Chapter Three: Night Blooming

Shiki stared back at Kain stupidly. The look on his face was enough to make Kain laugh out loud. What the older vampire in front of him said did make sense, and he was the one that had more experience with relationships. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

"Do…er…you use this tactic a lot with Ruka and Kaname-sama?"

Kain shrugged, "Well, Kaname isn't exactly interested in Ruka and Ruka doesn't like me so I guess it's different in my case."

Shiki hesitated and then shook his head, "No. What if Rima really did like Ichijou? I mean, I know she loves someone else, she's already admitted that herself. But if she's happy the way she is with Ichijou, then I wouldn't play any part of this equation."

Kain shrugged, "Well, you can't know until you try, right?"

"And how do you propose I go about doing that?" Shiki frowned.

"I'm sure you can come up with something, Shiki. I mean, seriously. You invented Pocky and you're afraid to talk to a girl?"

"I'm pretty sure inventing food is easier than talking to Rima," Shiki mutter under his breath.

Kain rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, let's start with the basics. What do you think of this situation? I mean, what do you think of Rima and Ichijou dating?"

Shiki thought about Kain's question and tried to find a profound answer that wasn't too obvious. "Well, I'm jealous of Ichijou since he's with Rima."

"Go on."

"But…" Shiki struggled to voice his thoughts, "I definitely would cared about her happiness more than my own. I mean, if Rima is content with Ichijou, then I would prefer to have her happy rather me trying to meddle around so she would pay attention to me."

Kain raised an eyebrow, "Hmm, I think you've fallen hard for her."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's very rare that I hear a vampire so in love that they put their partner's happiness above their own." Kain looked over Shiki silently and sighed, "So, you would… probably back off from their relationship to let yourself suffer silently?"

"If that's what Rima wants."

"And what if she wants you?"

Shiki caught his breath, "Then I will give her the option of being with me." But he didn't dare let himself hope.

Kain nodded knowingly. "Class is about to start. I would wait sometime after class to talk to her."

"Okay." Both of them turned to face the front of the classroom.

"Hey Kain."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

The lesson was an absolute torture. Shiki hated it beyond words. Throughout the hour and half he sat in that room, he felt like he was going to suffocate; there was so much tension in the air that he could hardly breathe.

Ripples of pain washed over him as these thoughts passed through his mind in. Never before in his life had he had this feeling of insecurity and Shiki was definitely not used to it. Slowly and hesitantly (and feeling like quite the stalker), Shiki constantly tilted his head to glimpse Rima and Ichijou out of the corner of his eyes. Ichijou's movements were definitely too intimate and his body was far too close to Rima's for Shiki's likings. Shiki gritted his teeth and cussed at himself for letting jealousy rule over his thoughts again.

Shiki swallowed hard as desires and impulses flooded him. He wanted to sit next to Rima right now instead of Kain (not that he was saying it was bad sitting next to Kain). He wanted to wrap an arm around her waist to pull her closer. He wanted to play with her pigtails and silver earrings. He wanted to have her fingers entwine his and see her blush as he brushed his fangs on her wrist. Shiki winced, knowing that none of these desires would ever be met. He pushed away thoughts of devouring Rima's blood before trying to focus on the teacher at the front of the room.

It was during the fourth class of the night that Shiki couldn't control himself anymore. He told the teacher that he wasn't feeling well and excused himself out of the room. He didn't have a destination in mind, but anywhere was better than where he could see Rima and Ichijou.

Subconsciously, Shiki found himself drifting towards the gardens behind the school. It was Rima's favorite place to go with him after classes. There were white lilies in the pond at the edge of the garden and tulips of all different colors that grew around the small path. To his left, there was a field of daisies and clovers to which he let himself drop onto and close his eyes. The smell of the flowers around him in the night air was calming him down, but it also reminded him of the perfume that Rima would always wear.

"No," Shiki told himself, "I have to keep my mind off of her."

But everything around him reminded him of her. It was like there wasn't a single place where they haven't been together; all his memories were of her. He remembered that she had picked a daisy from this very field once and had played that silly game girls always played with the flowers.

"Love me, love me not, love me, love me not…" Rima dropped the petal-less flower back onto the field. Then she turned to Shiki with a small smile, "Oh well, I guess he's not really into me today."

"Who are you thinking of loving you, Rima?" Shiki asked.

"He's a very special friend of mine. I guess I've always been in love with him, but he doesn't really notice me."

"That's sad. I'm pretty sure he's come around to liking you someday."

Rima laughed, "I hope so, but he's different from all the other vampires."

Shiki met her eyes, "Oh? In what way?"

Rima shrugged, "I pretend like I don't have any feelings towards him except friendship but he'll always think of me as a friend."

"Who is it? You should tell Senri at least." Shiki made a puppy-face.

