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 a Deal with the Devil

With trembling hands, Akira Higurashi read the telegram that was sent directly to his office in the Archeology Department at Tokyo University. He was almost positive that his heart stopped beating momentarily; his eyes scanned over the letter once more, rereading what he had already memorized.

'Higurashi Akira

As per our agreement, you have searched to discover the skeletal remains of what you believed to be a mermaid, but failed. Outlined in our guidelines section 2.4 a, it is clearly indicated that should you not uncover what you are searching for, you will return the funds loaned to you within a period of four weeks. It is now the fifth week and we have yet to hear from you. Please contact my advisor immediately so that we may rectify this situation. His business card is attached.

Signed,

Takahashi Inuyasha'

Akira looked at the business card:

Miroku Lin, Senior Advisor, Half Demon Enterprises.

He knew that if he didn't make the phone call, Takahashi Inuyasha would do more than just send him a telegram. Akira knew better than to test the patience of Takahashi Inuyasha, listed one of the top five CEO's in the world, and Asia's deadliest gangster.

.xx.

"Point your toes!" Twenty-three year old jazz teacher, Higurashi Kagome, observed her class of twelve five-year-olds practising their toe pointing and stretching. She co-owned a studio with her best friend, Sango Yue, and loved every minute of being a jazz teacher. Her very pregnant best friend was unable to teach due to the fact that she was the size of a (small) hippopotamus but Kagome didn't mind. Sure, she put in a few more hours in the day but working with children was her lifelong dream and dancing was her passion.

It was the best of both worlds.

"My toe huwts!" One of the girls whined and Kagome smiled sweetly.

"Sweetie, with practice you'll be pointing your toes in your sleep. I know it hurts now, but I promise it'll get better." With a small pat on the head, Kagome continued to count for her students. "And four, three, two, and release!"

The girls exhaled loudly as they lowered their feet and slouched. Kagome couldn't help but laugh; she loved the girls more than anything. She had been teaching the same group of twelve students for the past six months and had quickly grown very fond of them. Just as Kagome was about to tell the students what to do next, the front receptionist (an old friend of Sango's), knocked on the studio door.

"Kagome?"

The raven-haired teacher glanced over her shoulder. "Yes, Yura?"

"Your father called just now. Said it was an emergency and for you to call back. Do you want me to watch the girls?"

Kagome nodded. "That'd be great. Just get them to repeat the toe pointer exercise till I get back?"

Yura smiled and tucked a stray lock of her unnatural blond hair behind her ear. "Gotchya, teach."

The two ladies giggled before Kagome took her leave and Yura began to cover the class for the few moments Kagome hoped she'd be. She walked through the tiny hallways of their homely studio, smiling at trophies and pictures. She loved her job more than anything. Apart from teaching, she was in a college designated for the arts and was further pursuing her dancing— it was something she did for as far back as she could remember. Her mother was a wonderful dancer and Kagome had the full intention of following in her footsteps.

Sitting in Yura's cushiony armchair at the reception desk, Kagome picked up the office phone and quickly punched in her father's cell phone number. It rang four times before redirecting her to voice mail, so Kagome opted to call his office at the university. Maybe her dad was in a lecture?

"Kagome?"

Okay, maybe not.

"Daddy," she said with a smile on her face. "Yura said you called?"

"I did," Akira gulped and Kagome's smile immediately disappeared and was replaced by a frown. Why did her father sound so frantic? "Do you think you can come home a bit early today? I need to speak to you and Souta. It's urgent."

Urgent? Kagome's heart began pounding. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

"Just... please come home early. Okay?" Without waiting for her to respond, Akira hung up the phone. Kagome listened to the beeping that indicated that the line had been cut before putting the receiver down. Her mind was array; what could possibly be wrong with her father?

.xx.

