One Wish
Summary: AU Thirty days, that was all the doctors gave her. Now, here at the end of her life, Fate cruelly gives her a boy who listens to her silence and sees beyond her porcelain facade. With time ticking away, she is reminded that Fairytales were just that— stories, tales, fables. But, will one wish make all the stories something more— something real? "I wish... to live." Shiki/Rima
A/N: Ahhh, I have no idea why I'm swimming in VK plot bunnies XD I've literally not seen the anime in over two years and only read the manga every now and then but my muse seems to be stuck in the VK universe! *sigh* forever a slave to my muse, I suppose... Anyway, this is my first Rima/Shiki story so I hope you guys enjoy it! All you need to know is that in this AU Rima is a human and Shiki is a vampire. And beware, symbolism abound :P
Disclaimer: Does it look like I own VK?
Chapter 1- Day 1
Rima Touya is not surprised by the news. Even now, sitting at the fountain located in front of the hospital, she does not feel the sting of tears behind her cobalt eyes. Only an inkling of 'what if's' and a faded memory of a glossy storybook, where every princess finds her knight and people never die- they just live happily ever after.
She sits against the concrete bench, feeling the cold drops of water tickle against her skin at every gust of wind. And, for a moment, everything is alright. Her heart isn't literally breaking (enlarging to a degree and at an unstoppable pace that the doctors have just given up) and she isn't all alone as her world threatens to stop spinning. For a moment, she has a century to live, not thirty bitter days.
And, in that moment, the extraordinary happens. The ginger-haired girl does not know when the silent boy appears, but suddenly there is a teen with maroon colored hair and steel blue eyes beside her. He seems as listless as her, just as lost, just as alone, fingers spread against the heavy stone.
In the silence of the pair the sun slowly sinks below the horizon, reminding her of her own coming night. Except that the sun wouldn't rise again the next morning and her coffin would be a grave, not the horizon. Yet, the thought does not bring about a hint of melancholy, only an emptiness she had become unfortunately accustomed to.
She parts her cherry lips to speak, but the words she wishes to say cannot pass the lump in her throat. He speaks for her.
"Are you dying?" He says, turning to face the girl for the first time. His tone is flat, with little inflection, and it's comforting, in a way. She had spent all day listening to pitying voices lamenting her terrible fate, without a hint of true empathy. Only forced feelings from a group of people in white coats who had probably said the same lines a hundred of times.
"Are you?" She retorts, flicking one of her orange pigtails behind her shoulder.
He blinks slowly, taking a breath of the cooling air before speaking. If she squints she can almost see his breath. "No."
The conversation laps to silence, the girl's hands folded neatly in her lap as she toyed with the edge of her black skirt. She wants to respond truthfully, to tell this beautiful stranger that she only has thirty days to live, but once again the words refuse to come out.
"You smell like death." It is said not in a hurtful manner, but that of someone pointing out a fundamental truth. Like that of the sun rising every morning or oxygen existing in the air.
A small smile flits across her lips. "What does death smell like?"
The cobalt-eyed woman is honesty curious. Did death smell of roses, a sweet, intoxicating scent that lulled the victim into a forever sleep? Did it smell like the sterile cleaning products of a hospital, a scent that reminded the victim of where they were, always pressing against the corners of their conscience?
"...It is a sad scent. Like that of the ground after a heavy rain." The crimson-haired boy stands up, offering his hand to the porcelain-looking girl.
She looks at the open palm skeptically but takes it anyway, the fear of death long gone from her mind. She finds that his skin is ice cold.
It was funny, really, how once you knew your death was merely a month away, that it suddenly became so trivial. The reaper became real, but he had lost his edge; it is not knowing when you will die that causes the most suffering. The fear of death is easily plucked away when you know it is knocking at your door.
"I am Senri Shiki." He says offhandedly, releasing her smaller hand from his own. He stands inches from her, towering over her much smaller form.
She does not respond for a long while, head tipped back to watch the gray clouds that circled overhead. A single drop of rain falls from the sky before she speaks, "My name is Rima Touya."
Suddenly, it is pouring, buckets of water dumping onto the pair. Rima remembers a time where her mother would fuss over the rain, saying that if she stayed in it too long she would catch a cold. Now, a cold almost sounded like a welcomed respite.
Neither move despite the downpour, the boy looking as if he didn't notice the heavy drops of rain. Rima obviously didn't care, letting the water soak through her hair and clothes. The blue ribbons in her hair slowly fall down, letting her orange locks flow down to her shoulders.
