Author's Note: Kind of a longer note this time. Bear with me here! Welcome back! Glad you're here. Also, 50 reviews! Whoo-hoo! I'm bringing you guys a longer chapter to celebrate. Enjoy!

Dedication: I don't normally do these anymore, but I felt like this was a good a time as any for a dedication. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to reader/reviewer LalaCisler, for being my fiftieth review. Thanks for taking the time to review, LalaCisler, and I'm so happy you like YITM.

Also, a shout out to everyone that's been reviewing up until now is in order. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I wrote my first Inuyasha fanfiction thirteen years ago. And still, I own none of the Inuyasha series or its characters. So sad.

I'd also like to note that this particular chapter was written to a specific song: Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky. If you're able to, I suggest heading over to Youtube or whichever website you prefer to listen while you read, especially the ending scene. Explosions in the Sky is a post-rock band, there are no lyrics, so it goes along nicely with reading. Try it out, if you'd like!

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Chapter Nine: Inuyasha's Curse

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Kagome

"He doesn't have a shirt on, they won't let him in," Sango said, pointing to the 'no shirt – no service' notice posted on the Mos Burgers door. She glanced back at Inuyasha, her eyes narrowing. "He looks like one of those cosplay people."

Kagome sighed. "Okay, here, take the cash." She dug into her purse and pulled out her wallet, handing it over to her friend, glancing over at Inuyasha herself. He was still somewhat bent over, clutching at his side, his face contorted in pain. Sweat dripped from his hairline and down his nose. He shook with hunger, his whole body quivering in small, tightly controlled bursts. "Uh, you'd better get as much as you can with what I have," she added, wondering how much food would be enough to fill sixty years of an empty stomach.

Sango plucked Kagome's wallet from her hands and walked into the building, leaving Inuyasha in Kagome's care. She walked over, reaching out instinctively to help him around to the outside seating area, but pulled away as his eyes locked onto hers, warning her not to touch him.

Fine, he was so disgusted by her touch? She'd never touch him again. She forced down the sudden inner cry that she wanted to touch him. She thought about his kisses. He hadn't seemed disgusted by her touch back then. She shook her head to clear it as she sat down, Inuyasha falling onto the bench beside her, resting his head on the table.

"How long is your stupid friend going to take?" He growled.

"She's not stupid, and she's going to order you a lot of food so you won't be so hungry, give her a few seconds."

"I could have hunted and killed enough to feed all three of us for a week by now," he snapped.

Kagome wrinkled her nose at the thought of him strangling bunnies and ripping apart squirrels to eat their insides, her stomach churning. "Not an option. I like animals, I'm not letting you go out and murder a bunch of forest critters."

"Just – ugh! – just shut up wench, I can't take your constant talking right now."

She set her jaw against his words, trying to keep cool. It wouldn't do to start a fight here, out in the open, with Inuyasha the way he was. She still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that he wasn't going to kill her, although, something in her gut told her that probably wouldn't happen, no matter how brash and rude and barbaric he was. She sat next to him, silent, as he growled and moaned and made a fuss.

Men, she thought, inwardly rolling her eyes. What a bunch of babies. A thought struck her then. Was Inuyasha a man? He was youkai, that was for sure. Err, hanyou, half youkai and half human. But still, was man the right word for what he was?

She shot a quick glance his way, trying to seem as indifferent as she possibly could. He looked man enough, and he sure as hell had felt man enough. And there had to be both male and female youkai, cause how did they reproduce otherwise? Kagome had the sudden image of Inuyasha asexually reproducing a perfect replica of himself and couldn't help the giggles that escaped her lips.

"What the hell do you have to laugh about?" He snapped.

"Nothing, it's just…" did she dare ask him? "There are female youkai, right?"

His facial expression set her off in another fit of giggles just as Sango approached.

"What's so funny?" She asked, setting the overloaded tray onto the table.

"You tell me!" Inuyasha growled, reaching for the first hamburger on top of the pile. He bit into it.

"Whoa, Inuyasha, unwrap it first!" Kagome reached out and yanked it from his hands as he swallowed his bite, paper and all. She unwrapped it to show him before handing it back. He swiped it up and ate the entire thing faster than she's ever seen anyone do before.

"Your allowance didn't get much food, Kagome," Sango said, handing her wallet back to her. "I put up for the rest. You owe me lunch for a few days."

"Got it, thanks Sango." She said, and both girls settled in to watch Inuyasha inhale his food.

Twenty-three hamburgers, seven packs of chicken nuggets and seventeen fries later, plus multiple trips back inside for Kagome to fetch more soda and catsup, Inuyasha had satiated the majority of his hunger. He slowed his eating down at the end, seeming to savor every bite, and he had definitely perked up. Kagome saw the smallest trace of a smile quirking at the corners of his mouth.

