4. Magic Summer Night

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!"

Rima groaned as she felt someone pull the covers off her bed, and she could feel the brightness of the sun penetrate her eyelids. She turned her back towards the intruder and resumed curled up into a ball on the bed, her hand reaching out to pull the covers back over her head.

Shiki placed his hands on his hips in a very motherly way - a small grunt and a frown playing on his lips.

"Now now, Rima, it's half past nine. Get up or we're going to be late!" he sighed, and rubbed his forehead wearily, "I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

Rima only snuggled deeper into her bed, until realization hit her. It hit her harder than the Titanic hitting the wretched Iceberg because of the watcher's ignorance. As if lighting struck her eyes snapped open and her body jerked upright on the bed, her cerulean eyes wide and goggling at the messy haired boy. He was already washed and ready; an orange hoodie over a casual black shirt and cargos.

"Shiki," her voice had steel in it, "Why are you here?"

Shiki blinked. "Our balcony is connected, remember?"

...Oh yeah.

Damn.

Rima rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got up on her feet; her fair hair cascaded messily over her shoulders. Shiki had only seen her with her hair down once before, and it indeed gave off a totally different impression of her. She looked more passive and gentle, in comparison to when she tied up her hair in their usual updo she looked feisty, cool and spicy. She caught his eye and turned to meet them curiously.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

Rima rolled her eyes. She glanced at the clock, and her eyes widened. "It's already almost ten! Shiki! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"First, you didn't want me to wake you up, and now you're telling me I should've woke you up sooner," Shiki retorted, as he crossed his arms. "Besides, I tried waking you up for almost an hour already!"

"Yeah. Right." Rima scoffed, and brushed passed him on the way to the bathroom. She caught a whiff of cologne that drifted from his body; it was neither too faint nor was it too strong, and it had a pleasant fragrance of citrus, rosemary and jasmine. Aqua Di Gio by Armani? Not bad, he certainly does have taste.

Shiki straightened the sheets on her bed as he waited for his partner to get ready. It was already Saturday, and they were preparing for tomorrow's shoot. Which meant they had to choose which clothes they want to wear for the shoot, get it fitted, get their hair styled for the sneak-peak release and a tour of where their shoots are going to take place. Shiki groaned. They were probably going to get a casual summer clothing range, a beach wear clothing range and an evening summer wear for romantic dinners. Three different collections at three different venues. Not to mention it would take a whole day to finish.

When Rima came out of the bathroom, she was dressed and ready to go. A strapless bandeau heart-printed dress wrapped around her figure nicely, the frilly hem of the dress cut off at mid-thigh. Her hair was once again back in their two pigtails, secured with a a polka-dotted ribbon this time.

"Okay, I'm ready."

She looked at her already made bed, straightened and fix to the way it was before. Shiki raised an eyebrow.

"Not even a thank you?"

"And just how old are you?"

Shiki pouted, and crossed his arms as his lower lip jutted out like a fish. His face looked so constipated that Rima resisted the urge to laugh, her body quivered slightly as she fought to keep a straight face. "Anyways, let's just go."

"Alright."

"Ah! There you two are!"

Shiki and Rima were instantly welomed as they descended down the red-carpeted stairs to the hotel lobby. There gathered a some of the most professional make-up artists, hair stylists, beauty therapists, and a few nail technicians. Rima could recognise a few familiar faces; Sasaki Amaya was Rima's last month and new favourite hair stylist and Tanaka Yumiko was one of her all-time favourite make-up artists. Amaya smiled and gave a small wave as Rima walked past, and she returned the warm greeting.

"Rima-chan! How are you?" Amaya said. Her skin was a beautiful light gold tan, and her dark brunette hair cascaded down in small waves. Her green eyes were rimmed with naturally long lashes that gave her that exotic look.

"Not too bad. When did you arrive?"

"Oh! Just this morning," the brunette girl said brightly, until she peered over Rima's shoulder to see the Shiki Senri. "Hello here Shiki, sir!"

Shiki stopped mid-yawn, and glanced at Amaya. She was probably one of the first girls outside of the Gold Class that talked proper English. Literally.

"Why, hello to you too."

