XxMy Black RosexX

XxWill To LivexX

He was standing in a small field surrounded by trees; the woods.

He looked around, wondering why he was here. It looked familiar but he could quite figure out how.

"Shiki," he turned around.

"Rima?" it looked like her and yet…it didn't. Her skin was paler, almost grey especially against the white dress she wore. Her eyes were dull, no shine in them at all.

"I'm sorry Shiki, I can't do it, our promise..." She said. As he looked at her, blood starting dripping down her neck from a wound he couldn't see. Her eyes closed as she started to fall forwards-

"RIMA!" Shiki sat up, breathing heavily.

"Shiki, what's wrong?" Ichijo, who was standing over, asked.

Shiki looked around, taking in his surroundings. A living room…right…he was waiting for Rima to show up and ended up falling asleep on the couch.

'And having a nightmare of her dying' he thought grimly, throwing the blanket that somehow got on him off.

"Shiki?" Ichijo frowned, concerned.

"Nightmare," He said. He moved so his legs were touching the floor so he could let Ichijo sit next to him. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was 11 A.M. "What are you doing up?"

"I was reading my Manga when I realised I hadn't seen you go to bed to bed yet," Ichijo told him. "And that Rima still hasn't shown up.""What? She hasn't?" Shiki frowned. He glanced at the blanket that he had thrown off. "I figured she might of put it on me," he murmured.

"No, it was probably Yuki-Chan," Ichijo said. "Her and Kaname went for a walk before they went to bed after everyone one else."

"Why hasn't she shown? It should only take a few hours to get here and she wasn't going to see her mother for very long."

"Your right," Ichijo got up. "I'll call her place. Maybe she ended up staying over night-er-day."

Shiki leaned back against the couch as Ichijo made the phone call, worry settling in his chest.

'Rima…' he knew he shouldn't let her go alone. But he believed her when she said she would be fine despite that bad feeling it gave him. How could he be so stupid?

He stood up when Ichijo ran back into the room, eyes wide.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Rima, she's been attacked."

"What happened?"

"We-We went outside to look after the garden and-and found her laying unconscious on the ground. She was in-inured so we treated her and after we brought her to the-the bedroom."

"Was there anything else?"

"N-No."

"I see," Ichijo frowned. He thanked the maids for answering his questions before going back into the room where Rima was resting.

He and Shiki had came as fast as they could, leaving a short note for the others explaining what happened. They arrived at 2, and it was now 5.

When they arrived the maid who answered the phone, Yuri Ichijo thought her name was, took them straight to Rima's room. Both had paled at the sight.

Rima was paler then pale, her skin almost grey, her body almost lifeless if it weren't for the occasional whimpers of pain that came from her. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the deep puncture wounds on the side of her neck, that healed at a slow rate.

Someone had bitten her, and had not done it kindly. Shiki's body went rigid with anger and for a second Ichijo thought he would destroy something. Not that he would blame him: it was an unspoken rule that you never drink blood from another vampire's lover. Thought Shiki and Rima didn't display their relationship much, they cared for each other deeply and this was something Shiki would never forgive.

"How is she?" Ichijo asked.

"She woke up briefly while you were outside," Shiki told him quietly. He was holding Rima's hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. "I gave her some blood but she didn't take much. Just enough to stop the pain."

"She seems to have a fever too," Ichijo reached out a hand to feel her forehead. Just before he touched her Shiki's free hand snapped out, grabbing his and glared at him with piecing silvery blue eyes. Ichijo's eyes widened.

"Shiki?" the red haired vampire blinked, loosing the menacing look in his eyes. He let go of Ichijo's hand and looked away.

"Gomen…" he muttered. "I didn't mean to, it's just…I know that…"

Seeing him struggle for words Ichijo realised something. He face relaxed into an understanding smile.

"Your overprotective of her right now, right?" he said gently. "I understand."

"Gomen," Shiki repeated quietly.

"Don't worry about it," Ichijo told him.

