Enjoy everyone.

Love, Kuro-chan

Droplets of Love

I love you…

I love you so much that my heart pounds for you

I wait out in the rain for you

I look out my window, needing you

I yearn for your smile

Please be mine.

Rima Touya hated the rain. She had a small frown on her face as she watched the rain pour down outside of the modeling studio. It reminded her of tears washing away the hope of young love-sick girls everywhere. It reminded her of the endless pounding of her heart for that special someone whom she knew was too far out of her reach. They had always been close, best friends in fact, but after his father's attack on the academy, their relationship slowly drifted apart. Rima felt like she didn't know her best friend anymore. He had attacked her; he had attacked trying to kill her. And afterwards, he didn't explain anything to her. She knew he was hiding something, but he refused to talk about anything related to Rido's attack.

But here, it was different. They had no choice but to hold on to each other. It was a photo shoot.

The director with the French accent called in his seat, "Okay, now Shiki, hold Rima a little bit closer…wait! Rima, show some romance. You must feel the heat, the passion. You must burn in the heat of his love!" Rima rolled her eyes. Their director had always been a little bit overdramatic.

Rima tilted her head back as if in ecstasy while clinging on to Shiki's body. They had always been comfortable modeling together even if in scenes like these, but ever since the Rido incident, she had been keeping her distance from Shiki so she now felt awkward touching him in such an intimate way. She would never be afraid of him since she trusted him with her heart, but the Shiki that she saw now was different from the person she knew. Now in his arms, she suddenly had the image of Shiki striking her with his blood whip flitting before her eyes. Rima gasped and broke free from Shiki's hold. She rubbed her arms, suddenly finding herself shivering.

She loved Shiki, yes. Well, she loved her Shiki; the one that liked to eat Pocky endlessly, the one that liked to caress her and play with her hair during class. Since Shiki's damn father came to Cross Academy, Shiki had stopped making eye contact with her, stopped tickling her hand with his fingers, and even stopped kissing her. At first she was worried for him. Rima was afraid that he wasn't feeling well or something, but over the months that have passes, she noticed that is was more than just that. To Rima, it looked like that Shiki was just plainly avoiding her.

The director frowned at Rima, "Now what is wrong Rima-chan? You have not been modeling like yourself lately."

Rima rubbed her temples, "I'm, I'm really sorry. Something happened lately and—."

The director glared at her, "I will take no excuses Rima-chan. If you cannot perform your job properly, you will be replaced. There are plenty of model girls out there that are dying to model with the famous Senri Shiki."

"Please, just give me one more chance. I promise I will—."

"Director," said Shiki quietly, "I think it's best if we stop for today. Rima is not up for it today so I don't think we should push her."

"Yes, but Mr. Shiki…"

"No. I'm saying we should stop now. And also, Director," he added as he put an arm around Rima's waist to guide her to the door, "I will not model with anyone but Rima. If you fire her, you will have to fire me too."

"Wait!" the director stopped them from leaving, "We'll give you guys one more attempt and if it is still not working out as we planned then we will meet again tomorrow."

Shiki look at Rima and then shrugged, "Okay. I guess one more wouldn't hurt, right Rima?"

Rima nodded, but didn't look at him.

They now stood in front of the camera and lights again. Shiki had his arms around Rima's waist and his face buried in her neck. Rima shivered slightly as Shiki's lips touched the place on her neck where he takes blood from her. But she struggled to put him temporarily out of her mind so she could give the camera one of her intense glances.

The director shook his head again, "No, no, no. Something is just not right. I mean, the positions are all right, but I just…don't feel it, you know what I mean?"

The photographer snapped a couple of photo and frowned. "You used to do this so naturally before and today…today, you're acting as if you're disgusted to touch each other." It was obvious the photographer was also annoyed by this.

The director sighed, "One more time, and if you guys screw this one up, then get out!"

Shiki pulled Rima closer to him. It had been a long time since they were actually this close together. Being this close, he could smell the sweet aroma that came off her skin. He could feel the pulse of her blood under his lips and it took all his will from trying to bite her in front of these humans. The desire to suck her empty was almost scary. He wanted her, every part of her. But how were they ever going to have the same feeling they had before the incident? How was he ever going to touch her with the same feeling of lust knowing that Ichijou had to save Rima from himself? Rima would never forgive him for almost killing her. He was afraid of talking to her about all of this mostly because he didn't want to see her reactions. What if Rima didn't want him anymore? What if Rima tells him she's already moved on and is seeing another vampire? How would he be able to bear it?

As the cameras snapped away, Rima took her left arm and hooked it around Shiki's head, as if pulling him closer to her. Shiki felt the urge growing inside of him, but he quickly reminded himself of where he was. This was a photo shoot and one bite would result in Kaname-sama tearing off his head.

