A/N: ok, I absolutely worship "replace chapter". That's all. Onto the next chapter!

Chapter 7:

"Kikyo! You're here! I-" Inuyasha began as he opened the door. He certainly didn't expect the sight he saw. Kikyo was standing, dripping in mud from head to toe, with the biggest grin on her face and the brightest light in her eye.

"I'm sorry! But I want to show you something!" she said, quickly tugging on his hand. Izayoi came to the door, took one look at Kikyo, then laughed.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Well, on our way here we saw this man dump this puppy in front of an abandoned house. Kikyo insisted on comforting it, and before I knew it she was squirming her way under the porch, trying to coax it out. She's quite a mess and you'll have to excuse her, but she didn't want to be late for Inuyasha's party," Kikyo's grandmother explained.

At the car, Kikyo had Inuyasha close his eyes. Confused, he consented. When he opened them up, he saw a white lab puppy. Immediately it jumped out of the box it was in, as muddy as Kikyo, and pounced on Inuyasha, mud splattering everywhere. He grunted, trying to get up, a bit dazed and on the ground, as it licked all over his face.

"Are you okay?" Kikyo asked, laughing, but also pulling Inuyasha back to a sitting position. The dog sniffed Inuyasha all over, while wagging his tail and panting, his pink little tongue darting in and out.

"Grandma won't let me keep him, 'cause she has cats. But do you want him?" she suggested. The puppy leaped onto her lap and gave her the same doggy treatment as it did Inuyasha.

Back at the house, her grandma was explaining the same thing.

"All right. I think Inuyasha would like having a puppy," Izayoi agreed.

"Well, I'd better go to work. Here's Inuyasha's present from me," Kikyo's grandma said, handing an elongated package with blue wrapping paper to Izayoi. Then she turned to go.

"We'll see you later. Thanks for dropping Kikyo off again," Izayoi called after her. Inuyasha and Kikyo ran up with the puppy.

"Okay, you three. I think it's time we'd get you cleaned up. What do you say?" Izayoi said. Both Kikyo and Inuyasha nodded. The puppy circled Izayoi, sniffing her shoes.

Izayoi retrieved a shallow, blue tub, an old, but soft sponge, and soap from the garage. Inuyasha and Kikyo filled up the tub with water from the hose and added the soap in. They had quite the blast scrubbing and rinsing the puppy off, but it proved to be some trouble, as he kept trying to escape. Most of the mud came off of them as well, and finally they managed to dry the puppy off as best they could.

"All right, you two. I think it's time for you to clean up as well. I'll bring the puppy to the backyard, so he can play, and the fence will keep him from going anywhere," she told them. Inuyasha and Kikyo dried off with some extra towels, then took turns getting a warm bath. Inuyasha's mother took their clothes and put them in the wash, and Kikyo borrowed a plain t-shirt of Inuyasha's to wear.

"What are you going to name the puppy?" Izayoi asked as she dried his head, and then brushed it. Inuyasha thought for a moment.

"Um…Daniel," he said finally.

"Really…that's a bit random. Why Daniel?" his mother asked with an amused laugh. Inuyasha scowled, clearly not liking being laughed at.

"I duno. It came to me," he said defensively.

"It came to you…I see," she said with a wink. Inuyasha pouted, wondering why his mother was picking on him.

"Hey, cheer up sweetie, I'm just teasing. All right, well I'll help you get dressed, and then we can go have your party," his mom told him. They did just that, and eventually made their way downstairs, where Sesshomaru was leaning up against the corner, trying to look bored, but not being able to hide the scowl on his face. He definitely did not want to be here. His parents gathered around the dining room table, and Kikyo was sitting in a chair. Streamers, banners, and balloons decorated the room with a burst of color, and a small pile of presents sat beside the cake with a 3D number 6 sticking from it.

"Yay! Chocolate ice-cream cake! My favorite!" Inuyasha said gleefully, completely forgetting his mother's teasing a few minutes before. Inuyasha's parents laughed, and his father cut up the cake and put the slices on plates for everyone.

"Well…I'd offer ice-cream with the cake, but-" Inuyasha's father began, but was interrupted by his wife.

"Dear, you're not funny," she said laughing, and pushing him playfully on the arm. He pretended to lose his balance. Towards the cake.

"No daddy! Don't fall in my cake!" Inuyasha cried out, really believing he would. His dad immediately 'regained his balance', giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. As everyone dug into the delicious, cold dessert (even Sesshomaru couldn't resist having a piece), laughter filled the air and everyone commented at how good the ice-cream cake was. Inuyasha was glad he could finally spend it with a friend for once, since all of his friends were back at home.

When they were finished, it was present time. Inuyasha ripped open the wrapping paper, to find some awesome presents. From his parents, he got the giant legos, and four new movies of the latest kid titles. From Kikyo he received a hand-made birth-day card, which had the Kikyo flower he picked for her, pressed and laminated. ("My grandma helped me," Kikyo said proudly.) From Kikyo's grandma was a Star-Wars sword, complete with light up features and sound, to which Inuyasha didn't bother holding in his excitement and instantly jumped up pretending to fight all the bad guys...well with one hand at least.

"Oh, I do believe I've forgotten something," his father mentioned, pretending to have just remembered. He went into the storage area of the den and came back up with a brand new bike! It was a shiny, metallic red, and without training wheels. His father had promised to practice with him, to learn how to ride a two-wheeler.

"Oh wow! Thank you daddy!" Inuyasha exclaimed. This was almost too much excitement for one little boy to handle. Unfortunately, it was shot, when he moved his arm in his rapture, and his face fell.

"Don't worry, I'll help you balance. We can still practice some, even with your arm, if you really want," his father told him. Inuyasha brightened up a little bit.

"Okay," he said, knowing his father wouldn't let him down.

After the excitement began to die down, Inuyasha picked out a movie, Disney's Mulan, and they all gathered around to watch it. This was probably the best birthday Inuyasha had ever had. As the movie ended, it was time for Kikyo to go, as her grandma wanted her to get a good nights rest before tomorrow.

"Bye Inuyasha! I'll come play after tomorrow!" Kikyo said, waving to him. Inuyasha watched her get into her car, and waved to her through the foyer window as they drove off…as he had so many times before. When he couldn't see her anymore through the window he went back to the kitchen, where his parents were preparing his birthday dinner of ramen stir-fry. If only he knew that that was the last time he'd ever see Kikyo again…

A: Ok, first, don't shoot me for the cliffhanger ending. Second, I don't know if I told you guys this, but tomorrow I'm going to college! Unfortunately, that may mean the next chapter won't be posted for a few days to a week, as there are a lot of things that will be going on the first few days I'm there, and of course, getting acclimated with classes and stuff, but I do promise to get it up! Again, thanks for your support!