I...am very sorry. It has been over a month since I last posted... I've actually had this chapter ready for some time now, but was too busy to post it. Please forgive me! .

SHOUT OUT: Here's a shout out to J.G. Why? Because she wanted one! Yay! You're a great friend, J.G.! (You can check out her fanfic on Project K under LanternStars)

But enough about me! Please enjoy this (late) but hopefully entertaining chapter! :D

Chapter Eleven: To Be Or Not to Be (a Lady)

'Sir Kangawa,' Mafuyu looked at him, clutching a piece of rope. 'I have a plan. Do you think you and Sir Maizono can distract those two for a minute or so?'

'Of course, Dame,' Kangawa nonchalantly stepped out, coming up beside Maizono and into the sight of the two swordsmen. 'Sir, we are to…distract these two so the Dame has time to do what she wishes.'

Maizono's shocked expression relaxed. 'Very well then, Sir.' He gazed at his companion. 'Does she want them alive?'

Done. Mafuyu lightened the knot on the rope. After tying all the ropes together, she had made a longer one she could – hopefully – use again to trip, strangle and tie her enemies. She had heard a few thumps, but then the noise had died down. She assumed the two had made a run for it, with the swordsmen chasing them. She sighed. Now I'm going to have to find them, right? Such useless knights…

She stepped out of the prison room and nearly dropped the rope.

Before her were the two bodies of the Nishi boys, out cold. And before them were her two 'useless' knights…playing marbles.

'It's time to count our marbles,' Kankawa said, then looked up. 'Oh, Dame, welcome! Do you want to play as well?'

Mafuyu stared. 'You…even drew up a circle…how long have you been playing?!'

'Ah, we just finished our first game. Don't worry, you can join in now,' Maizono said.

'That's not the point!' she looked at the bodies. These men…defeated two swordsmen and had the time to play with clay marbles? Maybe I underestimated them. They are knights after all. 'Forget it. Let's get out of here!'

Kangawa picked up one of the swords, weighing it. 'Broadsword,' he stated, eyes squinting. 'A cheap broadsword. It's not that heavy,' he shrugged, picking up the other one and tossing it to Maizono. The latter grabbed it by its hilt and then threw it at Mafuyu. She caught it with ease.

'Our lady needs the sword to protect herself. And I like being the shield anyway,' he purred.

Mafuyu glared at him, her fingers tightening on the hilt. It felt good to have a sword in her hand once again. She took in a deep breath, making a few experimental swipes and jabs. Her moves were a little rusty, but then again, sword fighting needed constant practise and she hadn't held one in months. 'Ah, how I love the way this blade slices the air…I feel like a Dame again.'

'Oh,' Kangawa cleared his throat. 'I…my apologies, Lady Mafuyu. Through force of habit, I kept calling you Dame. But your position…'

Mafuyu winced, but nodded at him. 'Yes, I know. I...I know. Please, don't call me Dame. Now let's go back home.' The three made their way through the hallways and out onto the courtyard. 'Wait, there's a whole bunch of them over there,' Mafuyu hissed, ducking into a bush. Her two friends did the same. They looked at the crowd of squires fixing their armour in the corner of the courtyard. Tools like hammers and picks lay near them. There was even a black steed nearby, probably there to have its shoes measured. 'This is the closest exit. Nishi has a very small Palace… Ah, I have an idea!' Mafuyu beamed. 'But I'm going to have to tie you up again…'

'Hey you!'

Mafuyu flinched, turning around. 'What?' she said gruffly.

'What are you doing?' one of the squires asked. 'Aren't them guys from Higashi?'

'These idiots?' Mafuyu shoved the two men tied before her to get them to go faster. 'Yeah, I'm escorting them.'

'Where? Prison's the other way,' the squire's eyes narrowed. 'And why are ya carrying two swords? I haven't yer face before. What's yer name?'

They haven't realised I'm a girl. Thank god, Mafuyu cleared her throat. 'What's it matter to ya?' she spat, pretending to be what she thought a rough-and-tough squire would be like. 'I ain't seen your face before neither! Sir Barracuda'll have my head if I don't deliver these knights to him.'

The squire shrugged, and started walking back. Just as Mafuyu was about to sigh in relief, he paused in his steps. 'Wait a second…Barracuda?' he turned around and gripped Mafuyu's shoulder. 'Only those Higashi dogs call my leader Barracuda,' he leaned in and looked at her closely. Then he grabbed Mafuyu's head and ripped her wig off, her brown bangs sweeping back onto her face. He stepped back. 'D…Dame…'

Smack!

The boy fell backwards and Mafuyu lowered her fist. 'Sorry, guys. My cover's blown,' she swallowed as a dozen squires picked up the instruments and weapons they were cleaning.

