Okay, so this is a very big chapter. o_o I hope you guys like it.

Oh, and what'd you guys do in Christmas? I just went to the cinema with my big brother to watch Avatar 3D on Christmas Eve, calling it awesome in an understatement. Also, since my school's off I've been watching anime (atleast 5-6 series) all day long, so I'm very happy! I have a fanfic idea for one of the minor characters of this anime that's airing right now -- it's called Fairy Tail, it's a pretty good watch for people who like comedy-action. Andand, I can't wait for the second season of Kuroshitsuji that'll start at the end of next month! Woohoo! Awesomness.

Festivity

"We are at the Akiyami mansion, my lady," the young man announced as he bowed infront of the gate, motioning for her to enter.

"Really? I wouldn't know," Shiori remarked sarcastically and the demon disguised as human smirked, trying not to chuckle. Of course she'd know they were at the mansion, it was her home afterall. The blue-haired girl observed the mansion where she grew up in with a sad smile. Even after all this time, it was still the same as she remembered as a kid. The moonlight shined on the large house resting on a huge plot, as well as the shady trees in the wide garden that spread across acres and acres of land.

"– and I told you before, address me by my first name otherwise it'll look suspicious."

"Right, Shiori."

"Excuse me – who may you be? I can't let you in without permission, are you two invited?" a bald watchman said getting up from his chair that was placed right at the entrance of the house, besides the gate. The man came out of the front gate with a lantern hanging from his hand to get a better look at their faces.

Shiori blinked. The dark-haired man smiled and rested his hands on the watchman's shoulders. "Permission? – Invited?" the tall figure laughed, "what are you talking about, my good fellow? This is the first time I have seen an owner of the house asked to get permission of another to get inside their own home.. Quite strange if you ask me."

"Huh?" the old man blinked and stared at the young man head-to-toe, confused. Who were these people?

Shiori recognized the watchman, he had been working in the Akiyama estate for years. The watchman's father also worked for the Akiyama family, their family had been serving Shiori's for years. "It's me, Fujioka. Shiori, daughter of Minoru Akiyama."

".. Daughter of M-minoru Akiyama!? – Sh-sh-shiori Akiyama!? Young lady, is it really you?!? I can't believe it, after all this time.. we all thought something had happened to you. We looked for you so much, but there was no trace of you. I – I'm so happy.. Welcome back, young lady! Welcome back! I'm going to tell everyone right away!" the old man cried out and knelled down on the ground and bowed in respect to welcome the former princess of the Akiyama clan.

Shiori beamed at the elderly man, "no need, I'd like to surprise them."

---

"Congratulations, Noburu, old pal! Your daughter, Wakana, is married now. She grew up to be such a fine lady. They grow up so fast, don't they? I remember only yesterday she broke her arm trying to climbing a cherry blossom tree."

"Ohohoh! They do, indeed, they do," the plum, short man laughed out-loud while rubbing his belly. He had tiny eyes, with a big nose, a wide mouth always stretching across his f ace, and a scruffy mustache. He was the bride's father and Shiori's father's brother. He was swelling with pride, his one and only child's life was now complete. He had no worries. The man ate and drank like crazy as he laughed and joked with his friends.

"Momoko, Wakana looks so beautiful! – and the groom is so dashing, isn't he the son of some really rich man? They make such a wonderful couple, your family is indeed blessed – I'm jealous!" one of the women cried in the crowd of many women who were all well-dressed and groomed.

"Ahh, wahahah! Thank you! We actually had no choice in the matter. You see, the boy was head over heels over Wakana ever since he saw her and kept asking for our daughter's hand in marriage. He just wouldn't take no for an answer, and we just simply couldn't refuse his persistence," a slim woman with her dark hair tied tightly into a bun replied as she laughed with her hand covering her mouth, deliberately showing off the gems around her fingers.

Shiori's aunt loved to compete with everyone over everything, she was actually quite a stingy woman, who loved boasting about herself to everyone – loved gossip and exaggerating things, and was known to be pretty stubborn.

"Oh my, is that a diamond ring!?"

"Why yes, it is.. Do you like it, Kotoko? I just had my husband order it for me from somewhere very far."

The whole Akiyama estate was decorated with beautiful lights and flowers. It was a wedding reception, afterall. The grand hall was filled with all sorts of rich, noble, and famous people from across the country, few from some some nearby villages. There was traditional Japanese music being played, food and beverages, and just lots of snobby people showing off their achievements and possessions. Both the bride and groom received presents from all the guests. It was a perfect evening.

Until the door burst open, revealing two people. One of them being familiar and the other being a complete stranger.

And everyone gasped.

The first person was a young woman with fair skin and steel-blue wavy hair that ended till her chest, a small twisted ball of her strands behind her left ear and many uneven strands on her forehead. She had mud-colored eyes and small facial features and wore a dark-colored kimono, she looked like someone out of a gothic-renaissance painting.

The other person was a beautiful man with skin as white as snow and dark hair that fell till his chin. He had wine-colored eyes, arched eyebrows, a thin nose and lips that were curved into a mischievous smirk. The man had black nails and wore a gray-colored Kimono to compliment the woman.

Everyone present in the grand hall paused what they were doing and turned to stare at the pair that stood out the most, it immediately became really quiet and all the guests gathered infront of Shiori and the man beside her.

Shiori cocked her head to the side as she was greeted with tons of people, wondering what they were doing in her house and why was the mansion decorated so lavishly. "Hotaru, is this a party for us? If so, how did they know we were coming? I thought we were going to give everyone a surprise," the young woman said out-loud, forcing her tone to sound sweet and innocent.

