AN: Thank you so much for reading. This is my first No.6 fanfiction.

I kind of bombed the helll out of a Durarara! fic I wrote earlier in the year, adn this is kind of my way of making up for it.

Anyway; rated M for later chapters.

Maybe some sexy times later.

Reviews are highly appreciated.

Thank you.

**CAUTION**

Contains Male on Male relationships.

Please proceed with caution.

The sky was dark, the light disappearing hours ago. The curfew started at dusk, to reduce the commodity of violence and crime now that the citizens of West Block occupied areas of No.6. And this it did, the curfew was very affective. Either the citizens of West Block were grateful to have everything at their fingertips, reducing the urge to fight and steal. Or, the peace officers were very – or too – Strict. Either way, it worked.

These laws were put into motion under Shion's presidency. 2 months after the Great Collapse, when the mayor took his own life in fear, a committee made by a few high-class citizens planned to revive No.6 from the ashes of Eluriyas. They elected Shion as their leader, being one of the two to bring down the walls, and the other being classified as missing. Shion would lead the EVRebuild Committee to successfully revive and reconstruct the society that fell; appropriating the wrongs, making everything better than it was before.

After 8 months of rule, Shion resigned. He turned the job over to his coworker to pursue a career he fit. He set out to get a proper degree and finish school as he should have done the year he rescued a VC at age 12. He left to become a doctor, a Pathologist, and full time father in a little less than four years. Being already an elite student, he didn't need 8 years unlike others, 3 years and 11 months were enough to earn his degree to become a simple clinic worker and emergency surgeon.

The small child Shion heroically waved from the dying grasp of a mother's arms five years ago during the manhunt was put in his custody. Willingly taking the child, he raised it as his own. Ironically, he named the child after the love of his life. Nezumi. Little Nezumi was what he called him.

The first two years of the child's life were a living hell. Not the fact that the child was something that needed constant attention (Shion actually liked the burden of a child; it brought him joy that he could care for another human being so selflessly) But the fact that even speaking Nezumi's name tore away at the raw hole in the middle of his chest. It was as if a piece of his soul disappeared with Nezumi… Off the face of the earth and never heard of again…

The dear albino boy – No, Man, now at the age of 21, walked through the dead streets of Chronos. Since after the curfew, the street lights had gone out. He was calmly, but mostly exhaustedly, making his way to his mother's bakery. This was where Shion usually left Little Nezumi to be watched during Shion's strange business hours. He didn't mind, though, tomorrow he had a day off, being able to spend the day with his son.

He was close to the bakery, but the cobblestone streets seemed to get boring after a few blocks. Shion lifted his white head of hair, and looked out over the horizon. No pretty sunset was there to greet him, but the repairs on the walls have been finished. They were no longer walls, but windows. Hole-filled concrete with glass to see outward. Oh, how beautiful it was to see the sunrise through these holes of glass, large spots of pink and purple sun shining onto the city below. It reminded Shion of his days spent in West Block. He would sometimes wake up just before dawn to watch the sunrise. It was a beautiful sunrise, filled with so many colors between red, pink, purple and blue, that he couldn't even bring the words to describe it.

These days were the best days of his life… Until it all came to an end.

Shion still has reoccurring nightmares about his experience in the Correctional Facility. All the blood and gore, the turmoil and carnage he saw. These dreams haunt him to the very epitome of his soul. They leave him horrified and breathless to the point of sobbing the rest of the night away.

He wrapped his arms around his torso, the thick brown blazer coat he wore almost impairing him from doing so. It was the middle of winter, and it had yet to snow. The sentiment of his feelings ambushed him in the depths of his happiness as he recalled the happy times he had with Nezumi in the snow.

But, now, It was time to recreate these loving moments year round with his son. But, Shion couldn't lie. He had an impairing time accepting the fact that there will never be those warm nights in bed. No more days spent washing dogs. No more plays, no more Eve, no more sharing meals and cold feet and hands. No simple mistaking brushing fingers, no small touches, no soft smiles no…Tears. Tears are what he fought back as these thoughts over rushed his system. A small flame inside his chest burned in the hope that Nezumi would return some day. Maybe sooner, maybe later.

But, dammit, it's been five years! He could at least come to see how he's doing. Send a rat, send a thin trickle of hope. A log on the flame that burned dimmer and dimmer at every passing year. But nothing came.

Shion knocked on the wooden door as if he's never been there before. Nervously, and shaking from the cold.