Maizono and Kangawa slipped out of their loose bindings. Kangawa flexed his fingers. 'Don't worry, Lady Mafuyu. For old times' sake, let's show these kids how you really fight.'

Mafuyu grinned, unsheathing both swords, her eyes glinting. 'After all, we are Higashi's strongest!'

The first who came at her was a boy in light armour, his sword raised high. He brought it down and she crossed her swords to block the blow, spinning on her heel and whacking the boy in the back with the fullers of her blades. The shock reverberated in his armour, and while he was stunned she cracked the pommel over his skull. An arrow whizzed past, a hair's breadth from her face, and as she turned around a well-built boy slashed at her. Her quick block saved her but sent both swords skittering away. Cursing under her breath, she went to tackle him but before she could, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slumped down at her feet.

Kangawa grinned at her from behind the body. 'Haven't practised in a long time, my lady?'

Mafuyu blushed as Kangawa engaged himself in another swordfight. So I haven't practised. I can't exactly stretch my muscles like I used to, you know?

Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she moved in time to avoid a jab from a dagger. The attacker was wearing normal squire overalls so Mafuyu had no trouble grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him. She wrenched the dagger out of his grasp and kicked his back so that he sprawled onto the ground. Another arrow flew towards her, grazing her hand. Wincing, she swiftly ran towards the archer while he fervently notched in another arrow. She swiped at him with the dagger but he dropped the arrow and hit her arm away with the bow. She lunged forward and grabbed his hair, bringing her knee up to meet up with his face.

'Lady Mafuyu,' Maizono raised an eyebrow as he smashed the head of a squire against a brick wall. 'You haven't lost your touch. Still a demon, I see. But if you ever need to practise, I will happily volunteer.'

'A lady?!' the squire Mafuyu had just taken down clutched his broken nose. 'That monster is a girl?!'

Mafuyu frowned. 'Not right now, I'm not. Can't you see my squire uniform?' she asked, then turned to her comrades. 'Is that the last of them?' She got her answer when she saw the courtyard covered with moaning bodies.

'Yes, Lady Mafuyu. Thank you for your assistance,' Kangawa bowed. 'Please, go back home,' he held Mafuyu's hand, turning it over and inspecting it. 'We don't want Lady Kurosaki to be worried.'

'Oh, damn it!' Mafuyu wiped her stinging hand on her clothes. 'If this scars, my mother will give me a bigger scar – across my throat!' she blinked. 'Go back home? What are you going to do?'

'We still have business to settle,' Maizono answered. 'Sir Sakurada challenged our leader to a duel, actually bothering to slap Sir Kangawa with his glove. So we…well; we're going to war…?'

'Why do you sound so unsure?' Mafuyu laughed. 'If it is war, let me join you!'

Kangawa grabbed her shoulders. 'Please, Lady Mafuyu, go back home. This is not your war. Not anymore.'

Mafuyu felt her chest tighten. 'So what, just because I'm no longer a Dame, I am not worth joining the fight? If you're worried about my mother, she won't find out. Nobody will recognise me with my disguise.'

'That's not the problem. I just…I don't know how to explain…' Kangawa scratched his head. 'Look, we care about you a lot and we want the best for you,' he said, taking the dagger out of her grip. 'So it's time you leave the fighting to the knights and squires. Otherwise, it would be troublesome, you know?'

'I'm not good enough?' she asked, fists clenched.

'Sir Kangawa, I don't think you're explaining it right,' Maizono intervened.

'No, no,' Mafuyu sighed. 'I get it. I'm not a Dame, I'm not worthy to fight. I…should get going. My lessons begin again in two days. It takes me just as long to get back to Midori ga Oka. After I say farewell to my mother, I will be on my way.' She looked up at her comrades. 'Thank you for this short adventure; it was fun. I wish you victory in the battle to come.'

'Mafu…' Kangawa reached out but Mafuyu had turned around, grabbing the reins of the stallion that had stood there, calmly watching the demise of its owners without a care in the world. One would have expected it to have shied away from Mafuyu's hands, but the girl mounted without any trouble.

'What a strange horse you are,' Mafuyu muttered. 'You knights can walk back!' she yelled, and pushed her new horse into a gallop, heading towards Higashi. She knew the road back well. She had been to Nishi far too many times before, in the past.

'Good horse,' Mafuyu patted the stallion as she dismounted at the Higashi Palace Stables. Looking around her for a stableboy, her eyes rested upon a fair maiden who was standing nearby. The girl's eyes were wide, staring at the horse. 'Good day, ma'am,' Mafuyu bowed deeply, eyebrow raised. She looked awfully familiar…

'Who are you, boy?' the girl spat, walking over. 'And what are you doing with my horse?! You're not one of my subordinates!'

