Suprise!

Chapter 6

Sweet Child O'Mine


Thanks to all that have made this possible. Thanks especially to my beta, without her, you would be reading a really bad story.

THIS IS THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER!

Read and review, and as always, I hope you enjoy!!!

Kurama awoke a couple days later to an unusual noise coming from outside their bedroom door. He turned in the bed to look at his mate, only to see that Yusuke was shockingly not in the bed. Kurama was baffled by this sudden change and slowly staggered out of bed. He opened the door to see Yusuke sitting on an office chair yelling instructions to the various monks and demons scurrying around the house, trying to follow his instructions perfectly. Yusuke had entered the nesting cycle of his pregnancy and was using his status as Raizen’s heir as effectively as possible. Kurama never thought that dirt walls could look that shiny, but apparently they could. With Yusuke’s colorful language and anatomically impossible threats, it was no wonder the demons had found a way to make the dirt walls clean.

“Chu! You missed that spot to the left!” Yusuke barked at the hung-over demon before him.

“Mate, I’m tellin’ ya, I most certainly cleaned that spot.”

“Yes but you only scrubbed it four times instead of five. Now you have to do it all over again!”

Kurama could see the desperation in the demons’ eyes, and so decided to have mercy on them.

“Yusuke, love?” Kurama said softly behind his lover.

“What?” Kurama could tell that Yusuke was tired even if the stubborn demon wasn’t going to admit it anytime in the near future.

“Yusuke, I can tell that already you are running low on energy. You need to rest. After all, we are going to have our kits within the next month.”

Yusuke looked upset by Kurama’s logic, but couldn’t argue with it, seeing as he was tired. He had been scooting around in an office chair and yelling for the last few hours.

Kurama guided Yusuke to the couch, where Yusuke laid down, his head resting on Kurama’s lap as the other demons continued to clean all around them.

“Lord Yusuke,” Hokoushin said, running back towards Yusuke.

“What?” came the irritated and groggy response.

“Lord Mokuro and Lord Yomi are on their way. They called an urgent meeting between the three demon lords. At their current speed, they should reach here in about an hour.”

Yusuke sighed loudly and attempted to get off Kurama’s lap, when he felt his lover’s arms pull him back down to him back down.

“Yusuke, they are not going to arrive for a while, so you should get your rest. While Yomi and Mokuro will understand certain weaknesses while pregnant, I am sure that you don’t want to appear any weaker than you are to the Lords. Hokoushin, will you please explain Yusuke’s situation to the Lords upon arrival. I’m sure Yomi at least has heard of Yusuke’s situation but Mokuro may not have heard.”

“Yes, Lord Kurama.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yusuke slowly walked to the building next to Raizen’s fortress that was used for meetings with the demon Lords. Kurama walked behind the waddling demon as Yusuke put a hand to his back and made his way there.

They both walked into the room. It looked much like the room that Yomi met Yusuke in, only it looked more rustic and unfinished as everything in Raizen’s domain did. Kurama helped Yusuke sit down on the cushion, where Yusuke sat cross-legged using Kurama for support. He looked over at the two other demon lords sitting before him, both looking mildly surprised at the sight, or sound, of Yusuke.

“The rumors are true, I see,” Mokuro said from her sitting point.

“Yes, and by the sound of it, you are carrying quads, correct?” Yomi asked upon inspecting the Mazoku.

“Correct. Look, you guys both know how blunt I am, so let’s get right to the fucking point, kay? I’m tired, I don’t want to sit here, and no offence to you guys, I don’t feel like spending my time on this shit.”

All of the demons chuckled lightly at Yusuke’s bluntness. Mokuro and Yomi had suspected that Yusuke might be this way when they heard that their fellow lord was pregnant. Neither Yomi nor Mokuro would sacrifice their life for the demon infront of them, and neither were particularly loyal to him, but there had long since been a silent agreement between the three kings, that if anything was to threaten any of their thrones besides one of the lords themselves, that they would help protect the domain. Plus, they liked Yusuke.

“Yusuke,” Yomi began, “there have been many rumors spreading about a particular band of demons that have been gathering together in order to attack the three kings.”

“Well, that’s rather stupid. The three of us really don’t have any say in anything. Hell, we’re not even kings anymore, so what the fuck is the point?”

“Many demons are still loyal to the three, and will always consider us to be the real rulers of demon world. This is more apparent in Mokuro’s and I’s case then yours, considering that you are not an original king, but one that took over Raizen’s. That being said, it seems as though this band of demons resent you for changing demon world so drastically. The way they see it, everything was fine until you showed up and started this whole tournament thing. Anyway, they are gathering a band of A and S class demons to try and take your territory.”

“Lovely. What is it that I should do?” Yusuke was not happy about any of this. The only reason he had originally come to demon world was to protect his kits and hopefully keep his stress rate down. Yeah, that was fucking working.

“Heighten your security, especially after your children are born,” Mokuro said calmly.

“Why right after the kits are born?”

“There is a possibility that the demons may be extremely cut-throat and will use the kits as leverage,” Kurama
surprised them all by being the one to speak.

“Yes, the bandit gang used this tactic a couple of times,” Yomi said.

Yusuke looked over his shoulder at his mate and asked, “You did that?! Seriously?!”

“…Yes. It was Youko who did this, but that doesn’t stop the fact that it was me.”

“The point is,” Mokuro said irritably, “you will need to be extremely careful until you get your original strength back. After you gain strength, Yomi and I are more than happy to join you in the fight against them. We will each send you five A Class demons warriors to watch your furthest borders until then. Is that alright with you?”

By this time Yusuke was really, really uncomfortable. He didn’t care if there were demons after him, or if Santa Claus was standing behind him with a knife, he just wanted to get out of there. His back was aching,
his ass was hurting, and his stress was spiking far too high.

“That sounds great. Now I’m sorry, but unless you two have anything else, I really want to get going,” Yusuke said while awkwardly getting up with Kurama’s help. He never heard or waited to see if they had to say anything else, but started to walk out before saying, “One more thing. Kurama and I are still unsure where we are going to live, so if I’m gone, you are to bring all problems to Hokoushin. He’s the leader when I’m gone.”

