A/N: A chapter! GASP!

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho is a trademark that I do not pwn...or own for that matter.

'I am thinking,' -Thoughts

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

Four Minutes

The rest of the night had been nothing less of exhausting, especially after Juun, or whatever her name was, practically dragged her to the opposite end of the camp in the freezing cold air. When she was led inside the tent, Sen realized this was the quarters of the lowing ranking slaves, as most of demons inside slept next to some pile of clean dishes or some mass of laundry.

There was only one other person awake when she was led to the back of the tent, and she already had a bed of some sort prepared next to hers. She smiled and looked up at Sen, then frowned and glared at the back of the retreating form of the servant who was exiting the tent, who had silently mumbled the word "demon scum," at her.

"Cunt," She retaliated quietly, before she turned her attention back to Sen with a warm smile. "Sorry, about that. She sometimes tends to forget that she used to be one of us." She rose slightly and bowed politely. "I'm Akina, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Likewise," Sen smiled and bowed. "Thank you for letting me stay here for the night, though."

"It's no trouble at all." Akina smiled. "So, what household were you from? It must have been nice if you got to wear those instead of servant rags." She said, eyeing her guard uniform under her cloak.

"What? Oh," Sen quickly drew her cloak closer to hide her garments when she noticed what Akina was wearing. In fact, she realized that all of the demons in the tent were women, and all wore the same type of faded pink kimono with a dirty grey sash.

"I'm not a...um…uh…" She searched for a word that wouldn't offend the other demon. Akina smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"A slave?" She finished. Sen nodded, slightly embarrassed. "It's ok. It's not like we're completely demeaned by the word. Youko-sama and Kuronue-sama treat us with a little dignity…" Her face then fell a little. "…when they're around."

Sen remained silent, and assumed that it wasn't unlikely that so many women would be taken advantage of while the dominant heads of the band were away. She waited until Akina came to again.

"So then, if you're not a servant, then what are you?" She continued, as if nothing had ever happened.

Sen filled her in about her unusual situation, everything from her kidnapping to Youko's offer to join the guild. When she finished, Akina's eyes were wide open, and by now a most of the servants around them had woken up and gathered around them to see the new stranger.

"That's incredible…" She breathed, while the rest of the servants whispered to each other in hushed excitement.

"Really?" Sen questioned. "I would have thought that there were some female thieves in the gang, right?"

"Nope. None." One of the servants spoke up from the back.

"Well, I mean, there have been a few female warriors at the camp now and again. But most of them only stay for about a night or two, if you know what I mean…" Akina clarified with a wink. The mini crowd of women giggled subtly.

"But, seriously…" Sen tried to get back on the subject. "There are none?" She now felt a little uneasy. Being the only female bandit in the guild put a little more pressure on her skills now. Not only would she have to prove that she was competent as a warrior, but also that being a girl did not mean she was weak.

"I'm sure you'll be fine…" Akina said, putting a hand on hers reassuringly. "If anything, I'm sure Youko-sama would have only offered you a place if he thought you were strong enough."

"I hope so…" Sen said nervously.

One of the servants suddenly stood up, and peeked out the tent flap. "I think we better get going, ladies." She said, noticing the distant lighter hues in the distance.

"Oh, right." Akina remembered, clapping her hands sharply to wake up the few dozing servants. "Everyone, let's go. Breakfast is in less than two hours and we've got a lot of animals to feed."

The girls laughed and began folding their cots swiftly and silently, some yawning and stretching while others mumbled about a lack of sleep. Sen smiled and identified Akina as the leader of the bunch, as she directed a few of the slaves as to where to set the plates and pots outside.

"Anything I can do to help?" she offered to a younger girl, who was having trouble stuffing her sheets into a small bag. The little one blushed, and nodded quietly.

As she continued to help the women fold and pack away the sleeping ware, Juun suddenly opened the tent flap and poked her head in.

"Miss," She called quietly, so as only to catch Sen's attention. Sen turned and walked toward the entrance. "My Masters request your presence." Sen nodded and left the tent, giving Akina a thumbs up sign before leaving.

