A/N: Welcoming to the long awaited chapter of "Kitsune's Brother." There's still the epilogue to come, but we're nearly there, my dear readers. I'll save all of my sentimental drabble until the final chapter, but for now I hope you enjoy this chapter to the fullest. Also, it's recently been pointed out that I had Shiori's husband's name wrong. I'm fixing it now, so where you have been seeing Kenji, you'll now be reading Kazuya.

"Kitsune's Brother"

Chapter 10

Gardening

Kazuya's idea was confirmed when Kurama didn't show up in the living room for tea, and it seemed that Yukina had expected his absence, for she brought out no extra cups. Neither Hiei nor Shuu-kun seemed surprised by it either, but were far too amused by Shiori and Kazuya's confusion, which grew worse at the moments when Hiei and Shuuichi slipped out of Japanese and began speaking in a language of growls and hisses that they could only guess was the local tongue. It didn't look right coming out of their son's mouth though. The two would continue on that way until Yukina reminded them that it wasn't polite to speak like that "in front of our human guests."

"Doesn't that hurt your throat?" Kazuya asked, thinking of what you'd have to do to make such sounds.

"Youkai are built a little differently from humans," Yukina said with a bright smile. "It's normal for us, though most people have adopted human languages to avoid confusion between different species. While it's simpler for elementals, many youkai have problems learning others' languages."

"What were you speaking?" Shiori asked, curious.

"Kitsune," Hiei said. "This is Kurama's house."

"Makai has very few rules of etiquette, but we stick closely to those we have," Shuuichi said, pouring his brother a second cup of tea. Draining his own cup, he stood. "If you need me, I shall be in the garden."

Nodding, his parents let him go, figuring they'd be able to talk to him later. However, by the time they made it to the garden once the tea had been exhausted, Shuuichi was gone and Kurama was tending to some vegetables that looked like they were trying to bite him.

"I thought plants liked you," Kazuya said humorously as the kitsune let out a small curse from being soundly bitten.

"Not when they know that I'm going to eat them," Kurama said without looking up. "Fruit trees, sure; they know I'm just taking one or two, but the roots of these are good for medicine in addition to the fruits being healthy." He finally glanced up. "Did you enjoy your tea?"

"Very much so, you should have had some as well," Shiori said, eyeing another toothed plant suspiciously.

"I did," he replied.

Figuring that the youkai must have had his it'd left the kitchen, Shiori began to scan the garden for the telltale flash of red that would give away her son's location. Even with the density of the garden, she was surprised when the only red to be seen was a grouping of oddly shaped tomatoes. "I thought Shuuichi came out here."

"He's here," Kurama said, smiling as he was finally able to beat the evil vegetable into submission. Not even mandrakes gave him that much trouble.

"Where?" she asked. How was Shuuichi hiding? Bright red didn't blend into green.

"I can see him," Kurama said, making sure that he could see his hand to keep it from being a lie. "He's tending the Jodiums." (1)

"The what?" Kazuya gave their host an odd look.

"Jodiums, vegetables that are evil incarnate, and should only be handled by a plant master," the kitsune explained.

"Are they safe for him to handle?" Shiori asked, worried. She'd seen what some of the local plants were capable of.

"Shuuichi is a plant master, the greatest there is," Kurama said, pride and a little smugness in his voice. It wasn't often that one was able to boast without sounding conceited.

"Hn. Vain fox."

Especially when Hiei was around.

The hiyoukai had entered the garden to stand new to where Kurama was working.

"How does he control the plants?" the human woman asked. "He's not a kitsune."

"He has youkai," Hiei said, squatting down to tap one of the plants on its 'head,' making it let go of his partner's finger.

Behind Shiori, Kazuya stiffened, his eyes growing wide as they locked onto the silver youkai in disbelief. Hearing the sudden intake of breath, Kurama allowed himself a small smile. One down.

He caught Shuuichi's eye and nodded toward the den. The boy grinned, understanding.

"Tou-san, you've got to see all the stuff Kurama's got tucked away in the guest room," Shuuichi said, grabbing his father's hand to pull him inside. "His old partner had some awesome weapons."

A little numb, the human man allowed himself to be led away, glancing back at the kitsune still holding a conversation with his wife. Hiei followed the pair with a soft snort, red and gold eyes meeting for the briefest of moments.

