A/N:Sorry for the incredibly late update! So many things have been keeping me incredibly busy. I actually took a sick day off of school today. Not feeling well, but I had enough time to type up what I'd written down the last couple of weeks on paper. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own Vampire Knight~


Our Minds Think of Death.
Our Hearts Think of Life
Our Souls Think of Immortality.

-Sri Chinmoy

---

31st Day of January, Late Afternoon,
Tokyo Castle, With Kumiko's Ladies and Maids.

Yuuki sighed and carefully shrugged out of her dress. Ruka grinned and went closer to Yuuki.

"Thinking about the king again, Yuuki? Maybe you shall visit his bed ton-" Yuuki squealed out in surprise and pinned her dress to her chest, turning around quickly.

"You jest!" She retorted in a hushed tone. Ruka gave out a small giggle and turned away from Yuuki.

"You know I'm just joking, Yuuki. But it is funny to see you a bit on edge after what happened earlier." Ruka said, as she stretched her silken arms gracefully over her head. Yuuki huffed and turned back around.

"I hope Mrs. Takeshi gives you a punishment for no reason again." Yuuki retorted as she pouted slightly.

"Tch! No way, never again!" Ruka responded.

The Ladies and Maids had been ushered into a moderately sized room, in where they would be dressed and prepared for the evening. They had been inside the castle's walls nearly all day, spending the morning and afternoon in the final fittings of their lovely gentle hued gowns and rehearsing for their roles at the evening banquet.

But it hadn't been just them readying for the banquet. A great many people had been scurrying around the castle in preparation for the foreign princess' arrival later that day. Chefs had been wailing orders at assistants, guards had been placed intricately throughout the castle, the pages running about in a distraught manner.

"It is one of the most beautiful gowns I've ever had." Kiyo admitted to Kyoko. "Not ever has my husband presented me with a gown such as this."

"Hmph. I think all your gowns are very pretty, Kiyo. It must be because you haven't ever bought any gowns with these colors." Kyoko put in.

"Then you should start telling your husband you need more down-hue colored gowns, Kiyo." Kagami said, standing still while one of the attendants laced up her cream and golden bodice.

"Un, I already know what I should and should not tell him. Therefore, whenever I need money I make sure I get plenty before the next month comes or..."

Yuuki tuned out the other girls and turned to one of the attendants and signaled for one of them to help put on her dress. She was one of only three other maids dressed entirely in gold and white, with slashed upper sleeves that had puffs of her creamy white chemise pulled through. The satin skirts flounced and gathered near the bottom with tiny silken rose buds that had small, intricate bows placed under each and every one.

The attendant rushed up to her and began lacing up the gown, making sure everything was in place. Yuuki pointed to one of the golden ribbons on a table.

"Tie it around my neck, please. Carefully." She asked.

The attendant quickly reached for the long silk ribbon, placing it around Yuuki's neck, and tied an elegant bow at the front.

Mrs. Takeshi waltzed into the room then, telling the girls to get their hair dressed immediately.

Yuuki drifted towards the connecting room with the others. The special hairdressers assembled for the even had begun organizing the items they would need, telling the girls to sit anywhere. They did as told, and waited patiently as the hair setters swiftly got to work.


---

Great Hall, Afternoon,
In Preparation for the Banquet.

The hushed whispers and moving around of servants, guards, masters and apprentices filled the gigantic room from corner to corner, enveloping everyone with the knowledge that that night would be a very busy one for all of them.

Decorators stood up on wooden ladders hanging the neat bows, ribbons, and candles throughout the noisy room, yelling out to the servants every moment or so. Artists re-painted any parts of the walls and ceiling with a few cloud like shapes here and there, speaking meticulously to the apprentices about the importance of measuring and the amount of paint to use for a specific shape or color, asking the attendants for more paint every once and again.

Pages ran about, with orders to send messages, get a wild variety of items or to call on someone.

