Hey everyone! Thanks for reviewing…I especially like how you all liked my new made up word. (grins happily: BANDITISM!)

Reader's Response:

Kyae Sohma: Yay for weapons! I like both Tasuki and Chichiri, but my favourite is Nuriko; well, I like all of them except Miboshi, Ashitare, Tamahome (and Miaka of course). But that's it. Everyone else rocks.

caspercat22: If only bandits still existed…I could be a bandit…or a pirate and spend my days doing what I love best: getting shiny weapons and…dong illegal things.

notquiteagoddess: Glad you like it. Yes, Tasuki's in this chapter. It's okay, I always have a 'bit too much sugar' too!...especially once I'm in the movie theatre and I buy a slushie! Yeah, I'll send the rest to you when it gets updated…which should be sometime today…

ENJOY THE CHAPTER PEOPLE…and please review; I like getting reviews. They're fun to read.

Being a bandit was not all it was cracked up to be, Haku firmly decided in his head as he listened to the two girls banter back and forth, spouting nonsense. If he had known he would one day become bandit leader and capture two incredibly insane girls, Haku would have listened to his father and would have gotten a decent job as a pirate instead of being a merchant. As strange as that sounded, many former merchants had the same line of thought as Haku; the civil wars had affected them all…but if only Haku had become a dirty, stealing, rude pirate, he would be rich and possibly on his way to bury his treasure on a random island by now. Oh, how Haku wished it was so.

He cast a wary look at the girl who was advancing on him with a strange and dangerous glint in her blue eyes; dressed all in black clothes that looked strange to Haku, the girl did not look the type to be able to wield a sword, but yet there she was, holding a sword and staring at him with a gaze that made Haku want to hide under the nearest rock available and hope that she could not find him.

This is what you get for laughing, idiot, he thought mournfully to himself, wondering how he should arrange his funeral; cremated or buried?

He would have thought that the rest of his bandits might possibly help him, but unfortunately not. Due to the fact that they thought that their leader was in danger, almost all the bandits (in the room at any rate) had rushed at the two girls, only to be kneed, punched, kicked or hit with the rod of a scythe and the shaky handling of a dagger in its sheath by the blonde woman.

Haku had to hand it to the two women; they were fighters and they were loyal. He was reminded so very much of tales his father had told him as they had sailed on the seas from Kutou to Konan; his father had been a merchant himself and it was quite amusing to hear his father's career advice for him.

"Father?"

"Haku…you can do anything you want…but I want you to be a pirate"

"A-a pirate!"

"Yes; a pirate would be the perfect choice for you. You can even wear an eye patch and I'll sail as far as I can to find a parrot for you!"

"Uh...father…wouldn't a merchant be –"

"YOU WILL BE A PIRATE!"

"…um…uh…oh look; a sword!"

"SEN HAKU! YOU GET BACK HERE AND BECOME A PIRATE!"

Well, his father might not have been right in the head, but Haku still remember the stories his father had told, of warriors with powers unimaginable, those were had been born to summon the Four Gods and men and women who would willingly die for her team mates and friends.

Yui wondered how the hell she had gotten into this mess; why was she going around, using one of Seiriko's daggers (although it was still sheathed) to knock out the bandits when she knew for a fact that both Seiriko and Kristen could do it on their own.

Ten minutes ago, she had watched as Kristen had angrily got up from the ground; the ropes that had bound all three of them had seemingly just burned away and then she had started yelling at the leader about sexist views and how she was going to make sure he never laughed at the idea of female equality again.

"Uh…Seiriko?" Yui asked tentatively.

"Yes Yui?" Seiriko asked, a bit too happily to be considered normal.

"Why…exactly are you…smiling at this?"

"Because weapons are wonderful of course!" Seiriko chirped.

There were only two left and Haku got a wonderful idea…well, more likely suicidal idea, but it was an idea nevertheless.

"I'll let you join us –"

"BANDITISM!"

" – if you can beat one of my men?"

"Boss!" the two men left groaned.