As Yusuke and Kurama walked out the door, Yomi turned to Mokuro and said, “Those will be some interesting children.”

“Yes. With Yusuke’s strength, and Kurama’s outward calm, those children could be some of the strongest demons of their time.”


Right after Yusuke entered the door into Raizen’s palace, he was ordered by at least three demons and one human to rest. He grumbled but did as he was told, even though it was really beginning to piss him off. He wasn’t as weak as everyone seemed to think he was. After all he was Raizen’s heir and an S Class demon, but that never seemed to cross anyone’s mind while he was pregnant. He was tired of being told to rest, to sit down, to not worry about anything.

He could take this patronizing attitude from most people, but the one person he couldn’t stand hearing it from was Kurama. He had found that recently Kurama had been treating Yusuke like a child. While Yusuke was now absolutely certain that Kurama was going to make a great father, but Yusuke was not a child. Yusuke had basically been an adult since the age of thirteen when he started basically living on the streets. So why the hell wasn’t anybody treating him like one? Just because he was pregnant with children, didn’t mean that he had become one. Damn he was starting to want this over with.


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“Yusuke,” Kurama said softly, as he kissed his mate on the forehead. “Yusuke, time to wake up.”

“Since when have any of you demons tried to deprive me of sleep?”

“Since we put together a party for you.”

“A party? Why the hell are you throwing me a party?”

“Yusuke, today’s your birthday, don’t you remember? You’re turning 28.”

“Holy fuck!” Yusuke said loudly as he attempted to shoot up, making the sleeping Puu next to him wake up in a startled explosion of feathers.

“Yes, Yusuke, everyone is here for your birthday. The normal group of guards are here along with Genkai, Koenma, Boton, and your mother.”

“Ma’s here?”

“Yes, she arrived with Genkai around an hour ago.”

“What the fuck time is it?”

“It’s four in the afternoon.”

“Well shit. I’ve been asleep for sixteen hours.”

“Yes, so why don’t you get up and enjoy your birthday party?”


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When Kurama and Yusuke walked into the living room, Yusuke saw, for the first time in a long time, all his best friends in one room. Chu and his mother were already in a drinking contest, Jin was drunk, and doing a Spiderman impersonation on the ceiling. Juichi and Genkai were talking pleasantly while Koenma was trying to avoid getting hugged (strangled) by Chu. Shizuru was chatting with Boton, while managing to piss of Hiei who was managing to piss off Kuwabara. It was just what Yusuke had expected it to be like.

“Yusuke!” Koenma said in surprise. “You’ve certainly grown a lot.”

“Yeah, well that tends to happen. You, move!” He said to the drunk Jin, who was now sprawled on the couch since falling off the ceiling moments before. Jin slid off the couch with a thud before mumbling something unintelligible. Jin could be hard to understand regularly, but when he was drunk, he could have been speaking a foreign language.

“Yusuke,” Hokoushin called over, “there is someone else here to see you.”

“Huh.”

Yusuke looked over his shoulder and saw Enki and Kouku standing there.

“Hey, Raizen Jr. happy birthday. Kouku and I heard about your pregnancy and we wanted to come by before you pop!”

“I don’ really give a damn a’out you, but ‘is oaf made me.” Kouku said to him.

“Don’t listen to her, I came by to say hi and give you this.” He handed Yusuke and oddly shaped package. Yusuke opened it up, and saw two things, an old, sheathed, dagger, and an odd necklace.

“These belonged to Raizen before he met your ancestral mother. The dagger was his favorite weapon for hunting… let’s just call it dinner. He cast it aside whenever he stopped. The necklace is a protective amulet that he had worn long before I every met him. I don’t know what power it possesses or how he got it, but I thought that they were the kind of things that would be passed down the family line.” Yusuke was shocked, and couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing. Both of those items had to be well over 900 years old, and yet they both looked very good.

“Th-thank you,” he managed to choke out.

“No problem. Raizen and I never got to reconnect, but I really got to know you. You remind me of him a lot.”

Yusuke was about to thank him, when a loud drunken explosion startled them all. It seemed as though Kouku had beat the crap out of Chu, which pissed off Atsuko.

“I always wondered what would happed if those two were to meet,” Yusuke mumbled. “Hey, ma, give it a break.”

“Yes Kouku, listen to Yusuke. You two should probably stop that fighting.” Kouku responded by looking Atsuko dead in the eyes, reaching over and grabbing her scotch off the table and downing it.

“No way, that bitch drank the last of my scotch,” Atsuko yelled, drunkenly lunging towards Kouku.

“Raizen Jr., I think Kouku and I are going to leave now. Have a happy birthday, and have fun with the kits.”

“Yeah, that’s right, run away!” Atsuko yelled at Kouku.

“Bring it bitch! I could take your fat-ass any day,” Kouku managed to say before being dragged out of the castle by her extremely patient husband.


The rest of the night was just as entertaining. It ended with almost everybody passed out on the floor, except of course Kurama and Yusuke. Yusuke had gotten a lot of presents and love from everybody. He was glad that his mom and Genkai were able to come down and was even happier when he heard that they were both going to stay there until after he gave birth. Yusuke was happy knowing that he had grown up as an only child with only his mom and now he had a family that was almost too big.


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“Ow… this sucks,” Kuwabara said the next morning.

“Stop. Talking. Hurts. Too. Much,” Koenma said weakly from where he had passed out on the kitchen table.

“Koenma, suck it up, and get the fuck off the table,” Genkai said. She pushed the demigod off the table and mumbled “That’s the last time alcohol comes into the palace so long as Yusuke’s pregnant.”

“Actually,” Yusuke said from the doorway, “no alcohol was supposed to come in at all. Who the fuck brought it in?”

“That would be me,” Atsuko said from the floor. “Sorry Yusuke.”

“Shouldn’t you be sitting down,” Genkai scolded softly.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said as he sat down and began eating pancakes. “Juichi said I could walk a little, just not too much.”

