His Only Princess: Chapter 7

"Well, I'm afraid that you did miss the test." Takamiya walked behind his desk and pulled a drawer open. He procured the test he had saved, just for her, and slid it in front of her. Tapping his finger against it twice, he smiled. "Do you think you're ready for it?"

"I do," she stated firmly, taking the test from him and going to sit at her desk.

"Wakaba!"

She turned when he called for her, and he suddenly seemed nervous because of his outburst.

"There's no need to go over there. Here," he swung his chair around to the front of his desk. "Sit here and take it." She did as instructed, taking her seat and choosing to ignore the way his hands hovered over her before he walked off to the other side of the room. She unraveled the scarf from her neck and laid it in a nice pile by her side. "It's noon right now," she watched him while he spoke. "I'll give you exactly one hour. No more, no less. Sound good, Wakaba?" His eyes traveled lazily over to her, a nonchalant smile on his face. Really, he was an attractive man.

"I'll do my best, Takamiya-sensei."

He was about to burst at the seams from pride in her.

"I know you will." Approaching her seat, he took her scarf in his hands, shushing her when she began to question him. "Don't want such a pretty thing to get ruined on the dirty floor, do you?" He draped the light scarlet material over his arm, and there it stayed as she scribbled her way through the five page test. When she came up on a question she didn't really know, he noticed she began biting nervously on the tip of her thumb, glancing around the room in a way that he shouldn't have noticed. But, of course, he was very attuned with her at the moment. Keeping a very straight face, he came up behind her and glanced over her shoulder, picking out the correct answer in mere seconds.

"It's the third one," he whispered in her ear, causing her to gasp from his extremely close proximity to her.

"Takamiya-sensei?" He could tell she was confused, and a small pout took hold of her mouth.

He was falling for her more every minute.

"Just think of it as a break for being sick. Just don't think it'll happen again," he tepidly warned her, pointing a finger at her nose. She went cross eyed staring at it. "Finish your test." He patted her head and walked away.

Yori couldn't really focus, her mind going array from the way she was being treated. It went from overhearing Chairman Cross and Zero arguing about how she'd never be Yuuki to Takamiya treating her like she was a little girl. Or, more so special than just a student. It was really all so trying on her weakened state of mind.

The hour ticked by slowly, but she finally answered the last question. Laying her pen down across the test, she wrapped her hand around her wrist and rotated it in circles, trying to restore the blood flow to her sore fingers.

"Are you finished?"

"Yes, Takamiya-sensei," she stood up, stretching her arms over her head, getting a relieving satisfaction when her tense muscles were pulled on. She was an entirely innocent person, one who was oblivious to her own body, but Takamiya was a grown man, and he watched the way her movements accentuated her subtle curves greedily, almost ashamed, but then remembered. He was engaged to her. "I should probably be going now."

"What's the rush?" he asked a little too quickly, but he covered it up smoothly. "Wouldn't you like to stick around and see your grade?"

She seemed to ponder with the idea for a few minutes, but then shook her head. She reached for the letter she had stuck in her sweater pocket, only to notice it was no longer there. Confused, she began searching the immediate area around her.

"Is something the matter, Wakaba?"

"No, no, everything's fine."

"Then what are you looking for?"

She exhaled loudly and buried her fingers deep in her short hair.

"Nothing, really. It was just a-,"

"This?" he held up the crumpled piece of paper, balancing it in the middle of his palm, curious as to why she blanched when she saw him with it. He lifted his arm when she came over, effectively keeping her from it.

"Takamiya-sensei!" she complained desperately, jumping up in an attempt to snatch the letter from him, but it was a futile attempt. He was taller than Zero, and she thought she was lucky that the top of her head almost reached his shoulder. It wasn't even close to that on Takamiya. "Can I have it back, please?"

Takamiya knew he was being unfair to her, but he wanted to know what was so important about whatever was on the piece of paper that it had her so enthused to get it back. Surely it wasn't anything from Zero...

