White Lace Dreams

Shiki leisurely gathered up his belongings. He had just spent a couple of hours in the student council room, clearing up a few bugs for the sports festival coming up. He was currently alone. Most of the other student council representatives had left a long time ago, having felt that dinner was altogether more important than a smoothly running school event (they always seemed to go haywire in some places anyway, was a few people's reasoning).

As he was loading up his bag, Shiki's fingers accidentally knocked over something from the desk. With a resigned sigh, Shiki bent down to pick it up. It was a little, silver box, one that fitted in his hand. And of course, as soon as he saw the box, his eyes couldn't help but drift over to the calendar that was hanging up by the clock. Shiki frowned, and he pocketed the tiny box. Then, once he was all finished, he finally made his way outside.

It was drizzling outside on that gray, dismal afternoon. Shiki stared up at the dark clouds for a moment before stepping right out into the rain, not really caring. Besides, it was light anyway.

There was a clash of thunder. Then the rain came down at a steady downpour.

. . . well, the rain used to be light.

It was too late to back out now. Shiki was already completely soaked. He ducked his head down and continued in the direction of the dormitory. "Stupid rain," he muttered under his breath.

"Shiki-sempai?"

Shiki stopped and glanced over his shoulder. It was Yuka. She was carrying a vivid red umbrella with large white polka dots. It stood out in sharp contrast with the rest of the world, but Shiki didn't see how it could be doing much good. The wind was blowing so hard that the rain was almost sideways, and it looked like the umbrella was going to fly out of her hands any minute now.

"Shiki-sempai, what are you doing out here in the rain?" Yuka asked, looking concerned.

It seemed like a stupid question, so Shiki decided to ignore it for the moment. "I thought I told you to drop the sempai," he remarked in a low voice.

Shiki was quick to pick up the slight hesitation before Yuka repeated, "Shiki-san, what are you doing out here in the rain?"

Shiki shrugged. "I just had work to do for student council. I just finished and was returning to my dorm."

"But you're soaking wet."

Thank you for pointing out the obvious, he thought to himself.

No one said anything. Sensing that the conversation had come to a close, Shiki promptly turned on his heel and began to walk away. But he hadn't taken more than four good strides before the rain had suddenly stopped. Actually, the wind had too. So suddenly? But then he felt her warm presence tagging along beside him. Yuka struggled to keep up with his quick, long-legged pace and still reach high enough so that his head was covered by the umbrella.

"This storm really came on quickly, didn't it Shiki-san? I mean, it was almost from out of nowhere," Yuka said, starting up a conversation.

Shiki threw her a questioning look. "How come this umbrella works so well? Shouldn't the rain be blowing through sideways?"

Yuka smiled. "It was a present from Kaoru during the last rainy season. She had gotten it in the shops. The umbrella was made with shield alices, so it shields whoever's inside from almost all weather elements."

"Ah."

They walked in silence for a while, though it wasn't exactly a smooth journey. Yuka didn't always hold the umbrella up high enough for the much taller Shiki. After bumping his head into the umbrella for the third time, Shiki snatched it from her. "I'll hold it," he muttered.

"Sorry," Yuka apologized sheepishly. But she instinctively walked a little bit closer to Shiki to stay under the cover, and when she did, she accidentally brushed up against his blazer. Suddenly, Shiki remembered the small parcel that was hidden within his blazer's pockets.

"Yuka."

"Hmm?"

"Do you know what today is?"

"Um . . . your birthday?" she guessed.

"No."

"Kaoru's birthday?"

"No."

"Narumi's birthday?"

"I don't even know when that idiot's birthday is," he muttered.

Yuka laughed.

"What's the date, Yuka?"

Yuka's expression turned puzzled. She counted on her fingertips, but when that didn't satisfy her she glanced at her digital clock. "Er, it's the 14th of . . ." Yuka trailed off, her eyes getting wide. Her gaze quickly snapped in Shiki's direction. "March," she breathed, and a faint blush graced her cheeks.

