Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. All are property of Asano Asuka.

Disclaimer #2: Original fanfiction by Kini-Ainotsuki. I am only translating from spanish to english with her permission.

-Chapter 1: Eight Years-

Today was September 7th. This very day he was turning 20. His work companions had congratulated him, they had even thrown a party in his honor. One had even gone as far as proposing the idea of making that date a type of celebration for all those people that had lived in that city previously known as No. 6.

He had declined, of course. Even though he had been the one who coordinated the reconstruction of the city and the one who had directed the majority of the work that had been done for the past four years, he still felt intimidated by the presence of many people, even more so if he was the center of attention. He had never considered himself shy; he was only quiet and perhaps a bit strange for the new standards which he hoped seemed more liberal than the previous ones which had been considered normal. Even so, he still felt bothered when he was surrounded by too many people that looked at him as if he were their Saviour when he knew perfectly well that he couldn't have done it without his friend, Safu, who had practically been the one that in exchange for her life, had destroyed the lie that No. 6 was.

He always tried to keep himself busy. He worked as much as he could until he was practically exhausted, even helping with manual labors even though he was constantly told that it was not necessary that he involve himself. It was only because he was finished with all the calculations and planifications of what would be the new city and he didn't have anything more which he could consider a job that could truly exhaust him. In the evenings he would help his mom with the bakery she had happily conserved in the same place they had lived after that incident eight years ago. Of course they had offered them the possibility of leaving Lost Town, they had even extended an invitation of having a much more modern house away from that sector that was for those isolated by the previous law of No. 6. However Karan seemed too happy with what she already had to even consider the idea of leaving the only place that had made her feel satisfied with her own effort. Sion had understood her perfectly.

That day his mom had baked him a cherry pie like every other year and he had been grateful. He had even eaten his whole slice even though his throat was closed and his chest felt constricted. He didn't want to worry Karan any more, even more so because he knew that she had realized since a long tie ago what exactly was going on. It was his mom after all, the only person that knew that these past four years had been a small torture for him. That's why she did not insist for him to cheer up while they shared that small snack with Lili, Rikiga, Inukashi and small Sion. He had tried with all his might to smile amiably, even more so so that Rikiga would calm down even though that closeness made him nervous. He had even tried to have a normal conversation with Inukashi, but it was impossible to see the girl without getting tears in his eyes. Luckily for him, she was more concentrated on seeing Lili and Sion play nicely instead of making obvious comments about him. Sometimes he was even surprised to see how much she had matured since he had first met her.

In the end he had excused himself in between apologies for having to leave so early. Karan made him take what was left of the cherry cake even though he had insisted that he only need one slice in case Tsukiyo wanted to eat more of the small bites they had given hi. However, his mother had become so stubborn that he had no choice but to accept in the end. He had bent down a bit, letting his mom kiss his forehead, an old custom that had come back since four years ago, not even bothering with the teasing laughs from Inukashi. It is then that his mother asks him to stay. It has been a long time since she last insisted that he not leave the house, so he was apparently not doing such a great job at faking that he was ok. He assured her that he would be ok, that she shouldn't worry, but that he really had to leave.

He had to go to the place previously known as Chronos, to same house in which they had lived before he had been stripped of his rights as an elite. It wasn't that he hated the modest house which he had shared with his mother, it was because he needed to be in that place ever since he had come back to the city.

It was then that he became aware of the excuse of why his mother had asked him to not leave. While he drove to where Chronos had once been, he could observe the dark clouds that were covering the evening sky. They were not common clouds and currents. They were clouds of rain. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten about the weather news because of his slight depression that day. He had been too stupid. It was the same climate as that same night from eight years ago. He smiled softly, firmly gripping the steering wheel of his car just in time so that he would not start crying right then and there.

When he finally arrived home it had already started raining. The wind was much stronger than he had anticipated, so he was hoping that the workers had made sure to secure the constructions halfway since because tomorrow they would be a total disaster. He completely forgot about the umbrella his mother had given him before leaving the house, clutching the package with the cherry pie against his chest, hoping that it would not get wet. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Tsukiyo jump out of the pocket of his coat, sniffing everything in their surrounding, as if he was making sure that everything was safe. He smiled at the small gesture that was normal. Tsukiyo had a very particular way of taking care of him, hiding in his pockets and jumping out suddenly when he noticed that he was too distracted to be secure. Luckily, nothing had happened to him like before.

He left his backpack on the couch, without worrying too much about it even though he intended to work until late that night. Instead of that he took out the cherry pie from the package that his mom had given him, cutting a small slice to place it on a plate on the table. Tsukiyo subtly climbed up a chair, emitting a small "chi" which he found adorable, one that he recognized as that of curiosity. And of hunger.