Hotaru smiled, "I don't think this celebration is for your return, Shiori."

Immediately, the crowd of men and women started whispering to one and another.

"It is Shiori! The daughter of the previous Akiyama leader, so she's alive!"

"Oh my God, she really is alive!"

"I didn't ever think she would come back.. Wow! What a marvelous day."

"She looks so beautiful, oh my gosh. Who's that guy with her, though?"

"She looks just like her mother, poor thing. She's practically alone now."

Momoko and Noburu, Shiori's aunt and uncle rushed past the murmuring crowd to see what the racket was about. They were too busy greeting the new arrived guests to see what the commotion was about. "Hey, what's going on here? Let us through, move!" Noburu said as he shoved the people infront of him aside. Momoko's gleam immediately disappeared and wondered what was it that was taking attention off of them, it was their party afterall. Nonetheless, they were sure shocked to find their suppose-to-be-dead niece standing at the entrance with a handsome stranger.

Both the old couple's jaws dropped to the floor as if they'd seen a ghost, well, they kind of did see a ghost-like person, but whatever. Noburu, the ball-shaped man, clutched his chest. He was going to have a heart attack – he had started panting, he was sure of it. Momoko squeezed his shoulders to stop him from passing out, motioning him to get a grip. She was too shocked herself to take care of him.

Shiori forced a smile at her late father's brother and his wife. "Lovely to see you again, aunty and uncle."

Momoko ran towards Shiori and pulled her in an embrace. "Shiori! You're alive? You're really alive! I'm not dreaming, am I? I'm so happy.. me and your uncle can't believe it. You were gone for an year, we thought you were dead – w-we tried looking for you everywhere, Shiori. Where were you all this time? Why didn't you try to contact us?" by now the woman was sobbing, tears were rolling down her cheeks. Momoko looked back at her husband to see how he was doing, he was still in his paralyzed-like-zombie state. "I – I think your uncle still can't believe that you're alive, he's in a shock. I'm so very happy, and so is he!"

Shiori stared blankly in midair as the middle-aged woman squeezed the life out of her, "yes, I'm.. very happy, too," the blue-haired girl managed to cough out of her mouth and literally shoved the woman away from her. "What are you doing in my house, though?"

The woman blinked at Shiori for a couple of moments, forgetting to wipe her tears away, and laughed. "We moved here six months ago, Shiori. You know, to protect to Akiyama estate. We couldn't just leave in isolated and let it rot."

"Oh, how very thoughtful of you," Shiori answered in a bored tone. When were they going to leave?

"Shiori!?!" A young woman came running past the crowd. Shiori recognized her as her older cousin, Wakana. Wakana had light-brown hair up till her waist with matching eyes, she had a pointy beak-like nose like her mother's and was dressed in a beautiful pink kimono and lots of powder applied all over her skin – giving her skin a snowy-look.

"Oh my God, Shiori! – You're alive, thank god!" the young girl said embracing the blue-haired girl as hard as her mother did. Shiori coughed again – trying to breathe, Hotaru chuckled at the weird reunion. Wakana pulled Shiori away from her and looked at her from head-to-toe. "Hmm, you changed a lot! Oh, and you came back on such a good day, this must be a really good sign for myself. Aren't you going to congratulate me?"

"Is that so?" Shiori arched her eyebrow, "what am I congratulating you for, actually?"

"Yes!" the girl grinned at her younger cousin, showing off white teeth. "Today's actually the celebration for my wedding, you know. My wedding was just yesterday."

"Oh, is that so? Congratulations, Wakana," bored. When are they going to leave already!?

"Don't call me that! Why does everyone call me that!? I keep telling everyone to call me Kana, okay! Ka-na! Wakana is very old-fashioned and weird sounding."

"..."

"Anyways, do you want to know who my husband is? Do you, do you?? – Of course, you do! Any guesses? It's Itsuki Kawaguchi! Remember, your father's friend's son!"

What? No, that can't be right. What was going on? It was then that Shiori spotted a bronze-haired man in the crowd, standing right infront of everyone. The man looked horrified, completely frozen in his place. So he was alive all this time? Well, that was a good thing. But, how could he marry her – it didn't make sense. Wait, why was she affected by this in the first place? She had no feelings for him anymore. That was the old Shiori. The Shiori that died.

"Get out.." Shiori whispered to herself.

"What?" Wakana asked wrinkling her nose, not being able to hear her properly.

"I said GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! Everyone right now, OUT. Now! – Even you, uncle and aunty, out. Now!"

All the guests were appalled by this announcement and started muttering things under their breath. Everyone was just freaked out by all of this family drama going on. Everyone started making their way out of the mansion, grunting and not even bidding farewell.

"What are you saying, dear? We live here, all of our stuff is here now – we can all live together," the aunt said with a worried tone, running up to Wakana and clutching a shocked Wakana's arm.

"You can't do that! It's my wedding reception!"

"Thank you for protecting the Akiyama estate while I wasn't present all of you, but now I am. So get lost, the party's over. I can pretty much take care of things here myself."

"Shiori, you can't do this to us! We're your family! What has gotten into you!?" the uncle finally snapped out of his weird hypnotized-like state, now all red and shaking his fist at his young niece. Momoko ran and held her husband to calm him down. "Dear, don't shout and create a scene, please."

"I advise you to leave right now, sir – " Hotaru calmly said as he came infront of Shiori and motioned for them to get with a polite smile.

" – and just who are you to talk in between all of us!?" The uncle snapped.

"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself – how disrespectful of me. I'm Hotaru Kurosawa, Shiori's husband. And I kindly request you all to leave now."