Disclaimer: I own Kori; otherwise this brilliant piece of art belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. ^_^

*Konichiwa! I just posted both Chapter 2's of my Fushigi Yugi fic and my InuYasha fic. (Check them out if you got time?) Anywayz, today's topic of discussion is the anime of YYH. The finals of the dark tournament episodes are finally out but....cartoon network's being a jackass and only playing one episode a week. So it will take approximately a year to get to the new episodes. (God damn it!) Well, if you're willing to spend about $25 for 2 episodes, you could buy them on DVD. (Sure, let's all buy it! ^_^') Ok, let's move on, shall we? Chapter 8, here we go!

**To Pegacorn

It would be so cute to see them as little kids. Unfortunately, the only pictures I know that are close enough to the kid form are the chibi pics. I have a couple, if you wanna leave your email address, I'll email you them?

~Everyone who wants cute chibi pics, email me at XFinalFantasyX@msn.com! I'll email you all back! (Subject: YYH Chibi Pix) (A/N: To friends who are reading this: XFinalFantasyX@msn.com is only for fan fic related emails, k?)

*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*

*******Chapter 8 - Mother's Love*******

"Kurama! Watch out!" Kurama heard Yusuke shout from somewhere behind him. He suddenly felt another demon grabbing his arms and heard a raspy voice saying,"Not so fast, Youko....Arghhh!" With lightning fast reflexes, Kurama had elbowed the demon in the face then finished him off by kicking him in the stomach. The disgusting demon exploded into a cloud of dust. Turning back to save his mother, Kurama could hear the others rushing forward to assist him.

All around the warehouse, other demons, who all look exactly like the first, rose from their places to hold off the detectives. They all charged towards Kurama and suddenly, a fight erupted. Fists flew as Yusuke and Kuwabara pummeled the nearest demons.

Feeling grateful to his friends, Kurama continued forward. He glanced at the ground and noticed a shadow growing bigger and bigger. He looked up and realized a demon had launched itself into the air, preparing for an aerial attack. It never happened though, seeing as the demon landed hard on Hiei's sword and disintegrated. Hiei had drawn his blade and stood behind Kurama, smirking at the surprised fox. Kurama smirked back then darted ahead again. With Hiei close behind covering his back, Kurama finally managed to get to his imprisoned mother. "Mother!"

"If you want this pathetic human back, you must defeat me first." The head demon cut in front of the trembling Shiori and prepared to fight. Kurama glared fiercely at the demon and drew his rose. "Rose whip!" The thorny rose transformed into the emerald whip. Behind the demon, Shiori's eyes widened. 'Shuuichi...?'

"You'll pay for what you did to my mother!" Kurama lashed the whip out at the demon, who blocked the attack with his arms.

"Damn, Ugly's tough if he can block Kurama's whip!" Yusuke and Kuwabara appeared next to Hiei and the surprised demon stepped back. He looked around, noting the once demon-filled warehouse was pitifully empty and there was an excessive amount of dust on the floors. But Hiei's attention shifted back to the fight as Kurama let out a cry. The demon had cut 3 deep wounds into Kurama's shoulder with his claws.

"Kurama!" Yusuke was about to help the injured fox but Hiei threw out an arm and held him back. "Hiei, what're you....?"

"Don't you think Kurama could handle this? This is his fight...." Hiei explained. Yusuke hesitated and then resumed watching the fight. Deep down, Yusuke knew Hiei was right; this was Kurama's fight. But that reasoning still didn't stop his doubts.

When the demon cut Kurama, he didn't yell from the pain; he yelled because he was startled from the attack. 'I shouldn't have yelled....I mustn't let the others get involved in this....! Ugh, rose whip is not working....time to find another strategy....' Kurama quickly put aside the rose whip.

"What is he doing?!" Kuwabara screamed. But Kurama was swift, even without his rose whip he avoided the demon's blows.

"Time to finish this!" Kurama extracted a seed from his pocket and timed his accuracy. The demon leaped towards Kurama, yelling, "It's over, Youko!" Not quite. Kurama threw the seed into the demon's wide open mouth. The monster choked on the seed, then swallowed it by accident.

"You....!" The demon never finished the sentence because there was a terrific explosion followed by the spraying of demon blood and guts all over the vicinity. Kurama sighed, ignoring the nagging feeling that just wouldn't go away and walked up the platform to his terrified mother. "Mother? It's okay....it's over...." He untied her restraints and pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"Shu....Shuuichi?" Shiori whispered.

"Yes, mother, it's me...." Kurama helped her to her feet. Shiori threw her arms around Kurama and hugged her son. "Shuuichi!"

