Well... here's the next chapter! Hope you guys like it!

This is more of a setting-up chapter for later events.

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Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club (c) Bisco Hatori
Claimer: everything else (c) me

Chapter Six: The Coronation of a Princess

"Kazumi…" Luciano whispered, his hand tracing her cheek as they lay side-by-side next to each other on the floor next to the table.

He had sensed her weakness, and told her to lay down next to him and rest, as she would gain her rightful title as Vampire Hunter Princess that night. Luciano used what little vampire hunter abilities he had at the time to send calm, healing sleep to her, allowing her to rest easily and peacefully. It was night time now, and he needed her to awaken.

"Kazumi…" he repeated, kissing her on the forehead. "Time to wake up."

Her chocolate eyes fluttered open to meet his, and she smiled at him. "Hey… is it breakfast time already?" she teased with a yawn.

"Nope," he told her, helping her sit up. "It'll be almost time for your coronation in several hours. Come, it's time I take you out for dinner before we head for VH sanctuary. We'll need to prepare you properly for the ceremony."

She rubbed tiredly at her eyes. "Eh?" she moaned inaudibly. "Oh… right…"

"Plus… it's nearly your birthday… so… after the ceremony I need to give you your birthday present."

"Mmm… you didn't have to get me anything," she mumbled, still tired. "Just having you back –alive, is all I need."

Luciano chuckled, kissing her on the cheek. "Nonsense. I really hope you like it… that is, when I give it to you later," he retorted.

"I'll love whatever you give me," she assured him, yawning again. "Man… just how long did I sleep? Not that I didn't sleep very well, trust me, I slept amazingly."

"Well… it's about 9:26 PM now," he informed her.

Her eyes widened in shock. That little minor piece of information really woke her up. "HUH? It's almost 9:30 already?"

He smirked. "Well… yeah. You've been sleeping for a bit now. Quite the sleepy head, are you now?"

"Mmm… shut up…" she told him. "Let's get going. Actually… let me get changed first. Don't wanna wear my school uniform out."

"Take your time," he said as she disappeared into her bathroom.

Not too long afterwards, she came out dressed in dark blue jeans and a white blouse, the top button left undone, her hair neatly brushed down. The blouse hugged nicely against her curves, and it complimented her body.

"Oooh…" Luciano whistled, slipping his hands casually into his coat pockets. "You look pretty sexy. You sure you wanna come looking like that?"

She rolled her eyes. "As long as you're there with me, I'll be fine, right? Plus… I wear casual stuff like this all the time. It's nothing big."

"But still…" he argued, walking over to her and sliding his hands down her sides before wrapping around her waist, pulling her close. "I won't be able to help but worry about you. But I'll worry less if I'm here by your side, protecting you."

Kazumi smiled, hugging him back tightly. "I know you will," she told him.

Taking a dark black light jacket from the closet, she slipped it on before the both of them slipped on their shoes and left her apartment. It was dark outside, with only the street, city, and house lights illuminating the place. There were stars littered across the dark sky, the huge full moon brightening the sky as well.

"So… where are we going for our late-night dinner?" she inquired. "Do you have some place in mind?"

"Yep," Luciano replied confidently. "A very nice place near the sanctuary. It has very nice dishes there."

She raised an eyebrow. "So… you're taking me out for dinner?" she clarified, stopping in her tracks.

He stopped and turned around, nodding. "And what of it?" he inquired.

"As in… you're taking me out on a dinner date?" Kazumi said.

Luciano caught onto what she was saying and walked over to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, his face just inches above hers. Very softly under the streetlight, he leaned down to kiss her.

"Okay, okay, I get it," she told him, pulling away, "we're boyfriend and girlfriend, therefore there's nothing wrong with going out on a dinner date. Let's just get going for dinner before heading to the sanctuary for the coronation."

Chuckling, he led her to a cute little restaurant at the corner of a street. They had a rather romantic dinner for nearly an hour before they headed to the vampire hunter sanctuary.

xXx

"So… this is the place?" Kazumi inquired, looking up at the large white building behind huge metal gates.

