notes: This can be considered as a followup or sequel to my latest Shiki x Rima fic, Just a Bonus.

sincerely yours
will you be mine, only mine, forever mine?

.

It was a beautiful night.

The sky was a blanket of midnight blue, not a single cloud in her view. Above her the silver moon gleamed gently, its silhouette mirrored on the waves rushing to the shore. The sand on her feet felt dry and soft as she bent down to pick up a piece of seashell, holding it in front of her that it glimmered under the moonlight. It was slightly chipped at the end, and with a disappointed sigh, she tossed it into the ocean, watching it plunge into the deep blue.

The night was perfect, really, save for two things: the fact that any and every seashell she picked up tonight was cracked or broken in one way or another, and the absence of a certain red-haired vampire she normally modeled with in this particular job.

Now, Rima wasn't usually petty. She took her job as she should; professionally, without complaint, and with cool detachment. But she was more than used to modeling with Shiki. She was, quite possibly, made for it. Every inch of her body was finely attuned to his, and the pictures they produced together were always 'stunningly exceptional' or even 'phenomenal', as many photographers had testified before.

The first problem was, she realized, that Fuwa Shou wasn't Shiki.

Turning around, she observed her partner for the night, who was taking individual shots at the moment. He was blond and tall and exceedingly handsome, though his good looks were marred by his arrogant personality. She'd heard his songs in the radio, too, and he had remarkable talent, both in modeling and singing.

The second problem, she reflected with slight discomfort, was that Shiki was actually there, standing next to the makeshift dressing room, cool icy blue eyes watching the set. He had insisted coming with her instead of sleeping tonight and their manager, knowing how close the two models were, didn't have the heart to disagree. Now, she would be all right with it if only they were only doing individual shots. As it was, couple shots were the climax of the session, to be done after Fuwa finished his individual photos, and she imagined it would be rather awkward to have Shiki watching her like a hawk as she posed in Fuwa's arms—especially because he already was watching her like a hawk now.

Sighing, Rima made her way to him. "Shiki."

"Hmm?" he looked unfazed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," pale blue eyes turned to hers in mild amusement, "Why do you ask?"

"Because frankly, you look like you want to whip Fuwa's ass with your blood whip," she responded, voice flat, "and we can't have that, remember?"

One corner of his lips turned upwards. "You're so worried."

"I need the job," she shrugged. "And for that, I need Fuwa."

The half-smirk disappeared, and he corrected, "You need a malemodel."

"Fuwa is a male model."

Shiki didn't answer that. Instead, he changed the subject. "What were you looking for? Seashells?"

The abrupt, unexpected turn of conversation surprised her, but she nodded.

"Found any?"

"No."

His lips twisted. "I see."

Before she could ask what was so funny, a call from the set stopped her on her tracks. "Rima-chan! We're ready for you!"

Sighing, she unbuttoned her cotton robe and shrugged it off her shoulder. The two-piece she was wearing was a lovely shade of ocean green, much like the one Fuwa was changing into. Handing the garment to the male vampire, she headed to the set, listening intently as the photographer, Toudou, started giving her directions.

Meanwhile, he leaned onto the wall of the dressing room, his icy blue eyes narrowed marginally when Fuwa offered Rima his hand to help her onto the rock.

This, he realized, was going to be a long night—a very long night.

Shiki Senri did not like to share, but perhaps, after tonight, he needed to start learning.

"Arms behind Shou's neck, Rima!" Toudou was yelling, his voice booming and enthusiastic as his camera flashed, click, click, click. "Let him hold you, cling to him!"

Wordlessly, Rima did as told, her lips dangerously close to Fuwa's neck as his arm circled her waist, hefting her closer to him. The man was professional, taking directions with practiced calm, and it was also very clear to her that he was used to having women around him.

"Lean down, Shou! Like you want to kiss her—that's right! Now look here, both of you, but stay in that position!"

Click.

"Hmm…" Toudou paused, setting his camera for a moment as he observed the two young models posing in front of him. "Okay, why don't we try this?" he positioned the camera once more as he directed, "Stand in front of him, Rima, facing the camera, your back to his front. Hook your arms behind his neck, and—look here, both of you!"

Click. Click.

"Okay, that's a wrap!"

At the declaration, Rima quickly withdrew her arms, nodding politely at Fuwa. "Good work," she intoned with cool detachment, like she was taught to, "Thank you."

Fuwa was flexing his shoulder. "Thank God that's over!" he exclaimed, smirking at her, "Any longer and I swear I could've died by the looks your boyfriend was giving me."

"Who?" Rima blinked.

"That red-haired boy of yours," he replied, raising his eyebrows to the dressing room.

Wordlessly, she followed his gaze. Shiki was standing there in the exact same position as she left him almost twenty minutes ago, only now his hands were buried in his pockets and he was kicking sand with his shoes.

So she said, "Oh."

