AN: Hi everyone…

Yes…. I am very late… 4 months late to be exact.

My sincerest apologies to all of you. I was really busy with work, life and other such distractions, on top of having a writer's block smack in the middle of this chapter. But it's here now, I'm here too. So I hope you will forgive my sins with this giant chapter. Love you all, and love all the readers who supported my laziness up until now!

Chapter 10

After getting used to the way things worked in the Ichijo household, life was pretty easy and interesting for me. Well, I say that but it wasn't really possible to actually get used to living and working there in such a short time. Every time I thought that nothing could surprise me anymore, something fascinating, deadly or quirky happened. Like the time Takuma almost got sexually harassed by a female employee. Or the time when I got lost and accidentally witnessed Ichio sitting cross-legged in his living room, wearing pajamas and playing a dating simulation game. I stood there frozen for a good 5 minutes while the man, frozen too, stared at me and paled steadily. After a very, VERY, awkward conversation where I tried to avoid a death warrant and he explained how his main guard had confiscated his other games for the day, I ended up giving him tips on how to successfully date the sexy yandere. After I escaped while reassuring the man that I wouldn't speak of this to ANYONE and ANYTHING, I left the main house through a window (got directions from Ichio), found a fountain and proceeded to plunge my head in the water in disbelief. Yeah, that was one pretty traumatic experience which successfully shattered the remaining bias that I had concerning the people of this world. This wasn't the Vampire Knight manga/anime anymore. The manga/anime's Ichio would never have been caught doing that of all things! Unless Matsuri narrated it in her way and left out everything else, which included that. Yeah, that was a better explanation than the one where I was going crazy and fantasising about a centuries' old vampire overlord playing otome games in pyjamas. Anyways, I couldn't speak to Takuma for a whole two days for fear that I'd blurt things out. And whenever I crossed Ichio after that in the corridors, we both avoided to look at each other in the eyes due to sheer embarrassment. That happened in the first few weeks of my stay, and now that one year had passed, I was sometimes invited to play with Ichio again, through a message sent by his personal guard (the one who beat the crap out of me for the evaluation two chapters ago). He did not wear pyjamas again in front of me though, so that was a plus, but it was still as awkward as ever.

Speaking of Ichio's personal guard, I got used to the ninjas over the year. I met them several times in the servants' quarters and, although they were a bit wary at first, we got along nicely after they saw how bad I was at throwing things. The way to friendship = manipulatively maintaining the ego of male counterparts. Well, it worked with the eight small fries. It was different with the lion-vampire-man, Ichio's main bodyguard, Raphael. With his gorgeous coffee skin, golden eyes and dark cloth wrapped around his head and face all the time, that man looked and felt like he'd come out straight from the era of the Crusades. After catching glimpses of him sometimes in the employees' dorm, I noticed that he was a generally aloof person. He constantly exuded an aura of danger which no doubt discouraged people from approaching him. To be honest, I stalked him whenever I had time in the first few months, secretly worshipping him as an honoured senpai (no, not in the 'notice me, senpai!' way, but close). I mean, he was so strong and so cool! He was like Kaien in battle-mode, but even better! He didn't say anything about my stalking at first, though I was sure he must have noticed. After the second month, he glared at me for two seconds, which led me to squeal like a fangirl and to stalk him even more. After the fourth month, when I was looking at him as he trained in the training centre of the Security Department, he sent a projectile at me, which led us to engage in playful combat. After that, we regularly trained together and I was finally able to start improving my fighting skills again!

But even though I was happy about resuming training, it couldn't compare to the times when I accompanied Kaname when he went to visit Yuki. I went as a bodyguard, of course, but that didn't stop me from leaping into Kaien's arms every time I saw him. If I didn't do it, he'd cry and engulf me instead, so our meetings always started with hugs and tears on his part. I was happy, really. I wasn't feeling suffocated by the plot, by being static or by Yuki anymore. Whenever I met with Kaien, we spent as long as we could chatting about useless stuff, sometimes about important stuff, but always in that carefree way we liked. He made me tea while I munched on much needed sweets and stuffed a huge box with as many cakes as I could so I could bring them back to the Ichio mansion. I'd then share one or two with Takuma and Kaname, but the rest were MINE!

By the way, I was getting along much better with Kaname than I originally thought I would. He actually listened to me! He didn't stay away from Yuki as I told him to, but he didn't say anything about vampires, he didn't show his fangs, he didn't try to drink her blood or things like that. I knew that Kaien had already told Yuki about vampires, but the information itself didn't seem to be having much effect on her now that her nightmares had lessened. More than anything else, Yuki needed to feel safe at the moment and Kaien was the best for that. (Heart squeeze at remembering when he used to take care of me as a toddler.) So yeah, if I made sure that she was never bitten by a vampire, or that she was never in contact with a vampire in the action of drinking blood, maybe, maybe things will be different. Maybe she'll have a better life this time around and Kaien will happily be able to be a dad until the end.