"Why don't you guess?" Rima teased a little.

"Okay, fine. Does he go to Cross Academy or do we model with him?"

"Both."

"Ha! I knew it! It's Takumi-kun."

But Rima had never answered his guess, "You're such a silly boy Shiki. Come on, I want to show you the roses I grew."

Now that Shiki recalled this conversation, he knew that one Rima had in mind wasn't Takumi-kun. Rima specified that the person she liked was a 'special friend', and Takumi didn't even bother to talk to Rima in school. They modeled once in a while together, but that was the only time they would ever be seen together. Then, the only person that fit all of Rima's descriptions was…

"Was that someone…me?" Shiki whispered to himself. "Could she have possibly wanted me?" He bit his lips until he drew out blood, "But she chose Ichijou instead."

Shiki's mind argued against him. Rima didn't 'choose' Ichijou because…Shiki never offered her a second choice. And now that she had left him, it was as bad as carving a hole in his heart. Rima was his poison, slowly spreading throughout his body, paining it, numbing it. He found such natural actions, such as breathing, hard to do without her.

There was the sound of a snapping branch over Shiki's head and he instantly jumped up and retreated into his defensive position. In the pale moonlight, he saw her slim, model form above him with deep concern carved on her face.

Rima jumped off of the tree and stepped towards him. "Shiki, ditching class isn't the right way to go. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Rima looked like she was about to roll her eyes. "Don't lie to me. You're sweaty and pale. And your senses are so sluggish that you didn't even notice that I'd been here, watching you for the last five minutes?"

"Rima, stalking people isn't the right way to go." Shiki tried to mimic her.

That got him a glare from Rima. "Haha, very funny Senri." She never called him Senri…unless she wanted to get his attention or she was disappointed in him. The latter was most likely this case in this situation.

Rima took a step towards him and her face became serious. Shiki tried to take a step back only to find himself cornered into a large fir. He scowled. Out of all the places he could back away from Rima, he had chosen the one tree in the entire garden. Fuck…

"Shiki, I'm tired of this. You've been avoiding me all day. I thought we were supposed to be best friends. Aren't best friends supposed to protect each other?"

Shiki didn't want to meet her gaze. "I don't know. If you're with Ichijou, I didn't want to intrude on your privacy."

The orange-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "Is this just about me and Ichijou then? Don't try lying your way out of this." She warned him and the worried expression returned to her face, "Please, won't you tell me what's on your mind? You looked like you choked on a blood tablet tonight."

Shiki didn't say anything, but he looked over Rima's head, no longer willing to meet her eyes.

"I thought we were best friends. That means you should tell me how you feel about…you know," Rima whispered. Her voiced was carried on the wind, making it more chilling than usual.

Again, Shiki returned Rima his emotionless shrug. "Trust me, it's nothing. I'm just being stupid, as usual." He then tried to laugh off the whole situation and side-step Rima, but she didn't buy it and moved in his way.

"Why won't you tell me how you feel?" Her voiced was edged with gentle sternness.

Silence.

"Shiki? Why won't you tell me anything anymore?" She hesitated, looked away, and then looked back at him, "Has what happened between Ichijou and me really change you that much? Are we not friends anymore?"

"We can still be friends if you want."

"'If I want'? Do you not want to be friends anymore?" There was a pained expression on Rima's face. "Can you at least tell me what I did wrong?"

Shiki buried his face in his arms and let himself sink onto the grass, "I said it's nothing. And it's not your fault."

Rima sank down on the grass patch next to him. "Bullshit, I'm calling your bluff." She began to play with the petals of the nearest flower, "Okay, so since this is obviously my fault, can you at least tell me what I can do to make you feel better?"

Of course, that was her typical response. Shiki almost wanted to scream; yes there was something she could do. She could break up with Ichijou and return to his side! She could wrap her arms around him and kiss him while telling him how much she needed him instead of Ichijou. But voicing those words would betray his hidden feelings for Rima and it would also make him sound like a complete idiot. So he simply shook his head.

"Shiki…" the frustration of the situation was erupting from her voice. "Shiki," she tried again, "You are one of the most important people in my life. It really hurts me to know that you are suffering from something caused by me while I stand here and can't do anything about it."

Shiki sighed hopelessly. He knew Rima wasn't planning to drop this subject. "Rima…" Shiki reached out and began to play with her hair like they always did when they were younger. "Rima, about Ichijou…"

"Yes?"

Deciding that he had already said too much, Shiki decided to test his temerity. "Are you…are you happy with him?"

"Am I happy with him?" Shiki held his breath as he awaited for Rima's answer. If she said 'yes', then Shiki wouldn't have any chance of winning her back.

Rima's eyebrows curved beautifully. "Why would you ask something like that, Shiki?"

