Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Author's Note: Hi, again! Another story coming your way. I started working on this story last night for maybe about 4 hours until I passed out and fell asleep. Then, I worked on it for 2 more hours and voila! I hope you like it ^-^ Please read and review! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Grandfather's Gift

It was hot. Unbearably hot. The sweat poured off of his skin in buckets, dripping on the bedspread. This was why Inuyasha hated the sun. It was hot, which made everything beneath it sweltered. He knelt closer to his buzzing fan, pleading for more draftiness to cool him down.

Naturally, the fan was put at level three, the highest and fastest it could go. The blinds were pulled down, and the heavy drapes shielded the sunlight from splashing in. The lights were switched off as well. However, despite the darkness, the half demon's bedroom was not cool. Heck, it wasn't even at room temperature.

What kind of weather was this for his special day? It was his seventeenth birthday today. Everything was supposed to be perfect for his birthday, right? Because he certainly didn't favor the scorching canary yellow sphere burning everything in its path. He'd rather have it rain than be sunny today.

He picked up his cell phone. The skin of his fingertips relished the coolness of the metal of the cellular device. He pressed the smooth back of the phone to his cheek, savoring the relaxing temperature. Of course, it didn't take long until his warm cheek caused the phone to get tepid.

Inuyasha sighed. He flipped open the phone and scrolled down through his contacts. Who should he call? His childhood friend, or his high school buddy?

He pushed the select button and listened to the faint ringing.

"Hello?" somebody answered.

"Hey, Sango," he said, sounding a little breathless due to the heat. He seated himself on his bed.

"Oh, hey, Yasha! How's it going?"

Well, Miss Tomboy here seemed pretty enthusiastic on this hot day.

"Eh, it's so damn hot here," he griped, fanning himself with his hand. The sweat on his forehead ceased to dissipate from his skin.

"It's not that bad. But considering that you are part demon, it must be hard on you, huh?"

"What, it's not that hot over at your place?"

"It's fairly nice over here. I mean, it's not too hot or too cold. But once you step outside, you burn your feet on the cement."

Inuyasha smirked. "Let me guess. You went outside?"

"O-Only to get the newspaper!" she stuttered.

"It's called putting on some shoes, Sango."

"I know that! I just didn't think it'd be that hot!"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"Don't 'uh huh, sure' me!"

"Too bad. I just did."

Before Sango could retort, somebody the background on her line called out "Sango!"

Into the phone, Sango said to Inuyasha, "Hey, hold on a second, okay?"

"Got it."

Sango cupped her hand over the speaking piece of her house phone. "Yeah, Dad?" she yelled. Her father was in the living room, probably on the other side of the house.

Out of curiosity, Inuyasha listened in on the brief conversation between Sango and her dad.

"I need to use the phone to call work," the very masculine-sounding man said. Sometimes, Inuyasha got scared of how deep that man's voice was. Whenever he visited Sango's house, her dad would pop up out of nowhere and check on his princess.

"Okay," Sango sighed. She spoke into the phone, "Hey, Yasha . . . ?"

"I heard."

Sango frowned. "You're not supposed to eavesdrop over people's conversations, you idiot!"

"And you're not supposed to walk around with the phone right next to your face. You are supposed to either put the phone down or hold it a--"

"Okay! I don't need any lessons, thank you very much."

Inuyasha forced himself to hold back a laugh. "Okay, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow," he said.

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye."

Inuyasha reluctantly hung up the phone with a sigh. He's rather talk to Sango more. Now he wished even more that Mr. Taijiya would buy his little princess a cell phone. Inuyasha had been friends with Sango since elementary school.

He was getting bullied by some kids because of his hanyou appearance. Then, Sango popped up out of the blue and scared them away. The funny thing about that was that most of the kids in their grade secretly thought that Sango was a demon disguised cleverly as a mere human. To this day, Sango still doesn't know about the bullies' presumptions.

A knock on his door broke Inuyasha's train of thoughts from the past. He looked up to see his gray-haired grandfather walk in with a large smile on his face.