"So, I have a couple of questions," she said, sounding braver than she felt.

"I have a million questions," Sango chimed in. "Like what the hell actually happened to you that night? Obviously the guards didn't kick you out, and this Kikyou person has a lot to do with it. I also feel like I might be dreaming." She added, eyes raking over the hanyou sitting in front of her.

Kagome filled her in then, on everything, right down to the detail of her side being ripped open by Kikyou's minion.

"How come I didn't notice your wound?! Kagome!" Sango cried, reaching for her shirt and lifting it up.

Kagome brushed her hands away. "I'm fine, there's no wound, no scar, nothing."

"Makes sense," Inuyasha said through a mouthful of fries. "Kikyou wanted you to stay away, not remember. Obviously a gaping wound in your side would have tipped you off that something was wrong."

Kagome turned her attention back to Inuyasha then, determined to get some answers. "Speaking of Kikyou, who is she? And why did she trap you in the mirror in the first place?"

His face changed. He frowned. "That doesn't concern you."

"But-"

"I said it doesn't fucking concern you, so drop it. It doesn't matter why I was spelled inside the mirror, it just matters that I stay out of it."

"Okay, fine. Can you tell us why she has to keep coming back to re-do the spell?"

He took another bite. Chewed slowly. Swallowed. "The spell has its limits. If she doesn't come back once a week to weave the spell again her powers start to fade, which means she'll start to lose control over everything she's spelled in the past. She's powerful. Too powerful for me to take head-on right now. That's why I have to stay on the run, so she can't find me to do the spell again. If I stay away long enough, and if her powers weaken enough…." his smile was dark and dangerous. "I'll be able to finally kill the bitch once and for all."

"So the plan is to weaken her and kill her?"

"Keh," he scoffed, "don't tell me you're going weak in the stomach, wench. She's dangerous."

"You're dangerous."

His smile widened into a grin. "You're right. I am dangerous. But I won't spell you, and I won't chase after or kill you. So right now, I'm the only thing standing between you and Kikyou."

Kagome mulled that over in her head. He was right. At the moment, she was more scared of Kikyou than she was of Inuyasha.

"Are there other youkai?" Sango asked. "Like you?"

"Of course there are other youkai. There are billions of youkai. Youkai do not go extinct just like humans do not go extinct."

"How come we never see any?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I'm assuming they've evolved to blend in with you humans."

"You don't blend in."

"Do I look like I've evolved in your world?"

Kagome chimed in again. "Do all youkai have powers like you and Kikyou?"

He shook his head slowly. "No. Youkai do not have powers. At least, not the kind I do. It's not magic, it's just the use of a very ancient language, which I've picked up here and there over the years from observing the witch. That and you can't live in a spelled mirror and not have some of that power seep into you."

"Will you start to lose your powers like Kikyou will, the longer you're away from the mirror?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'll just have to wait and see, but it doesn't matter if I do lose my power, because a Kikyou without power is a weak Kikyou. Easily defeated." Kagome watched him clutch his fists together.

"You said she lets you out every so often, to do her bidding. Why? What does she have you do for her?"

He inhaled sharply then, his eyes narrowing. He dropped his hamburger onto the tray. "You don't want to know."

"I do want to know," Kagome pressed.

He slammed his hands down on the table, making both girls jump. "You don't fucking want to know. Drop it."

She sighed again, changing subjects. "So what about the marble she ripped out of me then? What was it?"

"The Shikon no Tama. It's not a marble," he sneered, "it's a jewel. A very powerful jewel."

"So why was it in me?"

He sat back then, running his hand thoughtfully through his hair. She tried not to follow the trail of his hand, tried not to be mesmerized by the silky strands brushing through his fingers.

"I'm not sure," he finally said. "You look like her though. You're either her distant relative or you're a reincarnation. Some sort of doppelganger."

Kagome's back stiffened. "What?"

He shrugged. "It makes sense."

"I can't be her reincarnation, she's still alive."

"Is she?" He asked.

"Isn't she?"

He smiled then. "Not exactly." He waved her next question away. "It doesn't matter though. We do need to get the jewel back. It will help me defeat her when she is finally weak enough." He chewed and swallowed the last of his food. "That's all you need to know for now. And I'm full."

"Thank god," Sango muttered. "I had to use my mom's credit card."

Kagome wanted to ask him more questions. She had so many. But it was getting late, and they needed to figure out their next plan of action. "So now I guess we'll sneak you into my backyard…" Kagome said, already knowing it was a long-shot. "I'm worried my family might discover you though."

"No good," Inuyasha said. "The witch will come looking for us there. She knows you now. She knows where you live."

Sango sighed then, rolling her eyes. "The things I do for you, Kagome," she said. "Let's stay at my house tonight, my parent's are gone until next week."

