A/N: Wow, I thought this chapter was going to be the death of me. But here it is, finally! I'm nearly done with this story, I just hope the last few chapters aren't as difficult for me as this one was! Enjoy!

Nezumi left for his theatre tour at the beginning of February. Shion cried himself to sleep the first night Nezumi was gone. He had become used to the feeling of a warm body pressed against his own each night in his bed and Shion had a hard time getting comfortable while he was all alone.

They kept in contact via the robotic mice and Shion learned about theatre life from Nezumi. Mostly, Nezumi just complained about the other actors or things that went wrong but when he had a particularly good night on stage, he'd rave on and on to Shion about how much fun he was having.

One night, a little over a week after Nezumi departed, Shion awoke in the middle of the night, his heart pounding and his body covered in sweat. He had relived the experiences from the Correctional Facility in a dream. Without thinking, Shion turned on his side to try to reach Nezumi but was met with an empty bed.

Shion laid in his bed trying not to cry. It had been months since he'd had such a vivid nightmare but he knew if Nezumi had been there, he would be able to calm down enough to go back to sleep. He needed to hear Nezumi's words of comfort and he needed to hear them now.

Shion reached his arm down and felt along the ground beside his bed until he found the small mouse he was searching for. He turned it on and pressed a button that would make Nezumi's mouse ring and alert him that Shion was contacting him. He waited for a few minutes but got no response. He pushed the button again and spoke at the small robot.

"Nezumi?" he said quietly. "Nezumi.. I'm sorry, I know it's late.. I just need to talk to you.. Nezumi, are you awake?"

Shion paused and listened closely. He closed his eyes and finally heard a sigh come from the speaker of his mouse.

"Yeah, I'm awake.. Well, I am now anyway," Nezumi replied in a tired voice. "What is so important, your majesty, that you needed to contact me at.. Four in the morning?"

"I had a bad dream.. We were back in the Correctional Facility.. I just needed to hear your voice.." Shion told him barely above a whisper.

"Oh.. Shion, I'm so sorry," Nezumi responded. "You're okay though, it was just a dream.."

Shion continued talking with Nezumi until he felt safe enough to fall back asleep. His mind was slowly drifting off but he didn't want to end the conversation.

"Nezumi, I'm so tired, I think I can sleep again now," Shion told his mouse.

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow then.. Or rather, later today I suppose," Nezumi replied with a chuckle.

"Hey, Nezumi.." Shion began.

"Hmm?"

"Can you leave your mouse on? Just for the rest of the night? I just.. I want to be able to hear you breathing," Shion answered, feeling his cheeks burning at the confession.

"So you've had trouble sleeping alone, too?" Nezumi quietly said.

"Yeah.. It's just not the same without you here.. I miss you a lot."

Nezumi sighed once more.

"I miss you too, Shion. I'll leave my mouse on, don't worry."

They both placed their robotic mice close to their faces and listened to each others breathing to fall asleep. When Shion awoke a few hours later, he could still hear Nezumi's deep breaths coming from the small mouse and was thankful that he could still be close to him, even when Nezumi wasn't physically beside him.

In the days following Shion's night terror, it became routine for each of them to keep their mice on and go to bed talking with each other. As the days went on, Shion began falling asleep much quicker, sometimes in the middle of a conversation with Nezumi.

One night during their chat, with around a week until Nezumi would return home, Shion announced that the Reconstruction Committee had officially finalized all plans to integrate the schools of No.6. This would give all the schools the same curriculum and all children in the city a fair chance to learn. Shion was ecstatic. All the hard work he had spent, all the long nights at the office, all the paperwork and fights with other people, everything had paid off.

To celebrate, the Reconstruction Committee scheduled an office party for the end of their work week. Nezumi wouldn't be back until three days later and Shion didn't want to go alone. Nezumi convinced him to go anyway, saying that he needed to have some fun at work for once.

The day before the party, Shion was greeted by Lili who was still helping Karan at the bakery. She had distanced herself from Shion somewhat since Nezumi had arrived back in his life but while the dark haired man was gone, Shion noticed Lili was becoming more of her old self. She brought Shion a muffin as he entered the bakery that morning and Shion, without giving it much thought, asked Lili if she would like to go with him to the party the next day. Lili agreed, with a slight blush across her cheeks, and thanked Shion for the invitation.

