Ah man, sorry folks. My opportunity's struck out, at least for a little bit. I won't be able to post the entirety of this story as quick as I had hoped, for reasons that are kind of complicated. But no worries, I'll try to work something out, okay? Because, as I said, I don't like it when the author makes the readers wait forever on updates without notice.

Anyways, like I said, I'll try to work something out so that I won't keep you guys waiting so long again; I feel really bad about doing that. Forgive me, please? Ah, anyways, here's chapter eight. Please review and let me know what you guys think of this story, will you?

Shiori was waiting for Yusuke when he came downstairs. He was surprised, then suddenly felt sick. Could he actually go through with this and tell her? And even if he did, would she believe him?

"Did you find out what's wrong?" she asked him. She looked so eager for some good news. He sighed.

"Uhm, yeah, we know what's wrong." It was only then that he noticed Kazuya was standing there too. Now he wanted to throw up.

"Well what is it?" she asked anxiously.

"Uhm, it's kind of hard to explain…" He scratched his neck nervously. "Uh, well, I suppose to begin with…a friend of ours died a few weeks ago."

"Yeah" Kuwabara agreed. "And this guy and Kura--Suichi, were close. Very close. Ku--Suichi took it really hard."

"Yeah, they were like best friends, uhm, more than that actually." He received a puzzled look and rushed on. "But this guy, his name was Hiei, he didn't just die. Someone…killed him. We were all there. He died in Suichi's arms."

Shiori paled. "Who killed him?"

"Ah… it's rather hard to explain. The guy was a maniac who wanted us dead. He was going for Suichi, but Hiei pushed him out of the way." Kurama's mother looked like she'd just been punched. He felt really bad now. Why was he doing this?

"Is this man in custody now?" Kazuya inquired.

"Uhm, no, no. He's kind of dead now. But anyhow, he didn't come across us by accident. We were sort of sent to look for him."

"By who?" Kurama's parents were looking at him suspiciously now.

"Well" Kuwabara jumped in, "we--myself, Urameshi, Kur--Suichi, and Hiei, until he died-- are all part of this, thing. Our boss guy told us we needed to find this guy and his buddies and stop them from killing people."

"Your boss? Who is this boss?"

"Uh" Yusuke wished he'd never come. No wonder Kurama hadn't wanted to do this. "You've probably never heard of him. His name's Koenma. Uh, he's the guy in charge of Spirit World." He cringed, waiting for some sort of backlash. Instead he received puzzled looks. "And while we're on that note…Hiei wasn't a human. And neither is Suichi. They both, ah, demons."

This received some impact. "What?" Kazuya demanded. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"

"No! No, I'm telling the truth!"

"We have proof!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"We do?" Yusuke asked. "Wait, yeah! We do! See, being a demon Suichi, well, his demon name is Kurama, has powers. And we have powers too, we can show you." He took a deep breath. "Uhm, maybe we should show you outside." Still dubious, the Hatanakas followed them into the backyard.

Then they showed them. Yusuke and Kuwabara demonstrated the Spirits Gun and Sword respectively. To say that the Fox's parents were stunned would be an understatement, but in the end they told the two boys they believed them.

"I still don't understand how my son can be a demon" Shiori said as they returned indoors.

Yusuke gulped. Just what was he supposed to tell her? "Uhm…he used to be a Fox Spirit called Yoko Kurama--that's why we call him Kurama now. But nineteen years ago he was shot and killed by a hunter. Then he was reincarnated as Suichi." There. He'd told her the necessary facts without having to explain just how Kurama had been reborn.

"A Fox?"

"Yeah. You should see what he can do with plants."

Nobody said anything for a moment or two, then Kuwabara remembered what they were supposed to do. "There's something else too. Kurama's, uhm, he's…well, Fox demons don't necessarily play by the rules when it's time to reproduce. And on that note, he's ahh…he's pregnant."

An eerie silence hung over everyone for several minutes. "Did you say my son is pregnant?"

Yusuke sighed. "Yeah. He's pregnant and really scared. I thought that if you knew maybe things would be easier on him."

"But how can he pregnant?" Kazuya asked.

"From what he told us it's a Fox thing" Kuwabara said. "But Hiei, the one who died, is the father. Kurama's falling apart over it too."

"Hiei? He's the father?"

"Yeah…we didn't find out they were in love until the very end, when Hiei was dying."

Silence again. The Hatanakas were still digesting this new information. Yusuke didn't blame him, if he'd found out his son was pregnant and depressed over his dead boyfriend, he'd be in shock too.

"Uhm, Urameshi, I believe we should be leaving now." Yusuke nodded and they quietly left.

After a few minutes Kazuya spoke. "So what now Shiori? Do we believe them? Or do we report them to the madhouse?"

She thought for a moment. "We have to ask him. If Suichi says it's true, then I'll believe him. Besides, if it is true, I'm sure we'll notice in a few months." Her husband nodded, and they both climbed the stairs in search of their eldest son. Shiori almost had a heart attack when she rounded the corner and nearly tripped over a certain redheaded boy. "Suichi? Are you okay?" Her son had the most peculiar look on his face.

