Besides the ending, I'm pretty much happy with everything else :) Enjoy!
Only the sound of soft pitter-patter could be heard as a girl made her way across the pavement. Her dirt-incrusted shoes seemed to be flying just above the ground as she headed in the direction of a flight of stairs, which ended at the streets below. Dead leaves of many colors were scattered along the edges of the steps, the wind occasionally sending a few astray. Fall had come faster than she expected. The time just seemed to fly by for the young girl. She briefly paused at the top step, turning her head back in the direction she came,
"I'll be back in a few hours!" she called out to a boy with long white hair, his arms folded inside the sleeves of his red jacket.
"Keh...you better, wench!" he growled, white ears twitching in agitation. The girl only smiled in response, causing him to send a glare right back at her. She then took off down the stairs, taking two at a time as she disappeared from the hanyou's view. Still he continued to stand there, a stubborn frown set on his face. He didn't care one bit if he looked childish. Didn't he have a good reason to be frustrated? The Shikon no Tama's fragments were still scattered about the feudal era, and they couldn't afford for any more demons to get their hands on them. Yet his companion seemed to only care for these "tests" of hers. What was so important about them, anyway?
"Inuyasha! Did Kagome leave already?" he didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.
"Yeah. Why does she even have to go there, anyway?" Inuyasha grumbled, stalking past the raven-haired woman. She chuckled, causing his ears to ly flat in annoyance. How come everybody just loved to laugh at him in that time period? Its not like he was the kind of person that fooled around and couldn't go through a conversation without making a joke. He preferred not talking to people at all; only when they had important information for him.
"You better come inside. It looks like its going to snow pretty soon." the mother called out over her shoulder, already making her way towards the house. Inuyasha sniffed, the scent of moisture hanging in the air. Her prediction was right, after all. He honestly didn't mind the snow, but the idea of staying inside warm shelter seemed much more inviting. Perhaps he could watch that picture box again, or whatever it was called. Kagome had tried to explain it to him a while back, but that didn't work out very well. That didn't matter, anyway.
"Alright, alright..." he sighed, following after her and into the house's warm embrace. He couldn't lie that he liked this era's technology, but he still preferred a fire. Something about it made the experience more enjoyable. Inuyasha soon settled himself in front of the strange box, looking over the buttons with curiosity. He pressed one and waited a moment. Nothing happened. After a few more tries he was able to get the picture to come up. His finger then found itself on another button, holding it down. The room was suddenly filled with loud laughter that echoed from the box, the moving picture showing some man standing on a stage with a crowd of people before him.
Inuyasha clasped his hands over his ears, temporarily paralyzed by the loud volume.
"What the hell!" he growled, fangs bared at the thing. He then did the only thing he could think of to shut the damn picture box up. It ended up having a few dents on the top from his fists before he tried some of the buttons, the volume lowering until it was managable for his ears. The hanyou sighed in relief before taking a look at the damage he had already done.
"...I'm sure they won't notice." he mumbled, turning his attention back to the picture. It didn't seem to have been affected by his angered blows. At least he could use that to defend himself if Kagome or someone else noticed what had happened. The man had continued on talking, the crowd sometimes cutting him off with their laughter. Were they laughing at him? Inuyasha then took the time to actually listen to what was beind said before realizing that he was making jokes.
"Well this is stupid..." he sighed after watching it a bit more, becoming quite bored. Might as well go wander about a while. It took another few moments before he was able to find the right button, though, that would turn off the moving picture. He rose to his feet, which were still bare, and left the room, heading outside to see that a light dusting of snow had already covered the ground. The white covering was still smooth; no dents to be seen. That was soon ruined by Inuyasha walking across, footprints trailing behind him. He eventually reached the top of the steps and looked down at the street below. Those shiny monster things continued on at a slow crawl while children sped past on the sidewalk, forcing other people out of their way as they played around in the snow. Looks like some things weren't so different there.
Inuyasha stayed like that for quite a while, crouched as he looked down at the scene below him. Some white flakes started to gather on top of his head, shoulders, and back. After a while he shook himself, the snow flying off him and forming clumps nearby. He then sniffed the air, annoyed that the moisture was starting to make the scents become mixed up or faded. Not being able to use his sharp sense of smell was going to be a bother for the impatient boy. How would he know when Kagome was coming back from her 'school'? He didn't like to be surprised. That would explain why the sudden presence of a hand on his shoulder caused him to stumble off the balls of his feet, landing on his behind.
"What do you think you-" Inuyasha paused mid-sentence, noticing that the person behind him was Kagome's mother. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn't even heard her coming. His smell may be mixed up a bit, but his hearing shouldn't have been affected all that much, especially with the crunch that came with stepping across snow.
"Do you mind going to pick up Kagome?"
"Why should I do that?"
"The snow looks as if its not going to let up soon and I'm worried about her heading home by herself."
"Doesn't she usually have those group of girls with her, though?"
"She'll be staying after school today to make up a test, and I don't think that they'll wait for her with this weather."
He only sighed, pausing a moment before nodding. It would give him something to do.
