Hi!...WAH! *Dodges buildings thrown at her by absolutely enraged fans*

I'm so sorry! School got released yesterday, and there's been "Exams this" and "Exams that" going on with my life. I never get a break.

Anyway. An upload of the Cross Princess! Took me long enough, I know.

Yeah, this chapter is a bit shorter than what I usually write, because if I wrote anymore, I'd just be dragging on and on about useless things. And that ultimately lowers the overall performance of the writing piece.

I don't own Vampire Knight, or any of the absolutely sexy characters that come with it.

Review, please! I don't get much, but each and everyone is very special to me.

Okay, enjoy the story!

I listen to the intense gasps echo around the room, ricocheting off my body one by one. Collectively, everyone turns to gaze at me, eyes widened, mouth practically hitting the floor, and eyebrows shot up in shock. Their faces don't surprise me, but do scare me a bit. Was it that terrible that I let Zero drink my blood…well, that I'm going to? Of course, I hadn't told them that I'm going to continue, and judging by their reactions, I'm not gonna anytime soon. I curl my hand in a fist tightly, and raise my head, determined.

Ruka, whose arm was currently resting on my shoulder, slips off limply, while she peers behind my head and at Zero. Her eyes slit, and her mouth clenches in anger, while her hands are tightly held in a fist by her side. Her face practically turns red, and she silently seethes at Zero. If the situation weren't this serious, I would've stated to her that steam is practically flying out of her ears right now. But now's not the time, obviously. I put my hand on her shoulder quickly, trying to calm her down. "R-Ruka! It's okay…?" She brushes my hand off immediately, and walks past me briskly.

Calmly, or seemingly so, she takes the path down to Zero, everyone moving out of the way for their enraged comrade, until she reaches him. Close enough for their bodies to touch, she reels her hand back, and punches him harshly on the face. Zero's body flies of the ground, as a result of Ruka's natural vampire strength, and slams into the closest wall, the cement cracking because of the force of the smack. His body slightly slumped, Zero slowly wipes the blood off of his face, and gazing at it menacingly, shapes up off the wall, slits his eyes a fraction, and walks up to Ruka, furious. She retaliates against his offensive gesture by grabbing his collar, and dragging him down to eye level, raising her hand to hit him again. I gasp sharply, and start to run to them, screaming for them to stop before it got serious. "Ruka, it's okay! That's enough! Stop!"

As I sprint up to them, I hear Ruka screaming, and see her shaking Zero viscously. Zero looks nonchalant, like what Ruka is saying has no effect on him, and maintains his eye contact with her, unfazed. "You moron! How could you do that to her! How could you take advantage of her like that? She didn't know that it wasn't allowed! She didn't know blood offering wasn't allowed!" She removes one hand from Zero's collar, and uses it to beat the top of his head, while she yells louder. "Of all of the people, our damn commander has to lose control! How could you? You're supposed to have the strongest will!" Zero could easily throw her off of himself, but why doesn't he? Is his chivalry too high?

By now, Shiki and Takuma rip Zero from Ruka clutches, and Kain and Aido hold her back. She struggles frantically against their hold, tearing at their hands and arms, and swearing against Zero's life and honor. She seemingly has lost her sanity. I pause my running for a bit.

Did I really look like that when I was doing the same thing?

No! I shake my head, and focus on the important part. I continue to run up to Ruka. But, before I can reach her, I notice the rude glances that people send at me, ones of annoyance that stop me dead in my tracks.

I feel my temper boil quite high, to the point where I might forget about the situation going on, and belittle them verbally. Oh please. They're annoyed? They're annoyed! Honestly, they lied about something that nearly cost me my life, and all I do is tell the truth, somewhat, anyway, and they get all pissed? Really! I slit my eyes, and harshly scream at them, vexed beyond my belief, and hopefully theirs, as well. "Hey! If you have time to glare at me, then you have time to fix this situation! Stop gawking, and start helping!" I whip my head back to the front, and continue my sprinting. "Ruka! That's enough!" I shriek.

