Chapter 14

The beginning of the New Year

Nezumi didn't talk much to Karan and Shion in the next two days after that Christmas night. He was mad at himself for being so weak before the others' eyes. All of his pride, all of the thing his Gran had taught him, everything he had learned until now from his harsh life were pushed away on the imaginary boat while he waved them a goodbye and let them sail into oblivion. Now he stood on the coast of the idiocy, stupidity and cheesiness. He didn't think he would fall this low and now it happened all because of his love towards his new family, especially Shion. What a disgrace.

The only good thing was that Inukashi and Junior didn't make it to Christmas dinner, or else Nezumi was sure that she wouldn't let him live peacefully after seeing him in such state.

Even so, the atmosphere at home was a little strange. When Nezumi sorted out his feelings after that stupid holiday he noticed that something was off.

Karan acted almost like she always does, well, maybe her smile towards Nezumi was a little gentler. Probably because he had called her 'mom' that night. Other than that Nezumi noticed many times that she was lost in her thoughts and her eyes were full of sorrow. He bet that it was something related to the white haired boy since Shion really acted out of his character even compare to his 'normal' strange behavior. Not like Shion and his nightmares at the night were something new. What occurred after Nezumi woke Shion up from them was something that didn't happen before. The white haired boy moved away from Nezumi just after he calmed himself down. At first he thought that Shion was just giving him some space after his silly crying on Christmas Eve, but two days had passed and Nezumi woke up strangely alone on their usual warm bed since his boyfriend was pressing against the cold wall instead of tangling around him. He didn't need to be genius to know that this wasn't a normal situation. Nezumi was thinking of what could have happened.

Shion was acting normally until the event from two days ago. Did the white haired boy do something or said something to his mother after Nezumi left?

When Shion was climbing to their bed that night and again pressed himself against the wall Nezumi decided to overlook the fact that he was feeling so silly for being a crybaby and threw his arms over Shion's waist. Pulling the other boy closer and feeling other's warmth, Nezumi sighed softly feeling that his muscles relaxed for the first time since Christmas Eve.

"Nezumi..." Shion started after few minutes.

"Yes?" The dark haired boy whispered. Shion's body was strangely stiff; normally he would have melted into his arms. Nezumi started to get some clues about where it was all going and he didn't like it. He would rather have those idiotic Christmas everyday than talk about 'that' topic.

"I told mom what I had done inside the Correctional Facility. Everything. That I killed, that I lost my way, that I hurt others because of my selfishness..."

Shion told quietly into the darkness of the night. Nezumi didn't know how to answer. He had a lot more blood on his hands than Shion ever did, but that comment would only lead to another fight and he was too tired for that.

"You told me that you want me to be happy. I'm not if my private heater is punishing himself by keeping this away from me." Nezumi whispered into Shion's ear.

"That's cruel. You know that it doesn't feel right to love you, to be close with you, no matter how much I want it, when I have done so many bad things."

Nezumi sighed tiredly, not feeling good enough to deal with this again.

"Just bear it as always. I love you, and you still love me even if I'm a bigger jerk than you. Your mom still love you too or we would be sleeping on the street right now. You promised me to not do such things again and a lot of other silly promises. That's good for now and let's sleep. Oh, and don't try to run to the wall and stay away from me. Or maybe you started to think that wall is sexier than I am?"

Shion turned around and hid his face in Nezumi's chest. The older boy didn't say anything more even when he felt that his shirt was getting wet, or when Shion whispered 'I'm sorry", or "I love you too" and "I won't do it again" repeatedly until he fell asleep. Nezumi was glad it turned out this way. It was not like he liked for Shion to cry, but this was better. He would only feel afraid if Shion acted heartless about it just like he did in the Correctional Facility. Right now Shion was acting like Shion and that was all that Nezumi wished for. He wanted the white haired boy to stay kind, natural and caring Shion that he knew.

The next day Nezumi was greeted in the kitchen by the other boy acting like his usual cheerful self. It looked like some talking that night made Shion feel better and Nezumi was so glad that he somehow forgot about his own silly behavior on Christmas Eve.

The 31st of December came and the small family was sitting around the joined tables in the bakery waiting for New Year with Inukashi and Rikiga. Little Shionn came too with his mommy, but the child fell asleep at around 10pm and Karan had put him into the bedroom that was on second floor beside Shion and Nezumi's room. That room was normally unused since Karan liked to sleep on the first floor's bedroom, closer to her bakery.