She warmed up to me too. Yuki, I mean. When I visited for the first time after I left the mansion, she clung to me (by which I mean that she held my arm and refused to let go, since we were around the same size) for a good five minutes after Kaien let me go. Even before I left, she came to me, gave me a bunch of flowers that she'd plucked out from one of Kaien's pots in front of the house and left without saying a word to hide behind Kaien. Needless to say that I internally squealed over her cuteness. I was glad though, maybe she was also seeing me as a person of safety. Strangely enough, even though she was only one year younger than me in this world, I couldn't see Yuki as a fellow child like I did with Takuma. She was a baby in my eyes, which made me want to hug the hell out of her, but I resisted. For the first two times. Then we were both giggling away in the imaginary prairies like I had dreamed of.

But dreaming aside, a year passed rather quickly in the Ichio household. Oh! Before I forget! I had a uniform, and I loved it! It was not a ninja outfit like Ichio's guards, nor was it a crisp-cut men-in-black suit like what Yoshida-san wore. It was a black mini-dress with a hoodie and tight pants, which came with a multi-compartment leather belt and black shoes which didn't hurt and made very little sound! Apparently, the stylist which made the uniforms for the employees was taken aback when she heard that she needed to make a bodyguard uniform for a six year old girl. I heard that the first outfit she proposed was a black Lolita dress, which was promptly rejected by my beloved Wakamatsu. She had to reluctantly go with a casual style so as not to restrict my movements. Since I had no real weapons, I used the belt to store my snacks and little objects like dice or strings to play with when I was on a boring duty.

Speaking of duty, I was pretty well paid for a job which was just about accompanying two kids while they did their activities. In one week, I only had to assist Yoshida-san with a pickpocket who tried to, well, pickpocket Takuma while he was out buying manga. Takuma went out quite often actually, as far as his limited free time allowed him to. Sometimes Kaname accompanied him, but most times he stayed at home reading boring classical literature. While Takuma had Yoshida-san as main bodyguard, Kaname had the guy who accompanied Yoshida when they went to visit Yuki, Mirai-san. But they didn't have a very close relationship. Kaname mostly kept to himself, just barely accepting the night protection Mirai-san was responsible for.

It didn't take long for me to notice that Kaname didn't treat the Ichijo house as a 'home'. He didn't wander around, he didn't converse with the staff, he didn't come out of his quarters except for the times he was required to. He had the restraint of a perpetually polite guest and he was close only to Takuma. And to me, but I didn't count. Being so unsociable could not be a good thing. It made me worried about the things going on in his head. Was he already planning things? Was he already manipulating people to do his bidding? I wasn't sure. What I knew was that all of this isolation was slowly pushing him further down a dark pit where his craving for Yuki steadily deepened. I wasn't the only one who noticed the early phase of his descent towards obsession, or evil. Although he was the person Kaname met with the least, Ichio came third in seeing through the darkness in his eyes (the first was Takuma, I was only the second since I had developed a distracting addiction to the manga of this world that Takuma gave me when Kaname began to show signs of his lonely angst). And since Ichio wanted to use Kaname to his fullest, he took action to try to convert the little pureblood into a more enjoyable being. This meant PARTY!

After eight months of boring patrol duty with barely a hint of danger around, I was finally going to do some REAL WORK! I was genuinely excited for it! And I wasn't alone, I had seen glimpses of Yoshida smiling a bit creepily when he thought no one was looking. The beauty of this job lay in action and protection and mission and destruction after all. That was what pumped our bodyguard blood. And we used this rare opportunity to go all out. Yoshida-san ordered a new arsenal of weapons a month earlier and I doubled my load of exercise and training with Raphael. It was one thing to keep fit, and completely another to train for battle (which probably wouldn't happen, but the hope was there!). Anyways, these were the most exciting weeks I had since I joined this job. It was only the security department which was hyped up though. The household servants who had nothing to do with it were rolling their eyes at our antiques for the whole month. Wakamatsu even scolded Yoshida and me for being 'disrespectful barbaric fools'. But we couldn't help it! The weapons had arrived and Yoshida had unboxed the riffles and the guns in the training hall booked for the security department. His eyes had twinkled with childish excitement and we had looked at each other and even if I had never wielded a weapon before, I was given one and we had run around the mansion, chasing each other in good faith surrounded by the musical bangs of random shots. We were enjoying ourselves, so it was a given that some vases might break in the game. They were expensive, but what else was Kaien's platinum card for?

And then, finally, the long-awaited night was here.

