"Magic Spinning Top!"
Jumping into the air while launching his special technique, which is actually just using transformation to make a spinning top larger than normal, Shippo smiles victoriously when he sees all the rival tops of the other children flying away.
From his point of view, this was not cheating, because just as humans use their hands to launch spinning tops, he also used his "hands," only his are more special than everyone else's.
"Booo, you're a cheater!"
"That's not true, I'm still using only one spinning top!"
"One spinning top? More like a giant spinning top!"
Surrounding Shippo with truly justified fury, he has found ways to cheat during a large portion of the games played over the last few days, and all the village children pull out different markers from inside their dirty clothes.
These had been gifts from Kagome mainly to Shippo, but after losing various games at the beginning he had to hand them over as prizes, which is why he is now using certain tricks... All for a greater good!
"No, not on the face!"
"I'm going to give him a mustache like my dad's!"
"And I'll draw a star!"
"Hahaha, then I'll draw the moon!"
"Transformation!"
Bursting into a sudden cloud of white smoke, Shippo's figure disappears and is replaced by a strange pink balloon with bulging eyes and a huge mouth, the same being that then begins to float slowly through the air to get away from all the children.
Obviously, the latter do not let him escape so easily, since they really have nothing more important to do, so within moments they become an angry mob chasing Shippo all around the village while shouting "cheater."
But fun cannot last forever, especially after midday arrives with its scorching heat, so all the children disperse. That leaves Shippo alone again, so he simply walks toward Kaede's house.
...Elsewhere...
Opening his eyes after God knows how long, the first thing that strikes Asahiko's sight is darkness. And no, his eyes are not closed or anything like that; even with them open, there is only darkness before him.
It was truly a strange sensation he was experiencing, that of seeing and yet not seeing at the same time, although even stranger was how the darkness seemed more like a liquid than a lighting effect.
"The question is... If I push myself, could I swim or something like that? I mean, it looks like some kind of viscous liquid, although maybe."
Falling deeper and deeper into his thoughts and their ramifications, going from whether one could swim in darkness to how to do it—by the way, the butterfly stroke won—the figure of Asahiko begins moving forward by inertia.
Such a thing continued for an immeasurable amount of time; this is not exactly the best place to tell the hour, but eventually, noticing how strange it is to walk in a straight line through a kind of liquid, Asahiko stops abruptly before looking around.
To the left there was nothing, to the right there was nothing either, so with a little fear he looked upward, but there was nothing there as well... Leaving only below, where there is nothing except black hair... Black hair?
[At last you've noticed me, Asahiko!]
Shouting loudly from the darkness while the area upon which Asahiko is standing stretches and contracts, an enormous oriental dragon-like face fixes its gaze upon the little vermin standing on its noble body.
Its eyes were red like burning embers, with an oddly "noble" appearance even from a human perspective, while instead of large scales, its entire body was covered in soft black fur, and it bore a single black horn on its forehead.
"Souga...? You're more... Incredible than I expected."
[HAHAHA, of course I am, little fox!]
"To be honest, you didn't have a very high bar to clear. I always thought you were some kind of scaleless dragon... Like a winged meat worm."
Speaking without hesitation largely thanks to the state he is in, Asahiko is basically acting half-dazed, stroking his chin as if he were reevaluating Souga in his mind.
But of course, with Souga being a pure-blooded yokai and, on top of that, a dragon—beings with excessive pride in any mythology or story—he flies into a blind rage at Asahiko's previous words.
[DIE!]
Opening his mouth full of sharp teeth that seem eager to devour the world, Souga begins gathering reddish energy inside his throat, illuminating the surroundings and causing the dark liquid to tremble from the pressure.
No, the liquid was not trembling because of Souga's attack; rather, it almost instantly shifts into a solid state and easily traps the evil dragon.
"We're in my mind... and that 'we' doesn't please me at all, Souga."
Recovering a certain degree of rationality upon seeing the previous situation, Asahiko narrows his now-glowing blue eyes with the light of wisdom and snaps his fingers.