The music from the little TV went silent so the leading reporter could announce that it was five minutes before the New Year.

"He's fast asleep. Cravat is keeping him company while sleeping on the pillow. " Inukashi said to everyone as she came back to the bakery from checking up on Shionn.

"Maybe we should made use of that empty room more since we always end up here, in the bakery's shop, when we all have our meetings like the today." Karan wondered loudly.

"Do you want to remodel it into living room?" Shion asked her with interest.

"Well it's only a proposition because that room only stacks up dusts. We don't have a living room anymore since three years ago. We didn't need it when it was only you and me here, but now it will be useful in times like this." Karan finished taking about her idea. Shion nodded his head and Nezumi also thought that it wasn't a bad thing. At last it would save them some work to always prepare the tables and chairs just to clean them up later for the next day in the bakery.

After returning to the room, Inukashi didn't sit down behind the table. Instead, she took the bag that she brought with her and waved at older man who was now talking about his new article.

"Rikiga come here. I need some help with the drinks." She said while lifting up her bag. To everyone's surprise old man didn't protest and he already was walking toward Inukashi's place. Shion too raised up from his chair.

"I will help you too." The white haired boy said, but Inukashi only shook her head.

"You don't need to. You all have prepared this party, so we should at least make something to drink. I got some really nice orange juice. It is the best one to have after such nice meal Mama Karan has prepared." With those words both of the guests left the bakery.

Inukashi and Rikiga came back three minutes later right before the New Year Countdown started on TV. They put glasses of orange juice before Shion, Nezumi and Karan. The dark haired boy had already held a bottle of wine and he was waiting for counting to end so he could open it. Usually people drank champagne in such occasions, but Karan didn't like its taste and Nezumi hoped that Shion could at least learn how to drink wine and wouldn't get drunk like four years ago.

"3...2...1... Happy New Year!" Sounded from the TV accompanied with Shion and Inukashi's voices and a little bang from opening the wine bottle. Nezumi poured wine into everyone's glasses. He smiled a little, relaxing; it was safe because this time Shion wouldn't be able to drink the whole bottle by himself. He still remembered how Shion acted like the dog last time and he did not want it to happen ever again. Not mention that carrying the white haired boy to their bedroom would be the pain in the ass since Shion wasn't so light anymore.

Everyone talked about what had happened in the past year and finished their wine after a while. Rikiga and Inukashi started drinking their orange juice. Shion, who was a little flushed from the wine, talked with enthusiasm to Inukashi about some latest updates in the West Block.

Not too soon Nezumi saw that Shion must have talked his throat dry because the white haired boy grabbed his glass of juice and drank almost all of it in one go. The glass was empty and Shion had become silent. His face turned all red and Inukashi busted out with laughter. Nezumi with extreme worry took a slip from his own glass. Aside of the juice the taste of strong alcohol hit him almost from the start.

Nezumi took a look around. Shion was still all silent, Rikiga was a little red, Inukashi laughed at Shion's face and Karan chuckled softly.

"Inukashi, what is this?" Nezumi asked, trying to not raise his voice, but he already felt disaster in the air. Inukashi, without any more hiding and playing around, had a big proud grin on her face while she pulled out a bottle of alcohol and put it on the desk. Nezumi looked at it closer to see the big words on its label read 'Vodka ' and froze like the Shion for a moment. Nezumi knew that he, Inukashi and Rikiga were able to handle it, but Shion and Karan?

"Idiot, this thing is at least 70%!"

"Oh, I didn't think that you have changed into such a boring guy. Relax, it's diluted with juice. Shion and Mrs. Karan should have fun too, at least once per year. It's New Year Eve!" Inukashi laughed. She clearly sounded drunk already. Nezumi was terrified; Inukashi didn't see Shion after he drank only a bottle of wine. How such strong alcohol would work on him? He hoped that it wouldn't end with calling an ambulance. He was angry, really angry.

After a several more quiet moments Shion turned his head towards Nezumi with a strange smile and he unceremoniously saddled on Nezumi's labs. The dark haired boy blushed darkly, wanting to push his boyfriend off. They both weren't use to show so much affection towards each other in front of others. He looked over Shion's shoulder at Karan. The woman was just talking with Rikiga like nothing happened, chuckling from time to time.

