The No Good, Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

~oOo~

Kagome snuffled into her pillow, scrunching her face up as something tickled against her nose, not wanting to be pulled from her sleep. Unfortunately the tickle came again and she reluctantly opened her eyes, blinking sleepily at her mother's smile.

"Time to wake up, Kagome-chan," she said merrily, pulling her curtains open to reveal bright sunlight. "You have playgroup in about an hour, so you need to get up and take your shower."

She watched blearily as her mother smiled wider and then left the room to make breakfast, and then hid her face in her pillow to keep the evil sunshine out. This wasn't a very auspicious way to start the first day of summer vacation.

Normally Kagome was a very cheerful, bright, and happy child that spread sunshine wherever she went. But today... today just felt like a no good, terrible, very bad day for some reason, and she didn't want to get out of bed. Maybe if she stayed in bed, the no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day wouldn't be able to find her?

But that was not to be as her mother came in once again, forcing her oddly recalcitrant daughter out of bed and into the shower – where the no good, terrible, horrible, very bad luck day immediately manifested itself just as she'd known it would as she promptly dropped the full bottle of shampoo on her little toe, making it turn very red and then develop a bruise all around it. By the time she was finished with her shower she was even more convinced that this was a bad, bad day, and that it was not safe to venture forth from the safety of her bed.

She tried with all her might to convince her mother of this as she finally made it down the stairs – after stumbling down the last few and landing in a heap at the bottom – and sat down at the kitchen table for her breakfast. But her mother just laughed and shook her head, exhorting her to eat before they had to leave. Obediently, if somewhat reluctantly, Kagome picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of the grilled fish – and promptly burned her tongue, dropping her chopsticks with a clatter that caught her mother's attention.

"Oh, Kagome-chan," she laughed helplessly, wryly amused. She gave her a cool glass of milk to drink to help with the offended tongue. "Everyone has these kinds of days sometimes, but hiding doesn't make them go away. You just have to go on with your day and try to be careful. Besides," she said, "isn't Sesshoumaru going to be there? You know he'll worry if you don't come especially since its the first day of 'group for the summer, and I'm sure he can protect you from the no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day you are having better than your bed, right?"

Not so sure about that though it didn't look like it was going to matter, Kagome just sighed sadly and very cautiously finished her breakfast, not wanting to even step foot out of the house, let alone get in the car to go to playgroup. Though it was pretty cool that Sesshoumaru had decided that his future mate was not going to be taking public transportation anymore, and always had a car come to bring her to him for playgroup, or anytime she was invited over to his house – which was quite frequently. It was really neat inside the big limo, and people always seemed to stare wondering who was riding inside the car.

Smiling slightly, Kagome's mother chivied her reluctant daughter out of the house and towards the shrine steps with a mother's magic touch, although she had a hard time watching her daughter's eyes widen without laughing as they approached the stairs and she started clutching her hand with more strength than she'd ever thought her little girl had – especially at this age, since she was barely nine.

"Umm, mama," she started to protest, "I shouldn't go near the long stairs with such bad luck today!"

"No worries, Kagome-chan, I won't let you fall. Just take one step at a time and be careful," mama said encouragingly. "You can do it, and look, the car is here for you."

It took a little bit to get down the stairs, what with her barely sliding down each step before cautiously taking another, but they eventually managed to get to the street and as the driver got out to open the door, he glanced at mama with a questioning expression in merry brown eyes. "Bad luck day," she whispered, and the driver nodded understandingly, winking.

Once her daughter was safely inside she stepped back and closed the door, waving goodbye. Shaking her head with a little laugh, mama turned to go back up the stairs as the limo disappeared down the street.

~oOo~

It didn't seem that the bad day could do too much inside the limo as they made it to the play yard without incident, but the moment the car stopped and the driver opened her door it struck again, as she tumbled out of the car after getting her feet tangled together. Her poor toe was throbbing so much it was distracting her from walking. And now her knees were hurting too – as well as her elbows. She just lay there for a moment as the driver hurried to try to make sure she wasn't really injured.

Besides a few scrapes that she managed to heal with a minimal surging of her powers, Kagome finally crawled to her feet and managed to make it to the yard, looking around for Sesshoumaru. It took a minute, but she found him across the playground arguing with his unruly little brother.

Carefully making her way across the space, Kagome practically scooted her feet the whole way, thinking that if she didn't pick her feet up she couldn't trip over them. Turned out she could still trip over the ground though, as her scooting feet found a nice rock and sent her flying.

Fortunately for her, at least this time, Sesshoumaru saw the accident happen and managed to catch her before she hit the ground again, and gently lowered her to her feet after he'd steadied them both.

"What is wrong, Kagome-chan?" he asked, brow furrowed with concern. "You are not usually so clumsy."

She sighed morosely, her lip wobbling a little as it poked out, causing Sesshoumaru's heart to melt. "It's a no good, terrible, horrible, very bad luck day," she whispered, her lower lip wobbling as her eyes filled with tears. "I knew it was going to be a bad day when I woke up, but mama said I had to get up anyway."

