Minutes passed before Koenma fully processed what Kurama was asking him. He knew exactly what the fox spirit was saying, what he couldn't fathom was…why? Of course while this wasn't the only turn Kurama had given him, it was the most surprising.

"Excuse me?"

For the first time in what he could remember, Kurama found himself hesitating. And in front of Koenma of all people. It wasn't that he felt superior to the young prince (he knew better than the other members of his team what Koenma could really do), but rather by Koenma's question, he was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea after all.

He had thought about it for weeks. After the Makai Tournament, his life (or rather his human life) had finally begun to settle down. There was no more need for fighting other demons and protecting his family, not that he would ever stop; but with all the peaceful goingons throughout the three worlds, it had suddenly dawn on the fox that perhaps there was no more need for secrecy. Perhaps it was time to tell his mother, a woman he loved dearly, who her son truly was. All the good…and the bad. Unfortunately, the whole truth involved a subject he knew she would not take well. Hence his presence in Spirit World, hesitantly repeating his question to the royal in front of him.

"Would you like to join me and my family for dinner?"

Koenma quickly glanced around as if he was being played some odd trick until he realized that Kurama was quite serious. Never in all his years has someone (no matter who they be) asked him to join them for dinner. And in the human world no doubt. And with family.

"What?" He had to ask again.

Kurama sighed. So much for the hope that Koenma would some how magically know exactly what he was asking and wanted. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself.

"I plan on telling my mother the truth about me. All of me. The human part…and the demon part. Unfortunately…both of those involve the truth of…"

With Kurama's sentence lingering off into space, the subject of this rather odd conversation suddenly hit the young lord.

"Ah. I think I understand now. You want me to tell your mother the truth of her son? The one you took over?"

He knew the prince probably didn't mean for the words to be quite sharp but Kurama couldn't help but wince.

"Yes."

Koenma closed his eyes for just a moment before looking back at the fox. "Do you fully understand what you are asking?"

Once again Kurama found himself hesitating to answer. Did Koenma's tone of voice imply he wasn't suppose to tell his mother the truth? Was there some law or rule in Spirit World that he didn't know about that forbid him? Of course that was silly since Kaito and the others had learned the truth of Spirit and Demon World during their fight against Sensui.

"I'm sorry?"

Koenma sighed. "Your mother loves you very much. Hearing this news, all of it, won't be easy."

Kurama licked his lips. "I understand."

The men stared at each other, as if challenging the other to reject the idea further.

"I still don't understand why I need to be there. Surely you can tell your mother the truth of…that."

He was right. He didn't need the Lord of Death. And while he knew Koenma's presence would most undoubtedly make the dinner even more awkward than talks of demons, Spirit Detectives, and tournaments; honestly, Kurama wasn't certain he could fully explain to his mother the truth. To this day, he still wasn't sure what happened that faithful day. Which was why he was hoping Koenma would be willing to help out. Though helping out was really something Koenma liked to do.

"I guess I feel it would be better coming from you."

Koenma guessed that was it. From the look in the boy's eyes, he knew he wasn't going to be able to change his decision. It was already made.

"Fine. What time do you want me there?"

A quick wave of relief washed over Kurama before answering. "Would around seven work?"

"Yes." Koenma bent over his desk to continue with his paperwork as if their conversation never took place. But Kurama still didn't leave.

"Um…."

"I know where you live, Kurama." The lord replied without lifting his head.

Giving a short nod, the fox left back home, praying to all the spirits that this would go well.

When Kurama had arrived home he quickly informed his mother that he had a friend coming over for dinner. He wasn't surprised by his mother's happiness. He had never had a friend come over for dinner. Not even Hiei. After all, a fire demon who couldn't get more than a 'hn' out of his mouth and despised humans wasn't the best of company. As he watched his mother prepare the food and his little brother Kokoda set the table, he realized that perhaps, rather than have all the information come out at once, he could give his mother one little heads up.

"Um, mother?"

"Yes, Shuichi?" Shiori answered as she set a plate of hot food on the table.

"I thought I should let you know. This friend that's coming over, he's, well…he's my boss."

The clanking of the silverware Kokoda practically dropped broke whatever silence would have come at this announcement. That was expected. It was one thing to have a friend come over for dinner, it was another for a boss. And on top of that, at the present moment in his human life, he didn't have a job. Not a real one and certainly not one that paid money.

"Oh." His mother replied.

"But, it's no worries." Kurama quickly said, hoping to smooth things over for the moment. "There's no trouble or anything."

"Why is your boss coming for dinner?" Kokoda asked.

Whatever feeling Kurama had to think that this was going to go smoothly quickly left when he realized that he really had no reason or even an idea as to why his boss would be joining them for dinner. Giving a quick sigh and apology to Koenma in his head, he said, "It's something he likes to do with his employees. He likes to know who the families are and what the household is like. You know, to make sure everyone's…okay."

