddies dared us, okay?!"

Kagome gawked. Well, that was unexpected… "And then?"

Inuyasha, for some reason, was turning red from embarrassment. "The gym teacher walked in and well… we were both suspended for a month."

And for the rest of the plane ride all Kagome did was laugh, repeat the story… and laugh some more. Inuyasha had angrily turned his laptop back on and did anything that didn't require him to pay attention to the laughing woman beside him. Fucking wench. Fine. Laugh. See if I give a flying fuck.

It was definitely going to be a long flight.

.xx.