A/N: C'est le moste recente chaptier! Thanks to Neji4me for being my first reviewer!

Disclaimer: I does not owns the p4wness of teh Yu Yu Hakusho.

'I am thinking,' -Thoughts

"I am talking out loud, whoop woot!" - Talking

For Affiliation Purposes

When she arrived most of the guards were already engaged in battle. It was an ambush of demons; all clad in white tops with slits down the sides and matching white pants. She tried to get a closer look at their uniforms but she immediately sensed a presence behind her. She narrowed her eyes and side-stepped the giant club's swing, then flattened her hand in a knife-like motion and cut downwards. Immediately the raindrops formed a thin blade and decapitated her former attacker.

While Rensho tried to fight off the hoard of demons attacking his men, Sen scanned the scene before her, trying to locate the ambushers' point of entry. Through the rain her eyes stopped on a particular vine growth that had clung itself to the south side of the wall. She had guarded that area on numerous occasions, and had never once noticed a vine there before.

She dashed towards the vine and scaled the castle wall, dodging various attacks launched at her in the process by the demons clad in white, probably attempting to stop her.

'The attack is a diversion.'She thought quickly as she followed the path past a door with its hinges busted off. As she sped into the castle entrance she noticed that the internal guards had all been hacked to death or subdued by…plants? Sure enough, think green vines had encased some of her comrades, and she now stared at their suffocated bodies. One plant had even taken the guard's own weapon and shoved it into his chest.

'These guys are good. Who could train weeds to do that?' She observed as she sped past her fallen comrades. 'They must be heading for the treasury.' She realized as she headed towards another broken door. But as she sped towards the vault, she felt two sharp pricks penetrate the skin on her right arm.

"Ow…" She cried as she fell to her knees clutching her forearm. She glanced back at the wall of hallway and spotted an exotic purple flower planted there, with needles growing from its center.

"Damn plants…" She cursed, as she plucked the two needles from her arms. The treasury was only a few hallways away. But as she tried to take another step she felt weak, a hot numbness spreading through her body. 'Poison.' She recognized.

"Ugh, dammit!" She cursed weakly. She then heard light but quick footsteps rushing her way from the direction she was headed. She sensed five of them though the vibrations of the floor. She only had a few moments to act before the thieves came. There was only one thing she could do.

She calmed herself and focused her ki for a moment, then released it so that it flowed through her body. Her fangs grew out, and her irises turned to slits.

The thieves finally arrived, holding what looked like the main jewel chest. It was so enormous that it three to hold it. The two who weren't holding the chest were the most startling creatures she had ever seen. The first had silver ears, with long grey hair and entrancing golden eyes. The second was a bat demon, and had waist-length jet black hair tied in a ponytail, with deep indigo eyes.

Sen was jolted from reality when she realized who she was dealing with: Youko Kurama and Kuronue, the infamous thieves known throughout the Makai for two things during a heist: speed and brutality.

But she didn't back down as she glared at the men and swung the steel door in its place, guarding the only exit with her arms spread out protectively and crouched in a position to attack.

The bat demon smirked and stepped forward. "And what do we have here? A little demon guard on her first attack?"

'Wrong. So wrong.' She deepened her stance, ready to strike.

"We'll make this an easy decision for you: move or die." The bat demon spoke, approaching Sen slowly as he took out his scythes, already coated with blood. "So, which is it going to be?"

Sen bared her teeth and let her ki flow. She used the water from her damp hair and cut the feet of the men holding the chest, causing them to drop it with a loud thud.

The silver-haired fox youkai gave her a mockingly displeased look. "I guess it's not move, then."

"We don't have time for this!" Kuronue asserted. He swung his scythe and charged towards Sen, but she slid out of the way then sprung up behind him.

Before the bat youkai knew what she was doing, she sank her teeth into his shoulder, and let the venom flow.

"Bitch!!!" He shouted while slamming her against the stone wall. She felt a few ribs crack, and slid helplessly to the floor, recoiling in pain.

"Let's go, Youko!" Kuronue shouted to his partner as he started towards the unguarded exit, but the kitsune remained unmoved and turned towards Sen.

"Wait," He spoke, a hand out to stop his partner. He walked over slowly to Sen, then knelt down and grabbed her neck forcefully so that she glared into the golden eyes of the infamous thief.