"Why is this thing so important? You obviously couldn't have cared so much about it from the state it's in." Deciding to play his cards a bit longer, he started to unfurl the poor paper, not expecting the outcome of such event.

"No!" Yori slammed into him, grabbing onto his arms the best she could with the height difference. Ending up with only bunched up material of his blazer in her hands, she pulled in an unrelentingly manner.

Taking advantage of her closeness, Takamiya let the letter drop behind him and brought his arms down swiftly, wrapping them securely around her waist and tugging her to him. She squeaked in surprise, but then began fighting against his hold, very obviously uncomfortable with his advances towards her.

"Let go of me," she demanded, but it was weak and scared sounding. She continued pushing against him, trying to gain any sort of control.

"I know what that letter says," he mumbled his lie to her, watching her with heavy lidded eyes. Her scent intoxicated him, and her being so near made him feel more pleasure than he would have expected. She stilled in his arms, daring to look up at him. He could see the panic evident in her eyes. "Why do you look so afraid, Sayori?"

Her eyes went even wider, if that was possible.

"Takamiya-sensei, please don't call me-,"

"Sayori? Why not? You have a very beautiful name," he allowed one of his hands to travel away from her waist, bringing it up to rest against her cheek, which was very warm. "You really have no idea who I am, do you?" Her scarf was still hanging on his arm, and, keeping her in place with one hand on the small of her back, he settled it back around her neck, his hand lingering against her neck. His thoughts traveled to Zero. He knew Yori smelled wonderful to him, a mere human, and he could only imagine how that must have been magnified for someone like him. Taking one look at her, he decided he would always protect her from the likes of him, no matter how much he could actually tolerate the vampire.

She shivered from fear in his hold.

"H-how could you know what that says?" she stumbled over her words and pointedly stared at the letter laying on the ground, still attempting to struggle free.

"Because," he ran his thumb across her cheekbone. "I am your fiancé, Sayori." Very subtle, he scolded himself, biting down any words to take it back. It was only a guess as to whether that paper actually had anything to do with that or not, but he knew he was going to have to inform her of it, and this had certainly not been the way he wanted to. However, the way he saw it, it had to happen, because Zero was nearing her more and more everyday, moving in on what was his. In the midst of his mental argument with himself, his hold on her slackened, and a sudden burst of adrenaline from her effectively pushed her far from him.

She landed on the floor with a solid thud. Her breathing had become short, and she gasped frantically, flinching at any movement he made.

"Are you okay?" he made to help her when she leaped up, smacking his hands away from her and darting to the door. "Wakaba!"

No, no, no, she thought over and over again, wanting to pinch herself so she could wake up from this very awful dream. This had to be a dream. She dimly realized that this had begun to become a problem, her fleeing from that which she wished to not face. But then again, maybe she had always had that trait about her and never knew it because nothing of this caliber had ever occurred in her life before. Not until after that fateful event one year ago, when she had fought to keep her memories of everything. Now though, she wished so much she hadn't been allowed to.

Yori continued running, easily avoiding the people walking in the hall. She didn't really care about what they thought of her, though. She just had to get away. One of the people attempted to grab her, but she jerked her arm away from them, never slowing down. Confused, they followed her, deciding to take care of their original plans later.

It was bright outside, being just an hour or so past noon, and the sunlight hurt her stinging eyes. Her first thought was to go to her dorm, but then she also wasn't completely certain that Naomi wasn't there. So she went with her next thought and headed towards the thick woods that hugged around the edge of the campus.

Once she was far enough in the dark, she slowed down, finally stopping. She was on the verge of passing out from having to breathe so heavily, and she pushed her hands against her chest to try and calm herself down, even the smallest bit. The feel of his hands was still present on her, and she trembled, crumbling to the ground in a heap of unabashed tears.

"Father, why?"

He couldn't figure out really what direction she had gone in, but her scent still lingered in the area, strengthening in certain areas as he walked. Using this as his guide, he moved around the maze that was her, finally stopping at the mouth of the mass of dark trees. Sighing, he made his way through the tangling, low limbs, set on finding her. He had an advantage, since he could hear any minuscule movement that she might make, but she had seemed to hide herself very well, determined to not be found, at least for a little while. He had been searching for several minutes when he finally found her.

