Thanks for the good reviews guys! I'm glad most of you have stuck with me this far!

As far as why they don't ask Koenma: In the Three Kings saga, King Yama didn't like Yusuke, Kurama or Hiei. Though Koenma would probably be willing to help, King Yama would still not be too thrilled with letting them anywhere near Spirit World... while they were still breathing. There are other reasons, but those are later.

I apologize in advance for sounding bitchy about this: There was one person who has expressed a dislike of Kairi (before she was in the story long enough to make her purpose known.) and called her a "pointless OC." My definition of a pointless OC is when you have fifty people running around who have no relation to the plot whatsoever other than hanging on to Kurama or Hiei. Kairi is here mainly for the humor. She has other uses, but I plan to use her mainly for that. It's kind of hard to work with a cast full of nothing but guys for a loooong story and keep the humor in (without recycling the same jokes from all my other fics) What're they gonna do? Tell dirty jokes or play "pull-my-finger"? Kai is a link to the age-old battle of the sexes, which happens to be my strong suit. As far as using the girls from the cast, they just don't fit into where this story is going. Botan works for Spirit World, I don't see her robbing it. Kayko, going by that time-line, is a newlywed. Yukina, is, well, Yukina, and I just don't see Shizuru or Genkai turning bandit. Further, I say this: I mentioned that she was coming back in the notes of chapter 6, and I said that I might do it before the story started.. That was plenty of time to voice a complaint. Now, I'm going to stop bitchin'...

I own nothing. Enjoy!

The crew sat around the "living room." Kurama and Kane were still sitting on the love seat, with Touya, Shishi, and Chu across from them on the couch. Jin was floating cross-legged beside Kairi's chair, and Rinku was sprawled out in the floor, with his head propped up on his hands. They all listened intently to the tales of the two legendary bandits, while Suzuka was searching for something in another room. Well, almost all. Kairi was trying her best to look interested, but she already knew every Yoko story there was...

Suzuka had told the boys that they were in need of two things. The first was his old map. There was another species of tree in the forest that looked identical to the one they needed. The only way to tell them apart was to taste the fruit, but, the "decoy" tree bore poisonous fruits. Their toxins would kill in a single bite. The map he had, marked the location of the orchard they were looking for. The second was a little more complicated, but they had decided to discuss that later.

The others had asked to hear about their adventures in the meantime, and Kuronue had dived at the opportunity to show off to Kairi. Kurama had known the routine, and was helping him lay it on thick, even though he knew it wasn't going to help...

"How did you get past that many traps?" asked a little boy in a state of awe.

"It wasn't easy. I thought we were both dead. Yoko spotted the stone carvings along the wall. There were switches in the indentions between 'em. All we had to do was hit 'em, problem was, that they were about 50 feet overhead...,"

'More like 30,' Kairi and Kurama were both thinking as Kane continued to talk. Kurama caught sight of Kairi's eyes, and he could tell that she was fighting back laughter. Kane didn't know it, but he was digging his hole deeper. If he would've stuck to the true stories, he may have stood a snowball's chance. If he kept this up, saying he had Frosty the Snowman's chance of backstroking 3 laps around the lake of fire, would be far too optimistic...

"Wot about that tale I 'eard 'bout you two gettin' swindled on that thieves guild test and still makin' it in?" a half-drunk Chu asked.

"The Thieves Guild? Oh, they tried to screw us alright. Back in the day, the guild master was known as the king of thieves, until we started to get a little popular. When people started to call us the best, he challenged us to take the entry test into the guild...," Kane said.

'Not this damned story again! I've heard this one every damned time I've been to the guild! I could prolly tell it better than he can!' Kairi thought. At least she wouldn't have to hear the other part of that story. The part where centuries later, someone broke their record. Kuronue didn't know that part of the story, and neither she, or Kurama, had plans on telling him. As he kept dramatizing the "animosity" between the two of them and the guild master, she headed to the kitchen.

"Leaving us?" Kurama asked.

"Be right back. I just need something to drink." When she returned, she had a fifth of Tequila Rose in her hand. Kuronue's eyes nearly left their sockets... as did Touya's.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Touya asked.

'Bad move...,' Kurama thought. He knew where this one was going...

