Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha characters. Sad day, sigh. Congrats to Rumiko Takahashi though. Okay, just wanted to say that I am so amazed that this story has gotten this far. This story used to be just a little fun idea of mine. It's turned into somewhat of a hit though. Well, it's somewhat of a hit to me. I didn't think that anyone at all would like my story, but all I've gotten lately is adds and a couple of reviews here and there. The only reviews I've gotten have been absolutely positive. Thanks you guys for liking my story.

November: Don't forget about how everyone can drop by ideas.

KKW: Oh, yeah, if you have some ideas, pass them by me and I'll check 'em out. If I like one, I'll dedicate a story to you and give you a cookie for having a good idea.

Chapter Ten is dedicated to:

InuYasha Complex

Yay to you because now you get a cookie[Enter passing a cookie to InuYasha Complex here You had a good idea and now I'm going to use it. Thanks! Oh, for a heads up, I only revised your idea a tiny bit.

Even though I made myself go back home to discuss some things with my parents, Sesshomaru refused to go. He had said, "That asshole of a father you have cannot appreciate me. You can go back, but you know that Miss Shawn said we could stay in the extra bedroom until it's time for you, Rin, and me to go back to Feudal Japan. If you are gone longer than three hours, I'm coming to get you." I assured Sesshomaru that I was only going back to my house to confirm with my mother that I was going to stay with him in Japan.

Whenever I approached my front door, I was afraid that Dad was home. I knew that Dad would fight with me about Sesshomaru if he was. As soon as I walked through the door, I was greatly relieved to find that Dad was not anywhere close to the house. I walked into my parents' room. Mom sat on her bed reading a book. As I looked at her, I realized that I had never noticed how old she had become. I almost felt sorry for her.

Mom noticed me in her doorway and almost started crying. She was aware of me and Dad's fight. She had been furious at him for running me off, but she couldn't do anything about it. She threw her arms around my neck once she reached me. I hugged her back.

"Haley, where have you been?" Mom asked. "I've been meaning to ask you about some things." I laughed. "I'm the one that should be saying that," I whispered. She broke her embrace and gazed at me with confusion. "What does that mean?"

I sat her back down on her bed. I held her hands as I asked where I got my demon and Kikyo blood from. Mom laughed, as if I was joking. "What are you talking about, honey? You don't have any demon blood in you." Whenever my facial expression didn't change, she saw that I was serious. She sighed.

"Okay, I guess it's time to tell you the truth," she said mostly to herself. I leaned closer so I could hear clearer. "A long time ago, the priestess Kikyo was purifying demons in a village in Japan. She came across a demon not from the area. The demon was a panther demon and happened to be from Europe, where our ancestors were before they came to America. Kikyo happened to like this demon. The demon followed her around while she was in the village. They got together, and he impregnated her. She had the half demon nine months later but gave the child to my great, great, grandparents. The half demon took our family name, and that's where you get the Kikyo and demon blood. I swear you look more like her than anyone else in our family." I stared at her. I asked about Inuyasha and Mom explained that Kikyo had met the panther demon two years before she met Inuyasha.

I was shocked. I had never met Kikyo before, but, since she was a priestess, I didn't think that she fancied demons as much as it seemed. I mean, first this panther demon and then Inuyasha? Don't you think there's a pattern here? Anyways, after I got all of that straightened out, I told Mom that I was going back to Japan with Sesshomaru and Rin. She didn't argue. I was eighteen, and Mom couldn't keep me hostage in her home any longer.

After I got the rest of my clothes out of my closet and grabbed a couple of pairs of shoes, I said farewell to my mother. I promised to visit her sometimes, but I refused to talk to Dad. I was still very mad with him. I imagined that I would be for a while.

I left my house and walked back to Jenna's place. As soon as I was through the front door and in the living room, Sesshomaru jumped up from the floor. He demanded I tell him everything that had happened. "Mom's letting me go back to Japan. My father wasn't home, so he'll get a surprise whenever he can't find me in my room."

"That's not exactly what I meant, though I'm glad to hear that you're allowed to come back to Japan with Rin and I. Did you learn about the whole Kikyo and demon blood situation?" I nodded, but I didn't explain it to him. I wanted him to get frustrated so that I could get back at him for that day in the plane station whenever he said that he never told me he could fly because I never asked.