After making a few phone calls, Kagome was able to arrange one of the part-time teachers to relieve her for the rest of the afternoon. Kagome promised lunch and over time, but the part-timer simply laughed it off and saying that it was unnecessary. Friends help friends. Unlocking her bike from the stand, Kagome sped off towards her old family home. It was the same house she grew up in, from the day she was born till date. It was the house that her mother and father had bought prior to her mother's unfortunate passing. Her father had reassured Kagome and her brother, Souta, that he would not sell the house, no matter what.

Cutting the corner skillfully, Kagome continued to pump her legs in an attempt to urge herself to go faster. She noticed a large shiny black limousine slowly drive down the street and frowned; what's a limo doing here?

No matter.

Somebody probably was getting married or something.

Home was where Kagome had to go, she didn't need to worry about roaming limousines on the streets of Tokyo, Japan, her hometown. Kagome was approaching another turn and knew that she was going too fast to make it, so she expertly held her arm out, latching onto the light-post, swerved herself around, and continued in the direction that she needed to go.

Hey, she wasn't an ex-cheer captain, dancer, and sports star for nothing. Kagome was athletic and agile, and nobody could argue against that.

.xx.

Kagome opened the door and already felt the tense atmosphere. From where she entered, she saw her brother in the kitchen pouring a mug of coffee or tea. She assumed her father was in the living room, figuring out a way to tell them what he needed to tell them. It was so sudden; his phone call. That morning he left for work happy and his usual carefree self, but not even five hours later, he called both his son and daughter home to tell them something 'urgent.'

"I'm home." She called out. Souta looked over his shoulder and nodded at his sister. He mouthed to her: He's scared of something.

Kagome nodded back, indicating that she had an idea of how their father was feeling. Akira made no sound notifying that he heard his daughter enter their home. Souta left the kitchen with a tray of three steaming mugs; hot chocolate for Kagome, coffee for their father, and tea for himself. Kagome greeted her brother halfway down the corridor, took the tray from him and continued to follow him to the living room.

"Where's Sango?" Kagome asked. Sango opted to live with Kagome and her family for the duration of her pregnancy; the father decided not to stick around and the Higurashis quickly stepped in to help Sango with anything she needed.

"Sleeping," Souta responded. "Who'd you call to cover the studio?"

"Souten."

Souta nodded, he liked Souten as a teacher. She was the most disciplined, in his opinion. Wordlessly Kagome put the mug of coffee in front of their father on the coffee table and sat down beside Souta on the love seat. Akira was on the single seat, and their fat cat, Buyo, was sprawled out on their three seat. They sat in silence for a good three minutes before Akira exhaled loudly and sipped his coffee.

"I have... I've hidden something from you kids."

Souta, just a mere two years younger than Kagome, sat up straighter. "Hidden something?" The siblings exchanged nervous glances. Their father never, ever hid anything from them. It was an unspoken agreement in their family; no matter what happened, they always told each other the truth.

Akira was silent and Kagome leaned forward. "What happened? Is everything okay? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Um... well..." Akira put his mug down and rubbed his face. How was he ever going to tell his children? His two beautiful, loving children? Oh, Korari would be so upset if she were alive.

She was probably turning in her grave.

"You see, to fund the archeological dig in the Atlantic Ocean, I had to take a loan." Akira watched his children's expressions. So far it was unchanging. They were both confused and unsure of which direction his story was taking. Akira was more worried about Souta's reaction than Kagome's. His son was always the more emotional one.

"The terms of the loan were that if I found the remains of the mermaids I'm searching, the loaner would receive a cut of the profits for five years, excluding profit earned on holidays. If the remains weren't found after a certain period of time of getting the loan, the loan would have to be repaid in full."

Souta frowned. "How much was the loan?"

"Nine million yen."

"WHAT?!" Kagome screeched, standing up. "Nine million?! Why that much?"

"Equipment. Staff. Housing fees. The university wasn't going to fund past a certain amount and the loaner had a minimum amount to be loaned." Akira was dreading what Souta and Kagome would say after they found out just whom the loaner was.