Talk about the Filipino princess was everywhere, from her looks to intelligence to just plain rumours made up by servants and attendants throughout the castle. 'A fair blond beauty she is' was often heard throughout the hallways and courtyards, appearing tremendously in the servants' quarters and the large, exquisite kitchens.

Courtiers were either getting suited and ready for the long night or helping out with the preparations.

A high pitched, ringing noise suddenly came from one of the main hallways, causing for many head to swerve towards the uproar. Guards rushed out into the hallway, yelling out wild commands for pages to fetch any of the king's advisers or members of the privy council.

The hallway was swarmed with guards running about in a disorderly, panic-ensued manner. Screams, shouts, and gasps were heard throughout the long hallway, all in shock.

A horrifying felony had just been carried out.


---

With Kasumi & Rima.

Kasumi wove her way through the crowds of courtiers, ladies, and such others in the long corridor, dragging along Rima by her wrist. She lifted her skirts slightly as she meandered throughout the hallway, looking back every now and then to make sure it was Rima's hand she was still holding. Kasumi hadn't forgotten the last time Rima had somehow replaced her own wrist, with some other poor younger gentleman's wrist.

She had apologized so much to the boy when she found out it wasn't Rima's hand she was holding, making a thorough note to 'talk' to Rima later on. When she found her, that is.

Rima grunted in protest, trying to somehow dig her feet into the polished wooden floors, looking around to see if she could find anyone to help her out.

"Ne, Rima, please don't be so stubborn. Yuuki, Ruka, and Yori-chan invited us to their final rehearsal and dressing, you shouldn't be so reluctant to go, you know?" Kasumi whined, pausing in the hallway suddenly, making Rima stumble a bit and a servant almost bumped into her. Rima sent Kasumi a sour look.

"You could have at least warned me earlier, Kasumi. You shouldn't have just burst into my bedroom and woken me up the way you did!" Rima responded impatiently.

"Oh jeez Rima, you're still angry about that? Look, water dries quickly. Besides, you have more nightgowns don't you?" Kasumi questioned, giving Rima a smile.

"Ohh~ What's this? Milady Rima, why is that girl gripping your hand so tightly?" A hand was placed on Rima's shoulder silently, and a finger was pointed at Kasumi. Rima turned her head over to see that it was Shiki, and gave him a small smile.

"Shiki!" She said, smoothly and secretively sliding her wrist out of Kasumi's hold. Rima turned around fully then, facing Shiki.

Rima gazed at him, giving a small, soft smile. She bobbed a minuscule but polite curtsy.

Shiki grinned slightly, asking, "Milady. What a pleasure it is to actually be able to meet you during such a hectic, busy day. Have you any plans for tonight?" His voiced lowered considerably at the end of his sentence, waiting for Rima's answer.

Kasumi gave a small whistle and winked at Rima. "I'll go ahead, Rima. I'll be in the rose garden if you need anything." She hummed, and shuffled away hastily.

Rima rolled her eyes at Kasumi, turning back once again to face Shiki. Just when she was about to open her mouth in response, guards and pages quickly flocked the corridor, gathering around Shiki and Rima.

"Lord Kobe, your presence is requested immediately in the west wing main corridor. This is an emergency," One of the captains shouted. Shiki made a bewildered expression before looking back at Rima.

"It seems I have business to attend to. Will I be able to see you tonight?" Shiki asked. Rima nodded in response, watching as Shiki hurried away with the guards and pages following suit. Rima sighed and turned her head into the direction Kasumi had left just minutes ago.

"Rose garden, here I come." She murmured, walking away slowly.


---

Tokyo Castle, West Wing,
Main Hallway.

Member of the privy council stood in shock, unable to comprehend what had happened.

On the floor, Lord Kurenai lay on the floor dead, his blood splayed around him, with other few guards, also dead, beside him. On the wall behind them, written in blood, were the horrible words, SHORT REIGN FOR THE JAPANESE KING AND ALL WHO FOLLOW HIM.

Guards with orders shooed away any passersby. Everyone was being careful about this sensitive event of which few could know about.

"We can't tell the king about this," Ichiou said suddenly. Heads with startled expressions whipped around to stare at him.

