The first time that he met his intended future wife, was at his mother's wedding after being set up by her and his step father without his knowing it. Of course he had known that the two were up to something. He just hadn't been able to figure out what it was. Not even after ambushing his new step brother and trying to pump him for information.

And it wasn't that he was terribly surprised by what happened.

His mother wasn't exactly subtle when it came to his so called pursuit of happiness. She had after all, to date, set him up on blind dates numerous times. And each one he either ditched or went too out of curiosity only for it to end in some hellish nightmare.

None of the young ladies that he'd been set up with were what he was looking for in a future potential mate. Besides, the kitsune in him made him nigh on impossible to please when it came to females. None of them seemed able to ever measure up to his expectations.

So he simply stopped looking.

That is until today...

His mother's wedding ceremony had been lovely. And she had looked breathtaking in the ivory and lace princess style dress that he had found for her. Not to mention the pearl jewelry that he had used some of his previous earnings as a former Spirit Detective to buy for her.

The spirit world was nothing if not generous when it came to paying those who saved the world and did their dirty work for them.

It had been sometime during the wedding reception when his mother had peeled herself away from her new husband's side so that she could search him out and speak to him. At the time he had been hanging out in the corner of the large room, watching the many couples dance together as he nursed his third small glass of punch since liquor was something that he and his mother had agreed shouldn't have a place at her wedding reception.

Especially since his father-in-law was a recovering alcoholic and having it there would present too much temptation for the man. And he would have hated to ruin his darling mother's wedding by punching his new father in the face for drinking too much.

"Shuichi, are you having fun dear?" He heard his mother ask him as he set his punch aside to give her his undivided attention and an indulgent smile before replying.

"Yes, very much so." Though he found it just a tad bit peculiar that none of the single females present were hitting on him. Still for the moment, he simply didn't question this fact. He was too busy enjoying the fact that he wasn't having to run for the nearest exit as fast as he could with a mob of sexually active females hot on his heels.

"I'm glad dear," His mother said as she took one of his hands in hers and asked, "I wondered if I could borrow a few moments of your time to speak about something important."

It was on the tip of his tongue to tease her about being pregnant already, but well, he would have smelled it if she were. Not that he wouldn't welcome a human sibling or two. He'd found that since Yusuke and Keiko married and had their first child- that he rather liked playing with the little tyke and teaching it things that would drive it's father up the wall.

Hiei wasn't much better.

Though he was less playful about it and a little more...well, Hiei.

Which was why about a month ago Yuskue had been seen tearing up the streets of their home town hunting the smaller demon after his child had somehow miraculously seemed to channel enough of his spirit energy to blow a hole in one of the walls of the Urameshi house.

Distressing poor Keiko so badly that Botan had been sent from the spirit world to help calm the badly rattled woman down.

Last he had heard, Yusuke was still looking for Hiei so that he could beat him into the ground for what he had done. And Kurama would somewhat agree that it was a terrible trick. And there were so many ways that it could have gone wrong. However now that Yusuke was aware that his child had such spirit energy, he would likely begin training the tyke to control it as soon as the child could walk.

"Of course mother," He said as he curled his fingers around her own. "Whatever you want." He said as he let his mother lead him away from his little hiding spot and over to a table a short distance away from prying eyes and ears where they both sat down.

"You know that I love you Shuichi," His mother began after a moment or so of trying to figure out where to start. He smiled at her and nodded as he patiently waited for her to say something more. "And I know that you are very accomplished both academically and at work..." He propped his chin in his hand and tilted his head a little bit. "But I worry for you're future."

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her not to worry, his future was fine. In fact since he had started working for his step father it was practically set. He excelled at everything that he did, including making his step father more money to expand his business. And his step father appreciated this greatly. And it really showed on each of his pay checks.

However he was beginning to get the feeling that that wasn't what his mother was speaking of.

"I want you to be happy, Shuichi. That's really all any mother wants for her children. And you are now at an age where, perhaps, maybe looking a little further down the road isn't such a bad idea."

"Mother...is this your way of telling me to settle down?" He asked with a wry smile, knowing very well that that was exactly what she was saying.

She blushed a fetching shade of pink and then said, "I've already done most of the work for you. I know that you didn't like any of those girls that I set you up with previously, so I spoke with your step father and he had the idea of an arranged marriage," She paused for a moment to gauge his reaction before quickly tacking on, "Only if you are interested of course! I mean, we aren't going to twist your arm or anything. It's just that, you've always taken care of me Shuichi...and now that your all grown up...I don't want you to be alone anymore."

"Plus there is the prospect of grandchildren if I go along with this and find someone. Don't forget that." He said with a grin knowing that it would fluster her to be called grandmother when she was barely forty one years old.

Shiori giggled and lightly patted him on the arm before saying, "Well yes, I suppose there is that."

"What do I need to do? If I were to go along with this mad scheme of yours." Kurama asked curiously.

"Nothing dear, your step father and brother and I put our heads together to find a nice, sweet girl. Your step father and I have already met the young lady in question. And she's a very lovely girl. Everything is already set, we just need your approval to go ahead and set the engagement."

"So you've met this mystery girl then? What is she like?"

"Oh she was such a sweet girl, Shuichi! She was very prompt and on time for our meeting, she wore a nice handmade kimono with flowering vines on it, and brought me flowers and the perfume that I'm wearing today," He leaned forward a little bit in his chair and subtly sniffed his mother, taking note of her perfume and the nice floral blend that made it up as his mother continued gushing. "And she told us up front that regardless of whether we thought she was good enough for you or not she wouldn't hold it against us if we decided not to go with her."

"Her name is Yuki Yamanaka, age nineteen. She has near waist length long silky black hair and wide violet eyes. She's a little bit shorter than you are, petite. We asked her what sort of person she could see herself spending the rest of her life with and she described your personality almost completely."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it was strange."

"We also asked her what kind of wedding she wanted and if she would sign a prenup if you asked her too and she told us that she didn't mind a small wedding with only family and some friends, and yes, she would sign one if you asked her too. Then we asked about if you had children, she told us that she would expect you to do your fair share of the parenting instead of leaving it up to her. She wants a partner in life, not a man-child."

Kurama listened to his mother prattle on and on for some time before finally deciding that whoever his mother, and step father had picked out for him was quite impressive.

Finally he told his mother that he would think on it and get back to her within a week and then kissed her cheek and excused her to go back to the party not knowing that his future bride was present, nor that they would be meeting sooner than he had expected.