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espejonight28738 · 4 years

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The Way Back Home

You can read it on Ao3

Relationships: Nezumi/Shion

Summary: Nezumi promised to come back, Shion promised to wait. They were young, and they had gone trough so much, but that didn’t make those promises any less true. They just needed time, and they would eventually find their way back to each other. The way back home.

Word count: 5072

Shion never truly shook off most of the habits he acquired while living on the West Block. Sometimes he would remind himself that it was only a little less than six months that he lived there. He was almost nineteen years; six months should feel like a small frame of time.

And yet, he sometimes felt like those were the only real months of his life. Everything before them felt like a distant dream, and everything after seemed dull in comparison.

His mother, always very perceptive, once asked him why he never referred to their house as home anymore. He tried to put it into words, he really tried, but how can you explain that home for Shion was a small basement with more books one person could read in ten years, and a bed hardly big enough for two teenagers even though they were fairly thin, as everyone was in a place where one meal a day was never taken for granted.

Shion never truly shook off most of the habits he acquired while living on the West Block. He felt disgusted when he saw someone wasting food, thinking in all the nights he went to sleep hungry, or all the kids that died in the streets of starvation. He would be cautious when opening the door, always making sure to have an object heavy enough to turn into a weapon if necessary... ...he only used one side of the bed while asleep. It wasn’t a conscious decision or anything, he was just used to sharing a bed now. Even if three years had passed, he still felt like someone should be laying by his side.

Nights were usually when he felt the loneliest.

But how could he explain to his mother that those were the days he thought of when he was afraid of losing himself? That in those sacred nights when nightmares didn’t make an act of presence and he woke up with a smile on his face, he dreamt of that?

To be able to see his mother daily again was a blessing, he did miss her a lot in those months, but he once said that even if he wanted to see his mother again, he didn’t want to go back to No.6. That was still true. His mother was the kindest human in his opinion, but even her empathy wasn’t enough to understand some things. There are things he never told her about, it was just better that way. She didn’t need to know that he still saw the bodies falling one after another during the Hunt every time he closed his eyes, or the fact that he had taken a man’s life without as much as a second thought, or how he thought about taking his own life after.

It was him or Nezumi.

And of course, that was the pivotal point of everything else. Home was Nezumi, happiness were his days with Nezumi, warmth was the feeling of Nezumi falling asleep next to him.

Nezumi, Nezumi, Nezumi... Where are you now, Nezumi?

He sometimes spoke of him, but mostly he wouldn’t. Weeks would pass without him saying that name out loud, but there wasn’t a day he wouldn’t think of him. In the beginning he would try to talk about him, but that made him feel even more alone.

His mother barely knew him, just a few days before he went away. Inukashi, for all that Shion was sure they cared for Nezumi, in that same sharp and distant way Nezumi cared for them, truly didn’t miss him. Inukashi didn’t care if Nezumi came back or not, and if they had even once truly wished for his return, it was only on Shion’s behalf.

Inukashi may not understand the truly extend of their relationship, but they saw enough to know Shion wouldn’t stop waiting, that he wouldn’t stop feeling like he was missing something essential.

Still, he rarely indulged Shion’s thirst of talking about Nezumi.

Rikuga was the worst of all. He really cared for Shion, but he also was convinced Shion was better off without Nezumi. He would sometimes speak so ill of Nezumi that even Inukashi felt the obligation to shut him up out of respect to Shion.

The only three people that also knew Nezumi, and they all had such distant ideas of him from what Nezumi truly was. Shion wouldn’t be as pretentious as to think he knew all about Nezumi, no one did. But he saw Nezumi being cold and cruel to the world, he saw the hatred in his heart, he heard him make the remarks that hurt the most, and he saw Nezumi cry at the idea of him dying, he remembered being led in a dance without music, and he still felt the ghost touch of gentle lips on his.

Rikuga thinks of Nezumi as the devil, and poor Shion having some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. Inukashi thought of Nezumi as mostly unpleasant and cold, and of Shion as being too naïve for letting himself get attached to someone as him. Karan thought of Nezumi as some sort of superhero that rescued her son and brought him back to her.

None of them understood.

During the first year and a half, Shion would sometimes talk to Tsukiyo, the mouse being the only one who missed Nezumi as much as him. After Tuskiyo died, without ever being reunited to his master or his brothers Hamlet and Cravat, Shion just stopped talking about him. He wondered if Nezumi had felt it the way Shion had just woken up one day knowing Hamlet was no more and experienced the same about Cravat some time at dinner a week after.

Some wishful part of him wanted to believe Nezumi would come back to him after that, but when the months continued to pass, he accepted he was still too optimist of a dreamer.

After his mother called him out on it, he tried to smile more, but he knew he wasn’t convincing, even if Karan never commented on it. Nezumi did tell him he was an awful actor. He tried to smile more, but every smile felt empty.

Nezumi, the world means nothing to me without you. Nothing.

It was still true.

I’m still waiting for you Nezumi, I will wait forever if that’s what it takes.

He really meant it, he was ready to wait all his life, but a not-so-small part of him also cried:

I can wait forever, but please don’t make me do it.

[***]

The day she got her son back, it was probably the happiest day in Karan’s life. He was really changed, his white hair and violet eyes the most obvious differences, but she immediately knew it wasn’t the only thing. She noted the small differences: how Shion was always a little bit tense, and how loud noises paralyzed him, but the day Nezumi left was the day she came face to face with the person her son was now.

His carefree smiles he would give to anyone who crossed his path were gone. Most of his smiles were gone, in general. She would go weeks without seeing more than the commissures of his lips going slightly up when he saw her in the morning or when he came home after work. In the beginning, she was sure it was the trauma of life in the West Block, but Rikiga and Inukashi got her out of her mistake, always talking about how Shion probably smiled to the guy that mugged him once, and Shion didn’t deny it.

“Shion, have you noticed? You don’t smile or laugh a lot anymore." She had told him, and it was obvious that he tried to do it more often after that, but it was also obvious that none of those smiles were authentic.

He seldom slept peacefully nowadays. He was quiet, always acting afraid of someone hearing him, but Karan sometimes heard anyways: Shion crying in his sleep. Sometimes he would mumble intelligible words, once Karan was sure to heard Safu’s name, but mostly he just called for Nezumi.

Nezumi. She would lie if she said she didn’t have conflicted feelings for the boy these days. On one hand, he was the one that took care of Shion, and for that she would forever be grateful. He even went the extra mile to tell her son was safe. That spoke of his kindness and compassion.

Yet, she had now to hear her son cry this boy’s name in his slept every night. She had to see her son feel his absence like a stab on his chest. Shion had told her Nezumi promised to come back, and she believed he would; Shion would not feel so strong for someone who didn’t deserve his trust, but as the years passed, she couldn’t help but wanting to know more about this guy she was trusting not to run off forever with her son’s heart, but Shion stopped talking about him.

First, she asked Rikiga about him. His answer did not comfort her at all.

“That rat is as bad of a person as they come. Manipulative, cruel, takes advantage of people’s feelings, maybe because he himself doesn’t have. His only redeeming qualities are his looks and his talent. The tears of someone as pure as Shion are wasted on him.”

That was... quite the antagonist view of the one Karan had of the boy. She had to remind herself that the West Block was a cruel place with no place for kindness. Everyone did what they had to survive. The only reason Shion must have gotten away with being too innocent and empathetic was because he had all these people looking out for him. Inukashi and Rikiga, but specially Nezumi.

“So, do you believe he was being honest when he told Shion he would come back?” She asked, still sure she wanted to hear an answer. This was her little boy, she had to be prepared for the heartbreak if one day Shion realized Nezumi wasn’t coming back.

Rikiga seem to be ready to answer, but he then took a long breath, followed by a sip of the coffee on his hand, he looked like he was considering for the first time.

“More than anything, I’m afraid he didn’t promise that. He’s good with his words, he may have said another thing, knowing Shion would misunderstand, thinking that would be enough for Shion to let him go. He has no consideration for anyone’s feelings.”

Karan had never once thought about that, but now she couldn’t shake off the fear of that being the reality. Was her son really waiting for someone who never said he would come back? Was he waiting for a lie? But Rikiga wasn’t done talking.

“And yet... there was something about the way he was around Shion. He acted almost like a person. He even let himself be ordered around, I once saw him helping dry Inukashi’s dogs without expecting anything in return, just because Shion asked him to.” A heavy sight scaped the man’s mouth. “If he has ever cared about anyone other than himself, then he cared about Shion. I hope he still cares enough to come back, because it would be a tragedy if Shion’s radiant smile disappeared forever with the unworthy rat.”

If that addition made her feel better or not, she wasn’t sure.

A month later, Inukashi dropped in the bakery, wanting a small cake for little Shionn’s birthday. After Shion had said the baby should had a birthday, Inukashi decided on the day the baby got entrusted into their care.

She offered some food and hot chocolate, which Inukashi happily accepted. They had a very sweet tooth, and with how mature they were, Karan sometimes forgot Inukashi was only seventeen. A kid, really.

After giving them the hot chocolate and some cookies, she had baked earlier that they, she confronted them with the same question she had confronted Rikiga.

“Nezumi?” Inukashi asked, as if the name sounded almost foreign. It probably did, Karan doubted they had heard the name in a long time. “He is a nightmare. Selfish, without empathy and... scary. Most of the time I wished I had never crossed paths with him. He always knew what to say to make you feel like shit, and he would take advantage of any weakness you showed.”

This time, Karan was slightly more prepared for the answer, but she still couldn’t help but feel at lost. How could Nezumi be so cruel and so kind? So selfish and so thoughtful? Who was this walking contradiction?

“Do you think he will come back?” asked Karan once again.

“If he promised Shion he would come back, he will. That boy is his weakness, if he ever had one. If I didn’t like Shion as much as I do, I would have tried to take revenge on Nezumi with him, but he is too likable. I will never understand how those two are so happy together, they are opposites in the worst ways.”

Karan couldn’t help but smile at Inukashi’s ramble. That sounded a lot more promising.

“Why do you say Shion is his weakness, if I may ask?”

After another bite to their cookie, Inukashi answered.

“He did stupid, dangerous things for him. He cared too much. Shion wasn’t material for the West Block, he was a burden to Nezumi. Even so, he never once tried to abandon him.” They stayed silence for a minute, as if trying to find their next words. “And he was different around Shion, he showed emotion I had never seen in the four years I knew him before Shion started living with him. He was afraid of Shion, and I didn’t understand why back then, but now I’m sure he was just afraid of what Shion made him feel. For a lonely rat like Nezumi, it must have been terrifying to suddenly care.”

Yes, that was something Karan could conceal with the Nezumi she had met. The Nezumi that acted annoyed at Shion’s antics and teased him mercilessly, but the fondness never leaving his eyes. The Nezumi that recited poetry and monologues and looked proud when Shion identified where did they come from.

A week later, she decided she would ask one last opinion. Shion had some rare free time, so she decided she would finally ask him. The pain in Shion’s eyes at hearing the name was evident, but the sweet smile that adorned his face was honest.

“Nezumi is kind, playful, smart and beautiful.” He said without hesitation. “He was also a pessimist; I think because he had too much hate inside. But when he relaxed, he was breathtaking. He had such a painful life...” His eyes filled with tears, but Karan knew better than to ask, that story was not for her ears. “He told me not to name the mice, and yet he started using the names as soon as he learnt them. I don’t know if he realized, but he always tried to make me happy or just make me feel better if he had the chance.”

Somehow, Karan felt as if that was the missing piece in this puzzle.

He even let himself be ordered around... That boy is his weakness, if he ever had one....

Nezumi stopped being a contradiction and went back to being just a boy in her mind. Still, she asked the question.

“Are you sure he will come back?”

The question seemed to take Shion by surprise, as if he couldn’t understand someone would doubt it.

“Of course he will, he promised me, and before that he promised me there would be no more farewell kisses. Nezumi wouldn’t break two promises just like that.” He seemed none the wiser about the bomb he had just dropped on his mother.

Farewell kisses?

Although in hindsight, Karan knew she shouldn’t have been surprised. She had been wrong before; this was the missing piece of the puzzle.

“How are you so sure?” Does he truly correspond you? Was the question she didn’t ask.

“Because that would hurt me, and he once told me he couldn’t even imagine wanting to hurt me, so he wouldn’t lie to me like that.” He sounded so sure, that all remainder of doubt vanished from her mind.

Nezumi, I think I finally have an idea of who you are, and I know you must miss Shion as much as he misses you. So please, please come back home.

Come back to him.

[***]

Nezumi liked bars. He never drank, of course, because that could leave him vulnerable. He needed all his senses to be as sharp as always. In fact, the only time he had ever drunk alcohol in the presence of another person was all those years ago with...

So, the reason Nezumi liked bars was because it was easy to get some amiable company that would forget about him the next day. That way no one would miss him when took his bag and jumped town. No one would get attached to him.

This afternoon was no exception. He had managed to get invited to a table with a group of friends. They were drunk and loud, but it helped ignore the ache in his chest. If he tried hard enough, he sometimes managed to convince himself he was having a good time.

The alternative was to stay all the night at whatever place he had gotten for the time being, thinking about...

Everything was going perfectly, until one of the girls started to flirt shamelessly with him, and it was not the kind of flirting that just came with the low inhibitions of the alcohol, it was the type that expected to get somewhere. Of course, being the master actor that he was, no one noted his shoulders tense at the thought of being with someone, even if just for one night. He couldn’t do that, he always ended up feeling like he was cheating.

Even if no one realized he was feeling uncomfortable, they did realize he was deflecting this girl advances.

“Come one, Hanna, take a hint and let the boy breath. You’re going to scare him away.” One of her friends said, and Nezumi couldn’t help but feel grateful when the girl, Hanna, listened and backed down.

Hanna... what’s with people and naming their children after flowers?

After that the night was pretty much ruined for Nezumi. He pretended to have fun, of course, but he disliked it even more than usual. His treacherous mind kept slipping to a basement with his books and soup and...

Stop.

After a few hours, he decided to just go back to the cheap hotel he was staying at, having decided he was not in the mood to keep on pretending.

I never had to pretend around him.

Even though his plan was to go to the hotel, his feet just lead him to the park near his hotel.

As this town was in the rise of the mountain, he had a great view. His eyes, as ever, looked south without his permission. Of course, he couldn’t see what he wanted; he was too far away, it was a futile effort.

Hamlet and Cravat always used make sad noises when they looked in the direction of No.6, they probably had missed Tsukiyo. Of course, both mice had passed away over a year ago, but Nezumi sometimes still thought of them.

That’s why you shouldn’t name them. You get attached. But you just had to name them, S-

“Hey, Nezumi, what a coincidence!"

He had heard someone coming close, so he wasn’t surprised, but he didn’t expect the stranger to know his name. He turned back and saw the girl from the bar earlier, what was her name...?

Right, Hanna.

“Should I be worried about you following me?” He asked, putting a mask back on. The girl laughed as if that was the most hilarious comment ever.

“No, don’t worry. I swear it was just a coincidence, I live down the street in the dark red house.” She explained, pointing the house she was talking about.

Such an idiot, telling her address to a perfect stranger without fear of all I could do with that information. I hate when people are so careless and trusting, it’s so annoying.

Except he used to just laugh about those people’s stupidity, it just started to annoy him when he couldn’t help but think of...

“I’m sorry for earlier,” she interrupted his thoughts “I tend to be a flirty drunk, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“Not at all.” He wished she would just accept his answer and go away, but clearly it wasn’t his lucky day. She took a step closer and look south.

“What’s that way? For the way you were looking, it must be important. Your home, perhaps?”

“I don’t have a home.”

“Childhood home, then? Family? You can tell me; we will never see each other again.” She sounded so sure, it annoyed Nezumi greatly.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you look like the type of people that can’t stay in one place. Are you running away, perhaps?”

“You’re a chatty drunk.” It was a weak comeback, he knew, but he couldn’t help but feel she had hit a little too close to home.

I’m not running away from anything. Then why won’t you say his name?

“Hit the nail, I see.” She continued as if she hadn’t heard him. Maybe she hadn’t. “So, running away from something, but you don’t look like the type to run away from a fight, or even from the past. That leaves us with... a person.”

He didn’t respond to that.

“What’s her name?”

He didn’t owe her an answer.

Say it.

She was just a stranger.

Why can’t I say his name?

He could just walk away right now.

And what, keep running away forever?

“His name is Shion.”

The pain hit him like a bullet, and he knew from own experience what bullets felt like. That’s why he had stop saying that name, thinking that name. It was dangerous, it made him want to go back.

“I see, I guess my name did not help my case.” She said it with such a lightness, it was clear she didn’t care at all. It looked like she was indeed just a flirty drunk. “You should go back to him.”

“How would you know? You don’t know anything about us.” The question came out weaker than intended. He sounded almost interested in the answer.

“If he is important enough to run away from, then he is important enough to come back to.” Then, like a second thought she added, “Is he waiting for you?”

“Yes.” He did not hesitate. Because for any other person there would be doubt. Three years apart, without a word. He just waited until he could walk enough to run away, and he did. Left with a kiss and a promise he didn’t intend to make in the first place.

