((I have a few vague notes for something more elaborate, but it's not enough to do something sensible with, so I don't promise anything proper after this here.

Disclaimer, sort of: I have no thorough grasp of how any of these people talk in English. I've watched Inuyasha dubbed in my native language and subbed, I've only watched Yashahime subbed and I have no idea if the characters have similar idiosyncrasies in English, how they refer to each other, and so on. This means I'll keep the Japanese honorifics because of those, at least, I'm certain (mostly). Riku's speech, from what I've found out, is a bit idiosyncratic in English, too, but only regarding one particular sound. The fun part is, that's true for the original, too, except it's a different phoneme he sometimes butchers.))

1. Fish out of Water

The wind was pulling at Riku's hair, his hand firmly clasping a sword. He looked good, standing next to Moroha on the far left of their small group with his legs apart and a shit-eating grin. She wasn't in the slightest interested in the man, but she could see how everything from his physique to his confidence in battle to his eternal smile could draw someone in. That he was so horribly friendly probably didn't hurt, either. The elation of a battle she knew they'd easily win filled her as she dodged the demon's lunging bite and laughed.

'You'll have to do better than that,' she shouted, not caring if the creature understood her.

A long scaly tail twitched left, and Towa jumped over it. Or at least she tried. The monster, more intelligent than it had seemed at first, followed her motion and hit her squarely in the chest.

She watched her cousin fall, the blade slipping from her suddenly slack hand making a graceful arc towards them. Moroha took a step back to avoid it and watched it thud into the ground where she had been standing. She wasn't too worried, though. That hit could barely have hurt a human, let alone any of them.

She was about to turn left when she heard a growled, 'Very well, playtime's over'. Riku's eyes flicked to Towa and any residual tension in his expression and stance left him: Towa was already getting back on her feet, casting about for her weapon. Riku snatched it up in his free hand and started towards her. He was radiating a grim joy that would have been creepy on someone she didn't know, twirling the two swords in his hands expertly and passing the monster at a slight angle in Towa's direction.

Except he never got anywhere. His skin changed from lightly tanned to green, a fin broke out of his back, and his feet gave under him when he was still between Moroha and their Youkai. Staring, she lost valuable seconds before realising that this wasn't going to be a problem, either. She retrieved an arrow and nocked it. Just when she wanted to release it, Riku chose to pick himself up. 'Down, you dumbass!' she yelled, and he let himself fall forwards. Or fell unintentionally. It didn't matter. She shot, the arrow whizzing past where his head been just a second before.

It hit with a satisfying thlup, and the demon roared. Setsuna finished it with little more than a bored flick of her blade.

Moroha returned her attention to … well, the other monster. She watched as Riku made it to an awkward sitting position. He tried to reach for his sword and found his arms were too short. Confused, he looked at his hands.

They were webbed.

'What?' he gasped. His voice sounded normal. Small mercies and such.

While Setsuna was fretting over Towa, who clearly just wanted to see to Riku, Moroha knelt before him and moved closer, getting into his face. 'Do you understand me?'

He nodded. It looked odd on him. At least he knew who he was, the change only physical. But seeing how he was a Daiyoukai, he'd keep his mind if he changed. He just very obviously had no idea he could change to begin with.

His expression shifted to concern – as far as she could tell with his face that of a salamander. Or something. He clearly thought along the same lines and worried that he'd frightened them. It would take more than looking a bit odd. Moroha and Setsuna were too used to weird shit to get hung up on details like this and Towa … well, Towa was head over heels in love with Riku and the only one who hadn't puzzled that one out was the man himself. If they didn't stop walking circles around each other soon, Moroha would have to put her foot down. 'You'll be fine,' she said, trying not to sound too patronising. 'You recognise me, don't you? And you don't want to eat us and can speak and understand us. This is fine. Don't worry so much about everything.'

'The demon?' he ventured, sounding astoundingly normal.

'Dead. We got it. You … ah … might want to transform back. You'll take ages in this shape.'

'I could try swimming.'

'Great plan. In what?'

'A summoned water bubble?'

She blinked at him. 'You can do that?'

He didn't react for a moment, then he laughed. 'Who knows? I can't even shrug. This is rather dreadful.' He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before shifting back to his normal appearance – clothes and all. His eyes roamed over all of them and a slight flush painted his cheeks. 'Well,' he said. 'That was a surprise I'd rather not repeat. I … do look normal?'

'Perfectly dull,' Moroha said helpfully, extending her hand to help him up.

With a sigh he took it and dusted himself off. 'Well. If it's all the same to all of you, I'd like to go back to the ship now. I need to take care of this new and worrying development.'