Author's Note: Okay, someone requested that I put Soujiro in this fic and I guess I will, but to have him lust after Misao is just too much. Misao annoys me enough without having all these men lust and love her, but to have Soujiro lust after her as well! All the traditional pairings will be used in this fic, nothing more and nothing less. SSRoab asked about the jousting thingy, I know that they are non-existent in Japan it's just I'm kind of mixing different cultures together. Oh yeah and to answer your other questions, I think RK shows at 10:00pm every Saturday, but I could be wrong because I haven't watched it in a while since their showing reruns, AND Misao and Aoshi's relationship is kind of, let's say, unique. Misao obviously has a giant crush on Aoshi, who is portrayed as emotionless and non-responding to her advances. I think I messed up on the jousting parts because I just couldn't think of the jousts properly when I was typing it! I probably just put down some stupid gibberish!

Summary: Kaoru, once a princess, grows up to become a skilled thief. Her world is once again turned upside down when she meets the prince of a neighboring kingdom… and get this; he's forced to court her sister! Will this chaos ever be solved?

Disclaimer: I don't own it… just the plot… I guess… Oh well, let the torture begin…

A Thief's Dream

Chapter Thirteen: The Tournament

"So, Misao-chan…"

The short teen looked up at Kaoru.

"Yes?"

"Um… I was just wondering, why are you here?"

Misao looked down at the ground as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Oh… well, I…" Misao trailed off leaving Kaoru in a sense of suspense. Misao was like a great mystery that Kaoru just wanted to solve. Why was she here? Who came with her?

"I didn't really have a choice in the matter… At first we were heading some where else, and now I'm here!"

Kaoru looked down at Misao, she said 'we.' That means that someone was with her.

"Kenshin told me that people were chasing you…" she trailed off, hoping that Misao would pick up her indirect question.

"Well, yeah… They needed me so they could get someone else." Misao blushed slightly as she bent down and gently picked up a blade of grass. They were both on a hill that overlooked the whole village.

"Kaoru…?" Misao hesitantly called out to the older girl, "How did you meet Himura-sama? And why are you so… informal around him?"

"Well, I guess I met Kenshin the same way you did! I was running away from some soldiers because," she blushed slightly and looked down, "I stole some old lady's jewelry, and ended up bumping into Kenshin."

"You didn't answer my other question."

"Oh, right. I don't act formal around him because…" Kaoru paused. Why did she act the way she did? "It seemed natural."

Misao gave Kaoru a questioning glance and then looked back at the ground. "I don't understand."

"Well… I can't imagine myself actually treating him like a prince. AND plus, he never corrected me before…"

Then past memories of him threatening her with his title flit through her head like a movie.

"Wait, he did, but he never really punished me for it before."

"I guess I understand… a little."

Misao looked down into the village, silently thinking of Aoshi. Today Kaoru and Misao both took to wearing their tunics and breeches. As usual, Kaoru hide her long hair with a scarf wrapped around her head, where as Misao just let her long braid hang down her back.

"Earlier you said that you were going somewhere else…"

"Yeah…"

"Well, you said 'we.' That means that someone was with you!"

Misao took a deep breath, "H-hai…"

"Who was with you?"

Misao paused, not knowing if she wanted to answer the question or not. "It was…"

"Misao, Kaoru! The tournament's beginning." Kenshin came running up the hill to the spot where both girls were sitting.

Kaoru and Misao smiled at each other and followed Kenshin to the coliseum (a/n: didn't know what else to call it).

"Shinormori?"

"Hai."

"I want you to enter the tournament."

"Hai."

"I want you to murder the queen."

"In public?"

The was a long pause.

"Hai, in public."

A loud cackle boomed from Shishio. A loud malicious laugh, fueled by his hatred erupted from him.

"Murder the queen, then murder the Battousai as well."

Aoshi nodded mutely, staring ahead of him, never turning his head to glance at the devil besides him. This man was dangling Misao's life before him, forcing him to do what he was told.

"I'm glade we understand each other," was Shishio's response to Aoshi's silence. He laughed once more and gently caressed the hilt of his sword, as if ready to fight.

Shishio is a coward, but no matter how many times Aoshi told himself that, he couldn't bring himself to not obey Shishio when he held Misao's captive.

Kaoru and Misao entered the coliseum with awe filled faces. Although Kaoru's been here before, the place never ceased to amaze her.

Kaoru and Misao parted and made their way to their own places. Misao's in the on looking crowd and Kaoru's in the hasty rush of finding a suitable horse.

There had been at least seventy contestants and, in order to lessen the numbers, the first event would be unseating (a/n: forgot what they called it, so please bear with me). Kaoru was able to finally pick out a horse and she got a sturdy one, although most of the finer steeds were already taken.

She then made her way to the weapon rack and selected a steal mace. Weighing the weapon in her hand, she found the mace to be very heavy and feared that she may not be able to wield it. Kaoru saw from the corner of her eyes Kenshin's taunting face, smirking as he practice hastily with the mace he was given.

Unseating is a very rough and aggressive event because it consists of groups horseback riders, striving to unsaddle their opponents by weapon or fist.

Kaoru felt her heart beat heavily against her chest, unseating is also very dangerous because of the large mass of horses trampling mindlessly against the ground. Hooves that could cleave a man's head, rushing downwards at an unspeakable force, could easily kill an unseated knight. Kaoru held her mace in one hand and picked up her kite-shaped shield.

