Disclaimer: If I did own VK, I certainly wouldn't be spending my time publishing short little stories online about it.
Author's Note: Kia ora guys! Here is my second Shima story, much more serious than fluff. Apologies to any of those who were looking for some fluffernutter, although I promise to make some more later on. Also, apologies beforehand on the fact of my obvious ignorance to the use of the japanese titles. I really suck and I'm pretty sure my glaring mistakes will be not be missed, however I ask you all to bare with me. Thanks, and please comment or review if you have the spare moment!
I Will Hold You Up
They lie on their backs in the soft grass of the sloping lawn in front of the moon dormitory, gazing up at the lofty, shadowed clouds floating above them in the dark and star-sprinkled sky.
Shiki twirls a plucked dandelion bud between his fingers, contemplating faraway thoughts as cicada chirps fill the twilight air around him.
Rima turns on her side to face him, staring at Shiki intensely with that look that captivates him every single time.
"Do you believe in love?"
Shiki's eyes flicker over to hers and lock with them.
"What do you mean?" he questions.
Rima keeps her gaze steady; her low, quiet voice making you strain to hear the words that leave her lips.
"Love," she says. "The belief that there's only one person in the world made exactly for you. Only one person that is your other half."
Shiki tilts his head back up to the abyss above him again, and his voice almost seems distant and lost in thought as he speaks.
"Well, there's Kaname-sama and Yuki-sama," he murmurs. "You can almost feel the love he has for her radiating off of him. He loves her fiercely."
Nodding slowly, Rima hesitates before adding "But then, half of her heart belongs to Zero-kun. What she has, what she shares with Kaname, is not truly devout love. He cannot be her other half because she is divided down the middle."
Silence. Then-
"I'd say Ruka-chan and Kain…" Shiki drifts off. "But we both know that that's not a true example."
Rima doesn't reply, but instead allows the hush to fill up the space between them.
"You never answered my question." she finally says.
Shiki looks across the grassy patch separating them, looks at her quizzically.
"My question." She repeats, almost as if she fears he'll never answer. "Do you believe in love?"
Shiki snorts and offers her a half-grin.
"I forget to comment on how cheesy and clichéd your question was. Why don't we just call up the camera crew and turn it into another weekly-night soap opera special? You can be the misunderstood wife looking for true love, the one who hooks up with a new guy every other day. I'll be the mysterious man you find in a bar, 10 years younger than you but promising that my love is eternal."
Rima glares at him, daring him to make another smartass comment, and whips out acidly;
"Well if you're not done being an asshole about an honest question, then please, don't let me end your fun."
The grin slides off of Shiki's face and his eyes soften.
"Sorry," he murmurs apologetically.
When Rima makes no move to say anything, he continues.
"To answer your question…what is love? Is it that thing that Aido claims to have for his fans? The thing that Ichijo has for his manga? The thing that a man says to a woman after a one-night stand?
'I love you.'
Do they really love? Is that all it means?"
Shiki looks meaningfully at Rima.
"If that's what it is, then no, I don't believe in love."
Rima feels something inside of her slip, like her guts are slowly being torn out . She can feel an ache in the back of her throat slowly closing down and choking her. She can feel her head begin to pound and throb and she knows this has something to do with the phrase 'the world coming down around you.'
Shiki reaches out and grasps her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and holding her hand tight.
"But I do believe in you. I believe you are my life raft in this bleak world of storms. I believe you are the one thing that keeps me afloat, keeps me breathing air. Saves me from drowning. I believe you are my support, my sanity, my soul. You are the one thing that I will sacrifice everything for."
Rima stretches out her arm and places the palm of her hand against Shiki's cheek.
"I will hold you up." she promises him. "Forever."