Greeted by a woman. Shion was the spitting image of her, except now adopting the characteristics of his pigment-lacking body. Before, he'd possessed the woman's brown curls, her pallid, soft woman-like skin, blushing cheeks, and hazel irises. She was less formal than Shion, wearing some blue star-printed fleece pajamas and a white robe. Her hair was always kept short, chopped in cute locks at her shoulders.

"Welcome home, Shion." She greeted with a warm smile, wrapping her arms around her son just as she did every day before, pulling him inside the warm home, from the chilling cold.

"Mother." Shion greeted in a loving motherly embrace. He smiled as she offered him tea, compiling that Little Nezumi was asleep in his old room, in the bunk below Lilli. He'd been out like a light about an hour ago.

"I'd love to," he agreed, following the older woman to the kitchen. Karan seemed to have aged indefinitely; her hair lost most of its luster, more so than it had five years ago. Her skin grew paler, and small wrinkles began to tug at her lips and eyes. This is what happened with age. Shion felt the constant tug at his heart as he saw his mother still working on her feet at that age. But, Lilli reaching the age of 12, she would definitely help out in the bakery, and around the house.

Lilli was a very obedient child, owing her very life to Auntie Kay since that Holy Day five years ago where she lost both her pregnant mother, and uncle Yoming.

"Shion, dear," Karan greeted with a happy sigh as she sat the two mugs, filled with a dark red liquid in front of her son and herself. "You're so busy! Being a surgeon, pathologist. You rarely have time for your old mother." She teased with a joking expression. She went on and on as she always had, Are you eating properly? How is Little Nezumi treating you? Do you need any help? I can chip in with some food and—

"There's a constant gape in my chest, mom. Nezumi." Was all he replied with.

Karan seemed to be a bit set back, her smile fading as her hands cupped around the warm mug of tea in her hand. She was worried about her son; perhaps he needed some psychiatric help? She had been relayed the story several times about what happened in the Correctional Facility. Perhaps he needed someone other than his mother to discuss these heavy terms with?

"Sh…Shion? I know you're going to hate to hear this, but… What if Nezumi never returned? What if he died? He may never return…" She proceeded cautiously, "I know I've never met him, but—Shion?"

Shion didn't know he was crying until the wet, hot blobs of water came streaming down his face. He brought two fingers to his cheeks, the water now pouring down his hand. He didn't know what came over him. Maybe the leaking water was a sign that the fire was finally doused. He begged for a log to stoke the flame, but instead got a bucket of water to suffocate it.

And the flickering bit of hope sizzled to a stop.

"M-Mom… Don't say such a thing. I-I can't think of that. If that happened, I…" His hands wrapped around the mug in front of him fiercely, and with the powerful strength of a metal vice. "I don't think I could go on, knowing Nezumi was … gone." He couldn't even muster up the strength to say the words; Death, Dead, rotting corpse.

Karan's eyes dropped, her gaze no focusing on the swirling tea leaves in the deep garnet color; the color reminded Karan of her son's eyes that were now soaking with subconscious tears. She didn't mean to hurt him, but he needed to know the truth. Needed to face it. What if he was gone? Forever?

"I'm sorry, Shion. I didn't know how deeply you felt for him," She didn't concern herself, nor did it bother her, that her only son was madly in love with another male. But, the best of her did wish he found a lovely woman to settle down with. "You're a very handsome man, Shion. I'm sure women would be dying at your feet. Perhaps – I-if Nezumi doesn't return—You can find a nice female to settle down with, maybe have a few—"

"Mother!" Shion's hands slammed, palm down against the table with a loud bang; he didn't mean to raise his voice, but the sounds just overflowed. "I don't want a woman. I don't want a man! I want Nezumi!—" A heat boiled back up into his cold chest. The flame was alive! "—It was four years before he showed his face to me the last time he disappeared! He's not gone! He's alive! He's a fighter, He's—!"

"Daddy?" A drowsy voice called from the other room.

"Nezumi," Shion sat down, his face, his arms, his whole body calming from the tension he was just in. "Darling, come here," He beckoned for the child, turning to see, in the opening to the living room, the small red-haired child in a pair of childish red pajamas. The child rubbed his eyes and yawned, the typical drowsy child response as he waddled forward to greet his father.

"You woke me, daddy." He yawned once again, his eyes drooping immensely.

"I know, baby. We're going to go home, soon." He smiled down, caringly at the child who leaned against his knees.

"You do need some sleep, dear." Karan cooed to Shion, despite his rage fit a minute ago. She was forgiving, and she understood that he didn't mean the temper that had broken loose. All it took was a small sympathetic look on Shion's end to properly apologize. A smiling response from his mother was enough to earn a hug and kiss goodbye as the two boys left.