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 Comply with the Devil
Inuyasha settled into his seat and flagged down a waiter that was walking the circumference of the room, waiting to be beckoned. Midoriko staffed some of her best waiters and chefs when she heard that Inuyasha wanted to rent the venue for the evening. Though she wanted to give him a discount, as he was an old family friend, he insisted on paying full price for the duration of his time in Ido.
"Good evening, Mr. Takahashi." The waiter bowed and turned to Kagome. "Miss. Higurashi. Would you like me to go over the chef specials we have for this evening?"
Inuyasha nodded curtly. "Please do, but first may we have two tall glasses of water please—we will place orders momentarily."
The waiter nodded. "Immediately, sir." And he scurried off to get their water. Kagome leaned back in her seat and gently placed her hands on the table, accentuating all of her curves in a way that made Inuyasha's blood rage with need.
It had been a very long time since he was with a woman. Sure he had women come in and out of his room (as Miroku and Kouga would claim), but none of them ended the way his loins wanted them to. They were simply there for physical gratification without going through with the whole thing.
He was a hot-blooded man, after all. His promise to Korari Higurashi, however, superseded everything else in his life.
Even his own needs.
"You are clearly one end of the spectrum, or the other." Inuyasha was leaned back in his chair, his left leg stretching out beside the dinner table and his right bent just a tad beneath his chair. His left fingers drummed the table while he, effectively, pushed his right hand into his pocket.
"Either visually appalling or, visually appealing."
Kagome did nothing to hide her amusement. She leaned in, just slightly as if she was going to reveal a secret, and winked at Inuyasha. "I like to keep my men on their toes."
His chuckled reverberated through the dining hall. "How many men, sweetheart?"
"A woman must never disclose her number." The banter was light and teasing, but enough to elicit a meaningful conversation… of sorts. "Even to her future spouse who is the most feared man in all of everywhere."
Inuyasha smirked but his posture did not change. "I prefer to use the word revered, not feared."
"Religious leaders are revered, emperors are revered… celebrities are revered." Kagome countered. "You are feared."
"I must say that I do concur with your statement." Inuyasha tipped his head to the waiter that returned with their water. The waiter mentioned giving them a few more moments before hurrying off, once again. "But in my world, I most certainly am revered."
"By your people." Damn this woman has a response to everything. "You are revered by your followers, but feared by your enemies."
"But isn't that the case with any person that is followed by the public?" Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow. "They are either revered or feared, depending on who you are asking?"
Kagome nodded and flicked invisible dust off of her lap. "I suppose, but we are talking about you and you are feared. End conversation."
"Fine, end conversation, but we were discussing your number and it intrigues me that you are seeking to keep it a secret when Miroku did research on everything." Inuyasha stressed the last word causing Kagome to roll her eyes in an exaggerated fashion.
Her retort was ready. "He might've done research, but how are you possibly able to figure out how many romp-partners I may have had? Would you be contacting all of my previous relationships and inquire?" Kagome leaned back, her left eyebrow cocked. "I wonder how that might sound?" Inuyasha was too busy running his eyes over the curves of her body to pay attention to what she was saying. "This is Miroku Lin from the office of Half Demon Enterprises… we would like to know if you ever had sex with Higurashi Kagome because the kingpin of all kingpins wants to marry her. Speak now or forever hold your peace."
Inuyasha tore his eyes away from the bulge of her breast to the endless pools of her eyes. "Yeah, something to that effect. Besides, I need to know who I need to eliminate for having the privilege of my wife's body."
"You did not exist in my life, so therefore this body wasn't yours. Besides," Kagome smirked, "why would you entertain the notion that we'd engage in naughty activities?"
"Because you won't be able to resist me."
"Is that a fact?"
His smirk widened. "Indeed it is." Inuyasha relished this side of her. She harboured no inhibitions and spoke to him as an equal, not an inferior or superior. She wasn't hurling threats at him, or being a little brat, or defying him in ridiculous ways… granted Inuyasha wasn't being a jerk either so that probably contributed to the fact that she was being amicable.
"I would like to say that your fact is incorrect." Kagome took a sip of her water, the imprint of her lipstick sticking to the rim of her glass. "I find it a miracle that I'm even here, dating you—"
"We're engaged, dating comes with the territory."
Kagome ignored him. "So for you to be thinking we'd… hanky-panky is—"
If there was water in his mouth, he'd have spat it out. Was that really her choice of words to replace sex? No matter, Inuyasha knew Kagome was a quirky woman, and for her to replace the word sexual intercourse with hanky-panky should not have surprised him at the least.
Inuyasha's wandering train of thought caused him to miss the latter half of Kagome's sentence.
She probably was referring to how incredulous the idea is that we, as a married couple, would not consummate our marriage. Inuyasha, however, had no intention of honouring that request of hers. He would be willing to do many things for her, as she would be his wife, but compromising the act of making love? Never. He had gone too long without it for her, he'd be damned if he went even further.
The waiter reappeared. "Is the gentleman and lady ready? Would you like me to go over our specials this evening?"
Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow in Kagome's direction. "Would you like to hear the special, sweetheart?"
Kagome, who had taken a split second to glance over the fish section of the menu, shook her head. She was craving salmon ever since she stepped foot into Midoriko's restaurant that evening. "No, I believe I'm ready."
And, so, Inuyasha nodded, refused to hear the special, and the two ordered. Kagome opted for the slow-roasted salmon with baked potatoes and a creamy polenta. Inuyasha went straight for the man-steak, completed with potato wedges and a tall bottle of beer. It didn't surprise Kagome at all.
"So," Kagome wiggled closer to the table and crossed her arms, just at the edge of the tabletop and leaned forward. She wasn't aware of how that small gesture made her breasts plump up, but Inuyasha was very well aware. "Why did Miroku call me earlier?"
Inuyasha blinked and tore his eyes away from her breast. "That? Ohh…"
Right. The real reason why I needed to bring her out…
Apart from getting to know her, that is. But that went without saying.
Clearing his throat, Inuyasha used his left hand to loosen his tie slightly before resting it back on the table. "I promised you that I would not involve you in my world," he saw Kagome nod. "But, as you can understand, it is very difficult—and it will be even more so going forward, as you'd be my wife." Inuyasha's eyes flickered to one of his bodyguards pacing just at the northeastern side of the room. "The police are trying to pinpoint something on me, but they can't… my enemies are always trying to get me, which would make you a great target for them, but Kouga and his boys are always keeping an eye on you." Inuyasha added the last bit in when he saw her eyes widen in fear. "And I have men turning on me all the time."
"What makes you think Kouga won't?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha could appreciate that it was a very legitimate question.
"Your concern is valid, but he won't. I've known him and Miroku for, almost, my entire life. Miroku longer… they aren't bound to me because of pay or security. It's loyalty that keeps them here—they are my liabilities because anybody who knows me knows I rely on them, and trust them, with my life." Inuyasha saw Kagome nod tightly and knew concerns still persisted in her mind.
He would tend to them when the time came.
"The reason why we had to come back early was… because of a potential threat to you."
"WHAT?!"
"The threat is eliminated!" Inuyasha hurriedly added. "But it was an eye opener for me and I wanted to ask you—" he never asked anybody anything… It went to show how much he really cared for the woman before him.
How much her opinion of him mattered…
"If you'd be okay with pushing our wedding up to the earliest date you'd like?"
Kagome was stunned. She hadn't expected him ask her about the date of their wedding, considering that he all but forced her to agree to marry him.
"You pick the venue, everything associated with wedding planning, and I'll make the payments. Let me know where and when, and I'll be there." Inuyasha silently prayed that he played his cards right. He knew with Kagome he had to take another approach; a caring, considerate, and softer approach, so forcing her to do something against her will was a surefire way of ensuring Kagome didn't do what he wanted.
Inuyasha felt like he was sucked into a vacuum—Kagome was zoned out; her eyes were downcast, her fingers drumming the tabletop, and her involuntary chewing of her bottom lip. Kagome was clearly trying to comprehend everything Inuyasha just said to her and all he could do was wait…
Which he was not used to.
Inuyasha was used to getting what he wanted whenever he wanted it. Patience was a virtue that he simply did not have but, as he realized with his now-fiancée, he needed to somehow gain the virtue of patience and exercise it with her relentlessly.
What if she refuses? The thought never occurred to him. He naturally assumed Kagome would be gung ho about his proposition of upping their wedding date to as-soon-as-humanly-possible. Would she really say no?
I mean I wouldn't give her the option to say no but… that'd only put me back to square one with her. He was silently hoping that she would just make it easy for him and schedule their wedding for yesterday.
After what felt like an eternity, Kagome finally spoke. "What danger?"
"I can't tell you that…"
Kagome furrowed her eyebrows. "Does it have to do with Naraku? Or the situation with my mother?"
Inuyasha felt his throat tighten. She hit the nail on the head, but he wasn't going to tell her that.
"Again, I cannot tell you anything. All you can know is that there is an imminent danger and I want to ensure that you are safe." He studied her. He watched the twitches and tremors in her face, the way her brows furrowed in caution, how her lips puckered with confusion.
He was memorizing all the little quirks about her.
"What about Souta, my dad, grandfather, Sango and the baby?" Inuyasha knew that her primary concern would be that of everybody else. But Naraku wasn't after anybody else but her.
"They will be fine." He promised. "They aren't in danger—"
"Which makes no sense." She cut him off but immediately clamped her mouth shut when the waiter appeared with their orders. After a brief moment of silence, the waiter left with his serving tray and the aromatic scents of their dinner assaulted her senses.
But it did nothing to leave her mouth watering. Her attention was focused solely on Inuyasha and his proposition.
"What makes no sense?" Inuyasha prompted while Kagome simultaneously inhaled deeply.
"Why would I solely be in danger and not, say, my brother? He, too, is my mother's son."
"Legitimate question, but I cannot answer."
