Chapter 15

The one thing that sucked about pretending to not know about the wolf in sheep clothing in ones mist, is having to restrain oneself from tearing apart that wolf. Willow did not like not being able to get rid of the immediate threat to her precious people. She was the type who like to get rid of them right when she found them.

However, even she knew when to hold back. It didn't help that her instincts were screaming that this woman masquerading as this little girl wasn't thetrue threat, but the catalyst that would bring about the true danger.

'I sure as hell don't appreciate her showing her disgusting face in front of Zero all the time though.' She thought trying her best not to just cut off this wrench's head from the rest of her body and be done with it.

"...that you can't do it?" Hearing her wretched voice speaking to Zero snapped her out of her daze. She saw Zero with his hand around Kurenai's throat and Bloody Rose pointed at her chest. "Poor child."

"...don't touch me!" Zero tried to growl but it came off as more as a whimper of fear than anything else when he couldn't move his body as she started to reach for him.

It broke Willow heart to hear Zero sound so weaken with the inability to truly fight against the Blood Bond between Maker and Childe. More than anything, though, it pissed her the FUCK OFF!

"I'll tell you the truth Zero." She uttered, grabbing a hold of his face to start leaning towards him. "You cannot kill me." She finished smugly knowing her words were like daggers to the young man in front of her.

Like her old lover, Zero also couldn't stand the thought of anyone controlling him. It had always sent such a thrill down her spine every time her old lover can only glare at her with hate filled eyes yet unable to truly disobey her. She got the same rush from this little boy here. She had already decided she was going to make him her lover so she could experience that rush again.

"He might not be able to but I sure as hell can." Willow hissed with her sword at the other woman's neck. She couldn't hold back anymore even if she had promised to let Zero handle her alone. It was only on the stipulation of him being in complete control of himself. Once he lost that control, all bets were off.

"Look, Zero, your pet has come to help her master." Shizuka uttered amused, not scared of this human girl. However, that changed real quick when the blade cut into her neck slightly. It felt like acid had started eating away at the area the blade cut into her skin.

She jumped away as fast as she could, holding onto her neck that didn't seem to be healing at all. She didn't know what was going on; while this body wasn't hers, she never been this affected by an anti-vampire weapon like this before. In her own body or otherwise.

"What did you do to me!" She demanded in a screech. It felt like the acid feeling was slowly spreading though her body from her neck. "Did you poison me?!"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Willow taunted with a smirk. "Anyways, like I said before, Zero might not be able to kill you, but I can. It would be such a pleasure in doing so." She purred the word "pleasure" to show just how much she would like nothing more than to end her.

She didn't notice Zero's eyes darken slightly at her purr but Shizuka did and she wasn't happy to see the concealed lust in his eyes directed not at her but at the one who had hurt her.

"You think you can get away with harming me, a Pureblood?" Shizuka sneered.

"Well, yeah." Willow said with a "duh" tone of voice. "Have you really forgotten that you are wanted by both the Hunter Association and Vampire Council? Nether one will care if you are hurt or not. The only reason you are still alive right now, is because that body isn't yours."

"Big words for a little girl." She continued to sneer making her beautiful face look ugly from the hatred that twisted it.

"Says the old hag who only knows how to hide in little girls bodies because she's to weak to fight her own battles up front." She quip right back, amused at the ugly look on the others face.

Shizuka took deep breaths to try to regain some of her self-control back. Unfortunately, it was harder than normal what with the agonizing pain spreading from her neck to the rest of her body and Zero looking at the other girl who was taunting her like she was his goddess. Never once in all her years has she ever felt this jealous even when her fiancee laid with other women. If anything, she was happy about it because if his attention was on them, then it wasn't on her. Now, the one she truly wants, doesn't even put her in his eyes. His Creator.

"How far have you fallen Zero, that you need to hide behind a little girl to fight for you." She sniped with a dark chuckle, trying her best not to just fall down screaming in agony. She couldn't stay here for much longer or she wouldn't be able to leave on her own.

"Every body needs help once in a while. Why are you acting all high and mighty when you have taken over that body you're in so you can go undetected? Isn't that the same as getting help from a little girl yourself?" Zero sneered in return not really bothered about getting help from Willow when he needed it.

