"Rima-chan, Shiki-kun, I'll wait here, okay?" their driver and representative at the agency told them. Their representative, although common-born, was the only other vampire in the agency. Today this situation was especially fortuitous, since Kaname had dictated that the two models should take care of a Level E who had kidnapped a high school girl and drug her inside an abandoned house. "Take care of this business as soon as possible," the woman continued. "And Shiki-kun, at the risk of repeating myself for the millionth time, please act like a professional model. Share Rima-chan's umbrella before you burn."

"Okay..." the mahogany-haired model agreed dully, moving under the shade of the parasol as Rima began to walk up the overgrown path that led up to the front door of the old house.

"Why do we have to exterminate an ex-human today? Why before the Hunter's Association?" Rima heaved a sigh of displeasure.

"A competition, it seems." Shiki shrugged.

"This time's target hasn't been Level E for long, so he may be more clever than the usual ones. Well, it's no big deal, even if it's annoying."

With resignation, the blond model pushed open the door of the old house. Apart from the slight creak of the frame, no other noise announced their entrance. Rima shut the umbrella, stepping inside, eyes adjusting to the sudden change in light as she assessed the room. There, against the back wall, hunched the Level E, holding a limp figure at his side. Wide, hungry eyes watched her carefully as she set the parasol against the wall, attempting to evaluate just how much of a threat this particular Level E was. He was at least able to withhold his hunger enough to be on his guard and wait for them to make the first move. As far as Rima was concerned, that wasn't a good sign. It suggested he had retained more of his senses than she had thought.

"Oh. A member of the discipline." Shiki stopped suddenly, eyes tracked on the petite form of Yuki Cross, who stood to the side of the entryway.

"Shiki-senpai! Toya-senpai! Why are you two here?" the prefect asked.

"Oh, his comrades?" the Level E asked in a high voice scratchy with disbelief, clutching the unconscious girl in his arms closer to him. "Unfortunately, I'm taking care of something right now."

Shiki took a step forward, and the Level E hissed. "Are you perhaps intending to take my dessert away from me? That's not good... You can't do such a thing! It's my amusement for later!"

With a sigh, her coworker pushed Yuki Cross back towards the door, muttering "You're in my way," as he pierced the tip of his right index finger with a fang. Rima felt her throat convulse briefly, inhaling the sharpness of that rainy aroma.

"You...you intend to fight me?" the mad vampire asked as a tendril of blood crept from Shiki's finger, lengthening into a thin coil. Rima's attention snapped back to the matter at hand, despite the distraction of the delectable scent that was infusing the room and inciting her senses.

Snapping his arm out, Shiki sent a whip of blood cracking towards the Level E, who leapt out of the way with a quickness that Rima hadn't anticipated. A cloud of dust rose, obscuring the area as the whip struck the wall, and when the dust had faded, both the vampire and his victim were no longer in sight.

"Oops...he ran away." Shiki flicked his hand disinterestedly, and the blood returned, sealing shut the miniscule wound on his fingertip.

"What are you doing? Go after him, quick." Rima glared. It was troublesome, she wouldn't deny that, but they were here on orders and they had to comply with the pureblood's wishes.

"I don't find chasing fun," Shiki replied, returning to her side.

"Just go after him," she retorted, pushing him in the Level E's direction.

In the time it took the words to leave her mouth, the petite prefect had launched herself down the hall like a grade A idiot.

"Now look, Kaname-sama's pet is going to get eaten," Rima muttered, starting after the girl herself.

"Rima-chan," he complained, making use of her name so easily and informally that it grated on her ears. "I don't like chasing," he repeated.

"Then stay there and guard the door," she muttered, disappearing around the curve of the stairs. A moment later, she heard a sigh, and before long her coworker was beside her again.

"It's boring alone," he explained, and she shook her head, eyes lifting upwards as they pursued the Level E down the hall.

Rounding the corner, Rima honed in on the discarded body of the victim. "Get that," she ordered, pointing to the young, pale girl. The model could still detect the faint trace of warmth and a slow heartbeat coming from her; at the very least, she was still alive.

Shiki hefted the frail body up over his shoulder wordlessly, and the pair continued on. It wasn't much further before a gunshot resounded through the building. A moment later, they entered the hall where the Level E's body had already faded to dust, taken down by Zero Kiryuu's bullet. Rima put a hand on her hip. It seemed that they had let the Hunter's take care of the target first... Personally, she didn't care one way or the other, but...she was sure Kaname Kuran would have something to say about it.

"Hey, members of the discipline," she called, pointing to the limp body of the Level E's victim draped over her coworker's shoulder. "We picked up this girl over there, but what are we going to do? She's still alive."

The silver-haired hunter stiffened at the sight of them, but murmured, "We'll take her back."

"The car," Shiki suggested suddenly, and Rima nodded, adding, "We'll have our driver take her back to the school. You two should ride back, too."

"Alright."