She was curled up in a ball, hidden underneath some loose brush hanging from one of the trees. Obviously she had learned nothing, even after being in the hospital. She was motionless, not even shivering under the harsh cold whipping around her or moving when he got close to her.

"Didn't you learn anything the first time?" he asked, cold toned, removing his coat in order to drape over her. The second he came into contact with her, she snapped.

"Don't touch me!"

His hands stopped inches from her body, and now that he could see her clearly, he found his assumption from before had been very wrong. Wet streaks covered her unnaturally pale face, and small tremors shook her hands. Her eyes were wild with fear, and he could only wonder what had happened to her. Pushing himself forward, he wrestled the coat around her narrow shoulders and held her in place with firm hands.

"Look at me," he ordered, not really taking the time for pleasantries or speaking kindly. She wasn't cooperating, and he'd use close to any method he could to make her do so. She had seemed to calm down some, but was still shaky as he held on to her and refused to meet his eyes.

"Takamiya-sensei," she whispered, staring at the ground. Zero felt an angry streak rip through him at her words. If that man had done anything to her, fiancé or not, he'd make him pay.

"Did he do something to you?"

She had fallen silent once more, spaced out. He gave up on his patience of waiting for her to snap out of it and placed his hands on the sides of her face, forcing her to look at him.

"Did Takamiya do something to you?" he stressed his question, trying to get her to understand the importance for her to answer.

"He's my...," she barely mouthed the words, little noise being made, but he still caught every word. "Takamiya-sensei. He's my..." She spoke no more, shaking her head slowly, and he could make out the tears forming in her eyes. He knew, and now she knew, and really didn't seem to be taking it very well. But, such a reaction couldn't have come from just words, and the Takamiya that Zero knew was an action kind of man. So, he had had to do something to make her act so jumpy.

"Come on, let's get you back inside." He pulled her out with him, one arm holding her up by her waist. She was too short to be able to balance by holding on to him, which left him with only one other option. Bending down, he hooked his arm behind her legs and held her close, not ignorant to the fact that she attempted to create some form of space between her body and his.

"Here." He held out a cup of tea to her, but she only looked at it blankly. "Take it, Wakaba." He wasn't about to give her any special treatment, because she was a smart girl, and would probably easily figure out that he had known about Takamiya. Forcing the cup into her hands, he sat down on the floor, right across from her.

Yori sat the cup on the floor and leaned her head against the brick framing around the fireplace, eerily silent. When she finally did speak, though, they certainly weren't the words he had been expecting.

"I'm sorry."

He expected her to scream, or cry, or even rant about how awful it was to find out she was engaged to Kaito Takamiya, possibly the world's biggest annoyance, right after Aidou Hanabusa. Those two could have been brothers, honestly. Not an apology. No, he didn't think she would do that.

"For what?" he asked tiredly, crossing his legs and resting his elbows on them, chin perched on his fists. Silver strands covered his pale colored eyes from her view, not that she was even looking at him.

"Everything. Making you go out of your way all the time," she shrugged. "Being a bother. I'm not Yuuki-chan."

He straightened up at her words, his eyes widening. Well, now he knew what she meant when she said she was only causing trouble. She had heard them talking. He didn't say anything, giving her opportunity to speak if she so wished to.

"I was being selfish. I guess I thought that since I was her best friend, that maybe I could help, since I understood what you all were going through. But, I obviously didn't, and still don't," she stole a glance at him before finding her hands much more interesting. "Kiryuu-san?" Her addressing him stunned him. She had become comfortable enough with him over time to adopt calling him 'Zero-kun', and he didn't mind her doing so. It was the first time she had spoken to him so formally.

"What?"

She took a deep breath, thinking carefully over her words before she spoke them.