"Yep," Luciano replied, opening the gates and motioning her inside. "Come on, let's get going. You have to meet your bodyguards before the coronation. The only one you know so far is me. You have another 8 you have to meet."

She blinked, her chocolate eyes widening with surprise. "What? I have another 8 bodyguards?" she gasped.

"Shhh…" he hushed, "yeah, you do." He chuckled, "Sometimes I like to call us the 'noble nine', but the others usually scowl at me and tell me I'm crazy."

"But it's cute," Kazumi reasoned. "the 'noble nine'. I can't wait to meet them. Are they the same age as us?"

"Well… Kazuma is 19. Rei, Takumi and Chika are 18. Hajime is 16, the youngest of the nine. Ryuu is 20, and Kyo and Kira are 17," Luciano explained. "Ryuu's the eldest of all of us, as well as the most experienced, so he's technically the leader of us nine. The nine of us are like one giant team, so we were all selected by the Council themselves and we were forced to work with each other for about a year and a half. Apparently the reason why is that it was all going to lead up to this moment when we would coronate the princess of the vampire hunters; you. However, since I know you the best, I've been chosen to be the leader to protect you."

She smiled. "Yep, you do know me pretty well," she agreed.

Pressing her against him, he kissed her deeply and passionately, one hand caressing her cheek while the other slipped around her neck. Very soon, Kazumi pulled away for air, and he chuckled.

"Well… now that we've kissed here, as long as you're here next to me, no one will dare touch you and or ask why a 'mere human' is doing here," he explained. "As you haven't gained your proper title yet, you don't yet have the scent of a vampire hunter, therefore none of the other vampire hunters there know that you are our princess."

Nodding, she pressed herself tightly against him, and he held her close.

"You will always be the woman I love," he swore quietly, "no matter who you may end up loving. I will always love you, Kazumi…"

"I-I love you too, Luciano," she breathed awkwardly, knowing that the words rolled strangely off her lips. But a burning sensation in her heart reached out for Takashi Morinozuka, and Luciano could sense a small disturbance in her.

As they entered the sanctuary through Luciano's vampire hunter blood and password, the other vampire hunters present stared at them and began whispering among themselves as they walked through the huge English-style hall with various doors lined on each side.

"Who is she?" "Why has Luciano-sama brought her?" "What is she doing here?" "Is this some sort of joke?" they muttered to each other. "She's pretty." "Maybe she's a new hunter?" "She seems capable, but it's hard to sense the power within her."

"Mmm… they don't like me very much, do they…" Kazumi murmured to Luciano, and he nodded.

"Once they know who you are, things will be different," he told her. "Rest assured, I won't let them hurt you. They have all been waiting for the princess for a long time now."

Feeling a sudden jolt in her mind, she began to collapse against Luciano, and he caught her in surprise, sweeping her effortlessly into his arms, her head leaning against his chest. Immediately Luciano turned to a male hunter, his eyes burning with anger.

"Hatori!" he snapped with fury, "Repress your power! Do you have any idea who this girl is? She is the Vampire Hunter Princess Kazumi Shirozaki!"

Instantly, the hunter Luciano had addressed as Hatori pulled back his mind power and he and the other vampire hunters nearby bowed to the weak girl in Luciano's arms. A white aura began to flare around Kazumi's body, revealing more power than they had initially thought.

"I apologize, Luciano-sama, Princess Shirozaki," Hatori apologized. "Please forgive me."

"Luciano…" Kazumi whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek.

"It'll be alright," he assured, softly kissing her, surprising the other hunters. He continued to carry her, to which they had arrived at a certain door. "Here's my room, you can stay here with me before I call the others to come meet you." Opening the door, he carried her in, and laid her down on his bed, removing both their coats and tossing them aside as he pinned her down to the bed, kissing her passionately.

Under his trench coat he was wearing a pure black formal business suit.

"Stop, stop," Kazumi told him as he kissed down her neck. "That tickles."