The servants were fumbling around a lot more that night. I woke up at 4 p.m, which was early. I geared up and blissfully wandered out towards Takuma's room. Glancing towards the window, I saw Ichio's personal driver engrossed into polishing the limousines that we were going to use later. They were already gleaming.

Grinning, I pulled open the door to Takuma's room and was met with the usual sight of maids fussing over Takuma. They had formed two groups and they seemed to be fighting over what to make their young master wear. One choice was a prince-like outfit with a fluttery shirt and a long coat and the other was a baby-size tuxedo. Takuma was stuck in between, trying to calm both parties down by proposing absurd compromises, like putting the top of the tuxedo on the tight prince legging. Anything to escape the fluttery shirt. Oh well, he seemed busy, so instead of greeting him like I usually did, I went straight to my partner-in-crime standing in his usual place by the window.

"Slept well, Yoshida-san?"

"Not a wink. And you, Katsumi-chan?"

"I day-dreamed about a princess who needed to be delivered from a group of bandits."

"Not bad, but not better than a brawl between two yakuza gangs over whose bocchan gets the fair maiden."

"Ooh, sly, Yoshida-san. But wouldn't the fair maiden get killed because she's too weak?"

Yoshida smiled. "Since her death results in a blood-boiling need for revenge, the fair maiden is more than appropriate."

We giggled together until Takuma's whining called for help. Aaah, I loved cracking murderous jokes with Yoshida. The guy was such a pacifist in real life that the absurdity of our play-pretend sadism was enough to make me double in laughter. Well, not all of it was play-pretend, though not on my side.

Anyways, yeah, helping Takuma…

Yoshida went forth, sliding back into his nice-guy smile and sweat-dropping at the sight of two maids glaring sparks at each other. "Now now, my ladies. It wouldn't do to hurt yourself, would it?"

"Stay out of this, Yoshida-san." One of the maids said, sneering at her opponent. "The Young Master needs to be dressed perfectly for this party. We will not accept negotiations."

And the man complied. Yep, see what I meant by absurdity of play-pretend sadism?

I huffed, patting his arm as he leaned back against the window pane, wordlessly passing the making-up baton to me.

It would not do to side with one side of the maid-army. It would incur the wrath of the other side, and I wasn't willing to risk any 'accidental' needle attacks again. So, solution, don't give a damn about any of them.

I walked up to Takuma's massive ward-robe and pulled it open. Hmmm, a lot of choice, but what to choose… Ah!

"Takuma." I called out, whirling around and throwing a boyish haute-couture ensemble to him. Classic shorts, a shirt, a ribbon and a jacket, all in soft tones of blue, grey and brown.

The maids sputtered and I glared at them.

"What? Don't you guys want to enjoy Taku-chan's cute boy charms while he's still small?" That silenced them while Takuma changed in the inner room. As usual, they squeal as soon as he opened the door, holding the ribbon in his hand. Then they started to fight over who would tie his ribbon for him.

Oh well, mission accomplished.

"Good job." Yoshida said, looking a bit apologetic as I returned to the window. "By the way, Reiko-san was looking for you."

"Huh? What for?" Me getting called out by Reiko was rare. Like, twice in my entire stay rare. And these were only to scold me. To my knowledge, I hadn't done anything worth getting shouted at recently.

"She did not say. She just told me to tell you to meet her at Maru-san's room as soon as possible." Maru-san was the in-house seamstress.

I huffed. "Maybe she just needs someone to help the girls get ready."

Yoshida raised an eyebrow at that. "They are older and bigger than you Katsumi-chan. I don't think that's it."

"I'm gonna see." I unstuck my back from the wall. "It's not like I can skip her orders anyway. Don't want to end up having to sleep in the lounge like poor Hiromi-kun." While Yoshida winced and nodded sagely, I set off. Takuma was still getting a headache over the maids. Too bad, I'd save him later.

The fitting room was just one floor below. I had heard that the maids who were going to the party were having a change of costume to match the Master, who'd decided he'd wear a traditional kimono for the night. But contrary to my speculations, nobody in the fitting room needed any help. Despite being pressured by time and the impending doom of luxury and performance, the girls were all calmly getting ready, some already putting on their jewellery and finishing their make-up.

I slid inside the room, weaving my way through the little space in between the bustling ladies. I spotted Reiko-san by Maru-san's side, giving the woman instructions of some sort. Maru-san was really dishevelled that night, not that she was any different other times, but the pressure was almost visible on her hair tumbling down in disarray as she worked ferociously on a sewing machine.

"You called, Reiko-san?" I asked when she did not notice me approaching. I had to ask this question twice again for Reiko to pivot away from Maru-san and point out that I was 'finally' there.

She beckoned to me and pointed towards a small pile of black cloth. "Come here and put this on."