Shiki fished out the small, silver box from his pocket and held it out in his outstretched palm. "Happy White Day."

Yuka stared at the present for a few wordless moments. Then she looked up again, utterly confused. "I didn't get you a gift for Valentine's Day."

"I know."

"Did you want me to give you chocolates?" Yuka asked, perplexed. "I'm sorry. You just seemed like the type who wanted to be left alone."

"No, no, it's fine. I don't like sweets."

"Oh." Yuka's face scrunched up, as if she still couldn't quite grasp the concept.

Shiki sighed. "White Day is about appreciating your female friends and all that they do for you, right? So here is my token of gratitude. You didn't need to make chocolates for me."

Yuka almost seemed somewhat suspicious now, as if there was some sort of huge plot behind this itty bitty box. But her curiosity got the best of her, and she eventually opened it in a haste.

A ribbon.

. . . a ribbon?

Yes, what Yuka pulled out of that silver box was one long hair ribbon made of white lace. Underneath his composed facade, Shiki felt a little nervous. She had been silent for too long. Did Yuka not like it? Shiki cleared his throat, waiting for her answer.

Yuka touched the lace with her fingers softly. Such a simple gift! But maybe that's what made it so special. "I love it," Yuka whispered.

Shiki blinked, taken aback. "Really?"

Yuka bobbed her head in enthusiasm. "Really, really."

She likes it . . . On the inside, Shiki's heart melted with relief. The corners of his mouth twitched upward.

"Hang on. Stop for a second," Yuka told him.

Shiki obliged. While he waited on her and held her books, Yuka tied a small bow in her hair. Then she spun around once, beaming. "How's it look?"

Shiki didn't answer at first. Slowly, he lifted a hand and touched the ribbon before running his fingers through her hair. "It suits you," he eventually mumbled.

Yuka's eyebrows flew up in shock. Blushing, she started to back away. But then she remembered the storm that was blowing outside of the umbrella's protection. She was trapped. Shiki grinned a real smile now. But he wasn't going to do anything (he was content enough to see her looking all cute and frantic). Actually, the moment he touched the lace ribbon, he was taken to another place. Another world that wasn't so gray like the one they were in now. A bright world. And Yuka's ribbon had transformed into a veil. And her school uniform became a white gown. And the rain turned into the palest pink sakura blossoms that danced down to earth in dainty spirals.

There was the boom of thunder. It cleared Shiki's head, and then he was back in the real world again. Shiki narrowed his eyes slightly in disgust with himself. You're letting the engagement rumors get to your head. Stop the ridiculous fantasizing.

"Shiki?" Yuka said, wondering about his abrupt change in attitude. "Shiki, we kind of have to hurry. We don't want to be out here when it starts really storming."

And with that, Shiki finally snapped out of it. "You're right, you're right," Shiki replied, his voice almost shaky, as if he had traveled to a different world and back. "Let's go."

Yuka walked him all the way up to the dorms. Before she turned to leave, she smiled coyly and said, "Thanks again for the present. I really like it."

"I'm glad you—"

Yuka's lips brushed against his cheek, stopping all modes of thought in Shiki's brain. And despite all those emotionless masks he had put on in the course of his life, he might have even blushed slightly. He couldn't tell, but his body temperature definitely felt a few degrees higher. Yuka came down from her tiptoes and began to walk away. Shiki watched her leave. She stopped once, waving and giving him more thanks one last time, and then she rounded a corner and disappeared.

Shiki was smirking as he entered the dormitory. All in all, he felt as though it had been a pretty successful day.

A/N: Does everyone know what white day is? It's kinda like a part two for Valentine's Day. In Japan, girls give guys chocolates on Valentine's Day. And then a month later on White Day, the guys are supposed to give presents to all the girls who made them chocolates. I wish we had White Day in America. Sigh.

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