Or what the loaner wanted in the stead of the repayment.

"Okay, so you got a loan of nine million yen and you can't pay the guy back, right?" Souta raised his eyebrow. "So what happens now?"

Akira looked down. He didn't want to see his kids' reactions when he revealed the next bit of information. "I took the loan from Takahashi Inuyasha... and now he wants the most important thing to me in replacement of the yen."

Silence.

Cold, dead silence.

Akira decided to look at his children. They were both gaping, a look of shock evident in their eyes. Souta's eyes were searching his father's and Kagome just stared blankly in front of her. Akira knew that they were thinking: Takahashi Inuyasha, one of the wealthiest businessmen in the world and the most dangerous gangster on the Asian subcontinent. What was I thinking?

"So what is it?" Souta finally croaked out. He had a sinking feeling; he knew what Takahashi Inuyasha wanted. Subconsciously, Souta reached over and took a hold of his sister's hand. "What does he want?"

Akira's eyes rested on his daughter and silent tears began streaming down Kagome's face. They all knew what exactly Takahashi Inuyasha wanted instead of the cash. He wanted Kagome— the apple of Akira's eye.

"How does he know you have a daughter?" Souta lashed out, his voice rising. He stood up, his body radiating pure lethality. "How does he know about us?"

"He does his research," Akira said quietly. "He knows about all of us, about Sango, the studio, your mother..."

"What if we refuse? How could he put a price on my sister's head?" Souta snarled. Kagome remained silent the whole time. She was still trying to understand what just happened, what her father just said.

Akira's shoulders slumped, if possible, further down. "He knows that nothing means more to me than the two of you. It's either I find nine million yen by tonight or..." His voice cracked. "Kagome."

"But what if we refuse?" Kagome finally whispered. Akira found it impossible to look at her.

"Death."

Souta took a step forward. "Whose?!"

"All of ours."

Silence once again.

The Higurashis knew what decision had to be taken— their lives depended on it.

"So he wants to buy me?" Kagome squeaked. Akira coughed and shook his head.

"No... He didn't say anything about buying. This is his assistant's card," Akira placed Miroku's card on the coffee table. "He said to call him after we've talked about everything."

"WHAT IS THERE TO TALK ABOUT?!" Souta finally exploded. Akira braced himself to feel his son's wrath and Kagome slinked out of the room, not before taking Miroku's card.

.xx.

Kagome sat in her room in complete shock. She didn't know her father was involved in such things and now, because of his carelessness, her entire family's lives rested on her shoulders. Takahashi Inuyasha wanted her... but for what? Akira said that Takahashi didn't say anything about buying but who knew?! What could the most dangerous gangster want with a dance teacher?

She knew she had to call him. Eventually. It was either then, or never.

Sooner rather than later, Kagome. Isn't that what Mama always taught you? Faintly, she could hear her brother still yelling. Sango was lucky that she was a deep sleeper; her best friend could sleep through an Armageddon.

Mustering up the courage within her, Kagome dialled Miroku Lin's direct number. She didn't want to; she wanted to wait, think about it, talk to her friends but she knew who and what she was dealing with. And she knew that he didn't want to be kept waiting. After dialling the last digit, Kagome pressed her phone against her ear and waiting to meet her doom.

That was what happened when one danced with the devil.

They always lost.

.xx.

I was thinking about totally quitting fanfiction but really? I couldn't. I just needed some time to get used to being married (amazing so far, by the way), and getting used to how different my life is now. But I am here, not going anywhere! This story was ORIGINALLY a Card Captor Sakura story but I tweaked it to make it an Inuyasha fanfiction…

I started watching Anime again and I am getting in to a new Netflix original series called Seven Deadly Sins… anybody familiar with it? I might look in to fanfiction for that series as well…

Anyway, here I am! Hope you enjoyed it!