I grabbed the pile, immediately noticing that the material had to be pretty expensive. But what was this? A new high quality uniform? I turned towards Reiko and mumbled a long "Ummmmmmm" to communicate my confusion.

Reiko only glanced towards me for a bit before returning her attention to Maru-san's work. Then, in a tone which was no doubt meant to question my intelligence, Reiko-san drawled out this: "What? You were obviously not thinking about going to the party in the rags you're wearing, were you?"

I looked back down to the pile of black silk in my arms and was filled with the same dread which touched a kid when their parents suddenly cancelled the long-awaited trip to the seaside. Or when the parents suddenly told the kid that his/her incredibly annoying and sticky cousin was also coming to the long-awaited trip to the seaside. But yeah, dread.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Language, Katsumi-sama. And no, this is not a joke. The Ichijo family has a reputation and a standard to maintain. Yoshida-san will also be there and he is perfectly capable of protecting the Young Master. You are also a lady, so please behave like one for tonight." Oh yeah, Reiko called me –sama because my father was rich and I was Takuma's friend; she wouldn't budge on that.

"But a KIMONO?!" I asked, my voice dripping with disbelief at this blatant attempt to ruin my fun.

Reiko-san, no doubt irritated at me raising my voice so much at her, turned around and glared at me with her scary eyes, making me shrink back a bit. "You choose, Katsumi-sama. Either you wear a kimono and accompany the Young Masters to the party, or you stay at the mansion and patrol the gardens."

"Remember to hold me back later on when I will attempt to trap Reiko-san's room with my unused assortment of rusty blades."

"Oh, it's not that bad, Katsumi-chan." Yoshida chuckled. "You look as cute as my daughter in these clothes."

"Call me 'cute' once more, Yoshida-san, and I'll deliberately confuse Reiko-san's room for yours." Seriously, the man sounded almost like Kaien, calling me cute whenever I changed my clothes. We were waiting in front of the mansion for the Masters to come out. It was freezing outside, so the layers were warm enough. But damn were they hard to walk in. I tripped twice and once even fell flat on my face. That was right after putting the kimono on, still in the changing rooms, so Reiko instantly fixed my hair back. Because yes, they had also done my hair. They had braided the front of my silver-blond hair so that the braid fell behind my left ear. I had thought that was all, but no! They had then pined the falling braid and the rest of my hair on my head in an up-do that would have been quite cute if it didn't hurt like hell was pulling on my scalp. Oh, and there was a heavy butterfly hair accessory stuck to bun with pearls and black crystals hanging from it. It was pretty, so I was keeping this one to decorate my room. My kimono was also similar to the butterfly pin. It was black, with blue, turquoise and purple butterflies dancing around intricate, shimmering silver dandelions. The obi was dark blue, also dangling with a butterfly pendant. It was also beautiful and, like the pin, I was going to hang it like a tapestry on a wall in my room. I liked the kimono a lot actually, just not for wearing, not me at least and certainly not when I was working.

So that was the kimono, but you know what was worse than the kimono? The geta sandals. Reiko-san would scold me for it, but I was taking these sandals off the moment the entry show-off was over at the party.

I was driven out of my resentful musings when the servants and maids began lining the sides of the entrance, signalling the incoming Ichijo grandpa and the two midgets. Behind them were Takuma's parents, who I had noticed were almost never present except when they had to show their faces for events of some sort. I did not like them. Hell, Ichio was a creep but I liked him better than Takuma's no-name parents! At least the old man did not ignore him in the corridors when they accidentally bumped into each other. Takuma never talked to me about his parents, he never said anything about feeling lonely. I just couldn't help but notice the way his smile faltered sometimes when he noticed them somewhere and they did not even glance at him. Other times he also did not even look at them. He must have grown used to it. But for some reason, I felt worse when he ignored them too. But that wasn't my business, not until he talked to me about it. Oh well, I could wait. In my head, these things that I saw but had to wait for him to tell me so we could talk about them were my insurance tokens. They were a list which guaranteed a lengthy friendship, and the longer it took for me to tick them all off, the better.

So I stopped internally frowning at Mr and Mrs Ichijo at the back and instead glanced back to the front. No use commenting on their clothes: Ichio was dressed as a Japanese noble, Takuma the outfit I had chosen for him, and Kaname was in a similar outfit as Takuma, but his outerwear was black and his ribbon was blood red. As they passed Yoshida and me, Ichio gave me an approving nod, Kaname's expressionless face was hinted with shock and amusement (he was no doubt sensing my discomfort, the jerk) and Takuma's mouth was hanging open as he pointed at me and turned to Kaname for confirmation. The latter nodded and continued to walk forward as Takuma regained his composure and- the hell? Why wasn't he looking at me anymore? Where was the customary little wave that he sent to me every time we passed each other in public? Was it the kimono? Impossible, even if I couldn't walk much, I was aware that it looked great on me. I was a cute kid after all, even though I hated it when people called me that. Pfff, he must have forgotten with the shock. Lol.