The following day, Shion picked up Lili from the bakery once he got off work. They chatted and caught up more than they had in a while. Shion wondered a little about why they hadn't spoken much lately but brushed the thought aside as they fell back into their old ways of being.

Shion introduced Lili to some of his coworkers and they all enjoyed food and drinks as well as each other company. Shion was offered a glass of wine from someone and tried to decline but the drink was pushed into his hand anyway. Shion remembered back to the last time he had had any alcohol and the thought made his cheeks burn at the memory of being right in Nezumi's face as he brushed their noses together.

He chuckled to himself and took a small sip of the drink. Lili watched him closely and they continued talking with people as they made their way through the party. Lili was the youngest one at the gathering and stayed close to Shion all night. After the white haired man finished his glass, he was given a second and even third before he began to act any differently. His coworkers were already mostly drunk and became very loud to be around. Shion found himself talking with people he'd never spoken to before and was extremely friendly toward them. Lili stayed by his side and eventually looped her arm through his.

One of Shion's coworkers asked if Lili was his girlfriend to which he replied with a loud "NO!" and Lili burned red at the question. Shion hadn't seemed to notice that she was still gripping his arm, he was feeling happy and giddy thanks to the wine he'd consumed.

"Shion, when are we leaving?" Lili asked him quietly as he finished his third glass of wine and leaned into her a bit.

"When we're ready to, Lils!" He responded loudly.

"Lils? You've never called me that before.. Just how drunk are you? Maybe we should leave now.." Lili told him and began to pull him toward the door.

Shion hiccuped and tugged back.

"No, noooo.." He began. "It's not time to leave yet! You haven't even *hic* seen my office!"

He tugged on Lili's arm and dragged her along.

"Shion.. I think we should leave soon.." She told him. "What do I need to see your office for anyway?"

Shion didn't answer but pulled Lili along a hallway to the room in the end. He fumbled with the door for a few moments before opening it and bringing them both inside. He shut the door behind them and turned to face Lili.

"Welcome! Welcome, one and all, to *hic* my office!" Shion called as he held his arms out and gestured around the room.

Lili smiled and laughed.

"Why, thank you, Shion! And what a lovely little office it is!"

"I knoooow, Lils, *hic* isn't it just great?!"

Shion walked to his desk and plopped himself down in his chair. Lili walked over to stand by him and looked over his shoulder to the decorations he had used to make his office more his own. She saw a few drawings that had obviously been done by Rou as well as many photographs, some in frames, some just tacked to the wall. As she had expected, Nezumi was in the majority of the photos.

Shion remained silent for a time. Lili glanced down at him and followed his gaze onto a photo of him and Nezumi that must have been taken relatively recently. They had their arms around each other in a hug and they both had huge smiles on their face. It looked as though they were caught mid-laugh.

Looking back at Shion, she saw a single tear slide down his face as he looked at the picture.

"Shion..?" She began. "Oh, Shion, what's wrong?"

She placed a hand timidly on his shoulder as he bowed his head and placed his face in his hands.

He mumbled into his palms, "I just really *hic* miss him.."

Lili slid her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close to her.

"It's okay, Shion. He'll be back soon. He's coming back in just a few days, remember?" She whispered.

"I know, I know.. It's just.. *hic* I just.. I miss him, dammit! It's not fair that he comes back and *hic* then just leaves again! Does he not even *hic* care about me? He's such a bastard, I hate him!"

Shion shouted this before breaking down and sobbing loudly into his hands. Lili wasn't sure what to do or say so she just held him tighter and ran her hand over his hair.

"Shh.. Shion, it's okay, you know he cares about you.. We all care about you.. Don't say things like that.." Lili told him after a few minutes.

He calmed down a bit and looked up at her. She was very close to his face and continued to run her fingers through his hair as she smiled down at him.

"Lili.." Shion began, watching her intently.

"Hmm?"

In the next moment, Shion had leaned forward and pressed his lips to Lili's. She froze entirely, she felt as if even her heart had stopped beating. She had no idea how long she remained in contact with him but as he pulled away and opened his eyes, she knew the kiss had been a mistake. His eyes went wide and he pushed himself away from her.

"Oh shit.. Oh shit.." Shion muttered, shaking his head as he stared at her.

Lili took a step away herself and brought a hand up to touch her mouth.

"Shit, Lili, I'm so sorry.. I didn't mean for that to happen, shit..." He trailed off and put his head back into his hands, mumbling to himself.

Lili backed away and soon was at the door to his office.

