Disclaimer: Ok yeah, I don't own Inuyasha and I never will so let's get on with the story.
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CHAPTER FOUR: Shirrow
Shippo scowled as Shirrow and Mushin made their way down to him. How dare they listen in on Mayu and me! I wonder if InuYasha knows I sneaked out…
"Well, you two have some explaining to do." Shippo scolded. "Why were you listening in on what we were saying?"
Shirrow 'hmphed' "Like we'd tell you! You weren't even s'posed to leave the house! How 'bout YOU explain to US what YOU were doing!"
"What I do is none of your business, Shirrow. Besides, I thought you two weren't allowed to come here unless someone else was with you!"
"Well, Dad told us we could go!" Shirrow shouted.
"Yeah!" Mushin chimed in. "And he's really mad that you left, too!"
Shippo turned white. "Y-you mean he knows I left?"
"Of course he does! That's why he told us to come here!" Shirrow smirked. Heh, Shippo's in so much trouble!
"He… told you to come…?"
"Shippo?" Mayu asked. "What's going on? Did you really sneak out of the house when you weren't supposed to?"
Shippo turned slowly to Mayu. "…Yeah. I didn't want to not come and have you think that I didn't like you or something…"
"Why didn't you just ask them if you could come just one more time?"
"Well, I… They wouldn't have listened to me…"
Shirrow smirked. "Yeah, but you never told them you wanted to go see your girlfriend! Hahaha…!"
Shippo and Mayu blushed brightly. "W-WHAT'RE YOU…!"
Shirrow and Mushin started laughing and singing. "Shippo and Mayu: sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Shippo with a baby carriage! Hahahaa…!"
Shippo was fuming. "Why you…!"
Shippo would do anything to get away from Mayu at the moment. He was so embarrassed. He was going to start chasing them through the town, but Mayu held him back. She was still blushing.
"Shippo, are these two the ones you've told me about? Shirrow and Mushin?"
Shippo also continued to blush. "Y-yeah. The one with dog ears is Shirrow. And that's Mushin." He said, pointing them out. "Did you want to say anything to them before I kill them?"
Shirrow and Mushin stopped laughing.
"C'mon, Shippo…" Shirrow said cautiously. "Can't you take a joke?"
"Shippo, don't be mean to them… They're only little kids…" Mayu said.
Shippo sighed. "I guess you're right…" He gave Shirrow a glare that said he would deal with him when he got home, and turned back to Mayu.
Mayu smiled at him and walked over to the two boys sitting on the ground looking up at her. She sat on her heels in front of them and smiled. Mushin half-smiled and turned away. Shirrow stared right at her, but refused to smile.
"Hi, I'm Mayu. It's nice to get to meet you both."
Shirrow continued to hold her gaze. Mushin looked back at her. Neither said a word.
"You know, Shippo's told me that you two are a handful sometimes. But I don't see how anyone that's as cute as you two are could be so much trouble!" She smiled at them.
Mushin's eyes lit up. A girl that's older then I am thinks I'm cute! "Well, you're pretty cute too, Mayu. I can see why Shippo snuck out to see you!"
Shirrow elbowed his friend in the chest. Mushin fell onto the grass.
"Ow! Shirrow, why'd you..!"
"Just shut up. And she's not cute." Shirrow glared at Mayu, who was saddened by his outburst. "C'mon. Let's go." He grabbed Mushin by the arm and pulled him up to the road again, out of hearing range, and eventually out of the village.
Shippo scowled in the direction Shirrow and Mushin had gone. What's up with Shirrow? There was no excuse for saying that Mayu wasn't cute! That was just rude!
He looked at Mayu. She was still sitting there, shocked. But who wouldn't be? Shippo walked over to her, sat behind her, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't listen to Shirrow, Mayu. He doesn't know what he's talking about."
"But… why would he say that?"
"I don't know. I don't understand that kid sometimes. Maybe it just annoyed him that Mushin said that you were cute… I don't know what he was thinking… I mean…" Shippo gulped. "I mean 'cause… well, you are cute…" he blushed.
