Word Count: 714


Chapter 76: Training


Kagome walked down the hallways of her shop, passing by numerous doors that would lead her to different parts of the world. Kirara was perched on her shoulder, mewling softly as she nuzzled her face against her mistress' face.

"Where could he have gone, Kirara?" she mumbled softly to her feline companion.

The cat demon mewed a response, eliciting a soft chuckle from the sorceress.

"He didn't announce anything about a sweet treats trip recently." Kagome paused at a particular door, its appearance haggard as if from old age. She placed a hand on the door, a small frown graced her normally cheerful face. Hesitantly, her hand drifted down, holding onto the doorknob loosely. At Kirara's urging, Kagome opened the door, stepping into a harsh mountainous terrain and feeling constant, strong blast of wind assaulting her. She pulled Kirara into her embrace as she carefully maneuvered through the environment.

She stopped short when she saw tails swaying in the wind before it disappeared and the spot in front of her was attacked by violent blasts of flames.

"Shippou?" she called, her voice raised higher than normal to overcome the violent wind.

Kirara hissed suddenly and Kagome reflexively raised a light pink dome to shield the both of them from oncoming fireballs.

"Oh, shit, oh my god, I'm so sorry you two!" Shippou's panicked voice followed after the small explosion as he appeared in front of the two, his face marred by dirt and dried blood.

Kagome lowered her barrier with a smile as she reached out to touch her assistant's face. Her thumb gently rubbed away some of the grime on his face. "You haven't been here in a while."

Shippou turned away to hide his embarrassed face. "Well, I've been lazing around for far too long."

"You're strong, Shippou."

"But I've gotten too comfortable," came his almost sullen reply.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, her question was also accompanied by Kirara's confused mew.

"I've been too comfortable with just eight tails, just because there's no else that has reached this far."

"You want your ninth tail?"

Shippou shrugged. "I mean I haven't reached my full potential yet, so yeah, why not?"

"What brought this on?"

Shippou remained silent.

"Is it…" Kagome's voice faltered. "Is it because of what's happened recently?"

"I'd lost control back then, Kagome," Shippou's voice came out so soft, it was nearly drowned by the wind. "I'm supposed to be better than that. I'm supposed to be stronger."

"You are strong," Kagome reaffirmed strongly. She pulled the taller demon closer into a half-embrace. "We all have our low points. How we carry on afterwards will be a testament of our strength."

Shippou smiled into Kagome's hair. He then snorted, "Where'd you come up with some corny advice like that?"

Kagome smiled back. "Just something someone's told me recently." She stepped back, and reached for one of Shippou's hands. She felt his rough knuckles. "You know Kirara and I will support you in all of your endeavors, so don't you ever disappear on us without warning, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Shippou said in mock exasperation. He then grinned at her. "Mama."

She flustered in response, having not heard him refer to her as such in centuries. She huffed in response. "I should punish you for making us worried so much recently."

Shippou gave another cheeky grin. "I could make oden for dinner."

Kagome started to smile at Shippou's dinner suggestion, but stopped when she sensed a strange energy in the air. Shippou and Kirara also both sensed an abnormal aura as well, feeling their hairs were standing on end. Kirara hissed quietly.

"Hey, Kagome…"

"Shippou, we need to go back," she said, her voice calm, but there was an underlying sense of urgency in her words. The fox demon nodded and the three raced back to the door. They stopped in their track when the door flickered, disappearing from existence momentarily.

"What's going on, Kagome?" Shippou looked down to see Kagome was chanting a spell quietly. The appearance of the door stabilized long enough for the trio to return to the shop. Once back inside, Shippou was the first to notice how all of the doors down the hallway was acting strange.

"Help me lock all of them," Kagome commanded.