What Rima loved about Amaya was that she did not drool, she did not swoon, nor did she melt into a thick blob of goo when she saw a strikingly handsome man that was featured in the front page of one of the best-sellers fashion magazine.

"You probably won't recognise most the girls here; most of them are amateurs on their first project," Amaya explained as she nodded to the small mob of girls; every single one of them carried kits. "Of course, they'll be supervised by the professionals, though, so you won't need to worry."

Rima rolled her eyes as Amaya gave her a small, playful wink.

"Whatever."

"Well anyway, I gotta fly. See ya, Rima. See ya, Shiki."

The two models waved at the bubbly brunette, who waved back before she disappeared into the small group. They took a seat near the window; Beatrice and Four-eyes no where to be seen.

"Hey Rimaaaa." Shiki whined, intentionally slurring her name.

"What?" she answered.

"I'm bored."

"So?"

"Do something."

"No."

"Because." she snapped at him, and tried pushed him back with her hand. He didn't budge. "And I'd appreciate it if you stay out of my personal bubble."

Shiki grinned, and sat back up straight. "So harsh as usual. I thought we were friends."

"You're pushing it."

"You're no fun." Shiki pouted, and the fishy lips reappeared. Much as she liked to have punched those fishy lips into a pulp, Rima followed her better judgement and resolced to ignore the spikey haired male.

Suddenly, Beatrice's head popped up in between their heads, causing Rima and Shiki to jump five feet in the air. "I finally got all the documents approved. From now on, for the next five months that Visage and Sweet Sin will be spending together, we are named Fameux."

"Now...for the moment you've been waiting for! Clothes selection!" Beatrice clapped her hands together.

Shiki and Rima sighed in unison.

The lights flashed from all directions, and Rima twirled her body as Shiki wrapped his hands around her waist. The sun was bright and shining, but the heat was tamed by the breeze that swept in from the open sea. The floral white summer dress fluttered and burnt orange hair shimmered gold under the sun as the silky tresses flickered in the wind.

"Good good!" their photographer, Tamaki Kyou said, as he changed the angle of the camera into various positions.

Look this way. Look that way. Lift your arm a bit higher. Look like you two are in love. Rima's body ached. They had been walking, driving, trying on this and telling them to fix, and other non-stop work for six consecutive hours. And to make matters worse, Shiki loved to taunt and tease her. He would at times wonder is hands dangeroulsy where her ticklish areas where, causing her to flinch and squeal and fight to keep a straight face whenever her tickled her.

In which she paid him back the favour by stomping on his toe with her stilleto heels. Ouch, right?

"Alright! That's it for now." Kyou placed his camera down on the table before taking rather large gulps of water from his water bottle. At his words, Rima relaxed as Shiki let go of her hands to grab them water bottles. The pins on her hair were starting to irritate her, and Rima removed them carefully; massaging her scalp after she freed her hair from their restraints.

"Tired?"

"Exhausted." Rima said, slowly getting used to his sudden appearances. Shiki handed her a water bottle, which she accepted gratefully.

"It's so hot," he whinged, as he undid all the buttons of his short-sleeved striped blouse. Rima felt the heat crawl up her neck and turned away.

"Shiki..."

"Hm? Shiki ran a hair through his messy, windswept hair. She averted her eyes, which only made him smirk at her.

"You know, girls usually like it when I show them a little skin." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, only to jump back to narrowly miss the fist that came flying past.

But shiki had other things on his mind, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to do so.

Rima screeched i surprise as something wet and cold splashed on her hair and skin; the water ran down from her head down to her clothes as dark wet patches began to form on the fabric and cling against her skin. Shiki grinned mischievously at her.

"Rima-chan needs to cool down a bit," he said sweetly, but to Rima his voice was anything but.

"Shiki. Senri." The syllables of his name were sharp and there was ice in her voice. Uh oh. He did not like that tone. And...wait...since when did her eyes become red? Weren't they blue? He swore they were blue and...holy crap run Shiki, run!

The bottle in her hand exploded from the pressure of her hand, fingers squeezing tight over the plastic strcuture, and Shiki vanished in a blink of an eye – dust trailing in his wake. But Rima would have none of that disappearing act.