"Toy, don't start. 'Sides, it's not even 40 proof," she said, twisting off the top. She had lied though. It was a lot stronger than 40, because she had added a few shots of 190 to it already. The secret ingredient that had made her, Chu, and Shizuru, best pals. Everclear. If she was going to listen to this, she needed something strong. She noted Kurama's sly look. He knew. He probably smelled it when she opened the bottle. 'Thank God he ain't a nark...'

Touya rolled his eyes and told Kane to continue. He didn't feel like interrupting for an all out family feud. 40 proof was like water for Kai anyway. He'd seen her go shot-for-shot with Chu a great many times. He still wondered where she learned to hold her liquor though...

"There was a tower about 6 miles north of the guild."

'3 miles,' Kairi thought, taking a swig. She closed her eyes when she did, so he wouldn't see her rolling them.

"No one that went in ever came out."

'Impossibly guarded with legions of phantoms from beyond the grave...'

"It was supposed to be impossibly guarded by legions of phantoms from beyond the grave."

'Traps of all kinds, blah, hell-hounds, blah, poisonous gas from the walls, blah, blah, perilous chasms full of snakes, blah, one false move certain death, blah-blah-blah-yackedy-shmackedy'

"And getting' past the phantoms was just to get to the door. After that, the whole place was filled with traps, and hell-hounds to chase you to 'em. There was poisonous gas that shot out from the walls, chasms over 70 feet wide,"

'More like 50,' Kurama and Kairi exchanged hidden smiles again.

"And if you fell in one, lights out. If the fall didn't kill you, the snakes at the bottom would. One false move, and it was certain death."

'I could write a book on this stuff... Hey! Maybe I could be an author now that I gave up the old 9 to 5... Wonder if I'd be any good...'

The boys were spellbound. Kairi was still faking it. She guessed being a woman doomed her to doing that whenever there was a man in the presence...

"We were supposed to go to the high tower and bring back a piece of a crystal that grew from the walls. We couldn't take a big piece, because the walls were..."

'Pressure sensitive. If the weight changed too much, it would've triggered another trap, causing the door, that was 30 feet away, oops, that's 60 in your book, to seal shut, and the floor would've dropped out from under you, and you would fall 200, 'scuse me, 450 feet onto a floor of spears and swords, impaling you... love how our dear ol' guild master left out that lil' bit of info when he sent us there...' Kairi finished the story in her head. She knew why Kuronue was adding on, besides the fact that men were just incapable of telling a "fish story" without spicing it up. She'd caught Kurama's signals earlier. He was trying to impress a girl. 'Wanna impress me, pal? Go 5 minutes without looking at my chest...'

Kurama was thinking again, too. Kuronue finding out that Kairi already knew the stories, would be bad enough, but when he found out that Kairi had been in that tower... Oh, this was going to be good... 'You needn't ask me to help you out of this either. You made your bed, and you'll end up lying in it.'

"I heard they gave you guys something special for passing that test," Rinku said. He hadn't heard many stories, not at his age, but he'd heard enough to know a few details.

"We got granted full access to everything in the guild. When you pass the test, you get basic membership, which pretty much means, you can walk past the gates and go to the bar. After a while, if you prove yourself worthy, you move up, start getting things like better rooms, free whiskey, that kinda stuff. The only man who had full access was the guild master. When he gave us that test, he placed a bet with us. If we could do it in 48 hours, we got in, basic membership, if we didn't, he got the pleasure of hanging us. We told him we wouldn't do it in 48. We'd do it in 24. And, we wouldn't go in as a team. We'd go one at a time. If we won, we got the same privileges he did. If we lost, we'd admit he was the king of thieves and tie our own damned nooses. Needless to say, we won."

The boys were still in awe. The girl was still bored. Jin piped up. "So, how d'ye tell the difference of who's got what'n'all kinds o' memberships?"

"By the crest on their hand," Kurama answered. "When you are granted entry, you are marked with a rank. You must show your crest to the guards as you pass from one area to the next."

"Yeah, like this." Kuronue held up his right hand, and the top began to glow. The boys soon saw a picture of some ancient crest on it. It was surrounded by writing in some language they had never seen before. The same one appeared on Kurama's hand. They were so mesmerized by this, that no one, save for Kurama, noticed Kairi placing her left hand over the back of her right.