"No choice; Genrou, you fight the redhead"

Genrou was one of Haku's second-in-commands, along with Kouji. He had fiery red hair that stood out amongst the dark hair colours of the rest of the bandits; he had intense amber eyes and was grinning a fanged smirk.

Kristen looked at him and gave him a positively evil look as she flexed her fingers and then gripped her sword again.

"Rules for this fight?" she asked.

"First blood" Genrou said after a moment of thinking. They really had no good reason to try to hurt each other, so the first one to draw blood would be the victor.

"Bring it on Fang boy"

Genrou glared at her, "Don't call me that!"

Then the fight started. Genrou wielded a strange weapon; it looked to be a fan, but it was made of steel, or something equally as hard. It did not do little damage either; it also allowed Genrou – who was quite fast – to move quickly to attack.

Kristen was no amateur with her weapon either. She did not know how she had suddenly known all the proper ways to wield a sword and developed all this skill with the sword, but she was not complaining. She had assumed it had come with being on this mission and perhaps Taiitsu-kun had gifted her and Seiriko with this or something of the sort.

Genrou charged and swung his 'tessen' in a circular motion, barely missing her cheek as she dodged the blow. She ducked under his arm and attempted to elbow him in the stomach, but like she did before, Genrou dodged it, by leaping backwards.

Kristen knew now that it would not be an easy fight, unlike the few fights with slave traders she and Seiriko had gotten into on the way to the bandit base. Quickly, she slashed at him, hoping to catch him off guard but no such like. Genrou blocked it with his tessen and smirked at her, "You're not going to beat me that easily"

"Same goes for me" Kristen said through gritted teeth as she tried to look for a weakness, but it was proving futile no matter how hard she tried. He matched her move for move; he was a match for her in speed and consider how much taller he was than her, it was impressive.

They circled each other, both looking for an opening, anything to end this fight and get it over with. Genrou was not a patient man after all, and it had been a while since anyone matched up to his skill in battle. It was refreshing to say the least, to finally have a challenge.

Twenty minutes into the battle with nothing but blows countered, Kristen suddenly smirked and swept her foot around, sending Genrou crashing to the ground, which was equalled by Genrou's foot managing to get her on the back of the her knee as he fell, sending her to the ground also. Sitting on the ground, she and Genrou glared furiously at each other, frustrated that what would normally be easy picking was proving to be harder than either of them had thought.

Kristen managed to get up before Genrou and just as he was about to charge at her, she stepped to the side and managed to hit where his ribs were with the flat side of her sword, causing him to widen his eyes in surprise and Kristen to grin. Finally!

Genrou, of course, was not put off by one hit and with a burst of speed so fast that even Kristen could not see where he was going, he attacked. Kristen let out a barely heard gasp of surprise when she felt what could only be Genrou's tessen, thrust into her gut. It was one of those painful hits that caused one to double over and double over she did. Genrou, was not in the best of shape either; despite Kristen using the flat side of her sword, his ribs hurt like hell.

Suddenly, both fighters found themselves in a position that suggested a draw. Kristen's sword was a millimetre away from Genrou's throat and the same was said for Genrou's tessen. Both fighters glared at each other for a moment but quickly recognized the battle as a draw.

Haku sighed, "Fine. You will be bandits"

"Why were you so against it anyways, Boss?" Kouji, the one who Seiriko was supposed to be fighting – he and Seiriko had settled down with a bottle of sake and had been watching the fight – asked.

"I was planning to use the last room for something else" Haku pouted.

"What?" Kouji asked.

"Well…"

"A second training room?"

"No…a secret bar so you guys will stop drinking all my sake!" Haku pouted.

Seiriko covered up her laughter with a loud cough, "So we're in then?" she asked, "What with me and Yui beating the shit out of your other bandits and Kristen matching Genrou in a fight?"

"Yes" Haku said begrudgingly, "You'll the room I was talking about. It's a large one and you'll have to share"

"No problem!" Seiriko grinned. She bounded up to Kristen, dragging Kouji with her, "Guess what?"

"What?" Kristen asked warily.

"Kouji talks to himself"

BANDITS!