No.

She caught up to Shiki in a flash, footsteps imprinting in the sand of the nearby beach.

Rima smirked when she managed to wet his hair and half of his body, and Shiki wasn't going to give up without a fight. The water glittered as it caught the light from the sun, rainbow ringlets formed in the air as the two chased each other; Shiki managed to catch the fleeting blonde with one arm and pour the remaining bottle down her neck.

"Shiki!" she squawked angrily at another attempt tp deck the said male, but again Shiki side-stepped her and she found herself tumbling towards the sand. Before she could close her eyes and hands out in anticipation, strong arms caught her waist and twirling her so that Rima faced him, pressed against his chest. Shiki leaned in towards her, and Rima felt his spikey hair tickling her cheek.

"You look really cute when you're flustered."

Rima felt the heat rise to her ears and she turned her head away to hide her inflamed cheeks. She was motionless and silent; at a complete loss at what to do. Cuff him in the head? Headbutt his chin? Knee is groin? But the rather compromising position, with his arms wrapped around her waist and her hands fisted in his undone shirt made her thoughts go haywire – all the more abashed.

So for a moment they stayed that way – silent and motionless. Behind them the sun was disappearing behind the horizon and the early stars began to litter the velvet plum-purple sky. He had never seen her so tame, so calm, so at peace despite where his arms held her, and her torso pressed flush against his.

Unbeknownst to them – or anybody else for that matter – the furious clicks of a camera was drowned out by the sound of the waves licking the sandy shores.

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"Spotted! Conspicuous Casanova and Miss Japan were sited together at the airport on a Wednesday noon last week. Shiki Senri and Touya caught hand in hand while making their way through the crowd. What is all that about? Any ideas? Emily?"

"Well I don't know Cass, why on earth would the two biggest supermodels be doing at the airport? I think they were going away together, you get me?" the other reporter said suggestively.

"Oh my gosh! Of course! I mean, he's hot, she's hot, so why not? Personally I think this is a pair the world is dying to see -"

Yoshida Ayako slammed her fist against the table, her hand knocked the radio off the table in the process. The voices died out instantly as the device collided with the floor, and the girl gritted her teeth. In front of her was the latest Hot Shot News of the month; with all the recent gossip smack-bang on every page, though the hottest news were usually kept in the middle. Across the double middle pages was a picture of a certain messy haired man and a golden blonde beauty, hand in hand as they pushed across the crowd at Tokyo Airport. The picture itself made Ayako's eyebrows furrow with disdain.

But what irked her more was the rather lovey-dovey affectionate picture of Shiki with his arms around the girl's waist, the sunset bright behind them casting a dark shadow over their faces. The identity of the two silhouettes in the picture were only given away by the shape of Shiki's spikey hair and Rima's burnt orange one locks.

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. Yoshida Ayako; seventeen, and Angelic Pretty's prized model. She had risen to third in the ranks following Shiki and Rima after winning second place in the Miss Japan competition. With a face like that of a china doll, Ayako had long, black hair that fell down to her elbows, and dark chocolate brown eyes. She was tall, slim, and of course, pretty like a little red rose. But you know what they say; a rose isn't a rose without its thorns.

"Miss Ayako?"

The model snapped her head at the door's direction, where a timid girl with glasses poked her head through. Oh yeah. Ayako had only seen her once – and that was earlier today; it must've been her first time working at this agency.

"What do you want?"

"Your manager wants to talk to you," the girl said, as she pushed her round specks up the bridge of her nose. "He said it's important..."

"Alright. I'll be down in a minute."

As the girl closed the door, Ayako smoothed the creases of her skirt as she stood up. With an unattractive scowl plastered on her pretty face she stabbed the picture with a blunt pencil, directly in the middle of two cerulean blue eyes.

"Touya Rima," Ayako muttered he name with utmost distaste.

The magazine flung to the other side of the room, and she watched it hit the wall – and in slow motion - slide down as gravity worked its nature. With a satisfied twinkle in her chocolate brown eyes, Ayako fixed herself; she straightened her back and wiped the ugly frown on her face to replace it with a dazzling, innocent smile. With a swish of her black hair she left, closing the door behind her.

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