But not for long.
There came faint the sound of something stirring in the house and just behind that the faint pulse of youki.
Kurama's eyes slid open.
He listened for a moment. His mother hadn't come home yet. He had in fact only been asleep a little while.
He reached into his hair and pulled out a rose.
From close by came the sound of someone rumaging, tossing, breaking.
He snuck down the stairs and beheld the living room, now a mess and two one-eyed demons crouching and tossing items between each other.
"Rose whip!" Kurama commanded and the whip did its job.
He inspected them and couldn't imagine why they had come in. They were scavangers, following in the wake of powerful demons in hopes of left-overs.
It was then that his shoulders tensed.
Something else was in the room. He hadn't felt it until now. He cursed his injuries, his lack of attention as warm power ran across his arms and a low voice said, "Kurama."
Kurama turned and saw nothing. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Show yourself."
There came a laugh. "No." it said.
Kurama's eyes were searching the shadows and only slowly did he see it. The glint of its eyes was what he noticed first, cold and dead. Then the glint of its teeth, point and sharp, smiling. "Time to die, Fox."
"I would prefer not." Kurama answered and raised the whip.
"Doesn't matter." Kurama raced towards the voice and sliced with the whip.
"What?" he said, surprised. There had been no connection, nothing. He had hit nothing but the air and the shadows.
"Kurama..." it hissed.
"What do you want?"
"You." It was behind him, but Kurama couldn't move fast enough to stop it. It wrapped one hand around his throat and the other pulled through his hair. "Beautiful Kitsune."
Kurama struggled against it, but that hand around his throat tightened and his breath chocked. His vision was growing dim. "No." he whispered.
The protest fell on uncaring ears.
The demon laughed and Kurama's mind raced.
His capture's voice was in his ear. "Do you hear that, Kurama? Listen. Listen."
"What...?" He said and for his efforts he was shaken effortlessly.
"Listen..."
Kurama listened. The front door was opening. Someone was removing their shoes. The soft scent of perfume wafted on their air.
Kurama redoubled his efforts.
"What is this?" the demon whispered. "Now you are truly trying to get away? What does the human matter, Kurama?" There was a faint laugh. "She is not truly your mother, Kurama. What does she matter? I shall kill her as soon as she enters this room."
"No."
"No? What else should I do?" The demon laughed. "Oh, there is lots I can do."
"Why...?"
"Why? Do I need a reason? I know who you are. I know your power. I want to do this." His eye lingered on Kurama's face. "When does there need to be sense? Few things make sense to me, Kurama. I am random, Kurama. I kill and I kill and that makes sense to me."
Kurama listened and struggled blindly, using everything to get away and not gaining an inch. A faint part of him understood the demon's word.
"Don't!" He gasped.
"Don't what?" The demon said.
"Kill her." Kurama's struggled ceased.
"Why?"
"She...she..." Kurama said. His mother was mere steps away. He could see her shadow on the floor. The moonlight was filling the hallway. What was he going to say? "She is precious to me."
The demon laughed.
"Shuiichi?"
Kurama looked across the distance of space. His mother stood beneath a halo of moonlight, her face just widening with surprise and Kurama hung in the arms of a demon in the shadows of the room.
He turned his face away from her.
"Shuiichi?"
"Mother." Kurama said.
The demon laughed and laughed and laughed until it was the only sound in the room, in the house, in the moment of time that the three occupied.
A moment holding its breath.
...to be continued...