The self-imposed angst and subsequent awkwardness that trumpeted Shippo's entry into manhood was an all-too-brief affair. As Miroku and Kagome attest, the battles between the group and Naraku were becoming increasingly desperate and uncertain, requiring progressively more and more cooperation within the gang – there was not enough time for the fox-demon to wallow in self-loathing. I will not tire the reader with the details of those epic-events, I refer the curious to the egotistical ramblings of the "Right Hand" and the emotional depravity of the Narakunomicon, what is important is that Shippo emerged out of that period seemingly to be a normal, adjusted adult.
Everything in his life appeared to be adequate a conduit into which his latent sexuality and desires could be expressed with out negative social stigmas. In short, it was believed by that close-knit circle of friends that his art settled his mind. And by those two, oft-reliable accounts we are, indeed, tempted to agree that Shippo was happy.
That last, staggering phase of that bright and creative period (Shippo's so-called 'heroic' period) was punctuated by a series of apparently disconnected events. Unrelated yet odd events if seen only through the viewpoint of the group. But not to my new and obscure source.
The first of the occurrences involved Kilala. Sango reported that – through several, nightly vigils – she saw Shippo mounting Kilala, the two soaring into the air heading toward destinations unknown. Shippo would not say where he went. Kilala was not able to speak, of course; she could not be coaxed to reveal where they were going thus it could not be determined what they were doing.
Once Shippo realized his excursions were being watched, the nocturnal excursion was replaced with what Kagome characterizes as a long-range, two-way correspondence with Kilala as the go-between. At sundown the fox tied a note about the cat's collar. By sunup the silent courier returned with a new, sealed reply.
Time passed and Shippo formed secondary, out-of-character habits. The written communication ceased and the nightly trips resumed but now the disappearances lasted days. Weeks. (I infer from all of the sources that – wherever Shippo went – Kilala did not tag along. I am uncertain, however, at just how Kilala was signaled for the return trip.) At the same time Miroku comments on the fox's refusal to bathe communally with anyone in the group or in the villages along the path. On his manner of clothing that changed such that less and less of his skin could be seen. Further, Inuyasha states to Kagome that there were scents about the kitsune that had not been there before – but they were not described to be unpleasant only that they were akin to ink and to incense.
Is it not trivial to see how these facts suggested to all of the historians to suspect – correctly – that Shippo was visiting a romantic, female, interest? However, keeping only the two, main sources, beyond their speculation we cannot glean any further clues – let alone answers – useful to shed light upon the miasma that surrounds the events of Shippo's death. And how can we ask for more since it is evident that neither Miroku nor Kagome were privy to the other end of the fox's nighttime excursions? And even if they knew there was something very much amiss with his mysterious activities they would not have divulged it sparing his memory the embarrassment as they, being his friends and defacto family, would have rightfully done. Such as it is, their speculation did not rise to any conclusion and no intervention was performed. Subsequently, their journals are silent on these matters.
True, his sudden modesty and his unexpected need for inks from Kagome's time – inks, she adds, that promptly vanished and could not be found among his effects – were what marked that final, serious change with respect to his overall demeanor. Yet he was a temperamental artist, known to be moody and eccentric and his friends excused his behavior. It was a new and different 'turn of events' but it was not 'wrong.' But was this, their posture, genuine or manufactured after-the-fact? I reiterate, if they had known the truth I suspect they would not have discussed it. Kagome would have shed away from the subject, opting to be more suggestive of romantic motives than reveal the gritty details. Miroku would have been fascinated but his confessions, as massive as the tomes are, only cover his shortcomings.
Again I am tempted to divulge everything I know about my newly discovered source. Again I judge it to be inappropriate. It would not make sense to have such things fall upon the reader's lap so bluntly. Let me say the following. I alluded that he had been visiting a female-admirer; I did not state the fact that it was he who sought her out. For him to express his fetish, he needed a woman capable of understanding and sympathizing with it. A woman with a love of art. Clearly, it could not have been Kagome and Sango, they were older, they were interested with others of their age and though they ostracized him during his teenage years they were too much like sisters to him to let the unwinding of his obsession pass comfortably. But in this new, unknown female he met his perfect match in age and tenacity – even their orphaned upbringing. Determined and assertive, she did things a boy did, unafraid – and if properly seduced she could take on the challenge. In all of the world, she was the only one to whom he could turn.
One evening Shippo rode off on Kilala – a habit that became more and more routing that no body question it. Unlike every other time that season, he returned with Kilala that next evening. All of the sources agree Shippo was upset – not angry but ashamed -- his clothes, once immaculately kept, were now disheveled as if hastily put on in the dark. He skipped supper and retired into his own, private home – that he bought with the money brought in by his paintings and where he conducted business.
Miroku reports that as he walked by Shippo's door he heard the fox-demon sob. With a knock – and with an answer – he entered. Inside, in the shadow the monk stood while in the corner the kitsune sat, desperately – tightly – holding onto his clothes. Their talk was long in time but short in substance. (It should be said that although he was part of the group, as he grew older he became more independent and less active with the gang's pursuit of Naraku and the shards. He was drawn into his art and the obsession it fed but he was not totally estranged of his friends and especially Miroku.)
What the monk ascertained through the fox's pent-up words was that he committed an act of stupid-selfishness. An act that could not be understood by him or by anyone and that it would not be possible to live with it. He changed, he said, in a manner that could not be reversed.
Shippo asked Miroku for a favor, for old time's sake; drowned within the poetry of his sorrow, Shippo asked Miroku that, if he were to be found dead, his body was to be wrapped without inspection. He was adamant, like a madman, he did not want mortal eyes to inspect his corpse. The Houshi gave his holy vow – despite the momentary shock of hearing the words coming out of the fox – and he left, promising to return that morning when he thought he was sure his friend would be feeling better.
Shippo promised, bitterly, that he would be there, waiting – and he was there, waiting –
In the realm of the "Confessions of a Right Hand" and in the cosmic-horror of the Narakunomicon, it is that next, dreadful morning that Souten enters – and completes –the story. At sunup she arrived at the village and very calmly, through tears, approached the group and asked for Shippo. Kagome describes her – through a much-belabored simile involving Kikyo – as being and saying she was sorry. Miroku states dryly that, as she entered the artist's abode, her mysterious and haunting lamentation was too late.
Miroku concludes by stating the facts: Shippo died that night after their talk from a wound he describes to be 'self-inflicted.' Kagome finishes by saying that stains of blood could be seen at the base of the door even before anyone entered.
Souten – unaware of Shippo's last wishes – saw the body and stayed with it a while, preparing it before she allowed the group to enter.
The monk cloaked the body in a sack and cremated the remains that noonday in a private, emotional ceremony. But it should be said that not all of Shippo was offered to the gods that sad, dreary day.