Rightfully receiving a few blinks and stares from his family, they continued on with their tasks. Kurama glanced at the clock. It was already 6:30. His father should be coming home quite soon. Unfortunately, Koenma never told him what time he would be arriving. If memory served him well, the prince had a tendency for being fashionably late.

Oh dear. I do hope Koenma is going to look somewhat normal, Kurama quickly the Prince of Spirit World pop up at your doorstep dressed in royal clothes probably wasn't the best way to begin telling one's mother that her son was really a demon. At least he knew he didn't have to hope the prince would show up as an adult, or whatever that other persona of his was. A baby as a boss was not normal, no matter what world you were in. Even Botan agreed on that.

Kurama heard his father pull up the driveway. Seeing that his mother and brother had everything ready he quickly made his way up to his bedroom, hoping to try and calm his nerves.

He had fought countless demons, broke into and stole from Spirit World, and nearly died multiple times in tournaments. Telling his human mother the truth of everything was perhaps the hardest challenge of his life. But Yoko Kurama was never one to shy from a challenge.

"Yes, that's it." He said to himself. "I just need to see this as a challenge." He scoffed. Like that was going to be easy.

The doorbell rang. Kurama quickly rushed down the stairs hoping to get to the door before Kokoda or, heaven forbid, his mother beat him to it. It had to be Koenma and he wanted to talk to the prince first before they actually sat down for dinner.

When he finally reached the door he nearly tore it off its hinges. He let out a heavy sigh before being shocked. Koenma was actually dressed like a normal person (and as an adult). Grant it, he was wearing a nice suit and tie, but that was expected of a boss so Kurama was relieved to know he didn't have to worry about that. The only article of clothing that seemed out of place was the purple bandanna around his forehead. No doubt covering up his 'Jr'.

"Koenma."

"Kurama." The prince gave a small nod.

The fox stepped aside to let the prince into his home and for some reason, it felt honoring. He was still surprised Koenma even agreed to this but he was truly thankful. When he had asked Hiei for help the demon simply said it shouldn't matter. And for a demon, it shouldn't. But Kurama knew it was more difficult than that. Yusuke and Kuwabara would certainly be no help and really, considering the topic he was most nervous about, Koenma was really his only option. He was beginning to wonder if the young lord was doing this out of friendliness (if they were friends, which Kurama hoped they were) or some other ulterior motive. If so, Kurama would gladly accept whatever strings were attached. All he truly hoped for was that at the end of the evening, his mother did not hate him.

"Nice home." Koenma said looking around.

"Thank you."

The prince turned to the fox. "Are you sure you still want to do this?"

Kurama nodded. "I am."

Koenma sighed. "Very well. Lead the way."

"Um, Koenma?"

"Yes?"

"I might have told my parents you were my boss."

"I am your boss."

"Yes, I understand, but-"

"You're not sure how to begin this, are you?"

Kurama sighed. For all his years of wit and skill, he was lost. How do you being to tell your mother you're a demon?

"No worries. I have an idea."

Before Koenma could elaborate on his plan, Shiori entered the foyer with a smile, holding out her hand for her son's boss to shake.

"Hi. I'm Shiori. Shuichi's mother."

"Hello." Koenma said, taking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Koenma."

"Koenma?" The men blinked at her. "That's a very interesting name. Your parents must have been big fans of myth."

Koenma gave a light chuckle. "You could say that." Kurama never wanted to slap his forehead more than he did now. How could he have forgotten to make a cover story for Koenma's name or anything else about him? In his defense, he had been so worried about the whole idea of telling his mother the truth he didn't bother to take anything else into account. You're getting rusty there, fox. At least his mother hadn't commented on Koenma's headband.

"Shuichi never told us about his job before. To be honest, we just learned he even had one quite recently. I do hope our home is to your liking."

"Yes, it's quite lovely. I couldn't help but notice the omamori [1] outside your door. Is that yours?"

"Actually, that's mine." The three standing in the foyer looked behind Shiori to see her husband. "Well, it's my mother's. She insisted on us hanging it outside our house to protect us from demons."

"Really?" Koenma smirked at Kurama beside him, who was looking rather embarrassed. Koenma wasn't keen on this whole idea to begin with, but he had to admit, it was quite funny to see the infamous killer fox embarrassed by his human parents.

"Perhaps we should go ahead and eat." Kurama quickly said before anything else was spoken.

"Yes. Dinner is ready. We're happy for you to join us, Koenma." Shiori smiled.

"Thank you."

Kurama expected many events to take play during their dinner, but Koenma laughing alongside his parents over embarrassing childhood stories of him was not one of them. Within the last thirty minutes alone (and it was two hours in counting), Kurama threw every curse in every language he knew at the Lord of Death in his head. Why would a boss need to know about his bath times? No doubt the prince would use all this information against him later, something he should have taken into account.

"So Koenma," Kazuya spoke up, "why did your parents decided to name you after a god of death?"