"I love you, Kazumi," he murmured, tugging off his tie and tossing it aside. "Oh, and just to let you know, one of my powers is that I can manipulate your emotions… so… maybe I should manipulate your emotions to feel… lustful, perhaps?" He eyed the buttons on her blouse temptingly.

She pushed him away immediately. "Luciano!" she gasped in horror, and he chuckled.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he reassured her quickly. "I would never do that to you. I'll wait until you're ready."

"You're insane," she murmured, shaking her head. "I never knew you were such a pervert."

He gave her a mock hurt face as he undid the top two buttons on his shirt and readjusted his collar to make himself look a little more casual. "Kazumi, how could you say something like that?" he whined. "I was kidding, 'kay? I'm not a pervert… at least… no more than the other guys."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Luciano called, and the door opened to reveal Kazumi's best friends Fumiko and Akane.

"Ah, Kazumi! You're here!" Fumiko exclaimed as she and Akane tackled her furiously.

"I can't wait until the coronation! It's going to be so cool!" Akane added.

Kazumi pulled away. "Hey, so you're both vampire hunters too?" she said, suddenly noticing that Kyoya was walking into the room as well. "Oh, hey Kyoya," she greeted.

He bowed at her from the waist. "Good evening, Kazumi-sama," he greeted in return before smiling at Luciano, "I see you've already reunited with an old friend."

The 18-year-old chuckled. "You got that right," he agreed. "She was most definitely surprised to see me."

"I've called the other 8, and we are meeting in the den. Kazumi-sama, your royal dress is inside Luciano-sama's closet, carefully kept. Luciano-sama decided to keep it for you until the time you would need it," Kyoya informed. "Now… just go into the bathroom and change."

Luciano went to his closet and grabbed a carefully bagged golden dress, handing it to Kazumi. "This is yours, princess," he told her, gently kissing her.

Hmmm… but I thought that Kazumi liked Takashi-senpai, Akane and Fumiko thought.

"Now… hurry and go get changed," Luciano instructed, and she took the dress from him.

"You mind if I take a shower first?" she inquired curiously.

He shrugged easily. "Go ahead," he replied, "but make it quick. We don't want the others to wait too long."

She nodded and went into the bathroom.

"Well… this is interesting," Kyoya said. "I'm sure Kazumi-senpai will look absolutely ravishing in that dress."

"Of course she will," Luciano agreed with a grin as he hung up the business jacket and grabbed a thin black leather jacket from his closet. "Do you have any idea how sexy she looks in that blouse?"

"You'd better not do anything to her, Luciano," Akane threatened.

"Yeah," Fumiko agreed, "once she becomes the Vampire Hunter Princess, she'll be way out of your league."

He rolled his eyes. "As if," he argued as he slipped on the leather jacket. "Kazumi is my girlfriend, of course she's still in my league."

"But I thought she was falling in love with Takashi Morinozuka," Akane argued.

Luciano nodded gravely. "Yeah, that's why I have to try and make her fall back in love with me," he told them before defending quickly, "I know, I know, I'm also being a little selfish by wanting to keep her for myself… but… in my perspective I find it for the better."

"I'm afraid I have to agree," Kyoya agreed. "At some point in time, Kazumi-senpai and Mori-senpai are required and expected to try and kill each other. But that will be closer to impossible if the both of them are deeply in love with each other."

"I highly doubt that the Vampire Council is helping him with falling out of love with Kazumi," Akane contemplated, "but otherwise I think Luciano is doing a good job distracting her from Mori."

Fumiko reached up to tap Luciano on the forehead, causing him to blink every time she tapped him. "Just don't let it get into your head," she warned, "Kazumi is still our best friend, princess or not, so don't think we won't be watching out for her."

Not before long, the bathroom door opened, and Kazumi stepped out dressed in the golden dress robes of the princess. The dress was like a single shift, flowing down her entire body and spreading by her feet, hugging against her curves. The dress had a wide V-neckline that reached out to just before her shoulders and was simply designed, with simple embroidery covering the fabric. Her hair was washed, brushed and wavy, and two golden bands were on each wrist.

