A/N: Revised: 1/10/14
Thank you for giving this one-shot a chance! I hope you enjoy it! :D
The Saltwater Room
It was all Kaname's fault.
Out of all the people he could've assigned the job to, he had to appoint Ichijou. And now Ichijou wants to do…a full performance to greet the new Day Class members? Kain and Ruka glared at the vice-president of the Night Class as he announced the news while Shiki and Rima looked like they were ready to kill their friend.
"Don't be ridiculous Ichijou," Ruka snapped, "Why would anyone want to make a fool of themselves in front of the Day Class?"
"Now, now Ruka, don't be such a party pooper," Aidou interjected, "It'll be loads of fun!"
"That's because you always wanted to be at the center of the spotlight in events like these, Hanabusa! But I'm not interested; I actually have a reputation to uphold." Ruka scoffed and turned on her heels to walk out of the room.
And so Ruka refused to come to any of the meetings that had anything associated with the performance for the Day Class. And since Ruka didn't bother to show up, Kain didn't either.
As for Shiki and Rima…well, they were themselves, going around in their daily tasks pretending not to notice anything.
But, the game of pretend lasted about only about two days when Ichijou nominated Shiki as the lead singer for one of the major vocal performances. The worst part was that the song was a duet piece with an additional female part, and it was obvious who Ichijou nominated for Shiki's duet partner.
With his puppy-green eyes targeted on his best friend, Ichijou begged, "So will you do it, Shiki? Will you do it for your buddy ol' pal?"
Shiki returned Ichijou's look apathetically. "I don't participate in events like these, especially if it's going to involve Rima and me."
"Oh come on, Shiki! It'll be really fun! Please do it for me?" Ichijou blinked at Shiki and tried to make his eyes bigger.
Shiki ignored it. "No, particularly not for you. Why don't you find someone else?"
"Who else is there?"
"There's always Kain and what about Kaname-sama?"
Shiki watched as Ichijou's eyebrows climbed higher on his forhead. "Kaname-sama? Singing? That's ridiculous! That's like Kain sleeping with a shirt on. That's like me not reading manga for a month. That's like Aidou marrying Ruka. That's like you not eating Pocky—"
Shiki held up a hand to halt the list of first world problems that Ichijou was sprouting. "Okay, I get it! But still, you have Kain. I bet he's better than you think he is. Why are you making me do this?"
Ichijou rolled his eyes. "Okay, first of all, Kain sings bass. Second, we need a Night Class pair to sing this. And the lead female vocal that sings this has to be cute. Ruka isn't really what you consider as cute."
"And Rima is cute?"
"You guys are adorable…especially together!"
"I'm not doing it Ichijou."
"Fine, I guess I'll find someone else to sing with Rima. I bet Aidou would do it, and if he doesn't agree, I can always fill in." Ichijou smirked at Shiki. "And don't forget Shiki, the performers get to hold hands while they sing, and there's a big surprise scene at the end. I think Aidou would have fun, wouldn't he?" Ichijou smiled innocently. "But I guess since you don't want to sing with Rima—."
"You wouldn't."
"Oh, I would."
"You…you ass!"
"Will you do it? I've already got Rima involved."
Shiki hated being talked into something, so maybe that's why he looked ready to punch Ichijou. "Fine! But you owe me one."
Ichijou gave Shiki his biggest grin. "That's what I thought you said." And Shiki scowled at him.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Shiki sat backstage with his head in his arms. This entire performance was so horrendously embarrassing that he was actually falling asleep. The brunette model donned an unbuttoned (under Kain's suggestion) light blue shirt with khaki shorts. Shiki would never admit it to the rest of the Night Class, but he was actually really nervous for his performance since he never got a chance to rehearse it with Rima. What if his voice didn't match hers? What if he came in at the wrong time? And most importantly, what if he choked after seeing her (which was very possible in his current state of mind)?
Just then, Ruka stepped off the stage with a scowl on her face. As expected of the noble vampire, she was dressed in a dark red dress which matched her lip stick color and looked positively dazzling.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it Ruka?" Ichijou greeted her.
"I will destroy you. Count on it."
"Come on Ruka!" Aidou sneaked up behind her, "If you keep scowling, that look will become permanent on your face."
"Who do you think you are? My mother?" Ruka hissed back.
"Shh…Akatsuki's up next." Aidou grinned, "This I got to see…"
"What is he doing?" Ruka seemed to have dropped all signs of annoyance as Aidou handed her the program. The female vampire read the piece of paper and burst out laughing. "'Joke Time with Kain'? Akatsuki's going to try to be funny?"
"Oh, it's funny alright…" Aidou snickered.
On stage, Kain looked more annoyed rather than entertaining since he was also forced into his current position by Ichijou. The jokes were absolutely ridiculous.
"So there's these two muffins in an oven. They're both sitting, just chilling and getting baked. And one of them yells "God Damn, it's hot in here!" And the other muffin replies "Holy Crap, a talking muffin!""
Shiki thought it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard, but coming from Kain's monotone voice, it was actually pretty funny.