"Oh Sango, thank you so much," Kagome said, whipping out her cell. "I'll call mom and let her know I'll be at your place tonight."

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Kagome lay on the makeshift bed on the floor of Sango's room. It was early in the morning, the alarm clock on the desk flashed five a.m. She stared at the ceiling, thinking over the night's events.

Getting Inuyasha to agree to stay at Sango's had been agonizing. He'd gone so far as to try and carry her off into the forest, until she'd started to cry, scared for her life at that point. He's stopped then, dropping her back onto her feet and mumbling about her overreacting. But he'd finally agreed to stay at Sango's.

Sango had scrounged up a change of clothes for him from her father's wardrobe, a pair of jeans that were a bit too wide for his hips and an oversized t-shirt. He'd complained about modern clothing, but had let Sango take his traditional hakama with a promise to kill her if she did not get it back to him in one piece after she washed it.

When they all finally settled in for the night, Inuyasha had balked at the idea of sleeping inside. He climbed out the window, mumbling about open space and breathing room. That was around one in the morning.

And now here she was, three hours later, wide awake and listening to Sango's soft breathing, wondering how the hell her friend could be sleeping at a time like this. Kagome felt like she was a live wire, electricity running through her veins, her heart pounding. She had school tomorrow – er, today – and a report due the day after. She had parents and chores to attend to. She had a boyfriend who was waiting to see her again.

She pushed all thoughts of Hojou back, a wave of guilt crashing over her. They'd barely started dating and she was already the world's worst girlfriend. She didn't want to break up with him – she didn't – but how could she be satisfied with his kisses now? How could she be okay with plain lips and plain eyes and plain hair and a plain body when there was one so beautiful and otherworldly that she'd had a taste of?

She was being ridiculous, she knew. What the hell did she think was going to happen? That the hanyou would want to be with her? Take her on dates and to movies and buy her presents and introduce her to his parents?

She giggled at the thought. Then heard him move on the rooftop. She sat up, listening. He moved again. Sighing, knowing sleep wouldn't come to her tonight anyway, she moved to the open window and peeked out. She couldn't see him. He had to be behind her, on the very peak of the roof.

He moved again, and this time she could hear him grumble something, although she couldn't make it out. Slowly, carefully, she climbed out onto the rooftop, locking the muscles in her legs to keep her firmly planted as she started the climb up.

He was sitting there, looking like a god, his platinum hair like a beacon in the dark, golden eyes sharp and sparkling against the reflection of the artificial porch light. He was perched at the top of the roof, where the two slanted sides met, resting on his haunches, his elbow propped up on his knee, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. He didn't glance in Kagome's direction as she made her way to him. He kept his gaze fixed firmly on the night sky.

Slowly, Kagome eased herself down beside him, feeling clumsy and ridiculous next to him. She'd only been on her own roof once, just to see what it would be like, but she'd been yelled at when her grandfather caught her up there, and she'd never gone back up since. She smiled, remembering how upset her mother had been, how worried they were that she'd fall and break her neck.

But the over-protectiveness of her family was to be expected, what with her dad falling to his death and all.

"….It looks different."

Kagome shook her head, moving from her thoughts of the past. "What?" She asked. He'd spoken so softly, she wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly.

"The night sky. The stars. Even the moon. It all looks different." He said.

She watched his profile as he watched the sky. He was unbelievably beautiful, wrapped in darkness, bathed in moonlight, eyes glowing as he scoured the heavens. The instinct to reach out and run her fingertips against the sharp edge of his jaw overwhelmed her for a moment, but she quickly squashed it down.

"Do you know a lot about stars, Inuyasha?" She asked.

He shrugged, not looking at her. "I wouldn't say I know a lot about them. I do like them though. Or," he sighed, "I did."

Kagome cocked her head to the side, curious. "Not anymore?"

He frowned. "They were always a reminder of stability. It didn't matter what happened during the day, when night came, they were always there. But over the years, they've gone out. Most of them are gone. What has happened to my world, that so many stars have been extinguished?"

She smiled then, knowing. "Ah. I'm happy to tell you then, that they are still there."

"Keh," he scoffed, finally tearing his gaze away from the sky and fixing it to her. "No they're not. They haven't been for a long time. Over the years, when Kikyou would let me out to do her bidding, I started to notice the stars were less and less." The corners of his mouth twitched up. "If you'd seen it back then, you would find the stars of today to be lacking."

Her grin widened. "But they are still there. You can't see them well from here because of the light pollution."

He raised his eyebrow, skeptical. "What the hell is light pollution?"

