Disclaimer: Ok yeah, I don't own Inuyasha and I never will so let's get on with the story.

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To the Readers: Hey people! I'm back again! Ok so this story is about Shippo and Mayu (the girl described at the end of 'After Twelve Years'). It'll still have some InuKag moments and some fun parts with Shirrow, Noriko, and Kotaro… but it'll mostly be centered on Shippo's story. Anyway I hope you enjoy it. (I'll apologize in advance for not updating as quickly with this one, since I'm writing this one from scratch. Whereas with my other two stories, I had already written those out and I could post one chapter after another.)

-Japanime625

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CHAPTER ONE: Fox Demon

It was a beautiful day in feudal Japan. Shippo, the young fox demon, was relaxing by a stream close by InuYasha and Kagome's home. He had a lot to think over…

He was fifteen now. His once bushy tail was now long and fluffy. He had gotten taller, too. He was up to a little over InuYasha's waist line. He had been traveling with a group of fox demons for two years and he had just returned home. He never really wanted to leave. InuYasha had made him travel with them so that he could 'learn how to be a fox demon'. Shippo didn't see what the point was. So he wouldn't know a few things about fox demons… big deal. It didn't matter to him.

When he had first arrived home, Kagome, Shirrow, Noriko, and Kotaro ((A/N: for those of you that didn't read A Funny Thing Called Love or After Twelve Years… the last three names are the names of Kagome and InuYasha's kids)) had been kidnapped. Shippo helped as much as he could at the time, but he ended up just babysitting Miroku and Sango's kids, Mushin and Sakura, while everyone else got to do the rescuing.

When they were rescued and brought back home, Kagome and the kids were excited to see Shippo again. That is… everyone except for Kotaro. He was only a newborn when Shippo left so he wasn't even sure who he was. Nevertheless, Kotaro began following Shippo around like he did his brother and sister.

So now, everything was back to normal. Well, as normal as things could get in feudal Japan. Shippo would help Kagome out around the house, play with his 'siblings' and occasionally he had some time to himself. He wouldn't have to keep Shirrow and Mushin out of trouble… or have a tea party with Noriko… or baby-sit Kotaro and Sakura… he could just relax.

Shippo rolled over and got up. It was getting late and he had to head back home. Kagome was probably wondering where he was. So he began walking towards home.

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"I wonder where Shippo is…" Kagome said to no one particular. She was busily making dinner with the help of her 7-year old daughter, Noriko. "He's usually home by now."

InuYasha looked up from where he was playing with Kotaro, their 2-year old son. "Don't worry about him, Kagome. He can take care of himself." He looked down at Kotaro. "Right, buddy?"

"Yeah, Daddy!" Kotaro agreed happily.

"I suppose…" Kagome said hesitantly.

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Meanwhile, Shippo had come across one of the villagers. He was elderly and was out fishing with his 5-year old grandson. They had caught more then they could carry and needed Shippo's help to get it all back to the village. Although it was out of his way to go Kaede's village and then come back, he agreed to help them.

Kagome won't mind if I'm a little late for dinner… He thought. Besides, Shirrow's prob'ly not even home yet either. He's prob'ly still with Mushin…

With that thought in mind, Shippo picked up as much as he could. Which, by the way, was about a third of what they had caught.

They arrived at the village in under a half hour. Shippo brought the fish to the man's home and helped store the extra fish. He said good-bye and was on his way back home within the hour. He was going to be later than he anticipated, but he knew that Kagome would understand. InuYasha on the other hand, wouldn't be as happy about him having everyone wait for him to arrive before they eat.

I guess InuYasha being angry is to be expected… I mean, I AM pretty late. I should've been home over an hour ago… Oh well, maybe they started eating without me. I wouldn't mind if they did…

And so, Shippo arrived home and they had waited for him before eating. InuYasha was seething in a corner of the main room because he had to wait to eat. He didn't say anything about Shippo's tardiness, but shot him an annoyed look which Shippo interpreted as: "You should've been back two hours ago. Don't let it happen again."

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The day ended and after a good night's sleep, a bright new day began. Shippo groaned. He had to spend the day keeping Shirrow and Mushin out of trouble. Ever since the incident with Taromaru, Shirrow had started getting into more trouble. He wasn't trying to, it just sort of happened…

"I don't see why you have to follow me 'round today…" Shirrow said, annoyed. "It's not like I MEANT to push that old guy into the river… I was only trying to help him carry stuff…"

"Well," Shippo started, "it seems like every time you try to 'help', someone ends up getting hurt."

"So what? You want me to stop helping people now?"

"No, I'm just saying that if you're gonna help someone, try not to kill them in the process…"

"Hey! I haven't killed anyone!"

"Yeah, not yet." Shippo teased.

"Hmph…"

"Well, c'mon. If you're gonna spend the day in the village with Mushin, we'll have to get over to his house before the year ends… So hurry up."