“Good morning,” Juichi said briskly as she walked into the kitchen.

“Speak of the devil and you get a fish-eared demon instead,” Yusuke said.

“Yusuke, I should examine you in a couple of minutes,” Juichi said in between sips of coffee.

“Speaking of that, how far along are you, Yusuke?” Atsuko asked.

“I’m due in about two weeks, although we really aren’t sure when exactly Kurama and I, well, you get the point. So really it can be any day now.”

“Wow. I remember whenever I was eight months pregnant with you. You were one hell of a kicker, and all the way through the pregnancy I had morning sickness.”

“I can honestly tell you from the depth of my heart that I am really sorry.” Yusuke said as he moved to try and sit more comfortably. “These four have been acting up although not as much recently since they found a new squeeze toy, a.k.a. my bladder.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that. You were also a week late; that was not fun for me.”

“Oh, don’t say that! That is like the worst horror story ever,” Yusuke said as he rubbed his taunt abdomen.

“Actually, I hate to break it to you, but the longer your kits stay in the better it will be for them. They need to grow as much as possible, so two weeks late would be good for them,” Juichi said.

“Oh, man,” Yusuke said. “I really, really don’t want to be pregnant that long. I already want them out.”

“Have you and Kurama thought of any names,” Koenma asked.

“Well, not really. We don’t have any idea what the kits’ sex is going to be so we can’t really plan any names. The only thing I can think of his honoring Keiko in some way, but I don’t think that I could name one of my kit’s that and I think that Kurama would hate the idea.”

“What about Kei?” Boton suggested from the doorway.

“Kei… I think that could work,” Kurama said from behind Boton.

“Hey, fluffy, how long have you been there?”

“A few minutes,” the fox responded as he kissed his mate on the top of the head. “So, Kei is it? I think that it is a fine name for one of the kits, but may I request that if we have a boy we name him that? You know how…”

“I understand, Kurama,” Yusuke said. “I think that it’s a wonderful idea.”

“So, are you excited, Yus-chan?” Shizuru asked as she grabbed a mug of coffee.

“Well… I’m so excited to see them, to meet them. I can’t wait to raise them and yet, I’m terrified. I’m terrified of screwing them up or that I’ll do something to harm them.”

“I know you’ll do fine, Yusuke,” Touya said.

“But how the hell could you possibly know that?”

“Yusuke, you have helped all of us. Look around this kitchen, with the exception of your mother, you are not blood-related to anyone here. And yet here all of us are, supporting you and helping you, because you have
always been there for us. We are your family,” Shizuru said before lightly smacking Yusuke and adding “You’ll be a great father.”

“Dad,” Yusuke corrected. “Kurama is going to be ‘father’, and I’m going to be ‘dad’. I really didn’t want to be called ‘mom’.”

“That makes sense. You still haven’t decided where you are going to live yet, do you?” Genkai said.

“We really don’t know yet. I’ve made some phone calls and preparations while I was in the Ningenkai just in case.”

“So basically, you’re mostly prepared for anything whenever the time comes.”

“Yeah, but really, I would rather that time weren’t for a while,” Yusuke said with a tired grin.


The next day, Yusuke went into labor.


Kurama and Yusuke were up late that night watching TV together. Yusuke had woken up from a four-hour nap only three hours before, so while Kurama began to drift off, Yusuke was still wide awake. He was watching the movie “Bird on a Wire” because he was that bored. It was one of the few action-ish movies he could tolerate, and he was just getting to one of his favorite scenes. The main character walked into a bank to withdraw some money, and end up robbing the bank without meaning to. The characters were just running out of the bank when Yusuke felt an odd pain in his abdomen. It was a steady ache joined with muscle spasms. He finished the movie, but the pain was still there. That was when he was beginning to worry. He knew it was no use to worry everybody if it was just a false labor, so put in the movie, “Sgt. Bilko.” After that movie was finished the pain was kind of still there, but not to a large degree. He still thought it would be good to tell his mate anyway.

“Kurama,” He said weakly.

“Yusuke, what’s the matter,” Kurama asked sleepily.

“Kurama… I think I might be in labor.”

“What?!”

“About two hours ago I started feeling an ache in my stomach, but now I feel like I might be having contractions. They feel like muscle spasms almost.”

“Okay Yusuke, I’ll go get Juichi and you stay here.”

“Okay,” Yusuke nodded, settling further into the couch.

“Yusuke,” Juichi said, “when did this start.”

“About two hours ago.”

“Okay, Yusuke, I need to put my hands on your stomach, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Kurama was rubbing Yusuke’s shoulders and saying words of encouragement to his stressed lover.

“Yusuke, are you still feeling the pain.”

“Not really, it seems to have mostly gone away.”

“Yusuke, it looks like what you had was a false labor. It was probably brought on by a lot of stress. This last week has been really stressful with Mokuro and Yomi’s visit along the party and Genkai and Atsuko’s stay. You just need to remember to try to stay stress free. And I’m sorry, but this time you need to be on full bed rest. I’ll have Kuwabara move the TV and the couch in your bedroom that way you can still hang out with your friends. You can’t really get up except to stretch and take a bathroom break. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.”

Yusuke looked up at Juichi with a resigned look and said, “I understand.”

“Oh, and one more thing, unless you have to, you should restrain from certain kinds of… pleasurable activity. The only exception of course is from the side-effect from the pregnancy.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Yusuke and Kurama slowly walked to their room, and laid on their bed, Kurama spooning behind him.

“Are you alright, Yusuke?”

“… Yeah, it just… scared the hell out of me. I… I guess it just really made this whole thing real for me. I just finally understand that we are going to be parents. I guess… I realized… how much I want this. I knew I wanted kids, but I guess now I just realized how much. God… we’re going to be parents,” he turned his head and looked at Kurama. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, Yusuke, I’m fine. I just had the same experience as you did. I realized just how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our kits.”

“Yeah, same here.” Yusuke looked back at him and said “I love you, Kurama.” Yusuke placed a hand on his stomach and looked down. “And I love you guys too, more than you will ever know.”


