It had been two and a half years. Two and a half long, heartbreaking years since he left. He thought he had made the right decision by leaving the smaller, white haired boy and going back to his ways of traveling but he was beginning to think this was not the best idea. He longed to see Shion. He missed running his fingers through the other boys hair. He missed hearing him read aloud from different stories. He miss the red snake that wrapped around Shion's body. He missed the feeling of being loved by someone so strongly.

Before he met Shion, Nezumi had been a wanderer. A loner. He didn't need anyone else but himself to survive. Shion changed all of that and gave Nezumi someone to live for. Not a day had passed since leaving the airheaded boy's side that he didn't miss him. He knew an important day was coming up soon for Shion and Nezumi vowed to himself to return to the boy and celebrate this occasion.

Fueled by a sense of purpose, Nezumi hurried to get back to the small bakery in Lost Town where he hoped to find his companion. More than two years of travel had allowed Nezumi to see things he'd only heard about in the past. However, this also drove him far away from the city he had seen the destruction of. As the days went by, he struggled with just how far away he had become from the once enclosed town of No.6. There were only a few days left before Shion's special day and Nezumi began to worry that he wouldn't make it to the boy in time.

Nezumi hopped train after train, hitch-hiked across cities, and found himself running flat out across fields as he tried to make his way to Shion. Exhausted by his travels, Nezumi stopped in a familiar place to rest up before his final day of this grueling journey. As he walked into the broken down hotel, there was a shift in the air that signaled to him something was amiss. He couldn't hear the growling of dogs that always came to him upon entry. He could see layers upon layers of dust coating all the surfaces in the building. Nezumi wasn't sure if he was alone in this old hotel or if the feeling he had meant someone was very close by. He silently readied his knife in his right hand and pulled his scarf tighter around his neck. If he was going to be attacked, he wasn't going down without a fight.

At the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the hotel rooms, he heard a strangled cry from above. It was a sound he had heard before, a sound heard often in the West Block. The sound of a crying baby.

Nezumi hesitated. If he went to the sound and it was a trap then surely the child was in no actual discomfort and he would be walking straight into trouble. On the other hand, if this sobbing child was being harmed, he might could take revenge for the pain inflicted on the kid. A face quickly flashed in his mind and he realized that at one time in his life, he never would have even cared to think of the second option. A certain white haired boy had changed everything about Nezumi and made him see the need to care for others. Silently grinning to himself at the smile still etched on the boy in his mind's face, Nezumi mounted the stairs in search for the crying baby.

He followed the sounds of sobbing until he found the room where the child must be. He placed his ear against the door and heard a second voice among the cries within. This voice was whispering words of comfort and sounded vaguely familiar to Nezumi. The door was shut completely and Nezumi wondered whether he should try to sneak into the room or make a quick entrance. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he heard footsteps coming closer to him from the other side of the room. He was unable to retreat quick enough and the next thing he knew, he was being thrown onto the ground from the force of the door being opened.

Nezumi didn't have time to get to his feet but he held his knife at the ready. He looked up and suddenly recognized the person who had been on the other side of the door.

"Inukashi?" Nezumi asked incredulously.

The formerly androgynous hotel and dog keeper had grown up. Nezumi had his suspicions about the gender of the younger companion but it seemed as though the past couple of years had allowed Inukashi to accept the reality of their body. Any prior uncertainty about the person standing in front of him was completely gone. Inukashi was definitely a girl.

Standing a little over 5 feet tall, her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a fitted shirt which complemented her recently developed chest. Her jeans were dirty and ripped but they were still cleaner than the clothes she used to wear. There was a sense of exhaustion in the way she carried herself and she held a small child tightly on her side.

The look of surprise on her face at the scene she had walked into was enough to send Nezumi over the edge. He began to laugh and was soon unable to catch a breath. Inukashi's shock quickly turned into a snarl as she stared down at the man on the floor.

"What the hell are you laughing at, Rat?" Inukashi questioned with a growl.

After a few moments, Nezumi was able to control his laughter and stood up. He now towered over Inukashi and looked down into her face.

"So you decided to keep the kid after all? I never knew you had it in you to be a mother." Nezumi tilted his head towards the still crying baby clinging to Inukashi.