"Nezumi, you know..." Shion started, his eyes were a little clouded.

"I want to thank you for this year. You always make me so happy... The way you touch me and kiss me... it makes me so happy... Did I tell you that you have very beautiful eyes and hands? And those hands... they always touch me with such care..."

Shion's face was so close and Nezumi didn't know what to say or what to do. The white haired boy's limbs and the rest of his body pinned him down to the chair, not letting him go. While hearing those words about his hands, Nezumi was so embarrassed that he covered the other boy's mouth with his hand. After a few moments it was clear that Shion needed some air, he was too drunk for breathing only with his nose, so Nezumi lowered his hand. It wasn't a good idea since Shion threw his arms over Nezumi's shoulders and his smile grew even stranger.

Nezumi couldn't understood how it was possible for Shion to act like this before Karan's eyes. Drunk or not he didn't know that his boyfriend was capable of saying such things in front of his mother. It was always Shion who was sometimes abashed when Nezumi talked a little dirty just to tease him.

In his mind Nezumi already cursed and promised to himself that he would remind Shion of this every single day for the whole next year.

"You make me so happy." After such words Shion rested his head in the corner of Nezumi's neck. He thought that Shion had fallen asleep and Nezumi was about to say how annoyed he was by this whole situation, when he felt the warm, wet lips kissing his neck. Nezumi jumped up on his chair as much as he could with the other boy on him.

"Shion, what are you doing? Your mother is here with the rest of your friends, stop it already!" he said with an angry voice, but the white haired boy only continued to nip him. It all felt too erotic to do it in the front of others and more importantly, in front of Karan, especially when Nezumi just called her 'mom' few days ago.

Still, no one reacted to Shion's perverted behavior. At least not how people normally acted in such situations. Inukashi, who was usually embarrassed by their, even small, displays of love now launched and pointed at Nezumi.

"Look at his face! Everyone, his face! It's hilarious!"

Karan looked at them, still chuckling.

"Aren't they sweet?" She said to Rikiga but Nezumi wasn't sure that man heard anything of what she said. Old man looked at woman like she was the most beautiful person in the world, not caring about anything else.

When Nezumi was thinking that it couldn't get any worse, he felt Shion's tongue on his skin.

"To bad that they can't have kids, otherwise they would be cute." Karan went on.

Nezumi wanted to scream and ran from this place. He was embarrassed, he felt strange and Karan's chatter about whether their children would possibly have white hair like Shion does didn't help at all.

"I would be afraid of the combination between the angelic look of Shion with Nezumi's personality." Rikiga answered Karan, while Shion continued to lick and kiss Nezumi. It didn't feel bad, but the place and the timing for this was totally wrong.

When the silver eyed boy was thinking that he couldn't take it anymore Shion finally stopped.

The younger boy moved up his head so fast that it looked almost comical. He paused for a moment and then while moving around on Nezumi's laps he looked at the rest of party members.

"Let's make that thing... you know, from snow, with a carrot nose." Shion almost fell off from the older boy's laps. Nezumi grabbed him around waist to keep him up from falling.

"Dear, it's called a snowman." Karan chuckled while looking at her son.

"Yes! Snowman! Let's make one!" Shion stood up and shouted loudly.

"Shion, calm down, you will wake up Junior!" Nezumi said. This mess was enough for him to deal with already. He didn't need a small kid in all this chaos.

Even so, Shion didn't listen to him, just like that evening four years ago. The white haired boy already stumbled towards the door. Nezumi wanted to bang his head on the table when the rest of the happy party members followed Shion. Nezumi went after them, cursing loudly, getting some pieces of winter clothing that Shion and Karan didn't put on when they ran outside. He threw a scarf on his new mother's shoulders and zipped Shion's jacket while the other boy was complaining about how he wanted to build a snowman now.

"It's cold!" Rikiga shouted as he started to roll snow into a big ball.

"Of course old man! It's snowing!" Inukashi answered as she threw some of it into man's face. Rikiga ran after the laughing girl and Karan continued the work while humming some cheerful song.

"Nezumi! Look I made a ball! From the snow!"

"That's amazing Your Majesty." Nezumi answered sarcastically. From the tone of his voice it was clear that he had already given up and he wanted for all of this to be over with. He helped Shion with making the snowman's body. The faster they finished it, the faster this crazy group would get back into the warm, cozy house. Nezumi was putting the second part of the snowman's body on the first one when his head was hit by a snow ball. He turned around to see Inukashi who was laughing insanely. That was enough for him to take.