A few minutes later, and the car was passing out of sight down the road, carrying the two prefects and the unfortunate victim safely back to the academy. Which meant the two models would be walking back to campus. Fortunately, it wouldn't take them more than 30 minutes, but nevertheless, it required more energy than the blond vampire preferred to spend. Actually, come to think of it, this entire day had consumed more energy than she normally liked to use.

A strained breath caught her attention abruptly. Beside her, Shiki's eyes had shut, fingers of one hand white-knuckled around the handle of the parasol, which he had volunteered to carry, fingers of the other hand pressed at the hollow of his throat in obvious discomfort. Her own eyes widened, honing in on the sharp, twin points of his fangs as he opened his mouth slightly to inhale slowly and deeply in an attempt to calm himself.

"Shiki-san?" she asked. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought to bring the tablets with her. Even though they were only supposed to take one a day, in emergencies they were permitted more.

"Sorry," he whispered, swallowing heavily. "The air in there was full of blood."

Rima bit her lip, gaze preoccupied as she observed, "You need blood."

"No," he denied.

"It's obvious that you do."

"It will pass," he insisted.

"A vampire doesn't become like this for no reason."

Blue-grey eyes moved against hers, probing. Rather than respond, he inquired in a low tone, "Is Rima-chan hungry, too?"

On reflex, she swallowed around the sudden lump of denial in her throat. She needed to lie, but her lips felt heavy and sluggish as her nose easily drew in the rainy, twilit agar scent of his blood. Yes…she was hungry. So hungry she had dreamt last night about draining her coworker dry of every last drop of that intriguing, irritating blood. She didn't want to admit it, because it seemed ludicrous, but she thought maybe she was kind of attracted to Senri Shiki after all. It was an unexpected and completely undesired development.

When she didn't immediately respond, he asked casually, as if it was nothing, "Shall I give you my blood, then?" His fingers tugged his collar away from his skin, exposing his throat, and against every inch of her willpower she felt her mouth water, felt the incriminating crimson blazon its way across her eyes. She couldn't hide her thirst, and she flushed uncomfortably, embarrassed and chagrined.

"Don't offer me something like that so easily," she muttered, annoyed. He probably offered blood to everyone to just suggest it so casually, even if the experience itself was fairly intimate. But maybe, to someone as detached as Shiki, it held no particular significance.

His eyes narrowed, and through the veil of burgundy lashes she could see his own gaze darkening to scarlet, as well. He leaned towards her suddenly, hair brushing lightly across her cheek, and she felt his teeth graze her pulse as he murmured, "Then…is it okay if I take yours?"

A tiny, electric shiver sped down her spine. Her blood pressure raced on reflex as her mind franticly searched for an answer. He couldn´t be serious. But, feeling his tongue trace up along her jugular, she shuddered with terrible longing for him to do it. Part of her mind calmly demanded that she walk away, even as the other part whispered softly, let him…

"Is it?" he repeated, voice husky in her ear as he pulled back for a moment, eyes flaring scarlet against hers now. From the tilt of his eyebrows, that query seemed almost…a plea.

She shouldn't. But she wasn't withdrawing from him, either. And then, a third part of her was curious. Curious to find out if he was serious. Curious as to how it would feel. Curious what color his eyes might be afterward.

He tilted his head to one side, measuring. Then, abruptly, he stepped away, expression impenetrable. "Just kidding." He held up the umbrella again, as though they could simply continue along the path normally.

Rage was sparking and crackling along her limbs. How dare he test her with no intention of following through? "What the hell?" she seethed, jerking the umbrella from his hand. That was the last time she concerned herself with Senri Shiki. If he was going purposely toy with her, their friendship was over.

"A certain aura brought me to my senses," Shiki murmured, and she glimpsed a pair of humans passing them by on the opposite side of the street.

Some of her fury abated, though her pulse still quickened angrily, having been teased in such a careless manner. "Well, they're gone now," she stated flatly, irritated.

"It's under control, so..." He said that without a trace of emotion, but all the same she noticed that he was still laboring to mute the ruby glow in his eyes.

Her lips pressed together in disagreement, but she let it go. She couldn't force her partner to feed, and it was the middle of the afternoon, even if they were on a relatively empty street. Suppressing a sigh, she turned and continued down the sidewalk, Shiki trailing along beside her. Their movement startled a group of sparrows who darted up towards the sky. Their dwindling forms were like Shiki, whose walled-off self fled skittishly at every approach. Like the birds, it was best to approach slowly, because any sudden move would assuredly frighten him off again.

Why do you refuse to properly care for yourself? she thought, but when her colleague stiffened she realized to her horror that she had voiced the question aloud. Like the birds, she was going to drive him away from her today.

A moment later, she realized he was standing still, frozen on the sidewalk, vacillating. She turned back, repositioning the parasol safely over their heads, and waited. Perhaps at last he would permit her some much-needed clarity...

For those few dizzying moments when all of his sanity had slipped away and mouth had inched closer to her throat, he thought the parched veins in his throat were going to burst. His breath had strained against his chest in painful, short bursts. His mouth had felt dry and raw, fangs roughly scraping against his tongue as his body harshly demanded that he fulfill the hunger that plagued him. And it had been impossible to ignore the sweet, tempting aroma that drifted from Rima's skin. There, tongue unconsciously tracing up her enticing artery, those humans had mercifully approached and the model had shuddered, clenching and locking his jaw in an attempt to seal the ravenous thirst away. He must prevent the overwhelming bloodlust from consuming him entirely, prevent himself from waking from this apathetic haze. Even if he wanted to...