"Yeah, yeah... whatever…"

And so the two boys made their way over to Miroku and Sango's home. When they arrived, Mushin was helping his father bring firewood into the house. Shirrow ran up to them and greeted his best friend and his 'uncle'.

"C'mon, Mushin!" he said, pulling on his friend's shirt. "We're going to the village today, remember?"

"I know. I just have to bring this wood inside… Then we can go."

Shirrow grabbed half of what Mushin had been carrying and walked with his friend into the house.

"So, Shippo," Miroku said. "How have you been?"

"I've been okay. It's kind of weird being back though…"

Miroku raised his eye brows. "Really? How so?"

"I dunno… as weird as it might sound, it's gotten kind of… boring… around here… I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just, you know… I was out on my own and now I'm back here…"

"Ah, I see… you want to be on your own again… without having to worry about being home on time for meals?" Miroku smiled.

Shippo laughed. "Well, yeah… You know how InuYasha is. He hates waiting for food."

Shirrow and Mushin rushed out of the house. Shirrow tackled Shippo, who fell to the ground and pushed his 'little brother' off and laughed as he ruffled Shirrow's hair.

Shirrow pushed Shippo's hand away and stood up. "C'mon, Shippo. Mom won't let me go to the village without you, so let's go."

"Alright, alright…"

Shippo stood up and they said their good-byes. Mushin promised to be home in time for dinner and they were off. It was a fairly short walk to the village. Miroku and Sango's house was closer to it than InuYasha and Kagome's. They arrived in the village and after walking around with Shirrow and Mushin for an hour, Shippo wanted to go off on his own for a while. He pulled Shirrow in close.

"Alright, Shirrow, tell you what… You don't want me to follow you around all day, and I don't really want to follow you around all day, right?"

"Right."

"Alright, then I'm gonna go do my own thing and you guys can do whatever it is that you do."

Mushin looked excitedly at Shippo. "You mean we can walk around by ourselves?"

"Yep. Just stay close to the village and DON'T get into any trouble… I'll come back in a couple hours to get you guys and then we'll go back home."

Shirrow jumped up happily. "Awesome! Thanks, Shippo! You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Shippo smirked. "Just keep it between the three of us, and if anyone asks where I am just say I had to go to the bathroom or something."

Shirrow and Mushin were already running off down the road towards the river. They waved back and yelled a reply in agreement.

Shippo smiled to himself and made his way through the village. He wasn't looking for anything particular. He was just looking around… examining new things that were in the shops... He stopped to pay his respects to Kaede's grave. The priestess had passed away shortly after Kotaro was born and a few weeks before Shippo left to live with other fox demons. She was buried next to Kikyo's shrine.

Shippo walked back down the long staircase. Once he reached the bottom he turned to make his way towards the river that ran through the village. He would go relax for a while until he decided on something else to do with his time off.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where I could buy some cloth?"

Shippo turned to the source of the voice. It was a girl. But not just any girl… She was a fox demon just like he was. She wore a worn-out, pink shirt with a flower pattern on it with a long green skirt. She had long, redish-brown hair which she had in a pony tail and light blue eyes. To Shippo, she was gorgeous.

Wow… Shippo thought. She's really cute…

"Did you hear me?" the girl asked. "I asked where I could buy some cloth… Do you know?"

Shippo shook himself out of his reverie and smiled politely at her. "I'm sorry… I had something on my mind. I'll show you where the shop is. Follow me."

"Oh, thank you very much!" The girl politely bowed and followed after Shippo.

Shippo smiled again and continued leading her. "Oh, by the way: My name is Shippo… What's your name?"

"I'm Mayu." She smiled at him. Shippo blushed slightly and looked away.

"So, where are you from? I haven't seen you around here before…"

"Oh… I live very far from here… I'm just out on an errand…" Mayu answered.

They were silent for a bit before Mayu decided to ask a question.

"Do you live here by yourself, Shippo?"

"Huh? Oh, no… I live with two very good friends of mine and their three children… They're like family to me…"

"You don't have your own family?"

Shippo sighed sadly. "My mother and father died when I was very young… But then I met Kagome and InuYasha. After a while, it was almost as if they were my parents…"

"How sad… my mother and father are gone too…"

Shippo blinked in surprise. "Really? So you live by yourself?"

"Well… not exactly… Oh look, we're at the shop!" Mayu smiled and rushed over to take a closer look at the cloth.

Shippo had stopped walking and was just looking curiously at her. So she's an orphan too… Apparently she doesn't live by herself… but she didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it… I wonder why…

The young fox-boy walked slowly over to Mayu. He hesitantly scratched the back of his head and nervously asked, "Say… umm, Mayu…"

Mayu turned around and smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, Shippo?"

"How 'bout… when you're done here… I… show you around? It could be fun…"

"I would like that…"

Again she smiled at him. Shippo blushed slightly (again) and after Mayu had paid for the cloth, they walked off…