Disclaimer: Oh I wish I were in Dixie, hurray, hurray, then I wouldn't have to do a disclaimer saying how I don't own No. 6, hurray, hurray…

Chapter 8

Shion was watching when Nezumi woke up.

It was strangely surreal, this time, like some foreign dance might be. Normally, Nezumi went from a light sleep to a sharp alertness in half a blink. But this time probably because of some leftover effects of the drugs in the medicine was slower, almost dreamlike. Shion watched as Nezumi's eyes fluttered once, twice. Nezumi stretched, still mostly asleep, yawning. He went limp again, his lips parting just enough to let out a small sigh. When he opened his eyes again a few seconds later, they were only half-open. He looked around the room blearily, obviously somewhat confused. His murky eyes landed on Shion.

"Hm… Shion…" The corners of his lips dripped upwards, most likely in the process of smiling, and his eyes closed once again, but he suddenly stopped. His eyes widened. "Shion." All sleepiness was gone instantly, the almost-smile slipping from his face.

"Feeling better?" Shion ignored Nezumi's obvious moment of remembrance, ignored the guilt in those heated gray eyes, and stood up. He picked up the chair next to Nezumi's bed that he had been sitting on and moved it back to the kitchen table.

"How… how long was I asleep?" It sounded like Nezumi had been about to ask something else, but had changed his mind mid-sentence, choosing safer words instead.

"A day," Shion answered dutifully. "Snow's finally stopped, and the water's running again, barely. But there's still too much snow to actually go anywhere."

"I see," Nezumi said slowly, taking a second to process this report. Then he sat up, kicking the blankets off of himself and throwing his legs over the side of the bed. "…Where did you sleep?"

"Couch," Shion said, his words a mix between a truth and a lie: He had tried to go to sleep, but his mind wouldn't stop thinking, wouldn't stop picking apart Nezumi's words from the previous morning. Plus, it wasn't exactly paradise, what with it being so cold. He had been tempted, many times, to crawl back under the blankets with Nezumi, but he couldn't. His body wouldn't let him. Or was it his mind who wouldn't let him? He couldn't really tell. Not that it mattered, anyways.

"I'm sorry." Nezumi had mumbled just loud enough to be heard, but at the same time, it sounded as if those words weren't meant to be heard, like they were miles and miles away in some distant place that didn't have any lies or truths or betrayal.

"Couldn't be helped." Shion shrugged as casually as possible. "You were sick. Not as if there was anywhere else to sleep."

"Shion, I'm-"

"I already said it's fine. Not as if you could change it."

Shion knew what Nezumi was really aiming to apologize for. He already knew what Nezumi was going to say. Even he wasn't that blind. But he couldn't listen to Nezumi say those words. It wasn't right. He was lying, too. Still was. Nezumi came clean. He'd done what was 'right.' Sure, he probably wouldn't have if he hadn't been under the influence of medicinal drugs, but still…

Shion didn't watch Nezumi get up, toss the blankets into some pathetic form of neatness, and enter the bathroom. He tried to ignore each little sound that Nezumi made each footstep, every creak of the door but that only made him hear it all the more. He thought he could hear Nezumi's heartbeat from another room entirely, thought he could hear his heart beating steadily inside his ribcage. Each breath Nezumi was sure to take in was in Shion's ears. He heard nothing, really, but he heard everything Nezumi did. It came as a slight shock that his mind filled in each sound so easily, as if it were as natural as his own breathing. He had registered that he had been paying close attention to Nezumi for a while now, admiring his powerful grace, but to this extent?

As soon as the door shut behind Nezumi, sealing them apart, Shion sighed and sank down onto the couch. His heart was beating fast and hard enough to power an entire city. He hadn't realized how hard it would be to look at Nezumi. It was like opening your eyes first thing in the morning and looking directly at the sun. It made you wince and shut your eyes again immediately. It hurt.

Even so, Shion didn't know why it hurt. It wasn't as if he hated Nezumi. He didn't really feel mad at Nezumi. He just felt… what was it? He had the word flittering around in his head, but whenever he tried to think on it enough to name it, it shied away, always just out of his reach. What was it…

Nezumi lied to me.

Those were the words accompanying that other impossible word, protecting it.

He lied to me.

But he wasn't angry, even though he suspected that he probably should feel angry. He didn't feel like punching Nezumi or never speaking to him again. That much was obvious.

So what was it?

The bathroom door opened. Startled, Shion made the mistake of looking up. Nezumi walked over in fresh clothes and a wet head, a towel in one hand.

"Water's freezing," he commented simply. "Not surprising, really."

"I'd be surprised if it were warm," Shion stated.

"I'd be happy if it were warm."

They were speaking. They might have been standing a little too stiffly, and their words might have been a little bit wooden, but the two of them were speaking relatively normally. Somehow, however, Shion wasn't sure if he should be happy or hurt by that.

"You feeling better?" The words were out of Shion's mouth before he remembered that until recently, Nezumi had been giggling about puppies and horsies.

Nezumi nodded on his way over to the bookshelves. "A bit tired, I guess. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine." His eyes grazed the books, only giving each one half a glance, but in that instant, he knew all about that book.