He wasn’t supposed to promise anything, but Shion started crying, he was hurting, and Nezumi didn’t want to cause Shion any pain. He didn’t want to keep being the reason for his tears, so he made the stupid promise. And Shion promised to wait.

And that was all Nezumi needed to know that Shion would wait for forever.

“Then just go back to him, and everything else will fall into place.”

They stayed in silence for a while. The she turned around and kept going in her way back home. As if she hadn’t just destroyed the wall Nezumi used to hide his feelings for Shion. As if she hadn’t just told him to go back to what he had tried so desperately to run from.

It was mid-July; he was a little over a month away from No.6. Without realizing, he had gone nearer and nearer since he met Shion’s father. He briefly wondered if the man had arrived to the city, but then decided that probably not. Those were six months of travel; he didn’t look like someone with the commitment to travel that much to one place.

He could be in time for Shion’s birthday.

Eight years since he first met him in that stormy night. Four years since they had met again. Now, they would be reunited one last time. Nezumi had to appreciate the symmetry in their history, it was quite dramatic.

[***]

Two months later, Inukashi and Rikiga found out Nezumi came back because Shion dragged him to West Block to help wash the dogs. Both felt compelled to ask him what the hell had taken him so damn long to come back, and if he knew how bad Shion had been since he decided to just leave-

But one look at how he constantly reassured Shion with physical contact, like he was trying to convince him he was really here, and one look at how he went out of his way to remain in Shion’s visual field, how didn’t even try to argue about drying the dogs, and it was obvious Nezumi knew.

One look at how ecstatic Shion was, just ranting about topics no one understood, and smiling like he was trying to compensate for the last three and a half years that he didn’t, and it was clear Nezumi was forgiven, and Shion wouldn’t appreciate if they tried to defend his honor.

“Are you staying around this time?” Was all Inukashi asked when Shion was distracted enough.

Nezumi looked at where Shion was, washing an old dog as careful as ever, when answering.

“Yeah, probably, and if I want to travel again, I will just take him with me. Turns out, I got used to taking care of the airhead, traveling alone was too easy.” Inukashi knew Nezumi said it like that to get on their nerves, but this time it didn’t work.

Nezumi wouldn’t leave Shion behind again, no matter if they stayed or went away. That was enough for Inukashi.

Karan found out Nezumi came back the morning after Shion’s twentieth birthday. Her son came running down the stairs, the biggest smile ever on his face, and before he even opened his mouth, she just knew that couldn’t be for any other reason but Nezumi.

She was right, as few seconds later a second pair of footsteps followed down.

“Welcome back, Nezumi.” She didn’t give him a chance to escape before trapping him in a big hug, not that the boy resisted.

He looked thin, although not as much as the first time they met, and he looked tired, but his eyes shined every time he looked at Shion, which was all the time.

When Shion looked away, he did it with the fear of turning back again just to realize Nezumi was gone again. She was not the only one who noticed, because in question of minutes, Nezumi was already making sure some part of him was always in contact with Shion.

Karan knew her son, and so she knew it would take a while for him to fully interiorize that Nezumi wouldn’t disappear the moment he looked away, but they would get there. Maybe now that he had a Nezumi sleeping next to him, most of the nightmares would stop.

Eventually, Shion had to go to the bathroom and left Nezumi’s side for a pair of minutes.

“You won’t leave him again, right? I understand you had to leave, and Shion does too, but please promise me you won’t put him through that again.” She was pretty sure of the answer, but she needed a promise.

Because Nezumi didn’t break his promises, especially when they were about Shion.

Nezumi responded with an uncharacteristically earnest, at least for what she was used to from him, look on his face.

“I promise I won’t leave him again. He’s stuck with me from now on.”

The smile on her face rivaled Shion’s one when he came back to the sight of Nezumi still there, in the kitchen.

Everything would be okay.

Shion found out Nezumi came back on the night of his birthday. He was on his bed, reading Macbeth. It made him feel closer to Nezumi, as did his open window. He did not expect Nezumi to really come back that night, it just felt right.

Nowadays he was used to his mind playing tricks on him, so when he felt movement in the room, he refused to take his eyes from the book. He refused to let himself hope.

“Is Your Majesty waiting for me, or do I need to fight for the honor of using the window as my entrance with someone else?” The voice, the words, it sounded very real.

Afraid, Shion closed the book and looked up, and there he was.

Without thinking, Shion ran into Nezumi’s open arms. Hel felt real, he smelt real. If this was some cruel dream he would have to wake up from soon, maybe it would be the one to finally break him.

“Did your verbal capacity decay so much in my absence you won’t even great me back?” Nezumi teased, but he didn’t make a move to escape from the embrace.

“Is it really you?” Shion’s voice was so small and fearful that Nezumi would have almost preferred to find an enraged Shion that would had hit him and scream at him.

Almost, but he was still a selfish man, and he had dreamed about having Shion in his arms just like this every day since he left.

Carefully, putting his index finger under Shion’s chin, he made him look up. Finally, he once again had those captivating violet eyes focused on him.

“It’s me, Shion. I promised reunion would come, and here I am, asking you to take me back one more time.” He barely finished speaking when he had a pair of clumsy lips against his.

The kiss was sweet, but also passionate. Shion wondered if Nezumi had dreamt of this kiss as much as him. When they break the kiss, Nezumi can’t help but ask with a satisficed smile on his face.

“Which kind of kiss was that, your Majesty?”

“A welcome home kiss.”

Just then both realized the truth in that statement. Here, in each other’s arms, they were finally home.

“It’s good to be home.”

#no.6 #no. 6 #nezushi #shion #nezumi #happy birthday shion #atsuko asano #no.6 anime #no.6 manga #no.6 light novels #Reunion Will Come #My writing

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no6secretsanta · 5 years

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Apples and Elbow Room

For the incredible @iwatch-theworld I was so excited to get to write for you and it’s been a blast. I hope you enjoy this!!!!!!

- @secretagentfan

It wasn’t as though Shion had a problem with apples. Four apples typically rested in a bowl on top of his—no—their microwave and were restocked regularly. Apples were versatile: apple pie, apple sauce, apple strudel, apples with peanut butter; travel-sized—he could eat them on his way to work and they fit easily into his bike basket! They were perfect for a snack after a meeting, no preparation, all he had to do was unwrap and chew. Wow, actually, Shion loved apples.

Crunch.

The problem was: Nezumi loved apples too.

Two months. It had been two months since Shion had convinced the most attractive person he had ever met to move in with him. Nezumi, who arrived with storms, and brought only what he could carry on his back. Nezumi, who filled the uncharted, unlovable, corners of Shion’s soul with sun-dappled forests. Nezumi, who, after years of survival, travel, and soul-searching apparently never learned how to quietly consume a piece of fruit.

Crunch.

Shion was not going to be able to continue his usual mid-afternoon nap like this. He stood up, accidentally kicking a new translation of the Miser off the bed. He shut his eyes. Even though Nezumi only brought what he could carry, that had not stopped him from buying what amounted to a whole bookstore—and no bookshelves— for Shion’s apartment.

Crunch.

“Nezumi, we should kiss now.”

The offer echoed in the bedroom, louder than it had any right to. Nezumi had only just slid under their covers, shining new copy of The Misanthrope in one hand, apple in the other. He froze mid-bite: mouth hovering a couple inches from the fruit he was only (oh god) halfway through.

“Did I seduce you somehow?” His voice was airy. Shion would call it sexy, but he hadn’t put the apple down yet and the crunching was still at the forefront of his mind.

“No,” Shion admitted.

“Do I even want to know your reasoning, then?”

“Probably not.”

Nezumi’s eyebrows tilted inward and raised, just so, as he set his book down. He looked at Shion as if he were a dancing street monkey and pulled a tissue from the box on their bedside table with the air of a lounging emperor plucking a grape out of a servant’s hand.

He set the apple down on the tissue, tilted his head to one side then to the other, cracking his neck, and waited. Shion slumped further into the pillows in a way he hoped was alluring. The corners of Nezumi’s mouth quirked upward.

“How does the mysterious Shion want to kiss, then?”

Shion blinked. He didn’t do much thinking when it came to kissing. It usually just…happened. Unreliably. At unexpected, beautiful moments. Like what now could be.

“How?” he repeated.

“Yes, Shion. How. You issued an invitation less than a minute ago, if you remember correctly.”

The mattress squeaked as Nezumi lazily crawled over Shion, flopping on top of him with an ease that warmed Shion to the tips of his ears. He was heavy. Shion ran his fingers through Nezumi’s hair, cut during his travels, and placed his hands on his shoulders. He stopped. Raised both eyebrows. Took his hands off Nezumi’s shoulders.

“Do you need guidance?” Nezumi asked, voice low enough to make Shion’s toes curl. Or rather, it would have, if Shion wasn’t now distracted. Nezumi cleared his throat. “Shion?”

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about your shoulders.”

“I– my shoulders?”

“They’re broad now. You’ve really filled out.”

Shion wrapped his arms around Nezumi, hands resting open-palmed on his back, feeling the space between each shoulder blade.

“Shion do you want to make out or not?”

“You never accepted my original invitation,” Shion pointed out, unable to resist the impulse to be difficult. Nezumi’s breath huffed against his nose. Shion grinned. “Luckily, my offer remains the same, Nezumi.”

Arms snaked under Shion’s waist. Nezumi’s nose tickled Shion’s hair, a little colder than the rest of him, which made Shion smile. His lips brushed Shion’s forehead, then over his right temple, just barely; any remaining annoyance Shion still felt dripped away. Two months. Had it really only been two months?

Two years had nothing on the way Nezumi’s breath felt against Shion’s lips as he leaned closer.

“Very well then, Shion,” Nezumi began, the hint of a laugh in his voice. “Past distractions aside: allow me to formally accept your invitation.”

“Good,” Shion replied, and pulled Nezumi down the centimeter required to mack his face off. His hands rubbed up and down Nezumi’s back, carefully brushing the raised skin of his scar and catching in his night shirt. In his mind, he heard a storm, and felt a familiar tug at his heartstrings: the age-old desire to protect the warm, solid body in his arms.

The thing was, Shion was exceptionally skilled at loving Nezumi from far away. Working, shopping, and living and breathing—his love of Nezumi during their separation was a precious foothold in a chaotic world, unshakable— carried in his core as easily as his ribs, his heart. His love was a compass, guiding him from a world away.

Now, Nezumi was not a world away, he was here. In Shion’s space, sleeping on his—their couch, or buried in a pile of books. Or maybe he was out, on a walk or at an audition, but he’d leave behind the signs of him, a rock he found at the park, a dog-eared script, a bag of chips he was hoarding for later. Nezumi was not a compass. He was…a bit of a mess to clean up after actually. Not a pillar, but a human. How had Shion forgotten? Nezumi was infuriating.

“Nezumi and I are incredibly compatible,” Shion concluded.

Evidently this was not the thing to say while Safu was refilling her coffee as she spilled it all over the table when she burst out laughing. “Safu!“

“Sorry, I’m sorry!” Safu mopped up the spilled coffee with a handful of napkins, covering her mouth with her other hand in a polite attempt to get the unfriendly café staff to stop shooting them nasty looks for being loud and destructive.

They had gotten coffee here every Thursday for four years, and never once had the staff greeted them with a smile or any degree of familiarity. Most people hated this place for its unfriendly atmosphere. For Safu and Shion, who more often than not were caught up in interviews or Reconstruction meetings, not having to talk to one more person with a fake smile was ideal. The hours they had spent in this miserable little coffee shop were some of the most precious in Shion’s adult life.

“I was being serious, Safu! I feel very strongly about this! We are–”

“Please, Shion, please stop talking,” Safu wheezed. Shion felt his face heat and he obediently sipped his coffee. Safu shook her head, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Please tell me– how did we go from Nezumi’s concerning apple habit to this?”

Shion wanted to hide his face in the table. “I felt as though I should say something else. Something that wasn’t a complaint about him.”

“Shion, do you want me to speak honestly?”

No, Shion thought pathetically, his stomach sinking. I want you to say what I want to hear, sometimes.

Safu smiled at him, and he relaxed slightly. As harsh and direct as Safu could be, especially in all matters concerning Nezumi (and Nezumi’s four-year absence), she was honest. Straightforward, and sincere as she always was.

Whatever she had to say, Shion knew he probably needed to hear it. He nodded.

“You two are perhaps the least compatible people I have ever met.”

Shion winced. Safu held up a finger. “But that’s not news. Compatibility by definition is just a couple’s capacity to avoid conflict. You two have been in direct conflict since you were born, and yet somehow, you’ve managed to do some incredible things together. Of course, Nezumi hasn’t been around for everything, which you know my feelings about.”

Shion did. At length. He nodded.

“You’re not compatible. Not remotely, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be together, or that you’re never going to stay together. After all, you already have lived together once, haven’t you?”

“That’s true,” Shion said. “And it wasn’t as though we always got along then, either.”

Shion remembered more than once having to take a walk in the cold with one of Inukashi’s guard dogs because Nezumi was driving him out of his mind. How Nezumi would sometimes get so angry or anxious that he would either disappear somewhere or sit in the corner and read aggressively for hours.

“But it still worked out. You two understood each other where it mattered, eventually. So communicate with him. And communicate with him like an adult.”

“Like an adult,” Shion repeated, then frowned. Communication seemed so simple when it was purely hypothetical. In practice however… Shion had lost track of how many committee deals both he and Safu had botched because of her temper or his bluntness. Amateur mistakes. He couldn’t risk those with Nezumi, not now when their relationship wasn’t exactly new—but filled with unknowns.

“Thank you, Safu.”

Safu just waved her hand. She took a moment to rub the crease between her eyebrows. Shion watched as her fingers massaged up and down and shifted her bangs to the side. For a moment, Shion could see the faint outline of the scar from No. 6’s machines that crossed through the center of her forehead. All thoughts of apples and incompatibility left his head.

“Do you have a headache?”

“Yes,” Safu replied. “You. But that is nothing new.”

Safu dropped her hand from her forehead to punch him gently on the shoulder. Shion felt himself smile, infinitely grateful.

“It’s my turn to pay for coffee this week, isn’t it?” He offered, changing the subject.

“Yes, it is. That said, I was the one who spilled it, so I’ve got this one. Pour me another though– I need it after the day I’ve had.”

“Tell me about it.”

By the time they left the café, their coffee had been cold for hours.

Years of conditioning, self-defense mechanisms, and plain old dramatic flair were at play the second Nezumi entered the public eye. Shion was used to watching him transform from the private, petty boy he fell in love with to the dangerously sleek man that everyone naturally cleared a way for. Shion like to think he loved both sides of Nezumi equally, but the day Nezumi saw the New City’s grocery for the first time, it was the bright, amazed eyes of the boy in him, not the man, that made Shion’s heart soar.

Thanks to the committee’s efforts in irrigation projects for West block, a mountain of carefully-signed paperwork, and years of health testing for biotechnology– fresh produce was not only affordable to citizens but generously distributed outside the city limits.

Shion was fairly certain Nezumi had never seen that much fresh food before in his life, and it showed.

Even now, Nezumi would tag along on grocery store trips just to extend Shion’s trip by hours, ogling heads of lettuce and buying far too much. Nezumi’s budgeting system at age 16 was an 90-10 split between food and emergencies: and judging by his usual grocery cart, his budgeting had only evolved as much to include books and nothing else.

Their time together had formed a sort of pattern when grocery shopping: Nezumi pulling what felt like one of everything off the shelves, and Shion surreptitiously returning what they didn’t need when his back was turned.

My very own Penelope, undoing all my work.

Penelope undid her own work, Nezumi.

Fair enough.

It was good, and it worked for them, and the life in Nezumi’s eyes made occasionally buying 3 different versions of the same milk “Just to see if there’s a difference” absolutely worth it.

Today though, unfortunately, Nezumi was stuck in produce. Particularly the apples.

“Nezumi!” Shion attempted, “Look, cherries are in season!”

Nezumi smiled, secret, and added a box to their cart. “Thinking of making a cake?”

“Of course. And…” Shion tried to keep his voice level as possible. “They make great snacks. If you grab another box, you’ll be able to eat them all day.”

“Pass.”

Nezumi’s voice was firm enough that Shion blinked a few times.

“Did…something happen with cherries in your travels?”

“No.” Nezumi stared at the box for a long moment, and then added, voice darkening. “They have pits. What kind of tiny fruit has a huge pit right in the middle?”

Shion spoke carefully. “Nezumi, have you tried to eat a cherry whole before?”

Nezumi scowled.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Don’t start. I’m not getting cherries for anything besides cake, asshole.”

He then moved to the apples. Shion’s laughter stopped. He had to think fast.

“What about oranges? Those don’t even have a center like apples—”

“You are really on it about apples, Shion. Embarrassed by your impulses?” Nezumi’s grin was just this side of smug. Shion’s heart stuttered like a broken propeller.

“What—I.”

“You think I haven’t noticed the fact that every time I eat an apple you suddenly feel romance in the air?”

Communicate like an adult, Safu’s voice echoed in his brain.