"Uh, Shion, um, I'm just.. I'm gonna go home now.." She said in a small voice. "Thank you for, uh, inviting me to the party.."

Shion didn't answer and she moved through the door, pulling it shut behind her. He remained in his seat for a while, not sure completely of what had happened. As he began to sober up, he was struck with the painful awareness that he was going to have to tell Nezumi about this.

He left the office without telling anyone and slowly made his way back to the bakery, stumbling a little in his still slightly intoxicated state. He knew Karan would be asleep and tried to quietly move past her room and into his own but he accidentally ran into a small table in the hall, knocking it over loudly. Karan quickly came into the hallway and saw Shion trying to stand the table back up. As he looked at her, he began to cry and she moved to hold him tightly.

Shion fell asleep in her arms and Karan half carried, half dragged him to his bedroom. She placed him in bed, removed his shoes, and watched him for a few moments as she ran a hand over his hair. She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before returning to her room.

Shion woke up a few hours later feeling extremely nauseous and quickly ran to the bathroom to rid his stomach of all he had eaten that day. He laid down on the tile, enjoying the cool feeling against his cheek, as the blurred memories of the night he had experienced came back to him. He was overcome with another feeling of sickness as he remembered his kiss with Lili and almost didn't make it up to the toilet before he expelled his stomach again.

When he felt as though he could stand up again, he brushed his teeth and looked at himself in the mirror. He was sweating, his face was pale, and his hair was matted. He nearly chuckled at the fact that he looked just as awful as he felt.

Shion went back to his room and fetched his robotic mouse. He stared at it for a while before finally sighing heavily and calling Nezumi. He hadn't checked the clock and had no idea what time it was but he felt quite certain that Nezumi would answer him, no matter what.

On his third call, Nezumi's sleepy voice finally came through with a "Yes?" and Shion's breath caught in his throat.

"Uh, hey Nezumi. Um, I just, um.. We.. We need to talk.." Shion muttered.

He heard a bit of concern in Nezumi's voice when he responded.

"What's up, Shion?"

"Nezumi.. I.. Well, uh, I just.. Shit.." Shion began.

"What is it? Spit it out, Shion," Nezumi pressed on.

"Shit, Nezumi.. I messed up."

Silence greeted him at this statement and Shion wasn't sure if Nezumi had disconnected. After a few moments he heard a sigh.

"What happened?" Nezumi quietly asked.

Shion explained the night to him the best he could. There were some parts that were still a little fuzzy but he told him about being drunk and telling Lili he hated him and then, in nearly a whisper, he told Nezumi he had kissed her.

"Nezumi.. I'm so sorry.. I didn't mean for it to happen, it just, well, it just kind of happened and then I didn't know what to do but I didn't want to do it, I mean, I don't think I did, I don't really know what I was thinking, actually, I don't think I was thinking-"

"It's okay."

"-It was completely stupid, I don't know why I did it. I just, she was there and you weren't-"

"Shion, shut up."

"-I just.. Wait, what?" Shion was caught off-guard and stumbled to a stop. "What did you say?"

Nezumi sighed, "I said, shut up. It's okay. I'm not mad at you so shut up."

Shion felt his mouth drop open.

"But Nezumi, I-"

"Just drop it," Nezumi cut him off again. "Listen, I'm sorry. This is my fault. If I hadn't left you again, none of this would have happened."

Shion didn't respond.

"Look, I know how you get when you're drunk. I don't think I'll ever forget you coming onto me like a dog or something. She was there and I wasn't. It's my fault and I'm not mad at you so just shut up. It was only a kiss, right? It's not like you fucked her," Nezumi told him.

"W-what?! Nezumi! How could you even- I would never- Nezumi!" Shion sputtered in response.

Nezumi chuckled.

"I know you would never. And if you'd been sober, you would never have kissed her either. But it happened and that's that. It's not the end of the world. It was just a kiss," he emphasized.

Shion fell back on his bed, feeling a strong headache coming on.

"Nezumi, I'm sorry. I miss you," he whispered.

"Stop apologizing," Nezumi told him before adding, "I miss you too, you damn airhead."

Shion laughed quietly and turned on his side.

"I miss you so much," he told his mouse.

"I'll be home soon."

"Nezumi.. I love you," Shion muttered as he closed his eyes.

There was no answer and only the sound of breathing came through on each end.

Finally, as he lost the battle to stay awake, Shion heard a hushed response.

"I love you, too, Shion."