As I burst through the blockade of people, I see that Zero starts to fight back. I click my tongue in annoyance, and run a bit farther, before I sprint the last couple of meters. That idiot. Does he even know how to walk away? Not sparing a moment to think, and seeing Zero about to retaliate, I reel up, jump through the air, and tackle him viciously. We fly a bit through the air, before we crash into the floor, and roughly come to a rest. I grab my shoulder, which I guess rammed too hard into Zero's collar bone, and uncurl my arms from Zero's chest hastily, standing up immediately, coughing. The room fixes their eyes on us, like they've never seen some one tackle another, as I breathe out in exasperation. I place my hands on the sides of my head, and rub my temples faintly, breathing heavily, and cough a bit more. I blink a bit, and find the silence a bit awkward, but it's better than having two comrades trying to kill each other, all because of me. I sigh in relief, as the whole fiasco is somewhat over.

But then, as I think over what just happened, I feel my temper flair up again. My eye twitches almost uncontrollably, and I open my mouth and bellow, turning to Ruka, who was just freed from her restraints, and Zero, who was still lying on the floor. "What the hell was that!" I scream and stomp my foot. "Are you guys two year-olds, squabbling like little children! Do you know how to assess a situation, and what to do in one!" I close my eyes, raise my head up, and put my hands on my thighs. " Fighting doesn't solve anything! It's my problem whether or not I do such an act or not…!" I turn to Ruka. "Yes. I didn't know that I wasn't allowed to give Zero blood, and at first, I hadn't realized you were all vampires. But he didn't force me to do it…!" Which is a bald faced lie. Anyway…" I allowed him." Then, I briskly turn to Zero, and glare down at him. "And you. You didn't tell me! How was I supposed to know that I wasn't allowed? Don't make me look like a delinquent when I've only been here for a short while!" I click my tongue, and look wearily around the conference room, and the mess that it had become, before sighing, and declaring, "All of you…just…." I shake my head. "…Just go. Leave me alone so I can clean up this mess."

"Yuuki!" I hear Ruka say. "You need to recover from your lack of blood!"

Oh. I forgot about that. Well, whatever. I smile encouragingly, and will the annoyance out of my face. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. It's only a bit of cleaning, after all." I extend an arm out, and flick my wrist. "Now go."

As everyone in the conference room files out, save for Ruka and Zero. As I watch the last of the feet take a step out of the room, and hear only the faintest footsteps, is only when I break my gaze from the floor, and eye the two staring at me. I tilt my head curiously, and slit my eyes a bit. "What are you still doing here?" I inquire.

"I had a message to relay to you, before we got…interrupted." She glares faintly at Zero. He sends back a nonchalant gaze. "Anyway, your first mission is in a week. Because you've just started out, your missions won't be too dangerous…"

"So…what is it?" I question frantically. I ignore my exhaustion, and clap my hands in joy. Finally! My chance to be useful to the group! I hope it's a hard mission...I can show my skill, while proving my worth! Ooh! This is gonna be good!

"Grocery shopping."

…

…

…!

"Wha…?"

Ruka laughs faintly, and speaks. "It's a more perilous mission then you could ever think it to be. You have to infiltrate the kingdom again, and slip unnoticed through the hordes and masses of your people, all the way to a grocery shop. Remember, because of Kaname, the common folk are hurting for money. You probably have a bounty of some sort on your head, so people, regardless of whether you're the princess or not, will turn you in with scarce, or even none, hesitation." I gulp, and play nervously with my hands. Zero notices this, and shoots me a semi-encouraging glance. I smile weakly. "Now, when you finally get into the store, collect all of the things you have on this list." She thrusts her hand in her pocket, and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper. "Gather everything up, and then buy it…"

I interrupt her there. "But Ruka…wouldn't my people notice me immediately? And traveling around with a billowing coat protecting my face isn't going to exactly repel attention, if you know what I mean…and at the grocery shop, if your asking me to buy…" I smooth the sheet of paper, which I received not too long ago, and stare at the contents. "…Cigarettes and alcohol, they'll ask me for an ID. I'm underage and wanted, so that won't work out well for me."

"That's why I'll send Zero out with you." I choke on air. "He'll take care of everything, printing out fake ID's, averting attention and whatnot. And he looks over eighteen, so it's fine." My eye twitches. "By the way, how old are you, Yuuki?"

"Ah…" I smile sheepishly, and rub the back of my head. "Would you believe 16…?" Ruka's eyes widen.

