Major edits, due to plot change. I have finally gotten my muse back, only to have her point me in a very different direction. Ah well, such is the way of writing.

The clouds began to fade, turning to the quiet of Kagome's room. Some woman, whom Inuyasha guessed was the girl's mother, came in to wake the sleepy Kagome. He floated above her, amused by the seemingly drunk expression she was wearing. Evidently, Kagome was not a morning person. However, when her moment mentioned being late, she seemed to shed all of that sluggish nature and turned into a whirlwind of activity. He followed her, curious as to what all the fuss was about…

Only to walk into the bathroom right as her sleeping shirt fell to the floor. Despite being just a spirit, he had some dignity. Inuyasha quickly drifted out of the room to inspect the grounds. Although the family lived on the grounds of Meiji Shrine, (so a placard said), the house that they lived in was no small shack. Instead, it was a good sized, two story dwelling that seemed to be well kept, despite it's somewhat dated appearance to the rest of the world around him.

The world around him. Towers of stone and steel rose above the horizon like the forests he was so used to. He had seen these buildings before, but that was only on his trip to the west long ago. Despite his want to remember more about his past, Inuyasha could not consciously recall specific events; the only evidence of his prior existence was in the form of latent knowledge that came on an as-needed basis. It was moments like this that triggered hints of facts that he used to know. Currently, the pictures in his … head?—were something about traveling to a land of sands and sun, seeing large buildings such as these. That, and there was an inkling of his current position being familiar. He wandered farther from the house, drawn to the largest natural landmark in the area: a big tree, with shimenawa encircling it, denoting it as a sacred tree with kodama spirits. It was a god-tree of sorts. Sacred and large, it stood out from the small patch of trees around it. His mind told him that a well-house was near, but as he floated off to the direction he thought it was in, he only found a storage hut build in the traditional style.

Now that is something I'm familiar with for certain… Inuyasha thought as he laid a spectral hand on the old wood. Yes. That felt native, even though he had no idea why. The spirit only vaguely remembered that there had been a city built like this, with towers reaching as high as the stone ones, having been artfully crafted by youkai over the centuries.

But his musings was interrupted by a shrill, "Bye mama!" as the girl practically sprinted out to the street, artfully weaving through the wooded area to reach the stone steps faster. As she hurried down the stairs, she nearly lost her footing, nearly tumbling to a rather nasty fall… had it not been for Inuyasha. At the last moment, the spirit appeared beside her, his essence practically teleporting to her. His arm shot out without the thought crossing ever his mind that he didn't have the ability to help her. A clawed hand caught her elbow, stopping her momentum in an instant. Kagome yelped, thinking she was done for, but only shrugged and continued to run down the stairs, abet, a bit more careful of her footing.

On one hand, Inuyasha was a bit pissed that she didn't notice…. The other was too perplexed by the fact that he had been able to do something.

Again, his thoughts were interrupted by loud noise as a yellow vehicle drove up to the curb and gave a short blast of the horn. As the girl clambered in the car, so did Inuyasha, easily melting through the opposite door and coming to a rest beside her. The high school girl gave the name of their destination and the driver looked back in the mirror, giving her a smile.

It was not a pleasant one, by far. In fact, Inuyasha was certain that the man had fangs. Upon closer inspection, he… did. Immediately floating to the seat next to the driver, rather than the girl, he stared long and hard into the face of the suspicious man.

…only to catch a wink given directly at him. The two demons shared a look, one dead and one living, and instantly the feeling of dread filled Inuyasha's very soul.

….this isn't going to go well.

But to his amazement, the first two minutes of the drive were mostly peaceful, spent behind traffic lights and other cars. Although he was a fast driver, he was skilled. Too skilled. Inuyasha watched as the man changed lanes without even bothering to check if the coast was clear. Fearful of Kagome noticing, he glanced back at her only to find that she was occupied staring out at the city flying by.

Inuyasha turned his focus again at the man, only to again find his eyes staring hard into his face. Again, that expression he wore was one of sheer... Inuyasha couldn't place it, and it made him feel even more uneasy.

Although worried about her attendance and the speed of which the driver was going, the simple act of watching other people go on with their lives calmed Kagome greatly. She had to thank her mom for this sometime. Maybe buy her a nice card and some chocolate? These past few days had been rather stressful for both of them. Perhaps a quart of ice-cream and a sappy movie? Although her mom tried to deny her childish ways, they both knew she was in love with the teenage romances of the day. The fourth movie of that vampire series was out on rental, wasn't it? Even though Kagome herself found it rather boring, she could definitely sit through it with her mom as a fun girl night. Gods, how long had it been since the two of them simply did something fun together? Their outing to the coffee shop was merely a distraction for stress, not the cure. She smiled. Yeah. That sounded like loads of fun. She would tell her friends that she couldn't go shopping this weekend, setting aside all plans for some quality mother-daughter time.

Well, maybe not all plans, but after spending all of that money on the sword, she doubted that she could afford another shopping trip. However, hanging out wasn't out of her budget. Besides, Sango could use some good friend time. Maybe if they went out for ramen one night to talk about boys and so such? There was this amazing stand near the corner of-…

"We're here." The driver said. His voice was a sweet tenor, cheerful and devilishly attractive. Jerking to attention, Kagome quickly shouldered her school bag and looked up at the man. He wore a fox-like grin that just screamed to say, "I know something you don't". In just those two words spoken, he had conveyed a strange sensation of familiarity on his part, but Kagome was certain that she had never seen this person before.