Well… here I am, actually doing something. I'll give you all a minute and forty-seven seconds to get over the aftershock of that astonishing revelation.
Now, on to the other stuff… as you probably know (and if you don't, it means you didn't read the first chapter before reading this one, in which case you are an illogical moron,) this is a fanfiction being co-authored by the prolific Luna and myself. I usually hate to apologize for anything in little forewords like this, but I'll have all of you to know my knowledge of Inuyasha is somewhat limited. I spend all my time conversing with idiots, sleeping, reading Ranma ½ and drowning little newborn kittens just for fun. Oh, and by the way, I'm using the 'ou' spelling of character names as opposed to the simplified version, because Luna said so. And the next chapter I do will be longer, I promise.
Edit: THIS CHAPTER IS BY TRINITI. THE PRECEEDING CHAPTER WAS BY LUNA. THE FOLLOWING TWO WILL BE BY HER, AND THE TWO FOLLOWING THOSE BY MYSELF. If you're going to offer advice or c&c in a review, make sure you specify who you're addressing, or you're leaving us scratching our heads in confusion. Just making sure you know.
Double Edit: Heyas, Lunah-chan here. Umm... Rin and I just had a miscommunication error thingy, so yeah. What we're REALLY gonna do is update in pairs, like I write one chapter, she writes another, and then we upload them both.
Get it? Good.
Keep in mind that it will not always be that I write a chapter, then her, then me, etcetcetc. It could be me, then her, then her, then me or something. We'll say who write what chapter and blah blah blah, so don't worry.
I would like to enforce what my beloved oneesan said before, any praise, crit., etc you send in, please address it to either both of us or whichever one of us you want it to go to.
Flames are accepted, and will be responded to :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. (insert lame joke about how rich I'd be if I did)
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Have We Met?
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Chapter II: And Staying There
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Standing beside the aged well in the small wooden shrine, Inuyasha slipped the choker over his head, with more than a little difficulty. There's a saying that you learn something new every day; apparently, Inuyasha's head was much larger than he'd thought it to be.
But eventually, the choker gave in. A strange tingling sensation erupted in his fingertips, slowly spreading to his chest and down to his feet. It was much like the feeling he experienced every new moon, when his genetic code thoroughly screwed him over.
And then, to his horror… something horrendously horrific happened. The tingling grew fierce, almost painful, causing him to slump precariously unto his knees. If the sensation had been at all pleasant before, it certainly wasn't anymore. It was painful – the sort of pain you get when a thousand rabid chipmunks are clawing and biting at your skin, or when you sit in one position for hours and you get those terrible pins and needles like a thousand rabid grandmas are trying to hem your flesh back together, or when… ah, you get the picture. Remaining silent was not an easy task. Inuyasha began to claw at his flesh, only to find that nothing save his soft fingertips were making contact. A smoldering fire had replaced the pins and needles, and it was taking every ounce of his self control not to cry out in pain. His legs began to convulse and shudder will the force of an earthquake.
"Nngh…" he gritted his teeth tightly.
The burning grew so hot that Inuyasha lost control – his hands began to dig into the wooden floor of the shrine, leaving a dozen stinging splinters. Perspiration drenched his hair – he had to clench his throbbing eyes shut to keep the sweat from running…
However, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. It really did feel much like when he became a human – except it was colder. Not much time passed before he realized why. Surveying his hands and body incredulously, he noticed several key things were absent: his claws, his canine ears, but most importantly… his clothes.
"ARRGGHHH!"
Inuyasha brushed a few strands of his soaked bangs away from his eyes, still feeling a little wobbly. There was no way in hell he was going to go outside like this… but then again, sitting in the Higurashi shrine bare-ass naked was doing about as much good as marketing a line of fleece towels. The only option left was to go back through the well, which is exactly what he planned to do. Inuyasha walked back over to the wall, his knees wobbling – how he got over to the corner in the first place, he was unsure – and jumped in. He braced himself for the feeling of one's navel jumping up to their shoulders when falling through the well. That feeling never came. In fact, Inuyasha was quite surprised when he felt his ankles buckle beneath him upon impact. For several minutes, he did nothing. What was going on? Why couldn't he get back through?!