Mafuyu squinted. 'Your horse? Ah, wait…Sir Barra – I mean, Sa-Sakurada, sir? What are you…?' Mafuyu grinned, holding back laughter as the powdered face before her reddened.

'You slimy little…I came here to find a good ride to fight on, instead I find you have stolen my trusted steed!' she scowled. 'I was doing some information gathering. Your filthy Higashi knights will talk to any pretty girl who twirls her hair at them!' Sakurada stomped up to Mafuyu and ripped Mafuyu's wig off. 'I'll take my wig and my horse back, thank you very much!'

Mafuyu stared. 'You're not surprised I escaped?'

Sakurada blinked. 'No. But I am surprised it took you this long. Capturing you was just a way of making me feel better. I knew it was pointless, really.' She – no, he – began fumbling with his corset.

'Don't remove your clothes!'

'I'm a man, you idiot! Now strip! Let's at least let us swap our clothing.'

'I'm not going to remove my clothes in front of a man!'

Sakurada glared at her. 'I don't have time to go back to Nishi and I can't exactly fight in this. Just remove your tunic and wear this simple skirt and corset. We're both wearing undershirts, so it isn't inappropriate.'

Mafuyu hesitantly complied. 'Are you fighting on the usual grounds? The Higashi-Nishi Grasslands.'

'Where else?' Sakurada strapped on his boots. 'You're not coming, right?'

'I have no right to,' Mafuyu looked away. 'I am just a burden.'

'So that's how your knights think of you?' he snorted. 'I don't care either way. With or without you, we're going to win. Nishi has grown stronger since the time you left, Lady Mafuyu.' He called his horse over with a click of his tongue and mounted. 'Till next time,' he smirked. 'I will make sure Higashi weeps this day.'

'We'll see,' Mafuyu smiled back. 'We'll see.'

Mafuyu unlocked the door to the room and placed the oil lamp by the bedside. She would spend the night in this inn, like she always did when she made the two day journey between Higashi and Midori ga Oka. She sighed, rubbing her back. Riding her horse – Sugar Sweet Poppy Seed – for a few hours was very tiresome on the backside. She never rode horses with both legs on one side like a lady. She did when there were people around, but when it was just her and Mother Nature, she preferred riding it the normal way. It was more comfortable, but still painful. And all she had to do was pull her dress up a bit. She was about to seat herself on her bed when someone rapped at her door. Groaning, she opened it.

A red faced boy looked back at her, his forehead glistening with sweat and his chest heaving. He was wearing a Higashi squire tunic. He lowered his head and handed her a scroll. 'This is for you, milady! Sir Kangawa was shocked to know that you had left straight away. He was expecting you to stay for longer so all the knights told me to catch up to you and give this to you, but it took some time to find you, milady,' he panted. 'Took a lot of running, it did. Anyway, they hoped you could come back. They couldn't come themselves because they had to go to battle.'

Mafuyu took the scroll, eyebrow raised. Wondering what it was, she thanked he squire but told him that if she went back now, she would miss her lessons. And if her mother found out that she had skipped… Mafuyu didn't need to finish the sentence. Everyone knew how Lady Kurosaki was like. Everyone. The squire nodded vigorously. 'I understand, milady. I'll tell them.' And with that, he left.

Mafuyu unrolled the parchment.

Dear Lady Mafuyu, why did you have to leave? Miss lessons for us, like you used to! Sir Kangawa is an idiot, no, a stupid, ah wait, a blockhead, um we mean difficult to understand. You should know that. He can't express his feelings clearly. So we other knights decided to tell you what he really meant when he said it was troublesome to have you. The truth is you're an amazing person. And if you're by our side again when we ride into battle, we're afraid that instead of showing Nishi that we are strong even without our previous leader, we would have our previous leader there with us and end up depending on her! We wanted Nishi to fall by the hands of our new leader, and that she did. Barra- uh, Sakurada will not bother us for some time now. He has seen firsthand how strong we are. And another thing: we really love you, Lady Mafuyu. We don't want you involved in anything troublesome that may ruin your chances for a normal life. What if your mother saw you cross-dressing, um no, we mean fighting? We still want to play with you. We still want to laugh and drink with you. It's probably too late for you to come back by the time you get this, but visit again soon.

And remember, you will always, ALWAYS be our Dame, no matter what your official title is.

From the Knights and Squires of Higashi

The ink smudged as the tears rolled of Mafuyu's face. She sniffed, bringing her arm um to cover her face. 'You idiots…' she pinched her nose, smiling. 'I will always be your Dame, huh?' She rolled up the scroll and placed it in her sack, looking out of her window. 'Well, I hope you know…you boys will always be my Knights.'

I hope you enjoyed this action-packed chapter! I was watching an action movie while writing this...

I'm going overseas next week for around five weeks, so I won't be able update then! But I will start writing the second I come back. Thank you for your support! .