Right, Shion agreed. He felt the words “you are a really loud apple cruncher”on his tongue, ready to go. But Nezumi was looking at him seriously, bag full of apples in his hand, with his new broad shoulders and short hair, and for a brief moment, Shion felt like he was looking at a different person.

“You got me,” Shion blurted.

“What?” replied Nezumi. “Wait seriously? You’re…into apples?”

Shion felt his soul chip off. Safu was never going to let him hear the end of this. “Just a little.”

Nezumi was silent for a long moment.

“Just when I think you can’t get any weirder…you pull this.”

Still staring at Shion, he added two more bags of apples to the cart. Shion’s face matched the reddest of them.

There were apples everywhere. On the sofa, the kitchen counter, by the bedside and even on Shion’s pillow. Since Nezumi was between shows, he had hours to prepare the apartment, which translated to filling it with as many apples as physically possible. Shion had some regrets. That said, in spite of the concerning number of apples and knowing looks, Nezumi hadn’t actually brought up Shion’s statement. He had been bizarrely quiet. Saturday morning changed that.

Crunch.

Nezumi was half-laying on the couch, head on the arm, with his feet in Shion’s lap. Shion was valiantly trying to ignore him by reading the newspaper, but every crunch forced him to start over the line he was currently reading. A true Sisyphean task.

“So is it the taste or the texture?” Nezumi asked between bites.

“The taste or texture of what?” Shion asked, without looking up.

“Apples. Seriously, what is it about them that gets to you? I’ve been running possibilities through my head for the last couple days and it just doesn’t line up. I have to know.”

The newspaper crinkled in Shion’s hands, he shut his eyes. Of course Nezumi was not going to let this quietly die.

“Do we have to talk about this?”

“Oh yes,” Nezumi said. “It’s Saturday. I held back and waited for you to finish your important agricultural meetings, so now you’re going to sit right there, Shion, and explain your apple kink to me.”

Shion could feel his face heating, but shock actually forced his blush down.

“You waited for my meetings to finish?”

Nezumi raised his eyebrows. “Was that an error?” He didn’t wait for Shion to reply and rubbed the apple he was eating against Shion’s arm as obnoxiously as possible. The apple skin was smooth and impossible to ignore. Shion’s heart beat in his ears. Nezumi’s voice sounded far away.

“Seriously, Shion, how is this sexy?”

“Do you think I’m the same person I was four years ago?” Shion asked.

Nezumi blinked. His apple was still firmly pressed against Shion’s bicep. “What?”

Shion stared at his newspaper. “Four years felt like a short amount of time when I was living it, there was so much to do, but I don’t know lately.”

Nezumi breathed in, seeming to recalibrate, and slowly set his apple on the nightstand. He was frowning. Nezumi’s hand covered his, and together, they closed the newspaper.

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

“I don’t know,” Shion said, honestly. “I don’t really know what this is about. We’re not sixteen anymore, and I don’t know if that changes nothing, or it means everything.”

The apples, Nezumi’s appearance, his hobbies, his unexpected patience, Safu. Compatibility. Time had passed and left them both behind and now, now they were living together and everything was the same as before but completely, completely different. Shion didn’t know how to reconcile it.

“I dreamed so often of having you back, of living together like this, but the reality of it– the day-to-day–“

“–is pretty fucking weird,” Nezumi finished. Shion blinked at the conviction in his voice. He finally faced him and found Nezumi oddly relaxed. The tightness around his eyes had disappeared and something tight unraveled in Shion’s chest. Shion wondered, for a moment, if he was holding back just as much.

“You think it’s weird too? But we lived together before, so…”

Nezumi huffed.

“Yeah, so we’d have to be ready, right? I thought the same thing. I figured I was relatively prepared, and especially after taking a four-year sabbatical in order to prepare for this– I damn well had to be ready. I really thought I was, but I wasn’t prepared for…Well I wasn’t prepared for annoying each other over stupider shit than starving or freezing. Like pissing you off by eating apples of all things.”

Shion gaped. “You knew?”

“Shion, and you’ve grown a bit more tactful over the last four years, but your face still gives you away completely. I thought you were going to stab me the first time I ate a honey crisp.”

“But you’ve still been–!” Shion stood, waved his arm around their apple filled apartment.

“Oh, yeah. I was messing with you.”

Shion saw red in so many different directions, but it may have just been the apples.

“Honestly, I just was trying to figure out what it would take to get you to tell me, instead of trying to be—whatever you’ve been trying to be lately.”

“Polite,” Shion supplied, and Nezumi laughed again. Shion made eye contact with an apple on the coffee table and felt profoundly ridiculous.

“You’re in my space,” he said, finally.

“Yeah,” Nezumi agreed. “And you’re in mine. You wash dishes really loudly by the way.”

Shion stared at Nezumi for a long moment.

“We’ve climbed a mountain of dead bodies together and we’re struggling with sharing an apartment?”

“This may be the hardest thing we’ve ever done,” Nezumi said, with such seriousness, Shion finally cracked. He laughed, a full laugh, more genuine than he’d felt in months, and rested his cheek on Nezumi’s shoulder.

“Harder than dealing with Elyurias?”

“Completely.”

“Think we’ll survive it?”

Nezumi smiled into Shion’s hair. Shion slowly smiled back, leaning closer.

This conversation was far from over, four years still stretched between them in an unexpectedly gaping chasm, and the house was full of apples– but for the first time, Shion felt like he was ready to deal with it, them, and everything.

“We always have.”

#secretagentfan #iwatch-theworld #no6 #no 6 #no.6 #no. 6 #submission

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shions-heart · 5 years

Note

I honestly love the novel sooooo much but I have yet to read it a second time. Like, I physically felt my heart being squeezed and I just wanted to keep crying after it ended. But it's so worth it. Extra points if you read through it with No.6's ending (rokutousei no yoru) playing as background music

hmmm how about no though??? i don’t think my heart could take that ahaha orz

no but i really am enjoying the novels so much ;;; bless the person that translated them, for real

(i just keep falling in love with shion as i read; he’s such a pure, sweet soul asdfghjkl he makes everyone he meets fall in love with him. even inukashi couldn’t resist being nice to him, and of course we all see now nezumi’s “affection is a weakness so throw it away. don’t get attached to anyone. the world is dark and cruel and that’s all there is to it. i won’t look out for anyone but myself” mindset worked out for him . . . honestly watching nezumi desperately trying to cling to that mindset, being outwardly cruel to inukashi, scolding shion left and right . . . all while it’s so painfully obvious that he fell in love with shion that rainy night 4 years ago, really hurts me ;;; nezumi child just let yourself love him; just let him love you asdfhjkl aaaaaa)

#yeseniaaa25 #talk at me!

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blackandwhitemusician · 6 years

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Hiii

HI! THANK YOU FOR THE ASK OMG CUTE BOYYY

I’m not sure if you have read the manga or the light novels, or watched the anime, so I’ll try to keep spoilers away!!

What is your opinion of this character? If you like, explain why you like him/her.

I adore him very, very much!! He’s a pure fluff boy and his interactions with Nezumi, Safu and Karan got me emotional many times.

Is he/she important to the general plot?

YES LOL. He’s one of the main two characters of the series.

Can you relate to this character at all? Does he/she grip you emotionally?

I do relate to him quite a fair bit. Firstly, in the way he realizes how privileged and sheltered he’s been, and seeks to understand a whole new world so different from what he’s been used to. And secondly in the way he is irresistibly drawn to Nezumi LOL. Also, in his air-headedness. I can be like that sometimes lol.

Boyyy does he grip me emotionally. His reaction to meeting Nezumi again after 4 years was so heartwarming and touching. His innocent attachment to Nezumi, his honest friendship with Inukashi, his special connection with Safu, and his mutual love and respect with his mother, is all so precious. Atsuko Asano has a way of making the silent moments speak louder than any thunderstorm, and I just LOVE every quiet moment Shion shared with Nezumi, in which we can hear his thoughts and appreciate the special bond they shared together.

The light novels have a lot more content to unpack, and I struggled to read through the last volume because it was just so emotionally loaded. Ya know that feeling when ya reach a certain scene and suddenly ya forget to breathe? That’s what the entire last scene in the correctional facility felt like to me LOL. When Shion thought about how they would be able to go home again, back to that place that had become his comfort, to the voice that rang in his ears louder than his own thoughts. Shion growing to be so dedicated to Nezumi that he was willing to give up his humanity for him? The void in his heart when they were separated? The flashback scene where Shion asked Nezumi to recite Macbeth? OUCHHH. AND THE LAST GOODBYE. DUDEEE I DIED.

AND I HAVEN’T EVEN GOT TO THE ANIME ENDING. HOLY MOTHER OF SATAN HOW COULD THEY HAVE DONE THAT TO MY BABY BOY.

Do you ship this character with any other character? Or, are you particularly intrigued by his/her relationship with any other character(s)?

NEZUMI x SHION. I MEAN HAVE YOU SEEN THEM?? THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS. Seriously though. I consider myself not much of a shipper but with this pairing I JUST. CAN’T. Shion thinks of Nezumi as an alluring forest, full of hidden treasures and also dangers. Nezumi sees in Shion what he has lost in himself. But their relationship is far more complex than I can express here lol. Shion knows how much Nezumi is capable of, and he knows he has only seen a fraction of Nezumi’s character, but he’s never afraid of him. In fact, the more unfathomable Nezumi is, the more Shion is drawn to him. Nezumi, on the other hand, is afraid of something he cannot understand, and he keeps a distance between Shion and himself because to him, Shion is an oxymoron that he can never fully grasp. It is an incredibly beautiful and intriguing relationship, and is one of the reasons why I never get bored of re-visiting the materials for No. 6.

Shion’s friendship with Safu was pure and heartbreaking at the same time. Even though Shion could not return Safu’s feelings, he wanted them to meet and laugh together again so badly. Their final conversation was, well, a tear-jerker. AND OH MY GOD SHE DID NOT DESERVE THAT.

Is there anything about the character you would change?

His portrayal in the anime was somewhat a bit too loaded too fast, but it’s a great job for an 11-episode anime.

If you were in the fandom with this character or knew this character in real life, how would you see yourself interacting with him/her?

I’LL LOVE HIM AND FEED HIM AND CLOTHE HIM AND GIVE HIM HOT CHOCOLATE EVERYDAY.

Does this character make the cut as one of your all time favorites (if you like) or least favorites?

He’s one of my favs in No. 6 for sure!!

Would you hype up this character (if you like) or warn about this character (if you dislike) to someone new to fandom?

I don’t think he needs any hyping honestly!

Is this character popular with the fanbase?

Yes!

#character meme ask #no. 6 #shion #nezumi #safu #inukashi #I LOVE HIM OKAY I LOVE HIM

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yeagaswagga · 8 years

Photo

Some more of the no.6xyoi au!

Admittedly inukashi could never reach the level of pure teenage rage Plisetsky possesses, but some self driven motives might be a bit relatable lol. Also I have no freaking explanation for shion’s transformation

EDIT: edited inukashi’s skin tone since I’d got it totally wrong argh.

#no.6 #Yuri on ice #nezushi #inukashi no.6 #no.6xyoi #ugh these are a bit crappy #i just have so much #i need to post relevant ones together #my art

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karereiko · 8 years

Text

Not Perfect - chapter 25

Not Perfect

Chapter 25

The return

The third day of their little vacation didn't go as planned. They were late with everything. Nezumi was already aware of the delay when he noticed that they had both overslept. As much as they tried to be fast they couldn't make up for those lost hours. Nezumi packed their tent much slower than usual because of his own sore muscles. Beside him embarrassed Shion tried to clean their sleeping bag and dirty clothes in the steam. Nezumi could hear his husband's silent prayers for no accidents happening between evidence of their lewd wedding night could meet a washing machine. Nezumi didn't think that Karan would wait by the door of their house just to grab their belongings and do laundry, but he agreed that it would be better if their equipment wouldn't smell like sex during their ride back to the NO.6.

They had then waited for that sleeping bag and their clothes to dry as long as possible but because they were still short of of time they had to put them into their backpacks still damp. It didn't speed up their journey back for sure. According his planned schedule Nezumi hoped to rent a room in town for the last night of their trip, but they ended up sleeping under stars once again. Luckily the tent and sleeping bag had somewhat managed to dry before they headed to sleep. Not getting into a warm town bed that night didn't remain the only inconvenience they had to go through. The next morning they were out of food. Nezumi's stomach, which was now accustomed to three meals per day, cried loudly for anything to eat. His mind even started to dream about Inukashi's cooking and while it wasn't the worst he ever tried, he was rather not fond of her skills. The Sunday's evening when their little family was invited for a dinner burned in Nezumi's memory, making him wonder how Junior had survived for those five years.

Shion chuckled at him teasing that he always got grumpy when he was hungry and Nezumi couldn't deny that fact. He was a little annoyed that Shion handled his own feeling of hunger better than him. No surprise from the person who almost starved himself to death once.

Or maybe Shion was too focused on the ring on his finger to even notice that he was hungry. Every time Nezumi checked on Shion the other man was looking or touching his gold band like he wanted to make sure that it's real.

It was such a sappy gesture and in the past Nezumi would have laughed at the white haired boy for being silly, but now he couldn't stop smiling gently. His own eyes shifted to his hand without second thought. It was surely a new experience, to feel so much joy from one small piece of metal.

It was around the afternoon when they finally got into that restaurant and got their orders. Shion dug into his meat like crazy, making the older boy feel better about his own weakness and rumbling stomach. The steaks they both ate were even better than Nezumi remembered, so both boys focused on eating without any words until their plates were empty. Somehow Nezumi couldn't help but to feel frustrated at himself for not being prepared in case of being late. Still, overreacting over such small overlook sounded even more idiotic. Instead, Nezumi took a mental note to take more food with them next time. In the end he was a man who never repeated his mistakes.

Later that day, they both headed to the train station with satisfaction after such a wonderful meal. Before they left town Nezumi ignored Shion's request and they bought four bottles of local alcohol as gifts for Inukashi, Rikiga and two for their own family use. Shion's mother wanted to make them party anyway so getting Liqueur sounded like reasonable investment. There was always danger of having that situation from last New Year's party repeat again, but a wedding without alcohol sounded strange.

„Nezumi?" Shion started a conversation while Nezumi pushed their backpacks under some empty space beside the train window. To their luck the cabin they found was empty, at least for now.

„Yes?"

„Thank you for this trip, those four day were the best ones I had in my whole live."

Nezumi didn't need such thanks from Shion. He prepared the whole journey and wedding on his own free will, not mention that he also had a wonderful time revisiting such a beautiful place. Shion only followed Nezumi's selfish plan from the beginning to the end.

Spending time with Shion and being thanked for that shouldn't be a new or strange experience. And yet, it made Nezumi glad that he could lower his guard down, forget his old habits and accept the other human's thanks without worry each time.

„I'm glad to be at service, your majesty." Nezumi answered, adding a dramatical bow for his husband.

„You know Nezumi, I would love to visit that place again."

„We didn't even leave those lands and you already making plans to come back?" Nezumi teased the other man. He had somehow expected Shion to say something like this sooner or later.

„It's that strange? That lake and waterfalls were beautiful... besides... it was place where we got married. I think I'm going to hold a special spot for that lake in my heart from now on."

Shion's simple explanation made Nezumi feel embarrassed and he would lie by denying such fact. Until now the dark-haired man had been met with such sentimental lines only inside books. He knew that Shion really meant what he said, even if it was cheesy as hell. On the other hand he really liked to associate that place with their relationship and he didn't mind returning there to celebrate their marriage in future.

„Alright, your majesty. We can visit that lake again on every fifth anniversary. What you say to that proposition?"

„Every fifth..." Shion beamed with pure joy, saying these words a little dreamy. This was a promise. Not only about returning to those lands but also that in the next five, ten, fifteen and more years they were still going to be together. Nezumi didn't like promises, he was grateful to survive every single day, but he had decided anyway to make such a silly vow for the sake of their future. After a moment Shion's eyes stopped to sparkle with happiness and he asked confusedly „Why only on every fifth?"

„Because there is still a lot more to see in our world, my dear prince. By keeping going back to only one place you never going to see others. And who knows, maybe they will make your heart tremble with excitement and passion more than the lake and waterfall we just saw."

„Oh, I can't wait to visit them."

„Then I would be happy to be your guide, your majesty."

„Looks like we are alone." Shion said. The train had already started to move during their conversation but no one had joined them within that time „I didn't see much people in other cabins too. I thought that train would be more packed on a Saturday."

„Well, it seems that people rather stayed in their homes on such a nice day. It's their lose. At least we have all those seats for ourselves. Taking the nap is going to be much more pleasant experience if no one join us in half way." Nezumi said, leaning down across on three seats and humming happy after setteling himself as comfortable as possible. Shion smiled gently at him but he didn't follow the other boy's example.

„Well, I can watch over our things if you want to sleep." Shion offered and plugged his ID unit into a charger under his seat.

„Maybe later, thanks." Nezumi answered and after a small pause he started a conversation they both had to go through before returning to the NO.6.

„Shion, so as you said you want to wear this ring all the time?"

„Yes... Is there a problem?"

„No, it's more than okay. But since you going to wear it and we still aren't going to expose our relationship..."

