Summary: In which Rima borrows Shiki's chest for a while.
Word Count: 1635

Standard Disclaimers Apply

Tears

Salty tears flowed down her soft, flushed cheeks. Her usual emotionless eyes were replaced by the true eyes of a child. Her fragile body was barely supporting the amount of complications and pain her heart held. He looked at the shaking form in front of him, unsure of what to do. All he could think of was to lightly pat her back and ask her what was wrong. Her reply would always be delayed as she would still be sobbing too hard to answer. However, when she did reply, he wouldn't know what to do with her. Her problems were always too complicated to be understood by a normal person. Then again, they weren't normal; they were vampires.

"You think too deeply about these things," a young boy with mahogany hair and light blue eyes commented softly.

"But… sh- she said… that I sh- should…stay in the…s- sun more…" The sniffing girl with royal blue eyes could barely compose a proper reply.

"She probably thinks you're sick with your pale skin and all," the boy sighed.

"She knows that my skin's always like this!"

"Rima, I seriously doubt she knows you're a vampire and that you'll rot in the sun, alright?" The same routine over and over again: she cries about some silly thing and he's the one who has to convince her that it's not true.

"A-are you s-sure?" Innocent deep blue eyes looked up.

"Yes, I am. Now, let's get home before your mother starts to worry about you," the boy smiled calmly, afraid that the girl may cry again.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right, you're crying."

"No, I'm not."

"Then why are your cheeks wet?" he asked. When she didn't reply, he sighed and lifted a hand to wipe her tears away. "Your tears aren't stopping at all," he said as he continued wiping her cheeks, carefully outlining the bottom of her eyes.

"They aren't tears."

"Well, they're coming out of your eyes," he paused and bent forward. He took a good long look at the girl before lightly licking her wet cheeks. He knew it: salty. "They taste like tears too."

"They aren't tears. I just have allergies," she looked away, shaken by the boy's sudden actions.

"You aren't allergic to anything." He knew everything about her and could tell when she was lying or not. Her actions revealed it all.

"Spring allergies."

"It's autumn…" He wasn't impressed. She was never very good at telling lies, but today was especially worse.

Frustrated, she stomped her feet. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you."

Satisfied, he smirked.

"Ah, I see," he replied when she finished explaining what had happened.

"What a lame reaction," she glared at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant that I feel bad for you," he tried again, slightly amused by her reaction.

"I totally didn't feel the empathy there." It was obvious that she, however, wasn't amused by his reaction. "I mean, I'm about to lose my job as a model. Aren't you feeling even the slightest bit worried?"

"Don't worry, they won't fire you," he reassured her. He knew how good she was at doing her job; they definitely won't fire her. At least he won't let them.

"How would you know? They have a new model at the agency now. Next thing you know, you might be paired up with her!" She hasn't noticed that she had raised her voice until she saw him flinch.

"Are you jealous?" Although this wasn't the time to be happy, he couldn't hold it in.

"No, I'm not." She was lying; he knew she was.

"Hmm… that new model isn't bad, you know? She has a nice body and she's got a pretty face… Maybe I should try modeling with her sometime…" He had meant for this to be a joke; he only wanted to tease her a bit. Her reaction, however, was far from expected. He had expected her to be angry, but not hurt.

She had started crying again.

"Hey, that was a joke just now. Don't take it seriously, okay?" He had to make sure that she understood -understood that she was the only one for him, that no one could even hope of replacing her. She nodded, but tears had already started pouring out again. "You're such a cry baby today. You haven't cried like this since you were young," he spoke in a soft and calming voice, lightly patting her back like he had done when they were kids.

"I just feel tired today, that's all." She said after a while. She tried to give him her signature smirk to convince him that she was alright, but he could tell it was forced. "Come with me," he grabbed her wrist gently, as if she was going to break if he grabbed too hard, and pulled her along with him.

"Why did you bring me to your room?" she asked as soon as they entered the spacious chamber.

"You haven't had one of your major-crying-into-my-chest moments for a while, have you?"

"No and I don't plan to." She was putting up a strong front and he knew it. He sighed.

"Remember how you used to come running to me, crying into my shirt?"

"Yes and I regretted it," she looked away from him, pouting slightly.

"Why?" He tilted his head to the side showing complete innocence.

"It was the most embarrassing thing I had ever done in my whole life. How could I not have regretted it?" It wasn't something she would do. It just wasn't her.

"It wasn't that embarrassing. Not like anyone saw it happening, right?"

"That doesn't mean I'm going to break down crying right now." She looked up into his eyes, trying to convince him. He looked back at her for a while. One would think he was zoning out, but she knew better than that. He was thinking, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was on his mind.

"What?" she asked him as he examined her face. He said nothing. All of a sudden, he pulled her into an embrace. His arms (which didn't appear very muscular at first) were stronger than she thought and she found herself unable to escape.

"Shiki, cut it out," she mumbled against his warm chest. She was so close to giving into the comfort and warmth that had surrounded her. She felt peaceful and safe in his arms, but she was not about to admit that to him.

"It's okay," he patted her head as he spoke. "It's alright." Hearing his soft voice and feeling like a child again, she suddenly had the urge to cry. She didn't realize that the thought of losing her job had such a big impact on her. It was meant to only be something to pass her free time by, not something she actually enjoyed. He said nothing and only continued patting her head, never letting go of her slightly trembling body.

"You will not… tell anyone about this." She was trying hard to resist the tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

"I won't. I promise," he reassured. She smirked bitterly as she let her tears fall freely, leaning further into his embrace.

She was supposed to be his partner. They worked as a team. They couldn't be separated. If either one of them weren't there, the other wouldn't be able to work properly. She just couldn't understand why they had wanted to fire her. She's been doing her job properly and hasn't complained…much. She just didn't get it.

"You haven't changed at all," he suddenly said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Although she didn't say anything, he knew she was listening to him and that she wanted him to go on, so he continued. "You still cry about childish things."

She lifted her head away from his chest and glared at him. Her eyes were pink from her tears and her cheeks were flushed. She was still sobbing, but she managed to disagree with him. He smirked at her cute response and took a hand to wipe her cheeks. "Yes, you do. Remember that one time when you cried about how that woman at the modeling agency told you to go out in the sun more?" She shook her head indicating that she has forgotten that memory. "Or that one time when I didn't walk home with you? You wouldn't stop complaining. It was really annoying. You told me to walk with you every day after that. It was such a pain."

"Are you implying that I'm useless and that I do nothing but get in your way?" Her voice, although hoarse, was still strong.

"Yes, yes I am."

"You're great at cheering people up." She couldn't help but laugh a little bit. She knew that he was just kidding, but his emotionless face as he agreed with her sarcastic comment was pretty amusing. She looked up at him and gave him the brightest smile she could manage (which was not very bright considering how it was her).

"Aren't I?" He smirked in response. "But this sure does bring back memories. What happened to that crybaby personality of yours?"

"I'm all grown up now. I don't need to borrow your shirt to cry on anymore," she smirked back proudly.

"Yeah, right. Then what were you doing just now?"

"Hey, you were the one who insisted," she pouted, annoyed at his quick lost of memory.

"Instead of accusing me, you should be thanking me," he replied, a bit teasingly.

"I'm not accusing you. It was you." He chuckled at her adorable reaction and gave her a light peck on her forehead.

"Hey, what was that for?" she asked, rubbing the area he had just kissed. He didn't respond. All he did was give her a playful smile.

A/N: Thanks for reading!