"Answer anything but the truth, and I will kill you without a second thought. Do you understand?" He said menacingly. Sen felt a jolt of fear run down her spine, and the kitsune smiled as he saw the terror in her eyes. She nodded helplessly.

"Are you poisonous?"

Sen's eyes widened in surprise. Her whole plan was to let the thieves escape while the venom she injected into the bat-demon slowly killed him, hopefully leading them to all the medical healers in the land, where the royal guards would later ambush them. Now her whole strategy was ruined! How the hell did he know she was a snake demon?

"I'm waiting." Youko said patiently as he tightened his grip on her neck.

"Y-Yes…" She choked. His golden eyes seemed to smolder in satisfaction.

"I thought so…" he muttered. "Aikyou, bring this too. We're leaving. Now!" He ordered one of the demons previously carrying the chest.

In the blink of an eye, Sen was thrown over the shoulder of a demon thief as they rushed out of the castle and into the forest.

"What do we need that for!?" Kuronue shouted to his partner, referring to Sen, as they raced through the forest. Despite the painfully obvious danger of her situation, she still felt irked.

"Snake demons are notorious for their poison." He replied calmly. "The only cure is in the body of the attacker." He smirked and glanced at his partner. "I thought you knew that."

"I'm in too much disbelief to think right now," Kuronue muttered darkly as he gracefully wove through the trees. "The great Youko Kurama actually spared a life…" He glanced back at Aikyou, and smirked in satisfaction when he saw the girl's face in pain.

Sen really didn't know which direction they were going, but her broken ribs throbbed against the back of her kidnapper, causing her to wince every time he leaped. He mind was slowly growing faint due to the pain, and all that she felt she could do now was try to regain her strength, so that when she awoke she could beat the crap out of her kidnapper.

Sen didn't even realize that she had been knocked out when she regained consciousness on the cold moist earth. But it was not of her own free will. Her arm was being stabbed by a needle, and in the vile was a strange light green substance. She cursed loudly as a searing hot pain shot through her body.

"Relax," said a voice while firmly gripping her arm. "Reacting will only make it hotter."

Sen could barely understand him over her screams, as she tried futilely to thrash out of the iron grip. Eventually the pain subsided, and she felt that she could control her body, though it still hurt like hell.

"What….the fuck…..was….that…?" She panted, no longer fighting again the binds on her hands and ankles.

"The antidote, for the violet's poison in your body," Said the voice coolly. Wait, she knew that voice. His golden eyes still burned in her mind. She looked weakly up to face Youko, who was regenerating the light green substance from a plant nearby.

"Just one more to go,"

"What!?" She cried in disbelief. His eyes met hers.

"For each needle that penetrated the skin," He elaborated tonelessly.

"No, I mean why are you doing this?" Surely he would have killed her by now. No, then he could have simply left her for dead in the castle.

"My partner needs the cure for your venom, and I'm not about to get the cure from your already poisoned blood."

"Who said the cure is my blood?" Sen shot back coldly, offended by his reasoning. The kitsune's eyes turned cold again.

"Then we'll just have to drain you of all your fluids until we find a cure...That is, unless you would be willing to cooperate?" He prompted with an arched eyebrow.

Before she could answer, he injected her arm with the same substance, white-hot pain seared through her body once more. This time though, she tried not to thrash as much, for she realized her ribs were still broken and unattended to.

"So," The silver haired thief spoke softly and calmly, as if to make her more frustrated as she writhed in pain. "What is your decision?"

She glared silently at the demon, aggravated that she couldn't move and tear his head off. The kitsune sighed and placed his arm under his elbow while he rested his hand in his chin thoughtfully.

"If you're not willing to compromise, then I suppose there is no use for you." He mused aloud so that Sen could hear. She refused to meet his gaze.

"I could kill you…." Sen remained stoic, and Youko took notice. "But, then my partner wouldn't survive the night. Torture would normally suffice, but I wouldn't want to risk damaging any part of you that may the cure. Therefore, the only solution I can come up with to make you concede is a compromise."

Sen rolled over slightly to peer at her captor. Did she mishear him? The greatest thief in all of the Makai was wiling to compromise? Youko noticed the surprise in her eyes.

