It had been raining. Rain always seemed to be a portent of change to Inuyasha.
He was wearing black, as he was prone to wear nowadays. Gone were the red shirts he used to wear, to make his dark locks stand out. He didn't want to stand out now. He wanted to blend in. Unfortunately the blending in wasn't with his surroundings like he'd like but was with the shadows instead. And even the shadows were noticable, in a bad way.
His bangs were plastered to his face, his neck, the tops of his arms. He was walking home from school and had gotten lost. It was a usual happening, as his mind was always elsewhere, and it didn't take him long to get back on track again once he noticed.
But this time he was truly lost. It was a part of town he had never been in.
If it was even his town anymore.
It was like he had walked straight into another city from another time.
It was like he had stepped into the past. From another country, from another continent.
The streets were cobblestone. The lamps were old-fashioned and black iron, with candles inside. They were, of course, not lit at the moment, in the middle of the day in the middle of a spring shower.
If he didn't know any better, he would have thought he was in England. He'd never been there, naturally, but he'd seen movies and pictures at school. This area was decidedly Victorian-era-ish. Including the buildings. The only thing missing were the horse-drawn carriages, but then again, who would want to ride around in the rain?
Instead of turning around to walk in the direction he had come from, he went further in.
Nobody walked the streets. He felt eyes on him from all directions. But he kept on.
Eventually he reached a huge manor, breath-taking even in this dreary weather, and an elaborate fountain. The statue was of a large white dog spewing water from his mouth. He paused at this, studying it, when he heard the sound of a car.
He turned to watch a black, expensive-looking vehicle drive around him, then heard it screech to a stop next to him, as if it had done a double take.
A door opened.
And out stepped his older brother.
He was resplendant in white as always. There was someone on the other side of the seat that was handing him an umbrella, but he didn't take it. The rain did not seem to bother him as it started to dampen the braid hanging over his right shoulder to tap against his thigh.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Looking at a fountain," he replied.
"I meant, how did you get in here?"
"I walked."
"Through a closed gate."
"There was a gate?" Inuyasha asked, frowning. He didn't remember one. Of course, he probably hadn't been paying attention yet at that point.
"Get out," Sesshoumaru said bluntly, flatly.
Inuyasha clenched his fist. "Is this where your entire family lives?"
"Yes. It is forbidden to outsiders."
Something broke inside of Inuyasha.
"Don't you know who I am?" he asked, slightly breathless.
"I don't associate with commoners."
"I'm your brother!" Inuyasha shouted.
Sesshoumaru paused just slightly before answering, "I don't have any half-breed brothers. Now get lost."
He slipped back into the car, soaking wet, tapped one of the bodyguards sitting in the front who in turn got out of the car to stand beside Inuyasha.
But he wasn't paying attention anymore as the car drove around the fountain and headed to the large manor, nor when the guard took his elbow and started to forcibly walk him away.