"How is my grandson doing?" the short man asked. He was holding a wrapped-up prism in his large tanned hands. The half demon figured that it was a present.

"It's hot," he complained.

His grandfather nodded. "Your mother is turning on the air conditioner right now. She and your dad were debating over whether or not to turn it on. Your dad was arguing about not wanting to pay more for the gas bill, and your mom said that she didn't want a heat stroke."

Inuyasha smiled. "How did Mom win?" he asked out of curiosity.

"She gave your dad the good ole puppy dog face. Works every time," the elder man chuckled out.

Inuyasha's grandfather was Izayoi's father, a mere human. He was an archeologist. Although he was a bit on the kooky side, Inuyasha felt closest to him the most aside from his mother, Izayoi.

Grandpa (which he will now be known as in this story) glanced down at his gold wristwatch. "Oh, I have to leave now," he muttered more to himself than his grandchild. "Well, Inuyasha, before I take my leave, I'd like to give you this." He nudged the wrapped package onto Inuyasha's lap.

"You're working?" the half demon inquired in astonishment.

Grandpa nodded sadly. "Unfortunately, yes. Full time, too. I'm truly sorry, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shrugged it off. "It's no big deal, Grandpa."

Grandpa chewed his cheek, keeping quiet. "I'll see you tomorrow, Inuyasha. I hope you like your present." With that, the man raced off to bid his family goodbye and get to work on time.

Inuyasha stared at the empty doorway, partially disappointed and partly pissed off. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of a hand before examining Grandpa's present laying dormant on his lap, beckoning the boy to rip off the plain wrapping paper.

The half demon gave in to temptation and removed the crinkly paper. It revealed a solid gold box with some strange inscriptions engraved on the lid. Inuyasha squinted his similar-hued golden eyes to attempt to read it. But he couldn't interpret it. Was it hieroglyphics or something like that? He'll have to ask Grandpa later.

Inuyasha lifted up the box to scrutinize it. It looked like an ordinary box, perfectly polished. A sudden thought made Inuyasha frown at the inanimate object in his large clawed hands.

"This better not be a jewelry box," he grumbled. He narrowed his eyes as he closed his fingers around the top of the box. He pulled, but to no avail. "What the?" He yanked it again. Nothing. He wrenched it, trying as hard as he could. No results. His claws didn't even scratch the smooth gold. "Crap! Why the hell did Grandpa give me a stupid box that won't even open?" Inuyasha growled to himself.

He stood up from his bed and placed the stubborn object on his bedside table. He was going to take a refreshing shower now.

*~*~*

Grandpa steered his small, aged car skillfully through the freeway. He wasn't going to be late; He was going to be right on time. Well, that is, if the stupid old lady in front of him would go faster.

The elderly man growled. "C'mon, lady," he said between his clenched teeth. "Pedal to the metal!"

The young man driving beside him gave Grandpa a weird look.

Grandpa sweat-dropped. He forgot to roll up his window. Eh, whatever. He maneuvered the car to the next lane and drove on.

His thoughts drifted to his grandson. The present Grandpa gave him was an heirloom passed down from generation to generation. His father had given it to him as a present on his seventeenth birthday, telling him about the legend behind it.

His father had told him that there was supernatural power in there. A paramount influence that could change one's life. According to his father, the box had "a chosen one" who could break open the seal of the box and release the power within.

Grandpa sighed. He'd endeavored to open the box so many times, but he was unsuccessful. Maybe Inuyasha could open it . . .

*~*~*

"Damn it, stupid box!" Inuyasha yelled. He furiously put the box down on his dresser. He practically wrestled with the dumb box for about ten minutes, and yet the lid would not come off. He even tipped it upside down, and guess what happened? Absolutely nothing!

Inuyasha paced back and forth, glaring at the box. "What does it take to open that?" he muttered to himself. He glanced at his alarm clock, and groaned. It was nearly midnight now, and he had school tomorrow. "Might as well go to sleep," he said as he tucked himself in. He rolled onto his side away from the box and closed his eyes.

If Inuyasha were still awake, he would've noticed the golden box glowing softly in the night.