"I am a reasonable creature, after all." He chuckled.

"How can I trust you?" Sen said warily. Youko stopped smiling, and immediately became serious.

"Thieves honor." He raised a hand in the air, as if to make a solemn oath. Sen didn't look impressed.

"There is no honor among thieves." She replied tonelessly.

"Quite to the contrary, little one, a thieves' word is the strongest pact there is." The silver-haired kitsune spoke with a certain honesty in his voice. "Which was why I gave my word to my partner that I would never let him die, as long as it is within my power."

Sen listened to the fox's words, and closed her eyes to concentrate. His heart's rhythm remained steady, and did not once skip a beat: he was telling the truth. Sen sighed. She couldn't turn down an honest plea for help, especially when she wasn't in any position to bargain.

"Ok, I'll do it." She consented. Youko smirked, and as if by command, the vines on her hands and feat went limp. Sen slowly got up and massaged her wrists.

"Exactly how long have I been out?" She asked, noticing the sky was still dark.

"About six hours." The fox replied as he held the tent door open for her. Only then did Sen notice that she had been in a tent the entire time, which meant that he knew she couldn't be out in the cold for long without the risk of hypothermia. She had to admit, Youko was true to his word about keeping her alive.

She felt relieved to be out in the rain, however cold it was, because she finally had a chance to look at her surroundings. Apparently, the thieves had set camp not too far from the opposite edge of the forest, probably to rest after the heist. The rain was beginning to slow down now, and Sen nearly gasped at the vast amount of tents set up around a slightly larger tent- there must have been hundreds! Exactly how many thieves were there in their band?

In front of her, Youko cleared his throat to attract her attention, and Sen jogged to catch up with him. It was time to get serious.

"His symptoms have only been getting worse." He filled Sen in as they approached the largest tent in the camp. "I haven't given him anything in case it might worsen his condition."

"That was smart of you," Sen replied as she tied her messy hair into a low bun. "The more foreign substances there are in the body, the stronger the poison gets, turning even the least harmful antidote into a lethal ally."

She was about to open the tent's flap, but before she could a servant inside opened it for her, bowing as she and Youko entered and bowing again before closing it.

The inside was richly furbished with fine rugs and various silk pillows, with two separate sides of the tent both draped with exotic silks. On one side, which she assumed was Youko's, the curtains were open, and a makeshift silk bed and mattress with deep crimson sheets and pillows with golden thread accents remained unslept in. A servant sat by the bedside on her knees with her hands placed neatly in her lap, ready to serve at a moment's notice.

The other side had its black and deep indigo curtain's drawn, and she could almost hear strained breathing coming from the bed though it was nearly fifty feet away. She approached with caution, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder before she could proceed any further.

"If any harm befalls him, I assume you know the consequences." Youko's voice was low, but Sen knew that he was dead serious.

"Yes, you will kill me without a second thought." She turned her head slightly and saw the fox cross his arms and smirk at her sarcasm. He then nodded, allowing her to turn back towards the midnight décor, and bowing her head as she entered the bedroom.

The first thing she noticed when she saw the bat demon was that he was covered with numerous amounts of blankets, and yet continued to shiver. When he heard the entrance of someone in the room Kuronue quickly sat up in alarm.

"You!" he croaked before falling into a series of hacking coughs.

"It's alright, koumori no baka." Youko spoke outside the tent. "She's with us now."

At hearing this Kuronue looked less tense and slowly slid under the blankets, still glaring Sen.

"Just so we're clear-"

"I know, I know. You'll kill me, and your partner will probably bury my still breathing body if I try any funny stuff." Sen interrupted with an annoyed edge in her voice.

Kuronue immediately closed his mouth and sank even deeper into the blankets with his arms crossed, glaring at her with intense indigo eyes.

Sen remained indifferent and crossed the rug to get to her patient. She felt his forehead with her palm then sighed with relief. His fever wasn't too hot. She then held her hand out towards Kuronue with an expectant look on her face.

"Your arm," She stated.

Kuronue at first merely deepened his glare, but then reluctantly slid his pale white forearm out from under the covers. Sen took his arm and inspected it, searching for a main tendon gingerly with two fingers. After she had found what she was looking for, she looked up to face the bat demon.