„I would love to tell everyone, you deserve this... You bought the rings and asked me to be with you and I..." The white haired male quickly interfered into Nezumi's sentence sounding guilty but the older boy only raised his hand telling Shion to stop.

„Don't worry about that. I know you have those damn elections this year. Speaking about that, you and the rest of the committee were idiots to set up the law about voting for the new government every five years."

Shion's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He didn't think he would hear such opinion from Nezumi about democratic voting.

„I think it's good change. People can decide if current members of the Committee meets with their expectation or they want someone else with better program to improve things that the current rule lacks."

„Still, there are two, maybe even three problems in having those elections this year, your majesty. First, it's too soon. As you told me, Committee started their legitimate rule around year and few months after the wall fell. Five years still didn't pass since then. Second, Committee just started to fix the disasters which the last government had created. Many changes are still in progress or they just begin and the people need time to see what they turn into. To make replacements right now would be an idiotic move for everyone. Third, there are still those annoying pigs from that previous elite, even thought they got quiet lately. Don't you worry that one of them try to sneak into your palace and overtake the city again?"

„Yes, there is such possibility, yet I know that people think just like you. It's too soon and most of residents thinks we still need more time. On other hand, they are happy that we are sticking to the law and we don't make any exceptions. We said we were going to rule for five years since the wall fell and we're keeping our promise. Beside, we know from once-per-year survey about people's needs, made by our information department, that around 86% of city's inhabitants are happy with our ordinance. Only education and finance departments have less support because... well, people are still unsure about the education program we started last year and as you said, that ex-elite isn't happy about their current status... But those two matters aren't bothersome enough to cause personnel changes even in those departments. So, saying shortly, it looks like those elections are going to end with all of Committee members to stay as they are."

Nezumi wondered if he should tease Shion with questions on what the survey said about him, but he abandoned such idea. He knew that Shion would start a long speech about him needing to work harder and talk about the ones who criticize him, instead of taking the praise, which he deserved without a doubt, to heart.

„So in the end it's only an election for the public, everything is already settled up?"

„No! It's only information we got while checking out people's needs. We didn't force anyone to like our doings. Our work must have been good enough and that's why people gave us such good feedback." Shion explained with a frightened voice, clearly nervous. „The real election results may vary from what we know from the survey. Nothing is already settled. Even one mistake can change people's opinion. There is always a possibility for someone better to appear. Someone who has a better plan for selected fields of economy, education or culture. People are free to choose that person over any current member of committee.

At least I hope the other candidate's plans are not pure propaganda, but rational programs for our city... and people will choose something realistic, not some colorful dreams impossible to put into practice..."

Shion ended his statement with a tired and quiet voice. It made Nezumi feel bad since he was also the one who forced Shion into such role. Nezumi was sure that playing a politician wasn't Shion's dream. He didn't wish for constant anxiety because of other people's actions. Not to mention never-ending worry that the city he tried so hard to rebuild just crumble again because of one stupid move. Yet, Nezumi couldn't imagine anyone better than this crimson eyed man. Not like he didn't feel badly and selfish for leaving everything in Shion's hands every time conversations like this one came up.

Shion had his own battled to fight everyday. Just like Nezumi tried everyday to have more hope and believe in the others Shion worked hard to learn how be more careful and beware of the people who might hurt him or wanted to make him suffer by causing pain to the things and persons Shion held dear. They both struggled, trying to adjust to the current world and Nezumi found his decision of buying rings and marring Shion even more reassuring and heartwarming than before.

In the end they always supported each other and helped in matters where another one lacked experience. This was surely going to make them both stronger ,mentally. by simply knowing that they would have themselves not matter what.

"Alright, I got what you meant. I may have said it in a wrong way, but I know that you didn't or aren't going to counterfeit anything. If his majesty would like to hear my opinion about the current situation I would tell him that this survey of his isn't wrong. I can with my very own eyes witness that every passing day of Committee's rule is too good to change it, at least for now. Yet, we still need a year or two to see fruits or loses of current doings. The time will show if people who are now in committee are good at working inside their departments long-term or if they already exhausted themselves during those five years. I also think that the election right now is a waste of money. You really should have waited those two years, but that's only my opinion."

It wasn't like Nezumi wanted to criticize Committee choice but he rather wanted to show to the crimson-eyed boy another point of view. The reason for that wasn't to make him sad or worried. He never questioned that the crimson-eyed man was an intelligent person who just lacked some knowledge about life, literature and culture. He also didn't know if his own opinion was the perfect one. All Nezumi really wanted for Shion was to help him make as little mistakes as possible. He wasn't sure if all members of the committee were so wonderful as Shion hoped. Nezumi knew that some people could be masters at wearing all kinds of masks while waiting for a chance to stab you in the back. It would be strange if there wasn't at least one person in Moondrop who just waited to take Shion's place.

Nezumi wanted to be the pillar of truth that Shion could always use to support himself during the hard times. The person who never waited for Shion to stumble. And even when that happened, Nezumi wanted to be the one who helped Shion to get back on his feet. It never was easy for Nezumi to be so open like that, but his own words for Shion were also sometimes cruel.

Shion reacted as Nezumi predicted, lowering his head and focusing his red eyes on his knees. The dark-haired boy couldn't decide if he should stand up and comfort his husband somehow or not. The situation and his opinion weren't so bad this time, but to tell the truth, Nezumi still wasn't sure when comforting Shion was a silly action and when it was the right thing to do.

Putting golden rings on their fingers didn't change Nezumi into a perfect lover and human. He still had a lot to learn in matter of relationships with other people. Especially in how much he could spoil his husband from now on. On the other hand Shion had spoiled him so much since his return, it made Nezumi feel like an idiot for not taking better care of his lover.

When the other boy raised his head again, his face wasn't sad or even troubled. Shion looked ready for what was going to happen and determined to fight with all problems that awaited for him.

"You may be right, but we decided to stay true to what we promised five years ago. I don't know were it will lead us, but I believe it's the right thing to do. And about costs, they aren't very high in the first place. We took care of that. Everyone can download special program to vote into their ID unit or go to Moondrop and give their vote there on prepared computers."

"I see. Well, there is nothing else to do but to have those elections take place. But, my dear majesty, our lovely conversation flowed into ways so different than I intended. Even if I learned much from your explanation, there is still the matter of our soul-binding rings. Since you said that those elections aren't predetermined I guess you really don't want to announce our marriage right now and you wish to wait until you get once more the highest throne of all." Nezumi joked to reward Shion's positive attitude, yet the other man looked surprised rather than happy after Nezumi's advice.

„I couldn't do such thing... I wouldn't announce my relationship with you just after getting elected again. It would be unfair for people who voted for me. I should do it now or before next elections. It doesn't mean that I like the second option. I don't want to keep you waiting for another two or three years. I really want to say that you are..." Shion made a pause as his cheeks reddened with blush "my husband... I wish nothing more but to be able to sign proper papers as fast as possible. I was so happy when you suggested to do that...Why is everything so complicated?" Shion sighed loudly.

„Don't worry about my feelings in this matter. I don't mind if you won't tell the others that we are married as long as your heart and body belongs to this handsome, amazing man called Nezumi by the most people, by some who still remembered; Eve and 'the worst pain in ass' by Inukashi." Nezumi added little tease to his joke, making Shion finally smile back. Seeing his husband brighten up, Nezumi smirked a little, revealing his plan.

„What I wanted to say from the beginning is that you can keep wearing your ring as long as it won't cause you any problems. I'm going to take off mine when going out and while working at your beloved mother's bakery. Your amazing husband is going to do all of that just to prevent unwanted people to notice our matching rings. Is it alright with you? Don't worry, I won't cheat on you either."

„So you going to wear it for rest of time?"

„Yes, your majesty and even if this gold ring won't be on my finger, my confession of eternal love is not going to change."

Nezumi put all the skills he gained while being an actor in his last sentence, but he knew that image of him laying across the seats with hands under his head and a seductive piece of his stomach not covered by T-shirt probably messed up all his efforts. Still, Shion's face covered again with slight blush as he grinned happily at Nezumi's confession.

„Alright. But I still feel bad about this situation. It shouldn't be like this."

„Know, but your majesty is there anything perfect in this world? Beside me, of course?" He smirked to his chuckling husband.

„Thanks, Nezumi. You don't have any idea how happy it makes me that you care and try to protect me so hard. I wish I had more chances to do the same for you, but for now; I can say that I love you more than anything on this world."

„Hmmm... If that's bothering you I can reveal you a secret that your back-massaging skills are top class, your majesty, and I love to have more opportunity to experience them. I also wouldn't spurn if you do bathroom's cleaning for the next month."

„I don't mind the first one, but you are walking on veeeery thin ice with that second one Nezumi. Even beauty like you should do some chores at home. You have only the second floor to clean!"

"Well, it was worth a try, yet remember my dear prince who's cleaning a bakery with your mom everyday."

„Nezumi, that's your job. You get paid for this."

The rest of train ride went with more happy teasing and joking until both of them were tired and decided to take a nap. As Shion offered, he was the first one who stayed awake and looked after their things. Nezumi didn't sleep for too long, instead he watched the orange rays of light from the setting sun as they danced around Shion's white hair. Leaning over window glass the younger man had fallen asleep with a soft smile on his face. Gold of the ring, red of sky and pink of Shion's scar- all those warm colors looked like they were painted on canvas, making Nezumi feel at home so far away from home.

It already started to get dark when they walked across streets of NO.6. Nezumi hid his ringed hand inside his jacket's pocket. He didn't feel like taking off his ring that day. He wanted to show the city he once hated and which he wanted to destroy that the man beside him was his lover, saviour and the most important person in his life. Even if he was going to take off his wedding ring tomorrow for the sake of making Shion's work less problematic he was sure that one day they were going to be able to walk like this outside without hiding. Under everyone's looks they would show that they both went to hell and back, they parted and reunited, they had their ups and downs, but decided to stay together until the end of their lives.

Nezumi couldn't help but think that it was the most cheesy thought anyone in the world ever came up with. He was glad that he hadn't said it aloud otherwise the universe could start to crumble from excess amounts of sappy love.

He couldn't help but to feel like character from sweet childish fairytale and this was the moment when the main characters found their happy and ever after.

Karan's warm hug and her happiness when Shion proudly show their rings was similar sensation. The silly and lovely kiss Shion put on his forehead before they fell asleep as well. Everything was so sappy and cliché, yet Nezumi didn't want to imagine life without those things any more.

Coming back to work wasn't easy and the reason for such occurrence wasn't their vacation. Getting used back to the city's life routine was nothing compared to people's curiosity. The ring on his finger had been noticed very quickly and Shion didn't have much choice but to come up with some reasonable excuse before his return to the work. The first explanation he made up was about changing ring into protection charm from intrusive ladies hitting on him because of his position, but that lie was too big his liking. That golden ring was too important for him to dirty it with such story. It was proof of Nezumi's love and this was the only explanation Shion really wanted to give.

„Listen, your majesty, if you want to go with this plan I can go to your workplace and act along with you. We can have a loud conversation about very hot lady who tried to catch the President of some city in her web during his vacation but he chose the city over her. While putting ring on his finger he took a vow to devote his life to NO.6 making it his only lover. You might get even more votes with such a story, don't you think?" Nezumi joked as Shion sat beside him on the couch after a meeting with diplomats from other cities. There wasn't much time because his co-workers had to take care of the guests, but Shion was sure that on Monday morning he was going to be flooded with questions.

„Well, it might work and it would move suspicion away from you, but I can't do that. Once our relationship comes to light the people who heard such an excuse would feel betrayed, knowing that I lied in a such way. Besides, I don't want to lessen importance the of that ring. You asked me to marry you with this ring. It's means too much for me to make it an item to keep away unwanted suitors."

„You know that wedding rings works in that way too, my prince? From ancient times it was sign screaming 'this one is taken, your chances to woo them are small, try the another one'. Well, it didn't work if ringed person jumped in another's pants on their own, but it was something that make unwanted suitors reconsider their choice."

„So you gave me ring because you didn't want others to consider me as easy target for a sex?"

„...Maybe."

Nezumi said, smirking secretly and making Shion's jaw open a with shock. In a second the white haired boy's face went gloomy with deep disbelief and disappointment. Seeing how his tease worked, Nezumi almost dropped his book on the floor when he crossed his arms and his whole body started to tremble with laugher.

„Don't worry, my prince. This ring is, as your said, the proof of my eternal love for his majesty, but I won't lie that I also hope that it's going to keep away criminals wanting to take purity of my beloved away from me."

Shion wondered for a while what kind of purity Nezumi was talking about. His virginity had been taken by Nezumi already, so in the end it was probably another silly joke that Nezumi made to play with Shion. He could follow this strange conversation but he had bigger problems to think about. He really had to come out with the story behind his ring. One which later wouldn't turn into one big lie and could be seen as a little piece of bigger truth. Yet, the idea for a perfect excuse didn't want to show up. Every plan Nezumi and him could think about turned out to be strange or easy to reveal as lie. The white haired male leaned his head over his husband's shoulder, huffing with frustration. It didn't take long until a warm hand sneaked around his waist, making Shion feel slightly better. He had gone through worse things so he was going to overcome this matter too.

After few moments of silence from Shion's side Nezumi shifted some of his attention back to his book, but Shion could feel that he was worried too. The younger man knew he had to find some solution from this situation before Nezumi started to doubt his decision of giving him such wonderful gift.

Shion sighed, also moving his eyes on the book hopping to find some inspiration inside it. In the end he wasn't so lucky.

The next day at work started with greetings as always. In the beginning his co-workers noticed the ring but they mostly held back with questions. During the next hour rumors about him getting married spread through the Moondrop. Shion didn't have any idea who started this, but in the middle of the afternoon more brave and curious people encountered him to confirm if gossip was true of false. They acted very polite and mostly just wanted to congratulate him but after few hours of telling:

„It's nothing like that.", „I would love to share such joyful news, but no, I didn't sign any marital documents. At least I don't remember doing that.", „We just exchanged rings with my partner. We can't marry because we are to busy with our work, but we wanted to have some item that would remind us about each other when we are apart." Shion felt drained like the sand of a desert.

Those sentences were the best he could come up with. At least they weren't purely lies. Some of his co-workers were satisfied with such answers and wanted a promise of inviting them to the wedding when it's happened. Unfortunately for Shion, not everyone was like that. They wanted to know more about Shion's lover, so he described Nezumi as:

Shy person, who don't want to be part of political world and Shion fully accepts that. He also added that he didn't know if their relationship could handle too much pressure right now; which was very funny when you knew the real Nezumi.

This answer made most of his co-workers to drop the topic and wish him luck.

There was a moment when he thought about running away and hiding inside his office until the end of the day, but when he was close, he reminded himself how bad it was going be if rumors spread further behind Moondrop's walls. This way he sacrificed the whole day to clear all possible rumors instead working on a statement and proposition of their guests from the other cities. Each time he got annoyed at such a waste of time Shion calmed himself down with a thought that nothing comes without the price. He got the ring from the person he loved the most on the world and he had to somehow pay for it. No hardship was too scary when price for it was Nezumi's love.

Walking through the corridors, he almost bumped into Mr. Kiano from the security department. He had a loud with his son who even took away some attention from Shion's ring matter. From what Shion heard it wasn't the first incident like that. The reason behind such quarrels was the critical health of Kiano's wife. The white-haired boy heard that she had a really nasty type of cancer which didn't react to the treatment, what was really rare with the advanced medical technology they had in NO.6.

Mr. Kiano's son was very angry at his father for going to work everyday instead of staying with his mother.

Well, cancer was still a big threat to the city's inhabitants. The radiation after war was still high. NO.6 was build in place that suffered from bombing less than other parts of their continent, but it wasn't a glass jar that kept them from getting sick. For past years people worked really hard to fix the problem, but everyone knew it might take centuries before they would be free from threat. Researchers worked each day since on cure for different kinds of cancer but their rare success wasn't enough. Shion was surprised when he found out that people in the city even had cancer. Unless you were a medical student or elite it was forbidden knowledge. For the prefect utopia it was like taboo. The statistic were good, medical treatment helped almost 92% of people, but the rest... The most families of the ones who had died on cancer never got to know the real reason behind deaths of their beloved ones. The others who knew where threatened to stay silent. Shion couldn't understand why the old government had hidden such truth, but he could guess that NO.6 didn't fit the image of a perfect city without diseases and suffering.

Shion couldn't help but to sympathize with Mr. Kiano situation. He hoped to never be in such position. His own current problems were nothing compared to having his family member suffer or even die from such disease.

Slowly, with each passing day the wedding situation got a little better. Shion still patrolled whole building to check out if his story settled down between his co-workers. It mostly worked.

Yet, when he got home on Thursday he saw Nezumi talking with some man holding camera in front of the bakery. The unknown man left before Shion was able to get closer, but the crimson-eyed boy was able to catch glimpse of his confused and troubled face.

„Nezumi?" Shion asked worried about what was going on.

„As you see, we had some uninvited guest who wanted to find out about your lover." Nezumi answered, knowing that hiding the situation wouldn't do anything good since Shion had already seen man with camera. As they decided, the long haired boy didn't wear his ring so it didn't look like their secret was found out. Still, Shion knew that sometimes Nezumi used to solve problems in rather drastic ways.