After the Masters got in the limousines, the bodyguards climbed in and off we were to the party's venue. Ichio sat together with the boys so I couldn't talk to them during the ride. I looked outside and enjoyed the view. It was dark, but the flowing forests, and occasional plains and the lakes glinting with the silver of the moon were always stunning. Listening to the car's smooth engine as it rolled past the scenery always made me a bit nostalgic about the past world where I had enjoyed some rare nightly rides like this. That lost world, those streets I will never again wander through, those people I would never see again, those places I had planned to go to but never could, those people I would have loved to meet but never had… they welled in me an emotion which, though painful, I treasured like a beautiful memory.

And as we reached the venue in a distant town, I locked that memory back in its box and prepared myself to deal with the one I was in currently. I stepped out of the car and lined up behind the young Masters.

The doors were pulled open by two waiting butlers to reveal a lush venue with a sparse crowd of dressed-up people, all of whom turned to watch as Ichijo-sama was announced. Chandeliers and grand halls were once again the default setting. And while this world tended to always veer into the dramatics, saying that our entrance was no less than a procession wasn't even an exaggeration. It could have been an optical effect due to the cold air of the night, but a sizeable halo of grey smoke accompanied Ichio as he entered, naturally demanding respect and submission. Several of the guests inclined their heads and some even went as far as bowing down 90 degrees.

But even so, the reaction to Ichio was almost bland compared to the 'welcome' Kaname received. The already heavy atmosphere intensified, feeding off of the mixture of awe, fascination, worship, envy and lust which were radiating from the guests like an almost tangible cloud of poison; a cloud which I revelled in, of course. I'd spent all this time training for the danger that could – and would, even if not tonight- spawn from this crowd. Of course, facing danger wasn't the prime reason for my training, but what could I say? This fascination with violence is an incurable disease which plagues those of my profession.

The doors closed behind us and Ichio and his procession were greeted by the host and were shown to some refreshments. Yoshida and I walked right behind our young masters. Our eyes met and he nodded. While we were excited at the prospect of worthwhile action, our top priority was Takuma and Kaname's protection. Since I was not strictly attached to one of them, I was to roam the venue to check for anything suspicious while the boys were accompanied by their respective permanent bodyguards. After that, I would be oscillating between the two, which in all meant a lot of moving. In other words, I was gonna walk bare feet all night. Better than the clack clack that I still had to remove from my feet.

As soon as Ichio stopped to talk to someone, I shot a signal to Yoshida and Kaname's bodyguard and I slipped out of the group. I found an empty corner, took off the geta sandals, loosened my obi and let my eyes roam through the crowd.

'Looking' wasn't a skill Kaien had taught me; I'd taught it to myself, back when I'd been the eldest child in a financially unstable family in a city which thrived under the shadows of thirsty men and hungry women. 'Looking' was what showed me who was safe and who wasn't, where to go and where to avoid, what to trust and what to ignore. So here too, I looked.

Unfortunately, the hall was gigantic and the people too big for me to see much. But that also meant that I could go pretty much wherever without being seen. I'd noticed a balcony overlooking the hall when we'd entered. Getting to the staircases was child's play. The door was small and inconspicuous enough to be well hidden in the decor if one wasn't paying attention, but I found it easily enough by running my hands along the wall to feel for bumps in the texture (to look for secret passages, a technique which came in very handy in the mansion(s)).

The corridor/balcony upstairs seemed to lead to several closed doors, all of which were locked. Looking down the balustrade, I could see most of the hall. All in all, the guests seemed to be behaving pretty normally. Some were enjoying the buffet, some were examining it with distaste, some were happily chatting and most were bitching at each other. Yeah, nothing noteworthy there. Time to peek into the backstage (the kitchen) to make sure no poisoning act was on. Just like with the stairs, it was quite easy to find a small ventilation panel in a small corridor which discreetly diverged from the main balcony. And nope, only an angry looking boss screaming orders at nervous little minions there. So much for my fantasies of danger. Oh well, a last round around the building and I'd be just in time for the chicken which was currently in the process of being roasted.

Because finding a back door would take too much time and I was small enough not to be noticed, I slipped out of the hall through the main door. Outside, I was met with the curious glances of the door-openers. I paid them no mind and hopped down the stairs as quickly as a child would. I skipped to the nearest wall and immediately dropped the little girl act as I melted into the shadows of the building. As I went around checking surroundings including the parking, the valet-quarters, the gardens, I was met with (drumrooooooolllllllll) absolutely nothing. And yeah, I was disappointed to a certain extent. This was a party which had assembled most of the top-dogs in the vampire society. How come there wasn't even one stupid guy plotting to ruin things up?

