A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the support that this has been getting. I'm glad to hear that people are interested. I'm sorry that even my rewrites are taking forever. I've got some major writer's block mostly due to all the research papers and lab reports that have been due in my classes. Serious stress... UGH!

Anyway I'll try to get new chapters out so here you go for chapter 3. Reviews give me motivation and make me go faster, though with the semester the way it is, that's not much of a guarantee. ;~; Sorry...


Chapter 3: Training Begins – Souta's Shows His Determination

Shippo didn't know it but it was around 5am when he woke up. Mama Higorashi had shown him to the guest room and Kira to Kagome's old room. The beds were strange and soft. He felt like he was sinking into a cloud and it made him uneasy, so he decided to get up and head downstairs. He looked through the book they called a TV Guide for a bit, but got bored and went outside.

He leapt to the top of that tree again, thinking that it looked similar to the tree Inuyasha had been sealed to by Kikyo. The sun was just beginning to lighten the horizon as Shippo looked around into the distance. This world was so different. Inuyasha had told him stories of Kagome's world but what he saw before him was like nothing he had ever imagined. Everything was cold and stone. Smooth like the floor of a cave. No cracks or breaks like the stone flooring of any temple he had ever seen before. Giant iron carts sat along black stone roads. In the growing light he could see that the moving ones had humans inside of them.

There was no way back to his time, he had to accept that. But would he ever be able to adjust to this strange new world? Even if I can't, I'm here now and I'm alive and strong. It's my responsibility to protect this world. But even protecting it would be difficult.

Kira and Souta hadn't really seemed to understand what he said about their powers. He told them he could help them train but in reality he wasn't sure how much he could do. He had trained with Inuyasha plenty of times and Inuyasha had explained what sensing the Windscar was like, but Shippo had never actually felt it himself. The best he could do for Kira was tell her the same things and hope that Inuyasha's blood in her would do the rest.

Souta's training wouldn't present any problem. Shippo had often acted as the stand-in demon for helping young priestesses who were training with Kagome. He knew what it was like to feel holy power fighting to destroy his demonic blood. Of course he had never worked with anyone at Souta's age because they could usually do some decent damage. And Souta definitely had enough spiritual energy to do damage.

"Well since I can't be the practice dummy," Shippo said thoughtfully, "I'll have to figure out what can."

XXX

"RISE AND SHINE!"

Kira bolted out of bed her spare bokuto[6] in hand ready for a fight. When she saw it was Shippo that had yelled she was tempted to throw the sword at him. Seeing that the clock said 6am made her further consider throwing it. Sota must've been woken in a similar manner because he was already dressed and standing behind Shippo, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Come on get up! It's time to start training." Shippo walked off dragging the half conscience Souta by his shirt.

Kira sighed, "Guess I have no choice." So she stumbled out of bed to prepare for the day.

XXX

It had been a rude awakening that morning and Souta wasn't in the best mood. Shippo had said the night before that he had spiritual powers but Souta was certain that there was a mistake. The talismans he had pulled out of the shed had been kept for generations (or at least that's what his grandpa said). It was those that pushed the demons back, not any special power he had. And he was determined to prove it.

Sure Inuyasha was cool, but demons were the reason his sister had been forced into so much danger. They were also the reason he would never get to see her again. And here was Shippo acting as if he knew Kagome better than her own family.

The snake corpse was gone when Souta got outside; instead, a little ways away, there was a bag that seemed to be leaking blood. Well I guess we know where it went. Now the question is why is it still here? He couldn't see where Shippo had gone so he just sat down on the bench next to the sacred tree.

Kira came stumbling out the door a few minutes later, carrying her bokuto and Tetsaiga. She looked as happy to be awake as Sota felt.

"Oh good you're both here." Shippo said coming around the side of the house with another bloody bag. He either didn't notice or completely ignored the daggers in their eyes. "Ok so here's the plan. First thing we gotta do is dispose of yesterday's mess. I cut it up into smaller chunks so it would be easier to exorcise. Kira will practice sensing the windscar with one of these bags while Souta and I get to work clearing the remaining miasma."

More or less on cue, Kira unsheathed the Tetsaiga. It was small and rusted looking. What a piece of junk. There's no way that's the same sword. Souta thought as he watched Kira walk over to the bag Shippo had set out for her. He could smell the stuff from so far away; he didn't want to have to smell it up close.

For a while, he was spared that fate as he watched Shippo talk to Kira.

XXX

Ever since the demonic blood in her had awakened, all her senses had become enhanced. While avoiding other demons this had been a blessing, but right now the stench of that rotting flesh was making her light headed. When Shippo said she would be practicing on them she wanted to hurl, but she gave no argument and just tried to breathe through her mouth. This didn't help much once she got closer.

