Hi! This chapter is a little extra one I threw in for laughs. This should make up for all of the drama at the beginning and then some... Don't take this one too serious, considering I'm going on 25 hours without sleep and I'm so tired now that I can't go to sleep! Anyway, I hope you like the added dose of comedy... (And the early update.)

I own nothing. Enjoy!

"Kairi!" Kurama called. She turned with an annoyed expression. This was sure to be an interesting team...

"Yeah?"

"I need to ask a favor of you."

"Of her?" Kane asked. "Don't tell me."

"Yes," Kurama replied coolly

"Oh hell no."

"She's the only one weak enough to make it past the guards without being detected."

"Thanks, pal. You flatter me," Kairi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, you know I speak truth," he said, not helping to put her in a better mood.

"There's no way," Kane said. "I'm not baby-sitting this chick."

"Baby-sitting?" She was really starting to not like this guy. "Scuse me, but didn't I put you on your ass a few minutes ago?"

"Pft. I didn't want to hurt you. I wasn't moving half as fast as I could have."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time I think I'll hit you in the head. Maybe that'll deflate it a little."

"You honestly think you could beat me? Chickie, on your best day, you couldn't bruise me on my worst, and that's sayin' somethin' considering on my worst days, I was dead!"

"Oh, I forgot, legendary bandit. Please forgive me," she said, rolling her eyes.

"In case you don't know, I was wanted for over 479 major thefts before I was 15." He was about to continue, but her giggling made him stop.

"All that tells me is that you left enough evidence to get caught 479 times within a span of 15 years. Not a very impressive run, if you ask me."

"Oh?" Kuronue was pissed. "Well if you could do any better-"

"I have," she interrupted.

"Say what?" he asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Thieves don't impress me much." She turned her back and began to walk away. It was then that Kuronue noticed Kurama, who had been leaning quietly against one of the trees. He was looking quite amused.

"What do you know, fox?" Kuronue demanded.

"Not much. Just her former occupation."

"Which was?"

"Mercenary."

"WHAT?"

Kurama just smiled. He pushed himself away from the tree and started to go after Kairi again. He needed to talk to her before they got back in Touya's earshot.

Kuronue was even more pissed now. "You didn't think to mention this earlier?"

"You didn't ask."

"You coulda mentioned it before I made a complete ass of myself!"

"But you were doing so well," Kurama finally got his turn to smirk, and he was milking it for all it was worth...

Kuronue mentally stored that smug look away for future uses. The fox was going to pay for this, dearly. For now, something else was puzzling him. "You wanna tell me how that chick is supposed to be a merc? She's not puttin' out enough energy to fill a human 1st grader."

"She doesn't have enough to. She operates through stealth and logic alone."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Kuronue said with his own strong sarcastic tone.

"If we take her, I assure you, we won't be baby-sitting. She's independent to a fault. She'd be offended if one of us opened a car door for her; she'd never stand for having one of us protect her."

"I still don't like this."

"Would you like to stay in that body?"

"Let's go."

"I didn't think you would pass up your chance at escaping your chains."

"If you'd had to go through puberty as many times as I have, you'd know why..."

A few minutes later, outside of the cave...

"Alright. But, just so we're clear, I'm only doing this because you were the one who asked. I still owe you for not talking," Kairi dully said to Kurama. She snapped her bag onto her waist and called over her shoulder. "Toy, I'm going to town with Kurama. I'll be back...eventually..."

"What?" Touya was already on his way out for 20 questions. "Where are you going?"

"Well, first we were going on a date, prolly on a dark, deserted, country back road somewhere, then we were going to elope, then we figured we'd pick up some tommy-guns and knock over a few liquor stores. After that we were gonna go join the Hell's Angels, sacrifice a few baby goats, smear ourselves in blood and dance naked through a bonfire." Touya did not like her answer...

"We'll be back, soon," Kurama answered, with that same eerie calm he always had. "If it gets too late, I'll let her spend the night with Shizuru. I promise, she's in good hands."

"If it was anyone else asking, her being in good hands is exactly what I'd worry about." Touya said. Kurama gave him a "trust me" smile. He sighed, and returned to the cave.

"Well, well. A mercenary who has to ask permission to leave the house," Kuronue smirked.

"I don't recall asking," Kairi replied curtly.

"So, you ever get grounded for breaking curfew cause you grabbed the wrong mix for those concrete shoes?"

"Shutit."