„Did you do anything to them?" It wasn't like he didn't trust Nezumi but he liked to be prepared in case of some nasty article on the Internet or the newspaper.

„Nothing scary if that worries his majesty. At first he just asked around me and your mother about your ring so we told him the story you come with for your co-workers. He wasn't very pleased with such answers. I went after our guests when he was checking around our royal gardens. I suggested him to think how it would be if he was spying right now on a member of the previous government. Having the Correctional Facility was anything but heaven and he should pay respect to the person who ended that hell. I said that you went through so much and even got yourself sick almost to death last year just to make people happy so you deserve to have the possibility to decide when you want to share your happiness and information about your relationship. I asked him to recall if you ever done anything to hurt this city's reputation. As you can guess he said that you never did such thing. Oh, and I added that no one would be happy when they hear that their beloved President's relationship fell apart because some curious reporter messed it up."

Shion released a breath which he didn't know he was holding, after hearing Nezumi's explanation. Well, it wasn't as bad as he had imagined. At least his husband hadn't used any sharp objects this time. Yet he wasn't exactly sure if such words would make the reporter give up or rise his curiosity even more. Maybe he should prepare himself to reveal their marriage even before elections started... Deep in his heart, Shion didn't want anything more, but he also didn't wish for his city to suffer because of his selfishness. His own numbers were pretty high from what he was told. Even losing 30% of his current followers wouldn't force him to leave the position of the leader of city, not mention of his membership in Restructual Committee.

„Did such a thing happen before?" Shion asked Nezumi, looking around their surrounding. Some people were sitting behind the tables in the fresh air. He and Nezumi were too far away for them to hear their conversation, but close enough for people to notice Shion and nod their heads with greetings. They were regulars at the bakery and Shion, who normally didn't come home so early, knew those people pretty well. They had always been very kind to him. He had to thank for such credit of trust to his mother. Everyone who met Shion's mother knew how kind of a person she was. They always believed in Karan's words when she was talking good things about her son.

Shion's own doings and hard work made people trust him, but at beginning, when wall had fallen, Karan's customers and friends had been a great support at rebuilding city. Shion worked so hard each day to repay for the kindness and faith he once received from people like them. That's why he couldn't give up so easily of his position in city, steep back into ecology department and let himself spend more time with his husband, mother and friends.

Nezumi sighed loudly before putting hands on his hips and answering Shion's question with content.

„There were four of them sniffing around since Tuesday, but me and your mom got rid of them as delicately as possible. The one reporter had a hard time and struggled to figure out how to leave since he over-ate himself with apple pies and fudge. I checked out every newspaper and most information pages on Internet without luck at finding something about Mr. Shion's lover so for now everything is under control."

Despite Nezumi's words Shion couldn't help but to be upset with situation. It looked like the possibility of someone finding their secret was high at this rate. He wasn't afraid of that, he only hoped that Safu and old doctor would forgive him for things turning out more problematic because of his own selfishness.

"Well, there is nothing else to do in this matter." Shion said to his husband. He wasn't going to give up on fixing city even after revealing his relationship. He would do the same but this time with Nezumi as his legal husband.

"Shion, you can always take off that ring. I wouldn't feel bad if you do so."

Those were words that Shion really didn't want to hear. For Shion it felt like Nezumi was rejecting his own heart and feelings.

"I want pay such price for having you as my husband." He said very serious and quiet so only Nezumi was able to hear him. "This is just another fight we had to survive. It's just like when you said to never regret of being the one that is alive. I don't want to hear that you regret loving and choosing to spend life with me because the others may don't like it. We exchanged weeding rings and now we had to cherish this decision everyday even if it's not easy."

Nezumi's concerned face soften with warm smile after Shion's speech.

"Using my words against me...You really grew up, your majesty. Alright, I won't say that ever again. I'm heading back to work now. As you know the hour of torment going to start soon."

Shion rolled his eyes at dramatical groan of his lover. The hour of torment was just time when kids ended their days at elementary and high schools. In short, it was just the busiest hour of bakery's work where clients were mostly kids and their guardians which Nezumi didn't like much. The dark-haired boy always handled the older people better, charming them with his skills he gained at West Block.

"Alright, then I'm going to start cooking dinner. Do you or mom have any special wishes?"

"You have to ask Karan herself, she didn't share her plans for our feast today. As for your gorgeous underling, he wouldn't spurn any piece of nice beef."

"Beef again?" Shion raised his eyebrow in amusement.

"What? I'm still a growing man."

"Yeah, more in width than height." He teased his silver-eyed lover. No one said that Nezumi had all rights for jokes in their relationship.

"Watch out for your words, your majesty, that reporter maybe is not gone too far to return and hear about your love story."

Shion rolled his eyes again. He decided to stop there. Telling the older boy that his threats had lost in strength over the years wouldn't be a lie, but it was still too dangerous a truth to say aloud. Shion didn't want to waste such cheerful mood between them.

They both stepped into everyone's favorite bakery where Nezumi settled down behind the cash register. Shion greet his mother and exchanged few words with her before leaving towards his room to change and get Cravat to the kitchen with him. After setting the old mouse on the table and giving him some sunflower's seeds he started to make dinner for his family. He didn't let his overtime hours at work to waste any longer. The meeting in Sunday may have shortened his vacation but it let Shion go home earlier that day. Now he was able to use his free time to cook for his beloved ones and forget about city for a moment, its people and the other worries.

It was only him, Nezumi, Karan and Cravat that mattered in that moment.

Shion set on some music on his ID unit and, dancing around the small kitchen, he took joyful looks to his hand. Two lines crossed the golden surface of the ring. He wondered if Nezumi chose such engraving to symbolize them both. Probably not, but it didn't stop Shion from thinking that way. Two of them, together... For the rest of their lives. After a moment of looking at the gold metal Shion headed to the fridge to took a large piece of beef from it.

#no.6 #nezushi #nezumi #shion #karan #notperfect #fanfiction

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no6secretsanta · 5 years

Text

warming up

for: @flat-san

from: @iwatch-theworld

Happy holidays! Here is a sort of modern-ish AU fic that I hope qualifies as “super schmoopy fluff” :) Getting to write Safu and Inukashi was a delight, as well as writing their group dynamic with Shion and Nezumi, lol. I hope you enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday season & rest of the year! <3

***

“How lame,” Safu sighs.

“Seriously,” Inukashi agrees. “That’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen.”

“Like a grade schooler made it.”

“My dogs could do better.”

Nezumi narrows his eyes at the two idly making prodding remarks and leaning casually against the wall of Karan’s bakery. Safu is wrapped up in her baby pink scarf, arms crossed, snug and cozy, and Inukashi is wearing a black jacket so long it reaches their knees, their hair loose and messy. “All your dogs can do is turn the pure white snow into a putrid yellow,” he retorts. “This is nearly perfect.”

“Perfect, he says,” Inukashi scoffs.

“The head. It’s off 4.1 centimeters on the left,” Safu points out.

“Are you serious?” Nezumi laughs, disbelieving. “You can tell just by looking?”

Safu furrows her brow. “Of course.”

“Well, if you don’t like it, make one yourself instead of standing there uselessly.”

“You’re the one who said you could do it. We’re testing your skills.” Inukashi smirks.

“Shion and I are already experts,” Safu retorts, not looking at him, examining her fingernails. “It would be unfair.”

“Is that so? One of the boy genius’s many talents is that he’s a master in snowman-making?” Nezumi retorts.

“Don’t turn your anger on me, Nezumi,” Shion says, squatting, examining Nezumi’s ever-so-slightly lopsided snowman. “There’s no shame in not being good at something you’ve never done before.”

“Hey, wait, who said it’s not good? And why would I be ashamed of something so—”

“There you go.” Shion grabs a handful of snow, smooths it into the side of its head. “I bet that feels better, Mr. Snowman. We’ll get you some arms and eyes soon, too.”

“This is ridiculous,” Nezumi mutters.

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Inukashi jabs.

“Shion, that’s not fair. He was supposed to do it himself,” Safu says, lifting herself off of the wall and walking over to where Shion and Nezumi are. Inukashi follows closely behind.

“He made most of it. Besides, wouldn’t you feel bad for the snowman if we just left him like that?”

Safu eyes Shion for a second, hesitates before saying, “I suppose so.”

“Well, there you go. It’s done,” Nezumi says, shrugging his shoulders. “We’re finished here. I’m leaving now.” Without waiting for a response, he turns his heel to start heading away.

But Shion reaches out, places a hand on his shoulder. Nezumi freezes. “Wait. I just said he still needs a face. You can’t quit partway through.”

Nezumi almost sighs, catches himself, says, “And where are we getting its face?”

“My mom has some raisins she said we could use. I’ll be right back.” Shion removes his hand from Nezumi’s shoulder, and Nezumi watches him as he walks back to the bakery. Once inside, Nezumi turns his attention back to the snowman, blank-faced and empty, for a few moments, but feels two sets of eyes boring into him. “Can I help you two?”

“What a brat,” Inukashi says.

“Childish. Immature,” Safu agrees flatly.

“Doesn’t know a damn thing.”

“You’re the ones who suggested this,” Nezumi shoots back. “Why do you care so much about my snowman crafting abilities? I bet you don’t even know either, Inukashi.”

Inukashi sticks their tongue out.

“Simple-minded. Foolish,” Safu continues.

“Vague. Pointless,” Nezumi retorts.

Safu sighs. “I never cared for doing this,” she gestures to the snowman, “but Shion loved it when we were little. I don’t know why. Personally, I think snow is much more interesting when you look at individual flakes under a microscope—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a huge geek, we know.”

Safu continues, unruffled. “And the point you’re not getting is that this is something fun Shion likes. And you’re not taking advantage of it.”

“Like a big dummy,” Inukashi teases.

“Enough from the peanut gallery,” Nezumi snaps.

Tongue again.

“Inukashi’s right,” Safu asserts. “At least act like you’re having fun. Instead of being a… a boring…moody—sort of—”

“Dummy!” Inukashi helps.

“Dummy,” Safu agrees.

Nezumi sighs for real this time. Dealing with Shion is one thing, an ordeal in itself, a not depleting but still relatively significant toll on his energy reserves. Inukashi used to be a small annoyance, like a buzzing fly, miniscule and easily swatted away, not too difficult to handle, but ever since their group expanded and they became friends with Safu, the two had become a tiring pair to deal with.

But while Inukashi was a brat, like a kid sibling, Safu was someone more on equal footing he could exchange quips with, and he respected her insight.

Most of the time. Like when she’s not calling him a boring, moody dummy.

“And what? You two are trying to create some sort of romantic atmosphere with snowman building and insults? It’s working wonders so far. As you can see.”

“It would be easier if you had a better attitude,” Safu says.

“And it would be easier for me if you weren’t here.”

“We’re just helping you get it off the ground,” Inukashi says.

“A sort of friend-hangout-turned-romantic-date thing,” Safu adds.

“Didn’t ask for your help,” Nezumi says.

“You need it, though,” Safu counters.

“You—”

The bell above the door of Karan’s bakery jingles, and Shion returns, a small basket in hand. “Sorry I was gone so long,” he says. “Mom actually didn’t have any spare raisins—raisin bread has been popular lately, for some reason. But we found some dried apricots instead.”

“…Great,” Nezumi says, completely unable to care about the dried fruit.

“I’m glad you found something, Shion.” Safu smiles, any trace of harshness from the previous conversation vanished from her expression, replaced only with the gentle warmness she always has around Shion. “We’ll leave the finishing touches to you boys, then. Inukashi and I have other plans.”

“Plans? You two?” Nezumi queries.

“She’s gonna help me identify all the dog breeds I have,” Inukashi says, grinning, obviously excited. “Don’t know ‘em myself. Just know which ones are the fluffiest, best blankets, which are siblings, stuff like that. Don’t know anything about breeds.”

“Didn’t know you were a dog person,” Nezumi says to Safu.

“I’m not partial to any particular animal. But Shion’s interested in ecology, and I’ve helped him study sometimes. I know all the different kinds of both domestic and wild dogs and cats, a variety of fish, rodents, trees, fungi, and more.”

“It’s true,” Shion says. “But she’s lying about not being partial to particular animals. Safu loves cats.”

Nezumi’s not sure why, but Safu almost immediately blushes, as if embarrassed by her fondness of cats. “Well, anyway, we should be going. See you later.” She grabs Inukashi’s hand and starts powerwalking away. Inukashi sticks their tongue out at Nezumi one last time as they’re pulled along.

Nezumi makes no reaction, just turns back around to face Shion, and as soon as he does Shion grabs his wrist, his fingers ice-cold, and puts a piece of dried fruit in his palm.

“We’ll start with his eyes,” Shion says. “And try to make it as symmetric as possible. For Safu.”

Like she really cares, Nezumi thinks, but instead he says, “Hey, maybe you should be wearing some gloves. Your hands are freezing.”

“Oh. I hadn’t noticed.”

“Hadn’t noticed? Jeez, what an airhead you are. Would you not notice yourself freezing to death unless I said so?”

“Of course not. I was just…caught up in the moment.”

“Don’t be so ‘caught up in the moment’ you get frostbite.”

“We’re almost done. I’ll be fine.”

Nezumi clicks his tongue. “Stubborn, this one.”

“You seem like you’re in a worse mood than usual today,” Shion notes.

Suddenly, without prompting, Safu’s voice enters Nezumi’s head then: Dummy. It would be easier if you had a better attitude.

“Who has fun out in the freezing cold like this?” Nezumi defends, jamming the apricot Shion gave him into the right side of the snowman’s face.

Shion places the left eye on. Then starts putting the mouth pieces below. “It’s possible. But you have a point.”

As Shion places the apricots on one by one, Nezumi can’t stop staring at his hands. As Shion places the last one, Nezumi reaches out, on impulse, automatically and without thinking, to grab Shion’s still-frozen hand.

“Let’s go somewhere warmer,” he says, tightening his grip on Shion’s hand, “before the both of us start freezing to death.”

Shion holds his gaze a moment before saying, “You really hate the cold, huh.”

“Of course I hate the—” Nezumi starts. Almost sighs, doesn’t. “We finished the snowman, didn’t we? Let’s go somewhere else now.”

Shion snaps a picture of the snowman on his phone with his free hand. For Safu, Nezumi thinks, finding it amusing that Shion was misinterpreting Safu’s interest in the snowman for interest in the thing itself, and not her interest in Shion. Though of course he thought that way. It was Shion.

“If you’re cold, I know a place we can go that’s really warm,” Shion says, reciprocating Nezumi’s hand squeeze.

Nezumi’s first instinct is to argue, to be the one to take the lead, choose the place, but he remembers his earlier sharp remarks, remembers Safu’s voice in his head, and he decides Shion can at least choose the place, and Nezumi could figure out what to do there, as long as they were out of the damp snow and frigid air.

So he says, “Alright,” and Shion starts leading him away from the snowman, their hands still linked, slightly warmer than before.

***

“And this one is a Golden Retriever—obviously, ‘cause its fur is gold—and this one is one of our warmest, a Bernese mountain dog, bred and raised in the Bernese mountains themselves—”

Inukashi is going on and on about all their different dogs, proud, smug, Safu grinning, amused, by their side, Nezumi and Shion standing in their doorway, a crowd of dogs surrounding them, eager to greet the new guests. Shion is kneeling on the floor to pet some of the smaller puppies. Safu sits on the stairs with a Pomeranian in her lap. Nezumi is looking off to the side, nonplussed, his hands in his pockets.

Inukashi is holding some light brown fluffy puppy, saying, “This is some mutt, not even Safu could tell, but she thinks it’s some kind of lab mix—”

“Shion, we really had to come here? We just escaped them,” Nezumi says in a low tone.

“There’s no place warmer than Inukashi’s,” Shion says, as one of the dogs Inukashi recently identified as a Chow Chow licks his face.

“And this one—”

“We’re just here to warm up,” Nezumi interrupts. “So if you would kindly show us your warmest, furriest pooch, that’d be great.”

Inukashi, still excited over their newfound knowledge, ignores Nezumi’s rudeness and says, “That would be this ol’ boy,” patting a large, white and very fluffy dog. “He’s a Great Pyr—Great Pire?—Great—”

“Pyrenees,” Safu helps.

“Great Pyrenees!”

“We’ll take him,” Nezumi says.

“Then take him and go. You’re the one who interrupted us. Me and Princess Science were having a perfectly good time without you, you know.”

Nezumi sees Safu blush slightly at the nickname, and he can’t help but be amused. For all her haughtiness and brainy-ness, there were times where she was strikingly girlish, and the book-smart rich kid melted away to reveal the normal teenage girl she was underneath. Shion was like that sometimes, too, rattling off complicated theories one second, caught up in something small and human the next.

Safu catches him looking at her, and her expression changes from sheepish to annoyed. She looks like she wants to say, What are you doing here, anyway?

Nezumi smirks, ignores Inukashi, turns back to Shion. “Shion, do you hear any yapping from a tiny, unruly pup?”