"You're beautiful!" Luciano gasped. "And just so cute!"

"Elegant indeed," Kyoya commented with a grin as his eyes scanned her body over.

"Uh… thanks," she replied as she adjusted her dress.

Luciano went to get something from his drawer, pulling out a beautiful golden winged heart pendant on a gold chain. "Now for the last finishing touch," he murmured, walking over to Kazumi with a smile. "This was supposed to be your birthday present, but it seems more proper if I present it to you now. Happy birthday Kazumi."

"I-It's beautiful!" she gasped. "Oh thank you, Luciano!"

He undid the clasp and looked at her with soft, warm forest green eyes. "Turn around," he instructed gently.

As she turned around and lifted her hair, Luciano closed the clasp and she lowered her hair, the pendant now resting against just on the top of her breastbone. He pressed his cheek against the side of her head as his hands ran down her sides to wrap around her stomach, kissing her on the cheek.

"I love you, Kazumi," he whispered, closing his eyes.

"Mmm…" she hummed back, her hands resting over his on her stomach.

Akane and Fumiko exchanged a look.

"Look, we don't mean to interrupt this sweet moment," Akane began.

"But we have to meet the others in the den," Fumiko finished.

Kyoya glanced at them. "They're right, you know," he pointed out, looking directly at Luciano, and the hunter nodded, releasing Kazumi.

"Let's get going, or else they're going to think I'm bombarding you with a whole bunch of information," he agreed, taking Kazumi by the waist and escorting her out of his room, the others following while Kyoya turned off the lights and closed the door behind him.

As they walked through the halls, various hunters turned to look at them, bowing to Kazumi in respect. They had waited for a long time for the Vampire Hunter Princess to reveal herself.

"See? They all respect you," Luciano whispered against her hair. "Come on, the others are waiting."

Suddenly, two women dressed in maid outfits ran in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. They bowed in unison. One had short brown hair, the other had shoulder-length silvery-white hair.

"Pardon us, Luciano-sama," one of them said. "We have been instructed to prepare the princess for the coronation."

He sighed, turning to Kazumi. "Well… you'll meet the others later at the coronation. We'll continue on and speak with the others while you get ready." He turned back to the two maids. "Yuki, Sakura? I leave her in your care."

"Come princess," Yuki said as she and Sakura motioned her towards a nearby room.

Luciano pulled on Kazumi's arm and turned her back towards him into a passionate kiss, hugging her close. Not long afterwards, Kazumi pulled away and walked away with Yuki and Sakura into the room to prepare, Akane and Fumiko following behind them.

"Well… now since Kazumi's left to prepare, I guess it's just you and me, Kyoya. Let's head over to the den to meet with the others," Luciano said. "After all, I bet they're getting impatient on why we're taking so long to get there."

Kyoya nodded. "I'm sure Ryuu's keeping them distracted from our tardiness," he reasoned. "He's a very understanding guy. He's smart, he'll understand."

Both young vampire hunters headed for the den, and looked to see a bunch of young men standing and sitting half-patiently, dressed neatly in tuxedos and black suits. They turned to look at Luciano and Kyoya as they walked in.

"Hey, where's the princess?" 18-year-old Rei Takano inquired, blinking large azure eyes. He had a cute female-looking face, which easily got him mistaken as a girl, especially with his light blonde hair and short ponytail.

"She was dragged away by Yuki and Sakura," Luciano sighed, scratching at his hair as Rei handed him a tuxedo coat and red bowtie. "Well… I guess you'll all just have to meet her later then."

"Hmph… what a pain…" 17-year-old Kira Nakamura muttered in annoyance, crossing his arms.

"Now, now, Kira," Ryuu Kuriyuki chided, "it's not the princess' fault she cannot make it in time. After all, her coronation will be in less than half-an-hour. We will see her during the ascendency, and then we'll have the chance to speak to her privately after where we can introduce ourselves properly."