Mayu smiled and wiped away a stray tear. "You mean that, Shippo?"
"Well, of course I do! I wouldn't lie about something like that!" ((A/N: aww))
Mayu giggled. "That's good… because I think you're cute too!"
Shippo's eyes widened "Whaaa…?"
As he sat there, stunned, Mayu turned around and hugged him. Eventually he came out of his reverie and hugged back.
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"Shirrow! C'mon, talk to me!" Mushin had been trying to get him to talk for the past fifteen minutes. So far, his efforts were fruitless. Mushin scowled and jumped in front of Shirrow's path to make him stop.
Shirrow scowled. "What?"
"What's with you? Ever since Shippo saw us, you've been acting weird."
"So? What's your point?" Shirrow looked away.
"So what's wrong?" Mushin questioned. "You didn't really act like you liked Mayu at all."
"That's because I don't."
"How come? She seemed nice enough…"
"Because if they end up liking each other, then Shippo's gonna leave again and then I won't see him anymore!" Shirrow shouted. "It was bad enough when he was gone last time. And that was only two years, this time it'd be forever…"
Mushin looked sadly at his disgruntled friend. He understood now. Shirrow just doesn't want Shippo to leave again… I guess it would be hard for him to have to say good-bye again so soon after Shippo came back…
"Look, Shirrow," Mushin tried to reason. "It's not like Shippo really wants to leave… I mean he didn't want to leave last time… And even if he did go, he'd stay close to home so he wouldn't have to be so far away from you guys."
Shirrow sighed and started walking again. Mushin followed after. "But it's like he doesn't even like it here anymore. He's always going off by himself, and yesterday I heard him talking to your dad. He said it was boring around here! …Let's face it, Mushin. Shippo wants to leave."
The two boys continued walking in silence. Neither of them wanted Shippo to go, but if what Shirrow said was true, they'd be saying good-bye in no time. When they passed Mushin's house on the way back, it was time for him to go home anyway, so he went inside. Shirrow didn't stop to say hi to his aunt and uncle. He just wanted to go home.
Once he got within ten feet of his house, he could hear his mother inside. She was worrying about where Shippo was. He walked up the steps and the door slid open to reveal InuYasha.
"So where was he?"
Shirrow walked past him and said, "With some girl."
His father grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him up. "Who was she?"
"Some fox-demon. She's new to the village. Her name is Mayu. Can I go now?" Shirrow answered in a slightly annoyed tone.
InuYasha sniffed at his son's clothes and scowled. "Right after you tell me how the hell you managed to get caught. Shippo's scent is all over you."
"So what if he saw us? I found out what you wanted me to, didn't I?"
"Hmph…" InuYasha let go of his shirt and Shirrow dropped to the ground with a soft 'thud' as his father crossed his arms. "You need to train more if you can't even sneak up on someone as weak as Shippo."
"Who's weak?" Shippo asked from the doorway.
InuYasha scowled. "So, did you have fun while you were out? Feh… What happened to: 'you can't leave until you've learned your lesson'?"
Shippo sighed. "I just forgot, okay?"
"Feh. Yeah right! Shirrow tells me that you went to see some girl. So what's her story?"
Shippo glanced at Shirrow and glared, and then turned back to InuYasha. He didn't seem willing to be patient and wait long for a response. Shippo looked away. "She's new to the village… I met her yesterday. That's why I was late coming home…" Then Shippo looked right at InuYasha. "And there's no way that I'm going to stay home if it means I can't see her! I don't know how much longer she's going to be here and I don't want to miss a minute of it!"
InuYasha 'hmphed', turned and began walking towards the main room. "Whatever. I can't exactly blame you for liking this girl…" Shippo blushed. "Tell her to come by. We might as well meet her."
"W…What? You mean… invite her over here to eat?" his blush deepened.
"I don't see why not… Have her come tomorrow if she's going to be around." It was more of an order than a suggestion.
"Y-yeah… sure…" This is just great… How am I going to pull this off? I could barely tell her that I thought she was cute! How am I going to manage to ask her to dinner? Oh well… I guess I'll figure something out…