Disclaimer: I don't own Shippo and the rest of the Inuyasha characters mentioned here. They all belong to the talented and wonderful Rumiko Takahashi.

Shippo was surprised to see Kanna, dressed in her white clothes as usual, there in the clearing. Kanna is Naraku's first incarnation, somewhat the eldest child of the Naraku family. She's a soulless-looking being who always carries a magical mirror that can take people's souls. She was sitting on the boulder, looking at her mirror and muttering incoherent words. The only word Shippo was able to make out was "intriguing".

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Shippo yelled nervously, preparing to launch a ball of fox fire, just in case Kanna had the urge to suck his soul out. But Kanna made no articulate response. She kept on murmuring on how "intriguing" something is.

"…I was…listening…" Kanna's voice became a little bit more audible. "It was…intriguing…" Shippo couldn't understand what she's talking about. He tried to figure out her motive instead.

"L-Look, if you've come to get the Shikon shards for Naraku, d-d-don't count on it!" Shippo stammered, mustering up courage to face the ghostly Kanna. Kanna stayed silent, but this time, she put down her mirror and got off the rock. Shippo readied a ball of fox fire, watching Kanna's every move. The vaporous little girl faced Shippo and started to walk towards Shippo. The young fox demon scampered in alarm.

"AAAAHHH! You're gonna suck my soul!" Shippo screamed at Kanna, throwing the ball of burning green fire at the mirror. But Kanna raised the mirror and absorbed the fox fire.

"…I do not wish…to get your soul…" Kanna whispered, but Shippo caught every last word. The fox demon relaxed himself upon hearing this, but didn't let his guard down, just in case Kanna was reeling him into a trap.

"Wh-why should I believe you?" Shippo got to his attack stance. Kanna looked at him with empty, dark eyes. She got her mirror and held it up to Shippo. In fear of getting his soul stolen, he geared up for another attack. But what Kanna did was the complete opposite of what he expected.

"…Because…I want to know…" Kanna muddled incomprehensibly. She let go of her mirror and after a few seconds of levitating, it dematerialized. Shippo watched in awe as the mirror diffused into little shards of light. "There…now I pose no threat…or hostility…" Shippo looked at the fast-disappearing shards of light then at Kanna. The girl looked almost normal without her mirror.

"But wha-? Why didn't you attack? What do you really want?" Shippo was starting to get agitated. "If you don't want the shards, and you don't want to suck anyone's soul, then what're you after?" After all these questions, Kanna moved closer. Shippo closed his eyes in fear of the creepy girl coming closer.

"I heard about…that…Valentine's…day…from…Kikyou's reincarnation." Kanna said to Shippo. Shippo opened his eyes and looked at her, confused. "…I…don't get it…why not just give…the gifts…to anyone…?" Shippo, although still baffled with why Kanna was being like this, answered the question anyways.

"Well…I really don't know much about it either. Kagome just told everyone about it this morning," Said the little fox demon. "But she says that the gifts is for that one special person."

"Like…your mother? …Or father?" Kanna asked again.

"I don't think so. I think you give the gifts to someone you love as a mate." Shippo told Kanna, still perplexed about the situation.

"Mate?" Kanna asked. Shippo nodded. "…I don't get this…business about…love." Kanna said, sitting down next to a patch of daisies. Somehow, Shippo saw that Kanna generally had no intention of harming him, but she has definitely come for a purpose. He sat with her and talked some more.

"Me neither. But the grown-ups sure make a big fuss about it." Shippo said, uprooting the blades of grass one by one, while Kanna stared at what he's doing. "Like, Inuyasha won't admit he likes Kagome…and Sango won't admit she likes Miroku…" For a little while, no one was talking, Shippo kept on pulling out blades of grass from the ground, until the patch was nearly bald. Kanna then directed her attention to Shippo.

"…" Kanna breathed. "…You…your name is Shippo…right?" Kanna's expressionless eyes focused on Shippo. Shippo stopped picking the grass and found Kanna's big, lifeless eyes on him.

"Y-Yeah." He agreed. "And you're Kanna." Kanna bent her head downwards slowly to do a nod. Shippo looked closely at Kanna's lifeless, yet sad face. He assumed that maybe the girl never had fun in all of her life. Maybe Naraku never let her go out in spring and play in the fields. Maybe deep inside of her, Kanna wanted to be just like a normal kid. All these assumptions were racing in Shippo's head. Shippo felt sort of sorry for Kanna. So, he cooked up an idea for fun. Yes, Shippo's aware he would spend time with one of Naraku's embodiments, but he saw the true sadness in Kanna's dark eyes. And he wanted to do something about it.

From Kanna's point of view, she was surprised that the little fox demon would even come near her. Although her face my not look it, the surprise in Kanna was great. After the times that she tried to get their souls with her mirror, this Shippo boy was still willing to keep her company. Since she has worked for Naraku, Kanna never experienced interacting with other kids. Maybe because she was also built the same way Naraku was: Cold, distant and indifferent. But Kanna has never told anyone, and always kept it to herself, that she wanted to have a friend. However, the thought of Naraku's punishments made her cringe, so she must comply with what he wants. But meeting this Shippo kid…something in Kanna's dull personality has been kindled. Has she finally found the friend she wanted?