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Yusuke looked over at his friends. They were sitting on the couch which was now near his bed and Chu said “Look ‘ere mate, are ya sure you’re a’right?”

“Yes, Chu, I promise you, I’m doing fine. Juichi said it was just a false labor probably spurred from too much stress.”

“Well, then how should we keep your stress down?” Touya asked.

“Nothing much, just continue to be careful and keep your guards up when you’re on guard duty.”

“Alright, that sounds good,” Rinku said.

“Is Kurama going to stay on guard duty after you give birth,” Touya inquired.

“I’m not sure. I think for the most part he is going to stay with me and the kits, but I’m sure that if Kurama has the chance he might try and do some guard duty, but I can’t say for sure.”

“ ‘At sounds like Kurama. Mate, I do have somting to tell ya though,” Chu said carefully, Yusuke knew that Chu was trying tell him something important.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Well, I’m not sure if I can really stay ‘ere after you give birth.”

“Why?”

“Well, my wife, Natsume, actually gave birth ‘bout a year ago. I’ve been able to see my son a couple of times
since comin’ here, but I want ta go home and see m’ son.”

“Jesus Christ, Chu, I didn’t know you even had a son! Of course you can go home. Fuck, why didn’t ya tell me?!”

“Well, I knew ya would tell me ta go back home and I din’t feel like it. I wanted ta thank ya for everyting ya
done for me.”

“Go home, Chu, you should go see your wife and your son.”

“I’m not leavin’ ‘till ya pop.”

“Fine, but after that, you’re going home.”

“Fine.”


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Almost everyone was crammed into Yusuke and Kurama’s room as they all swapped stories and ate dinner. Yusuke was leaning against the headboard, Kurama sat at the foot of the bed, and Puu was lying next to Yusuke with his head resting on his lap. Chu, Jin, Hiei, Genkai, Shizuru, Atsuko, Hokoushin, and Juichi all sat at the couch or on the floor next to the coffee table and ate the dinner Juichi had made for them. That demoness may be one kick-ass chick, but she also knew how to cook a kick-ass meal.

“If you have to go back to the Ningenkai,” Atsuko asked, “what will you do for a living? I know that Kurama can always go back to work as CEO of his company, but I don’t think that he’ll want you to work as a demon-hunter anymore.” Yusuke hated it when his mom made legitimate points and asked good questions.

“Well… I’m not sure. For the first few years I will have to stay home and take care of the kits, I don’t know of many people willing to babysit four demons all at once.”

“Because most humans don’t like to baby-sit more than three demons at a time,” Shizuru said sarcastically.

“You know what I mean. After that, I honestly don’t know. I don’t think I can do what Keiko wanted me to do which was run the restaurant. I’m not a half-bad cook, but I can’t do that kind of mindless work after being a demon-hunter so long.”

“You dimwit,” Genkai said, “you have a job.”

“What do ya mean, grandma?”

“When I gave you all my power, I passed it on to you so you could pass it on. While you can’t teach many people, you can earn enough money doing that.”

“… That’s not a bad idea. It would keep me active like I need to be, but I won’t be put in danger.”

“I would agree with it, plus you can teach the kits,” Kurama added.

“But what happens if another Toguro or something comes along? Are you going to take up your old job and protect us, or are you going to let someone else handle it?” Once again it was Atsuko who said this, and Yusuke found that he almost wanted to get his mom drunk if it would stop her from asking good questions.

“That depends on the situation.”

“Like what?” That was it, Yusuke was going to shove booze down his mother’s throat, bottle and all if necessary.

“Well… what the demon’s class was, who else was available as a fighter, and, well, probably Kuwabara’s age, otherwise I’m going to make him to my dirty work.”

“Urameshi!”

“What?! I thought you would want to fight as long as you can.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing except that as a demon I will most likely live longer than you.” Everybody got quiet for a minute,
before Shizuru said “Not the way you live kid, King Yama will probably sit on you for cussing him out.”
Chu snorted on his chicken before saying, “knowin’ King Yama, he’s pro’ally planin’ on doin’ that already, mate.”

Everybody snorted into their food at that one, except for Yusuke who was throwing his chicken at Chu. Chu dodged it well until he accidently stepped on one of Rinku’s yo-yos, falling forwards on the table landing face first into the pudding. Juichi held his head in the pudding until they worried he might choke, as everyone else around them laughed their asses off.

After everyone recovered, Yusuke shifted uncomfortably on his bed, making everyone look towards him.

“What? I’m uncomfortable. Is anything else new?” Yusuke asked irritably.

“Oh, don’t bite our heads off Yus-chan or we’ll sick King Yama on you,” Shizuru retorted.

“Look, I’ve cussed King Yama out before and he never sat on me.”

“Really, this is your defense? That you’ve managed to cuss out a god before and not be sat on? Really, this isn’t as impressive as I think you think it is,” Shizuru said sarcastically.

“…shaddup.”

“I think she has you there, detective. The only person slower than you is that big oaf over there, and that’s not much of a compliment,” Hiei said with a smirk.

“Look here, Hiei, I’m not as dumb as you seem to think I am,” Kuwabara said loudly as he stood up with his voice raised.

“Oh really? I believe that I am correct in my assumption.”

Kuwabara lunged towards the demon, but was stopped by Jin.

“Look here, yer don’ wanna be doin’ stuff like that. I be thinken’ you should be calmin’ down.”

“Don’t try to stop him, it’s not like he could ever even touch me, after all, he’s just a human” Hiei said overconfidently.

“Oh yeah? What about Urameshi, you were never able to beat him when he was a human. I’ve never been able to beat him, but I’m just a human, what’s your excuse?”

“I think I might help you with that death wish you so obviously have,” Hiei hissed as he took out his katana.

“Bring it on, bitch!”

Hiei glared daggers at the human. He was about to comply with the request and lunge at him, but he was suddenly hit in the face with the rag Chu had used to wipe off his face. Hiei swung around making the rag and residual pudding fly off his face before looking at Genkai.

“Settle down, Hiei, or do I have to ward you?”

“Hm.” Hiei said, before trying to walk out of the door with what little dignity his pudding-covered face would allow.