I stopped in the middle of my flower pot inspection. That was actually really suspicious.

I flopped down on the grass. What is the meaning of this? Unless the bad guys are all busy with something else, the possibility of there being no one to take advantage of tonight's situation was really thin. And according to my information, both as a bodyguard and as a reincarnation, there was nothing really big going on at this point in time in the Vampire Knight World. Rido was still a sack of blood and bones, Shizuka was enjoying her free time… Nope. There was no big risk tonight. So where were the small fries? I couldn't have missed them…

Argh! I stood up. Forget it. I was losing my time pondering over this stuff. Maybe they were late or something. I'd just have to stick to the boys and protect them when the time came. Aaaah, such a pain. I dragged my feet back to the main door of the hall. And this time I did not even bother putting on girly airs. Sandals dangling from my hands, I just climbed the stairs, opened the door, entered and closed it, completely ignoring the smug smile on the door handler's face. As if he knew that all the looking around I was doing had been for nothing. I weaved my way through the guests until I reached a small crowd of Ichio maids.

"Where are the Masters?" I asked to the maid closest to me.

"Oh miss! You should wear your geta properly! Reiko-san would be so displeased to see your current posture." She commented, wiggling her fingers delicately.

"Well Reiko-san isn't here right now. Where are they?"

"Such an insolent little girl. Did you not learn that you should respect your elders?" She scoffed.

I sighed. She had to be a new girl. Must be quite good at her job if she was allowed to a party so early in her career. I ignored her and asked the maid next to her about Takuma and Kaname.

"They are currently in the VIP quarters past the little chamber over there. I can arrange some food for you if you want to eat while waiting for them to come out, Miss. They just went in, so they might take some time."

"I can't really take you up on the offer for the food, Aiko-san. But thank you for the information. I'll be sneaking in then. You guys can tell me if it was delicious later." I stepped towards the guarded VIP quarters and turned around a bit to say one last thing. "Oh, and, Aiko-san? Please tell the newbie to refrain from telling Reiko-san about my 'lax posture'. It could be dangerous... for her, of course." Threatening wasn't harmful in itself, so I wasn't going to refrain myself from doing it if I wanted to save myself from an annoying lecture later.

The entrance to the VIP quarters was very obvious despite the host's attempt to make it discreet. A veiled off corridor that I hadn't bothered inspecting earlier because of the couple of massive guards standing right in front of it. If I just told them I was an Ichijo family bodyguard, I'd just embarrass myself. Not many people on the outside knew what my real role was. It wasn't really kept as a secret, but it wasn't news published in the news either. I had no doubt that a seven year old working as a bodyguard to one of the most prestigious families of this world could create scandals here and there. But meh. If they controlled the press enough to hide the existence of vampires, who was I to worry about my public situation?

But we're straying, so I'll go back to the VIP quarters.

Need to find a way to get in. I wasn't a beauty yet, so seduction was a huge LOL. Hmmmm- Oh! Might as well use this status since I have it.

I fixed my kimono as well as I could, put on my geta and approached the bodyguards in slow, coquettish girly steps. I looked up at them with the widest eyes I could summon (they even managed to tear up a bit because I was stressing them! Perfect!) and began. "Uh, uhm, my friend is in there. He told me to always stay by his side, but I got lost in the crowd…"

One of the guards looked down at me expressionlessly and said, "This is a closed off area, Miss. We cannot let you pass without authorisation."

"B-but, Kaname-kun and Takuma-kun will be angry~" I whined. And bingo. As soon as these names were pronounced, the guards stiffened. They shared a couple of glances and whispers before one of the guards addressed me again.

"If you are truly with them, Miss, then we will let you in." YES! "But since we cannot have you getting lost again, I will accompany you." HUH?!

"Um, no, it's ok. I'm a big girl, so I can go by myself." I shifted away clumsily as the guard moved to stand before me as a guide.

"You just told us you got lost Miss. If you are truly the honoured guests' friend, then there should be no problem if I accompany you safely to their side, right?" I felt a strong pressure from what I guessed was a heavy glare and despite myself, I could only whisper a feelble "I suppose so" before the guard began moving deeper into the corridor. This wasn't supposed to be like this! Now this'll create a scene and it'll look like as if I was taking advantage of my friendship with Takuma to rely on him; which was kind of true, but I didn't want it to be known! Aaargh! Why was this night turning out to be so embarrassing and disappointing? First with the kimono, then the lack of assassins and now this! I should just have stayed at the mansion!