Shiki's hair is matted against his forehead, his messy crimson locks in disarray. But, once again, neither minded.
It could have been minutes or hours until the rain finally stopped, time becoming immeasurable in each other's presence. The gentle tapping of water from their drenched clothing fills in the silence, a rhythmic beat that syncs with the girl's beating heart. And, she understands. The smell of death is not cold or unpleasant, but melancholy, with a hint of hope. Like the gentle breeze after the rain…
"I'm cold..." She mumbles out, shivering as a gust of wind passes between the two.
"We can go to your hospital room to change." He supplies, already walking towards the imposing brick building. The teen walks at a lethargic pace, allowing the orange-haired girl enough time to catch up. They walk in sync, passing the automatic doors in silence.
The hallways are as winding and bright as she remembers. They take the stairs instead of the elevator, fluorescent lights blinking overhead. In the overhanging light her skin takes on a creamy pallor, reminding the boy of the dolls his mother used to collect.
Just as they stand in front of her room Rima stops, turning to face the russet-haired boy.
"Why are you here if you're not sick?" The question had been gnawing at the back of her mind for a while, ever since he said he wasn't dying. He looked just as lost and lonely as she did, but he had a future.
"I was visiting a friend." His voice is not cold, but not warm as he speaks. Lukewarm. Not overly comforting, but not alarming either. It was simple, and she liked the sound.
She opens the door, unsurprised to find it empty. Her family had never been tight-knit, and even now, at the end of her life, she would be surprised if she saw her father in person.
Shiki stands at the threshold of the room, hands in his pocket. "I'll borrow some clothes from my friend. I'll be back." He does not wait for a response as he closes the door softly behind him.
It is obvious in his arrival that his friend is much taller than himself. The green long sleeve looks like it is about to slide off his shoulders, with the end of the shirt coming down to mid-thigh. The dark jeans fit better, but they too bunch up at his ankles, still too large for the lithe teen. He is literally swimming in fabric and the cobalt-eyed girl can't help but let out a small giggle.
He looks at her perplexingly, eyebrows furrowing for a brief second before his mask of indifference slips on again. He yawns, showcasing a pair of unusually sharp canines.
Rima notices this and immediately stills with a mix of curiosity and confusion.
"Are they real? You're teeth?" She questions, sitting up against the headboard of the hospital bed. Despite her hair still being somewhat damp, she has fastened the ribbons back in her hair, pigtails swaying slightly as she turns to look at the boy.
He nods, taking a step towards the pale girl. The mattress tips against his weight as he sits on the edge of the bed.
"My friend often asks this question: if you had one wish what would you wish for?"
The ginger-haired woman stares blankly at the youth. What were her true goals, her true aspirations? Ever since she was a child she knew her time on earth would be short. Born with the rare heart condition, she knew it would be rare for her to see beyond her twenty-first birthday. As such, she had never been one to dream. The question he posed was one she was unsure she could answer.
Eventually, she responds, fingers clenching at the sheets. "I wish... to live."
For the first time, she had felt a reason to live; it was just a shame it came at the end of her life.
He stares hard at the tiled floor, a thin line forming against his lips. It is as if he's pondering a decision, eyes scanning the cracks in the floor for the answer. Eventually, he finds it.
"I'm a vampire." There is a sincerity in his words. An honesty which made it so she didn't hesitate to believe him.
Despite what the boy had just said, she felt no fear or anxiety. There was nothing even remotely scary about the russet-haired teen. Instead, she gives another small smile that fades away as she falls back against the pillow.
"It's alright, Shiki. I'm dying anyway, so it doesn't really matter." In reality, nothing mattered. Not with Death knocking at her door.
Her eyes flutter close in the silence, save for the buzz of the fan and the stream of white noise coming from just outside the door.
He waits until she is fast asleep to leave the room, closing the door softly behind him.
For the first time, he too felt he had something to live for. There was more to the porcelain doll of a girl with large oval eyes and button nose then her beauty. He could feel it in every word that she spoke, in every breath, in every heartbeat.
Back in the hospital room, Rima was dreaming of a boy with crimson hair. She smiles in her sleep.
A/N: So, what do you guys think? Good? Bad? I don't write for the pair often, but I tried to keep them as IC as possible. Anyway, I hope there are others who love Shima as much as I do XD Please, if you enjoyed the chap, take a second to drop a review! Thanks! Oh, and if it isn't obvious, this story will have thirty chaps plus an epilogue :3