Instead of being led to the huge tent as expected, Juun brought Sen to a moderate-sized clearing, then bowed and left, saying that her Masters "would be here shortly."

Sen slowly inhaled, then exhaled. This was it. Hopefully, anyway. She anticipated that it would be a few more minutes before anyone showed up, so she decided to sit on the ground and meditate while she waited. It was only a split second later that she felt a soft shudder on the ground from someone landing from the pine tree behind her.

She sprung up and backed a few feet away from the bat demon that had gracefully landed and stood with his arms crossed, a slight smirk on his face. She mentally cursed. 'Geez! Do they all like sneaking up behind people and scaring them half to death!?'

The koumori snickered at her reaction. "Quick, but hasty. Youko was right." Sen felt a little less tense at his seemingly light-hearted nature, but felt irked that she was talked about like a third-party hamster.

"I see that you're up and about now," She spoke as to remind him of the "healing administration." Kuronue quickly frowned at the memory. "Speaking of Youko-"

"That's Youko-sama, snake." Kuronue growled. Sen glared at him.

"Youko-sama, then." She emphasized sarcastically. "Where is he?"

"Busy." He answered. "Which is why I'll be proctoring your exam today."

"My what?" Sen questioned. By now various demons were beginning to rise out of their tents, awakening to the faint scent of roasted meat and something sweet. On their way to breakfast some of the demons nudged their neighbors, gesturing and whispering at the sight of their leader and a stranger in the clearing. Some started whistling and hooting when a rumor went around that the stranger was a woman.

Kuronue raised his hand, and immediately the huddled circle went silent. "Men!" He said with a forceful vibrato. "It appears we have a new candidate for our thieving clan."

The circle broke into an excited roar, with various whistling and hooting from the demons closer to Sen. She tried her hardest to maintain her composure, but she couldn't keep her hands from shaking. It really felt like she was about to be killed by a mob.

"Do we have any takers?" The koumori raised his voice, obviously enjoying her discomfort. Sen intensified her glare. She was really starting to dislike this guy.

"I'm afraid you still haven't explained the rules, Mr. Proctor!" She shouted over the crowd at the smug bat demon.

"The rules?" He repeated, hushing the crowd once more with his voice. "The rules are fairly easy to comprehend: Beat the challenger, and you're in. Lose, and you're dead."

"Wow. How homo-sapien." She insulted. The crowd booed her. Kuronue silenced them once more with his encouraging voice, smirking at the mob's reaction.

"Any challengers for the disrespectful snake?" He asked with dark satisfaction.

The crowd at first roared once more in excitement, before a particularly large demon with two swords sheathed behind his back stepped forward. The mob's cheers only grew more boisterous.

"This is no place for a mere girl." He said with a sneer, drawing one sword slowly so as to milk the crowd's reaction. "I'll make sure of that."

Sen took a step back and slid into a stance. She left her right hand out by her side for balance while she balled her left into a fist and pulled it defensively in front of her.

"Girly stance!" Someone yelled from the crowd. "She won't survive a minute!" Sen snapped. Now they were taking it too far.

"I am a girl, BITCH!!" She screamed while keeping her eyes locked on her opponent. The mob fell silent, and the two contestants circled each other in intense concentration, ready to strike at the other's first sign of weakness.

"Very well then," A calm, but powerful voice spoke. The crowd looked back to where Kuronue stood, only to find the notorious silver fox standing next to him. The crowd cheered at the sight of their leader. He raised his hand to quiet the crowd.

"Jin-ryuu the sadist," The demons cheered wildly for their comrade. "Versus Miss Sen." The crowd booed just as hard as they had cheered for their friend. "Begin!"

The taller demon smirked, then charged full-force at Sen. She sighed and stepped to the side at the last moment, leaving her foot out. Jin-ryuu tripped and fell face flat onto the dirt.

The demon scrambled to his face and spat, eyes full of rage at his grinning opponent.

"Why you little-!" He leaped in the air and brought his katana down on the spot where Sen had been moments before. She side-stepped his blow and slid behind him, then slammed the middle of his back with an axe-kick.