Immediately Sesshoumaru scowled and wrapped her up in his arms as though he could protect her from anything, even bad luck. She sighed again and relaxed into his hold; even if he couldn't chase away her bad day, he was still her hero.

She squeaked in surprise when Sesshoumaru swung her up into his arms as though she weighed nothing (which was almost the truth, as far as he was concerned), and headed towards their corner of the playground – the one that was opposite the baddie's corner. Carefully keeping her close he sat down in the sandbox, which was filled with fine sand warmed by the sun, and gently settled her next to him.

"Just stay with me as usual, Kagome-chan, and I'll protect you. Such silly things as bad luck days are not allowed to harm that which is mine," he finished loftily, patting her hand comfortingly as she nodded in response to his promise.

"Okay," she said, yawning as the warm sun and sand and feeling of safety Sesshoumaru exuded began to make her feel drowsy again. She really hadn't wanted to get out of bed that morning...

She almost jumped out of her skin when Sango plopped down next to her, a smile on her face. "Hi, Kagome-chan! What a nice day, eh?"

Kagome pouted and shook her head. "No, it's a terrible, horrible, no good, bad luck day. I just want to go home and go back to bed," she sighed morosely, plopping her chin into her hand and bracing her arm on her knee.

Sango was surprised at Kagome's sullen mood but decided to try to cheer her up. She cast around for something to take her friend's mind off of her bad day, and then stiffened with excitement as she remembered something. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out an odd looking but beautiful stone and showed it to Kagome.

Perking up in reluctant interest Kagome stared at the pretty stone Sango had taken out of her pocket. "What is that, Sango-chan?" she asked with awe as the stone, inscribed with a complicated kanji that she couldn't read, glittered and flashed in the sunlight.

"Oh, this is how I keep bad luck days away, Kagome-chan," Sango chirped. "My father gave me this once when I was really little and was having a bad luck day, and it made everything all better! And I haven't had another bad luck day since I got it!"

Kagome's eyes rounded with awe. The stone was pretty and it even kept bad luck away? "Ooooo," the child said, staring at the rock with dazzled eyes. Maybe if Sango-chan just let her touch it, it would chase away her bad luck, too? Yes, Sesshoumaru had said he would not allow anything to hurt her, but she was a little skeptical about his ability to scare bad luck away. "Oh, Sango-chan, can I touch it?" Kagome asked in a whisper, not wanting to upset Sesshoumaru with her lack-of-faith.

Sango shrugged as she looked at her best friend. "Sure!" She held the little rock out, and Kagome tentatively stuck out her finger and poked it, almost afraid in case it didn't like her kind of bad luck and tried to do something mean - like zap her. Before she could pull her finger away Sesshoumaru was standing there and scowling.

"What is that thing?" the youkai child asked, staring at it with haughty suspicion.

"Oh, it's just to chase bad luck away," Sango answered casually as her friend yanked her finger back with a guilty look at Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru glowered at the rock disapprovingly and then glanced at Kagome with an expression she'd never seen on his face. "I told you that I would protect you Kagome-chan. Didn't you believe me?" he asked, that same something in his voice showing on his face.

Before Kagome could answer something happened that startled the three children surrounding the stone, and she and Sango both promptly fell on their little backsides in the sand.

Sitting right in front of where Kagome had fallen was an odd, almost silly looking creature. It looked sort of like an imp, with big, buggy eyes and a thin body and limbs. It had appeared in a flash of smoke right in front of them, and the girls both gasped. Sesshoumaru just narrowed his eyes on the creature.

"Darn it!" it snapped grouchily, staring with wary eyes at the stone in Sango's hand. "Put that thing away!"

Both girls blinked, dumbfounded. Sesshoumaru just narrowed his eyes at the imp, his youki beginning to rise.

"What are you, creature?" he demanded with all the hauteur a nine year old could ever be capable of.

The little imp swung its gaze from the girls, who were sputtering in confusion, to the youkai child and paled. "Eh, heh, heh," it chuckled nervously, "I'm, uh, err... well, I'm a bad luck sprite. It's my job to make people have bad luck every once in a while."

Sesshoumaru's lips pursed as he stared the creature down. "Find another to bother, creature," he finally said, sticking his nose in the air. "Things that belong to this Sesshoumaru are not allowed to be trifled with by petty things like bad luck sprites."

The creature blinked. "Hey! I'm not petty!" it said, insulted. "I provide a needed service by reminding people to be thankful for the good things in their life!"

At this Sesshoumaru's lips tightened and his eyes narrowed even further as his youki rose more. "Kagome-chan has no problem remembering to be thankful for me, so your assistance in such endeavors is unnecessary," he insisted critically.

The imp blinked and then cowered at the obvious threat in the boy's words and his already overly strong youki, nodding rapidly. "Okay, well I'll just be going then!" it squeaked as Sesshoumaru began to lean over it. "You won't see me ever again, I promise!" Before it could vanish, though, he leaned down further and whispered something in the creature's ear and it perked up, looking across the playground.

"Over there?" it asked, and Sesshoumaru nodded, beginning to smirk just a little as he straightened back up.

"Okay, sounds good to me!" it said ingratiatingly to the youkai child. "I'll make it a really terrible day, how does that sound?"

