Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of the characters, and if I thought I did I would be pretty darn delusional.

A/N: Wow, you guys really don't like cliff-hangers, do you? :P InuYasha's version of the story isn't even that good, either. XD

As Day Turns to Night

Chapter 10-A Bad Story and A Not-So Bad Night

"So, a really long time ago, about five-hundred years or something like that, my ancestor, being the genius that he was, got involved with a dark priestess. Now she was a real bitch..."

"InuYasha!" Kagome reprimanded him.

"Hey, it's the truth! Anyway, this priestess and my ancestor were having a great time, getting up to who knows what, when he finally realized that she was a total bitch. He apparently met some other woman who was actually nice, and he figured out that hanging around this dark priestess was really stupid when he had way better options. So he ditched her and started chasing after this other woman. Well, the dark priestess got really jealous and pissed off, and told my ancestor to come back to her, and he was all 'No way, bitch'. So she cursed him and his sons and his sons' sons, etcetera, etcetera."

"And the curse was that you'd get doggy ears?" If there was ever a look that could kill, that'd be it right there, Kagome thought as she saw the expression on InuYasha's face after her question.

"No, that is not the curse," he replied flatly. "The curse is that all the males in this family are human by day and demon by night."

"Really?" Kagome exclaimed, incredulous.

"Yes, really. Except for me."

"What do you mean?"

InuYasha reached under the collar of his uniform and pulled out a small strand of beads. The majority of them were purple and round; however, every sixth one was a larger grey bead that resembled a fang.

"Oh, so that's why your shirts always look kind of weird around the collar," she commented.

"Yeah," he said.

"It's pretty, though."

"Thanks, although it's not really there just because 'it's pretty'. See, when my parents learned that they were having a boy, they went to go see a family friend who was a monk. They asked him if there was anything that he could do to stop the curse from affecting me. He told them that he wasn't sure, but promised to work on something anyway. The result was this necklace. He used special spiritual beads to make it, along with blessing it himself, and his intention was for it to stop the transformation."

"But it didn't," Kagome filled in for him.

"Well, it sort of did. See, I become half-demon. The monk didn't make it quite powerful enough, so it's able to hold back my youki completely for one night, while the rest of the time it only partially does so." He sighed. "The whole idea had been for me to actually be normal, though, and it kind of just made it worse. I don't exactly blend in with a crowd, now do I?"

"No, but being different isn't so bad," she responded consolingly.

"Kagome, everyone is different," InuYasha insisted. "I'm an abomination."

"That's an awful thing to say." There was a slight hint of outrage in her voice, and it surprised him, but he persisted anyway.

"Well, the truth isn't all bunnies and rainbows."

"Are you sure, 'cause I'd like it a lot more if it was," Kagome winked, trying to distract him from his self-loathing.

Meanwhile, InuYasha almost felt like laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Here she was, acting like this whole damn situation was nothing, which it most definitely wasn't, but...it was refreshing in a way, and completely different from the reaction he had expected her to have, based on past experience. There was no screaming, no accusations that he was some kind of monster, nothing. It was just like they were having a normal conversation, at least on her end.

"So, is this it?" Kagome asked, snapping him out of his reverie. "This why you've been acting so weird?"

"Weird is my norm, but yes, it is."

"No other skeletons in your closet?"

"None come to mind." Hah. As if that couldn't be farther from the truth, he thought bitterly.

"All right. It's better than most of my theories," she confessed.

"Wait; other theories?" InuYasha inquired, confused.

"Well, yeah. I mean, of course there was the normal stuff, like 'He doesn't like me' or 'He's a workaholic', but there were also some crazy things that I imagined when I let my mind go wild," Kagome confided.

"Like?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Superhero, secret agent, assassin, alien, robot, fugitive..."

"How the hell could I be a fugitive?" he broke in.

"I don't know," she said, throwing her hands up in slight exasperation, "It was just a thought."

"Well, it was a stupid one."

"So is there any way to break this curse?" she questioned him with unveiled curiosity.

"Not that I know of. Sure would be nice, though," InuYasha replied wistfully, staring out the window.

"I could get my grandpa to slap a few useless sutras on you and chant for a while," she offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he laughed humourlessly.

They sat there for a moment in silence, neither one looking at the other.

"So, are you really okay with this?" InuYasha asked slowly. Kagome blinked at him in surprise.

"Why would I not be?"

"What?" he blurted.

"Well, is there a reason?"

InuYasha thought for a moment. "Um, no, I suppose not," he mumbled.

"Then I'm okay with it," she stated firmly. "Are you okay with it?"

"Huh?"

"With me knowing," she elaborated. "'Cause, you know, I can repress it if you like. My powers are numerous."