"So what if I kept him?!" Inukashi angrily responded. "He's my kid now and I take damn good care of him! And what the hell are you doing here?!"

"It's not your business why I'm here," Nezumi answered promptly. "So why is the kid screaming his head off if you're supposedly a good parent?"

"The 'kid' has a name you know.. I don't know why though, he just woke up hollering a few minutes ago..." she trailed off. "I wish he would just go back to sleep, we're supposed to go over to Shion's to celebrate his birthday tomorrow and I'm exhausted.."

Nezumi's eyes became alert at the mention of the other boy's name. Of course he knew it was Shion's birthday tomorrow, that was the reason he had returned. He tried to play it off but Inukashi caught the look on his face and smirked at him.

"Oh.. I see now.. you came back for Shion's birthday, huh? I wonder how his little lady friend is going to react to this competition," Inukashi said.

Nezumi suddenly felt as though a hand had gripped his heart. He couldn't imagine that Shion had moved on and had someone new in his life. The look of pain must have shown on his face because Inukashi suddenly grinned.

"What, you're at a loss for words? How is it that the former actor has no lines for this moment?" Inukashi was gently rocking the baby on her hip as she smirked up at Nezumi.

"I just.." Nezumi couldn't finish his sentence aloud. He had no way to express the pain he was feeling at the thought of Shion being with someone other than himself. Hadn't he told him he would return? Didn't Shion know that, even without overtly saying it, Nezumi cared for him? Had their shared moments, shared experiences, shared kisses even been for nothing? Nezumi refused to believe it. He often called Shion an airhead but he knew deep down that the white haired boy could not be that dense.

Inukashi suddenly realized that all those months spent together had created a relationship stronger than she had known. The look of loss on Nezumi's face was enough to tell her that she had unintentionally crossed a line. Years ago a joke like this would have ended with a brawl from Nezumi's side. Now however, there was a weak and distraught man standing in front of her.

"Jeez, don't cry on me now... I was only messin' with you Nezumi.. You appeared out of the blue and the first thing you do is laugh at me.." Inukashi told Nezumi this now and hoped she hadn't gone too far in her prank.

Once the words left her mouth, Nezumi's entire face changed. He no longer looked as downtrodden as he had just seconds before. He searched Inukashi's eyes for the truth and his piercing gray stare made the smaller girl shift uncomfortably.

"I was only joking.. Lili is head over heels for Shion but the he couldn't care less. I actually feel kinda bad for the girl..." Inukashi explained.

Nezumi let out a sigh, a feat he wouldn't have done years earlier, and leaned his head back against the wall. His hands went to cover his face and he realized his head was beginning to hurt thanks to the baby that was still sobbing over something.

It was obvious to both Inukashi and Nezumi that Shion meant a lot to the dark haired boy. The thought of his Shion being with someone other than himself was too much for Nezumi to bear. Although he felt relief at the words Inukashi had said about the whole situation being a joke, he still couldn't get out of his head the thought of Shion with someone else.

"Where is Shion?" Nezumi asked Inukashi, still leaning against the wall.

"He's with his mother at her bakery," she answered quickly.

"Give me the kid," Nezumi demanded as he pushed off the wall.

Inukashi hesitated for a second before handing the wailing child over to the taller man. Nezumi held the small boy closely to his chest and gently rocked him in his arms. He then began to sing in a quiet voice, right into the child's ear. Inukashi had never heard this song before but she suddenly felt relief spread throughout her tired body. She could never understand how such a fox of a person could have this side to him but she leaned against the door jam and watched in awe as the baby gradually quieted down. His bright eyes were staring over the shoulder of the man cradling him and they slowly began to shut as his breathing evened out and he drifted off to sleep.

Nezumi handed the child back to Inukashi without a word and turned on his heel to leave the hotel. Inukashi watched him as he disappeared down the hallway, still shocked at the series of events that she had just been witness too.

She took the now sleeping baby back into her room and laid him in his crib. She stared at him for a few moments before leaning down and kissing the child on the forehead. Inukashi then went to her own bed and quickly fell asleep, the events that had just happened still playing in her mind.