II - Names

For as long as he remembered, she had always called him 'Shiki'.

It wasn't as if Rima didn't know his first name (how absurd). His mother had made sure the two of them were properly introduced when they had been no more than toddlers, at a small playground. At first, Shiki didn't use the orange-haired girl's first name either; they barely knew each other. Years later, although Shiki had begun to get used to the name "Rima", the girl herself had never given any indication of moving to a first-name basis with him.

He tried to ask her about it, but Rima always seemed to have an excuse ("We're going to be late for that photo shoot, Shiki," or, "Later, I'm already late meeting so-and-so.") on hand to avoid answering. She would dash off, and then make a point to avoid him for the rest of the night.

Not this time.


The first thing he noticed standing on the other side of the door to Rima's room was that Ruka was in the room with her. Shiki sighed; his hand paused an inch from the wooden door. How was he supposed to talk to Rima privately now? (Asking in front of Ruka was bound to send her gossiping about it to the entire Night Class. Shiki knew her too well.)

"Shiki? Is that you?" Said boy froze. Rima. Of course she heard you; you're not the only vampire here. Idiot.

He turned the brass doorknob, opened the door, and poked his head through. "Hello."

Rima rolled her eyes, got up from her seat on a bed, and promptly half-dragged Shiki into the room. He heard Ruka giggle. "Well, I'll be going now, guys," she said. Shiki glanced at her in time to see a knowing smile on her face before she hurried out of the room. He suppressed an urge to shake his head.

Rima cocked her head up at him when Ruka's footsteps died away. "What now, Shiki?"

"Why do you insist on calling me that?"

She groaned. "Oh, no, not this again, Shiki, first Ruka, now you. We have a photo shoot to get to, Shiki; can't we discuss this another time?"

"How long is it going to take for you to explain yourself, Rima?"

She didn't answer. I win. He fought hard against the smile that was just beneath the surface. "So?"

"It sounds better," Rima said after a good two minutes. Shiki feigned a hurt look. There was one advantage of knowing someone since their childhood: you could see right through them. "I'm serious, Rima."

She pouted slightly. "What would the others think, though?"

"What would they think?"

"You know there are already rumours about us, right?" She looked at him meaningfully. "What would they think if I start using your first name all of a sudden?"

He shrugged. Yes, he did know. "So what?"

Rima sighed. "Anyway, first names are supposed to be used by people in the family."

"And we're not just as close as siblings?"

Silence.

"Let's see, how about I call you 'Senri' when we're alone?" Shiki almost flinched at her sudden proposal, after the quiet that lasted nearly five minutes. Then he smiled. "Sure."

I win.

"Oh, no, now we're really going to be late, Shi—Senri."

Shiki smiled to himself. "Yeah, get dressed, I'll be outside."


Disclaimer: I do not own VK. Happy now?

A/N: Inspiration deserted me near the end. Sorry about that.