Set at the space between episodes eight and nine.
"Nezumi."
"Nn."
"Do you think that we might die soon?"
"As in infiltrating No. 6, or you blowing up our house while trying to make soup?"
"As in infiltrating No. 6."
"Eh, who knows? I guess it all might come down to you defending us, in which case we're as dead as can be."
"Nezumi…"
"I'm not going to let those bastards kill us. And if something unexpected happens, well, I guess we'll both go down together anyway."
It was one of those rare moments in time where Nezumi would let slip a morsel of truthfulness within his ego-filled lies, and it comforted Shion more than anything else could at the time. Maybe it was something that comforted Shion more than anything else, ever. Not a loving hug from his mother, not kind words from Safu which had been given so often. Instead, it was a small portion of truth and hope from a stranger he knew well.
This answer satisfied Shion, though at the back of his mind he began to worry. That small quantity of truth brought forth thoughts concerning things Shion didn't usually think about. What if the next couple of days would be his last moments with Nezumi? What if this was going to come to an end much too soon? If he were to die eventually, it would unquestionably and undoubtedly have to be beside Nezumi. But that was an eventual thing. He didn't want to die soon. What if tomorrow was his last day with Nezumi? The thought of all the things that could have been accomplished throughout a lengthy life span- reading every one of Nezumi's books, finding out if they really were Nezumi's books in the first place, seeing his mother again, saving Safu, asking Nezumi what his childhood was like before the invasion of No. 6's scientists upon his people, asking Rikiga what his mother was like when she was young, helping to find toys for Inukashi's dogs, seeing Nezumi act again, more dancing, more fighting, more laughing, more cooking, more reading, more exploring, more learning. It all rushed through his head. More. He wanted more. He wanted to live.
"Are you going to sit there daydreaming, or are you going to turn that lamp off so we can sleep?"
Shion hesitated as he moved to switch off the lamp. "Can I sleep on the other side? The one closest to the wall?"
Nezumi narrowed his eyes. "How's that any different to sleeping on your usual side?"
"Well, you seem to have bad dreams, so a lot of the time you end up kicking me off the bed and I fall off onto the floor".
"Wouldn't sleeping closest to the wall mean you couldn't move away from me kicking you, even if you wanted to?"
"But I want to be close to you, and falling off the bed wouldn't end with that happening."
Nezumi blinked at his bluntly voiced reasoning. "Suit yourself. Just hurry up and turn the lamp off."
Shion switched off the lamp, then proceeded to inelegantly clamber over Nezumi's sleeping form, to the other side of the bed. He would not think about all of those things. He would think about the present. Hadn't he read in one of Nezumi's books that now was a gift, and that's why it was called 'the present'?
Thinking about only the present, Shion lay in bed sleepless. Nezumi was asleep next to him, facing him with closed eyes and a furrowed brow. The small digital clock placed atop a bookshelf in the corner read 2:48am. Shion sighed. Usually when sleeping next to Nezumi he fell asleep within 15 minutes of hopping into bed. The only times he was awoken was from being unintentionally punched or kicked when Nezumi decided to fight back against the faceless monsters which so often occupied his dreams.
He decided to lie on his side and face Nezumi. After a while of accidentally creating horrible poetry in his head about the larger teen next to him, Nezumi began to once again frown and aim small kicks in nowhere in particular. Ignoring the kicks and without thinking, Shion leaned forward and lightly pressed his lips against Nezumi's. The kicking died down, and the frown upon Nezumi's face began to slowly change into a soothed, calm expression. After a while, Shion pulled his lips away and at the same precise moment, Nezumi began to stir once more.
Shocked but at the same time curious, as all scientists are, Shion continued to experiment with his lab rat. What were the effects of kissing Nezumi in a state of dreaming? He leant forward again- a little shaky as the nervous teenager in him decided to surface. He discovered that kissing different areas resulted in different reactions from Nezumi. Kissing his lips gave him an almost hopeful expression, kissing his forehead resulted in a display of peaceful expressions, kissing his ear made Nezumi cringe a little as if he were being tickled, and kissing his jugular resulted in a pleasureful frown.
Whilst experimenting with all of these different actions and reactions, analysing Nezumi's different expressions was something new to Shion. After most of the time seeing a disapproving scowl, being allowed to see all of these different expressions was a privilege, and being the one causing these things to happen even more so. He was learning more about Nezumi. Would he have time to ever do this again? What would tomorrow bring?
As Shion hovered close to the other teenager's face with his eyes closed, contemplating the future, he felt warm breath upon his throat and realised, looking down, that he had unintentionally awoken Nezumi. His expression looked somewhat confused and sleepy.
Nezumi squinted in his weariness. "What are you…?"
Shion's heart was pumping much faster than usual. Was he…? Was this…? What if this all ended tomorrow? He knew he would regret later on saying "nothing" and going back to sleep. Instead, he leaned forward, nervous but confident. Surely there was more to kissing than the goodnight kiss he'd given Nezumi the night before… or rather, the night before last (it was probably at least 3am by now). His lips found Nezumi's and he nervously opened his mouth. This is what he was supposed to do, right? At least, that's what it looked like was happening when Nezumi kissed that sex worker the other day… Should he close his eyes? What should he do with his hands? He felt Nezumi pull away and hold him back with firm arms. His magnificent slate eyes stared into his, their expression looking as if he were attempting a complex math problem.
"You're… it's just…" Shion had only ever seen Nezumi speechless a couple of times. This was one of those times. However, it looked as if Nezumi had solved the math problem, and without warning he swiftly and firmly re-joined their lips. Nezumi's tongue was warm as it entered Shion's mouth. It was wet and… warm. Everything about that moment was warm. Nezumi's hot breath, their arms and hands which had suddenly and effortlessly found their places around each other, the bed they shared, the blankets. Everything was warm and unexplored and exciting and new.
Nezumi would keep his tongue in Shion's mouth, whilst changing angle. It was sort of like a game- whoever could force the other's tongue into their own mouth was the winner. Shion found that sucking on Nezumi's tongue as hard as he could proved to make him squirm a bit, and he smiled at the new discovery. Nezumi broke away after a couple of minutes and stared towards Shion with an egoistic smirk pulled across his face. "What are you smiling about?"
Shion stared right back at Nezumi. In the process of Shion's newfound hobby, the two ended up with their legs intertwined, with Nezumi's leg wedged between Shion's smaller ones and in the heat of the moment he was pressing upon it with as much force as he could muster for some instinctual reason. Though the whole time no one ended up on top of another. They were equals now after all.
"I guess I'm just lucky to have such an amazing teacher. So far you've taught about proper stories, you've taught me how to make soup, and how to dance, and now you're teaching me how to kiss."
Nezumi laughed. It wasn't pained, sarcastic or cruel. It was pure and it was light hearted and warm. "Well, you're not bad for a beginner I guess." Nezumi leaned in again, kissing even stronger this time.
Shion smiled kissed back, matching Nezumi's strength. Who knows what would happen tomorrow? Or in a week? Or in a month? Or in a year? The present was happening now, and it was the makings of the future, and it was important, and it was right in front of him.