"We have arrived." The guard said curtly as he opened the huge door at the end of the corridor. This revealed another hall, this one decorated with flowers. I peeked from behind the guard as he led the way towards a small group of kids who were chatting around a luxurious sofa set. "Ichijo-sama. This Miss here has been looking for you claiming that you were friends. She says that she got lost in the main hall, so I brought her here. Do you confirm that she is your friend?"

By then, I had my hands firmly planted on my face to keep the humiliation away. I… was never acting the part of the little lost girl ever again. I didn't want to see Takuma's face, which was surely scrunched up in confusion. I really didn't want to see Kaname's face, Kaname who was surely laughing at me because unlike Takuma he would have guessed what was going on. So no, I wasn't showing my face for the moment. Not even when Takuma got over most of his confusion and confirmed that yes I was with him. Not when the guard left. Especially not when I heard Kaname chuckle from a distance away.

I heard Takuma clearing his throat. "Umm, Katsumi-chan? Why are you covering your face?"

"Shut up, Takuma. I don't want to see you right now."

I heard a snort and a bratty, "Haha! You got rejected by a midget, Takuma-san." Followed by a calm, "That was rude, Hanabusa."

Hm? That name sounds really familiar. I could hear Takuma's frivolous denying while I pondered about where I'd heard that name. Hana, Hanabu.. Hanabusa- No way!

I dropped my hands from my face and watched the little boy in front of me cheekily chatting with his moody friend. Blond hair, icy blue eyes, could it really be him? A chibi Hanabusa Aidou?

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

OH MY GOOOOOOOOD! IT'S HIIIIIIIIIIIM! SOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUTE!

I quickly jumped behind Takuma's seat and hid, trying to calm my heartbeat while I peeked at the young version of the genius hottie I'd always liked in the past. I had no doubt I had stars in my eyes when Takuma noticed me and asked what I was doing behind his sofa. When I didn't reply, he sighed and said, "I don't know what happened before you came here, Katsumi-chan, but I hope you will let it go soon since it does not seem too important. These are my friends. Do you want me to introduce you to them?"

Too quick! How can I meet Hanabusa in such an awkward situation?! I think I must have blushed since Takuma suddenly looked worried and asked if I had a fever. Suddenly, a hand came down on my shoulder, making me flinch. Yoshida-san was standing behind me, as equally confused and worried as Takuma. "Is everything alright Katsumi-chan? You've been behaving strangely ever since you got here." The look in his eyes was clear. Was I acting according to some danger I'd noticed on my patrol? Was the security breached in any way? Report the situation. And that was what shook me out of my fangirling state of mind. Right. I was not just a girl comfortably reading Vampire Knight in her room before going to sleep anymore. I was a bodyguard. I could not take my time to admire the beautifully drawn lines which made up Hanabusa Aidou anymore because this time around there were no drawings. This world was real. These people were real and I was a professional.

I stood up straight. "Don't worry," I said to Yoshida-san, lowering my voice to not alert Takuma. "I was just distracted for a minute. The perimeter is secured, but we should still be on the lookout. All that I could gather was that there were no birds flying in the sky." I stared into his eyes to stress my point. "None at all." Birds were one of the imagery we used to code our report. And having no birds at all could be both good and bad news. After Yoshida-san nodded, I turned to Takuma. "I'm sorry for my behaviour just now. You were saying?"

"Well…" Takuma glanced sideways, making me shift my focus to the small crowd that had gathered behind him. Because yes, the little ruckus that I'd caused had drawn the attention of the kids and they were all staring down at me. Curse my childish short frame. At the same time, most of the kids there were older than me by some years, and they were vampires (which meant great bodies), so of course they'd be taller than me.

Eventually, one of the kids, a pretty long-haired girl whom I assumed was a chibi Ruka spoke up. "Takuma-san, who is this girl? I have never seen her before. Is she a servant who you've befriended?"

I raised an eyebrow as Takuma frantically said, "No! She's not a servant! Katsumi-chan is my bodyguard and she's my friend!"

Ruka did not seem fazed by Takuma's defending at all. "Even a bodyguard is a servant, Takuma-san. You should rethink about befriending people who are not on the same social standing as you. You are too kind, so they can take advantage of your kindness anytime."

An orange haired boy who I assumed was a chibi Akatsuki immediately chastised her. "Ruka! That was rude! She is Takuma-san's friend!" All of which was futile. Ruka just turned her face away from him in a 'hmpf'.

Oh. Seemed like Ruka was already very wary of people who were not in her circle. The way she talked seemed to be painted by personal experience, which wasn't really surprising considering she was from a rich family. She was bound to have had some bad moments with enemies by this time. As a mature person, I could understand her reason for being wary, BUT! That didn't give her the right to insult someone whom she'd just met just because she thought they weren't rich. And my inner child was not very fond of bullying.

