AN: Okay, I could be wrong about this, but I seem to remember that Shima did not go to that soiree where Kaname snuggled up to Yuki (in the anime it happened at the beginning of season 2 but in the manga I can't remember). In the anime, they go, but I don't remember seeing them there in the manga (that doesn't mean they didn't go, but whatever). Anyway, for the purposes of this story/chapter, they don't attend.

Senri forgot how time had passed before Rima. There were only two ways to measure time, now. There were the moments spent with her, and the moments spent without her. The latter category drug on slower and more tedious each time he was forced to suffer through them. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive the long weeks of break without her. Actually, he would have asked her to visit him if he could, but...

But.

He shook his head. Although Rima might wish for it, he did not want to introduce her to his mother anytime soon. He wouldn't invite her to visit, even if the weeks of break loomed long and bleak over his head. Another option might have been to remain at the academy, but he couldn't very well avoid going home and leave his mother alone. And then, judging from the way Rima spoke of them, her parents most likely would not approve of any visits between them during the break. Perhaps, if their families had shared the same political views...

"Are you sure you're not coming?" Ichijou asked, breaking through his thoughts.

"I'm sure," he murmured, feeling something almost akin to impatience as the vice president straightened his tie in the mirror. Go, already, he thought.

"Everyone else is going," the blond pointed out.

"That's nice."

A pause. Green eyes shifted to him through the glass. "Actually, is Rima-chan going to the soiree with us?"

"Who knows?" the model replied ambiguously. "Go ask her."

"Shiki-kun... Don't break any school rules while we're gone." The blond's tone was chastising. He was still aggrieved over their last breach of the school rules, which he had been a helpless bystander to.

"I told you I don't know..." A lie. He was going to have both his coworker and the Night Dorm all to himself for several hours.

Ichijou sighed, although fortunately didn't press the subject. Instead, he merely said, "Well, see you when we get back, then."

"Have fun," the burgundy-haired model murmured, mood lifting as the vice president waved and stepped out of the room. Instinctually, Senri followed the trail of his friend's scent down to the common room, where it lingered for a while, until it finally disappeared out the door. He waited for a few minutes, just to be certain that they were really gone, and then made a beeline for Rima's room.

"Rima-chan," he sighed happily as soon as he was inside, leaping onto her bed and confiscating a pillow. It was imbued with her subtle, delicious scent.

She shot him a look of irritation. "If Ruka-san forgets one of her toiletries and comes back here, you're in trouble."

"They're gone." He sat up suddenly, staring at her ribbons intently. "And you did say..."

He wasn't sure, but perhaps for a brief moment her cheeks colored a pale shade of pink. "Yes, yes, I said," she muttered, reaching up to untie them. A moment later, and the golden hair was released, spilling down to frame her pretty, angular face.

Senri smiled, elated. He was being selfish again, but the physical proof that he had her all to himself for the day tightened within his chest in a dangerous way. Rima glared at him, the pink flush painted over her cheeks again, but he was too happy to mind.

"Well, did you have something in mind for the day?" she demanded, not looking at him, her eyes fixed on some speck of the wall. He glanced at it idly, although he didn't see anything of interest, not even flaking wallpaper.

"We could replace all of Ruka-san's blankets," he suggested. That might help mute the honey-haired vampire's scent somewhat.

His reply elicited a laugh from Rima. "She'd kill us."

"We could run around the Day Class' campus. Or hide Ichijou-kun's manga collection around the Night Dorm." Both of those ideas were vaguely interesting, anyway.

"You really want to get us in trouble when the others return, don't you?" She rolled her eyes.

"Then I want to nap," he decided, immediately settling down on the bed where he was. The last time he had fallen asleep here, he had slept far more deeply and peacefully than he normally did. Rima's scent was soothing; even unconscious it seemed to pacify him.

"Shiki-kun..."

The downward slant of her eyebrows should have deterred him, but this was a rare opportunity. Ignoring her, he pulled one of her pillows against his chest and relaxed, breathing in a heady rush of her scent.

The blonde model blew out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, you can sleep here. I'll be outside, reading." With that, she started to scoot off the bed, intending to leave him there alone and spoil the entire nap.

Miffed, he sat up halfway, reaching out until his fingers encircled her wrist, gently detaining her. "No...with you," he clarified. What was the point if she wasn't there?

Rima blinked. Startled, she didn't know how to respond. How should she respond to such a request? She hesitated. Of course she wanted to... The last time he'd slept here, she'd been able to breathe in traces of his scent for a few nights after...

"Please," he murmured, dusky eyes burning away any refusal she might have mustered. "Before we have to go home..."

So that was it... Worried, she acquiesced and settled herself beneath the blanket. Shiki relaxed, releasing her, and she carefully ventured to ask, "You really don't want to go home..?" She knew the topic was a sensitive one, but she was concerned. How much of the blue that had surfaced this semester would remain in his eyes when he came back again?

He shuddered slightly at the question. "I have to..."

"Couldn't you go home with Ichijou-san?" she suggested.

"No. I have to..." He took a breath. Then, "I have to make sure she's alright."

Rima nodded. She understood that much, even if it unsettled her to think that when they returned to campus he might be entirely grey again. A husk.