His younger brother Kyo grinned at Luciano. "Well… is the princess cute?" he inquired.

"Only one-hundred percent," he replied back with a wide grin. "Any girlfriend of mine is cute."

They all were silenced by this, and stared at him in shock and surprise.

"Whoa… the princess is your girlfriend?" 16-year-old guardian Hajime Nozaki repeated.

"Yeah," Luciano replied calmly. "We started dating in middle school before the accident. Then I had no choice but to leave her alone until just today." He sighed, "I missed her touch just so much, and her kisses were wondrous. Always so sweet, her lips."

Before he could continue, Rei placed his hands firmly against Hajime's ears. "Now, now, don't say so much in front of the little boy," he teased.

Hajime pulled away. "I'm not a little boy!" he shouted angrily.

"Hajime, control yourself," 19-year-old Kazuma Higashi said, glaring at the younger teen with dark golden eyes. "Our duty is to protect the princess, not bicker pointlessly with allies."

"Kazuma-sama…" he whined, but Ryuu silenced him gently.

"Come now, Hajime. What Kazuma says is correct," he agreed. "Now… since we have a little time before the coronation, is everything ready?"

"Yes, Onii-san," Kyo answered. "All the hunters in the entire area have been gathered, and earlier this morning the noble families arrived here. The local weather channels say that there will be clear skies and a full moon tonight. Perfect timing, I suppose."

"It must be Fate," Chika Yamakawa commented, brushing back messy honey-brown hair from his eyes.

"When will the princess be ready?" an 18-year-old boy inquired, gazing at Luciano with dark onyx eyes as he brushed away light brown hair.

"Well, Takumi, Yuki and Sakura will have her ready before the ceremony starts, that's for sure," Luciano replied, a little unsure of the timing himself. "I trust those two to get her ready on time."

"Or else you know I could always go help her!" Rei exclaimed, about to run towards the door before Ryuu grabbed the back of his collar, restraining him with ease.

"Easy, Rei, you'll meet her in time soon enough," Ryuu commented. "We all will."

Takumi Kamishiro sighed, "The coronation starts in less than 10 minutes. We ourselves should get going. We don't want to show up late to our princess' coronation, especially since we are meeting her for the first time."

"Takumi-sama is correct," Kyo agreed.

"Man," Luciano sighed, scratching his head again, "why are we still all addressing each other with –sama and such? We're all friends here, let's just greet each other like normal friends would, regardless of age and rank. We can't have something as superficial as that to stand in our way of what matters the most: protecting the princess from all harm."

"Luciano is right," Rei agreed. "Though I'm honestly surprised how mature that sounded."

"Hey!" he retorted.

"Now, now," Kyoya chided, "nevertheless, Kamishiro-senpai is correct. We'd all better get going so we aren't late. I know Kazumi-hime will be very unimpressed if that were to happen."

"Wait, wait," Chika halted, "Kazumi Shirozaki? Of Class A of Ouran High School?"

Both he and Luciano nodded, and he gasped, "Whoa, then the princess has been in my class the whole time!"

"Well… that will mean three guardians will be present with her at school," Ryuu said, "probably for the better. We are still unsure of what the Vampire Prince is planning, as well as the goals of rouge vampire hunters and vampires. Shirozaki-hime may be in grave danger."

Kazuma glanced at them. "But don't forget that the princess herself will gain substantial power that will surpass any vampire hunter, as well as the ability of knowing how to use those powers," he reminded. "Even if we should not be there, she will be able to hold out for her own for the time until any of us can arrive to assist her."

Kira glared, scoffing. "That is… if she can hold out until we get there," he muttered.

"Don't doubt the princess before you even get to know her, Kira," Chika warned. "She's actually a very sweet and kind-hearted young woman."

"Not to interrupt, but enough musings," Kyoya announced. "We must leave for the Coronation Hall. You will be expected to arrive in an orderly fashion, and to stand by in two neat rows across from each other on each side of the procession carpet. We've all been through this before."

"Well," Ryuu sighed, "you heard the man. Let's get going."

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