"Inukashi, I will fucking kill you!" Nezumi shouted and walked towards her, wanting to bury her into the snow for all this mess and for making him do such idiotic thing as playing in the snow like the kids. Out of a sudden, Shion grabbed him around his waist, making the older boy stop and look at him.

"Yooou... caaan't! Kiring... is baaad... vely baaad..." Shion slurred while tears were glossing in his eyes. Nezumi stopped and remembered the conversation last week and a lot of other unhappy memories. He didn't want to hurt Shion by talking and reminding him of that matter.

He put his hand on Shion's cheek. "Don't worry, I won't." He said in a serious tone. For a moment Shion looked at Nezumi with his big, glossy red eyes. Then he smiled widely.

"Ol..kaaay!" That's was all Shion said before he ran away and continued making snowman like nothing happened. Nezumi hid his face into his hand and he felt the headache coming.

For the next half hour the little drunk group made the ugliest snowman that Nezumi had ever saw. Its body was skewed, Rikiga added to its middle part something that looked like breast. Karan stuck some tree branches in places they were not supposed to be. Nezumi didn't know if she was so drunk too, but she chuckled when she was adding the branch on the snowman's lower parts and he hoped that it was supposed to be the tail. What Shion did with the snowman's face could have put even Picasso in shame. The white haired boy probably used all of the stones in the garden and Nezumi didn't know which ones were supposed to be eyes. Inukashi somehow appeared with his super fiber scarf and she tried to put it on the snowman, but he took it back with murderous eyes. After he put his scarf around his neck, Shion wrapped his hands around Nezumi's waist.

"It waaas fuuun... I... dn't .. haaad.. Sooo Mac.. fun... nevr.."

Shion's voice got quieter and quieter. Nezumi made angry clicks with his tongue when Shion's body almost slide down into the snow.

He knew it.

He knew that it would end like this.

Now he had to drag Shion back into the house. Rikiga already fell into the snow and as much as Nezumi would like to leave him there, a dead body in front of the bakery wouldn't be good for business. After dragging Shion back inside, he came back for Rikiga. At least Inukashi helped him this time.

Leaving the guests to themselves, Nezumi made sure that Karan got back into her room safely and without any older man around, after that he threw Shion's arm over his shoulder.

"Damn it!" He cursed while dragging Shion's body up the stairs to their bedroom. It wasn't easy since the drunk body was slipping from his hold. He was so tired that he didn't even feel angry in that moment.

After a while of struggling with every possible stair in their house, Nezumi finally got to the bed and fell on it with Shion. He hoped that the thing he heard during his journey wasn't true. That 'the events happened on the first day of the year is how the rest of the year will look like'. He wasn't sure if he would be able to handle this kind of chaos and hectic every day.

Shion had just finished copying some files that he needed for the conference that day to his work tablet. He swallowed nervously and took a deep breath. Even though it has been two days since the New Year's party and he still felt like he had just eaten a sock.

He spent his yesterday's morning hugging the toilet and waiting until after-effects of Inukashi drinks would pass away. From time to time Nezumi paid him a visit to see if Shion was still alive.

Nezumi was angry, very angry after what had happened during New Year's Eve.

In the afternoon, when Shion was finally able to get up from the bathroom's floor, Nezumi started to complain about what had happened in the party. He told Shion about the thing that Shion had done while being drunk. The white haired boy felt more and more ashamed as Nezumi's speech got longer and longer.

He didn't remember anything happened after he had drunk Inukashi's juice, but a few red spots on Nezumi's neck were the undisputable proof of his crime. According to what he could recall from his fuzzy memory, he wanted somehow to show older boy how much he loved him and how grateful he was that Nezumi had become a part of his life once again.

Shion hid his blushed face into his hands before he walked out of their bedroom. Making the constellation of hickeys wasn't the only thing he felt ashamed of. The most embarrassing thing was that his mother saw him acting like some kind of pervert.

Shion was thinking about skipping the "see you later kiss" and head straight to the work in order to avoid Nezumi's tease, but it was no use, because the odds were not in his favor this time. He bumped into Nezumi in the corridor right after he went down the stairs.