Tetsaiga felt balanced in her grip. Back before it had become a rusted piece of crap it must have been an amazing sword, forged by a master. But now it looked as if any amount of force would break it in two. Even if this sword had once belonged to a powerful demon, there's no way it would be of any use now. She'd be better off getting a new human made sword.

She was glad for the lack of breakfast when Shippo reached into the bag and pulled out a particularly drippy-looking chunk of meat.

"Ok now here's the thing." Shippo said, turning around to face her. "I can tell you what the Windscar is but that won't do you any good if you can't even reveal Tetsaiga's true form. I've got a couple ideas how to make that happen but you probably aren't going to like them." With meat juice dripping from his claws, Kira had no doubt she wouldn't like his ideas.

"So what are these ideas?" Kira asked nervously.

"Well the first…" Shippo trailed off staring off at something behind Kira.

Curious, she turned around. Souta was half asleep on the bench and some birds had landed nearby, but other than that nothing was interesting behind her. She turned back around and her reflexes quickly took over to parry the object that had been flying straight towards her head. Meat juice squelched all over her as the dull sword made contact with the flying chunk. It was all Kira could do just to keep from throwing up.

"Well that didn't work." Shippo was rummaging through the bag again for another hunk of meat.

"YAH THINK! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" How the hell does he expect me to transform the sword if he hasn't told me anything about it? And how can he even stand to touch that nasty stuff? Kira thought to herself still fighting the nausea.

"Oh excuse me. I didn't realize that you were such a little princess that you couldn't dodge something as small as that. You're the idiot that let it splash all over you."

What the hell! Is he serious? He's the one that was so eager to train us! She fought with herself to stay calm.

Shippo just smirked; the meat juice wasn't the only thing showing all over Kira's face. "With how weak you are," he said laughing, "you couldn't even beat a baby demon. I bet when I was a bottom level kitsune I still could've beaten you." Scratching his head he changed his mind, "actually, you probably would have run away before a fight even began."

WHAT!? THAT JERK! Kira was trying to stay calm but it was a battle she knew she was losing.

She saw Shippo glance over at Souta. "In fact, I don't think you can protect anyone." His arm wound up like the pitcher of a baseball team then sent the slab of meat flying, much faster than the first time, straight at Souta who was now asleep on the bench.

Time seemed to slow as fury exploded out of Kira. Later on she'd never be able to say what she was thinking at the time. She only knew she had been dead set against letting Shippo have another laugh at her. She felt zero resistance as the sword sliced cleanly through the slice of meat sending the newly cut chunks rocketing off to the sides of their sleeping victim.

A pulse came out from Tetsaiga. Blinking, Kira saw the sword she was holding was massive; over half the length of her body, and yet it felt as light as a feather, perfectly balanced in her hand. The most amazing and terrifying power pulsed in the sword. She couldn't stop staring at it.

"Well Miyoga did say that it had to be used in protection of humans. I guess he was right." Shippo walked over gazing fondly at the sword.

"So wait! You were purposely making me mad!?" She was mad before, but now she just felt stupid for falling for it.

Shippo gave a devilish smirk. "You made it a little too easy you know. A good warrior should have control over his or her emotions."

"Uhh… hey guys… a little help?" They turned to face Sota who was trapped between a bench with a broken leg and the fence behind it. The slab of meat had obliterated the side of the bench knocking the poor kid over.

Kira laughed as she ran to help him out. This training might not be so bad after all.

XXX

This was the second rude awakening he'd had that morning. There weren't many ways to improve his mood, and Kira showing off the fully transformed Tetsaiga certainly wasn't one of them.

"Isn't this amazing Souta!? I mean who would've thought a sword could have power of its own!?" Kira kept rambling in amazement for a while, though Sota hardly heard a word of it. He had seen Inuyasha wield Tetsaiga before, and he definitely remembered Inuyasha being a lot cooler about it.

He grimaced in pain when Shippo walked over and gave him an apologetic, yet rather hard, slap on the back.

"Sorry about that. I had my fox fire ready to block the slab incase Kira missed but I didn't think about where the chunks would go if she managed to block it." Souta just glared as he watched Shippo recall his fox fire from around the bench.

I'm in hell with two demon meatheads that don't think before they act. Souta knew the thought was a lie, but for the moment he didn't care to correct himself.

Shippo came back from moving the broken bench out of the way. Turning to Kira he said, "Ok now just pull out a chunk of that demon and close your eyes and concentrate on hearing and smell. The windscar is where two demon auras collide. Listen for the scraping of the winds. If you sense it just let me know. Don't try to cut through it around here."

When Shippo turned his back on her Souta almost laughed at the look of horror Kira had. Evidently she didn't like the idea of paying attention to the smell. Shippo was now staring right at him.

Souta started to speak but Shippo raised a hand, cutting him off. "I already know what you're going to say."

I doubt it, Souta thought.

"You think I'm wrong about you having spiritual powers and it's just those old sutras you used. Am I correct?" He was dead on.

