I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter. It may seem a bit pointless, but it actually does play into the story line significantly. Thank you for those who have been reading and reviewing. It makes me very happy to know that others are enjoying it!

Slyver-Ajah: I don't recall Inuyasha ever purring in the shows. I don't know if it'd make much sense if he did anyway, because he's a dog demon not a cat… but I do know it's a popular thing in fanfiction. It's always conceivable that it happened in the manga, which I haven't read. ^_^ Actually, in the shows, he tends to get irritated when people touch his ears, but that's normally because they're tugging on them and no animal wants their ears pulled. As for my reasoning behind her not touching the ears- Dogs like their ears being rubbed. At least, mine do, and I figured Inuyasha didn't need more temptation at the moment!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. Akina, however, is mine.

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Chapter Eleven

"In our extreme youth, in our most humiliating sorrow, we think we are alone. When we are older we find that others have suffered too."-Suzanne Moarny

Shippou had watched Kagome leave earlier and had no doubt where she was heading. Everyone had someone to talk to except him. Kaede, Miroku, and Sango were so involved in their discussion that they didn't see the kitsune leave either. They were probably trying to figure out how to track down the youkai. He thought bitterly, hands clenching at his sides. Often times children sneak off merely to try to call attention to themselves. In some secret part of himself, this was part of the kitsune's original reason for leaving. Sensibly, however, he told himself that it was because he wanted the solitude. If this really was the case, he would not have suffered that dismal twinge of sadness when no one saw or tried to stop him from leaving. He walked through the dirt streets aimlessly, the night's silence a soothing balm to his tormented heart. He had no idea of his destination nor did he really care. His feet simply kept moving and it was not long before he found himself in the fields outside the village. Shippou paused there, attempting to decide if he should turn around and go back or simply remain. It was then he heard a soft, muffled sob.

Curious, he proceeded as quietly as possible, looking for the owner of the cries. The moon was bright enough that even without his youkai vision he could see a small girl sitting in the grass near the start of the forest. "Hey," his voice was gentle and cautious. He didn't want to startle the girl, "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

She stared at him wordlessly through tear filled eyes that were slowly beginning to become dry. She was a pretty girl of about ten years. Her dark hair was braided into one long braid, tied with a light blue ribbon. The color of the ribbon was incongruous with her clothes, which were of the simple brown fabric so common to the villagers. "You're..." She smiled then, stating hesitantly, "You're a kitsune, aren't you?"

He nodded slowly, tensing as he waited to see how she would respond. Children were better about the youkai thing than adults. In their innocence, they failed to see the danger of speaking with a youkai. The adults, in their ignorance, failed to conceive that not all youkai wished to eat them or devour their souls. The girl just continued to smile at him, apparently delighted with the chance to meet a real live kitsune. Said kitsune hesitated, then knelt so he was more of her height. The height change was still something that struck him as wonderful. To have to kneel to look into someone's eyes was amazing. "My name is Shippou."

"I'm Akina," The girl offered, a shy blush on her cheeks.

"Akina," Shippou repeated, shifting into a siting position. He gave an impish grin, one he was quite unaware was rather handsome on his mischievous features, "That's a very pretty name."

The girl's cheeks flushed an even brighter red, but then something caught her attention. "Is that a tail?" She leaned forward to try and get a better look.

Shippou's grin turned to a grimace and in a quick move, he produced a flower, holding it in front of the girl's face to distract her attention from the notorious tail. "Yes, it is. And I assume you know what this is?"

Akina's face brightened as she examined the flower from afar, "How pretty!" The tears were almost invisible on her face now, something that made the kitsune very satisfied.

"You may have it..." Shippou started, but lifted the flower out of Akina's reach when she attempted to take it, "...on one condition."

Screwing her face up in consternation, the girl responded, "What condition?"

Shippou tapped the flower on her nose, causing Akina to giggle, but she kept looking at him to see what he would say. "The condition that you tell me why you are out here alone."

Akina frowned, but obliged him all the same, "I...wanted to be alone because Momma is mad at me. I was setting our dinner on the table...and accidentally spilled it all." New tears threatened, "Sometimes I feel like I can't do anything right. I always mess up when I try to help...I'm nothing but a nuisance."

"I'm sure that's not true." He handed over the flower, as promised, but suddenly wished he had something else to cheer her up with. "But I understand. I feel the same way sometimes." That sometimes had turned to most of the time recently, but the kitsune intuitively knew that saying that wouldn't help matters.

"You?" The girl stared at the young man disbelievingly, "But you're a youkai."

Sigh. But instead of getting irritated, he inquired almost chidingly, "You think youkai can't have feelings?"

Akina's eyes widened and she leaned forward to hurriedly take back her words, "I didn't mean it that way! I just mean... Momma told me that kitsune were smart...and fast...and…. and…" She stuttered, a blush coming over her cheeks before she admitted in childish innocence, "And handsome. You must be all of those things."

An amused grin curved Shippou's lips and he gave a lofty shrug of his shoulders, "What if I didn't have this appearance… and wasn't as fast? Wouldn't that make me a nuisance?" He was smart. Had always been smart. The kitsune may be temporarily depressed, but he wasn't going to deny his intelligence.

The girl shook her head, stubbornly insisting, "No. Because you're nice. And nice people can't be nuisances." She concluded triumphantly. It was that simple in her young mind. Shippou, who's way of thinking was hardly any older, was at loss as to how to respond.

When he finally spoke, it was soft and kind, "You're nice too, so you also can't be a nuisance." Akina giggled, happy that she had gotten a compliment from a handsome young man. Well. Youkai. But he looked mostly like a man. Pleased that he had managed to pull the girl out of her sadness, he found that he had also managed to alleviate his own sorrows for the time being. He rose to his feet, "I had better get back to my friends. You should go back home."

She hesitantly nodded, promising quietly, "I will soon. Thank you for the flower." She held onto the small blossom as if it were some sort of lifeline. The kitsune smiled, inclined his head ever so slightly, then turned and started back to Kaede's hut.

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Please Review! The next chapter should be out soon. I'm thinking that this story should be done in at most 4 chapters. Most likely not even that many. We'll see! Shippou is one confused little kitsune right now, with a major decision coming up. The question is, will he make it before the consequences are too high?