He could never feel embarrassed when he got help from Willow, definitely if it was in a situation like before where he couldn't control his own body. If anything, he's thankful for her intervention. Not only that, he grew up with Willow and knew that her interfering like that just shows just how much he meant to her. If she didn't care for him, then she wouldn't have acted at all and kept up the ruse of being ignorant of what was going on around them.

"Tsk. Foolish boy. You dare go against your Master?" Shizuka hissed in fury catching the sword that fell from above by her favorite toy.

"While your bond prevents him from out right killing you, it doesn't mean he can't disobey you if his Will is strong enough. Which…hello…it is." She snarked with a nasty smirk on her face.

If there was one thing she is beyond proud of Zero for, is his Will to never submit to anything. Well, things not her, at least. After all, if he didn't have a strong Will, he would have fallen to the vampire side of his a long time ago. With her blood or not, he would have fallen a long time ago if his Will was weak since her blood can only do so much. It's not a miracle cure after all.

As both sides prepared to attack each other, an unwelcome voice disturbed the tense atmosphere making both Zero and Willow look behind them instinctively.

"Zero…" Was all the voice got out before being pulled back and away.

"Don't you look…" Growled the Pureblood woman as she slashed her sword down on her future lover. "…away from me!"

Fortunately for Zero, Willow has amazing reflexes and was able to pull him back far enough that the sword slash only gave him a long gash that won't take very long to heal. His reflexes weren't too bad either as he was able to get a shot off himself. Downside is that because of being pulled back his shot only got Shizuka's side instead of the heart he was originally was aiming at.

"After this is over with, I am going to be having words with that stupid girl." Willow hissed, pissed off that once again Yuki interferes in things she shouldn't and causing unnecessarily trouble.

"Agreed." Zero muttered as unhappy as the girl next to him, clutching at his stinging wound.

The downside to having to always take care of Yuki is that it's become instinctive for both him and Willow to turn towards Yuki - definitely when there is danger around - to make sure she's not being hurt. They lost count on how many times they had to help her out of dangerous situations. If they didn't recognized the aura that was next to Yuki, they wouldn't have been able to keep some of their focus on the threat in front of them. Which could have ended up causing them more trouble then they can handle while trying to keep everything under wraps from the rest of the school.

"I am surprised Zero." Shizuka uttered with a pant in slight confusion. The pain in her neck was slowly growing in intensity but still did her best to ignore it. Her side wound was nothing compare to her neck wound. "Such a low level creature such as you, should be affected by such a wound regardless of how small. Why are you not feeling the bloodlust starting to consume you? What have you done to yourself to be able to block such?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. Even if I did, why would I tell the likes of you?" Zero growled with narrowed eyes. He sure as hell wouldn't tell this bitch that he had Willow's blood not too long ago and that her blood is powerful enough to quench the thirst no problem. Not even a series wound would affect him overly much at first. It will only happen if he doesn't treat it soon enough. Then he would have to worry about going into a bloodlust.

As Shizuka opened her mouth to retort, her toy jumped down from above to next to her. She glanced back at him, ignoring how the the other two tensed at the new comer. Not knowing that Zero and Willow knew exactly who the new comer was. Shizuka felt satisfaction fill her when she thought that she could use that information when they least expect it and be able to take advantage of that fact.

Shizuka can see the look in his eyes telling her that it was time to leave before it become more dangerous for her. She knew that he was right, it wouldn't be that much longer before she passes out from the pain which she couldn't afford to do until she has Zero in her complete control.

'Before that happens, I will have to get rid of the wretched girl next to him. Otherwise, Zero will never come to me on his own will.' She thought with a vicious glare at the indifferent looking girl. 'I am going to kill her slowly.'

"Let's go." Was all she said, giving the sword back to the boy and walking away doing her best not to keep clutching her neck. She wanted to say some last words to Zero as a parting, except, she didn't have the energy to do so.

Sigh

"That was beyond annoying." Willow said turning towards Zero to check on his wound when they disappeared from her sight and she sensed them far away. "How are you handling seeing your brother again after so long?" She then ask in concern.

She knew even if he had a heads up that his brother was still alive, it wasn't the same as seeing the proof right in front of him. It must have hurt more than anything else to realize that his brother was with that woman for the past years.

'I just wish I knew if he went with her of his own free will or if he was kidnapped and brainwashed to stay with her.' Willow thought with furrow brows not hearing his response.