Shion looks up, distracted, from the growing crowd of puppies at his feet. “What? No, all the puppies here are so well-behaved. I’m impressed!”

Nezumi facepalms. Inukashi laughs.

The Great Pyrenees, now in front of Nezumi, gives a low, soft, “Boof!”

“The old man’s waiting on ya,” Inukashi says.

Without hesitation, Nezumi nods to the stairs, says, “Let’s go.”

The old dog slowly leads them up the stairs, into the guest bedroom, used to the routine. He stops, looks back at them, and once they’ve entered the room, plops itself not on the soft mattress of the guest bed or the plump love seat in the corner, but on the floor.

“Cheapskate.” Nezumi clicks his tongue. “Only one dog for two people, and it wants us to sit on the floor.”

“Don’t complain. It’s better than being outside in the cold still, right?” Shion sits up against the wall on the floor by the dog, and the dog moves over to Shion and licks his hand, his face, then promptly sits on him. Then looks expectantly at Nezumi.

Nezumi, still feeling stubborn, doesn’t want to sit on the floor, but quickly it dawns on him that they’re finally alone (not counting the dog), and even if the pup and Safu are in the same place, they’re downstairs and away from them, and this is probably the closest they’re getting to alone time today.

“Alright, old man, you don’t have to give me those puppy eyes.” Nezumi sits down next to Shion, and the dog adjusts itself so it’s now spread out on both of them, a cloud of cotton puff. Nezumi and Shion are shoulder to shoulder, Shion’s arm moving up against Nezumi’s as he pets the dog.

“Petting dogs is relaxing. If you pet him, maybe it’ll help your bad mood. It’s scientifically proven.”

“I’m so sure.”

“It is.”

“I’m not in a bad mood today,” Nezumi asserts. “This is my normal self.”

“You’re usually grumpy, that’s true. But today you seem even grumpier.”

“It’s that damn Inukashi’s fault. And Safu’s. Their stupid snowman trial.”

“Like I said earlier, there’s nothing to be ashamed of—”

“I’m not ashamed.” Nezumi sighs. Why was he in such a bad mood today? It was Inukashi and Safu’s antics, and layered beyond that, all the previous prodding from Safu about Shion, that Nezumi should be doing something more for him. Something like what? Something to meet her standards, her romantic ideal for Shion? What did she know, anyway? He thought she would give up once he and Shion got together, but ever the perfectionist, she seemed bent on making sure Shion was happy in the way she wanted. As if she could tell him what to do? Screw that. She can take her controlling, pretentious ideas and shove them—

Suddenly, Nezumi felt something warm on his hand. It was Shion, taking his hand and bringing it to the dog’s fur. “Then relax. Pet a dog. We might as well enjoy it while we’re here.”

Their hands joined again, Nezumi is brought back to the moment, here at Inukashi’s, under their dog, because Shion brought them here. Swept away from one thing to another, first in Safu and Inukashi’s plans, then Shion’s. So much for him taking the lead. His hand between the smoothness of Shion’s skin and the softness of the dog’s fur, he notices Shion’s hand is much warmer now, and relenting a bit, he’s glad they came here. After all, he wanted Shion warm, wanted them alone, and here they were, ready for Nezumi to finally do as he wished.

So Nezumi slides his hand out from under Shion’s, gently lifts Shion’s fingertips with his own, kisses Shion’s knuckles. “As you wish.”

Shion’s ears redden. The dog on top of them yawns, stretches, nods off to sleep. Silence lingers a few moments, and Nezumi begins to retract his hand, but Shion quickly grabs tight onto his fingers. Without words, they’re holding hands again, wrists resting on the dogs back, moving slightly with the dog’s steady breathing.

Shion leans into Nezumi. Nezumi places a subtle, quick kiss onto Shion’s forehead. Then he says, “Next time, however, I want to be alone. Completely. Not even in the same house with someone else.”

“No argument. But when we are with the others, try to at least be civil.”

“No promises.”

“Nezumi—”

“Okay, okay. I’ll try. But only if they do.”

Shion sighs. Rubs his thumb along Nezumi’s hand. Nezumi tenses slightly at the gentle motion, then lets himself relax. An innocuous gesture. An innocuous desire for civility. So simple, so silly, so breakable, vulnerable, fragile. Safu is in Nezumi’s head again, telling him to do more for Shion, telling him to have a better attitude. In this quietude, this warmth, with Shion idly resting beside him, his guard loosens, and he starts to think: she’s right.

Not that Nezumi’s done anything wrong, exactly. But maybe Safu has a point.

Because when Shion’s desires are simple, to make a snowman, for peace among loved ones, to relax and be together, maybe Nezumi can try to comply a little easier, without fighting everything first, without trying to escape.

Muffled, he hears Inukashi’s raucous laughter downstairs, Safu’s Hey! followed by a few dogs barking excitedly. Here, in the guest room, tucked away from it all, shoulder to shoulder with Shion, Nezumi finally gives in.

“Man, I’m beat,” he says. “This pooch really is warm. I could take a nap.”

“You never take naps.”

“True. But I wouldn’t mind staying here, until this guy wakes up.” Nezumi pauses. “Or…for as long as you want.”

He waits for a response. Gets none. He looks to Shion, wondering if he’s said something strange—at the very least, he’s said something uncharacteristic.

But Shion is asleep now, breathing steadily in time with the dog. Nezumi sighs.

Oh well. Screw it, he thinks. Giving in, he closes his eyes, too, rests his head against Shion’s, letting himself relax into the warmth of the two sleeping bodies. Oh well…

#iwatch-theworld #flat-san #no6 #no 6 #no.6 #no. 6 #submission

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no6secretsanta · 5 years

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Snowflakes and Starlight - pigeonsimba for celebrian

Snowflakes and Starlight

By @pigeonsimba for @aowyn

The snow floats and falls like dandelion fluff on the wind. Shion’s canine escort frisks about in the muddy snowbank just to his left, chomping occasionally at snowflakes that err too close to her eager muzzle. Although the dog looks laughable in moments like this, Inukashi assures him she’s a scrapper when it comes to confrontation. It’s been weeks since the run-in with the Disposers, so Shion isn’t sure he still needs the dog’s protection, but he’s glad to have her company on the solitary walks home from dog washing. He means to name the piebald mutt, but he hasn’t settled on the right one just yet, and he wants to make sure he gets Inukashi’s approval first.

The snow has been constant the last week. There’s so much that Shion is convinced that if you cut the snow banks open like a cake, you’d get a graduated slice, starting from black muck at the bottom, rising to grayed slush, and ending at the sugar white of fresh snow. The layers just beneath the top are fully frozen and treacherous if one doesn’t mind them well. Nezumi reminded Shion that sweet as the snow may seem the first day it comes down, it makes hell out of the ground in the days that follow. It’s especially bad when the snow compounds day after day, hiding the freezing sheets beneath clean coats. It is like walking on a pretty powdered minefield.

Shion picks his way carefully down the dark, narrow lane of the main street where the snow is less dense. This small sliver of road has not been cleared so much as stomped into submission. Though the residents of West Block do have shovels and other rudimentary means of cleaning the snow, they don’t have the luxury of time to do it, nor do they have the temperment. Inclement weather or not, the people trudged on, opening shops, hawking wares, swearing, sweating, and cursing until the dark brought them indoors again. To claim that one can’t perform their regular duties due to dangerous conditions is ludicrous; conditions are chronically dangerous in West Block.

So Shion sets out every other day to wash dogs, and Nezumi goes to the playhouse, or wherever else he gets off to when he isn’t home. It is a way of existence that Shion could never have conceived of in his old life. In No. 6, the streets would have been paved clear within the first hours of snowfall, and icy sidewalks would be a rarity, if not an impossibility. If the meteorologists predicted a winter squall headed their way, the populace would be warned to stay inside, work and class would be canceled, and families would sit inside their warm homes, sipping hot chocolates and watching the elements wail and blur outside their windows.

Shion no longer lives in No. 6, and it’s possible he never will again, but he doesn’t regret his life in West Block. Although he hopes he might be able to see his mother and Safu again one day, he doesn’t miss the city itself. Nothing ever felt real there. West Block, however, is excruciatingly real.

When Shion returns from dog washing, he feels the result of that work in the deep ache of his muscles and the fog of fatigue clouding his brain. And when it snows, he feels the sharp burn of the wind on his cheeks, the searing cold ripping in and out of his lungs, and he appreciates the warmth of his home that much more for it. Pain and discomfort are humbling teachers, and Shion feels blessed to have the chance to learn from them.

The dog hops off the top of the snowbank and into Shion’s path. She flops her thin brown tail and rubs up against his side, nosing his gloved hand. Shion laughs and pauses to give her head a good scratch.

“Sorry, am I walking too slow for you? I know it’s cold.”

The dog chuffs and the vapor ghost of her breath dances skyward. The snow is tapering off, and the fat gray clouds move slowly across the sky to inundate other places. When Shion finishes petting the dog, he gives her flank a pat and continues on. The dog follows along for a few strides but then stops and perks her ears.

“What is it, girl?” Shion sidles a bit closer. His dog escorts rarely dither or pause, so Shion pays special attention when they do.

The dog’s ears swivel, and she turns and trots down a side street. Shion follows without hesitation. He trusts the dog would not lead him into danger, and besides, it doesn’t seem that this alley sees much traffic. Shion’s legs sink mid-calf into the untrod snow and he shivers at the chill pressing at his skin through the fabric of his pants.

The alley lets out onto another street, which lays quiet but for a gray building two doors down. Conversation buzzes from the cracked doorway and Shion can see the faint amber glow of candlelight from the upper windows. The dog stops in front of the building and plops down onto her hindquarters. She gives a light bark and wags her tail.

Shion studies the exterior and realizes that the building is not gray, but faded green, a few shades shoddier than the carpet in the underground room. The snow around the building is heavily trodden, so much that Shion can actually make out the sporadic cobblestones that make up the streets of West Block. Whatever this place is, it’s popular.

Shion glances at the dog, wondering what drew her here. Then, he hears it:

A voice rises above the hubbub and the noise ceases, snuffed like a candle. The voice flutters in song, and though Shion stands outside and the sound is muffled, goosebumps prickle his skin. The song is crisp, clean, and clear, the singer’s timbre pure as the reverberation of struck crystal. Shion closes his eyes and lets the beauty of it wash over him for a moment.

“Nezumi,” he breathes. Shion would recognize that voice anywhere.

He doesn’t recognize the song, though, and after a moment more of listening, Shion rakes his teeth over his lower lip. This must be the playhouse Nezumi works at. Shion had been strictly barred from Nezumi’s performances, and he has never had a chance to seek out the playhouse. But now that he’s here already….

Shion reaches a hand toward the cracked door and glances down at the dog, as if she could advise on whether this is a good idea. The dog stares back with her liquid brown eyes and wags the tip of her tail. Shion figures she must approve, since she led him here, and pushes the door open.

The air inside the entrance is stuffy from the bodies packed into the room beyond. Shion can see the backs of men and women through the open doorway, and the sound of Nezumi’s song floats over their heads like fairy music—Shion can’t help but gravitate toward it.

“Hey!”

Shion jolts. An elderly woman glares at him from behind a small table at the side of the room. Nothing is on the table except her gnarled hands and a dun colored lockbox.

“You got a ticket?” she rasps. The woman looks like an ancient oak tree come to life, and her voice is dry and rough as bark.

“Oh. Uh, no,” Shion says, coloring a little at the raw dislike on her face.

“Got any money, then?”

“Oh! Yes, I…” Shion roots around in his pockets for a few seconds before he remembers he hasn’t been paid yet. Inukashi always pays him at the end of the week, and it’s only mid-week now.

Shion fists his empty hands at his sides and cranes his neck in an attempt to see into the room beyond. Nezumi’s voice tapers off on a sad, sweet note, and the room erupts into claps and cheers.

“Well?” The woman holds out her hand, her fingers curled like the legs of a dead spider.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any money after all.”

“Then get out!”

Shion flinches at her vitriol. He hasn’t closed the door behind him and the cold outside air whispers over the back of his neck.

“But couldn’t I just—”

“No!”

The woman pushes up from her chair with a series of worrying pops and shuffles toward him. Shion backs out the door and the old crone slams it in his face.

He sighs and leans against the wall, as close to the window as he can get. Nezumi has started another song, this one more lively than the last. The spectators inside laugh and clap along.

“Maybe this is the universe telling me I shouldn’t betray Nezumi’s trust?” he asks the dog, who hasn’t moved since she’d parked herself in front of the playhouse. The dog cocks her head at Shion’s question and he gives her a small smile. “Well. Thanks for bringing me here anyway. It’s nice to know where Nezumi works.”

Shion tilts his head back and watches pieces of the night sky peek through the clouds. It looks like they’ll have clear skies tomorrow. Shion’s chest fills with relief; snow has long lost its novelty.

He turns back to the dog. “I think I’m going to wait and walk back with Nezumi. You can go home; I don’t want to make you stay out in the cold.”

The dog’s ears perk and her eyes seem to narrow, as if she’s judging whether he can be trusted to stand against a building without being accosted. Her skepticism reminds him so much of Nezumi that he can’t help but laugh. The dog must decide he can manage well enough alone, because she stands, stretches, and gives his glove a lick before turning back the way they came.

Shion attempts to make a mini snowman while he waits for the night’s performances to end. The top layer of snow is quite powdery, but it holds together in a ball well enough to stack. He hears the gathering break up just as he’s adding the finishing touches: Black pebbles for eyes and two cigarette butts for arms. His slumped and mouthless creation looks more like a warning for the dangers of reckless living than the jolly, happy soul Shion envisioned, but he is proud of it nonetheless.

Shion steps aside as the playhouse door tears open and its occupants elbow their way out. The warm air they carry with them is thick with sweat, alcohol, and the odd whiff of grilled meat. Few pay Shion any mind, but he keeps his gaze low to the ground to avoid attracting the attention of anyone rowdy or drunk enough to begin something over eye contact.

When the last of the patrons files out and disperses into the night, Shion raises his head and peers into the playhouse. Nezumi didn’t come out with the crowd, but Shion hadn’t expected him to. He imagined Nezumi would want to avoid his fans and come out only when they were gone.

He could see into the main room of the playhouse clearly now through the doorway. It’s an open space with no seats that he can see, but the stage at the front is sizeable enough for a play. The stage has only one small spotlight, its bulb still glowing faintly from use. There are no microphones and no orchestra, nor any stage equipment.

Shion waits a few minutes, but Nezumi doesn’t appear. A few minutes more and still no Nezumi, and he decides to brave the crotchety old lady again.

“Um. Hi.” The woman spears him with an acidic leer, but he gives her a close-lipped smile and pushes on. “Has Nezumi left yet?”

“Who?”

“Nezumi? Or, ah, Eve?”

“Oh. Another Eve fanboy,” she scoffs. “No, Eve isn’t here. He left a while ago, secretly, like he always does to avoid hangers-on like you. Now get out!”

Shion pulls the door shut and twists his mouth to the side. He should have guessed Nezumi would have a back way out. If he hurries, maybe he can catch up to him on the path. Shion steps over the trampled corpse of his snowman and heads in the direction of the underground room.

Luck is on his side that night: Once Shion leaves the town behind and is on the lonely path winding its way home, he spots a familiar silhouette ahead.

“Nezumi!”

Nezumi frowns as Shion trots to his side. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’m heading back from dog washing.”

“At this hour?”

“Well… I made a detour to the playhouse.” Nezumi’s grey eyes flash as they narrow, but Shion pretends he doesn’t notice and continues, “I waited for you, but you had already left. I caught up, though. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Nezumi echoes dryly and resumes walking. “Where’s your four-legged babysitter?”

“I sent her home. I couldn’t hear you well when you were performing; what songs did you sing?”

Nezumi clicks his tongue. “Some holiday garbage. That’s all the audience wants when it snows. Tis the season and all that.”

“That’s nice,” Shion says with a smile. “No. 6 doesn’t keep a good record of songs from before the Babylon Treaty, but I think there are still a few from Christmastime… The ones about snow, at least.”

No. 6 doesn’t have any holidays apart from Holy Day, and there is nothing cheery about it. No songs, no dancing, and the only decorations allowed are banners of No. 6’s emblem. All celebrations with religious significance, no matter how loosely associated, were done away with when the city-state was established. Still, Shion has a basic understanding of what the holidays had meant to the people who celebrated them more than a decade ago.

“But even though we don’t have the winter holidays anymore,” Shion muses aloud, “I think people still feel their pull… There’s something about the cold that brings people together.”

“Yeah, it’s called fear of freezing to death.”

Shion shoots Nezumi a wry look. “You know I meant in the metaphorical sense,” he sniffs. “Winter… equalizes people. Everyone is affected by the cold—no matter who you are or how you live—and it reminds us that life is precious. And that makes you remember what’s actually important.”

“And that is?” Nezumi prompts as he kicks a snow drift. Powder explodes into their path like fine fog.

“Well, like family,” Shion answers, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “And friends.”

“And food, and shelter.”

Shion presses his lips into a line. Nezumi isn’t looking at him—hasn’t been looking at him since they started walking—but the smug amusement in his tone is enough to make his skin itch.