"Take a look," Kagome said, spreading her arms out in front of them. The small valley below stretched out before them, city lights glowing, the few car lights on the road slowly making their way through like lazy caterpillars crawling along. "All that light from our modern world, all those buildings and all those cars and all those homes… It's all creating light pollution. We can't see the light of the stars because it's bouncing off all the light that we're creating down here." She turned to look at him again. She couldn't help the small giggle that made its way out at the amazement on his face. "The stars are still there, Inuyasha, they're still shining, you just can't see them right now."

His eyes moved back to hers then, wide and searching. His gaze made her fidget. "Wh-what?" She asked.

"Nothing. Nothing," he repeated. "But why would you want to create something to block out the stars?" His back stiffened then, and he inhaled sharply. "Have you never actually seen all the stars, wench?" He asked. "Even though they're there?"

She didn't correct him, she was too amused by his suddenly curious expressions. She'd seen him angry, and she'd seen him hungry, both for food and other – ahem – things. But she had yet to see him so full of wonderment.

"I have," she replied, stretching her legs out in front of her and leaning back onto her hands. "Only a few times though. If you go to a place so remote, where there's barely a single person around, and you wait until nightfall, then you can truly see the stars." She closed her eyes to enrich the memory. "There are so many, and you can feel the depth of them, feel how deep the universe is. Suddenly, the sky doesn't look or feel so flat. Suddenly, you feel so tiny and so large and the same exact time." When she opened her eyes, he was staring straight at her again, that same expression he'd had earlier. She felt her heart skip. "What is it? Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" He asked, moving closer as he said it. "What am I looking at you like?"

How could she put it into words the way his eyes spoke? She'd never seen the likes of it before. Like he wanted to devour her, but she wasn't quite sure in which way. "You look like you want to eat me." She finally said.

He grinned then, his teeth flashing. "Ah, Ka-Go-Me." He said. He was almost on top of her, blocking out her vision of the sky. "I do. I want to eat you." And he closed his mouth over her own.

It was impossible to explain how he made her lose all rational thought, made her fall apart at the seams as he pressed close to her, pulled her to him. He laid her back gently against the rough tiles of the rooftop, propping his weight on his arm, his hip resting next to hers. He wrapped his arm around her waist and gathered her to him.

She felt that same heat spread through her. She didn't resist as he took from her, didn't fight back. How could she, when her body screamed for him every waking moment? She positively ached for him, and it grew stronger as he kissed her. His kisses were slow this time, slow and heated and seductive. She trembled under the touch of his hand pressed firmly against her lower back, against his hips flush to her.

She wanted to feel more of him then, craved skin-to-skin contact. She reached down with shaking hands and slipped her fingers under his borrowed shirt. Heat sizzled on her fingertips as she grazed them lightly against the hard plans of his stomach, slowly moving them up, up, up, taking the shirt with her. He growled into her mouth, nipped at her tongue, and moved his hand from her back to her hip, slipping his hand under her shirt and skimming along her side; the swell of her hip, the dip of her waist, tracing his hand along the edge of her bra.

She lost herself in him; in his touch, in the sudden nakedness of his chest as he pulled away to rip the shirt over his head before claiming her again. He rolled her onto her back and straddled her, his knees on either side of her hips, never breaking their kiss. His grabbed at her shirt, pulling it up slowly, slowly, agonizingly slow. Kagome's breathless pants changed to heated moans under him. She couldn't help the way her hips pushed up against him, feeling the harness that awaited her, rubbing against him, desperate for the friction she was creating.

"Fuck," he half panted, half growled as he pulled away from her lips then. She protested, crying out for him, then sighed as his lips found her lower abdomen. He kissed every inch of her, up, up, up to her bra, his fingers reaching up and clawing right through the fabric that wrapped protectively around her chest.

She would explode. She felt too big for her body, desperate for release as the very first rays of sunlight broke over the horizon. His tongue lavished her, his fingers slipped low, teasing her inner thighs, coaxing her open for him. She felt pressure as Inuyasha moved his mouth up to capture her lips again, kissing her deeply as his fingers pressed into her –

- and were suddenly gone.

So were his lips.

Kagome opened her eyes to a deep lavender sky, wondering why he'd pulled away. She sat up. Looked around. "Inuyasha?" She called, pulling her shirt down and standing on wobbly legs to scan the roof, the yard, the street that stretched out in front of her. The shirt he'd borrowed was still lying on the roof. That was the only sign left of him.

He was gone.

"Inuyasha!" She cried, her voice ringing out into the emerging sunlight.

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Ah, another chapter completed. I hope you guys like it. I have to say, that scene on the roof is probably my favorite scene that I've written so far. I love stars and space and planets and looking up in the night sky away from all the man-made lights and seeing the milky way in all its' glory. There is no sight more beautiful to me.

Please remember to review, I'm serious about my writing and my stories, and if you have anything to comment about or anything to mention or anything to say, I would love to hear it.

~SugarRos