Shiki paused, but his eyes were sincere when he answered her. "What if Ichijou's not the only one that's in love with you?"

Rima frowned in naïve confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What if there are other guys out there that want to date you just as badly as Ichijou?"

Rima let out a small laugh. "I wish. I'm not nearly as pretty as Ruka, so I don't think any of the guys in the Night Class would ever be interested in me…well, except Ichijou. But even him, there must be some pretext that he's not telling me."

"Is that what you seriously think?"

Rima shrugged, "Shiki, there is a profusion of beautiful girls here, and I pale in contrast. I'm probably considered lucky to catch Ichijou-sama's attention."

"That's not true—."

"You want to hear a story, Shiki?" Rima interrupted, and there was nothing for Shiki to do except to nod. "I have been in love with a guy in the Night Class for eleven years."

"Eleven years?"

"Yeah." There was a small, but sad smile playing on Rima's lips, "And in those eleven years that I've known him, he has never looked at me as more than a friend. No, seriously, he didn't even bother to give me chocolates on Valentine's Day."

A wave of guilt hit Shiki now that he knew who Rima was referring to. "Maybe he just didn't like to show his emotions?"

Rima shook her head, "No, that's not it. During out first weeks in the Night Class, he was obsessed about Ruka and Mei-chan."

The color began to rise in Shiki's cheeks as he remembered himself talking about girls who he thought were attractive with Rima and Ichijou after the first night of introductions.

"Ichijou, who's that girl with the blonde hair?" Shiki motioned with his head in Ruka's direction.

"That's Souen Ruka," Rima answered him from behind. "She shares a dorm with me."

Ichijou smiled, "She's pretty, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"It's just too bad she already has someone else in mind." Now both Ichijou and Shiki were directing dreamy looks toward the female vampire.

"Really? Who?"

"Kaname-sama."

Shiki shrugged and looked away then, "Of course. Oh well, she's probably not my type anyways. But that girl over there…" He pointed to a petite female vampire with raven black hair and light green eyes, "She's hot."

Rima rolled her eyes, "I don't know why I'm even friends with both of you."

"Aww…" Shiki pulled Rima into his arms, "Look who's jealous…" Even though Rima knew Shiki was teasing her, she still turned bright red.

"Get off, jerk." But Shiki knew Rima liked it when he did that.

"I'll tell you a secret," Shiki whispered in Rima's ear, "No matter how attractive the girls are here, I think you're the most beautiful of them all."

Rima turned even redder, if that was possible for a vampire. "Oh shut up," she muttered under her breath.

Shiki combed his hair with his fingers nervously, "Ruka and Mei-chan are attractive, but don't you think your friends were just joking?"

"Yes, but my point being that he is interested in other girls here, not me."

"You can't know he's not into you."

"I don't think—."

Shiki cut her off this time, "I think he might like you more than you know." He met her gaze and held it this time.

"What do you mean—oh…" Rima suddenly stood up and took a step away from Shiki. "Are you trying to say that…? You know?"

"Yes."

The pink flush in Rima's cheeks could be seen in the moonlight now. "Are you saying that you…?"

Shiki also stood up now and looked at her with fervor. "Yes."

Rima cupped her cheeks, trying to cool them, which Shiki thought was adorable, "I thought I was the only one that felt that way and that I was being completely irrational in liking you and everything. If I'd only known earlier…" The shock of the news made Rima feel like she was just randomly blabbing now. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't realize how I felt about you before. Then Ichijou came and I…" He trailed off, not knowing how to express his anguish at Ichijou and Rima dating.

Shiki stood up now and felt a new blossom of hope within him, "The only reason I have been avoiding you lately is because I want you to be happy with Ichijou. But now…Rima, will you consider…us?" He reached for her arm but she took a step away from him. What little hope that had awakened within him before was instantly crushed.

"I don't know, Shiki" Rima whispered. Now it was her who refused to look into Shiki's eyes.

A hurt whisper escaped his lips, "Why?"

Rima was shaking her head, "I can't…I can't hurt Ichijou. I mean, I know he's our friend and everything, but I don't want to be in the middle of a love triangle. Because in the end, I'd just manage to get confused and then I'll lose both you and Ichijou."

Shiki nodded stiffly, feeling as if his brain was finding comprehension to be a difficult task at the moment.

Rima looked like she was ready to cry, "I'm really sorry Shiki…"

Somehow, Shiki managed a sad smile. "It's okay." His voice sounded hoarse in his own ears, "As long as you're happy with Ichijou, I think I'll be fine." There was nothing else to say. He had excused himself from class in order to make himself feel better; however, the night stroll seemed to have taken an opposite effect as he left Rima standing there by herself in the blooming garden.

Rima is adorable! And I love Shiki...too bad he's already taken. Haha! Please review!