"No, no, no," a brown-haired man sighed. "You're doing it wrong."

Kiku stopped. "What did I do wrong now, Heracles-san?"

Heracles Karpusi, a Ten of Hearts, stepped away from the wall. "You're going too slow. I know dances are really slow in Spades, but here in Hearts they're rather fast."

"They're actually not very-" Kiku tried to protest, but Heracles cut him off.

"Anyway, I suppose that's alright for now," Heracles said. "We'll just hope you find a good dance partner. Next we can try the partner dances."

Kiku's face went pale. "A-actually, I think I could use a break. I am very tired."

Heracles shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Meet back here in ten minutes."

Kiku almost ran from the ballroom. In the few days it had been since he'd arrived at Hearts castle, he'd managed to learn some of the layout, along with various dances, the governmental structure, the currency, current affairs, and various other things.

Kiku took a deep breath as he walked further down the halls. It was almost getting to be too much for him, trying to figure out how to be a successful Queen of Hearts. Everyone was kind, of course, but it was still a lot of expectation.

Kiku glanced at an old clock standing on a small table and gasped. Had ten minutes already passed? He didn't know if Heracles would be upset, but one could never be too careful. He turned and started running back to the ballroom.

As he rounded a corner, he ran into a sudden obstacle and went sprawling.

"Hey, watch where-" The voice cut off. "Oh. Sorry about that."

Kiku looked up. A man in yellow stood there, holding a hand out. Kiku took his hand and stood. "No, I should be apologizing. I wasn't looking where I was going."

The man nodded. "You must be the new Queen of Hearts."

Kiku nodded. "Yes. Yes, that' me. My name is Kiku Honda."

"Basch Zwingli," the man said. "Have you seen any of the other Diamonds?"

"Diamonds?" Kiku asked. "No, sorry."

"That's fine," Basch said. "I need to go, anyway." He pursed his lips. "It was nice to meet you."

"You, too," Kiku said, before stepping around him and running forward. Basch turned and watched as he went.

"Basch!" a voice called. Basch turned, seeing a shorter girl in a golden dress hurrying towards him. "There you are. We're meeting with Ludwig and Feliciano!"

"Elise," Basch said. "There you are."

"What are you doing here, anyways?" Elise asked. "You look like you met someone."

Basch shook his head. "What? No. Well, yes. But no, Elise."

Elise smiled. "If you say so. We need to get moving, though."

Basch followed her down the hall, leaving it abandoned.

-:-

"Whoo! Finally here!" A blond man jumped off a blue-painted carriage, lifting his arms above his head. "I hate carriage rides so much."

Another man emerged at the door, and the first man helped him down. "Alfred, you had this carriage specially made to help you handle it. What was so awful about it now?"

"It felt weird," Alfred complained. "Hey, Artie? Your hat is crooked."

The other man flushed and adjusted the navy blue top hat in question. "I told you to stop calling me that! My name is Arthur."

"You should know he won't listen," yet another man said, stepping out. "He never does."

"Mattie," Alfred groaned. "Why are you guys so mean to me?"

"It's easy," Lovino snapped, emerging from the gates. "You're an idiot."

"Hey!" Alfred protested. "I am not!"

"Hey, Lovino," Matthew said. "We're here."

"I can see that," Lovino muttered. "Diamonds is already here, and Clubs is arriving tomorrow."

Arthur nodded. "I see. Yao will be here tomorrow, as well."

Lovino raised an eyebrow. "I guess that's fine. Come on. We're meeting in the Hall of Roses."

Inside the castle, servants bustled around, hanging banners in red, blue, gold, and green.

The Suits had gathered.

-:-

"Can you see them?"

The albino sighed and lowered the silver binoculars. "Kid, I know you're excited, but we need to be patient. And alert. We don't know when they'll strike."

The younger boy frowned and slumped down on the tree branch he was sitting on. "Phooey. This is so boring."

The albino groaned. "You're the one that decided to choose this career."

The boy looked away. "Hmph. I guess. Anyway, will we get to see E- all the royals?"

The albino grinned. "Oh? You wanna see your little crush?"

The boy flushed. "Sh-shut up!" he snapped. "I don't have a crush on anyone!"

"Right," the albino said, rolling his eyes. "Just don't mess up."

He reached back and lifted his hood.

"After all, their lives depend on us."

So, as I forgot to post a chapter on Kids These Days, so here's another chapter on Shuffle! We've finally met some other characters, and they're gathering for the coronation! Also, it's probably really obvious who the last two people are, but hey! Who cares! Enjoy!