"Of course it's for you Tsukiyo."

He was surprised at how strange his voice sounded even to himself. He realized that he had practically not spoken of anything with Inukashi and that small discussion with his mother. Perhaps he hadn't realized that he had only answered with monosyllables and small phrases. He let out a small sigh, running a had through his white hair. The "chii chii" full of happiness that came from the rat made him forget a bit about that small thing he must be accustomed to. The small animal was lively eating the cherry pie, even though he never stopped being alert, stopping from time to time to look around and smell the air. He smiled again, caressing the gray fur with one of his fingers.

After storing the cherry pie in the refrigerator he had disposed himself to keep on working when he stopped in the middle of the living room. He could hear the sound of the wind and the rain hitting against the windows of his house, each time with more and more violence. He tried to put himself in automatic mode again, to not think too much about things, that's how his life functioned normally. But this always happened every time he heard that sound. And eveything became worse because of the day that today was.

There was a reason why he had returned to his house in Chronos instead of going back to Lost Town with Karan. It wasn't the commodity or the luxury, of course. When he had come back, he had been surprised that it was practically the same way they had left it when they had been kicked out, as if no other family had lived there afterward. There a few broken windows, a result of that day in which No. 6 had fallen without a doubt, which had ordered to be repaired immediately. However, he didn't consider it his home. He only slept and woke up very early to immediately go to work and spend the evening with his mom. Sometimes he couldn't understand why the hell he had taken this routine, which was so sad and pathetic. Also unhealthy to boot. Even so, the sole idea of not doing it everyday scared him.

As soon as he shifted his gaze, he could feel his eyes beginning to wet. He didn't know why he was so stubborn.

Just when he had left, Sion had run to that house they had shared for months. Of course, he was not there. He would have liked to have taken everything there, clinging to all the material things because he had nothing more apart from Tsukiyo. But a part of him told him that if he did that, Nezumi would be furious, that it would not be any fun for him to come back only to find himself with a house that had been assaulted. So that was why he had only taken a few book and taken them to Chronos, reading them again and again until he had practically memorized them. These were the book that Nezumi had made him read to expand his vocabulary. The problem was that he had nobody with whom to share his supposed newly acquired eloquence.

He went up to his room, leaving the books behind because he knew that today he couldn't read a word to Tsukiyo without having his voice break. The mouse followed him, climbing with his small legs by his pants to enter the first pocket he found. Upstairs the sound of the rain was much louder, the wind moved with great force with the tree leaves, as if the the wind pretended to rip the leaves from the tree. He again became quiet, not knowing where to look. It was as if his brain turned off, as if he wanted to protect him against his stupidity that he knew he was going to do like other nights.

Sion opened those windows every single night. Be it whatever time or season of the year. It was because of that that he could not remain in Lost Town. He had to come back every night, open the windows from end to end and say exactly the same words. It was infuriating, any expert of the human mind would tell him that this was crazy, something that would surely take him to an asylum. However, he didn't know how absurd his habit was or how much of a mental stupidity it was. All he knew was that he needed to do in order to bring a bit of peace into his life.

The real problem were the nights like this one. His necessity of opening the window just light that night eight years ago had made him fall sick more than once. He didn't want to worry Karan, but he supposed it was inevitable that a mother did that for her son. He knew that if anybody could understand him, it would be Karan, she knew what was happening with him, she had lived it with him during those four years. That's why it didn't bother him when Inukashi teased him and of the kisses that his mother planted on his forehead. If it hadn't been for her, he was sure that he would've been unable to survive. She must know that he really needed this.

He walked towards the window with a firm step, without feeling the least bit intimidated by the noise of the storm. He heard the small and distant cry from Tsukiyo, buried by the thunder that was going on outside. He reached for the handles without even doubting it, pulling them to throw them open from end to end. He remembered himself as a small child, when he was only twelve. He was also smiling in this occasion, even if the feeling was very different. That time, the emotion had been the strangest, the out of the ordinary in a monotone place in which he had for many years in boredom. He had already said it before: he was a strange person in between everybody else. Only to a strange child would the idea have occurred to go out into the storm without any protection with a happiness that could be painted as craziness. Only that his smile was not the same as eight years ago. This was a sad smile, melancholic. One that did not change even when the wind entered with all its might into his bedroom, making the papers on his desk go flying.

He opened his lips, finishing with the final part of his daily ritual, without knowing if the water that wet his face were raindrops or his own tears.

"Come in, Nezumi."