Yusuke was laughing quietly with the rest of them before looking down at his plate of food. He found that he just wasn’t hungry and that he was beginning to get really tired. He had managed to stay awake that day for almost 20 hours which for him was almost unheard of. Kurama must have seen Yusuke’s fatigue because all of the demons slowly filed out of the room until only Atsuko, Genkai, and Kurama were the only ones in the room. Yusuke looked over at them and asked, “Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Nothing much. We just wanted to make sure you didn’t want anything else before nodding off to sleep,” Atsuko said as she slowly cleaned up the mess.

“Nah, I’m good, Ma.”

“Okay. Well, have a good night,” she said as she made her way out of Yusuke’s room along with Genkai. After she
closed the door, she looked to the older woman before asking, “Is it just me, or had his aura changed slightly?”

Genkai looked over at the woman for a minute before saying, “… yes, I think you are correct. I believe that tonight is the night Yusuke will begin labor.”

“Yes, I do believe you are right.”


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Yusuke settled down on his bed, getting ready for sleep. He found that he was really tired. He looked over at Puu and patted his head before saying, “I’m sorry I made you this weak Puu. Hopefully this will all be over soon.”

“Yusuke, I’m sure Puu is alright with this.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Yusuke lay on his side, looking at Puu and petting through his feathers. Kurama lay behind him, his hands resting on Yusuke’s stomach. As Yusuke drifted to sleep, Kurama rubbed Yusuke’s growing abdomen. Kurama just lay down, thinking about Yusuke, and what their kits were going to be like. He couldn’t wait until he was going to be a father.

He knew he was going to love every moment of it. Well maybe not every moment, but a lot of them. He was excited for Yusuke and himself. The one thought that he hated thinking about: Yusuke giving birth. Every time he thought about it, it made his stomach jump. He had seen Yusuke in fights where he had been in horrible pain.

There was one difference though, Yusuke was always fighting an opponent then and after the fight ended, the pain would start to fade away. Yusuke could heal himself, or someone could do it for him and he would be done, but this time it was different. Yusuke was going to be in pain from something that he couldn’t just defeat, or something that Genkai couldn’t just heal. Kurama didn’t want to see his mate in pain, especially when he couldn’t do anything to stop it. Kurama would stand by Yusuke the entire time and try his best to help him. He would always stand by Yusuke’s side. He would always try to help his mate.


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Yusuke woke up five hours later to that familiar muscle spasm-ish feeling he had experienced a week ago. The ache was small but definitely present. In his sleep, Kurama had rolled to the other side of the bed, most likely because it had gotten to hot for the kitsune. With nothing more than a small peep from Puu, Yusuke was able to climb off the bed silently, and stretch. He stood for a couple of minutes, trying to steady himself, before pacing back and forth in his room. He tired quickly from the pacing but sitting down only made the aching worse. About two hours later, that aching had spread further up his back and down his hips. He still hadn’t woken Kurama up. Kurama had been awake most of the day before, and Yusuke didn’t want to disturb him for what he was sure was just a false labor. He still had another week left, right? All of those doubts left though when he felt the liquid tickle down his legs and splash on the floor below.

Kurama woke up when he heard his mate mutter “Aw, fuck” from across the room. He looked around sleepily until he a bleach-like smell hit his nostrils. He shot foreword and looked at his mate. Yusuke was covered in a thin layer of sweat and his hair had obviously grown since the night before.

“Yusuke, are you-“

“Yeah. I’m almost positive my water just broke.”

“How long have you been up,” Kurama asked while he got out of the bed.

“About two-and-a-half hours.”

“That long! Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I was sure that it was just a false labor, but apparently it wasn’t.”

“I’m going to get Juichi.”

“No, Kurama don’t,” Yusuke said as he grabbed the fox’s sleeve, “I don’t want her to get up until later. She said that it will take at least ten hours until the first kit is in position.”

“Fine, but once the sun rises, we are waking her up. In the meantime, I think you should change your clothes. Why don’t you put on your robe and sit down?”

“I can’t sit, Kurama. I’m sorry I just can’t. It hurts so much worse.”

“Alright.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Three hours later, and the sun was slowly rising in the sky. As agreed, Kurama went upstairs to wake up Juichi. He walked up the stairs and down the hall and knocked lightly on her door.

“What do you want?” came the muffled question.

“Juichi, Yusuke has gone into labor.” Kurama heard a loud shuffling noise inside before Juichi opened her door.

“How long?”

“Around four or five hours.”

“Did his water break?”

“Yes.”

Juichi and Kurama quickly walked downstairs and went into Yusuke’s room. He was laying down on the couch trying to catch a little sleep. His hair was cut short and unevenly and his markings were darker and his claws were longer. Juichi kneeled next to the couch and said, “Yusuke, I need you to wake up.”

“No problem, I never really got to sleep.”

“Okay now, Yusuke, I have to examine you so bend your knees and lay flat you your back.”

Yusuke winced as Juichi began to examine the passage. It didn’t hurt that much, but Yusuke was beginning to realize how much this was going to hurt.

“Okay, Yusuke, you’re not dilated more then a centimeter or so. I’m afraid to say that this is going to take a little longer. How far apart are your contractions?”

“About an hour apart.”

Yusuke closed his robe and sat up. His hand went to brace his back, and he slowly tried to stand. Kurama helped him up and Yusuke stood slowly. A contraction hit, and he had to brace himself against Kurama in order to not fall over. It was more painful then all the others, and he found himself moaning loudly into Kurama’s shoulder. Yusuke did the breathing as he had been taught, and finally it stopped. Yusuke turned around and saw that Touya and Jin were about to make their way into the bedroom.

“Is he in labor?” Touya asked.

“Yes. Maybe you guys should leave,” Juichi said.

“I can give him a back massage. It might help a little,” Touya offered. Everyone looked to the sweat covered mazoku who just nodded. Yusuke sat on the couch, and Touya sat behind him and gave him a massage, all the while giving off relaxing chi. Kurama couldn’t help but be jealous of the demon. He was able to help Yusuke even when Kurama couldn’t, and that pissed him off. Kurama thought about leaving for a couple minutes to go get Genkai, but when he tried to, Yusuke stopped him and said “Uh-uh, you’re not going anywhere. You did this to me so you sure as shit can sit through it with me.”

