Author's Note: A few reviewers remarked that Satoshi was cute. This made me eager to write more about him.
A Distant Promise – Mini-Chapter # 39
"You know what?"
The kitsune's voice echoed slightly over the long-distance line, but Satoshi did not mind. Cradling the receiver closer to his ear, he thought that Shippo didn't usually bother to phone him in the middle of a week. This was a pleasant change.
"What?" retorted the white-haired pup, a smile stretching the lavender stripes on his skin. Since he was inside his apartment, he could remove the concealment spells.
"You should come home, for a week."
Wide-eyed, the smirk faded from Satoshi's face. "What?" he repeated, helplessly. "The semester's almost over…"
With a sigh, the fox-demon interrupted. "This is probably a futile endeavor," Shippo stated wearily, "Since I have tried once already, unsuccessfully… but would you help me drive Kagome into a secure, romantic relationship?"
Somehow, there was no appropriate reply for this. A young inu-youkai cuddled the telephone, pulling his knees toward his chest. No, no, no. It wasn't possible. Was it? Shippo was asking for assistance.
Whenever his fox-guardian encouraged him to do something, the activity inevitably landed both Shippo and Satoshi in loads of trouble. And the kitsune usually did not ask first. But of course, Satoshi would help! Not that there was much he could do. He was in Europe. Also, the pup didn't know this girl, Kagome, very well.
Growing up, he had heard stories about Inuyasha and the others from the fox. For the longest time, these tales had seemed more like fantasy than reality. This did not mean that Satoshi had failed to enjoy the storyline. But when his Father huffed, or commented that part of the narrative was untrue, well… Satoshi had always believed his parent, rather than his guardian.
Meeting the girl had been an absolute shock. Over winter break, he had spent each day with Shippo and with her.
Years ago, he had tugged on Shippo's tail every day – telling the fox to play with him, do tricks, teach him to transform, tell stories… And every game that he played with Shippo, it was always the most fun. Every trick that Shippo invented was incredible. Every time Shippo transformed, the shape was new. Every story he told, it was the best one.
Yet despite his adoration of the fox-demon, Satoshi had never believed in his fiction. Not fully. When it came to raw, unmitigated truth, without a doubt Father won. Sesshoumaru never allowed his head to swim with too much nonsense. So, learning that Inuyasha and Kagome were alive – right now – the revelation had nearly sent him into fits. Part of his heart had wanted to remain in Japan; this semester, it had been difficult to pay attention.
"Okay, I'll help." Satoshi agreed strongly, before his tone turned plaintive. "Do I need to… stay more than a week?"
"No!" countered the kitsune, "Classes are important. You shouldn't miss too many."
"Shippo!" whined the white-haired pup, "I know most of this stuff already."
With the most important subject out of the way, the fox-demon was free to dig for pay-dirt and rumors. This was more his usual style, in any case. "Well, if you need to spend time with a certain young lady…" Shippo drawled lightly, "Then, I understand."
Color suffused Satoshi's skin, and he pushed the phone away from his ear. "If you're going to tease me, then I'll hang up, instead of buying airplane tickets!"