"Kurama told me that his name was Kuronue and was a chimera," Shuuichi continued on, as though nothing was out of the ordinary. "He was the black haired guy with wings in the picture next to the fireplace. Died about a hundred years ago. Did you know that the red necklace Nii-san is always wearing used to belong to him?"

"He did mention that it had belonged to an old friend, yes," Kazuya said, nodding automatically. "Did you know that your brother was a kitsune?"

"I might have known since Yukina and Kuwabara brought him back to the cabin, yes," the pre-teen said with a sly grin far too reminiscent of his stepbrother's mundane relatives.

Kazuya gave his son a disbelieving stare. "And you never thought to tell us?"

"He asked me not to."

"Kurama's fond of his secrets," Hiei said with an unconcerned shrug when the man turned to him. "Likes to pretend he's mysterious." The fire youkai suddenly had to dodge an attacking plant hanging from the ceiling. "Baka kitsune."

"How long?" Kazuya asked with wide eyes.

"Since 'Shuuichi' was born," the younger boy said. "And in case you were wondering, Nii-san already knows that you know. That's why he sent me and Hiei in here with you." There was a snort behind them. "Ah come on, admit it. He glanced and you jumped."

"You know, some species of youkai eat humans," Hiei growled, glaring.

"No elemental species."

"There are always exceptions."

"Gentlemen," Kazuya interrupted. "If we could return to my step-son being the same youkai who supposedly was his guardian."

"I never actually said that."

Kurama was walking through the hallway toward them, green eyed and red headed. He carried a small armful of fruit, handing one each to Hiei and Shuuichi before turning back to his stepfather and holding a third out to him. Unsure of what else to do, Kazuya took the strange produce and stared at it, wondering if it could really be edible.

"I never actually said that Kurama, referring to my other form, was my guardian," the kitsune continued. "Shuu-kun figured that Hiei was my guard, and I told him that I was Hiei's partner, so he drew his own conclusions. With a little push in the right direction, he did so again when he realized what I was, just as you did a few minutes ago, and Shiori just a moment later. I left her with Yukina to talk things over once we'd laid down the basics."

"Avoiding the main moments of shock, kitsune?" Hiei asked, eyeing his partner.

"Giving my mother time to adjust," Kurama corrected, eyes flicking in brief annoyance. "She's just had a big shock, of which I am the source."

"So how exactly did this happen in the first place?" Kazuya asked, glad to catch sight of chairs in the room they were entering into at the end of the hall. "I think I missed that."

Earlier:

Kurama waited until the two had safely hustled his father inside before releasing the vegetable from his control and straightening up, brushing dirt from his pants. "Finally, some quiet."

"I could go inside as well, if you'd like to be alone," Shiori offered, once again scanning the garden for her son.

The kitsune smiled once she'd looked at him again. "No need, Shiori-san. I would never chase you from my garden. Your presence can only improve it."

The woman laughed softly. "That's what Shuuichi always used to say when I was worried about disturbing him in his garden.

"I know."

Shiori smiled, shading her eyes from the sun. "The two of you are very much alike, did you notice that? If I didn't know better, I might think that you were actually the same person, and not different individuals at all."

"How can you be certain that we aren't?" Kurama asked softly. He glanced toward the den. "Yukina."

"Yomi-san was on the phone," the koorime said politely. "He wanted to know when you were bringing your mother around to meet him."

"After what happened when I began working for him, he thinks I'm going to let him within three miles of her?" the kitsune asked incredulously.

"You brought your brother to meet Shura," Yukina said with an innocent shrug of a shoulder. "From what I heard, the four of you had a picnic."

"I didn't know that you were on that trip," Shiori said, curious. "Why didn't Shuuichi tell me?"

"Shiori-san, he did," Kurama said, the perfect picture of innocence. "I spoke to you, remember? Shuuichi had to call me down from the tree."

Shiori stared at him. No, she'd talked to her son, Shuuichi, not Kurama. Unless...

She drew a sharp breath, staring up into the pale face. "Shuuichi?"

Kurama nodded. "Since the day your son was conceived." Smiling at her, he began to change. Gold darkened to green, and silver to red. He grew shorter and notably younger. In less than a minute, it was Shuuichi who stood before her. "Kaa-san."

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1. Plant invented by me, named after my extremely distracting ex-boyfriend who was talking to me while I was trying to write this chapter.