"I don't care about what you think, Ojou-chama. But I advise you to be careful should you choose to continue insinuating that I, as a professional and as Takuma's friend, am disloyal in any sense." I used the same tone and voice I'd used in my first meeting with Ichio and I stood as tall as my body allowed me to. This was no ordinary playground and these were no ordinary kids. So I couldn't openly threaten her, nor could I act in any highly disrespectful way which would cause problems for the Ichijo family. But lightly insulting her this way worked just fine! *Strikes evil laughing pose in old shojo manga style* Ho ho ho!

"Wha-? Chama? You are a lot younger than me, servant, so how dare you use this honorific to address me?! And how can you be a bodyguard anyways? You're just a midget."

… the 2nd time. That was the 2nd time I was called a midget in this party. "Who's a midget, you-"

"I think that is enough."

I turned around to see Kaname walking towards the group. He'd been standing by a window this whole time. Most of the kids except for Takuma and I gasped.

"It's Kuran-sama!"

"He's talking to us…"

Ruka turned beet red as he stopped right behind me. "K-Kaname-sama. I- I apologize if our arguing has disturbed you!"

"Not at all. This book was getting boring anyways."

"I-is that so?"

"Yes. But despite its distracting potential, I'll have to tell you to stop fighting with this girl lest matters go out of hand. You are a future lady, so you should not disgrace your family by responding to the taunts of someone younger than you."

Ruka's temper submitted to Kaname's words in a matter of seconds and she softly replied, "Yes, Kaname-sama."

I realised that things might have gone out of hand if we had continued further, but I also had pride. This was the future night class, and they were Takuma's friends, so I was hoping to get along with them as equals. No way was I going to bow down to any of them. I wanted things to be clear on the matter that I was not to be trampled on. And the way Kaname had worded things seemed to hint that I was inferior to all of them, which made me very angry.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Kaname hadn't finished yet. "And allow me to personally introduce this girl. Even though she is employed by the Ichijo family, she is not bound to the family as a servant. She is a free person, so what she says cannot be held against the Ichijo family. Her skills as a bodyguard are also top notch, so I'd advise you all to not test her temper. And finally, she is both Takuma's and my good friend, so I'd appreciate it if you all are nice to her from now on. Is that possible?" There were various nods amongst the crowd as well as some shocked faces (including Ruka's). "Then I will return to my reading." And he left.

I… well I was happy that he defended me and all, but why did I feel like a child at a sandbox whose parent had just told the other kids to "be nice and play together, ok?"? I turned to look at his retreating back and threw my imaginary toy scraper at his head. The conniving bastard. Why did he have to mix in some evil joke every time he said something nice?

I huffed, looked to the front and huffed again. Just like with the sandbox situation, things got even more awkward after the parent, that was Kaname, put his nose in. Ruka was glaring daggers at me, Hanabusa was looking at the ground with annoyed eyes and Akatsuki was looking as tired as an old man who was forced to watch his son's grandkids for the nth time. Forget it. We'd make friendship some other time. I turned to Takuma. "I'm going back to Yoshida-san's side. You continue enjoying the party, Taku-chan."

And I did just that. I retreated to Yoshida-san's peaceful side, ignoring the 'Taku-chan, lol' comments rising from behind.

"Not as you expected, Katsumi-chan?" Yoshida asked as I took off my geta and huffed again.

I loosened my obi again and handed Yoshida the butterfly pin for safekeeping. "Not at all."

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, though it was a bit long. I hope you won't mind the way I perverted Ichio's character in this chapter. Too little information was given about him in the manga and anime, and he's a character I really like, so I wanted to try ways to explore him in this story. As I mentioned in the chapter, the world that Hino Matsuri portrayed was centred mostly around Yuki. This means that some characters' backgrounds can be played with however, and this is what I did. Because Takuma has that penchant for anime and manga, I thought that he could have inherited that trait from someone. And since the family member he's closest to seemed to be his granpa, so why not?

Anyways, don't forget to review if you want to comment on anything or if you have any questions which don't require me to spoil you. I'll gladly answer to each and every review

Also, I was really happy that you guys reviewed about the pairing thing for the last chapter, though I realise that it was kind of too early in the story. I have also noted down all of your suggestions concerning the omakes, so look forward to seeing them, sometimes as omake and sometimes as part of the story itself if I can do so.

This time, I'd like propose a game, just for fun. It'll be like a trivia game for this story, not important facts, but rather very unimportant scenes and omake. Instead of me writing some omake down, I want to involve you readers in the writing in the form of reviews. No need to write much, just the gist of it is ok too. It'll be interesting to see how one idea can be developed through various perspectives. Answer if you want to and if you have time :D

Question: How do you think a meeting between Kaien and Yoshida would go?

(Pointers: How would they greet each other? Would they talk about Katsumi? Etc… You guys are free, so enjoy yourselves!)