A/N: Alright, several things here. Firstly, this is a pretty pointless chapter involving birthday parties and roller coasters. Secondly, things really start heating up in chapter 17. And THIRDLY, what is UP with the minimal reviews guys? I ask for 6 measly reviews to accomplish my dream of reaching 100, and I got 2! How SAD is THAT? So come on guys, I only need 4, and I KNOW you're out there. PLEASE!

Okay, enough said, here is you chapter. :D

Sesshomaru POV:

I gave a heavy sigh. One might think that after 1,500 years of birthdays that others would forget about giving you a celebration. That would be a welcome change for me, but no. Year after year, people still remembered my birthday, and still put me through pointless suffering.

I unlocked the door to my house and pushed it open. I could hear them all hiding in the living room, and there was nothing I could do to prevent what I was sure would happen next.

"SURPRISE!" came the bellow of multiple voices. I rolled my eyes, not showing even a trace of 'surprise'.

"Why, Rin?" I groaned in exasperation. "Why?"

"Cause you deserve a birthday party even if you are old enough to be my great, great, great, great, great, great…. Great… great grandfather!" she squealed as she hugged me. I rolled my eyes again.

"Thanks for that little bit of encouragement, Rin." I mumbled.

"Happy Birthday Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha cried handing me a small box. I accepted the gift with caution. I still hadn't forgotten what happened with Inuyasha's gift to Miroku a couple months back.

Flashback

"Happy Birthday Miroku!" Inuyasha yelped handing him a tiny package. The other boy turned it over in his hand, and then shook it next to his ear.

"What is it?" he asked the half-demon. Inuyasha grinned.

"Something I think you'll appreciate. Open it!"Miroku did as commanded to find a lighter. Not just any lighter, however. It was one of those lighters in the shape of naked women, with the breasts being where one would light the lighter.

Needless to say, the pervert was far too interested in this gift. He clicked it again, and again, and again, and again….until it exploded. His eyebrows were completely singed off, and the ends of his bangs had to be cut due to burns.

Need I explain why I was being overly cautious with Inuyasha's present?

End

I peeled back the silver gift paper slowly. Out fell a box of Midol. What the hell?

"Oh, "Inuyasha said a bit too innocently. "I just thought that might make you be in a better mood, you know?"

"Thanks…" I muttered. I tossed the box in the trash at the first chance I got. Jaken scurried up to me.

"M'lord! I cleaned the whole house for your birthday!" I stared at him.

"Jaken, you do that every day." I stated slowly.

"Yes, but today, it's special!" the little imp said. In my mind, that translated to one of two things. Either 'I was too cheap to get you anything M'lord!' or 'I forgot it was your birthday and came up with this as an excuse M'lord!' Great.

That woman Kagome approached me looking slightly crestfallen. "I couldn't think of what to get you…" she said. "And…gosh this sounds so lame… I got you a twenty dollar bill and a card." She gave a small grimace as she handed me an envelope.

"I appreciate the effort." I told her. She looked like she felt slightly better after that. The next person to give me a present was Sango.

"Here ya go!" she called happily, plopping a heavy package down. It was obviously a book. "This should serve some purpose!" I tore the paper off to find a self-help book.

"Lovely." I said in a tone that conveyed exactly the opposite. Only two presents left before I could ask them all politely to leave. And hopefully they would oblige. Rin stepped forward with a bright blue bag.

"I got you this Sesshy!" she trilled.

"Hey!" grumbled Inuyasha. "How come I she gets to give you a nick-name?" I ignored his question and opened the bag.

"A teddy bear?" I asked out loud. "What the hell am I going to do with a teddy bear?" Inuyasha started cracking up and I shot him a death-glare.

"Y-you don't l-like it?" Rin cried in a slightly hysterical voice as her eyes filled with tears.

"No! No!" I yelped, trying to stem her tears. "I love it, see?" I raised the bear to my face and gave it a hug, pulling the corner of my mouth up in a half-smile.

"Picture!" crowed Inuyasha. The flash momentarily blinded me.

"Dear God…" I murmured, "please take me now… I'd much rather be in heaven than here…" A bit louder I asserted, "I hate my life." The pervert came forward.

"Don't be like that Sessh! After all, I still gotta give you my gift. Come here. This is not for a woman's eyes." He led me away with many protests on my part. He dragged me around the corner and pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket. Waving in front of my face, he asked, "Do you know what this is?"

"Do I want to?" I counter-asked coldly.

"Of course you do!" he called heartily. "This, my friend, (I inwardly seethed at his reference to me as a friend. I have a strong dislike of perverts.) is a coupon for hiring a stripper."

"… What. The. Hell. Am I going to do with that?"

"Well, hire a stripper! Or ask Rin if she takes cash of checks."

Needless to say, I punched him across the face. He was knocked unconscious and I dragged him by his collar into the other room, tossing him onto the carpet.

"Awww!" groaned Sango. "Now Miroku will miss the cake!" I turned my eyes on her. This Sesshomaru didn't really do cake. Rin brought out a small affair with number candles on it reading '1,517'.

