AN: Hello and welcome to Shiki's least favorite holiday, Valentine's Day! Will Shiki get chocolate from Rima? Read on to find out!
T-minus a few days. Rima sighed, adjusting one of her hair ribbons as she walked back to the Night Dorm from her early evening stroll. All too soon, she would pass through a bombardment of chocolate the dorm would never be rid of. Worse, the screams of fangirls would forever haunt her dreams. It was amazing how quickly she had tired of her own fanclub, although it was really nothing in comparison to the clubs that most the male members of the Night Class had gathered. Like Hanabusa Aidou. She shuddered. He might be handsome, but his fanclub was the scariest of all. Those girls were fanatical.
Far sooner than she had expected, she heard the cacophony of hormonal teenage voices squealing. Her brows clamped down against her eyes. A pair of earmuffs might be a worthwhile investment, albeit in poor taste fashion-wise. Still, it was winter, so maybe they wouldn't be drastically out of place... As she rounded the corner and approached the gates to the Night Class, however, she was surprised to see that it was Shiki who had been accosted.
"Shiki-sama, would you prefer red or blue wrappers for your chocolate?" one of the girls asked gleefully, obviously beside herself to be in his presence.
Almost against her will, Rima felt herself slowing down her pace. She told herself she wasn't really interested in anything her modeling partner had to say, but rather just wanted to see how this situation would play out for her general entertainment. Though really, she was more than a little interested...
"Ah... I don't really like chocolate..." Shiki-kun responded in a murmur. She raised an eyebrow at him, although he knew he couldn't see. Her hand moved to the box of pocky she had squirreled away in her jacket pocket. For someone who didn't like chocolate, he certainly consumed a fair amount of chocolate pocky, now that she had started sharing it with him periodically throughout the day. Or, then again... She frowned at him. Did he only eat it because she gave it to him? A mindless acceptance, once more...?
This was followed by immediate chaos and desperation. "Then what would Shiki-sama like for Valentine's Day?!" one of the fangirls begged.
"I don't particularly like sweets..." he repeated, clearly trying to disengage himself from his fans as he looked longingly towards the Night Dorm.
"We have to give you something!" one of them cried in despair.
"That's not necessary," he insisted.
"Shiki-sama-" came the immediate response.
"I don't especially want anything," he interjected emotionlessly. His attempt to crush their spirits, however, only inflamed their interest, as they immediately started praising him for his humility.
Rima wondered if all human girls were so pitiable. As an act of charity, however, as she passed through the gates and called out, "C'mon Shiki-san. We're late."
Immediately, he brushed off his fans remorselessly and headed towards her. "I'm late," was his sorry excuse, as he fell into stride beside her. She viewed him suspiciously out of the corner of her eye as she withdrew a piece of pocky, notably of the chocolate variety, and passed it to him. As expected, he took it wordlessly and bit off the end, chewing slowly.
"Hmm, you really don't like chocolate, do you?" her question was laced with sarcasm.
He shrugged. "I neither like nor dislike it."
The familiar waves of irritation began to wash over her. Next he was going to say he neither liked nor disliked something as intrinsically vampiric as drinking blood. On the steps of the Night Dorm she stopped suddenly, turning to demand, "Then why eat it at all?"
He shrugged again, disinterested. She could feel her foot beginning to tap again with impatience. How did one person have so few opinions about anything at all? No, worse, how did one person manage to glide through life without any personality? It was infuriating. Beyond infuriating, because she suspected there was someone buried deep down behind those slate-grey eyes. She had caught glimpses of him, yet... It bordered on the impossible to dig him out from beneath all that grey.
"Do you want anything for Valentine's Day then?" She regarded him sourly. All the other members of the Night Class seemed to find a use for the gifts their fans gave them. Even if the use was, in Akatsuki Kain's case, regifting them to Ruka Souen.
"Hmm..." to her surprise, he actually seemed to give this question the appropriate level of thought. Then, even more shockingly, came his response, "I want a chocolate from you."
What?