Kagome wanted to flip the table, but she kept her cool. "What can you answer?" Maybe that was a better question versus asking away and receiving the same response: I cannot answer.
He sounds like a broken record. Kagome though distastefully. How the hell am I supposed to deal with cryptic?
The devil's advocate in her head chirped in: He did promise you that he wouldn't get you involved in his world, so cryptic is all he can do.
"Anything not related to my world, or your mother—for one year." Inuyasha repeated his condition firmly, with no chance of wavering. Kagome needed to understand that the less she knew the better until everything was sorted out.
He didn't want to rob her of having a normal life…
Well, as normal as being the wife of a kingpin could be.
"So basically nothing."
The corners of his lips tugged. "I wouldn't say nothing…" He let the innuendo hang in the hair.
His comment was met with Kagome's exaggerated eye roll. Deciding to ignore him for a moment, Kagome bit into her mouthwatering salmon. If she could close her eyes and moan loudly, she would… but Kagome did not. The last thing she wanted to do was make potential questionable noises while in the presence of her dangerously-revered fiancé.
Inuyasha could only watch in amusement. His steak lay before him but he made no move to cut into it. The only thing he did was take a swig of his beer before resting it down on a doily coaster.
"Tastes good?"
Kagome's eyes flickered up to locked onto his golden eyes before looking back down at her food.
"I wouldn't expect anything less from Midoriko." Kagome finally revealed.
Inuyasha latched on like an eel. "So you enjoyed the last event?" He wanted to find out everything about her from her. Not from Miroku's research, not from his trusted sources, but from his to-be wife herself. What made her who she was? She was, from what he knew, a loving and kindhearted woman who gave, gave, and gave with no expectation of receiving anything. Much like her mother...
But Inuyasha wanted to learn all of that from her, not from Miroku's extensive research.
A ghostly smile filled her face. "More or less… until the bomb was dropped."
"I didn't lie… simply fabricated the truth."
"Of course." Kagome sipped on the beautiful white wine that she ordered to pair off with her salmon. "So back to the topic at hand—tell me about yourself."
Bemused, Inuyasha leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. "I don't believe we were talking about me, love."
"Don't call me that."
He chose to ignore her. "What concerns do you have? Come, now, better you voice it now versus later."
Kagome's eyes narrowed. "I don't like being kept in the dark. You can keep your own illegal shit to yourself, but when it concerns my health and life, I have the right to know."
"You do," he nodded, "but your health and life is interconnected with my, as you put, illegal shit. Therefore you should not and cannot know until I deem you ready."
"That's hardly fair."
"Life isn't fair, sweetheart. You of all people should know that."
She hated his guts, but she also promised herself that she was going to be amicable at the least. Did she want to push up the wedding? No, not at all but she didn't even want to get married to him to begin with. They also had to fly back to Japan for an unknown reason, which Kagome could easily guess to be related to his side business, and all of a sudden he wanted to bring up a nonexistent wedding date, so it was safe to bet that there really was something wrong. And fighting against what would be the inevitable was useless, so it was in her best interest to comply and be a jerk later.
Kagome mustered up all the nonchalant she had in her, and shrugged.
"Life is cruel. I believe that fairy tales were created to give little girls a false sense of hope—do I like it? No." Kagome set her fork down. "But if I have a daughter am I going to strip her of childish fantasies? Of course not, but I do intend to teach her that life is not happily-ever-after."
"Our daughter will have a happily ever after."
Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Children are the direct result of hanky-panky without safety."
A toothy grin spread across his face. "Precisely."
"Ugh, pig."
"Get used to it, sweetheart."
She chose not to feed him any more reasons to jibe at her decision of no consummating the marriage. "So, yes, I know very well that life is not fair at all."
"Can we segue back to the actual topic at hand?" Inuyasha had absolutely no intention of eating his food. "Are you okay with pushing the date of the wedding?"
Kagome was going to try a new thing she called be-brutally-honest-with-Inuyasha . Would it get her killed? Sure, if she wasn't going to be his wife, so she decided to push his limits. Clearly he wasn't okay with vulgar clothing, but he did enjoy lack thereof clothing (case and point: her very revealing red ensemble).
So she said what was on her mind. "Am I okay with it? No."
Inuyasha looked so taken aback that Kagome wanted to laugh. Self-control, though, was a wonderful thing. "Do I accept your plea? Yes. We can push the nonexistent wedding date up."
"I wasn't pleaing."
"Pleaing is not a word, Inuyasha."
"Wait—did you just say you're okay with moving the date up?!"
Kagome snorted. "I said I wasn't okay with it, but I'd do—" she was cut off when, somehow, Inuyasha appeared beside her and tilted her head back to envelope her lips with his own. She didn't want to feel it, but she felt safe. A warm sensation, like a hearth with crackling embers, filled her to the tips of her fingers.
Inuyasha's fingers curled around the back of her neck and he managed to pull her just that much closer. His other hand travelled down her silky soft skin, along everywhere that he had been eyeing all evening…
Finally.
She was his.
.xx.
And... voila :D