"Maybe you could arrange to come back to campus a few days early?" she proposed. "For work." The idea sounded rather appealing.

"Mm, maybe." Despite his tone, she thought some of the glum lifted from his eyes with the possibility. Then he adjusted the blanket around him and said, "Let's sleep."

Rima smiled with a touch of exasperation, rolling over to set her alarm. Two hours should be enough time for a good nap. She closed her eyes, relaxing against the mattress, and gradually felt herself drifting off, the warmth emanating from Shiki's body and the soft rhythm of his breathing lulling her towards unconsciousness almost instantly. She thought it was almost instinctive, how she automatically relaxed and breathed more easily when he was at her side. It was the same way she'd come to like him: naturally and inevitably. And before she was even fully asleep, she knew her dreams would be restful and sweet.

The ringing of the alarm startled them from slumber. Rima stirred reluctantly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sitting up so as not to fall back asleep. With one hand she silenced the clock and with the other she roused Shiki, who was still stubbornly clinging to sleep. Grumbling, he opened his eyes, staring darkly at the time. The others were due back within the next hour, and Rima was in no mood to be discovered breaking the school rules by Kaname.

"They're not back yet..." her coworker protested pitifully.

"Fine, but in that case I'm leaving and had no clue what you were doing."

The mahogany-haired model muttered something into the pillow he was holding and sat up slowly. "We could nap again in the common room," he suggested.

"No." She shook her head. She paused, then, "Get up for a minute. I want to straighten the bed."

Shiki sent her a long-suffering look, but complied, and she set about adjusting the pillows and blankets so they were far less incriminating. When she finished, he sat back at the edge of the bed, half-facing her. "Only another two weeks until break..." For most of the students of the academy, those words would probably have been voiced with excitement. From Shiki, however, they were tinged with melancholy.

"Maybe you should take some more blood before you go?" She touched her throat, and her heart twisted at the very mention of that idea. If he drank from her a second time, it was almost certain he'd discover her feelings for him... But she couldn't stand the broken expression that shadowed his face.

She heard him take a breath. For a moment, he looked back at her, and she saw red filter through the blue. Her heartbeat increased anxiously in anticipation of his acceptance and in response to the sudden intensity of his glowing eyes. Then he grimaced, shaking his head. He looked away from her. "No, that's not a good idea..."

Disappointment and relief vied for dominance. "Why not?" she demanded at last. Regardless of her personal dilemma, it was more important for him to properly take care of himself.

His answer came disjointedly, although without the lengthy hesitation he would have given a month before. "My mother. I promised her... I swore not to form any attachments. She'll already know, but... I can't...I don't want to face her after breaking that promise. It would be worse, knowing I'd done it recently..."

"You're not making sense." The relationship Shiki had with his mother was a strange one. She understood that he felt obligated to return home; she felt that way, too. Aside from that, however...

"She'll be disappointed...maybe angry..."

He trailed off, and from the weight of the silence, she knew not to expect anything more from him. Unsure how to respond, the blonde model leaned against his back, providing what little comfort she could. She wasn't very good at expressing sympathy, even if she did feel it. And she did. She hated not being able to do more. She wished she could visit him during the break, even as she knew that wish impossible. Her parents expected her home, and more to the point, if she did visit Shiki, she would risk the wrath of not only them, but all of her extended family, as well. For her to visit the home of a male vampire who supported the monarchy... It would be like Doomsday. She winced just imagining their reactions.

"Hey...Rima-chan...," he said after a few minutes.

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

The model shrugged lightly against his back. "You're welcome."

The offer came easily, although seriously, from his lips, "Next time I'll give you some of my blood, okay?"

Rima froze, glad he couldn't see the sudden burst of scarlet that overtook her gaze. Suddenly, his scent weighed far too heavily in the air. She could no longer remember how long she'd been thirsting for the agar and rain of his blood. She felt tense and agitated down to her bones.

"It's only fair...," he explained.

Only fair..! He wasn't wrong, but... "If you want," she managed to answer casually. She did want it. Badly. She'd wanted it for days, weeks, maybe months, but she'd always told herself that it was a futile desire. She'd feared she might hurt him by even asking. And now, he was offering it freely to her... Quickly, she attempted to distract herself with other, mundane thoughts that might scour any trace of red from her eyes. Slowly, with more effort than she was willing to admit to herself, she felt her fangs receding.

"When we're back, after the break," he qualified.

Her gaze narrowed. He should just let the topic drop, before she lost her composure a second time. Before she could form an answer, however, he stated suddenly, "I thought of something else I want to do."

"What? Not another nap..." She eyed him suspiciously.

"No. Braid your hair."

Rima stared. The day she understood Senri Shiki seemed to inevitably move farther away. Of course, if she did drink his blood, she would understand far more than she possibly could otherwise. With a small, forceful intake of breath, she determined not to think of that at the moment.

"It will be cute," he assured her.

"Shiki-kun..." Her tone was meant to be a warning.

"What?"

"...Fine." She caved in begrudgingly. After all, this was the one chance he would have to do it, and all too soon they would have to part ways for weeks...

All the same, she wished that she didn't enjoy his fingers running through her hair quite so much.

AN: I wonder if Rima or Shiki realize how they're very slowly getting more physical with one another (-wiggles eyebrows-). Hehe.