"I'm going to explain this to you now, so you don't flip out when I'm in the process, ok?" He nodded.

"The fastest way for me to get the cure in your bloodstream is to bite you again, only this time I'll be releasing the antidote instead of the venom." Immediately his eyes widened in shock. She sighed. This was going to take a while.

"The reason why each snake-demon's poison only has one cure is because the venom and antidote are connected emotionally to the attacker. Only that demon's memories can be used to gauge the amount of hate or forgiveness in their poison. The stronger the hate, the stronger the venom; therefore, the stronger the forgiveness, the stronger the antidote." At this she smiled.

"You're lucky I wasn't in a bad mood today. You could have been dead in a matter of seconds." She added jokingly. The bat demon however only looked more pissed off.

"Anyway, so for me to provide the fastest antidote I can, I need to concentrate, which means no screaming when I bite you, even though I guarantee it will hurt." Kuronue was no longer glaring, and his eyes held a gentle softness to them. He nodded in understanding, then Sen lowered her head to the blood vessel. She paused for a moment and gently brushed her lips against the smooth skin of his arm, before sinking her teeth once more into the bat demon.

About a half an hour later she bowed her head as she exited the bedroom, leaving the bat demon sleeping soundly with a peaceful expression on his face. She grabbed a towel placed next to the bowl she used previously and quickly wiped her face. She sighed in relief and handed the towel to a servant, who bowed and quickly scuttled back to her little corner.

Youko rose from his bed, on which he had been dozing off, and immediately went to check on his partner. When he seemed satisfied that his partner was sleeping, Sen stepped forward to address him.

"He should awaken by morning without any sign of the poison." She said quietly, rolling her sleeves. "If he still does not feel well, I'm sure he should just rest a few more hours to recover from the adrenaline."

The silver-haired thief turned back towards Sen, his eyes beheld a certain amount of mischief in them. He smiled and slowly walked in front of Sen, causing the girl to blush slightly and look down to avoid the kitsune's gaze. What could she say? He was pretty hot. …Wait…Did she just say hot?

"And just what might you be so deep in thought about?" A voice whispered close to her ear.

"Woah!" She spun around and jumped back and few yards away from the silver-haired thief, uncomfortable with the close proximity. How did he get behind her anyway?

The kitsune merely smiled and chuckled at the girl's reaction. "Sorry, just testing your reflexes." He rose from his leaning position and turned towards his servant by his bed, motioning for a glass of….something really red.

"You passed, by the way." He added while pouring two glasses of the liquid. He then sat down gracefully on one of his satin cushions and motioned for the servant to give the second glass to her.

Sen accepted the glass gratefully, then froze when she came to realize her situation: she was alone (sort of), in a room with one of the most dangerous thieves in Makai complementing her 'reflexes' and offering her a glass of god knows what poison. If it were any other time, her hormones would have been probably succumbed to his seductive presence loooong ago. Unfortunately, she nearly killed his partner, so she guessed the probability of leaving her safely before the bat woke up were pretty slim.

She was brought back from her thoughts when she realized that the second cushion in front of the fox demon was probably meant for her. She approached with caution, then slowly sat down.

"Thank you," she said slowly, her eyes never leaving the demon's face. She was trained to never let the enemy leave her line of vision, and she felt a little weak knowing that she had lost sight of Youko even for a split-second.

"You seem unusually tense, for a standard castle guard," Youko observed. "What was your occupation before you joined the Shinshibodo?"

Sen hesitated for a moment and sighed. She might as well get used to his acute observations, 'cause this guy was just that frickin' good.

"I was in a military position." She said quietly.

"You sound ashamed,"

"I am." She admitted.

"Why?" He asked while raising his glass to his lips. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I ended the lives of many beings that didn't deserve to die." She responded while looking down.

"And how long were you affiliated with this group?" He asked. Youko was interested despite the girl's obvious discomfort about the subject.

"It doesn't matter." She spoke with a harsher tone than she intended, and the thief narrowed his eyes at her sudden change in attitude.

"I see…" He spoke with a certain amount of thoughtfulness in his voice. "Well then, I can understand that you most certainly have experience."

Sen looked at him questioningly. "Yes, I suppose you could say that."

"And would you say you that you are terribly bonded to the morals of protecting the lives of corrupt beings?" He continued.