She couldn't remember silence ever having been so very loud. She must have gone into another dimension for a moment. There was no way she had just heard what her brain had just registered. She blinked, shaking her head. She needed sleep. She was beginning to imagine things.
"You want what?" She needed to verify that she wasn't going insane. Or that she hadn't momentarily fallen asleep.
Completely serious, he answered, "Chocolate from you."
This time, she almost felt like laughing. This had to be a joke. A very strange joke to which she couldn't even begin to guess at the punch line.
"I don't give out chocolates," she told him. It was true. Chocolate took so much time to prepare or buy, and she would have to give them to everyone. It was far too troublesome. There was only one person she gave chocolate too every year.
"You're giving some to Ichijou-kun," he stated on cue.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Ichijou-kun is an old friend of mine and of my family; he's special."
"He doesn't need all of it," the mahogany-haired vampire muttered.
"And you don't need any of it. You don't even like chocolate, remember?" She rolled her eyes, opening the door and marching into the dorm.
"I don't dislike it..." was his feeble reply.
She shook her head, ignoring him and moving up the stairs. He wanted chocolate from her? Why? They barely knew one another, and the only person she had ever given chocolate to was her oldest and dearest friend. She wasn't going to waste chocolate on someone who wouldn't have known the difference if she'd given him glue to eat.
As a matter of fact, why did she give him anything to eat at all? Somehow, she felt a trace more annoyed. She had to stop bothering with Senri Shiki. And she determined she would. After today, she wasn't going to waste another thought on him. Not even one.
Dusk settled heavily over the sky, a dusty twilight that cast the world with a purple hue. Senri sighed tiredly, gazing out over the pathway where the Day Class girls had lined up, eager to gift their homemade chocolates to their favorite member of the Night Class. It was a drag, and made even more so because he knew at the end of the evening he wouldn't have any chocolate from the only female he bothered with. With a subdued glance at Rima, he could feel the imminent disappointment her cool, composed face promised. She, unlike him, could roam the campus unhindered today. She would have to endure the incessant screaming of the fangirls, but the chocolates were destined for male members of the Night Class. For now, she was spared.
"Okay, okay, okay, get in line, get in line!" The childish, rather annoying, although delicious-smelling guardian of the Day Class, Yuki Cross, was shouting. It didn't matter that her father was the Chairman or that she had a special weapon to defend against vampires. She was too boisterous. He wanted to shut his ears off.
From the pathway, the excited cries of fangirls made him blanch, even as Aidou said, "Whoa, this year all the girls are going into hysterics. This is so cool!"
The blond's redhead cousin, Akatsuki Kain, yawned. "I'm still sleepy..."
"I'm wide awake!" Aidou declared avidly.
Senri ignored him, eyes tracing Rima's pockets. He knew she kept a box of pocky in her jacket. But, there seemed to be something in the pocket of her skirt, as well... Chocolate? His gaze darted to Ichijou now. Whatever chocolate she possessed, it was destined for the blond vice president. A bitter taste welled against the back of his tongue. Jealousy? He was surprised in spite of himself. It wasn't like him to be jealous... Besides, he didn't care about this human holiday, nor did he especially like chocolate. Yet... Maybe he did like the flavor of pocky... Maybe, too, he actually kind of liked Rima's subtle but distinctive scent... Maybe he was feeling just a little bit...slightly…
Jealous.
He shook his head, stepping carefully back towards apathy. He felt nothing. But for a fleeting moment, he had started to think something like, 'Rima's my colleague...' He shuddered. If he followed that trail of thought to its conclusion, it sounded almost possessive, almost like... His chest was suddenly feeling tight, panicked. He must eliminate such thoughts, because they brought him closer to his father and to the destruction of his mother's last sane wish that he remain her doll. Yet, it wasn't that he didn't feel emotion, but rather that he muffled his emotions down to their most basic, small parts. It was one of the few things that helped his mother cling to the last vestiges of her sanity.