Kurama was stunned. He'd been coming out of the bathroom when he heard a mixture of voices downstairs. Curious as to what Yusuke had decided, he'd gone to the end of the hall to listen. When he realized his friends had actually told his mother his legs gave out and he sank to the ground, feeling rather numb. He hadn't thought they'd actually tell her. Upon his mother's question he gave her a bewildered look before quickly returning his gaze to the floor. This was one confrontation he hadn't anticipated. She was never supposed to find out.

"Your friends just shared some rather interesting information" she said gently. "Are they telling the truth?"

He swallowed. "Yes Mother, it's true. I am a demon. I used you as a chance to escape death. I'm sorry."

She took a deep breath. So Suichi's friends weren't lunatics. "And what about this Hiei person?"

His vision blurred. "Yes Mother, Hiei was a person I cared about a lot. He died saving me because I was too stupid to get out of the way."

So far two out of three were correct. She got on the ground next to him. "What about the other thing?" she asked, resting her hand on his stomach.

Tears were trickling down his face. He hated appearing so weak. "Yes Mother, I'm pregnant. I'm sorry to embarrass you like this. You don't deserve it."

It hurt that he seemed so terrified of her knowing about this. What had kept him from telling her? "Shh…it's okay Suichi. What's important now is making sure you and the baby are healthy. Have you been experiencing any problems?"

Where did he begin? "I'm having trouble eating. Everything comes back up."

His mother nodded. She'd noted how thin he'd gotten, even though she knew he'd been eating. "Suichi, last week I noticed bandages on your arm." Her son noticeably tensed. "What were those for?"

He heaved a sigh. "After Hiei died I took up cutting."

"What!"

"I didn't know I was with child then" he said hastily. "I'm going to quit." The day he'd found out he was pregnant, he'd thrown away all his razors. Not that he didn't still feel the urge to cut, at times it almost drove him insane. He was trying to find some sort of substitute; currently he was practicing a combination of gum-chewing and snapping rubber bands against his wrists. "You won't have to worry about it. They'll all heal."

She still didn't like the idea that her son had been cutting himself. Would she have been able to confront him had he not stopped? "Okay. How are you feeling?"

"I'm cold" he said truthfully.

"No, not physically. Someone you cared about died. Are you okay?"

He clenched his teeth and got up. "I'm sorry Mother. I really don't wish to discuss that right now. It's painful, and the wound is still rather fresh." Kurama made to return to his room, but halfway there he crumpled to the floor.

Shiori and Kazuya rushed over to him. "It's okay" Kazuya said. "He's just fainted." Still, they were both shaken up over it. They carried him to his room and put him in bed under the covers.

"We'll have to tell his brother when he comes home" she said. "I feel like I'm dreaming. Nineteen years and it never occurred to me that he wasn't normal."

"Well what matters is that now we can get to know him completely" Kazuya said optimistically.

She nodded absently, staring at Kurama's unconscious form. Nineteen years and just now would she finally get to know her son for who he really was. She wondered just how much she didn't know.

He awoke sometime later to the smell of dinner rising up from downstairs. At first he was rather groggy, but then the memory of what had occurred that afternoon came back and he snapped awake. She knew, oh gods his mother knew everything now. Why had he let this happen?

"How are you feeling?" He looked over and saw his step-brother sitting at his desk, watching him. Kurama furrowed his brow. Suichi hadn't been home earlier. His parents must have told him.

"I'm fine" he replied wearily. But then the smell of the food hit him again and he darted to the toilet. Suichi gave him a worried look when he returned. "It's all right" he reassured his brother. "I'm just having really bad morning sickness."

He received a curious stare. "But it's 7 p.m." Kurama forced a smile and sat down on the bed. He rested a hand on his lower abdomen and tried to see if he could sense his baby. Apparently it was still too early, it must have been conceived within the last few weeks before Hiei…

"Hey, are you okay?" Suichi noticed Kurama looked like he was about to cry.

Kurama clenched his teeth and nodded. "Yeah" he replied, though he could feel a lump forming in his throat. He wiped his eyes and tried to give Suichi a reassuring smile.

But Suichi wasn't fooled. "What's wrong? You're crying."

"It's nothing" he said. "I'm fine, it's just the hormones, I--" What was he doing? Hiei wasn't nothing. That Jaganshi was the world to him, and now he dared to sit here and claim he was crying over nothing. "Well, it is something. But you can't help me with it. You didn't know him."

"You mean Hiei?" His parents must have been thorough when they'd told him. New tears filled his eyes. "You loved him a lot, didn't you?"

He looked at the floor and nodded. "Yes. Of course I did. He was my friend, my team mate, my lover. I miss him a lot." Two rivers now flowed freely down his face. But he tried to gather himself enough to smile at Suichi. "I think dinner is almost ready. Could you go check?"

Suichi sensed that the redhead wanted some solitude. "Yeah." He quickly made himself scarce.

Once Kurama was sure his brother was out of earshot he buried his head in his arms and cried.