"That's a really…specific question…" Sen said uneasily. "Why do you ask?"

"I want to be sure that you won't feel emotionally torn doing what we do." He elaborated with a smirk and slight glint in his golden eyes. "A few months ago we had an older, but experienced, demon who committed suicide after a raid. I was later informed it was because he felt extremely guilty after so many years of 'senseless slaying.' We've been unable to find a suitable replacement since then, but low and behold that fortune should send me another one so expeditiously."

Sen slowly let the words sink in as she stared in complete disbelief at the smirking fox.

"You want me…to join you?" She couldn't even grasp the concept. It just seemed too unreal.

"The guild, actually." He corrected. "I prefer to remain separately affiliated alongside with Kuronue from the actual whole group for title and reputations purposes. You understand, of course,"

Sen was still in shock from the proposal. Even in her days as a soldier, she could distinctly remember her superiors always avoiding certain areas of attack for fear that Youko and Kuronue would be near. Now the infamous thief himself was asking her, of all people, to join his band of cutthroat renegades?

"W-why….why me?" was all she could say.

Youko raised an eyebrow and stood up to walk closer to her. She was still paralyzed with disbelief, but before she could react his face was already millimeters away from hers.

"You underestimate your power, little one." He said softly, his eyes locked with hers to ensure her that he meant every word. "Not many could get a shot at Kuronue, even if they tried their hardest. Whether it was a fluke or a calculated tactic, I can't risk leaving a demon with the ability to take down my friend at large in the Makai, and you're a lot more useful alive than dead."

"I just…don't understand why you'd want someone...who'd nearly killed your lifelong friend…" She admitted with a hint of guilt, though blushing madly because his handsome face was in range for…um…attacking…yeah…that's it…attacking... Youko chuckled softly, finally understanding her reluctant disposition.

"Well, you know the saying about keeping your enemies close," He clarified reassuringly, rising from floor, causing Sen to snap from her reverie and scramble to her feet. "I'll still need to discuss it with my partner, but for now, Juun will show you to a place where you may rest for the night." He motioned towards the servant that stood by the door, who rushed with what seemed like ecstatic enthusiasm at chance to serve her master.

Sen opened her mouth to protest, but he pressed a single finger on her lips.

"Stop talking, get some rest, and I will see you tomorrow." He said sternly before the servant, quite literally, dragged Sen away from her master protectively. He resisted the urge to the laugh as he saw the last of the girl being dragged out of the tent by his much smaller, yet surprisingly strong, assistant.

A few moments later his ear twitched at the sound of movement, and he glanced back over his shoulder at his partner's canopy.

"So, what do you think?" He called over to the indigo tent. There was a muffled groan in response, before the koumori glided out of the curtains, still slightly pale, but strong enough to stand.

"I should have known you'd do something like this…" he muttered disapprovingly. "You always seem to pick the weirdest fruit in the bunch."

The kitsune gave his partner a look at the pun. "True, but it's always the special ones that prove to be the best."

"I still don't trust her," Kuronue argued, sitting down on Youko's bed simply to irk the fox. "She seems too…"

"Too what? Innocent?" He joked.

"...compliant." Kuronue finished. "I think she's assessing the situation, so that she can find some way to undermine our authority."

"I think she's cute," Youko admitted with a smirk. Kuronue rolled his eyes.

"If you need an outlet for your endless reservoir of "sexual energy", there'll plenty opportunities in the next town. In the mean time, keep the cute ones in your bed and out of our group."

"But that's exactly her value." The kitsune continued. "She looks so small, so insignificant, that no one would expect an attack like…well, you know," The koumori growled and covered the wound by crossing his arms.

"That was a complete miscalculation on my part, not her."

"Mm-hmm…" Youko hummed sarcastically, which only earned him a glower from his partner.

"In any case," He continued while striding next to his partner. "I give my approval. But, knowing you…"

"She's going to have to prove herself." The koumori sharply spoke without looking at his partner. "I wouldn't particularly care if it was some random shinobi, but I do not want a god damned woman here if she can't even defend herself."

A/N: And, so it ensues. I'm actually pretty curious to see how many Kuronue-lovers turn up to read this stuff. Hm...

Well, until next time, see ya!