'If he went with her willingly, his world will be full of nothing but agony for the rest of his life' Willow hissed in her mind. 'If he went with her of his own will, that means he was willing to see his whole family dead. Including Zero. His brother who was always there for him regardless of what type of shit he pulled over the years. However, if he was forced to go with her, I will have to find a way to get him back and break the control caste over him."

Thinking this, Willow started to brainstorm ways to either torture the traitorous little shit or save the lost little lamb.

"Willow?" Zero called when he notice her staring out into space with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Ah? Yes, Zero?" Willow asked with a confused blink of her eyes.

'I want to kiss her.' Zero thought fleetingly when the cute look was directed at him before he shook that thought away before he could be tempted to act on the impulse.

"Ahem…we should be going now." He muttered with a slight blush he hopes she wouldn't notice.

"I guess we should." She said with a sigh. She sheathed her sword while starting to walk towards the Headmaster's office. She had a feeling a certain Pureblood is already there talking to her father about what just happened.

"Tch." She muttered in annoyance getting a confused glance from her Zero.

'This whole situation is so annoying. I can't even tease Zero over his cute little blush earlier for I'm just not in the mood.' She thought feeling down. 'Losing a opportunity to make Zero hot and bothered is so frustrating. Need to find an outlet.'

She knows exactly who to take out her frustration out on. A certain Pureblood who had been watching the spectacle since pretty much the beginning. She would bet her title as the Mistress of Death that he knew that Hio, Shizuka had come to the campus to cause trouble the moment she stepped on these soil. If not, even before she actually made her move. However, she just doesn't know what he is planning that would allow such a loose cannon anywhere near his "precious little girl."

'It must be really important if he's willingly putting Yuki into dangers path.' She thought with a grimace. 'He must know that Zero and I are not always around her for him to put faith in us protecting her all the time. We have our own things that we must do that doesn't involve being with her. If anything, he should know we go out of our way to get space from her. So…does that mean he has someone or somethingwatching over her? If he does, it must be something that doesn't have a soul since I would sense any soul near me regardless if it is a person or creature. And I have never felt any strange souls hovering over her when I am with her. So…what that hell is he planning?!'

"Um…Willow…we're here." Zero called out softly when he noticed that she was just glaring death at the door to the Headmaster's office without going in.

"Ah." Was all she uttered before barging into the room like a woman on a mission. Zero just followed not really knowing what was going through Willow's mind, though, he could take a guess.

"Well, well. Why am I not surprise to find our resident Pureblood here." Willow started off with a voice cold as ice causing shivers to run down the mens spines. "So…what did you do with Yuki?"

"How is that any of your concern Willow-san?" Kaname asked with a slightly tense smile on his face. He could feel his inner beast starting to stir with the defiant glare Willow was giving him.

Lately, his inner beast has been getting restless every time he's around the troublesome girl. It wants to get out to show the girl exactly who is top dog and have her completely submit to him.

'I guess having her being my gofer is backfiring on me.' He thought with an inward grimace. Not only did his inner beast want to make her submit to him but to also make it to where she is always by his side. He didn't understand why his inner beast is so focus on the girl instead of Yuki like it use too, but he will not be controlled by it.

'Yuki is the only one for me. No one else is good enough.' He tried to convince himself for the millionth time. 'It doesn't matter that Willow doesn't smell like the rot of the rest of the world. She is no more special than the average Joe.'

If Willow could have heard that last thought of her being an average Joe, he would have been buried more than theaverage six feet under. Luckily, for him, she had no interest in reading his mind.

"Of course, it concerns me since I would like to know if you idiotically erased her memories!" Willow hissed like a cat whose tail got stepped on, her glare deepening in her anger.

Yuki can never learn anything from her mistakes if they kept taking her memories from her in the hope of keeping her "pure and innocent." They were just putting everybody and her in danger every time they do. They should have stopped taking her memories when she entered high school. However, it seems they are still treating her with kids gloves. The only "dark" side of the world she know is that creatures such as vampires are real and that they live off human blood and there are vampire hunters keeping them in check.

Even that can't really be consider "dark" since the only vampires she has ever really encounter were ones on campus who are forbidden from drinking from humans. Not only that, when she does interact with the school vampires, they pretty much act like normal teens that are just a bit snobbish in their attitudes.