“Oh, but let’s not forget peace on earth, and goodwill to men,” Nezumi chirps. Shion scowls at the sharp edge of his patronizing smile. “Those are very important metaphorical things to cherish this holiday season.”

“Right,” Shion huffs. “Those too.”

Nezumi finally turns to him. “What happened to your good cheer?” he says with mock surprise. “Don’t tell me you’re done waxing poetic. I was really starting to see the vision.”

Shion stops and exhales noisily through his nose. “Why do you always have to pick apart the things I say? It’s childish.”

“Because you always speak carelessly,” Nezumi snorts. “Ninety percent of what you say is fluff—there’s no meaning behind it, no depth. The world is a shitty place, but you always act like everything is just perfect. Talking to you is like staring at that wall:”—Nezumi flings his hand at the shadowed silhouette of No. 6—“Pleasant at face value, but dig a little deeper, and it’s just empty platitudes.”

Shion curls his hands at his sides. The comparison stings, as it always does. Nezumi despises No. 6, and no matter how much Shion tries to assimilate and adapt to his new life, Nezumi never misses an opportunity to remind him that he will always be tainted by his connection with the city. He holds it over Shion’s head like it’s a critical flaw in his personality, drives it like wedge through their relationship and blames Shion when it causes splinters.

Shion hates it. He hates when Nezumi lashes out and criticizes him for being the catalyst, and he hates that Nezumi makes him hate him.

Nezumi lifts his chin and meets his gaze with a knowingness that causes Shion’s skin to feel too tight.

Nezumi’s mouth twitches up into a smug smile. “Say something worthwhile, and I’ll be glad to listen like an adult.”

Then Nezumi turns and walks away.

Shion leers at his back, blood boiling. He feels small and impotent, and although he knows the feeling will pass and reason will soon be within his grasp again, at present, he wants to harness his anger to lash back at Nezumi. He knows, though, that the West Block resident is impervious to verbal assault, and Shion is no match for him physically.

Shion’s gaze drops to the snow sucking at his ankles. He kneels and packs together two hard, fist-sized snowballs, and stands again. His body buzzes with the sweet anticipation of payback.

“Nezumi!” he shouts, then takes two skipping steps, and launches one of the snowballs.

He means to hit Nezumi square in the back—even with his judgement hazed in irritation, Shion can’t conceive of doing any real harm—but Nezumi twists around, and the snowball hits him perfectly where shoulder meets neck, the edge of it just grazing his chin.

Nezumi freezes as the snowball bursts, its shattered ice crystals clinging like gems to the coal black superfibre cloth around his neck. Shion revels at the shock on his face—only for the triumph blazing in his chest to sputter when Nezumi’s gaze meets his.

Nezumi is always beautiful, but outrage lends an otherworldly element to the sharp planes of his face. His eyes gleam like quicksilver: liquid, cold, and deadly. When Nezumi is like this, Shion can conceive of how people looked upon the mutable gods of old with a commingling of fear and reverence, why even when they knew the price of transgression, they raged and loved and sacrificed for a mere moment of their attention.

Nezumi brushes the snow from his person with fastidious fury, and Shion’s body tingles with an exquisite combination of wonder and dread.

“Shion,” Nezumi says, and takes a step toward him.

Shion chucks the second snowball. It’s a fear-propelled knee jerk reaction to the low warning in Nezumi’s voice, and it’s a mistake. Nezumi sidesteps the missile easily and it evanesces into a snowbank.

Bereft of projectiles, and with no way to make more as Nezumi approaches, Shion decides to retreat. He flees off the well-trodden path and into the field alongside it. His boots punch through the hitherto undisturbed snow, but it takes an obscene amount of effort to run in the calf-deep drifts, and Shion’s legs burn after only a few strides. Fortunately, Nezumi does not follow him in—probably because he noted Shion’s trouble wading through and does not want to sacrifice his dignity by trudging after him in a slow motion chase.

The mental image brings a smile to Shion’s face. He stops and turns to Nezumi, and they assess each other across the snowy expanse.

“You’re being ridiculous,” Nezumi says. “I’m not going to chase you around. Get back here.”

“You still look mad. I’m not coming out until you’ve calmed down.”

“Now who’s acting childish? You started this.”

Shion cocks an eyebrow. “Debatable.”

Nezumi’s gaze sweeps over the field dividing them, trying to gauge if it might be surmountable after all. The intense aura about him has the same energy as that of a cat surveying a fishbowl. Shion laughs and Nezumi’s eyes flick back up. His mouth tilts mulishly and he takes a step into the snow.

Shion readies to turn and flee again, but the snow holds onto his foot when he tries to lift it and the boot gets caught on the side of his other leg. A squeak of surprise slips from Shion’s throat as he pitches backward and lands with a crunchy whump in the snow. His breath whooshes out and clouds above his head.

Nezumi appears above him a moment later. “Klutz,” he scoffs, but his brow is pinched in concern.

Shion stares up at the blue-black sky and pulls a slow, silent breath through his parted lips. The clouds have migrated somewhere else, and the stars shimmer in their place. Calm washes over him, muting the icy press of the snow against his skin and banishing every thought. There is only the epiphany of now, of this single moment, and the infinity of stars above him.

“Shion?”

Shion grabs Nezumi’s pant leg and tugs. “Lie down.” He doesn’t take his gaze from the sky.

“What? No.”

“You have to see this.” Shion gives Nezumi’s pant cuff another tug and drops his hand back to his side. “You won’t regret it.”

Shion’s eyes find the moon, and he stares until he can see the specter of the luminescent circle on the back of his eyelids every time he blinks.

Nezumi growls under his breath, and the snow shifts as he drops down beside Shion. He’s sitting, not lying down, but Shion takes it as a victory nonetheless. “I already regret this. It’s freaking cold.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“What?” Nezumi mutters, incredulous. “The stars?”

“Yes.” Shion swallows. “There are so many of them.”

“…You didn’t hit your head, did you?”

“No.”

“It does, however, occur to me,” Nezumi says slowly, “that even if you did hit your head, I might not be able to tell the difference. You speak nonsense either way.”

Shion sighs. “I’ve lived my whole life under this sky, and I’ve never once appreciated the stars.”

“Is that a poem of some sort? Shion, really, what are you talking about?”

“This!” Shion flings his hand skyward. “This is exactly what I was talking about. This is what’s important, appreciating the things around you. I never did that when I lived in No. 6.”

In No. 6, life is led with your shoulders hunched and your eyes no higher than government mandate. You take the job the city thinks you’re good for, go where you’re told to go, and you don’t dare run your mouth for fear of saying the wrong thing. Shion had lived sixteen years like a machine, and although he was never satisfied, he convinced himself he was at least content.

Then he was torn from that world of paranoia and monotony and thrown into West Block, the polar opposite of the Holy City. West Block is loud, dirty, lawless, unmonitored—freeing.

For the first time in his life, Shion doesn’t have to hold his feelings in; he can speak truthfully, and he might be disagreed with, but he can disagree right back and there is no penalty for doing so.

That’s why Shion talks so much. That’s why he tends toward happy and idealistic. Because he can finally speak his mind. He’s finally free to think and imagine and desire things for himself, and sometimes he can’t help but get carried away with the wonder of it.

Shion shakes his head. “I was so busy keeping my head down, I never noticed everything I was missing. I mean… Look at the world we live in.”

The wind whispers through the barren trees, trailing icy dust in its wake like gossamer threads. The stars wink in and out of focus in the silken blackness. Somewhere down the way, a wooden door creaks, followed by children’s laughter. Shion and Nezumi lie still in the midst of a vast snowscape, but life flows on around them, unconcerned with their participation.

“It’s beautiful. Not perfect,” Shion says softly, and turns to meet Nezumi’s gaze, “but still beautiful. Don’t you think?”

The expression Nezumi wears now is one that Shion has seen more and more as of late. Nezumi is not so much looking at him, as into him, as if he is desperately trying to reconcile what Shion’s saying with who Nezumi thinks Shion is. It’s a consternation reserved for magic tricks and puzzle boxes with no discernable seams.

Shion’s not sure why Nezumi has such a hard time figuring him out, but he enjoys when he makes Nezumi consider him more seriously.

“I guess,” Nezumi huffs at last.

“Thank you for acknowledging it,” Shion says with a smile.

“At this point, I’ll agree to any of your harebrained notions if it means we can get up and go home. My ass is freezing.”

“Alright,” Shion laughs. “Since you were good enough to humor me.”

Shion peels himself from the ground. His hair is cold and wet from lying so long and a shiver judders down his spine.

Nezumi brushes off the back of his pants with a sour look. When he’s done, he glances up and frowns. “Shion, you have something on your shoulder.”

“Hm?” Shion tilts his head to look.

A snowball smashes into the side of his face and Shion stumbles back a step. He turns, mouth agape.

“What, did you think I wouldn’t pay you back?” Nezumi says pleasantly. He tosses a snowball up and down in his left hand—the glove of his right is slick from the first he pegged Shion with.

Shion has no idea how Nezumi made two snowballs without him noticing, but he realizes he’s in danger.

Nezumi stops juggling the snowball and smirks. “You know how I am with debts.”

“Right.” Shion swallows. Icy droplets slip down the collar of his coat and melt into his sweater. “You got me. We’re even.”

Nezumi’s smirk morphs into a genuine smile. “Oh, but I don’t think you appreciated the snow nearly enough when you were in No. 6. Here, let me help you with that.”

“Hey—” The second of Nezumi’s throws hits Shion in the nose. He coughs and swats the snow out of his face. “Nezumi, no more. This is too much revenge—I only hit you once!”

“Not my fault you’re a lousy shot.” Nezumi walks backwards toward the path home. “By all means, hit me again. If you can manage it, that is.”

“Tempting,” Shion calls.

But as he joins Nezumi on the path, he decides it’s not worth retaliating. A hundred new tangents and observations are already queued on his tongue, and he wants to get Nezumi’s reluctant opinion on all of them.

#no6 #no.6 #no. 6 #no 6 #pigeonsimba #celebrian #nezushi #submission

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no6secretsanta · 6 years

Text

West Block Christmas

From @pigeonsimba for @marykedoesart.

Shion’s eyes flew across the page, drinking the words in hungrily. He had been curled up on the bed since he selected the book and blew the dust off the cover. He chose The Christmas Carolbecause he thought it’d be a quick read while he waited for Nezumi to come home. Now he was rapt.

As his eyes skimmed across the final sentence, Shion’s heart felt full: full of wonder, of magic, and a boundless curiosity and yearning for Christmas. Shion closed the book and ran his hand over the threadbare cover. Why don’t we have this holiday anymore?

No. 6 had no holidays except Holy Day—if a mandatory gathering around the Moondrop in praise of No. 6 could be considered a holiday. Christmas was different. It was a true celebration of humanity’s generosity and kinship. He could only imagine how beautiful it must have been: family and friends gathered around a feast, snow blanketing the world outside the window and a fire roaring on the hearth.

It made him feel proud to be human.

The handle of the door rattled and the specter of Marley’s ghost flitted through Shion’s mind for a heartbeat. Then Nezumi stepped into the room and the fear fell away in a rush.

“Nezumi!”

He hadn’t meant to shout, but the excitement burst out of him the moment he saw Nezumi. Nezumi paused in the doorway, eyes wide and expression caught between confusion and alarm.

“Sorry,” Shion said at a normal volume. “I haven’t spoken all day. I just finished a good book.”

Nezumi grunted in a knowing way and locked the door behind him.

“What’s the date?” Shion asked.

Nezumi crossed the room and Shion shifted to allow him a seat on the end of the bed. “December 10th.”

Shion grinned and scooted down beside him. “What do you know about Christmas?”

“Christmas?” Nezumi’s gaze dropped to the book between them. “Ah. Reading cautionary tales now?” he chuckled. “Christmas is a Christian gimmick.” He plucked the book from Shion’s hands and unceremoniously tossed it onto the floor. Shion’s heart plummeted. “Christians overwrote the winter solstice with a celebration of their own god to make turning pagans over to Christianity easier. It’s a holiday based on selfishness and forced compliance.”

“What? No it’s not!” Shion slid off the bed and rescued The Christmas Carol from the faded green carpet.

Nezumi leaned back on the wall and surveyed him from beneath hooded eyes. “There’s a pattern lately where you ask me to tell you about something, and then you get all indignant when tell you, and claim to know more than me. It’s very annoying.”

Shion shook his head. “You can’t be right. This book isn’t about that at all—it’s about being selfless! It’s about being generous and kind.”

“Yes, well, that book was written by a Christian. It would present its side in a generous and kind light.”

Tendrils of frustration writhed in Shion’s stomach. The excitement he experienced until a moment ago was real and pure. Whatever Christmas was truly, he knew what it was to him, and that was valid. He wouldn’t let Nezumi ruin it.

Shion raised his chin. “I want to celebrate it.”

Nezumi rolled his eyes and lolled his head to the side. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? Go ahead then. Don’t let me get in your way.”

Shion tightened his grip on the book. “I want to celebrate it with you.”

Nezumi’s head snapped up. His gaze sharpened with feline menace and Shion reminded himself that he had resolved not to let Nezumi ruin his plans, no matter how cold and terrifying his glares became.

“Shion,” Nezumi said, sitting up. “Maybe you didn’t notice, but the people in West Block are dirt poor. We don’t have cash to burn on ourselves, let alone on gifts for other people.”

“But that’s the whole point! Christmas is a time to remember that all of us are human, that we’re all equal and deserving of joy, no matter how rich or poor. It’s a time for giving. No one needs to buy anything if they can’t; spending time together is a gift in of itself.”

“Geez…” Nezumi rested his head in his hands. “Listen, that sappy crap would never fly in West Block—and not in No. 6 either, for that matter. Can you imagine if everyone started getting ideas that they’re all equal?”

“I’m not asking everyone to celebrate it. I’m asking you. And Inukashi and Rikiga, too! It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.”

Nezumi lifted his head. “No way. But by all means try Inukashi and Rikiga. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.”

“Nezumi… Please?” Nezumi just shook his head. Annoyance flickered in Shion’s chest. “Don’t be a Scrooge, Nezumi.”

A sardonic smile twisted Nezumi’s lips. “Bah humbug.”

“Look,” Shion started. He slotted The Christmas Carolonto the nearest shelf and sat down on the bed next to Nezumi. “I’ll take care of everything, okay? I’ll use the wage I get from washing dogs for what I need, I won’t ask you for anything. All you have to do is show up. Okay?”

Nezumi leered sidelong at him. His lips parted in the beginnings of a reply. It looked like a no. A small brown savior streaked into the room at that very moment and Shion seized upon him.

“Hamlet!”

Hamlet paused in the middle of the floor and twitched his nose. He seemed to be taking the temperature of the room. Hamlet turned towards the bookcases and chirruped. Tsukiyo and Cravat poked their heads out and Shion lowered his hands in invitation. He could have cried when all three mice leapt into his palms.

“Hey, guys.” Shion brought them up to face level. “Do you want to celebrate Christmas with me?”

The mice looked at each other. Then Hamlet squeaked and bobbed his head.

“Thank you! Now, can you please convince this rat,” he turned them toward Nezumi, “to agree to join too?”

Nezumi’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know what you’re playing at,” he began, but the mice broke out into a squeaking fit, crawling over each other and waving their little paws. Nezumi’s frown deepened. “What have you done to my mice?”

“This is a coup, Nezumi,” Shion announced. “You are overruled.” He brought the raucous mice closer to Nezumi’s face. “Say you’ll celebrate Christmas.”

The corners of Nezumi’s mouth tightened as the mice cheeped and Shion stared him down, but at last the tension in his face wasn’t from disapproval or irritation. Nezumi snorted and Shion’s heart sped up.

“Alright,” Nezumi said. The mice went quiet and Nezumi gently pushed Shion’s hands and the mice away from his face. “If it so pleases Your Majesty, I will deign to join in your Christmas festivities. But good luck getting the mutt and the old man to agree.”

—–

Inukashi and Rikiga didn’t look ecstatic to be occupying the same room, but they had obeyed Shion’s summons nonetheless.

They were seated when they entered, and Nezumi went straight for one of the remaining chairs. This small room Inukashi used as an office and bedroom had probably never expected to house so many at once.

Shion didn’t sit. He was too restless.

A single candle burned on the small, round table, filling everyone’s eyes with a flickering warmth.

Shion clasped his hands behind his back. “Thank you all for coming.”

“What gives, Shion? Why’re we here?” Inukashi’s small dark eyes scanned the persons in the room. “This is a suspicious group…” Their eyes flashed and snapped back to Shion. “Do you have a job? Is that what this is?”

Nezumi chuckled. “Shion have a job? Please.”

“Eve’s right,” Rikiga said, clucking his tongue. “Shion’s too good a kid to be caught up in the shady stuff you deal in, mutt.”

“And that you deal in,” Nezumi quipped drily.

“Like you’re a saint!” the older man growled back.

Shion cleared his throat. The group settled again and gave him their attention. “I would like to invite you all to Christmas.”

The candle flame danced manically for a moment as the draft grew stronger. The silence stretched even after it died down. Nezumi smirked and Shion wanted to punch him.