Kurama smiled lightly at Yusuke before saying, “Of course Yusuke.” Kurama couldn’t help but be happy that Yusuke needed him.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Two hours later most of the palace was awake. Hokoushin had accidently walked in during one of Yusuke’s examinations making both of them turn bright red from embarrassment. Yusuke had now walked over to the kits’ room and sat on his “birthing bed.” There were two different beds in the room, one large one for him, Kurama, and most likely Puu, and one that Yusuke was to give birth in. It was nothing more than a twin bed and was going to be burned after Yusuke had the quads in order to keep the room (and palace) cleaner. Yusuke was currently kneeling on the floor, head in Kurama’s lap, attempting to escape some pain. He had no idea why he was sitting like this. It had been hell trying to get down on the floor, and he knew it was going to be hell getting back up, but for some reason that’s what his instincts were screaming at him to do.

Yusuke was beginning to get really tired, and starting to feel a lot of pain. He had been in labor for over seven hours and his contractions had started getting closer together and much worse. He couldn’t stand at all during his contractions, and while he was kneeling by the bed he attempted to bend in half and groan in pain. The aching had spread all the way up his back, settled in his hips, and ended down his thighs. It was beginning to feel like when his hips had widened, only interrupted by horribly painful contractions. Under any other circumstances he would have killed whoever it was that was hurting him so badly, but killing his own kits was somewhat frowned on and difficult to do.

Genkai and Atsuko were now in the room with him, and Yukina was waiting outside, ready for whenever Yusuke gave birth. Yusuke would sometimes get a visitor or two, but for the most part, it just made everyone uncomfortable, especially when Kuwabara came in. That really sucked for all involved. For the most part, Yusuke didn’t really want anyone there, except Kurama and maybe Genkai. He still knew he needed everybody else around, but this was just an awkward situation.

“Yusuke, do you want anything else? I can get you some warm water if you want,” Atsuko offered.

“Nah, I’m fine. But can you go check on Puu? I know that this is gonna be rough for him.”

“Don’t worry about it. Kuwabara’s taking care of him as we speak,” Shizuru said from the doorway. “I thought you could use this warm water, and I wanted to make sure you were alright. How are you holding up, Yus-chan?”

“I’m doing fine for a guy that’s trying to shove a cantaloupe out of my ass.”

“Well good. I’ve always thought you should keep more fruit in the fridge, but I’m not sure who will eat it if it’s coming out of your ass.”

“Shizuru,” said Yusuke.

“What?”

“Shaddup.”

“Yes Yus-chan. You need anything, just let me know and I’ll be there for you.”

“Thanks, I’ll make sure to give you a call if I need a sarcastic comment or second-hand smoke.”

“Good, you know my specialties.” She waved at Yusuke and walked out of the door with a smile.

“That’s the happiest you’ve been all day,” Atsuko commented.

“Yeah, well Shizuru always has a way of making you feel better. We actually got to know each other pretty well
when… I was married to Keiko. She came over to the house a lot, and she actually helped me a lot after her death. I’m pretty sure that she was there for the cable TV and the free smokes though.”

“I do believe that would be a more accurate description,” Genkai said with a smile.

“Yeah. Kurama, can you help me up? I think I need to take a shower or something. Can we do that?” He looked over at Juichi expectantly, hoping to God she said yes.

“You are unfortunately at least six more hours until the first kit, so I think you will be good.”

Kurama helped Yusuke to the shower, where he turned on the hot water and helped him step into the shower. Kurama sat behind Yusuke, who sat between his legs, and held his lover tightly. They sat in the tub for all of ten minutes before Yusuke decided he would feel more comfortable standing up. Kurama stood, supporting Yusuke, and rubbing his abdomen, which he could feel had tightened a lot.

He could feel Yusuke’s abdomen suddenly tighten and held Yusuke’s hands while supporting him as Yusuke went through another contraction.

“G-goddamnit this hurts,” Yusuke said through gritted teeth as he leaned back on Kurama. “I really think that these kits should just stay in. Really, I’ll be okay.” Kurama just stayed quiet and supported his mate, both verbally and physically until they road through the contraction.

They stayed in the shower like that for around three hours. Yusuke and Kurama both liked showers, mostly because it was in a shower that they had consummated their relationship so many years before. The warm water felt nice over Yusuke’s abdomen, and he and Kurama spent the time just muttering to one another about what they thought their kits would be like. Yusuke used this time with Kurama to try and calm down some. He found that, while he knew his friends were attempting to be helpful, it was actually raising his stress level.

When he and Kurama finally climbed out of the shower, Yusuke was beginning to have contractions once every 30 minutes. Yusuke was somewhat relieved about that, it meant that he was getting closer and closer to seeing his kits in person. Juichi explained to him that by the looks of it he had easily four to five more hours to go. Yusuke groaned at that, but he was being encouraged by his mother and Genkai, and it’s not like giving up was even a choice. Yusuke lay on his bed for a while and tried to take mini naps in between contractions, and while that didn’t work very well, he did get at least a little rest that way. He would occasionally stand up and walk around, or kneel against the bed post, but he found that the time before his kits were born would be the slowest time of his entire life.


Five hours later, and unfortunately Yusuke was not going as quickly as anticipated. He was dilated only about three centimeters, so still had quite a while to go. He had been in labor for a grueling 13 hours and was exhausted. He had asked for Puu to be moved to his room where he was able to pet Puu, the repetitive motion soothing him. Juichi was reassuring Kurama, who was reassuring Yusuke, who was reassuring Puu, who didn’t really give a damn about anyone else. He tried to help Yusuke by handing him a washcloth, but unfortunately the spirit beast was not much stronger than Yusuke and was in just as much pain. Yusuke knew that it would be over eventually, but he just wasn’t sure how long that “eventually” would take.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Chu, Jin, Rinku, Kuwabara, and Shizuru all sat in the living room sitting on a replacement couch, and playing an old “LIFE” game, because really, they were that bored.