"Well…?" Sesshomaru asked. I turned around with an innocent look on my face.

"What?" I asked back. He raised his voice a bit and replied with, "Explain to me about your blood!" I waved my hand in the air.

"Oh, that! That story is no big deal. The basic tale is that Kikyo had sex with a panther demon and that's where I got the mixtures from," I said non-chalantly. Sesshomaru gawked at me.

"That is too a big deal!" he protested. I gave him my sweetest smile and asked, "Ya think so?"

Sesshomaru was about to get really mad, but he realized I was joking. He made a fake 'you suck' sort of face. "Haley, that's childish."

"You should be talking. You're the one that was having more fun playing tag the other day more than the rest of us!" I put my index fingers in the corners of my mouth and made a funny expression at him.

Sesshomaru crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue at me. At that exact moment, Rin walked into the living room. She laughed at Sesshy. "Daddy, you look funny!" Sesshomaru stood up straight and slightly blushed. Rin then giggled at his blush.

"I'm going to, uh, sit in our room," Sesshomaru mumbled. Rin and I snickered a little more. A little while later, I went to check on Sesshomaru. He was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling once I entered the guest room. I sat down next to him. He looked a lot sulkier than he should have just because I got him to look silly in front of Rin.

"Why so blue panda bear?" I asked. Sesshy looked at me with a face that said, "Are you stable in the sanity department?" I lay down beside him. "Sorry, a girl in a candy bar commercial said that, and I thought it would be fun to say. Really though, why are you so glum? You know I was just kidding around with you earlier."

"I know." Sesshomaru sighed. "I'm just a little upset because I'm away from home on my birthday." My eyes got wide. I had no idea that it was Sesshomaru's birthday. I checked the calendar in my head. It's July fourth. Why do I feel like there is something important happening today? You idiot, it's Independence Day! Do you remember about the Fourth of July fireworks? Does any of that ring a bell? Oh yeah! That's right, but did you have to sound so harsh about it? It's my job to be harsh once in a while.

I ignored my inner demon and asked Sesshomaru why he didn't tell me that it was his birthday. He gave me a sly smirk. "You never asked." My jaw dropped, and my eyes got really narrow.

"You sneaky demon." He laughed at my comment. "I guess I just forgot to tell you," he admitted. I told him that if he would've told me, I could have gotten him something. Sesshy said that he didn't care, but it was the thought that counted whenever it came to birthdays.

I thought quick. I leaned down and kissed Sesshomaru hard. He was a little shocked at my abruptness but gladly kissed me back. "Happy birthday, I hope that's a good enough gift," I whispered after we parted.

"You have no idea how good of a present that was," he responded. I stared up at the ceiling with him after that. I was about to ask how old he would be today, but, being a demon, I believed that would be rude. For all I knew, Sesshomaru could have been turning 618 that day. Then I thought about how the fireworks would be going off tonight all over the countryside. All of a sudden, I got a great idea.

"Hey, Sesshomaru, you'll watch the fireworks tonight right?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's a firework?" he asked. I explained them and he replied, "I guess so. Why are there going to be fireworks tonight?"

"It's the Fourth of July. We celebrate this day with fireworks because it's the day America became free," I said. Sesshomaru seemed to agree with this. We were just fine and dandy lying in each others arms until Miss Shawn called for everyone to be at the table. Miss Shawn liked it whenever everyone ate together rather than off to the sides by themselves.

Sesshomaru and I got up and walked to the dining room. We sat down, had food placed in front of us, and blessed the food. Now, I'm not a Jesus fanatic sort of girl, but Miss Shawn was a strong Christian so I joined in the daily prayer. For dinner we had Italian chicken with rice and green beans. Whenever everyone at the table first started digging in, Sesshomaru kind of gave the food a questioning brow. Ever since he, Rin, and I had started staying with Jenna, Sesshomaru had cautioned the food. Whenever I asked him why, he explained that it was strange being served food without him watching it get killed first. I decided that that was reasonable, since Sesshy usually attacked his meals rather than getting them served.

I was half done with my chicken whenever Rin exclaimed, "Oh Miss Shawn, this food is so good! I have never had such a cuisine meal!" I really needed to make sure Rin couldn't get a hold of another damn dictionary. She went on with, "For food, Daddy usually kills a few wild boars and then Master Jaken cooks them, but the meat has never been seasoned before! Tell me, did you strangle this chicken yourself, or did your husband chop off its head for you?"