"You're joking, correct?" His eyebrow was raised, and the expression on his face clearly revealed that he half-believed her.

"Duh," Kagome smiled.

"Oh, no, it's fine. I had kind of hoped to tell you later, though, but I guess this is how things worked out."

"Yeah," she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry for not really...listening. I didn't think you actually had a legitimate reason for the standoffish-ness. I thought you were just being stubborn."

"It's all right. Can't do anything about it now, anyway," he sighed.

"So, you don't want me to know..." she trailed off, looking hurt.

"No, I mean..." InuYasha ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I'm just worried. The more people that know, the easier it is for it to get out...you know?"

"I wouldn't tell anyone if you didn't want me to," Kagome pouted, a little offended.

"I know, I just have...trust issues."

"Well, you should get over them," she advised.

"Yeah, my fake-shrink has been trying to help with that, but to no avail," he shrugged.

"Fake-shrink?"

"The pervert."

"Oh, Miroku!" she realized. "You know, he and Sango went out the other night."

"They did?" he asked, his brow furrowed.

"Mhm. Sango said she had to slap him about three times, but that was less then she expected, so she was happy," Kagome giggled.

"He didn't tell me that..." InuYasha said slowly.

"Oh." Kagome looked unsure of what to do next.

"Makes sense, though," he admitted. "I've been wrapped up in my own shit, lately."

"You have a problem," Kagome informed him sternly.

"With what?"

"Swearing."

InuYasha started to laugh. "Seriously? You have a problem with me saying a few bad words, but not me looking like this?" He gestured to his transformed body.

"Hey, maybe they're called curse words for a reason," she suggested slyly.

"Touché," he grinned, and then looked down in slight surprise as his stomach rumbled.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah," he confessed. "I have to eat a lot more when I'm like this. My metabolism's all sped-up, or some shit."

"Are you sure that's not just an excuse?" Kagome inquired, choosing to ignore the swear word in favour of teasing him. "You certainly seem to eat enough normally."

"Keh. How about we just go find food?" he asked, getting up and heading towards the door.

"Sure," she smiled, and then thought for a moment. "So, I take it that this means I'm staying for dinner." InuYasha turned to look back at her.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to it," she said coyly.

"Come downstairs, then," he gestured, and stepped out of the room.

"Didn't you say you don't like being downstairs while you're like this?" she questioned as she followed him, recalling their prior conversation.

"Yeah, but the kitchen's at the back, farther away from the street. Besides, I kind of have to go down there, unless I want to starve. It's not like I can conjure food out of mid-air," InuYasha scoffed.

"You sure about that?"

"Positive."

As they walked by Sesshoumaru's room InuYasha ran his clenched fist along the wall, banging just to bother him. On the other side of the wall he heard his brother say,

"So, you told her, did you?", to which he responded,

"Yep."

"Huh?" Kagome asked, confused as to why InuYasha was seemingly talking to himself.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized, blushing. "Sesshy and I can hear each other. The ears," he explained, tapping at his own.

"Oh, okay," she nodded, understanding, while Sesshoumaru muttered at InuYasha about that nickname through the wall.

"Yeah, privacy is a rare thing in this house. A rare, rare thing," he said bitterly, making his way down the stairs. "It's just good that my parents are out. Otherwise, I'd have to put up with their damn questions all night. Though, really, it's just delaying the inevitable, since Lord Fancy-Pants up there will probably inform them anyway to get back at me." He jerked his head over his shoulder as more muttering came from Sesshoumaru's room.

"You two don't like each other very much, do you?" Kagome wondered.

"Well, we have an...interesting relationship, mostly consisting of mutual-semi-hatred and death threats."

"Yeah, you mentioned those before."

"That's because they're fairly frequent." InuYasha meandered over to the fridge, opening it and looking through it curiously, and then began pulling out containers of leftovers. Kagome sifted through each one as he put it on the counter then headed back for more.

"InuYasha, this is pretty much all meat," she told him, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"What? Are you a vegetarian or something?"

"No, but you have you heard of, I don't know, other food groups?"

"They're overrated," he stated simply. "Besides, we're out of Ramen."

"Really?" she looked up, feigning surprise. "You're out of Ramen?"

"Yeah. I ate it all," he replied with a fanged grin, taking out one last container and shutting the fridge door. Kagome surveyed the pile of containers that had formed, and raised a questioning eyebrow at the hanyou.

"You are seriously going to eat all this?"

"Well, I thought you were going to have some, too."

"Yeah, but this is enough to feed an army, and all their horses," she protested.

"Whatever," he shrugged. "I'm sure we can manage."

.~*~.

"I can't believe you ate it all," Kagome said, shaking her head.