“What’cha ya think Kurama and Yusuke’s kit’s ‘ill be lookin’ like?” Jin asked as he moved his car foreword.

“I don’ know, but knowin’ their parent’s those kit’s will be strong as ‘ell,” Chu said as he spun the dial so hard it almost flew and his Shizuru in the face.

“That’s true. How much longer is it going to take for Yusuke to give birth,” Kuwabara asked as he retrieved the dial.

“Last time I talked to Genkai, she said that they had been hoping the first kit would be coming along sometime soon, but it looks like Yusuke’s body wants to drag this out,” Shizuru replied.

“I want to get home soon,” Chu mumbled lightly from where he sat.

“Why don’t you go home? I’m sure Yusuke will understand it if you leave to go and see your son. I’m sure he will be able to understand now better then ever.”

“I don’ wanna leave ‘till I see those kits. I ‘elped protect them, an’ I wanna see what they look like.”

“I think you ‘ave a point there. I be thinkin’ I wouldn’t want ter be leavin’ now either if’n I could avoid it,” Jin said. “Besides, Yusuke would want yer ter see his kits before ya left. He knows how much you’d be
lovin’ to see da kits.”

“All I know for sure is that I’m bored,” Shizuru said. “That, and that Yusuke will be fine, and his kits will be beautiful. After all, just look at their father. With Kurama’s looks, Youko’s intelligence, and Yusuke’s strength, I think those kits could easily take over the world,” Shizuru got up to leave, for a cigarette, and smiled to herself, knowing exactly how beautiful Yusuke’s kits would be.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Over the next four hours, Yusuke’s body had suddenly gained its second wind. He was dilated another four inches, and it goes without saying he was in more pain. Kurama was trying to rub a plant ointment on Yusuke’s back, which was helping slightly with the ache, but everyone knew that nothing would stop this particular pain.

Yusuke had been informed earlier that because of the placement of his anus, he would not give birth in the usual position of being propped on you back. Since there were no real records kept on how to give birth most effectively, Yusuke had been told to follow his instincts. That’s why, two hours later, at ten o’clock at night, Yusuke found himself kneeling on the bed, arms flung around the bed post, yelling as another contraction hit him full-force.

“Fuck damnit that hurts,” Yusuke yelled as his stomach became rock hard from the contractions. Yusuke was tired. No, that was an obvious understatement. Yusuke had been up for 21 hours, in labor. He hadn’t eaten anything in over 24 hours, so his strength was limited. At this point, everyone knew how important it was for Yusuke to deliver as quickly as possible.

“Yusuke, the first kit has moved into the birthing canal. When the next contraction hits, I need you to start to push,” Juichi said from her spot behind Yusuke. Kurama was torn between watching the birth of their child, and holding Yusuke’s hand. Both seemed too important to him, but it was only possible for him to do one at a time due to Yusuke’s particular angle. Yusuke made the decision for him when he ordered Kurama to watch, and Atsuko filled the place of holding his hand.

The next contraction hit and Yusuke felt the desire to push rush through his entire body. He pushed as hard as he could until he was afraid he might pass out before stopping to swear and pant for breath.
“You’re doing good, Yusuke, give me another push.”

Yusuke once again pushed as hard as he could when the next contraction hit.
“Yusuke, I can see the head crowning,” Kurama said in a mixture of awe and disgust. He knew that what he was looking at was the birth of his child, but unlike what some people said; child birth was not the most beautiful thing in the world.

Yusuke pushed again until Kurama saw shoulders, a stomach, and finally with one last push, hips legs and feet of his… son. Yusuke screamed loudly as he pushed out the last of their first born before relaxing some in his position. Kurama cut the umbilical cord, and Yukina quickly cleaned the screaming kit off before handing him to Yusuke who was now laying on his side on the bed. Yusuke held his son to him closely as he cooed and wiped away tears from his eyes.

“He’s perfect,” he said to Kurama, who could only nod in agreement.

Their son had Kurama’s deep red hair and Yusuke’s chocolate eyes, with Yusuke’s mazoku markings underneath his eyes. He had the cutest little fox-ears perched on the top of his head, and the most adorable tail in the world.

“Yusuke, you have about an hour before you start to give birth to the next kit. Demons are different in how they handle multiple births. You might want to use this time to feed your kit,” Juichi said before ushering everyone other than Yusuke and Kurama out of the room. “If you need us, all you need to do is call.”

Yusuke carefully sat up in the bed and opened his robe. He carefully and clumsily guided the kit up to his nipple, where the kit instinctually began to suckle. Yusuke winced lightly because it hurt a little, it felt weird and he was still pissed that he had breasts. Kurama wrapped an arm around Yusuke and kissed Yusuke chastely. Yusuke could tell that Kurama, like him had shed tears of joy at the sight of their son.

“I’ve wanted to meet him for so long. He’s nothing like what I imagined he would look like. He’s much more beautiful,” Yusuke said as his kit stopped suckling. “Kurama, someone needs to burp him, but I don’t think I have the strength right now…” Yusuke needn’t say any more as Kurama carefully lifted their kit and began to burp the baby.

Within minutes the baby had finished burping, and was on his way to sleep. Kurama placed the baby next to where Yusuke lay on the bed. Yusuke just looked tiredly at his kit as he lightly brushed over the baby’s arms, and kissed him on the forehead and cheeks.

For the next half-an-hour Yusuke and Kurama lay there with their kit, tears and smiles on their faces as they said hello to their first son, Kei. Unfortunately, right around the half-hour mark, just as promised, Yusuke really began to feel his contractions again like he had been hit by a sludge hammer, which he might have preferred.

Kei had been handed to Shizuru who carefully held the kit and took him into the living room for the others to see and so Yusuke’s screaming wouldn’t wake him. Yusuke kneeled back up against the bed post as he braced himself for the next few contractions. It only took 15 minutes before Yusuke began to push again. He screamed against the contractions as Kurama once more saw their next child being born. Again Kurama stood in awe as he saw a head, shoulders, belly, legs, and feet of his next child. It was an exact copy from the one before.