"Very good," the boy purred, the smirk widening as the still-cowering imp vanished.

He looked up once it was gone only to see both girls staring at him, Kagome's expression sheepish.

"Wow, Sesshoumaru-kun," Sango said in tones of flattering awe. "You're good to be able to chase all that bad luck away all by yourself!"

"I know," he said in tones of self-satisfied pride. And then he focused on Kagome. "I told you that I would protect you, Kagome-chan, even from bad luck, and I did."

Kagome dropped her head with a light flush and nodded, thoroughly chastised. "I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't listen."

Sesshoumaru unbent at her sorrowful voice and downcast demeanor and held out a hand to help her up out of the sand. "Do not think of it any more," he said magnanimously. "Now you can simply enjoy the day without worrying about anything bad happening - at least to you," he finished almost under his breath so the two girls wouldn't hear him.

Just as the little girl regained her feet, Sango making it up at the same time, Sesshoumaru noticed his father appear, a concerned frown on his face as he looked around curiously.

"Why is your youki raised so high, Sesshoumaru?" Touga asked, wondering what was going on, since there didn't appear to be any fight going on between the three children standing before him, and no other child had been in the vicinity. He'd been filming things on the playground quite happily when he'd felt his son's youki flicker and then begin to rise threateningly, and he'd set the camera aside and hurried over to the boy, hoping to avoid an incident with his son and another child (namely Kouga... or maybe Naraku).

Imagine his surprise when he reached the area and found...

Nothing.

"It is of no concern, father," his son said pedantically, letting go of Kagome's hand as she shuffled her feet and looked up at his father.

"He was protecting me from my bad luck day," the little girl said softly. "Please don't be angry at him!"

Touga blinked, then blinked again. "Eh? He was fighting... your bad luck?" he repeated for clarification. How do you fight bad luck with youki? he wondered.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Yes, father, but there is no cause for concern. It could not hope to withstand my magnificence and once warned away from what was mine it fled from Kagome-chan," he said, so much satisfaction in the words that Touga stared at his son, dumbfounded.

The boy had always had an unseemly amount of pride, but this just took the cake. "Let me get this straight," he finally said incredulously, once he'd regained the use of his mouth, "Kagome-chan was having a bad luck day, right?" The children nodded solemnly, and he continued. "And this bad luck... spoke to you?"

His son inclined his head, though the expression on his face told him that the boy wasn't very impressed with his seemingly slow understanding of the situation. "Yes, father. It said that its job was to give people bad luck days sometimes so as to remind them to be thankful for the good things in their lives. When I told it that Kagome-chan had no need of such a service as she has never forgotten to be thankful for me, it ran away and said it would not return again."

Lips pursed at that bit of egotism the dayoukai stared suspiciously at his son and asked, "What aren't you telling me?"

Sesshoumaru began smirking again and motioned for his sire to come down to his level. Glancing at the boy dubiously, nonetheless Touga obliged and gave his son his ear. When Sesshoumaru finished whispering whatever it was he'd said to his father he pulled away and watched as his sire tried desperately to stop his laughter.

Touga battled back his amusement with all his might and shook his head. "I see. Well, seeing as how you've taken care of the problem in such a timely manner, son, I'll leave you to it and get back to my spot. Have fun," he finished dryly as he turned away. That little terror's going to be the death of me yet, he thought as he headed back to his spot so he could continue filming the day. Although... maybe I should move spots so I can see over to this side of the playground better, since this is where Sesshoumaru seems to have taken over. The things that boy comes up with sometimes...

His ruminations were interrupted by a cry from the other side of the playground and he turned back to make sure nothing untoward was happening. When he caught sight of the child the frustrated cry had come from, he couldn't help it and a terrible smirk washed across his face.

Maybe such things as bad luck imps actually do exist. If they do, they surely couldn't find any better victim than the one busily falling all over the place back there!

He laughed as another yell came from the same child, a big grin settling on his face.

I wonder if this 'bad luck imp' happens to look like Jaken. The toad is sour-faced enough to give most people bad luck with just his presence...

Behind him, Naraku shouted again as he fell over for the third time in as many seconds, wondering where all the sudden bad luck he was experiencing was coming from. When he looked up and caught an evilly smirking Sesshoumaru staring at him, he snarled and shook his fist at the jerk... promptly hitting himself in the nose, and he groaned as he grasped his now sore nose and pressed on it.

Darn you, Sesshoumaru! I'm going to get you one of these days!

Across the playground, a very satisfied little youkai turned around and benevolently watched over his Kagome, his new little sister Rin, Sango and a newly arrived Ayame as they began playing on the swings. He smirked widely as another angered cry came from across the playground, supremely satisfied with the way this day had turned out.

Enjoy your no good, terrible, horrible bad luck day, Naraku!

~oOo~

A/N: I've decided to basically skip a year for each section of this story, so since when it started they were seven, now they are nine. Doing a section for each year was just going to make this selection of related one shots too long, since I plan to take this all the way up to adulthood, more or less. Hope everyone enjoys the newest chapter in this little tale!

Amber