Inuyasha climbed back out of the well, feeling disconsolate. This was absolutely wonderful. Where would he go from here? Maybe if he was really stealthy, he could find somewhere to stay. After all, it was the middle of the night – who would even be watching? Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought. After all, at least nobody had heard him when he yelled after–
"Hey, who's in there?" A voice came from beyond the door, accompanied by a diffident knock.
Oh, this was absolutely wonderful.
"I'm coming in," said the voice again. Inuyasha recognized it as Souta's.
What good that warning did, Inuyasha never knew – Souta flung the door open not a moment after the woods had parted from his lips. Inuyasha made a beeline for the well, but not before Souta got a good eyeful of him, in his full glory.
"…"
A few minutes passed wherein Souta stood in his pajamas, jaw hanging stupidly, while Inuyasha did the same – minus the pajamas. Then he turned and walked back outside without a word. Well, until he reached the main house, that is.
"Kagome! There's a strange man outside with no clothes on!!"
"A streaker?!"
Inuyasha was slightly puzzled at this – apparently, he could still smell and hear as well as he ever could. But that was far from the point right now. Showing himself to Kagome would defeat the entire purpose of having come here, not to mention generate a great deal of embarrassment on his part. Inuyasha sighed as he heard Kagome and Souta debated on whether or not to approach. In times like these, a man had to be brave and face the situation head on, taking responsibility for his actions. In times like these, a man had to suppress his pride and ask for help. In times like these, there was only one thing to do.
Run away.
With a loud yell, Inuyasha burst head-first through the back wall, a gaping hole left in his wake. He then proceeded to fly down the street, not looking back or stopping to see if anyone could see him.
Inuyasha ran as far as his human body would carry him, and didn't stop running until he had met a dead end in the form of a vacant lot. Someone up there must've been having a hardy laugh. As soon as he had left the Higurashi household, it had begun pouring rain. He couldn't just freeze his balls off, oh no – he had to freeze his balls off in the rain.
Inuyasha kneeled down next to a tree, his aching muscles shivering with the cold night rain. Right now, he wished he'd thought things through a little – okay, a lot – more thoroughly. Where was he going to stay?
"You might want to use me again right about now," said a nasal voice.
"Who's there?!" Inuyasha jumped at the sound of the voice. He hadn't smelt anyone approaching…
"It's me, you blockhead," said the voice. "Right here!"
Inuyasha looked down, half expecting to see a gnome standing between his legs. Thankfully, he saw no such thing. But that still didn't account for the disembodied voice.
"Where?!"
"On your neck!"
Inuyasha blinked, and ran a finger over his collar.
"This… this thing?"
"No, the chicken Kaede straddled to your throat the other day," said the choker sardonically.
"You can talk?!"
"Indeed."
"Well then help me, you little bastard," said Inuyasha, sneezing.
"Use a keyword, dolt," replied his choker curtly.
"A keyword?" asked Inuyasha confusedly. Kaede didn't mention anything about… well, there was 'Tessaiga,' he recalled. So maybe another word could…
"Yes, that's what I said."
"Um… Tenseiga."
Nothing happened.
"Goshinboku!"
Nothing happened.
"Tokijin!"
Nothing happened.
"Taijiya!"
Nothing happened.
"Bakuryuuha!
Just for a change of pace, nothing happened.
"Arrghh! This isn't working!! And speaking of which… where is Tessaiga, anyway?" growled Inuyasha, becoming slightly alarmed. He was about to try another keyword, when something incredibly hard whacked him in the face: Tessaiga. Where it came from… nobody knows.
"That was weird… but… argh! None of these keywords are keywords… DAMMIT!"
As soon as that last word had left his mouth, the ground began to shake ferociously.
"What the--?"
A rumbling began to flow into a crescendo, shrapnel and torn pieces of earth flinging about as something started to emerge from the center of the sopping wet vacant lot. Inuyasha sheilded his eyes from the onslaught of dust spraying at him. It was like the city of Atlantis was emerging from the ocean, except it was mud instead of the ocean, and Inuyasha didn't know what the hell was emerging. However, it soon became unmistakably clear; there, in the center of the grassy lot, stood a large wooden house in the traditional style – complete with a yard and dojo. If that wasn't inconspicuously convenient, then nothing in the world was. Hell, if that wasn't inconspicuous, then nothing in the world was. Surely nobody around here would notice a house that popped out of the ground overnight or anything.
Inuyasha shivered once more, and plodded through the large wooden gates leading up to the paper door looming ahead. This was a really, really, really weird night.
Really.