"Are you crazy?"

"Such treacherous thoughts!"

"Have you gone mad!?"

Ichiou raised his hand to silence them. "No, maybe, and no, are the answers to your thoughts."

"What I meant to say was that we can't tell the king about this today. Remember that the welcoming banquet will be held tonight for Princess Sara. No one must find out about this outrageous deed. We will tell him when things aren't so crazy. But today, we must act as if nothing has happened, for the peace. Understood?"

The other members preceded to give him strange looks, and consulted with each other before regarding Ichiou again.

"We understand. For the peace. But we will tell the king about this tomorrow. We'll call an emergency meeting." One of the lords said. Ichiou nodded.

"Then," Shiki began to tell one of the guards. "Tell the pages to find the cleaning servants to clean this up. Also, tell them to tell the servants that if they speak one word about this, they will not be forgiven."

The guard bowed, and rushed away.

The council members looked at each other once more, sighing.

"How stressful."


---

Later that night, Great Hall,

The Gentlemen and Ladies of the court piled into the great hall, which was marvelously decorated with gold and ivory. The tables were covered with yellow/beige table runners and large golden laced bows at each end. The ceiling had been painted with a golden sky filled with clouds and angels, and the walls with a similar feeling.

The courtiers gasped in delight at the beauty that had been created, marvelling in other little things like the candles and other such things that had been covered in lace with minuscule golden keys hanging off of them.

Everyone gathered around to chat and gossip as usual, commenting on the decorations. People were dressed in light, pastel colors to go with the theme of the banquet.

After a few minutes, the great hall was full, and people began taking their seats. The large, wide doors at the end of the great hall opened, revealing a flurry of doves flying throughout the hall with little golden bows wrapped around their necks. The doves flew above the tables, flying close and dropping little bags of sugar, licorice, and other sweetmeats.

Courtiers laughed in pleasure at the gifts, looking inside the laced-covered bags to find things like sugar covered almonds, honey flavored nuts, and caramel candies.

Trumpets blasted, signaling the arrival of the king, and everyone stood up and bowed, then sat back down. Kaname came in, with a dove on his shoulder. He was dressed in the state colors of burgundy and old gold, and wearing a golden circlet on his head. He took a seat on the neatly decorated dais, and made a swift motion for the dove to fly away.

Music continued to play, and a few more doves were let out of the giant doors. Sara came in then, dressed beautifully in a wine-colored gown with roses attached and gathered in a few places. Pearls were strung around the dress with small bows on them, a few pearl necklaces and bracelets, and she had a pearl headband on.

She moved toward the dais elegantly, and made a small curtsy before taking a seat near Kaname.

Kaname stood up and began to make his wlecoming speech...


31st Day of January, Late Afternoon,
Waiting Chamber, With the Other Maids & Ladies,
In the Year of Our Lord 1579.

Im here in this crowded chamber with all the other girls, waiting for some signal to let us know when we go out into the great hall. Yes, I did really sneak my diary in here. When Mrs. Takeshi told us we'd probably have to wait 2-3 hours, all the girls (including me) freaked out.

Diary, I drew all over two whole pages to pass the time, and I must say (along with Ruka and Yori) that I fail completely at drawing. I'm still not sure if the drawing on the second page is of Ruka or a deformed horse. I won't ever draw again. What a shame.

Anyways, as we all wait here doing absolutely nothing but standing (we can't sit because over there says we might wrinkle our skirts), you can just imagine how much gossip is going around. Blah blah blah. Oh! This is interesting! It seems that someone found a grey cat! Fun!

Diary, do you see what I'm talking about? This is how bored we all are. I would write about what we did all day today, but I'm afraid I probably won't be able to finish writing it. So I'll write about what happened all day today, including the banquet, tomorrow.

Ooh? They made the signal! Time to go!

Sincèrement,
Yuuki Cross.


Woah, it really has been too long since I last updated. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask them! Next chapter will continue with the banquet! Hope you enjoyed. ^-^

Please review~

~Kagome873