A/N: Yay, Chapter 6 is finally up :D. Thank you for those who review. It's very much appreciated :)

13 petals: He loves me.

Gray clouds suddenly clouded in and covered the sun as the sky slowly grew somber. It seemed as if the heavens have sensed my feelings of agony and pain that I'm suffering whilst I lay in my bed with my arms and legs sprawled, leaving drops of tears on my pillow as they continued to well out of my eyes.

I stared up into the blank, white ceiling, thinking why her. Why did that Aiko girl have to hit on him, my crush? How come she gets everything the way she wants it and not me? Why am I even crying over a tiny matter? I'm absolutely positive that Shiki would never have feelings for her. No. I'm lying to myself. I'm crying because their relationship might be possible since Aiko has somehow tapped into his feelings that he's actually evoking emotion. Something I have never been able to do; that bitch…stealing the love of my life.

She definitely had the guts to punch me like that especially in my weak spot—my stomach and now all I can prospect is a few days of rest in bed and that'd mean not being able to see Shiki. And the next time I see them, they'd probably be linked together like a chain. I gritted my teeth as I thought about this with more angry droplets leaving my eyes.

More pessimistic thoughts raced through my mind because I was in such a miserable state.

I sniffled quietly, trying to shake the cynical imaginations forming in my mind when somebody creaked open the door to my bedroom.

Apparently, it was still dim, for the sun has not been able to shine its radiant rays through the thick, dark clouds like how I'm not able to stand up in my two feet and fight. Well, I did try to fight but it ended in futility and misery…I'm not strong enough and all this time I thought I was capable of fending myself. How wrong I was.

A worried Ruka revealed herself, her eyes filled with horror and anxiety as she rushed over to my side with her hair flying lightly behind her, she asked worriedly and quietly, "What happened to you Rima?"

I turned my head away from her gaze, collecting my thoughts, and told her tersely, "Aiko and I had an ugly fight."

Ruka widen her eyes in surprise and then raised an eyebrow at me, asking curiously with a hint of puzzlement, "What did you do to her?"

"I merely scratched her on the face and in retaliation, she gave a hard punch directly at my stomach," I explained; my hand crawled over to my stomach.

I rubbed my stomach and winced at the screaming pain she had left on my body. Damn Aiko. I swear I will get her back once I recover.

Ruka saw it and asked hesitantly, reaching over, "Are you okay?"

I nodded slightly at her and gave a small smile.

She relaxed, her face wasn't as timid as before, she actually was thinking deeply with glassy eyes and then she said, "I'm assuming you guys were fighting over Shiki and with the condition you're in, I must say, she's quite a fighter."

I couldn't accept the fact that she was stronger than me. She cannot win him. She just can't…Shiki is mine.

I guess my expression was terrifying and painful to Ruka that she had asked quietly, "Do you want talk about it?" Her eyes fell upon my face and she looked directly into my swimming orbs.

I didn't know what to say at first but I eventually agreed to tell her because I needed a pair of ears to listen to my pouring and somewhat broken heart.

"Aiko blamed me for the sickness that Shiki has to go through this very moment," I brought up the main parts of the drama. "She said it was because of the way I had looked and that provoked me…" I cried.

Ruka stroked and moved away a few fringes of my bangs from my eyes and wiped the tears flooding out.

"Silly girl, you shouldn't be moping over that. You are always beautiful. Nobody is a match for our young model here," Ruka smiled reassuringly that I couldn't help but return a weak smile.

"Besides, I'm certain Shiki just came down with the cold by himself. Knowing him, he's unpredictable…as for Aiko. Who cares about her? She'll probably lose interest in him once she finds out his real personality."

She was right; I reminded myself and thanked her for consoling me. However, a part of me was still filled with trepidation, what if Aiko didn't lose interest? What if she liked Shiki for who he was? What will I do then?

She smiled faintly, "What are friends for? I'm sure that you'd do the same for me. Anyway, I got to go meet up with Akatsuki. We have some business to tend with Aidou."

She sighed and I studied her, she looked tired. "He can be so annoying." She got up, walked out of my room, shutting the door behind her, gently.

It's probably noon by now to my approximation because it just feels like it. My instincts told me so.

I wonder what Ruka is going to do with Akatsuki and Aidou. I know that they are close friends but what business has to be taken care of? It sounded kind of urgent too…maybe Aidou, the troublemaker, did something again. That guy can be really irritating in every way.

I rolled over to one side and tried to sleep, closing my eyes, but then, unexpectedly, the door clicked open and in came Takuma, as I saw him over my shoulder with the corner of my eye.

"Rima, are you all right?" he asked in a way that sounded very motherly and made his way to my bed.

I'm used to it. I mean, he and I are close. He's a kind friend—too kind.

I lay flat on bed once again to face him and forced a smile, saying softly, "I'm okay…I just need some rest, that's all."

"I knew leaving the both of you was a bad idea," he sighed and looked out the window, crossing the both of his arms, and started shuffling around the room.

"Hopefully, she will become more mellow…or else I have to follow another troublemaker around and that's seriously the last thing I want to do," he pretended to be mad, but I knew he wasn't, just by looking at him, you can only see him as a friendly guy.

"Anyway, I was just stopping by to see how you were doing because right now, I've got to run an errand for someone," he checked his watch, walked to the door, then waved at me, closing the door.

Well, that was very kind and considerate of him to drop by. The corner of my lips twitched as I loosen myself to try to drift into slumber.

Someone had better not open that door. I swear, the next person coming in, I will bark at them and I don't care who.

To my amazement, the door did creep open yet again and just when I was about to shout at the person, I saw a tired Shiki, eyeing at me lazily with a dead expression on his face.

"Hey! Shiki…"

What's wrong with Shiki? I blinked at him blankly and confusedly. Isn't he supposed to be in bed, resting? Where did Aiko go?

He staggered to me and settled down on to my bed, smiling at me, saying, "Rima."

My eyes rested on his face and he looked restless and exhausted, as if he didn't get a chance to sleep. Probably because of her, bothering and annoying the crap out of him. He had lightly shaded bags under his eyes and his skin didn't seem that smooth anymore, it looked crinkled. Poor guy, he must have been harassed.

But just the sound of his voice, the sight of him makes me feel so delighted that the pains don't hurt anymore. Everything is healed because I feel like he's dedicated himself to me. And that is more than I can really ask for from him.

"Are you all right?" he asked dryly yet his eyes gave away that he was worried; it was that soft look he had on.

"Never been better," I remarked sarcastically, "I'm healing at the speed of light."

He stared at me with hollow eyes and asked skeptically, "I heard that it was quite a blow from the others Rima."

I sighed, he's got me there but I shrugged at this comment and pried on about what he and Aiko did when she visited him.

Shiki turned away and didn't say much, and tersely answered my question, "Oh, she was just seeing if I was okay. Nothing special happened."

I hoped that was true because I feel like there's more to it than that. I was sure of it because my intuition told me so.

"I see," I said to him and then closed eyes in attempt to sleep, but something landed on my sheets, directly at my stomach which inflicted a painful blow.. I gasped lightly and tilted my head up slightly to see what hit me, and that's when I saw the back of Shiki's head. He was resting…and sleeping on me not to mention the perfect spot to use as a pillow; he must have been extremely tired, and he even left his room to visit me—do I feel guilty.

But for some strange reason, his head didn't pressure too much affliction; it felt quite alleviating, and I smiled lightly and slowly tilted back onto my downy pillow, falling fast asleep.