His voice was a challenge to the cries of the storm. The beats of his heart were not audible in absolute. It was here where he entered his bedroom again, when he curled up in one of the corners of his home and he began to cry as he maintained his eyesight steady towards the window, even though his eyes were irritated, waiting to see the person that he called everyday to enter through his window. However, this night seemed to be specially challenging.

He barely felt when Tsukiyo jumped from his pocket to the floor and began to walk towards the balcony. He didn't hesitate not even for a moment, even when he was getting wet. He supported himself on the hand railing and inhaled air, not minding the least that the cold air was invading his lungs.

And he screamed.

Again and again until he felt that his throat was hurting, answering to the storm with his voice that was belittled by the thunder that surrounded him. Then he stayed in silence, getting wet with the ice cold water for a few seconds before logic made itself be heard thanks to another struck of thunder. For a brief instant he remember what had brought him back to reality eight years ago, the alarm in his room, the one that warned him that inside there was no perfect climate that was supposed to be in No. 6. The alarmed still worked of course, but he had discarded using it seeing as it was totally worthless. He knew that what happened in his room was far from perfect.

Another difference from when he was twelve was that back then his heart was beating with the excitement at what he had done. Now, his heart also beat with force, but he felt it get smaller each time. He broke down and began to cry, asking himself why the hell it kept happening to him even though four long years had already passed. He was never going to get over it. That idiot, he needed to know it. No matter how much he worked and how much concentration he put into reconstructing the city, he couldn't stop thinking about him. What kind of life was this?

Before leaving he had told him that he would love to see what type of person he would become while they were apart. He hoped he was happy: this was what he had become. He was more responsible, more dedicated, he had more confidence in himself; but he was also more pathetic. And the same question kept spinning in his head again and again: Why? Why did he have to leave? Why couldn't he be a person of whom Nezumi could be proud of?

He supported himself against the wall, still crying, without bothering to close the window even though he knew he had to close it if he didn't want to fall gravely sick again. He wanted to mentally do a list of all the things that he would do this night in order to forget what day it was, of the same situation, of everything. Only that he couldn't think about absolutely anything.

Chii chii.

He half opened his eyes when he heard a small cry. Apparently, the noise outside had calmed down enough so that he could hear Tsukiyo. Truthfully, if he didn't close the window, the whole place would get wet and that could damage the rat in the long run.

It was just that, as soon as he was able to fix his eyes past the tears, he became aware that the sounds were not made by Tsukiyo. He rubbed his eyes, completely cleaning his tears, asking himself if he was seeing wrong thanks to the darkness of the room. It wasn't until a strike of thunder illuminated everything that he was able to see with clarity.

"Hamlet?"

It couldn't be Hamlet, or could it? The mouse was looking at him attentively, it was the same gaze that Hamlet gave him. He blinked a couple of time, asking himself if he was hallucinating or not when he heard another small cry, one that seemed happy. A brown mouse came close to him as he ran, climbing up his clothes until the stationed himself on his shoulder and tickling him with his whiskers as he sniffed him.

Normally he would've let out a small chuckle, glad and happy at the hello from Cravat. However instead of that, he stared at him, asking himself what was happening. In a short while, he had Hamlet on his shoulders too, making that sound that identified that he wanted him to read to him a bit just like before. When he fixed his stare again on the floor, he saw Tsukiyo calling him, waiting for the other two mice to dissolve which could very well be the result of a delusion caused by a fever he may have acquired without noticing. But the small cries only intensified when the two mice that were on his shoulders made a jump, practically at the same time, to reunite with Tsukiyo. The three chased the other side to side, as if they were chasing each other. As if they were playing.

For a few instants he lost himself the the enchanting scene that the reunion of the mice seemed, because he was sure that he was about to sigh with content when he realized what it meant that Hamlet and Cravat were here.

He spun his head towards the window so fast that he thought he would end up hurting his neck.

The curtains continued to slap violently while the storm had retaken its previous force. This scene. It was a déjà vu almost perfect, if it were not for the figure that could be seen in between the curtains wasn't any smaller or slimmer like it had been eight years ago.

Finally the cloth stopped hiding the face of the person that was in front of him. This time he could hear his heart beating much louder than the cries of the storm outside. It was so loud that he believed his heart would leap out of his chest only to lay at the feet of that person. He wasn't too far off from reality.

He raised his hands, perfectly imitating the same gesture he had done eight years ago, waiting for the other to act the same way as before, slamming him against the wall as he gripped his neck.

That person did not move from their spot. The only movement Sion was able to capture was that of lips separating with softness and elegance.

"I love you, Sion."

TBC...

Translator's Note: I don't know if I'll be able to have the second chapter translated by tomorrow since it is fairly long. But I'll try my best anyway. :D