"Mmm. It was good. Now how about dessert?" InuYasha asked, rubbing his hands together. He laughed as Kagome's jaw dropped open. "Kidding. I was kidding." He raised his hands up in defence.

"I sure hope you were," she muttered. "So? This is normal for you?"

"Pretty much, yeah; except my mother usually tries to stop us from eating so much. We all just sneak extra-helpings after. I think she knows, too, but she ignores us and tries to pretend like her talks about 'portion control' actually work," he chuckled.

"Poor her," Kagome sympathized. "Being the only human in a house full of demons."

"Hey, she knew what she was getting into," he joked. "Besides, I think the worst part of the deal was getting Ice-Man as a step-son."

"He's not that bad," she disagreed.

"He is. It takes a special kind of person to put up with him on a regular basis. The only time that guy is truly happy is when he's making other people miserable; namely, me."

"You know, you two should probably talk, and try to work these issues out."

"Bah," InuYasha said dismissively. "That's not as much fun."

Kagome sat there for a moment, and then an idea crossed her mind. "So?" she asked.

InuYasha stared at her, puzzled. "So what?"

"So what's really keeping you from going out? I mean, I assume this has been the whole issue behind why you've been rejecting my offers to go do something, correct?" He nodded. "Okay, so I understand you look kind of different, but really, the only red-flag is your ears. If you cover them up with a hat, then people would probably think you're just some punk with dyed hair and contacts, or whatever. Now, if you do that, then maybe we can go out and do something. It is the weekend, and it may be a nice second chance for you," she pointed out. InuYasha, however, sighed, and started clearing their dishes.

"Yeah, that sounds great in theory, but what if people that I know see me? Am I just supposed to have randomly changed up my appearance for one night only? Plus, I don't like the extra-attention I get. And things can always go wrong."

"Oh, come on," Kagome pleaded. "I'm sure it'd be fine. I mean, what are the chances that we'd run into someone who knows you?"

"Given my luck, pretty great." When she still gave him that begging look, InuYasha rolled his eyes and continued. "Never mind that it's as annoying as hell for me."

"You just don't like people," she countered.

"Granted, yes, but that's not all of it. My senses are on an entirely different level right now. In a busy place like a movie theatre there are about a million fucking smells and twice as many people talking. It gives me a headache."

Kagome eyed him disappointedly.

"What?" he shouted defensively. "It's not like I asked to be saddled with this shit, nor is it fun. I mean, you think I don't want to go do normal shit with everyone else, huh, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I would love to not be stuck inside all the fucking time, and to actually be able to do what I want to do." At this his voice lowered, while his shoulders began to sag and his ears drooped. "That's not going to happen, though," he admitted, resigned.

"InuYasha...I'm sorry. That-that wasn't what I meant at all," she stammered, getting up and walking towards him. She reached her hand out and touched his shoulder gently, and though he flinched, he still didn't look towards her. "I'm sorry I pressed you," Kagome continued. "We don't have to do anything if you don't think you can. I'm happy just to spend time with you." She smiled up at him while he gazed down at her with a startled expression.

"Wha-what?"

"I know it's surprising, but despite all your faults I actually do like being with you. Otherwise I would have said 'sayounara' a long time ago," she confessed. "It wouldn't hurt for you to have a little more tact, though."

"Um...thanks," he replied, still slightly unsure of himself.

"No problem. Now, do you want me to stay or leave?" Kagome coaxed.

"You can-you can stay if you'd like to." InuYasha blushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I would like to. I picked out a good movie earlier, before...you know, and I still want to watch it."

"Well, I guess we can do that then."

"Cool," she grinned. "Race you to the couch."

"Wait-what?" he asked, but she had already taken off. He shook his head. Weirdest girl I ever met.

A/N: Yasha, I think you kind of dropped the ball with that explanation of the curse. Maybe I'll have to pick up the slack sometime. Now, thank you's!

kitana411,

InuKag01234- I totally agree with you that his transformations would be seriously painful. :P However, it's not really something that's touched upon in the manga/anime. For example, the first time we see him change from hanyou to human then back again in episode 13, it doesn't seem to phase him (pain-wise), and the same's true for subsequent transformations. You could be right and he is just a total trooper who hides the pain. It's basically up to speculation though, as it's never really discussed that they do hurt him, and there are some inconsistencies with his reception of pain as you mentioned. So thanks for reviewing; it was good food for thought. ;)

xbeautyxxisxxlifex, TD Demon, Lionsheart13371, LiveInColor, lovelygurl, and StevieWonderboyx.

So thanks to everyone for reviewing, I love reading all of them, and a bag of cookies to whoever picks up on the South Park reference in this chapter (If no one finds it, then I get the cookies. Either way, I'm happy). :)