A Distant Promise – Mini-Chapter # 19

"What about you?"

Both Kagome and Satoshi turned to face Shippo, presenting a united front. The kitsune stared at the two of them, eyeing their eager faces with distrust. "What do you mean?" he sputtered, blushing. "My love-life is perfectly fine, thank you very much."

Their conversation had started innocently enough – Satoshi had commiserated with Kagome over her problems with Inuyasha. The black-haired shrine maiden had never been one too keep deep, dark secrets – when something annoyed her (namely, Inuyasha), everyone knew about it. After venting for several minutes, she had apologized to the youthful youkai for burdening him with her problems, only to watch in inevitable fascination as a flush of embarrassed red had tinted his cheeks.

This was, of course, much too good for Shippo and Kagome to pass up. Catching a hint of potential, priceless gossip, Shippo had pounced on his friend and demanded an explanation. Shyly, Satoshi had shared his girl-troubles. There was a girl in Europe that he liked, but she was a human, and the young dog-demon was concerned about telling his Father this bit of bad news.

Solicitously, Kagome and Shippo had consoled him. Yes, his troubles were definitely deeper than hers. No, he shouldn't hold back from telling his Father the good news, just because he felt self-conscious and uncertain. Kagome had made him laugh by telling him about Hojo – and all of the poor, kind-hearted boy's failed attempts to win her heart – and Shippo had responded in kind, by telling stories about Kouga – yet another victim of the beautiful shrine maiden's charms.

And just like that, the conversation had turned into a game. Who could name the most outrageous love-interest or experience out of them all? Because Satoshi and Kagome were closest in age, and both had recently attended high-school, they had a shocking number of stories to tell about other people. But the fox-demon merely laughed, without sharing any of his own tales.

Suddenly realizing that he had shared nothing of himself, all of this time, the shrine maiden had turned the tables on her friend. "Come on, Shippo," she whined, "I told all about Inuyasha and Hojo and Kouga. It's only fair…"

"Well, there was one foxy-lady once," he smirked self-depreciatingly, "But … things didn't work out between us. And then, she died, so I couldn't really patch-up the relationship."

"Oh," murmured Kagome, a frown marring her previously happy expression. "I'm sorry…"

Satoshi swung one foot toward his mentor, striking the kitsune in the shin, underneath the table. "Not that one!" pouted the boy. "That happened centuries ago, anyway. Tell her about Chinchi!"

Now, the fox-demon looked truly flustered. A smile crept back onto the miko's face. She tried to hide it by sipping her milkshake, but Shippo knew he had been caught. "So, there is someone?" she prodded her friend.

"Well, no." Raising his eyes to the ceiling, the fox-demon vowed silently to kill a certain traitorous little pup later in the evening. "You know of the legends surrounding kitsune, right? Every century, a fox spirit can grow another tail, and after 1,000 years, the oldest kitsune turn silver or gold, and gain the ability to see or hear anything in the world…"

"Right," nodded Kagome, her eyes wide with anticipation. "Wait. Are you seriously going to be an all powerful demon, if you just survive long enough?"

"Of course not," the red-head disagreed calmly. "If I just sit around and never do anything to increase my skills, I would never gain any additional tails, whatsoever. But the possibility is there. And you have already identified the problem, in a roundabout sort of way. After spending a millennia or so on this earth, most foxes are just too powerful to remain here." At this, Shippo blushed slightly. "Supposedly, the gods offer a choice – you can join the other gods in their palace in heaven, or you can be sealed into a human form and stay in this world."

The idea sounded rather fishy to Kagome, but she chose not to mention it. Still, it was rather amusing that in some ways, demons were no better informed than humans. When it came to the gods and higher powers of nature, even Shippo sounded a bit sketchy on his information. "What does this have to do with your love-interest?" she pouted, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

"Eh…" delayed Shippo. "Like I said, some of the most powerful foxes choose to remain in this realm, reincarnated into human bodies over and over again. Which means that if you look hard enough…"

Satoshi interrupted with a wicked grin. "He has a crush on a two-year old. A powerful two-year old, who will be able to slap him around, when she grows up."

Shoulders sinking, Shippo's posture deflated as he stared across the table at the white-haired menace he had once called a friend. "She's three now," he protested, as if this made a large amount of difference. "Argh! Stop making me sound like a pedophile."

"Hmm," nodded the shrine maiden sympathetically. "Yes, I can see how that would be awkward. Telling a girl that she is the reincarnation of a nine-tailed fox-spirit, and that you have been stalking her since she was small…"

"Kagome!" groaned the kitsune, putting his hands over his head. "You're not helping!"

"On the plus side," mused the miko, "It does make me feel better about my relationship with Inuyasha."