She looked around her and saw different colors of shields. She also saw different styles.

Kenshin had a large tower shield; she turned and saw a younger man holding a round buckler.

Kaoru felt a lump rise in her throat, and turned to look at Kenshin once more. He caught her eye and his smirk grew… it was as if he was making fun of her.

Of course the thought of losing to Kenshin angered Kaoru and soon her fear diminished.

The trumpets blared as a signal of the tournament's beginning. Kaoru hastily climbed into her saddle and entered the melee. Shields collided with shields or maces, many men falling off their horses into the stamping mass of hooves, men's crawling out of the ring… this is what happened. Kaoru fought gallantly, swinging her mace almost crazily around her. She bashed into several men and succeeded in unseating them.

Her nervousness was gone, her fear was gone, and all that was left was her fighting spirit. She had to win. She had to show everyone that she wasn't weak, that she wasn't some woman to be pushed around.

Taking a deep breath, she once again bashed into another opponent.

Trumpets blared once again, signaling the end of the first event. Kaoru looked around and saw that only about twenty-eight of the seventy were left. She was very lucky it would seem. She looked around and saw that everyone was cheering them on, she smiled and risked a little wave. To her surprise, some women swooned when she smiled at them. This caused Kaoru to feel a little mad and happy at the same time.

Mad because she made a convincing male without trying to, and happy because she was able to fool them into thinking she was a man.

Kaoru looked at the remaining contestants and to her discomfort, Kenshin was one of the survivors.

The others were several arrogant knights, but the ones that stood out most to her was Sano, a cold blue eyed warrior, and a short smiling child-like youth.

Kaoru smiled as she saw Misao cheering them on, but something was different. Misao seemed a little tense and hesitant on making any sound. Frowning slightly, Kaoru locked away this small disruption in the back of her head and decided to enjoy the victory while it lasted.

Kaoru got off her horse and led it towards the stables.

There would be a small intermission. Kaoru swung the gate close to her horses stall and prepared to leave when her world was suddenly plunged into darkness.

"Guess who?" A voice whispered in her ear. It was a familiar, rough kind of voice…

"Sagara Sanosuke… you better take your hands off of me or else…"

"Or else what?" Sano replied playfully.

His response was a quick and hard elbow, which collided painfully against his chest.

Sano yelped and pulled his hands to his side where Kaoru had elbowed him.

"That's what you get! But, I'm really glad to see you!"

Kaoru proceeded to pounce on Sano and hugged him tightly.

Sano had the wind blown out of him as he was tackled to the floor by a fierce hug. The couple laughed and Sano returned Kaoru's friendly gesture.

"Baka, where did you go?"

"I… went around."

"Yeah, but where?"

Kaoru winked playfully, "Just here and there."

Sano laughed and pulled Kaoru's scarf off of her head. Kaoru yelped as her hair tumbled down her back.

"I told you, Jou-chan, I like your hair when it's down!" Sano ruffled Kaoru's hair, much in the same fashion he had done the night before.

"Sano, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming back."

"That's okay, but Jou-chan…"

"Hmm…"

"Please don't get drunk again, better yet don't drink at all! You just can't seem to hold your liquor."

Their small reunion was interrupted by the stable door being wrenched open. Kaoru squinted against the bright sunlight and saw that it was Kenshin.

Kenshin looked at the scene before him and a sense of envy and possessiveness overwhelmed him. He knew that Sano and Kaoru most likely didn't have an intimate relationship, but seeing her in his arms pushed his limits. He glared down at the two and without even speaking a word, he left.

Kaoru watched Kenshin's retreating figure and instantly felt guilty for doing whatever she had done.

"Sano… I'll see you later."

Sano just nodded in a way to show her he understood and she too left the stables, leaving Sano all alone… or so they thought.

Sano looked behind him and smiled slightly, "Aren't you going to come out?"

A figure stepped out of the shadows.

"It's been a long time Shinomori… what are you doing here?"

"Kenshin! Kenshin, wait for me!"

Kenshin didn't have to look behind him to see who it was, that was because he already knew it was Kaoru. He didn't understand why he felt so jealous, maybe it was because they had such a close relationship… one he could only dream of.

Or was it because he wanted Kaoru all to himself?

Suddenly a hand gripped his arm, forcing him to stop. He turned around and looked down at Kaoru.

"Why did you run off like that?"

She didn't understand… how could she when he didn't understand it himself?

Kenshin pulled his arm away and continued walking. It was then that he noticed that they were in a poorer part of the kingdom.

He took a quick glance around and saw that they had walked into an empty, but dark alley way.

"Kenshin, what's wrong?"

"Address me by my title!"

Kaoru pulled back when she heard the anger in his voice. This was the first time he had actually gotten mad at her informality.

He didn't turn around, but part of him knew that Kaoru was hurt and why wouldn't she when he just shouted at her the way he did?

"I don't understand! What did I do to make you mad?"

Kenshin felt anger rising inside him.

He had already confessed to himself that he loved her, but he had no right to get angry when he hasn't confessed to her yet.

"K-kenshin…?"

Suddenly, he swung back and pinned her against the alley wall.

"You don't get it do you?! Kaoru… I love you!"

And with that sudden confession, his lips came crashing down onto hers.

TO BE CONTINUED…

I know it's a bit rushed… but I hope you guys don't mind! I had no idea what to write.. I hope you guys aren't mad!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I await new reviews as well!

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