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Kurama asked.

"No, no, I'm fine...." Shiori replied. "But you shouldn't worry about me....be concerned....for your own life!"

"Mother....?" Kurama pulled back, but it was too late. He felt razor sharp claws digging into his body as Shiori thrusted her nails into Kurama's back. Kurama cried out, coughing up blood.

"What the....?!" Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei all sprinted forward at the same time. Shiori threw the injured Kurama to the floor and shot 3 giant blasts of spirit energy from her palm at the others. Kuwabara got hit by the first one and Hiei and Yusuke managed to dodge all but the third. The guys flew backward, hitting the warehouse wall and making the entire warehouse shake like an earthquake.

"Mot....Mother....? What's happened to you....?" Kurama stammered from his position on the ground, sputtering up yet more blood. He felt his body paralyzing up, 'There must have been some poison in her nails....!'

"Ha ha haaaa! Don't you know, Shuuichi?" Shiori bent down and dragged Kurama's head off the ground by his crimson hair.

"Urghhhh...." Kurama groaned.

"What's the matter, son? Does that hurt?" Shiori retorted with mock concern.

"You....!" Kurama stuttered. "Where is my real mother?"

"I wouldn't tell you even if you really were my son....Youko...." The fake Shiori shifted into a red demon with long red hair.(A/N: This demon looks a lot like Kuronue, Kurama's old partner, except in all red and currently not a crow demon.) Apparently he had been role playing as Kurama's mother. "This is only revenge, fox! I would kill you right here but where would the fun be in that? Torturing and watching you suffer is even better!"

"Re....revenge....for what?" Kurama asked weakly, spitting up more blood.

"You'll see soon....but for now....arghhhh! You bastard!" The demon screamed. Kurama looked up then grimaced from the pain emitting from his wounds. He could faintly make out a dark figure, stabbing the demon with a pointy object.

The demon vanished in a flash, his last words ringing in Kurama's head. "I will be back....then my revenge will be complete. You will soon feel the bite of Akumo!" His head pounding, Kurama collapsed into a heap on the floor.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Doctor Iyasu, report to room 360. Doctor Iyasu, room 360...."

Kurama heard these faint sounds echoing in his throbbing mind. His mind was awake before his eyes. 'Where am I...?' He wondered groggily, cracking an emerald eye open.

"Kurama?! You're awake!" A relieved Yusuke yelled. Kurama looked around the room unsteadily. He was lying in a room with ugly green wallpaper and several chairs straying around the solitude bed. On the 2 chairs to his left sat Yusuke and Kuwabara; on his right side, Hiei stood quietly.

"Ugh....what happened?" Kurama asked thickly.

"You passed out after.....after that demon stabbed you with his claws. The doctor confirmed that you were poisoned, too...." Yusuke explained uneasily. All the memories of last night came back to Kurama with a jolt. He sat straight up in bed.

"My mother?! Where is she?! Where's my mother?!" Kurama practically yelled.

"Kurama....! Shhhh....! We're in a frickin' hospital!" Yusuke grew solemn. "Don't you remember? Your mother was never there....it was demon in disguise....?"

Kurama slinked back down under the covers and pulled them over his head. "Could...you guys leave me alone for a while?"

"Sure, Kurama....let's go, guys." Yusuke gestured to the other 2 and they left.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After leaving the hospital, Yusuke and Kuwabara discussed ways to help Kurama.

"No! We should find his mother and kick demon ass!" Yusuke threw his arms up in frustration.

"Dammit, Kuwabara! This is Kurama's fight!"

"Hn, will you two shut up?!" Hiei practically yelled in their faces. They did as they were told.

Unknown by the three however, they were being watched. A woman, dressed in elegant garb and a veil covering her face, waved her arms around the glowing orb. The image of the 3 boys changed to one of mini-Kurama, laying distressed in the hospital bed. The lady's lush red lips curled up into a menacing smirk.

"Urami....I have done as you wish..." Akumo materialized from the shadows.

"Very well, Akumo....we shall test these detectives again...." Urami whispered in a deadly tone.

-Who is this Urami? What tests are she and Akumo talking about? And will our favorite detectives ever grow back to their normal size? You'll only find out in the next chapter of Lil' Detectives!

*Author's Note: Happy Halloween, all! I had made plans with friends, but one backed out and ditched me at the last moment. Some friend! So I'm here at home, handing out candy while continuing to write more chapters! ;_; It's not that bad writing....it's just Halloween, ya know? Sorry on getting all depressed on you, please review and enjoy this Halloween! Hope you get lotsa candy, you deserve it ^_~ I luv reviews! Reviewers rock! See ya!