“Christmas?” Rikiga said at last. He scratched the stubble on his chin. It looked like the word resonated with him, but he couldn’t quite reach the meaning.

Inukashi frowned. “What the hell is Christmas?”

Shion perked up. “It’s a holiday that people used to celebrate on the 25thof December. Everyone gathers in one place and eats together, and you exchange gifts, and the book I read says a long time ago people also held balls where they got dressed up and danced.”

“Danced?” Inukashi wrinkled their nose. Their eyes darted to Nezumi. “You encouraged this?”

“Of course not. But you know Shion. Once it gets into his head…” Nezumi shrugged a shoulder.

Shion cast a beleaguered look around the room. His hopes grew smaller and smaller as each face revealed less and less enthusiasm. “I know it’s not what you’re used to. I know you all think I’m crazy or naïve to want to do this. But is it really so crazy? To want to spend time with the people I care about?” Shion hung his head and sighed. “All I’m asking is for one night. A few hours where we can try to enjoy what we have, instead of being cynical about what we don’t.”

Rikiga’s eyes shone in the aftermath of Shion’s plea. Nezumi’s face remained carefully impassive.

“So…” Inukashi wriggled in their seat. “You want to do this Christmas thing…because you care about us?”

Shion raised his head. “Yes. You’re my friends.”

Inukashi didn’t know what to do with that answer, so they pulled the puppy playing by their chair into their lap and pressed their face into his fur to think.

“Oh, Shion,” Rikiga crooned. He pushed out of his chair and crushed Shion against his chest. “You’re such a good kid. A selfless angel, just like your mother.”

Shion patted Rikiga once on the back and extricated himself from the bear hug. “Does that mean you’ll do it, Mr. Rikiga?”

“Of course I’ll do it. Anything for you.”

Shion beamed. “Thank you. I was really hoping you’d agree, because I want to have the party at your house.”

The rosy cheer faded from Rikiga’s cheeks. “My house?”

“You have that big back room and a fireplace, and the best food. Of course, Nezumi and I will bring some things too, but your house is the perfect place to celebrate. I couldn’t imagine having it anywhere else.”

“Oh.” Rikiga cleared his throat. “I don’t know, Shion… My place isn’t really suited for kids.”

“Come now,” Nezumi drawled. “It’s your precious Shion’s Christmas wish. You aren’t going to crush the kid’s dream, are you, old man?”

Rikiga’s brow clouded. “Well… I…”

Shion stretched his smile even broader. “Thank you so much, Mr. Rikiga!” He threw his arms around the older man and squeezed. “This means a lot to me, and I know that if my mom were here, she would be so proud and grateful to you.”

Rikiga sputtered, utterly defeated. Shion’s gaze met Nezumi’s and Nezumi mouthed, Nice. The corner of Shion’s mouth quirked. He let Rikiga go and focused on the last holdout.

Inukashi shrunk under Shion’s eager gaze. “Nezumi agreed to do this?”

“He did.”

“I was overruled, apparently.”

With no other avenue for refusal, Inukashi had no choice but to agree. They lowered the wriggling puppy to the floor. “What do we have to do again? Bring food and stuff?”

“You don’t have to bring food if you don’t want to. But I was thinking… Well, part of Christmas is about giving gifts to the people you appreciate, and I know it’d be difficult for everyone to get a present for everyone, so I was thinking we’d each only get a gift for one person.” Shion reached into his pocket and pulled out four crumpled scraps of paper. “It’s like a lottery.”

“I don’t know, Shion,” Nezumi said. “I read The Lottery and it didn’t work out too well for the person who got picked.”

“Hush,” Shion chided.

“What’s a lottery?” Inukashi said, eyeing the papers with trepidation.

“It’s simple. We each take a piece of paper and you get a gift for the person written on it.” Shion dumped the papers on the table. “Everyone take one. Don’t give away who you have, though, even if you don’t like what you draw. We want it to be a surprise for Christmas day! I’ll go first.”

Shion grabbed the paper nearest to him and shielded it in his palms as he read. He nodded. “Alright, who’s next?”

The other three exchanged a look, but one by one they chose a paper. Inukashi and Rikiga made faces as they read their selections, but Nezumi just glanced at his and stuffed it into his pocket.

“No one got their own name? Great! You have until the 25thto get a present, and then we open them at the party. It doesn’t have to be a big gift, but try to put some thought into it.”

Inukashi and Rikiga grumbled.

—–

Shion woke with the sunrise Christmas day. Nezumi was nowhere to be seen. His side of the bed was cool when Shion placed a hand on it.

He should have guessed. Nezumi had been avoiding him as Christmas grew nearer, claiming that the holiday was silly and that Shion’s childlike glee irked him. Maybe Nezumi did truly think those things, but Shion suspected there was more to his evasions than what he said aloud. Nezumi was hiding something, he just didn’t know what or from whom.

But I’ll learn tonight.

For the nth time Shion felt a pleasant jolt race through his veins. Today was Christmas! He couldn’t wait to see what everyone prepared.

The mice were curled fast asleep on the pillow, and Shion did his best to slip out and into the shower without disturbing them. As he dried his hair, Shion mused on how long he had until the party. A little less than ten hours.

Shion peered under the bed at his present. The object was wrapped tightly in several layers of newspaper. Shion had collected the pages on his walks home and borrowed tape from Rikiga to stick them all together.

He brushed the corner of the package where Cravat had gnawed a small hole. “Ten hours…”

Shion did whatever chores he could think of to pass the morning. He organized the room, did laundry, washed their mugs, and fetched new water from the stream. Anything to keep his mind occupied. But even then he could barely contain his excitement when he met Inukashi later for dog washing.

Between the dog kisses and soapsuds Shion gushed about all the things he had read about Christmas in the last few weeks: about children waiting up for Santa Claus, about caroling, and decorating, and Christmas trees, and snowball fights. Inukashi asked question after question and scoffed more than once at the things Shion told them, but by the time they’d finished, Inukashi seemed to be looking forward to the party that night.

When Nezumi finally turned up at the underground room that evening Shion was near to bursting.

“Geez,” Nezumi muttered when he noticed Shion sitting rapt on the bed. “The aura around you right now… It’s making me nauseated. I might have to stay home.”

“You are coming and that’s that. Did you bring the food?”

Nezumi held up a bag. “Bread, meat, and booze, as Your Majesty requested. You should have seen the looks I got shelling out coin for this. If I had been anyone else, I would have been jumped on the way home and taken for all I’m worth. This better be a damn good party.”

“It will be. Thank you, Nezumi.”

Nezumi grunted. “Let’s just go already.”

Shion pawed his present out from under the bed. Nezumi arched an eyebrow as Shion hefted up against his chest.

“Ready!” Shion grinned over the top of the newspaper. “Where’s your present?”

“That’s for me to know and you to see.” Nezumi threw open the door and disappeared into the hall.

—–

Rikiga squinted at Nezumi when he opened the door. He looked as though he didn’t understand why two teenagers showed up.

“Mr. Rikiga?”

Rikiga’s eyes slid from Nezumi to Shion and at last a sliver of recognition seeped into his face. “Shion! That’s right. Is it the 25thalready?”

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Rikiga.”

“Somebody pregamed,” Nezumi muttered.

Shion didn’t know what that meant, but Nezumi’s tone and the scent of alcohol emanating from Rikiga’s person gave him a clue.

Nezumi crossed his arms and sneered. “Did you leave anything for the party? Good thing we brought our own wine,” he said sidewise to Shion.

Rikiga wrinkled his nose. “Show me some respect, Eve. It’s my house.” He yanked the door open.

Shion gazed around while they waited for Rikiga to reveal the hidden room. The living room was in chaos. Papers littered the floor, and empty bottles lined the coffee table. Shion had thought maybe the disarray he’d seen the first day they met Rikiga had been a result of the fight with his ex, but it seemed this was Rikiga’s regular state of living.

At least on the surface.

Rikiga laid his hand on the wall behind the mangy textile sofa and the partition in the wall slid open, revealing the decadent room inside. A fire blazed on the hearth, shimmering against the red and gold fibers in the carpet. The leather chairs and couch in front of the fireplace were in impeccable condition and sang with warm invitation.

Shion placed his gift down on the couch and approached the table. A plate of cheese and grapes sat in the middle, and, despite the fact that Rikiga smelled like a liquor cabinet, two unopened bottles of wine sat at the edge of the table.

Shion’s mouth watered. He hadn’t seen such a luxurious meal in a while, and coupled with the things Nezumi brought, this would be a feast none of them would soon forget.

“This looks amazing!”

Rikiga preened. “Yes, well, it is Christmas. I had to make sure everything was just right. There’s pie and coffee for dessert, too.”

Nezumi harrumphed and unloaded their foodstuff onto the table. A knock sounded from the other room as he finished. “And there’s the mutt.” Nezumi looked into Shion’s smiling face. “Let the party begin.”

Inukashi ate like a ravenous animal and even displayed some food aggression. This irked everyone but Shion, who was too much in the Christmas spirit to be offended. Now was a time to enjoy to the utmost. Shion gave Inukashi his portion of bread, which made them pause and realize the intensity of their behavior. Inukashi calmed down after that and the table devolved into verbal sparring and backhanded comments up until dessert.

Happiness bloomed white hot in Shion’s chest as he cradled his coffee in his hands. Everything was just as he imagined it would be—no, better. The only thing that could make this moment more perfect would be…

Mom and Safu.

The stuffy feeling in his chest crawled up into his throat and choked until his vision blurred. Shion dropped his head and tried to discreetly wipe his eyes. He didn’t want to be sad, not now, when this was the happiest he’d ever been.

Nezumi was watching him when he recovered. Heat climbed up the back of Shion’s neck. He avoided Nezumi’s gaze and sipped at his mug.

Tsukiyo poked his head out of the superfiber wrapped around Nezumi’s shoulders and squeaked. Nezumi glanced sharply down at him and dropped his silverware onto his plate, creating enough noise to claim the table’s attention. “Let’s open presents now.”

“We’re not done eating,” Inukashi protested, forking another piece of pecan pie. “And how come you can bring your pets, but I can’t bring mine?”

“The food isn’t going anywhere. I, however, will be very soon. So up you go.” Nezumi pushed back from the table and draped himself over the leather armchair nearest the fire. “Shion, you’re the MC of this shindig, why don’t you go first?”

Shion scrambled out of his chair, scooped his gift off the couch, and plopped down in its place. “Everyone, grab your gift! Let’s sit by the fire.”

Inukashi claimed the cushion beside Shion, and Rikiga lowered himself into the remaining armchair.

“So? Who’d you get?” Inukashi eyed the large package in Shion’s arms.

“I got…Mr. Rikiga!”

Rikiga perked up as Shion deposited the gift in his lap. He peeled back the newspaper to reveal the gift inside: a silver typewriter. The base was slightly banged up and the keys faded, but it was usable and legible. Shion made sure of that before purchasing it for more than it was probably worth monetarily. But he thought it would be worth its weight in memories.

“You said you were a reporter before. That’s how you met my mom. So I thought you might like this, to write with, or maybe just as a reminder.”

“You do know that when Rikiga was a reporter, he used a computer, right?” Nezumi drawled. “The old man’s not thatold.”

Everyone in the room glared. Nezumi made a face and lounged deeper into the armchair.

“It’s beautiful, Shion. I’ll treasure it,” Rikiga said, smiling. “Guess it’s me now?” Rikiga fished around in his suit pocket and pulled out a small paper-wrapped parcel. “This is for you, kid.” He held it out to Inukashi.

Inukashi’s nose twitched and there was no mistaking the look on their face for anything but rapt excitement as they tore open the package. Inukashi stared down at it when it was fully unwrapped. They stared until the fire began to feel too hot.

Inukashi raised their head and leered at Rikiga. “Soap? Are you fucking serious?”

“What?” Rikiga sputtered. “It’s something you need, right? What else was I supposed to get you? Dogs? You already have every dog in West Block!”

“Then get me dog stuff!”

“Use the soap for the dogs, then!”

“You’re the worst! I at least put thoughtinto my gift!” Inukashi jumped up, grabbed their present from the table, and flung it at Nezumi’s chest. “Here’s your stupid Christmas gift, Nezumi.”

Nezumi held the package up by the corner with two fingers. “Did your dogs help you wrap this?”

“Shut up, you filthy ingrate.”

Nezumi smiled and tore the paper. His eyebrows shot up. Shion rose and peered into his lap. Within the shreds of wrapping lay a small bag filled with coal. Shion frowned. He had read about children who received coal as punishment for bad behavior.

“That’s not very nice, Inukashi…” he said.

“What? What’s wrong with it?” Inukashi looked between him and Nezumi and Shion suddenly felt unsure. “He can put it in your heater, or whatever. That’s a valuable resource! Far better than that rat deserves.”

“Yeah, Shion,” Nezumi said. “Don’t be such a snob.”

Shion mumbled an apology.

Nezumi rubbed his blackened fingers on his pant leg. “This was more than I expected, Inukashi. You’re surprisingly thoughtful.”

“Of course I’m thoughtful,” they spat. “I gather intelligence for a living. So, is that it?” Inukashi wrinkled their nose at the soap.

Shion stopped hanging his head as he realized he was the only one left. “That means…” His eyes lit up. “Nezumi, you must have me!”

“He got the easy one,” Inukashi grumbled. “Damn rat probably rigged it.”

Nezumi unfurled from the armchair and stood. Shion’s heart pounded as Nezumi reached into his pocket and extended a closed fist. He held his heat-slickened palm out to receive what he offered.

Nezumi dropped a pair of D batteries into his hand. Shion frowned.

Inukashi cackled. “Batteries? God, Nezumi, you’re an even worse gift giver than Mr. Alcoholic over here.”

Rikiga shook his head and sighed. “Honestly… At least the kid can use my gift.”

Nezumi turned a bored look on them. “Obviously, this is only part one. Some assembly is required for my gift. Part two,” Nezumi plucked the batteries back out of Shion’s palm and took him by the hand, “is outside. It’s been fun, but we’ll be going now.”

Nezumi collected their coats from the table and crammed the bag of coal and batteries into the open pockets. Inukashi gaped as Nezumi glided by them.

“Wait, what? Where are you going? Don’t leave me alone with him!”

“Merry Christmas!” Nezumi called over his shoulder as he dragged Shion out the front door and into the street.

“Nezumi? What’s going on?”

“Like I said. Part two.” Nezumi waited for him to don his coat before tugging him on.

Shion’s brow furrowed at the ambiguity and rough handling, but then he noticed that Nezumi had taken up his hand again.

“Oh! Is this part two?”

“Hm?”

Shion nodded at their clasped hands.

“This? No way. I’m not a cheapskate. How does that even make sense with the batteries?”

Shion didn’t think holding hands as a Christmas present was a cheap gift at all, especially from someone as emotionally jagged as Nezumi, But he and Nezumi differed much on what they considered worthy of their energy.

“But sure,” Nezumi said after a moment. “Consider it a bonus if it’s really that amazing. Weirdo.” He blew out a breath. Shion smiled as he watched its frosty tendrils twist skyward.

Nezumi took them on the path back to the underground room, and Shion tried to guess what part two was. He voiced his ideas aloud at first, but Nezumi only said, “Hm,” and “Maybe” in response, so Shion gave up after a few tries and focused on the warmth between his and Nezumi’s palms.

They reached the fork where normally they’d go left towards home, but Nezumi led him right, up towards the top of the hill. Tsukiyo popped his head out of Nezumi’s superfiber and twitched his nose at Shion. He turned and squeaked softly in Nezumi’s ear.

“Perfect timing,” Nezumi muttered. He stopped walking and looked to a batch of trees a little ways off.

Shion’s mouth popped open. A tree in the distance burst into multicolored lights. Green, blue, red, and orange blurs speckled the sparse branches and curled around the trunk. Shion drew towards it, and soon it was he who was dragging Nezumi by the arm.

“This is…!” Shion spluttered.

“A Christmas tree, yes.”

“Yes! Nezumi, it’s amazing!”

Shion let Nezumi’s hand go and circled the tree. He felt light from the wonder. The blubs shone brilliantly on the branches, like stars hung in a barren universe. Shion followed the length of the string down the trunk. Battery packs nestled amongst the roots.

“The lights were stashed away in one of the underground rooms,” Nezumi explained, anticipating the question. “There’s all sorts of junk in there. Whoever stocked the place was a serious hoarder.”

“It’s perfect.” Shion touched a blue light and held the small warmth in his fingers. A brighter, tighter warmth built in his chest. Shion moved back to Nezumi’s side.

Nezumi held his gaze. The lights danced off his eyes and made the fine strands of his hair gleam.

“I love it, Nezumi.” Shion slid his hand into Nezumi’s and squeezed. “Thank you.”

Nezumi’s jaw shifted. He turned his face away and stared up at the tree. “Merry Christmas, Shion.” He said it quietly, calmly, with the same cool indifference he had displayed time again.

But the grip on Shion’s hand tightened, and as the minutes ticked by, he didn’t let go.

#no.6 #no. 6 #no6 #no 6 #nezushi #no6secretsanta #pigeonsimba #marykedoesart #submission

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