"You're that young, and you already fighting?" Ruka looks to the floor, and shakes her head. "This is proof of how low our society has dropped…" I nod in agreement. Ruka looks up to me, and points her head in the direction of the door. "Well, I'll take my leave now. You decide whether or not to accept this mission or reject it. Come see me when you've decided. The mission will take place a week after you accept."

I watch as Ruka trails out the room, Zero following her. Do I accept the mission? I mean, I'm sure it's just a training sequence after all, right? After I prove my worth, they'll give me harder missions. I know they will!

But now…

I glance around at the tatters of the room that we just held our conference in. Tables are thrown everywhere, chairs in places where chairs really shouldn't be, lights smashed, the remains of the glass scattered all over the room, and my and Zero's blood splattered on the floor. "Yeesh…" I sigh, and slide my hand down the side of my face. "This is gonna take awhile."

I turn to the side of the room, where Ruka had smashed Zero into the wall, and walk over to it. The crack in the wall spread all the way from the point of impact to the ceiling. Well, I'll just put some plaster in that, and paint over it, when it dries. The conference table, which was somehow flipped over, is smashed in half. Don't know what I can do for that… The lights are broken, so I need replacements, and dust and blood is scattered on the floor, which will take a while to remove. The chairs are in places I can't reach by myself, being the short little creature I am. Of course, I could use a spell to make me fly temporarily, but that would exhaust my magic core too much, so I decide against it.

I stare at the mess for a while. I wonder how this happened. I sigh, and pull my right hand out, palm up and straight. I guess I will need magic… "Art of Summoning; Cleaning and Fixing Tools." I mutter. What a useful spell…Hah, I love sarcasm. Anyway. My hand starts to glow, and I send it down, pointing the fingers to the floor. I snap my fingers, and in a couple seconds, the room is filled with items I need to clean the conference room.

I speak a word of Temporary Life. The objects, which I had just summoned, start to move slowly, as in a trance. Completely in sync, they dance around the room, and act the doctors of all things broken.

Oho, being a sorcerer has its quirks.

I snicker to myself quite boldly, and watch as the tools sway to inaudible music, fixing and cleaning everything in their path. I walk up to a chair, and take a seat in it, smirking happily as everything was being cleaned.

"What are you doing?"

"WAH!" I yelp, and fall backwards in my chair clumsily. When my body hits the ground, I flail my arms around in shock, and place them on my heart to calm myself down. Opening my eyes slowly, I look up to see Zero, hands crossed and tapping his foot. "W-what?" I snap. "Can't you see I'm busy?" I blush a bit in embarrassment, as Zero looks around at the room, seeing my magic in play.

Zero remains silent, his eyes stoic, and not focused on me. I sigh, and prop myself up on my elbows, then stand up, and fix the chair. When my miniscule task is over, I turn to Zero again. "So…? Is there a reason why you've interrupted me?" I try to speak over the sound of walls being painted, the floor being washed, water being sprayed, and vacuum cleaners going off. A hard task.

Zero slits his eyes a bit. I wait. Then he shakes his head faintly, something I would've missed if I wasn't staring at him so intently, and speaks firmly. "You need to train."

"What?" I shake my head in bewilderment. Me? Train! What does he think I've been doing all my life! "Why do I need to train!" I try to edge the insult in my voice out of my words.

Zero turns faintly, and locks his eyes on mine, passive and uncaring. "You rely on magic too much." He turns away again.

"I do not! I have Artemis!" I instinctively, and subconsciously skim the edge of said rod as I say it's name.

"Which relies on magic. But what you don't have is physical capability." Zero nearly barks.

"That's rude! Are you calling me unfit!"

"No. If you run out of Magic, besides nearly dying, what will you do to defend yourself?" He blandly says, and subconsciously flips his hair out of his eyes.

I edge back a bit, like I was burned from his words. Zero doesn't notice. Much. But I'm sure he knows, that he hit the head on the nail.

"S-So what! It fine that-eh?" Immediately, Zero's hand comes flying forward at an extreme speed, his target, obviously me. What the hell is he doing? Completely unaware of what I have to do, I clench my eyes, put my hands up in a defensive position, and wait for the impact.

It doesn't come, but I wait in this stance for a bit longer, then warily open my eyes. And as soon as I can see, Zero positions his hand close to my head, and flicks me. I fly back a bit, and stumble to the floor. I grasp my forehead with my hands. "Ow! That freakin' hurt!" I snap, and rub my forehead in pain. "Jerk…"

But then, I notice something is…different with my body.