Finally! Kurama thought. Hopefully now they could get to the real purpose of this dinner.

"Oh, well, my parents were very religious people and I guess they thought having the name Koenma would help bring balance into my life."

"What do you mean?" Kokoda asked. He wasn't stupid. He knew it wasn't normal for someone's boss, especially someone as old as his brother, to come over for dinner and meet the family, but he didn't care. This Koenma was a riot.

Koenma looked at the young boy. "Koenma is the son of Lord Enma, the Judge of the dead. He determines where you go when you die based on all your deeds. Good…and bad."

Kurama gulped. He could hear the underlying threat in the prince's tone and the look he gave at the corner of his eye didn't help. Yusuke and the others constantly tease Koenma (with perhaps a small right to) but Kurama knew better. But perhaps that was because he was more conscious of his actions in the past. For a demon like Hiei who had no ties to the human world and could truly care less, he didn't have to worry about his judgement. For a demon, all there was was death and hell. But Kurama wasn't like most demons. He had a family in the human world to love and protect and maybe a small part of him hoped that telling his mother the truth would help his judgement in the end. It was a silly notion really, but that was his job was really about. Perhaps now he did care for the human world and wanted to protect it, but before he didn't care all that much. Only of his human mother. When he agreed to work alongside Yusuke and all the Spirit Detective's adventures, he was doing so to help clear his crimes as Yoko Kurama and hope for a lesser judgement. He was notorious after all and according to Koenma, his rap sheet didn't look all that great, even for a demon.

But whether this evening helped clear his crimes, even a little, or not didn't matter. He was doing this for Shiori, his mother who loved him unconditionally and raised him from a weak human babe. He didn't need to care and the demon inside told him he shouldn't and to kill her. But he never could. He just could never understand how humans could be so loving of those they didn't know. It changed him (for the better he would like to think) and telling her the truth about himself, no matter how painful that might be, was the least, if not the most, he could do for her.

"My mother's very religious," Kazuya said. "She actually believes in all that demon and spirit stuff. She use to tell me stories as a kid. I never believed them."

"Really?"

Kurama nearly choked on his meal. Surely Koenma knew not to take that personally. But the prince just smiled.

"I mean, can you actually believe in a nine tailed fox?"

Koenma's smile grew wider. He slowly turned his head to Kurama who sat to his right, watching the young boy get more nervous by the second.

"Should you tell them? Or shall I?"

Shiori blinked. "Tell us what?" Koenma's behavior had just gotten stranger and now she was beginning to worry for her son's safety.

Kurama had begun to take deep breaths, wondering just where he should start. But Koenma beat him to it.

"There is something Shuichi would like to tell you. In fact, it's the whole reason for this dinner tonight. I had agreed to come along for…moral support." He looked at Shiori before turning back to Kurama.

Suddenly the air grew tighter in his chest and he came to realize that this was actually happening. It wasn't a plan or thought anymore. His mother was about to know the truth and who he really was.

You can still back out. No! Kurama knew he couldn't. They had come this far and his mother deserved this. Whether she wanted it or not was another matter. If she hated him and wished to never see him again, then that was okay. It would hurt, a lot, but at least he would not be out on the streets. He could go back to Demon World and live there. After all, a human body with a demon soul could live on for a long time. Look at Yusuke. At least this way, he would know for sure.

"Kurama?"

He blinked and looked up, realizing he had spaced out. Had Koenma just called him by his demon name? "What?" He blinked.

"He asked if you were alright, Shuichi." His mother said. Following that logic, perhaps Koenma hadn't said Kurama after all. Meaning his mother still didn't know.

"If you would please excuse us for a moment." Koenma stood up and quickly grabbed Kurama, leading him out of ear shot.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked the boy again.

Kurama nodded. "Of course. We've come this far."

"This is your last change. If not, I can erase their memories of this dinner and it would be like it never happened. If you still want to, we need to go back in there."

Kurama blinked. He had never heard Koenma sound so…paternal. And comforting. It was rather nice.

"No. I know what I need to do. I want to go back in there."

Koenma stared at him. "Very well. Let's go."

The two boys made their way back to the dinning room where Kurama's family was waiting, wondering what was going on.

Koenma took a few steps to the side, giving his favorite thieving fox center stage. Kurama took a few deep breaths, quickly going over the right words in his head.

"Mother, there is something I need to tell you. Something you need, and deserve to know." He looked at Koenma one last time for support he didn't know he wanted. The prince gave him a light nod. He looked at his mother and looked at her in the eyes.

"I'm not your son."

[1] Omamori- Japanese amulet or charm used to ward of evil or give fortune and luck.

Let me know what you think! Please! This is the first thing I have written in over a year because it kept gnawing at me. I am personally very happy with how this turned out (especially on the first try) and I love the little comedy moments I have in there. There will be a second chapter up soon. If Kurama seems OOC, I apologize.