"You know, they put those regular bags of cement right next to the Quik-rete..."

"I. Said. Shutit."

"Whaddya use for razor wire? A stretched-out Slinky?"

"You're starting to get on my nerves."

"How 'bout motion-activated alarms for the hide-out? You put a Furbie by the door and wait till he speaks? Or did you go a little more high-tech and get one of those Robo-Dog things in place of a Doberman?"

Kairi would've asked Kurama to call him off, but he was snickering too hard. He was trying to keep from all out laughing. 'Oh, so that's how you wanna play, huh?' she thought, looking at the fox. "Well if I did, it wouldn't be any worse than the legendary bandit, Yoko Kurama, going to the movies to watch the Powerpuff Girls."

The fox stopped laughing.

"What? You didn't!" Kuronue looked at Kurama, waiting for the green-light to torture him.

"Not by choice!" Kurama said. "How did you hear about that? It happened before you met me!"

"My brother tells me everything, and I do mean everything..." Now she was the one wearing the demonic grin. Funny how the tables kept turning...

"No way! Kurama, you went, wait," Kuronue couldn't get the words out for laughing. "You paid money to see the Powerpuff Girls? In a public place?" Kuronue's actions hinted that he might have to sit down and double over from all the guffawing.

"I said it wasn't by choice!" Kurama defended himself, his cheeks now nearly matching his hair. "I was on a date! The good theaters were closed, so we had to take what we could get! It was Botan's idea!" Normally, Kurama didn't care what people thought, and he wouldn't have given them so much pleasure, but with Kuronue, it was different...

Kuronue hit the ground. He was belting out laughter so hard he couldn't catch his breath. Kairi was soon right beside him, holding her ribs. Her face was almost as red as Kurama's, but more because, she, too, was having trouble breathing from the laughing fit.

After Kuronue caught his breath, he decided that it would be a shame to waste that look on Kurama's face. "Well, now that we're on the subject, remember that girl, Roku? The chick with the six fingers on her left hand?"

"Kuronueee...," Kurama growled. A warning to drop this subject...

"I wanna hear this!" Kairi giggled.

"Well, we were at the tavern in the guild," he started.

"The Loft or The Cellar?" Kairi asked, referring to the two taverns in the guild. The Loft was meant for the higher-ups, but a lot of them usually stopped by The Cellar anyway. The women were easier there...

"The Cellar."

"Doh!" They both burst out laughing again. The women at The Cellar were easier for a reason... They weren't exactly the pictures of beauty...

Then something occurred to Kuronue. "Wait a minute, how do you know about the guild? Don't tell me you were-"

"One of the floozies? Hell naw. I'm a member."

"What? Women aren't allowed membership... least not when I was there..."

"They still aren't, but the prick in charge never did learn how to gamble.." She smiled and held up her hand, showing the exact same crest that Kuronue and Kurama had on theirs. The only difference was the writing that showed the years they had joined.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing... "

"Yes," Kurama started. "She was underestimated. When she went to-"

"Anyway, like I was saying," Kuronue said, cutting off Kurama's attempts to change the subject. "We were at the tavern, and this huuuge, pot-bellied wom-"

"I think we should get going," Kurama cut-in.

"Still mad about that one?" Kuronue laughed.

"Why would I be mad?" Kurama asked, fighting to keep from saying it through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, how much did you have to do with it?" Kairi asked, getting back to her feet.

"Nothing, but he was still pissed the next day cause I didn't stop him the night before." Kuronue and Kairi burst out laughing again, and Kurama's cheeks felt so hot that Hiei would've got a blister from touching them.

"Are we ready to go yet?" the poor fox asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Yeah," Kuronue answered. He figured he'd got enough revenge for that little round of teasing Kurama had put him through earlier.

"Relax, fox," Kairi said, still slightly giggling. "I already knew you weren't a saint."

"Oh?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Everyone at the guild tells Yoko stories. We've all heard how you used to sow your wild oats Saturday night, then spend Sunday praying for crop failure," she said, sending Kuronue into another fit of laughter.

'Well,' Kurama thought. 'At least they've found a way to co-exist without killing each other. But why did this have to be the one topic they could agree upon?'

This was shaping up to be the longest trip Kurama had ever taken to Spirit World, and they weren't even off the mountain yet...

Hope you like the little torture-fest. I couldn't sleep so I just threw this chappie together for some extra giggles. Whatcha think?