“It looks like we had identical twins, Yusuke,” Kurama said as he handed the kit to Yusuke, who began to nurse the kit.

“Yeah? Oh, he’s just as perfect as his brother. What should we name him?”

“How about… Rei?”

“Kei and Rei… I like it. Hello there, little Rei. How are you?” He cooed to the baby as he rocked gently back and forth. Yusuke was exhausted. He was so tired he was afraid he might pass out with his kit still attached to his breast.

After the kit was through eating, Kurama once more took the job of burping the baby as he let his mate get at least a little sleep. He rocked the kit to sleep, humming a tune lightly as he just stared at his kit. He had never been able to just stand and stare at someone for so long, but his kit was so beautiful he found it almost impossible to look away until he heard Yusuke whimper lightly. Kurama could tell the next of Yusuke’s contractions were on their way. He reluctantly handed the kit off to Shizuru who carried the kit so he could follow his brother.

Yusuke could feel some how that this one was going to be different, he couldn’t explain it, he just knew. It wasn’t until it came time for him to push that Juichi saw the problem.

“Yusuke, I’m afraid to say that this baby is breeched.”

“What?”

“It’s upside down. It’s going to be harder for you to give birth. You’re going to have to push harder.”

Yusuke pushed with all his might, but nothing really was happening. It took two more prolonged, painful pushes before he was able to push part of the kit out. It took three more pushes to get the kit entirely out, before Yusuke collapsed against Kurama in exhaustion. It was only with help from Kurama that Yusuke was able nurse their new kit. Another beautiful son, only this one had jet black hair like his dad’s and green eyes like Kurama’s. He didn’t have any markings on his body, but he did have fox-ears and a tail like Youko. During the nursing, Yusuke had managed to fall in and out of sleep, and after the kit had been pulled away from his nipple, he collapsed on the bed, almost immediately falling asleep. Alarmed, Kurama went out to see Juichi while he burped their newest son.

“I’m concerned for Yusuke,” he said to her. “I don’t know if he has enough energy to deliver the last one.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He could barely nurse this guy, and he actually fell asleep in the middle of it, then once it was over, he just collapsed on the bed. I’m not sure if he can even get up.”

“… That’s what I was afraid of. Records show that the last child a mazoku delivers zaps them of most of their demonic energy, but not only that, you might need to help him by giving him some of your own energy.”

“…Okay.”

A loud, startled, moan from the room caught their attention and as soon as their child was safe in the arms of Hokoushin, Kurama raced into the room with Juichi and Yukina. Yusuke was laying on the bed in a pool of sweat, mumbling curses half-heartedly under his breath. He was still on his side on the bed, so it looked like that would have to be the final position for Yusuke’s delivery. Kurama lay in the bed in front of him, and held Yusuke’s hand.

“Yusuke, look at me. You can do this. You’ve beaten the shit out of tons of demons, you can do this.”

“I hate to tell you this, Kurama, but the last time I felt this exhausted was in my first fight with Sensui and that fight didn’t end very well for me.”

“Yusuke, don’t be ridiculous, you’re going to be fine, you just have to do this. You’ve already done it three times.”

Yusuke gripped onto Kurama’s hands tightly as another contraction hit, and he yelled out in pain. Yusuke felt the yanking feeling that told him to push, and try as he might, he couldn’t manage to do it.

“Yusuke, you might need to tap into your demon energy for this. When this next contraction comes around, I need you to use both your muscles and your demonic energy. Can you do that?” Juichi asked.

Yusuke nodded weakly, and sure enough when the next contraction came along, Yusuke’s abdomen glowed with demonic energy as he pushed as hard as he could.

“The head is crowning, Yusuke, you’re almost there,” said Juichi.

“Come on, love, just a couple more pushes and this is all over.”

“I don’t see you pushing, fox-boy,” Yusuke snapped, as the next contraction hit. Yusuke clenched his teeth and growled as he pushed with demonic energy once more. The next push was his final as Yusuke yelled louder than Kurama had ever heard. All his demonic energy seemed to be used for that final push, and with that, their final kit was born. Yusuke’s demon markings disappeared as he lay, panting on the bed.

“Yusuke, we have a daughter.” Yusuke looked up slightly from where he lay at the screaming bundle Kurama was holding. Like the brother before her, she had black hair. Her eyes were gold like Youko’s, but unlike the others, she had no fox-ears or tail, instead she had the full markings of her dad. She was beautiful. With a lot of help and coaxing from Kurama, Yusuke was able to sit up, and feed his daughter. He was so happy that they had at least one daughter. She was, just like all of their kits, perfect. Yusuke fought his fatigue so that he could continue to watch his daughter, seeing as he had to stay in this bed anyway until he had finished delivering the placenta.

Forty-five minutes later, Kurama was wiping Yusuke’s legs, hips, and privates with a wet rag. Yusuke was not quite asleep yet, but he would be soon. He had already delivered the placenta, so the birthing process was officially over. Now, Kurama just had to finish wiping Yusuke off before carrying him to the other bed. All four of their kits were asleep in their room, and where Puu had made a nest for himself, four perfect eggs sat.

Once Yusuke hit the other bed, he was out. Kurama smiled lightly before kissing Yusuke on the forehead and saying, “You did an amazing job, Yusuke.” He looked over at his sleeping kits, and smiled broadly, before looking at his mate and smiling even more. This was his family, something he’d never truly experienced in either of his lifetimes. He realized that they were going to be there, hopefully as long as he was, and that this night had forever changed their lives. From then on, their lives would never be the same, but as Kurama snuggled in behind Yusuke he thought that their lives had been due for a change anyway, and this was the best it could get.

So... what did you guys think?
I'm sorry it took me so long to write this one, so I'm sorry it took me so long to write it guys.

Thanks especially to kit-kit, Emo_Panda, Hemamal, peeps, and Gypsy.

Read and review, and I'll see you next time for the last chapter of this fic. ((I will evantually write a sequel, but that may not be for a while.))