Frantically, I whip my head around, as see my tools, the ones I summoned, and stop moving. They drop to the floor, like they lost all their life in moments, and once they touch the ground, disappear. I blink, and find the sudden quietness choking. Thinking of no other solutions to figure this out, I hastily whip out my hand. "The Art of Summoning; Teardrops." My hand, which would usually get pelted by miniature drops of water, now remains dry. Panic floods through my system. I try again, and speak a word of Foresight. My eyesight, and the way I perceive things, does not change. I sputter a bit, and whip my head up at Zero, hastily standing up. "What the hell did you do to me?" I scream. I hold my hands out, and feel no magic coursing through them. My heart, the place where all my magic resides, has been cut off from the rest of my body. And I don't like this feeling. It makes my appear as weak to myself. What has Zero done?

"A magic block." He says, as if he read my mind. "You can no longer use magic, until I release you from the spell." Zero says nonchalantly. My eye twitches. You take away my magic, my one and only defense system, and you don't even have the decency to sound at least half interested with me?

"Why?" I bark. "That's only form of fighting!" I clench my hands in a tightly held fist, and throw my arms down to my sides.

"Why, you say?" Zero now turns around, and looks me straight in the eye. I now wish he wasn't looking at me again, since his glare is so frightening. I gulp, and take a step back unconsciously. "To develop another fighting skill." He slits his eyes, and I see disappointment swimming through the amethyst. I glare right back at him.

"So, what, do you expect me to 'ask nicely' to get my powers back?" I mutter sarcastically.

Zero is not amused. "No."

"Chores? Do you want me to clean your room or something." I try.

Zero shakes his head. "No. And you share a room with me, so I expect you to do that anyway."

I gasp in bewilderment, then slap him on the arm. "I'm not your maid or something!" I sigh and shake my head in anger. "Do you have someone you want to date, or something? Do you want me to hook you up with anyone?"

"No." Comes the passive reply.

"Then what?" I whine desperately. "What do I have to do?"

"Fight me" I gasp. "And win within a week."

"Wha…but…I…magic…training…huh?" I sputter out, and flail my arms uncontrollably. "You want me to beat you in a battle without my magic?"

Zero nods faintly. "Yes."

I clench my hands in fists, and shake them by my chest. "That's impossible! I could never do that!" I exasperatedly choke out. I shake my head in denial, and immediately plan a plot to get this magic block off of me.

And again, it's like Zero can read my mind, as he says. "Only I can get the block off. The only way you can retrieve your powers back is by defeating me in battle. Without your magic. And in a week."

I rub my temples, and glare at Zero. "And what happens if I don't win?"

Zero ponders this for a while, but then I see his lips curl up in the faintest sight of a smirk.

Not good.

Not good at all.

The small smile gone from his face, Zero speaks menacingly. But it's not his tone that scared me. It was his words. "If you do not beat me in battle once, for a week, then you will do everything I ask of you. No complaining, no whining. Only doing. And you have to survive for...say...two weeks. If you do, then you get you're magic back. If you don't...Well, we'll talk about that when the time comes."

I gasp sharply, and my eyes widen immensely. "W-what, n-no…I-I…WHY!?" I stutter and trip over my words, raising my voice to an immaculate degree, and rush forward to grab Zero by his collar. I shake him wildly, but then I let go suddenly, and abruptly slam my head in my hands, sinking to my knees. I stay silent for a while, and I don't hear Zero move. Then, I slowly move my hands down, and almost at tears, ask Zero, very, very softly. "You…you're not a pervert, are you?"

Zero blinks, and replies the scariest answer of them all. "I'm a male."

I whimper a bit, before I slam my head in my hands once more, quickly pondering my options. Well, this is a no win situation, if I've ever heard one. Well, fine. I have to get my magic back, anyway. I stand up shakily, and give Zero my out stretched hand. "You have a deal." Zero, with that faintest trace of a smirk back on his face, take my hand, and shakes it. I smirk boldly

Oho, I'm royally screwed.

Heehee, Fight time! And I all know how you guys absolutely LOVE those juicy battle scenes!

Yeah, leave a review if you liked the story, and see you next time!

~BrawlMaster121