The boys continued to tell fish stories for a few hours. Kairi got tired of listening shortly after the thieves guild was brought up. She told them that she needed to take a walk, and Touya hadn't objected, surprisingly. She went out the the woods in front of Genkai's.

She did her regular routine, not much more than a simple kata, and practiced her gymnastics. It wasn't long until she heard the voice.

"You know, you'd fight even better if you had someone to train with."

She turned to face Kuronue. He was leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest. The look on his face brought a smile to hers. He was sooo sure of himself. He reminded her of the type that usually wrote her off as a simple-minded, good, little girl. The kind who would come running to a big, strong, bad-boy like him.

This was going to be fun.

"You offering?"

"I'll be gentle."

"You're on."

Kuronue smirked as he strutted forward. He looked her over to decide how to do this. He didn't want to hurt the poor little thing. He decided he'd just pin her and let that be it. She'd probably end up making out with him within the hour...

"You ready?" he asked.

"Whenever you are."

"Then GO!" With that, he jumped high into the air. He was going to come down on her, probably tuck an arm under her so she wouldn't break when she fell, and put her on her back. That would be the round.

As he came down, he noticed that she wasn't moving. She had her arms crossed, and she was smirking a lot like he had been. She lowered her chin, and began shaking her head. He watched her put a foot behind her. She was going to step back when he landed. Like he hadn't seen that a million times before! And she could have at least waited until he got close! That was a dead-giveaway! He was nearly on top of her now...

'What?'

Just as he was about to make his move, the foot that she had brought to her rear, quickly moved to her front! She stepped forward, causing him to miss her altogether. This wouldn't have been a major problem, but before he could turn, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his left leg. She'd mule-kicked him, rather hard, right in the bend of his knee, causing it to give. As soon as that single knee hit the dirt, he felt something around his neck; her elbow. He was head-locked, and there was something sharp poking directly at his jugular vein.

In her most seductive voice, she said, "I think that's the round."

He was speechless. She had her left elbow yanking his chin toward the sky, and in her right hand, there was a dagger, a long dagger, and it was pointed right at his throat.

She released him, but he didn't make haste in getting to his feet. His knee was throbbing. Who knew heels could do that much damage? He sat on the grass, facing her, then plopped down on his back. He was still in shock...

He was even more shocked when she sat down astraddle on his stomach. She leaned in toward his face, then down to his ear. She let her hands work their way to the collar of his shirt. He may not have done it the way he'd planned, but he just knew he'd done it! He was going to get his prize anyway!

He heard that same seductive voice again. "Never judge a fighter's worth by the length of her skirt."

"Huh? Whoa-" She stood, catching him by surprise. The biggest surprise was that she still had a grip on his collar, and she yanked him to his feet as she came up.

"See ya," she said, as she started making her way back toward the cave.

"What the hell just happened here?" he asked himself. He was answered by the sound of laughter from the trees overhead. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough."

"Find the show interesting?"

"I was more concerned with figuring out how many ways I could restate the phrase 'I told you so,'" Kurama said, trying to keep from being overcome with laughter. He dropped out of the tree, next to Kuronue.

"Very funny. Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"I did try to warn you."

"You said I didn't want to play with her. You never mentioned a dagger, that from what I can tell, was designed for gutting. They start teaching that in demonic home-ec since I've been here?"

"From what I could tell, playing with her is exactly what you had in mind. There is much you still don't know about her."

"So, did you come all the way out here to get a good laugh?"

"Actually, I came here to tell you that Suzuka found the map. We are still in need of some assistance, though."

"As in?"

"We need another person. There is a great river that is said to be poisonous to those who touch it."

"They're big on poison, huh?"

"There is a bridge, but the switch is on the far side. We need someone capable of flying over to activate it."

"Let me guess, your wind master pal?"

"No. If someone as strong as Jin tried to get it, he would be caught before we made it through the gate."

"Then who else have we got?"

Kurama started walking, an evil grin on his face...

The bat's pride is wounded... Poor thang... And Kurama is lovin' it! He's not the one I'm torturin' for a change! Next chappie: They have the map, now who do they need? And, I give you fair warning, it prolly won't be next chappie, but within the next few, we'll be seeing the cutest little creature that ever lived. Think you can guess what it is? ;o) Till then, you know the drill!