"I was all for putting 1,517 candles on there individually, but the guy at the store claimed they were a 'fire hazard'." Called Inuyasha in sarcastic tones, using air-quotes to accentuate the last words. I rolled my eyes. How was it that I was related to such an utter idiot, I will never know. My only thought is that my mother's intelligence counter-acted my father's pig-headedness while Inuyasha's mother must have been just as stubborn as my father. Poor woman.

I blew out the candles and cut the cake. Everyone had a piece, despite the fact that I don't technically need to eat. Ever.

"Alright." I announced. "Thank you all, but I have things to do. Party's over."

"Hey!" Rin cried. "You haven't opened my card yet!"

Oh brother. What now? I thought to myself, accepting the envelope. I tore it open and removed the card. It was obviously homemade, a picture of Rin and I adorning the front. I opened the paper to find something that gave me, Sesshomaru, someone who never has a heart attack over anything, a severe jolt of shock.

"They're tickets!" Rin trilled. "There's enough for everyone here to go to that new amusement park!" I gave a weak smile of thanks.

Please, God? Surely it wouldn't be too hard to kill me? A building collapse, a car crash, SOMETHING?

Yippie. We're going to an amusement park. I hate Amusement parks.

Inuyasha POV:

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah-haaaaaaaa!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as the roller coaster plummeted downwards. Sesshomaru's face was completely straight as he sat stiffly beside me, arms crossed. Behind us the girls were screaming like banshees. "Come on Sessh!" I bellowed. "Put your hands in the air or something!"

"No." I rolled my eyes as the coaster slowed down.

"Humph!" I crossed my arms and pouted in the opposite direction as our car pulled forward into the station. The bar flew up and I clambered out, Sesshomaru right behind me. Kagome and Rin came toward us and smiled in exhilaration.

"Let's go see out picture!" cried Rin as a ruffled looking Sango appeared with a windswept Miroku in tow. Sesshomaru growled, and I dragged him down the ramp to the picture kiosk. There we saw a picture of me laughing like a manic with my arms in the air, Kagome and Rin clinging to each other and Sesshomaru… being Sesshomaru. His arms were folded tightly over his chest, his face perfectly blank despite the fact that to the well trained eye you could tell he was pretty annoyed. The guys at the desk were muttering to one another.

"Dude, that guy is hard-core!"

"He doesn't even look fazed!"

"That's amazing."

Sesshomaru slapped his hand onto the counter.

"If you wish to say something to me, say it." The men turned around looking awed.

"Dude, you're the coolest guy I've ever seen!" One of them proclaimed. The other pinned Sesshomaru's picture on the wall of 'favorites'. Sesshomaru pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Take that down." Sesshomaru gritted out. "Please."

"Awww!" complained the people at the desk. "Why?"

"Because it's my birthday." my brother snapped before turning on heel and walking away. The instant he was out of sight the picture was placed back on the wall. I gave the men a thumbs up before following in Sesshomaru's wake.

"You know the instant you left they put the picture back up, right?" I asked as soon I caught up with him. He gave a snarled, inarticulate reply as he stormed past a tent for the old 'knock over the bottles in three pitches' game.

"You, young man, care to try your luck?" shouted the man at the tent, grabbing onto Sesshomaru's arm. Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles as he turned around. Before he could ball his hands into fists, a baseball was placed between them. "Go ahead sir, one shot!"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and I wisely hid behind a trash can. Kagome, Rin, and Sango sidled up next to me while Miroku crept dangerously close to watch the exchange. Sesshomaru stood straight and erect, ball held in his right hand. His arm flashed up and struck out like a viper, the bottles shattering on the impact with the ball, which by the way, tore through the tent wall, knocking some poor person unconscious. The man at the pergola gaped at the bits of glass on the floor.

"Perhaps I should have mentioned that Sesshomaru used to play demon-league baseball as the pitcher…" I muttered to Kagome. She nodded eyes wide.

"I believe a prize comes with this sort of foolishness?" My brother asked quietly, somewhat subdued now that he had gotten a little something to ease his anger. The other man mouthed soundlessly as he handed Fluffy-maru an enormous, russet-orange stuffed dog. It even had the little stripes on its cheeks to mark it as demon. "Lovely." Sesshomaru sniffed disdainfully.

"That was great Sesshy!" Squealed Rin in her usual exuberant voice, apparently oblivious to the fact that Sesshomaru was not enjoying himself. In fact, I can willingly bet my life on the fact that if anyone but Rin had given him the tickets, he would have burned them and then scattered their ashes far and wide.

"Here." He said dully, handing her the stuffed dog.. "It's yours."

"So cuuuuuuuute!"

"If you say so."

We began walking again, and several people cut Sesshomaru off, one kid puking on his shoe. Needless to say, my older and oh-so-loving sibling was ready to kill.

"Uhhhhh…. Let's call it a day, shall we?" I queried nervously. Everyone took one look at Sesshomaru's face and gave their assent. After an awkward car-ride home, Sesshomaru stiffly thanked us all for our time and bid us fair well. He still looked ready to explode.

Note to self: Never take Sesshomaru to an amusement park unless you're bringing a straight-jacket.