When at last his senses cleared from a moment of disquieting confusion, he heard the Cross girl explaining, "Okay, welcome to the traditional Valentine's Day, 'Who is the Lucky Winner of the Day Class Girls' chocolate?' line-up race! All the members of the Night Class are to walk to their individually assigned gates. Once in position, the girls will line up to give you their chocolates. Please remain calm and cooperate with one another. Understood? I would like everyone to keep in mind that this is not a game. It means a lot to the girls, so take it seriously!"
Senri brushed off a leaf that clung to the edge of his jacket. Take it seriously, huh...? He didn't have any interest in the undesired, shallow feelings of these mindless girls. He had mentioned he didn't want chocolate, even though in a sense that had been a lie. After all...if it came from Rima... He shut his eyes, banishing these thoughts once more. It wasn't even chocolate precisely he wanted from her. Just something that he could digest that was infused with her scent, because against his will he felt himself drawn to it. He couldn't explain it at all.
"They're mine, all mine!" Aidou exclaimed gleefully, rushing towards his gate as the girls cried, "Yay! Our idol! Please accept our chocolates!"
"Aidou." Kaname-sama's voice stopped the blond vampire in his tracks as though he'd been stricken. "Remember to mind your manners. Understand?"
"Yes, Dorm Leader," came the immediate, passive reply, as the aristocrat notably slowed his pace and greeted the Day Class students more casually.
"This is moronic," Senri mumbled beneath his breath, feeling overly troubled by the entire event.
"Just do it anyway," Kain advised, though it was apparent the redhead shared his feelings.
Rima spared him a glance at his comment, and he wasn't sure, but he thought her lips might have risen into a slight smirk. Then she was worming her way through the procession, walking through the crowd unharrassed. For a moment, he almost followed her. But, it seemed such a waste to leave all of the chocolates especially prepared for him… Even if he didn´t particularly care for them or for the shallow human girls who had prepared them.
He supposed he'd have to resign himself to his fate.
Rima was grateful that she didn't have to suffer through the torment of Valentine's Day. Instead, she had quietly finished another novel and wandered the academy paths without interference, since so many students were busy with the holiday chaos. It was a pleasant change of pace, although somewhere along the way she had acquired a second shadow. A familiar, mahogany-haired shadow that trailed along behind her as she explored the sprawling campus and eventually began working her way back towards the Night Dorm.
Finally, just outside the dorm gates, Rima sighed. "Why are you following me...?" She came to a stop in the middle of the path, turning towards her second, very corporeal shadow to regard him curiously. "Shouldn't you be celebrating with the others?" She glanced pointedly at the nearby building.
His gaze was unapologetic as he gave her a vague shrug. "I'm not interested in that."
Her brow furrowed in confusion. "But why are you following me...?"
"I'm waiting," he responded cryptically.
She narrowed her eyes at him now, "Waiting for what?"
"A chocolate," he told her serenely.
"I don't have any chocolate to give you."
He glanced at her pocket, which was bulging slightly from the bag of candy she had prepared for Ichijou.
"This is for Ichijou-kun," she explained.
Those grey eyes fell, and she thought she caught a glimpse of some emotion in his face: disappointment. Then, he looked back up at her, holding her gaze earnestly as he murmured softly, "Please?" His eyes remained locked with hers. And for a moment, if only a moment, she thought that his eyes were no longer slate grey, but rather blue. A kind of soothing, rainy blue that seemed to soak directly into her skin. In that moment, the strange appeal he held to the Day Class girls didn't seem so strange after all.
She flushed suddenly, even as she wasn't sure why. "...Fine," she huffed, ducking her head to hide her face as she fished inside her pocket for a candy.
Retrieving a chocolate from the bag, she stepped forward and placed it into his hand before quickly turning away and continuing down the path without another word. Her face burned hotly in the chill February air, and she felt uncharacteristically flustered.
What kind of reaction was this? She attempted to regain her composure, though her cheeks still felt slightly heated. Nevertheless... Perhaps she had thought, only for a tiny fraction of a second, that Senri Shiki was actually pretty cute, after all...
AN: Plot twist: the chocolate is poison and- jk jk. I hope that wasn't too lame teehee... As always, review!