"Anyway, good work," Fuwa nodded at her dismissively, walking away from her as he waved, "See you around."

As soon as the singer-slash-model disappeared into the dressing room, Shiki approached her. When he was in front of her, he pulled both of his fists out of his pockets and held them out to her, "Left or right?"

Rima stared at his hands, "Right?"

"You chose right," the vampire said, his voice soft and husky. Slowly, he opened his fist and offered it to her. A cockleshell—a perfect cockleshell—lay on his palm, faint hues of muted pink on its end, the rest of its surface gleaming ivory white. His dark red hair framed his face, making his blue eyes shine even brighter underneath the moonlight, as he leaned closer to her and whispered, "Do you like it?"

She picked up the shell, fingers brushing his palm lightly. "I do," she said, soft voice masquerading the surprise she felt, "Thank you."

To her surprise, Shiki shoved his hand into his pockets once more and turned around, walking away from her. "I'll wait in the car."

His peculiar behavior perplexed her, but before she could ask what was wrong her name was called and she moved her feet to the dressing room. It was her turn to change and clean up and after a brief wrap up she would finally be free to go home.

It was later that night when they were in her room and he was reading A Little Princess aloud to her—they were on page seventy-six now—that she decided to just go for it. Moving closer into his arms, she rolled to her stomach so she was facing him, and took the book from him so he couldn't read anymore.

"Rima—"

"Shiki."

She propped herself up on her elbow, orange locks cascading down her head and spilling down on the white sheets like a golden waterfall. He was staring back at her, icy blue eyes impassive as he lifted his hand to tuck some strands behind her ears.

His voice was blank when he asked, "How was your photo shoot?"

Looking at him oddly, she faltered a little. She didn't expect him to start with that, of all questions."You saw it," she answered, a little confused. "You were there."

"I didn't get to watch all of it."

"You didn't? But you…" she stopped herself.

Of course he didn't watch all of it. He had been busy looking for the perfect shell—for her.

"Well," she moved, her head now resting on his shoulder, her waist fitting perfectly in the crook of his arm. "It was okay. The theme is interesting, of course, but… it was okay. Just okay."

"Really?" he asked, amusement lacing his tone, "Even with Fuwa?"

Rima turned her head to look at him, "He's not you."

At the answer, Shiki looked oddly pleased. "Of course not," he whispered, a certain kind of smugness clear in his voice, "Of course not."

When her lips curled upwards, he pulled himself up, settling down so only half of his weight was on top of her. He leaned forward, trailing featherlight kisses down her collarbone as one of his arms snaked behind her waist, pressing her body to his so they could be as close to each other as possible.

She was like a drug, he mused as he dropped a lazy kiss on her bare shoulder.

Every time he saw her, it was like the only thing he wanted to do was bring a smile to that face. He valued her the way only a man would value a woman—his woman—and it pleased him to know that she, too, felt the same way. Her fingers drew light, slow circles on his chest as she met his hooded gaze, pale icy blue to ashen pearl gray.

"Shiki…"

She was so close he could count her eyelashes, see his reflection in her eyes, feel her breath fanning his cheek.

And then amusement curved her lips into a half-smirk, black lashes fluttering over her pale grayish cerulean eyes, "You were jealous, weren't you?"

Instead of responding, Shiki only stared at her, his breathing growing more erratic as his heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't resist studying her; her golden hair framing her face, the way her eyes glittered in the dark, her long, dark lashes, the slight pout of her pink lips—she was so beautiful. Too beautiful. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his whole life, and she drove him absolutely crazy.

"You're staring," Rima whispered. Her hands trailed to the back of his neck and she pulled him down as he ran his fingers upside down her bare arms. His soft touch ignited the faintest trail of icy fire underneath her skin, making her toes curl and reviving the liveliest of butterflies in her stomach. Her fingertips fluttered at the side of his cheek, and her eyes slid close as he brushed a featherlight kiss on the corner of her mouth.

Their lips met in a moment so intoxicating she forgot to breathe.

When he pulled away, her cheeks were dusted pink, her eyes dancing and glimmering more brightly than the firelight.

He didn't say anything but his tightened hold on her spoke everything Rima needed to know: mine, mine—

"Shiki?"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry."

—mine.

The kiss on his cheek was so light, so soft, he could have just been imagining it, but the way she looked at him, the way he looked at her; all was enough for him to hear the unspoken message lingering in the air about them.

I'm yours. Only yours.

Shiki Senri did not like to share, but perhaps, after tonight, he wouldn't ever have to.

Forever yours.

.

end.

notes: Alright. So I finally wrote a photo shoot scene. It's not technically Shiki x Rima, but it's one of the most used plots in this fandom. For those of you that read Skip Beat!, yes, Fuwa Shou is one of its characters. I figure that if Kyoko's demons can exist in that universe, then vampires can, too. Well, that, and I enjoy writing crossovers that aren't really crossovers.

So do I deliver, or do I not deliver?