He yelled and collapsed to the ground, while Sen simply stared at him with indifference. He then sprang up and drew the other katana in his hand, completely enraged that he was being beaten by an opponent much smaller than he. But he slowly grinned, and charged at Sen once more. Sen anticipated his attack, and prepared to trip him once more. But at the last moment he pounded on the earth and somersaulted into the air, stabbing his swords at her head once he was directly above her.

Sen's eyes widened, and she ducked and rolled before he could hit her. She instantly regretted it though when she felt her fractured ribs from last night throb against her chest.

"Shit!" She cursed as she cradled her injury while she stood. The demon smirked, apparently pleased that he had injured her somehow. Sen quickly looked up at her opponent, who was charging at her once more.

"This'll end it, you worthless whore!" Sen's eyes narrowed, and her grin disappeared. She jumped and met her opponent mid air, using his head as a stepping stone to jump higher into the air. She landed, with a slight thud on a tree branch, then dove into the crowd when she found what she was looking for. Rolling to break her fall, she kicked someone's goblet of water into the air, and caught the liquid with her powers in her left hand. Now she was ready to kick some demon ass.

When Jin-ryuu recovered from the blow, he charged at Sen once more. This time Sen didn't hesitate. She sent a string of water at the demon's feet, and the oaf tripped again. She then leaped on to the demon's chest and encased his head in the liquid so that he couldn't breathe. Before he could try to strangle her, she used the combined force of the liquid and her arms to lift the demon into the air and throw him twenty feet into the crowd. The demon mob scattered frantically before he hit the ground, but to increase the power of the blow she shot the remaining liquid into the air around his head like a lasso and pulled with all her strength to bring him head first into the ground. There was an audible crack as his neck and spine hit the earth in a sequence, before his body fell limply to the ground.

Sen panted heavily and clutched her side. The guy's weight caused her to strain a tendon, and her ribs only hurt even more. At first the crowd was silent, and Sen's panting was the only audible noise within the clearing. Then three demons screamed in horror.

"JIN!!" They cried as they elbowed their way through the crowd to get to their friend. Two hurriedly turned over his body, while the last one glared at Sen in absolute hate.

"He's still breathing," She croaked. "He should live-"

"SHUT UP!!" He screeched as he ran at her with a short sword. Sen huffed. 'Enough of this shit.'

She ran towards him, which he didn't expect, and uppercut straight up into his jaw. He collapsed to the ground, and didn't move.

She turned her heel sharply and headed full speed towards his friends when she heard them unsheathe their weapons. She smashed her fists simultaneously and squarely into their diaphragms, and flung one over her shoulder and stomped on his sternum, hearing a satisfying crack.

She kicked his head for good measure before she stalked away from her fallen enemies, facing the crowd.

"WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!" She roared menacingly into the mob, who answered in complete silence. The demons remained quiet, then a single voice broke the silence.

"The winner," Youko said with a smile. "Is Miss Sen."

The crowd broke into cheer, and a single file of five servants snaked through the crowd to get to the ring. Sen panted heavily, then doubled over slightly and cringed when her ribs throbbed once more.

"Come on, Miss," A recognizable voice said softly. "Let's get that tended to." Sen looked up and saw the smiling face of Akina. She looked back at her former opponents, and saw that each of them were similarly tending to them, though it took two to lift Jin-ryuu to his feat.

"That sounds like a gooood ideeea," Sen slurred with a smile as she collapsed in her friends arms, unconscious. Akira slightly wobbled at her friend's sudden weight, then laughed as she snapped her fingers and two more servants appeared with a stretcher.

Youko watched from a distance as the girls carried the snake demon and the four other demons away. He smirked in satisfaction and turned his head to his partner.

"Was that a miscalculation as well?" He challenged.

Kuronue was silent, and turned his back to Youko as he walked off to breakfast. "That was…sufficient." He looked back at the fox. "She may be useful."

Youko chuckled at his friend. "She'd better be. She just took down four demons in four minutes."

A/N: The funny thing is, I had this chapter in reserve for a while now...

Let us recap for a brief moment, shall we? Sen has now not only been kidnapped and invited to join the band of thieves, but has now earned her right to remain as a thief. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT!?

I seriously don't know...TA TA!!