"Shippo's Little Asymmetric Dragon" by Abraxas (05-12-14)

The full and ultimate truth of the events surrounding Shippo's death was not known except to a select few. It might be possible that even those so close to the fox-demon for so many years did not know the history leading up to what transpired that last, dreadful night. Of those who knew, of those who suspected, they took the secret to their graves. Such as it is, what was preserved for posterity, besides the authenticated works of the artist himself, are those one-sided, sugarcoated anecdotes sprinkled about the encyclopedia-like narratives of the period.

Of those chronicles, the most 'reliable' are by Houshi Miroku (the so-called "Confessions of a Right Hand") and by Kagome Higurashi (the infamous, crazed "Narakunomicon"). Yet, there exists another document that though small and obscure compared to the previously cited references sheds its own, particular light upon the mystery of Shippo's death. And it completes the enigma – but in a manner so explicit, so unapologetic, that I fear it requires a great deal of set up and mental preparation before it ought to be revealed.

For that reason I digress here and there to highlight certain, peculiar events in his life – events commonly held to be known facts – that appear to be disconnected and inconsequential mostly because they were downplayed to be irrelevant by the artist's companions.

In the Narakunomicon, amidst hyperemotional 'Kikyo' outbursts, there are the details of a very curious incident that happened about the time Shippo would have been thirteen. The group (Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo) throughout its quest enjoyed playing games to relax and work-off pent-up stress. One of the games was hide-and-seek. It is not known who was 'it' or how long the game was played but, according to Kagome, as time passed it became increasingly harder and more difficult to find Shippo. At last, when the kitsune could not be located, Inuyasha sniffed his scent and followed his trail until the traces of him ended at the rear of a shop. She elaborates: it was a place of business for an artisan – a female artisan – a place described to be an innocent and well-kept establishment.

Yet, the fox could not be found anywhere.

Kagome continues, however, stating that over a period of a week it became a habit of Shippo's to vanish from the afternoon to the evening. When the group noticed she and Inuyasha seemed to be worried more than the others were. Again they followed the trail – always it led them to that shop, that hut, whose front doors were tightly sealed. She listened, but aside from the rustling of clothes now and then there was nothing to be heard. He listened, too, no doubt sensing more, much more, but it was not his manner to talk about his feelings even his impressions. Which, of course, scared her because she knew just by the look painted across his face that there was something he was not saying, something wrong.

What – the reader asks – was amiss inside the artisan's establishment?

So far, so good – what I state exists in the record and cannot be disputed in good faith. Queer, is it not, how little was made of the incident? And is it not understandable that internal-logic that excused its dismissal? Shippo was a burgeoning artist; naturally, he could have taken on an apprenticeship. The fact the proprietor was female should not be taken out of the equation. But why was the exact nature of the establishment not be disclosed or known even to the villagers?

According to my source, there was a clear and definite point that marked a transition in Shippo's secret, private life. A moment when he turned from a normal person – so to speak – to a man with an obsession. It was not a gradual, evolutionary process brought about by a series of shocks and arousals. It was instead a singular event of primal importance that warped the teenager's delicate and developing psyche. And it was locked away, all of it, within the darkness and shadow of that hut.

One day it was imperative to leave the village. And after his frantic shouting about the town, calling for Shippo to appear – and getting no reply in return – Inuyasha's temper finally got the better of him. He stormed into the shop. Of course, the group attempted to stop him but he was too upset and the rest were just as annoyed that the fox would be purposefully ignoring them so they might not have tried hard enough to stop him.

Everyone expected Shippo to be inside – and he was though they did not see it – but what no one expected to discover was what else was hid within the establishment. It must have been a shock for both Miroku and Kagome stop their narratives at that moment too horrified to continue. But my source, although not present, was told exactly what lay beneath the cloak of respectability that a well-hidden Shippo risked everything to spy in on.

The owner was the practitioner of a very different and peculiar art – for Shippo – that of the tattoo. Yes, the group poured into the hut and discovered the female artist at work knelt before the male client who was standing, naked and erect, presenting his penis to the instrument, to the needle. The two had been caught in the act, while she was inking an elaborate pattern into his foreskin.

The man, whose whole body was covered with tattoos was a breathing canvas, a living testament of the skill of the woman's hands.

The intrusion was an embarrassment. Kagome's Narakunomicon concludes that Shippo was not to be seen. Miroku's "Right Hand" states that as they stood there dumbfounded a stray crash was heard and a breath of fresh air swept the scene – the kind of sudden, welcomed draft a window produces when suddenly opened in a damp and stale environment. Clearly, the group did not stay long in that shop – in that village.