And now she was asking him why. Why he was refusing himself. Why he should never, ever let his control slide enough to bite her. If it had been anyone else, he would have ignored the question. But it was Rima. It was Rima, and if he couldn't stop himself in the future, she should know. Perhaps she should start running from him now.

"I-I can't," he murmured, a confession torn from starving lips.

"Why not?" Her brow furrowed.

"I can't," he repeated, miserable as his lungs filled with her scent and his chest tightened and contracted in response. It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. The discomfort was lancing through his lungs. He needed to return to the dorms soon to take a tablet..or four.

"I don't understand."

Of course not. How could she... He didn't even understand it himself, sometimes. To her, the solution probably seemed so simple. But that solution was dangerous, insidious, because he craved the taste of her blood, wanted it for himself. Trembling, he recognized the symptoms of a desire he couldn't dare to indulge himself in. He couldn't satiate that desire. Not now, not ever. He was predisposed to madness, to obsession. And, more than that, he knew he wouldn't be able to deny such a desire any longer the moment her blood touched his lips. The perfect mask of apathy would crack open. No, above all, her blood should be considered forbidden.

He had to tell her something. Something to make her understand. "I can't...I promised...not to form any attachments."

Her gaze sharpened into anger now. "Why not?" she demanded, arms folding over her chest, eyebrows drawing together in displeasure.

He shook his head, the words squeezing like a noose around his tongue. He had only vaguely told these things to Ichijou. It was difficult to spit the words out. "For my mother, I can't... I don't want to become like him..."

"Like who?" Rima stepped closer, eyes searching his as though she would find the answer written there. She wouldn't. He kept his eyes empty, just as he should be working harder to keep the rest of himself.

And ah...how he hated voicing that name... "My father."

"Rido Kuran?" She blinked, at a loss. Then, with a toss of her pigtails, she declared, "I don't understand what you're saying. What I do understand is that you need to take better care of yourself."

"It's fine," he murmured.

"It. Is. Not. Fine!" she exploded, stomping her foot in an outburst of a flaring temper he had never seen before. "It's not fine, Senri Shiki! How can you live like this?!"

His lips twitched in self-defensive sarcasm. "Am I? I'm a vampire so... Am I living?"

For a moment, a flash of furious anger transformed her features. For a moment, he almost lost himself. He was terrified of the impulses that lurked in the deepest recesses of his mind, where the control and the apathy could not completely suffocate them. There were so many dangerous urges there. The desire to sink his teeth into her throat. To slam his mouth into hers. To monopolize her entirely. And he didn't want to examine those nightmarish desires, because he knew where they stemmed from. That was the inheritance his father had left for him; insatiable obsession and lust.

"Fine," she huffed sharply. "Fine, if you're not going to take it seriously, then I won't either."

"No, sorry..." A small breath, to steady him and the trembling of his tongue. He didn't want to voice these things aloud, didn't want to admit to their truths. Yet Rima, perhaps far more than Ichijou, had a necessity to know them.

"Mother, she..." He hesitated, wincing over the unspoken words, twisting his neck slightly with the ghost-pain of her agonizing, merciless bite. "Rido broke her," he whispered at last. "And me... To me he passed on blood...tainted with madness..." His tongue was staggering under the burden of his confession. "For her sake...I can't become like that." His fingers rose to curl against his neck, remembering all of her mother's anguish. Her tears. Her loneliness. Her delusions. She had lost so many pieces of herself that there was no way to sew herself back together.

"You don't have to become anything you don't want to, Shiki," Rima told him frankly, employing only his surname in that blunt, pseudo-rude way that indicated her honesty and emphasized her words.

But his eyes dropped away, sinking like anchors under the burden of the ocean. How could he express the filth of Rido Kuran's blood? How could he express that in the end perhaps he wouldn't have a choice at all? He was sure that neither his mother nor his father had wanted to be driven mad, never imagined it possible. But it had come to pass for them, and it could come to pass for him just the same. Exactly the same. He was the inheritor of those savage, obscene genes...

"Just think about it," she said at last. "Maybe the best way to differentiate yourself from them is to take care of yourself. That's what they were lacking, wasn't it?"

She gestured for him to follow her and, begrudgingly, he had to acknowledge that there was a certain logic behind her words...

AN: You definitely wanna review this one ;)

Also last chapter I had a review from a guest (will the real Slim Shady please stand up?)(lol) asking if this story was a reupload. To answer your question, it isn't. I have never written a full length Shima fic before and I don't -think- there's any fic similar to this one but the internet is a big place, so it's entirely possible there is somewhere and that is the story you're thinking of. But, I'm also guilty of not reading a lot of fanfiction so I wouldn't know it anyway. (Oops). Anyway, I hope this answered your question!