As the curtains on the stage closed, Shiki and Kain switched places. From the other side of the stage, Rima walked on and Ruka tailed her while adding the finishing touches to her makeup.
Rima was dazzling even though she was barefoot with a simple light-green summer dress. Her usual pigtails were taken down and curled; Ruka somehow managed to pin two of the curls back with daisys. And her makeup was perfect, both casual and framing her face. Actually, everything about her was perfect to Shiki. He almost forgot to breathe let alone remember his lines before Ichijou cued for the curtain drawing.
Shiki was supposed to start sitting on a large slab of rock on a sandy beach. His script told him that he needed to follow Rima with his eyes as she walked across the stage; Shiki definitely didn't need a script for that. Damn solos, he thought as he began to vocalize the soft melody.
I opened my eyes last night and saw you in the low light
Walking down by the bay, on the shore, staring up at the planes that aren't there anymore
Shiki watched as Rima tossed back her hair and looked up with a yearning expression at the sky. Of course Rima was good at acting! She had only won the award for the best actress and model five years in a row. He almost choked on his next line.
I was feeling the night grow old and you were looking so cold
Shiki was thinking more of how beautiful Rima looked as the spotlight continued to dazzle upon her.
Like an introvert, I drew my over shirt
Around my arms and began to shiver violently before
You happened to look and see the tunnels all around me
Rima turned to look at him slowly. Thoughts of touching her and running his lips over her bare skin ran through his head again. He tried to ignore them.
Running into the dark underground
All the subways around create a great sound
To my motion fatigue: farewell
Shiki watched as Rima approached him. He could smell the perfume that she was wearing and he reaching out and handed her a seashell. Shiki could feel the electricity running through the left side of his body as their fingers incidentally met.
With your ear to a seashell
You can hear the waves in underwater caves
As if you actually were inside a saltwater room
Shiki stood up as his solo ended and held onto Rima's hand. Stupid song, he thought, if it weren't for this, Rima and I could be doing even more 'fun' things. He listened to Rima's twinkling soprano voice. Why wasn't Rima a model and not a singer again?
Time together is just never quite enough
Rima's eyes were intensely blue as she looked into Shiki's eyes. Shiki followed her lead.
When you and I are alone, I've never felt so at home
Shiki had to resist the temptation and desire to just carry her out of the room as she sang.
What will it take to make or break this hint of love?
Rima brushed his arm with her fingers and Shiki took the next line.
We need time,
And Rima joined into his voice in order to create harmony.
Only time
She then continued her line.
When we're apart whatever are you thinking of?
What am I thinking of? You tell me what I'm thinking of…, Shiki thought to himself. But he answered dutifully to his lines.
If this is what I call home, why does it feel so alone?
Rima gave him a dazzling smile and Shiki was thinking of how cute she was with the dimples in her cheek. And Shiki shivered as she sang her last line.
So tell me darling, do you wish we'd fall in love?
Shiki blushed a little. And then he reminded himself that they were just performing a song. Rima? Call him 'darling'? Now will that day ever come? He sang his line and he hoped his voice wouldn't crack.
All the time,
Rima's voice melted perfectly into his.
All the time
Rima watched Shiki with a small smile at her lips as he began his solo parts again. Shiki tried to stop his heart from pounding painfully against his chest. Maybe it would've been better for him if he had been chosen by Ichijou to tell the lame jokes.
Can you believe that the crew has gone and wouldn't let me sign on?
All my islands have sunk in the deep, so I can hardly relax or even oversleep
I feel as if I were home some nights when we count all the ship lights
I guess I'll never know why sparrows love the snow
We'll turn off all of the lights and set this ballroom aglow
Shiki could hardly think anymore. What could he do? He was only male, and right now, he was ridiculously turned on by this girl in front of him. He swept a surprised Rima on her feet and lowered her lips onto his. At first, Shiki instantly thought of letting go of Rima since they were both in the middle of a performance, but when Rima wrapped her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer, he forgot that they were still under the spotlight, expected to perform for the Day Class.
She was glamorous, and for the few seconds of his life now, she was in his arms. She was his.
We can stay like this forever. Shiki thought as the warmth flowed over him.
On the side, an ignored Ichijou was frantically waving his arms to signal them that there was a crowd of humans that they needed to entertain.
But Shiki didn't care. To hell with all that, Shiki pulled Rima closer.
In the end, Ichijou was forced to close the curtains while the music was still playing, but Shiki didn't want their precious moment to end like this. He clung onto Rima even as she tried to pull away in embarrassment.
Ruka chuckled and raised an eyebrow, "Who knew you had it in you, Shiki? Now…was that acting or the real thing?"
"What do you think?"
"Well, it felt pretty real to me, but honestly, next time, don't make out in front of the entire Day Class."
Ruka cleared her throat, obviously a little annoyed, "You guys should get a room if you're going to be that serious."
They barely heard her.
He picked Rima up and glanced at his dorm mate. "Hey Ichijou, let's do this next year, too. We can produce an entire Broadway show." The couple exited through the backstage door.
Ichijou rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but we're having Kain and Ruka sing lead next time."
A/N: Kain never fails to make me laugh. Let me know what you think! Please R&R!