Author Note: It is so late as I type this... I'm hoping I don't fall asleep at my desk before I get these two one-shots for me collections done. Again, I already fell asleep when working on Rainwater. In other words, if you see a typo, tell me. This is a less strong version of ShikiXRima, focusing more on how they react to each other than anything else.
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight, and I make no profit from this.
"Senri Shiki, you will tell me what happened." Rima dabbed at the cut on Senri's face, the cut that hadn't healed in nearly forty-five minutes. Senri said nothing; he just sat stock-still as she put pressure on the cut. "It was your Mom, wasn't it?"
No response, no response, brief nod.
"Why was she mad at you?" Rima was considering taking him to the hospital, at this point, because between the unchanging cut, and the silence, she was thinking he had to be damaged pretty badly.
No response, no response, shrug.
"Right." Rima hissed, sounding like a cat. "Like you don't know?" Her temper was getting the best of her, but it was only because of her nerves.
No response, no response, dirty look.
"Senri, honestly, you tell me everything." Rima took the gauze off the cut. Did it look smaller? She couldn't be sure. "What could she have said or done that is so terrible you can't tell me?"
"She said I shouldn't be going out with a slut." Senri's voice startled Rima, and the redheaded boy instantly got a look over him, like he hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"Mm, the old slut card." Rima was unfazed, after all, Miss Shiki had never thought highly of her, why be shocked at this development? "Is that all?"
"She said that you've probably slept with every boy in town." Senri touched his face where the cut was beginning to heal.
"That's a little hard to believe, especially since we even haven't had sex." Rima pushed the boy's hand away and applied pressure to the cut again. "And since I'm a virgin. What'd she throw?"
"Plate." Senri reached up and touched her hair. "Why is your hair down?"
"Because Ruka wanted to play with it." Rima pulled the gauze off of Senri's cheek again and squeezed a piece of glass from the cut, setting it aside. "You get her all squared away before you left or do you need to call someone?"
"She's fine." The boy's gaze drifted to Rima's eye that was bruised. "What happened to your eye?"
"There was a brawl between Ruka and Hanabusa." Rima gave the now healing cut an appraising look. "Akatsuki wasn't here so I broke it up. My agent was pissed though, as you can imagine."
"Yeah..." Senri sighed. "I was thinking about putting Mom in a psych ward..."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Rima threw the gauze away and ran her finger across the spot where the cut had been. "She can't take care of herself and she's hurting her servants and you."
"It just... doesn't seem like a son thing to do." Senri pulled Rima down onto his lap. "Doesn't it seem overly cruel to you?"
"Not if you put her in a nice cushy one." Rima turned sideways on her boyfriend's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "If you put her in a nice one, it would be like a spa, just with medications and padded walls."
"Maybe you're right..." Senri squeezed her closer. "You're sure it's not a cruel thing to do?"
"How would you feel if she killed herself tomorrow because no one was making sure she didn't?" Rima felt horrible saying that, but it was the cold hard truth.
"You have a point..." The maroon-haired boy lay back on his bed and held her against him.
"You can't be there every minute, Senri." Rima leaned her face against his neck, feeling his pulse under his skin. "And if her servants can't even keep an eye on her, someone's going to have to. You know how she is."
Senri couldn't help but think of his precious Mom, with her uncombed hair and worn-out, tired-of-life look. Someone had to watch her...
"Alright, you win." He kissed Rima briefly. "She should go somewhere where they can watch her."
"I know you love her." Rima gave him a small smile. "She's your Mom, and you're doing the right thing for her."
"Yeah." Senri mused. "The right thing."
Author Note: I think I started to fall asleep somewhere around the end of page one. I just have to go write up and add to Fireplace and then I can go to bed. Anyway, drop me a comment if you like, I love to hear from you!