Miss Shawn almost choked on her rice at this question. She looked up at Rin with wide eyes. She slowly said, "Rin, honey, I bought this chicken in a store. I do not find slaughtering animals as survival and neither does my husband. We just go to the grocery store and buy the meat frozen." Miss Shawn switched her gaze to Sesshomaru, who was stiff. I half-way thought that Sesshomaru thought if he didn't move, no one would notice he was there.

"Sesshomaru, do you really kill your own food for you, your servant, and your daughter?" Miss Shawn asked. Sesshomaru sat up straight and put his fork down. He put on the unemotional face. I noticed that if Sesshomaru used his even face, most people couldn't tell what he was thinking. If he was using a slack face, however, you could practically read his mind.

"Miss Shawn, I supply butcher shops with their meat. Technically, yes I do kill me, my servant's, and my daughter's food." Sesshomaru hadn't told Miss Shawn he was from the Feudal Era and didn't plan to. Rin caught on to her father's excuse, and she re-explained the meaning of her earlier explanation. Miss Shawn agreed with everything they said.

After dinner, everyone, meaning Miss Shawn, Rin, Sesshomaru, Jenna, Taylor, and Jenna's step father, filed outside to watch the fireworks that were going to start soon. Miss Shawn handed out blankets for us to sit on. We all gazed at the sky, just waiting for the fireworks to blend in with the stars.

I saw three red fireworks appear in the sky. As soon as those fireworks popped, Sesshomaru, Jenna, and me all screeched with horror. We covered our ears and hoped the ringing would stop. The three of us walked inside quickly. Jenna turned to me and screamed in my ear, "What the hell was that?! It felt like my ears were just stabbed with a knife, and ants were eating my brain!"

I almost didn't hear her. I screamed back, "Our ears are too sensitive to the popping sound the fireworks make after they explode!" We waited a few more seconds for our hearing to come back. Once it was back and the ringing had stopped, I ran to Jenna's hall closet. The hall closet was basically the medicine cabinet, and I knew that Miss Shawn kept pairs of earplugs along with medicine. I found three pairs of ear plugs and plugged up my ears with one pair. I handed the other two pairs to Sesshy and Jenna. They promptly plugged their ears also.

We walked back outside and watched the fireworks appear in the sky. I loved how the colors all mixed together and performed a beautiful symphony of light. Green and purple all of a sudden made friends with red and blue. Orange and white held hands with yellow and pink.

Sesshomaru watched in awe. Rin gasped every time another combination of spectrums came together. I knew the show was nearing the end whenever the fireworks now spelled words. The words 'Happy Fourth of July' appeared in red, white, and blue. I was really excited whenever the next set of words came across the nighttime sky. I looked to Sesshomaru to see what he would say.

I almost thought I saw tears in his golden eyes whenever my previous great idea I had gotten in the guest bedroom made its great way in front of all of Texas. The words 'Happy Birthday Sesshomaru' popped up in the colors of white, pink, and purple.

Sesshomaru looked at me and smiled the most sensual smile I had ever seen. Later, he asked me how I did it. I told him about how, after he told me it was his birthday today, I remembered about the Fourth of July fireworks, called the man who was doing the show, and requested my birthday wish to be shot off in the sky.

"I was so happy that the man said it would be no problem to do the request. Did it make you happy?" I asked quietly. Sesshy picked me up, took me to the guest room, and lied down on the bed with me on top of him.

"More than you can imagine. That was an amazing gift. It was so amazing, that simple firework statement almost beat my very first birthday gift that my father gave to me," Sesshomaru whispered.

"What was your very first gift?" I asked in a very curious voice. He smiled wide and made me promise not to laugh. After I promised, Sesshy admitted, "My fluff."

At first, I thought he was joking around, so I started to laugh. Whenever I realized he wasn't joking around, I laughed even harder. He laughed with me at how ridiculous the actual sentenced had sounded. He knew I wasn't making fun of him though. I found comfort in how much my Sesshy Poo loved his fluff. After I stopped laughing, I snuggled deep into Sesshomaru's chest.

"Happy birthday, my love," I softly said. He kissed my forehead, and I fell into a deep sleep.