Together with the snap, an enormous golden sun suddenly appears in the sky, instantly burning Souga's black fur and crashing directly into him, shattering both the dream and his draconic body.
"Buahh, why did you jump all of a sudden?!"
"Shippo...?"
"Who else would it be? Ahh, stop rubbing my head."
Trying with little success to escape from the newly awakened Asahiko, the difference in strength remained too great even with the weakened condition of the former, so Shippo resorted to sinking his teeth into his arm in an attempt to get free.
In the end, that cost him more than it did Asahiko, so much so that small tears slid down his eyes because of how hard the flesh he just bit is. Is he made of stone or what?
"Where are Inuyasha, Kagome, or my hero's welcome? I literally saved their hides the night before. I'm expecting at least a party with beer and loose women."
"Loose women?"
"Oh, damn it, Kagome is going to kill me when she finds out. Nothing very important, Shippo. Hahahaha, why don't you tell me where we are?"
Trying to wipe away the metaphorical sweat sliding down his forehead as he thinks about Kagome and what she will do when she learns how he "corrupted" the mind of the runt under his arm, Asahiko finally notices his condition.
He was covered in bandages; literally there was no space on his body that was not wrapped up. Surely if he looked in a mirror right now, he would not look much different from a legendary desert mummy.
"We're at old Kaede's house. She healed the wounds on your body, so be grateful!"
"Do I look like Inuyasha to you? I have manners. I could even remain calm at a table with six different types of cutlery and three glasses with different uses depending on the drink."
"And what does that mean?"
"Haa... Savages."
Sighing in a clearly exaggerated manner, Asahiko finally looks around the small "room," although judging by the layout it actually seems to be an extremely small "house"; everything is crammed together in this place.
Literally, he is resting near a hearth located in the center of the room, which is obviously used as a kitchen, while a little farther away one can see a small tea table with two cushions for sitting in seiza.
Yes, this house/room is perhaps the worst nightmare of a claustrophobic person, but fortunately that is not one of Asahiko's weaknesses... In fact, one could even say he has a slight trauma with open spaces; Kikyo made him sleep outdoors far too often.
"God, what a... House. Anyway, where are the others?"
"Ehh, I don't know either?"
"What do you mean you don't know? You're always glued to Kagome. There's not a single scene where she appears and you're not there. Think, Shippo, they must have told you something. It literally happened the night before!"
"The night before...? You've been sleeping for a few days, Asahiko. But I remember they said something about Inuyasha's sword."
Creating a suffocating silence with his last words, Shippo exchanges glances with Asahiko and both let out a tired sigh. Everything always revolves around Inuyasha, or translated into common language, all problems are always caused by Inuyasha!
"So basically they left me lying here in the house of a complete stranger—by the way, the name Kaede sounds familiar somehow—with you as my guardian?"
"Ehh, I think so?"
"Next time I'm going to work with Sesshōmaru. I trust that he at least understands what gratitude is, unlike that bunch of ungrateful people!"
Pushing Shippo aside from his resting place, Asahiko finally gets up with a quick movement, and all his bones crack instantly. It was something to be expected; he had been lying there for days without moving an inch. What is truly incredible is that he can move so easily.
But such technical matters are of little concern to Asahiko. He feels in perfect condition and even confident enough to flex his muscles, which now feel stronger despite being wrapped in bandages.
"Did you give me steroids or something, Shippo? I feel incredible. Ah. Oh. Huh!"
"You're scaring me."
"You'll wish you had this physique when you grow up, I can assure you!"
Striking another muscle-flexing pose shamelessly in front of Shippo, Asahiko's face quickly turns pale and he collapses flat onto the futon behind him. Yes, it had all been an illusion born from his sudden recovery; none of that strength was real.
"I think... I think I really don't want that for my future."
"A very wise decision. God, now everything hurts again."
"I'll go call Kaede!"
"Yes, that would be best. Wait, at least remind me who she is!"