The door opened then, and in came Yuri, the maid who answered Ichijo's call.

"My lady would like to speak with you," She said softly.

"Alright," Ichijo said but Yuri shook her head.

"Not you Takuma-Sama. It is Senri-Sama she wishes to speak with.""Shiki?"

"Me?" both boys exchanged a confused look.

"Look after her for me," Shiki said.

"Of course," Ichijo watched as Shiki kissed Rima's forehead softly before leaving.

Yuri brought him to a large door and paused.

"There's something I have to give you, Senri-Sama." She said.

"What is it?"

"We found this clutched in Rima-Sama's hand. There was a small chain, like from a necklace, broken beside her," Yuri said quietly. "It was like someone tried taking it from her…"

It was the promise ring he gave her.

"How is she?"

"Resting. We'll be leaving soon.""I see…" Though Touya Annika had her back turned to him, Shiki could see just how sick she was. Her skin was almost as pale as Rima's, and she seemed to shake as though cold even though a shawl was covering her.

"You can tell, can't you?" Annika turned to face. Shiki was shocked at how lifeless her eyes were. "Rima could too.""How long?" He asked quietly.

"The doctors give me a year, if that," Annika said, just as quiet. "I want to talk to you about your relationship with her-"

"I don't want to be rude Annika-San," Shiki interrupted. "But I don't want to talk about this with Rima like this-""That's why I'm discussing this," Annika said, her lifeless eyes flashing like Rima's did when she was annoyed. "I'm willing to accept you on one condition Senri-Kun. You have to promise me something, and you must not go back on it or you will pay. My daughter has been through too much because of this family. Mostly because of blindness to see the truth and her fathers weakness."

"What is it?"

"Promise me you'll never hurt her like her father did to me. Promise to protect her, no matter what happens. Take care of her."

Shiki breathed in the fresh air, wishing it would calm down his nerves.

He and Ichijo had brought Rima to Aidou's place. Right now Ruka and Yuki were looking after her. He wanted to stay but seeing Rima like that made him want to punch something.

'Or someone…' he thought darkly. 'Kiryu is at the top of the list at the moment…' he thought back to what happened the night of the Ball.

Shiki watched as Ichijo lead Rima onto the dance floor.

"You can tell, can't you?" Shiki glanced sideways before looking back to where Rima and Ichijo were dancing.

"Rima's strong, nothing will happen," he said. "Besides why does a Hunter care?"

"I don't," Zero said. "But it interferes with the peace at this school. Besides, I've been ordered by the Headmaster to help out."

"And you want to help because it worries Yuki," Shiki said bluntly. Zero didn't say anything. "Even though she's a vampire now, and a Pureblood at that, you still have feelings for her."

"Now I remember why I don't like you," Zero glared. "Your too blunt with your annoying comments."

"And your not?" Shiki glared back. "Rima's strong, despite what you think."

"Yeah, Rima's strong," Shiki muttered under his breath, leaning over the balcony rail. "I hope it's enough…"

"Shiki-Senpai?" he turned to see his younger cousin standing behind him, a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?"

"The girl I love is being tormented mentally and I can only stand by and watch," Shiki said darkly. "But besides that, yeah, I'm doing okay."

"I…" Yuki hesitated for a second. She's never seen this side of him before. "I overheard…what Zero said to you…the night of the Ball."

Shiki didn't say anything.

"She woke up for awhile," Yuki said quietly. "Ruka asked her if she remembered anything but she said she can't…I tried to get her to have some Blood Tablets but she said she didn't need them because you gave her some blood earlier.""I did," Shiki closed his eyes. "But not enough for her to get her strength back."

"It's true isn't it?" Shiki turned around to see tears forming in her eyes, threatening to fall over. "She's loosing the will to live, isn't she."

Shiki didn't answer right away. He took the ring out of his pocket, and starred at him for a minute. He knew his answer. He's known it since he had that dream. Yuki waited, but couldn't read his expression.

Finally, Shiki answered.

"Yes."