Shion was always amazed when he watched Nezumi pick a book to read. Nezumi knew all the books there better than the back of his own hand. No, they were his hands. In Nezumi's sharp eyes, Shion could see him flick through each and every word in a book with that half a glance, instantaneously deciding whether or not he was in the mood for that book. And sometimes he would gently tap the spine of a book, almost as if apologizing for not picking that book that day. Anyone could see in an instant how much he cared for those books, how well he knew them.

Shion's eyes were focused on Nezumi's decisive hands, watching them dance across the seemingly endless supply of books, lightly stroking some and tapping others. They fell smoothly through the air for one second before landing on the shelf beneath the one they were just appraising. Against his will, Shion's gaze traveled up Nezumi's arm and reached his eyes. They were as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than his hands. That look that gleamed in them. That understanding. It made Shion's heart speed up, almost painfully so. Nezumi knew each book inside and out, knew what filled them, what made each and every book it's own story, own entity. He knew each book perfectly, and it reflected in his silver eyes.

What would it feel like to be looked at like that…?

The thought slipped into Shion's mind so easily that he didn't even notice that he was thinking it. What would it feel like to have someone look at him and know everything about him? Invasive, probably. It might make him feel exposed, vulnerable. It might even make him feel weak.

But what would it feel like to have Nezumi look at him like that?

Shion felt the blood rush to his burning cheeks as his heart beat a hundred times harder in his chest. He closed his eyes, clenching his hands into fists at his sides, and took deep breaths. It was his own way of trying to calm himself down and regain control of his own thoughts. With each breath, the heat in his face ebbed away. His heart was still out of his complete control, but he didn't think he was blushing anymore, so he opened his eyes again.

Glowing silver. That was the first thing he saw. And this time, it was looking straight at him. It was looking into him.

A shudder ran down Shion's spine. Nezumi was looking away from the books and at him, but the look in his eyes hadn't gone away. Shion wanted to look away, but he couldn't. Nezumi's eyes were locking him into place, as if they were pure ice creeping over him, covering every inch of him with their glow. But they weren't just covering. Part of that silver-ice was melting into icy streams and seeping into Shion, trickling over his skin. It made him shiver, but it felt almost… pleasant. Like the ice was protecting him by encasing him, or embracing him. It made his skin flare up with heat even while he shivered with cold. It made Shion fidget it place and finally made his eyes look away.

This… this is what it feels like…

Nezumi knew Shion. Knew what made him laugh, what made him cry. He knew how to make Shion feel relaxed or how to make him feel distressed. Even if Nezumi didn't know that he knew, he knew. He knew Shion, even if he didn't know about Shion's little job at the grocery stand.

And that's just what it was. A little job. It wasn't really important. Nezumi had had to get one, too, and had also lied about it. Shion knew that, most likely, Nezumi had a good reason for lying about it, just like Shion's reason was that he didn't want to worry Nezumi, though he wasn't sure whether that was good enough or not. It wasn't much. It certainly wasn't worth all this tension and awkwardness and guilt.

But…

Shion looked away.

Nezumi's eyes lingered on him, then, eventually, turned back towards his books with a sigh. A second later, he picked a book and, sitting down on the bed, began to read. Shion grabbed the broom and began to sweep. He swept the room once, twice. He organized the room. He re-organized the room. He swept again. He tidied up the bookshelves as much as he dared without disturbing Nezumi's precise system. Nezumi read. Shion cleaned again and again and again.

And for the rest of the day, neither of them said a single word, both thinking of the other, both thinking about how to apologize to the other, but both of them completely lost.


Gawd, I nearly died writing those last few paragraphs... so frikkin embarrassing...

Okay, so, it's a tad later than planned. I actually had written this chapter while at camp, and I was planning to write more chapters while at camp(we have a lot of free time there at the high school camp), but then I actually made a friend and ended up hanging out with her a lot. If you feel mad at her like, "HOW DARE YOU DISTRACT THE ALL EPIC CANAGG FROM HER WRITING!" then you may go tell her this. Her username is CaptainShade. She also writes fanfictions(though not for anime)! :)

So I had this chapter in my notebook, right? And this was during the second week of June.

So I come back home... I sleep... and then the next day, I start to type this up, right? And then it hits me:

"...wait... this... this is all wrong... this isn't what happens... nooooo... so wrong..."

Long story short, only about 15% of my original chapter was usable, though it might have been even less. ;_;

But then I had this story finished about a week later, rightttt?

And then my flash drive vanished. And for those of you who do not know, I do not have internet at meh house, so I need a flash drive to take meh story to la library. And it vanished. Like, the day before I was finished. And then my sister wouldn't let me use hers. And so I kinda sorta stole it this morning. She'll probably come yell at me. Fwahahhahaha.

NEXT CHAPTER IS ALMOST DONE!

...wait... or is it...

Nope. That was a lie. I have begun writing it. But it ain't almost done.

Dang it.

ME SHALL HURRY!

LIKE A BUNNY!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please have mercy on me for being so slow! I hope you all are having a wonderful summah vacation, because I know I am! I AM ABOUT TO GO GET CHEAP ANIME JUNK IN LIKE FIVE HOURS, AND THAT'S AFTER I GET FREE ICE CREAM AND FREE SOUP WITH MEH FRIEND! WHOOO HOOOOO!

Please R&R! ^-^