I only own Moriko and her kids, no one else. Thnx. R&R

Within the first ten minutes of the journey, Kurama and Yusuke found that the younger demons were not staying with their mother by choice. She was more powerful than any of them, or even all of them combined. When asked about it, Moriko replied easily, "Brother, you should know that the children of two moderately powerful demons can be either very powerful, very weak, or moderately powerful, like their parents. The two who already left were more powerful than I, but they were killed in spite of that. I did not let my remaining children, the weak ones, leave for that reason." She said it matter-of-factly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Randomly, Kurama decided to change back into Shuichi. In an effort to conserve the juice, he was pretending that the redheaded figure and low aura level was just his chosen disguise. In explanation to Moriko he said, "People might recognize me in my true form; the aura would give us away in an instant whether I was in my original form or not." Moriko looked momentarily suspicious, then let it go and did not notice when Kurama's last drink of the juice ran out twenty-five seconds later.

Without warning, Yusuke asked, "What kind of demon was Ikano?"

Without hesitation, Kurama replied, not thinking about the effects telling the truth might have. "Water. When we were working together it was particularly complicated; plants naturally respond to and grow with my touch. His water encouraged them. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." Yusuke answered, although he frowned and his brow furrowed in concentration, as if he felt something didn't add up properly. As Kurama turned away, he saw Yusuke sniff the air, as if to verify that it did indeed have scent to it. Then he placed it. "Smoke." He declared. That's when Kurama knew he had made a mistake in telling Yusuke what kind of demon Ikano was, a mistake that could ruin Kurama's plan to keep Yusuke in the dark about Moriko's children.

Moriko just looked at Yusuke for a second, as if to say, 'Hmmm…he is smarter than I thought.' She then looked at her children and said aloud, "Yes. I see where you are going. If Ikano was a water demon, then how can these children smell of smoke? The answer is very simple; they are not Ikano's children." She turned to Kurama, "Why you did not immediately ask about that, I will never understand."

Yusuke thought for a moment, then looked questioningly at Kurama, who instantaneously faked confusion, in a last half-hearted and futile attempt to protect the information he had deduced. When Moriko's back was turned, Yusuke immediately pointed to her children then stuck a hand out, open, in front of him, as if to release the full force of the Black Dragon, which Kurama immediately understood to mean Hiei.

Realizing that attempting to hide what he knew from Yusuke was now pointless, he nodded.

Yusuke tried to be subtle covering up his shock. But Yusuke and subtle are two words that should never be used in the same sentence.

Moriko took one look at Yusuke's face and said, "I have to give it to you, Brother. You still choose the strangest people to work with."

Kurama just shrugged.

It had taken Kurama and Yusuke a full day to travel to Moriko's warehouse. The journey back was longer; Moriko's children were making nearly constant bids for freedom—from their mother. However, all of these attempts were unsuccessful in everything but slowing the group down.

That night, just before they went to sleep, Kurama finally asked the obvious question, "What are your children's names?"

Pointing at each, Moriko replied, "Haruto, Isamu, Eiji, and Isao. The two who ran away were female, Amaya and Izumi."

And, for what was the first and is probably the last time, Yusuke noticed and deduced something that Kurama did not. And whether his plan to make Hiei a bit happier succeeded or failed could hinge totally on that one factor. And it was there, hidden in what she had named her children.

As to what Yusuke has figured out, look closely at the names of Moriko's four remaining children (all of whom are male, BTW), and see if you notice anything. Then look closely at the names of her other two children, and you might find something (depending on how much Japanese you know; I don't really know any at all, but my friend gave me the idea for the Japanese part). :)

Thnx, please review!

ForbiddenChildLover64