The camera snapped a couple more times before it was stopped with a sigh from both the photographer and director. "I guess that will do. You two may go for today. Come back tomorrow, and prepare yourselves next time. I don't want to be publishing these cheesy love photos."

XkurochanX

The first thing that Rima was reminded of as she stepped outside the studio was that it was raining. She scowled and quickly pulled out her black umbrella. She then opened it and turned to look at Shiki, "Come on Shiki, get under the umbrella or you'll get wet."

Shiki didn't respond. He was lost in his own thoughts, not even noticing that his clothes were becoming drenched in the heavy downpour.

Rima hurriedly ran over to him and held the umbrella high enough for both of them. "Don't stand there like that. You'll catch a cold and then your mother would start worrying over you again."

Shiki then looked down at Rima and his deep blue eyes almost glowed in the red night sky from all the rain. "Rima, listen…" He paused and then looked away, lost for words.

Rima frowned, worried for him. "Shiki, please tell me what's wrong. Why are you acting this way?" She took out a pink handkerchief from her pocket and wiped away the droplets of rain that was dripping from his messy dark brown hair.

"Rima…" He turned back to look at her. "Can't you forgive me?"

"What are you talking about, Shiki? Let's get back to the academy and get you dried off now."

Shiki didn't move and continued as if he didn't hear Rima's reply, "I'm truly sorry I wasn't there for you."

"Shiki, this isn't a good place…"

"No," Shiki whispered, barely audible since the heavy raindrops were pelting down around them. "Ever since…ever since my father came to our school, I've been feeling guilty about this." He lowered his eyes so Rima couldn't see his painful expression.

Rima froze. They had been avoiding this conversation since they both were afraid of the results. Rima was afraid to answer. She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to lose their solid friendship let alone their newly found relationship. But she felt she should answer Shiki, "What are you talking about? Guilty? Whatever for?"

Shiki shook his head miserably, "I wasn't able to protect you that time. I wasn't strong enough to fight off my father…and Ichijou had to save you…"

Rima put a finger to Shiki's lips. "No…no, you're wrong." Rima took a deep breath before continuing her confession. "Shiki, I-I was afraid that your father had changed you after his invasion because you kept on avoiding me. I was so scared to losing you that I never even considered your feelings." The tears were running down her face, but who could tell since it was mixed with the rain?

Shiki gave her a look of disbelief. "You're afraid of losing me? Why would I ever leave you, Rima? You're…you're the best thing that ever happened to my life. Plus you're sweet and cute, and you always think of others before yourself, unlike me. I'm a selfish bastard who doesn't know better. I went back to visit my mother that time and I didn't even think that I would be putting you in danger. I thought I had lost you forever after I almost killed you with my blood whip." His voice dropped down to a whisper. "Do you know how hard it was to see you in so much pain? Do you know how hopeless I felt when Ichijou could save you and I couldn't?"

Rima shook her head. "No, but that wasn't you Shiki. That was your father, and I still love you for who you are."

Shiki continued as if he hadn't heard Rima. "And I was so afraid of talking to you until today, you know, because of the whole problem with the photo shoot and everything. I mean, it would be beneficial for you if you dated Ichijou instead of me or something since he probably could protect you better."

Rima shook her head and a smile appeared on her lips. How long had Shiki not seen her smile? It looked beautiful in the dark night. "And why would I every want Ichijou instead of you?"

"Because he can protect you and he doesn't have an evil father who would possess his son's body and attempt to kill his son's girlfriend." Shiki looked away again, ashamed.

Rima's smile widened, "And yet that is the only reason I'm not dating Ichijou."

Shiki tilted his head in a puppy-dog way that Rima always loved.

Rima gripped his wet shirt and pressed herself against his chest. "Shiki, you know I love you and only you. No matter how awesome Ichijou-senpai is, he's not Shiki. Ichijou doesn't like Pocky. He doesn't have those deep, beautiful blue eyes that I love, especially when they're looking at me."

Shiki grew silent and for a second, and Rima was overcome with fear that she had upset Shiki with her sudden actions. But then, Shiki drew back and pressed his lips onto hers tenderly. Rima, in surprise, dropped her umbrella and let the rain soak them both. Rima felt Shiki's tongue teasing open her mouth and slip into the caverns of her mouth. She kissed him back passionately as she snaked her arms around his neck. Shiki pulled the vampire girl closer to him as his fangs scraped over her lips in dire need for her blood.

Rima suddenly shivered and Shiki drew away with a content sigh. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek as he muttered, "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that…"

Rima giggled. Their hands met and their fingers intertwined. "I'm cold Shiki."

Shiki pulled her closer to himself and wrapped a strong arm around her slim shoulders. "Let's go find a hotel room for the night." He whispered in her ear.

"I hate it when I can't resist you, Shiki," Rima pretended to pout.

Shiki gave a low chuckle as the red sky above them cried out its heart.

~End~

A/N: Love it? Hate it? Please leave me some comments!