Shippo sent Souta to get more sutras from the shed. Handing them over Souta watched as Shippo examined them then easily burned them up with his fox fire.

"Now if that had been a sutra with even a little spiritual power contained in it, I wouldn't have been able to do that." Shippo explained, "a sutra will contain spiritual power if the one that writes it has even the smallest spiritual abilities. Clearly whoever wrote these had none."

Unbeknownst to them, Grandpa Higorashi sneezed.[7]

"So the only way a failed sutra could work is if the one who uses it puts the necessary energy into it." Souta did not like where this was going. "I'll show you how to write a proper talisman and then you and I have to work on dispersing the miasma."

"Ok first off," Souta protested, "What miasma? You keep saying that but I don't even really know what it means." Shippo gave him an 'I can't believe you don't know something this simple' look which only ticked Souta off more.

Shippo sighed and scratched his head, "You've at least noticed a gloomy atmosphere out here right?" he said.

Surprised at the question Souta momentarily forgot his annoyance and looked around him. The sun was now up over the horizon casting its warm rays as far as the eye could see. It was spring and a comfortable temperature. On a hill not far off the sakura trees were in full bloom. He describes this as gloomy?

It was then that Souta noticed the chill in the air behind him. Turning around he knew exactly where it was coming from. Why didn't I notice this before? Because you were determined to avoid it, stupid. He thought back to himself felling as stupid as ever.

Shippo put his hand on Souta's shoulder when the kid started to shake. "It's ok, relax. It feels bad now but we're going to take care of that."

Souta grimaced, "Why am I only sensing it now?" he asked the concerned kitsune.

"It takes training to be constantly aware of demonic aura locations. The fact that you sense it at all just proves my point that you do have spiritual powers."

Souta rolled his eyes, he knew now that Shippo was right but he wasn't planning to say so. "Ok so what do we do now?"

"Now we… Kira pay attention to what you're doing." Kira jumped and turned back to her bag when she got called out. "You need to concentrate," Shippo yelled to her. He then turned back to Souta, "We need new better sutras. These things you have don't really even say anything." He pulled a sutra out of his sleeve pocket. "This is a special one that I use with my fox magic. It is for hiding ones presence. Mixing it with my fox magic I can make things invisible for a short amount of time." He laughed at Souta's confused look. "For you this would make people unable to sense your presence but they could still see you." Shippo raised the sutra and a leaf up to his head, "But for me…" he said and then vanished from sight.

Souta stood there stupidly not sure what to do when Kira screamed as Shippo popped up out of nowhere right in front of her. Shippo must have explained some things to Kira because she merely punched his arm and turned back to her sac of meat.

"Mixed with my fox magic it hides my body but only makes my presence less noticeable," Shippo said as he walked back over. "But you would only sense me if you knew to look for me."

Looking at the sutra, "So is this what we're going to use to seal that?" Souta asked.

Shippo laughed, "Iye iye[8]. This would only hide it from notice. I'll show you how to write one to dispel the aura. I can't actually write one since demonic powers would have an opposite effect. Now," he said clasping his hands together, "let's get to work"

XXX

Shippo was really glad he had asked Kagome to teach him how to make sutras. She had been insistent that it wouldn't do him any good to know since his demonic powers would only make other demonic powers stronger. He had only convinced her by saying it would still be effective for making his invisibility sutras.

Step one was getting paper strips. This wasn't hard. The old man, Souta's and Kagome's grandfather, had plenty of strips cut because for some reason he thought he was a priest.

Step two would be harder. They needed blessed water. The old man said there was some in the shed but as they were searching for it, Shippo wasn't really sensing any holy energy. His suspicions were confirmed when they pulled out a jar labeled holy water which didn't even so much as shock him when he stuck his finger in it.

Shippo stood up and stretched. "Looks like we'll have to make some, unless you know of another shrine nearby." Souta looked confused so he explained. "Well it would be easier to ask someone else for now. It takes practice to get it good enough for use on sutras."

Souta put the jar back where he'd found it. "There are a few shrines nearby but nowadays shrines are mostly just tourist attractions. The closest one that still has a full time shrine keeper is Hojiki shrine. It's about a 30 minute walk away." He pointed northeast as they left the shed.

"Hmm… Ok. It's worth a shot. I'll hide what we have here for now then we'll head over there and see what we can find." His own sutra would work for up to 3 hours if he put enough energy into it. "Kira!" She turned when she heard her name. "I'm going to seal up all of this and then we're going to another shrine to get some supplies. I don't feel comfortable leaving this out while I'm not around so I'll seal both bags and you can come with us." Kira agreed and Shippo went to work moving the bags and retrieving the chunks he had thrown.


6 Bokuto (木刀) – A wooden Japanese training sword.

7 Old Japanese myth: It is said that when you sneeze it means someone is talking about you.

8 Iya means No. Iye is no with a sloppy pronunciation often used casually.