"Do you...you," she made a sound of aggravation, not seeming to know how to word what she wanted to say for a moment. Then she continued, uneasily. "You love Yuuki-chan, right?" She automatically steeled herself once the words were out, her defenses flying up, and subconsciously began to pick at her nails, a habit she had taken up when dealing with things that made her upset. During her and Yuuki's friendship, she had never been close to Zero, and still wasn't, but was more so now than when Yuuki had been with them. And she'd be lying if she said she didn't ever notice how attractive he was. She had a budding crush on the easily provoked, bad-tempered, very handsome Guardian, but also knew that he only had eyes for her best friend since his twin brother had spilled his secret. So, she would never tell him or do anything to give it away.

"Uh, well," Zero stuttered around, trying to find his voice. She was full of unexpectedness today, it seemed. "Yes. I mean, a part...a part of me still does." He watched her while he spoke, his own thoughts betraying his words. Yes, a part of him still held Yuuki in his heart, but he'd be a liar if he said he never noticed the girl in front of him. She was quiet, so very easily looked over, but she was also very smart and witty. And pretty. He wasn't going to deny that Yori was a pretty girl, but Yuuki had always outshone her, her bubbly personality always blocking Yori from sight. Yuuki was a completely different kind of beauty. But, she was also a Pureblood, and that seemed to have some affect, apparently. Yori, on the other hand, was completely, entirely human, making her beauty natural. More innocent than sultry.

"Wakaba?"

"Hm?" she closed her eyes, her hands closing into fists in her lap.

"What happened to calling me by my first name?" he'd change the subject if it'd make her talk more. That, and he really wasn't up for speaking about Yuuki to anyone.

She shrugged again.

"I thought it was more appropriate not to."

"Hm," he hummed thoughtfully, scooting closer to her. Her eyes were still closed, so she didn't notice. "And why is that?" Another shrug. "So, then our roles are kind of reversed." He knelt in front of her and placed a finger under her chin, tilting her head up. Her eyes snapped open at the contact. "Right, Sayori-chan?"

"Why do you look so afraid, Sayori?"

Her eyes widened, suddenly assaulted with thoughts of her prior...engagement. She moved away from him, bringing her own hands up to her face, able to feel his touch on her again.

Zero couldn't comprehend where her strange behavior had come from. He had never seen her excited, afraid...anything, really. She was always the calm in the middle of the storm that was their lives', and he had just always expected her to remain as such. But, to see her so skittish of being touched, it had him puzzled.

"Hey," he spoke softly so as not to startle her, reaching a hand towards her once more, only to have her react the same to it.

"Please, go away," she whispered brokenly, shutting her eyes and wrapping her arms around her torso. She was on an emotional high, her jealousy, anger, and sadness on rampage within her, and she didn't know how to handle it.

"Wakaba-,"

"Please," she spoke with a bit more force. "Just go."

The soft click of the door closing was her signal that she was alone and could let go. Confused sobs ripped through her chest as she doubled over, finally opting to lay on her side on the floor.

On one side of the door, a distraught and confused young girl lay there, hoping to cry this out and forget about it by the next morning. On the other side, a distraught and confused young man, listening to her cry, and deciding on one crucial thing; he would find out what Takamiya had done, if anything, as well as sort out his own feelings.

The following night had been the quietest that Cross Academy had ever seen.

Oh no! It's a day late! It must be pregnant :O dun, dun, DUN! Haha, anyways. This chapter was, um...emotional? Definitely not expected, probably. But, I hope you all like it! I'm playing around with the Yuuki conflict, just because Zero's not going to be all magical and suddenly be like "Yori, I want to have your baby!" (xD kidding.) But seriously, that's a no-no. We can't move them ahead three spaces when it's not their turn.

I feel that maybe I made Yori a little too emotional though . But, she has a crush on Zero, and she's engaged, and Takamiya was all up on her...wouldn't you be emotional too? *sobs*

Thank you to my awesome reviewers', Anon and HYPERASSGIRL5. And thank you to my incredible, spectacular, wonderful, beautiful readers, too! You all just make my day! :D

Feedback is always greatly appreciated :)

Until Chapter 8!

-IdleScribe