"Fine, I'll go."
"Tankyou, Inuyasha." she gave him a smile before turning on her heel, heading towards the comfort of the house. Inuyasha stood up, brushing snow off himself before taking off at a run, not bothering to care how he looked to the people around him.
He soon found himself outside the school, not even out of break as he slowed to a walk, looking up at the building. His gaze drifted over the windows, trying to remember which floor she was on. From there it wouldn't be hard to find the right room. He sniffed at the air once more, wondering if he could follow her scent. Luckily, it still remained in the air. It was very faint, but still there. The trail led him to a window just a few floors up, and from taking a look inside he could tell it was the right one. Kagome was bent over a piece of paper at her seat, some sort of stick in her hand as she scribbled something down.
Inuyasha settled into his usual crouch, ears perked as he continued to look on at her as she worked. A while past and he let out a yawn, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand. How much longer would she take? He was getting bored of just sitting around. Well, he had been bored most of the day, actually, and was looking forward to jumping back through the well. He could only take so long in her era before starting to feel trapped among the tall buildings and noisy machines. It was then that he decided to tap the glass with a claw, hoping to catch her attention. Maybe if she saw him waiting she would speed it up.
Oh how he was wrong. As soon as her head lifted and her eyes rested on him, only one word had to come out of her mouth for a certain necklace to do its job. Only a second later did he find himself on the ground below, face placed into the earth. Well, into the snow. After a moment he lifted his head, fangs bared,
"What the hell was that for, wench!" he pretty much screeched, stumbling to his feet as he brushed the snow off him. He folded his arms back inside his sleeves, infuriated by her reaction to seeing him. It was frustrating how 'osuwari' seemed to be her first instinct to anything he does. He wasn't some pet dog!
Inuyasha continued to fume outside for a while longer, kicking at the snow while doing so. Kagome eventually came out to see him standing in a circle of grass, a small border of snow around him. One eyebrow rose at the sight, a questioning look in her eyes.
"Keh... don't act innocent."
"Yeah, sorry about that, but I couldn't let the teacher see you! Especially since you didn't bother to cover up those ears of yours. Speaking of which..." her sentence trailed off as she dug through her bag, pulling out a hat, "It may be a bit small on you, but its better than nothing. Just make sure to wear it whenever out in public."
"I'll make sure to remember that next time, then." he grumbled, tugging the hat on as he approached her. The hanyou then crouched down beside her.
"Come on, lets go."
"I'm not riding on your back here, Inuyasha! Lets just walk."
He scoffed, rolling his eyes, but still followed after her. Its just not worth fighting with the girl at times. Besides, she did know more about this time period than him. It probably would be best to obey her then run into some trouble on the way back to the shrine. The two continued on silence for a while, Kagome with her arms crossed across her chest and Inuyasha staring off in some other direction. The two could have been mistaken as strangers to one another if they hadn't been so close; their sleeves brushing as they walked.
The two soon stopped at a red light, watching as cars drove past in a blur. Inuyasha took the chance to look over at Kagome out of the corner of his eye, noticing a shiver that ran through her body. His jaw clenched tightly as he shrugged off his jacket, drapping it across her shoulders. She looked up at him, eyes widening. A nod from him caused a smile to come to her face, fingers clutching the fabric tighter around herself. At that moment the light turned green and they continued across, her pretty much leaning against his arm. Inuyasha kept silent, though, once again looking off at something else in the distance.
The shrine's front steps came into sight, the snow beginning to fall even heavier now. Kagome was still leaning against him, seeming to be worried about something.
"Aren't you cold...?" she finally asked, pulling away for a moment to look into his eyes. Inuyasha simply shook his head,
"No, I'm fine. I don't get cold so easily, unlike you humans."
Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, a certain gleam in them that caused his blood to temporarily run cold. He definitely didn't like that look that she sometimes gave him.
"We should hurry up, your mother will probably start to worry why I haven't brought you back yet." he mumbled, walking at a faster pace as they reached the stairs, taking the first few steps up. After a few steps the miko stopped in her tracks,
"Ahh so my mother sent you? You didn't come on your own?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!"
No words escaped her lips as she frowned, starting to once again walk up the steps. Inuyasha stayed in the same spot, glaring after her. He then picked up his speed until he was walking beside her.
"Did you think that I came on my own?" he asked, a curious tone to his voice.
"J-just forget it." the suddenly nervous girl stuttered, reaching the top step before a hand clamped down on her shoulder, turning her around to face him. Her stubborness was starting to annoy the hanyou.
"Come on, just explain what you meant." Inuyasha sighed, his grip refusing to loosen. Her eyes only wavered from his face and down to the ground, no word coming from either of them for a while. Kagome eventually looked back up at him, a new smile shaping her lips.
"I said it was nothing. Now lets go inside. I have some remaining things I have to get to bring back with us. I've been wanting to give Shippo some candy for a while, now."
He continued to stare at her for a moment before finally releasing his grip,
"Alright... lets go."
With those words they began walking across the snow, a noticable distance now between the two.