The couple of times she met out of control Level E's, it was either erased from her memory or spelled to where she never puts any type of importance on it. Mostly, it was erased.

'It's so damn frustrating! Every time she witness something on the darker scale of things, they take it away and she ends up doing the same thing the next time. Then Zero and I will have to deal with the aftermath of the affairs.' Willow bitched in her mind.

She could admit that a part of her is jealous on how they protect her so, but it never last before she remembers the complete negativity such "protection" causes not only to oneself but to those around the "protected." The protected is so unaware of the dangers around them that they have no problems walking into dangerous situations where the protectors usually gets hurt trying to save the naive fool. Not only that, they are completely easy to trick into traps that are deadly for all around.

'No matter how many times I tell them that it backfires every time they take her memories, they ignore me as if I don't know what I am talking about. Sometimes, I just want to beat the living shit out of the both of them and just call it a day.' She thought with an even fiercer glare directed at the two that get on her nerves the most.

Zero was looking out the window pretending he wasn't there and couldn't feel the utterfury rolling off the only girl in the room.

"Now, now my little hummingbird. You know why we must keep such darkness from Yuki-chan." Kaien trilled hoping to break the suffocating atmosphere in the office.

"No I don't!" Willow cut in crossly, making Kaien snap his mouth shut with his eyes growing wider. "I have been telling you for years that you are just making that girl a liability more than anything else. You just don't listen at all. Zero was hurt, again, because she tried to interfere in matters that are way over her head. If she had kept her memories from the very beginning, she would know by now just how dangerous what she did really was and would have kept her damn mouth shut. She might actually be smart enough to analyze the situation before trying to make a move. But you're so busy trying to keep her "innocent" that you are not caring about the extra burden Zero and I have to endure!"

"You wouldn't understand why we do what we do since you have never loved someone as much as we love Yuki." Kaname growled at her angrily. He didn't like having his decision being called into question. Everything he does, is for the safety of his baby girl. He did everything in his power to keep her an innocent human far from the mess the vampire society really is. If he could, he would have kept her from the knowledge of vampires period.

He knew, though, with how potent the scent of her blood is, she would have been hunted down in no time. His only choice was to find someone strong enough to protect her from all who would do her harm. Hence he gave her over to the dubious care of the current Headmaster of Cross Academy. One of the most powerful of vampires hunters that he knew.

"You're right." Willow agreed calmly. Her response threw off everybody in the room. They all looked at her like she lost her mind. Even Zero was looking at her like that, trying to hide the slight hurt he felt at that.

"Wha…?" Kaname stuttered not knowing how to respond to that. Unfortunately, before he can start feeling smug at that thought that he finally got one over on this girl, she opened her mouth and continue speaking.

"I said you are right. I have never loved someone to where I would ever steal their memories from them. I have never loved someone so much that I would willingly let them live in continued ignorance of all the dangers around them. I have never loved someone to the point I would only allowed them to stay one way without the chance of real growth.I have never loved someone so much that they are more puppet or object more than anything else to me!"Willow growled the last part demonically in her utmost fury at them trying to pass off what they do in the name of love.

The other occupants of the room where frozen in terror of the withering shadows crawling all over the room with actual ice spreading from the girl to consume the room and all within. If they didn't already know that Aido was already back in the Moon dorm, they would have thought that he was trying to mess with them. But they do know, and they know that what was happening was from the only girl in the room.

It wasn't long before Kaname - who's use to beings with powers losing control of that power when tempers flares - to snap out of it and become angry himself.

"How dare you! I have never treated Yuki as a puppet or object!" He hiss, taking a step forward.

"If you really think that, then you are just blinding yourself. After all, if you did truly love her as much as you do, then why do you keep her so pathetically weak and ignorant?" She didn't give them a chance to answer. "It's because you love the thought of how easy it is to get her to obey you. How easy it is to move her thought process in ways that fit the image you want her to be because she doesn't know better."

She wanted to go on, except Zero came over to her to put a firm but soft hand on her shoulder.

"That's enough." Zero utter softly. So softly, that Willow didn't think the other two could have heard him.

If he didn't flick his eyes towards her father - which her eyes followed automatically - she wouldn't have noticed the devastated look on his face. She was so focus on Kaname that she didn't realize that she hurt her father. Though her words were true, she shouldn't have said them in a fit of rage either or in the way she did.

"I think we will be going now." Zero said, softly pushing Willow towards the door.

"Wait!" Kaname commanded. He will not allow this to end in this way. His pride was not only injured but his precious girl was also insulted.

"I think that it would be best we leave before this becomes worse." Zero said firmly.

"You can't just leave after saying such insults!" Kaname said as calmly as he could while trying to not bare his fangs at this lowly D trying to tell him what to do. Directly or indirectly.

"You and I both know what I have said is nothing but the truth. You claim that you love her so much. Then let me ask you, what kind of love do you really have for her? If it's her you really love and not just the ideal of her that you pictured she should be." Willow uttered with a ice cold glance back at the Pureblood vampire over her shoulder, making him stiffen with shock and confusion. "I am going to take off for a while. I need time to cool off. I should be back in time for the ball coming up."

With that said, she didn't wait for a response before just walking out of the room with Zero following in her steps. She couldn't look at her father who had both fist clenched tightly on his desk, bangs covering his eyes from the world and his shoulders slightly shaking as if he had the worst shock of his life.

She also ignored the pain in her heart at the thought of how hurt her father was because of her words.

When they exited the building, Zero couldn't hold back anymore.

"Why did you go off like that?"

Willow paused at the soft question. She couldn't detect any accusation, just a willingness to better understand her. She continue to walk as she thought on how to best word her thought process.

"I didn't plan to." She confessed sadly. "At first I was just going to complain a little like I always do then like it go like always."

"But..?" Zero prompted when she didn't continue.

"But the frustration of the situation got the better of me. They took her memories once again of the dangers in our mist. This time they should have let her keep them. Now, she will no longer remember that the one she believes to be a possible friend is an enemy she should stay away from. She will walk right into her trap and we will pay the price for that. AND WORST OF ALL, THEY ACT LIKE IT DOESN'T MATTER AT ALL!" Willow shouted out trying her best not to let the useless tears welling in her eyes to fall not realizing she stopped once again.

She couldn't understand why her father - who she was with first - couldn't put her first. She couldn't understand why he only cares if Yuki is hurt instead of the blood and pain Zero and her goes through just so he can play house with his perfectly innocent Yuki.

Sure they picked the path of being warriors, but that doesn't mean he could just blatantly throw how much he prefers Yuki over them. He doesn't need to brush off their wounds they get from saving her as if they mean nothing. If anything, it's like he only keeps them around so they could be shields for the girl.

As she was spiraling into a complete breakdown that would have her destroying everything in her path, she felt Zero hugging her tightly. The shock of it made her snap out of it before it was too late. She stared up at Zero as if she was seeing him for the first time.

"I am here." Zero told her firmly. "If they don't choose you first, know that I will always put you first before anyone or anything."

The tears that she was holding back finally fell at the emotionally upheaval Zero's solemn vow caused in her.

"Me too. I will only put you first before anyone or anything." She vowed just as solemnly to him through her sobs; feeling something in her lighten up considerably.

'I won't look for any love from my fat…Headmaster anymore. I will just treat him as if he is no more than a benefactor. I will only pour my love into Zero from now on like he deserves.' She vowed to herself. It was time for her to let go of the love that was obviously not going to be returned in the way she wished it would from the Headmaster.

She looked at Zero looking at her with such love in his eyes that he was unknowingly doing that she couldn't stop her next action even if she wanted too. Which she didn't. She was done playing coy anyways.

With hardly any strength, she pulled Zero down to her and claimed his lips with her own. After a few seconds of stunned disbelief, he responded just as enthusiastic as her.

"I wasn't expecting our first kiss to be in this kind of situation, but I must admit I am not hating it." Willow mutter with a slight purr to her words causing Zero to shiver pleasantly when they parted.

"You thought of our first kiss?" Zero asked stunned.

"Since before puberty hit." She said honestly causing him to blush a fetching red that went down past his neck and into his shirt making her want to rip it off to see just how far that blush goes. "Anyway, we should get going before they decide to stop us for some reason." She then said, shaking the naughty thoughts out of her mind. It was no time for that at the moment.

"Where are we going?"

"Wherever our feet takes us."