"Oh, our skilled mouth and tongue is going to work? I hope he won't do anything indecent with them, but you will never know, since he was able to do such thing in front of his mother..." Nezumi smirked at him, crossing his arms.

Shion was suddenly interested in looking at the floor when his eyes strayed and he again saw the hickeys that looked a little like number two. Nezumi covered most of them with his scarf, but Shion knew that they were there.

Seeing that his teasing worked Nezumi left for the bakery and Shion lumbered to the kitchen in order to prepare himself breakfast. When it was time to go to work, ashamed or not, he gathered some of his dignity to walk into the bakery. He didn't know how to look straight at his mother's face anymore. She acted normally and she talked about New Year's party with happy sparks in her eyes all yesterday's afternoon, but it still felt strange. She didn't say a word about his actions, but Shion knew that she smiled many times with amusement at him the day before. He groaned while imagine what his mother must have thought about him now.

Shion was going to slip out of the house as fast as possible, but Karan saw him when he was closing the door. She waved at him happily.

"Shion, come here."

The white haired boy followed her to the showcases and he was given a paper bag.

"Here are some chocolate croissants for your lunch. Good luck at today's conference." Woman smiled.

"Thanks, mom." Shion said and turned around blushing slightly. His attention went towards Nezumi who was attaching some pieces of paper to the bakery's windows with a murderous face. Shion was wondering what was written on those papers and he planned to find out what it was on his way out, but right at that moment Nezumi turned to look at him. His signature smirk returned to his face and Nezumi said as quietly as he could so only Shion could hear his words.

"NO.6 needs to beware, the dangerous vampire is leaving his nest. He's going to satisfy his blood lust and suck everyone's necks."

Shion would roll his eyes if he didn't feel so embarrassed. On the other hand, he knew that it wasn't just Shion's behavior that Nezumi was so mad about, but it was that night as a whole. Nezumi was angry because he had to take care of them all and that wasn't something he was used to. Shion could bet that Nezumi wouldn't make such a big fuss about those hickeys if they hadn't been made in front of Karan's very eyes.

As he was walking with a slouch outside of the house Shion saw what was on the paper. It was Inukashi and Rikiga's photos, which must have been taken from Shion's database, and beneath them read:

"We don't give entrance to these clients."

Nezumi must have been really angry at these "trouble makers" to go through so much of work and make something like this.

Shion was strolling down the street thinking that the relationship between his friends and Nezumi would be a bit like a Cold War for a while now. He turned around to look at the bakery to see that Karan was already taking off the paper page, talking to Nezumi with a motherly smile.

The beginning of the New Year wasn't a time to be lazy in the committee. Aside from the adjustments of that year's budget they had other problems. Some were bigger than the other, some only needed little update in regulations and there was one in particular that Shion would rather leave for another time.

Shion was sitting with other members around the big table made of glass and silver metal. The chairs had similar designs and Shion personally thought they were too flashy, but at least they were made of recycled materials.

"That's stopping of the medicine progress! Do you all know how many good could come from the further research?" One of members from the committee started and Shion resisted the urge to sigh heavily.

"We don't want to stop the progression, but it's impossible now to give those projects green lights." Shion replied calmly to the gentleman. That man had a good heart, but like any researcher he wanted to discover everything that was new and exciting. It was dangerous, especially when those researches were about medicine and other issues around tests on humans.

"Sir President, I believe you have underestimated the benefits that could come from this. We are very close to cure damaged heart's tissues or other damaged organs."

"I know, but Mr. Umeri, please understand that we can't let it start without clear regulations." Shion said. He was afraid of those research. It was too similar to what the last government had done.

"Mr. Umeri, do you want to repeat what have happened in the Correctional Facility? You have seen those recordings, haven't you? You know how they used people for experiments." Mrs. Alice joined conversation and she said aloud what most of the committee thought in their minds. The man frowned, remembering the documentations of that place.

"No, of course not! That was inhumane! That wasn't researching, it was a mass murder and something that only a mad mind could have thought of."

"But it had its beginning somewhere. One day someone may started researching about something while using humans as the test subjects. Maybe they just started with testing this or that medicine. And they went further. Then they started thinking 'Why not try this? Or that?' Soon those scientists stopped seeing those test subjects as a people. They could eat and laugh while cutting out living people's brains... It didn't happen in one day, but it started somewhere." Shion said as calm as he could, but the images in his head were fresh like he just saw them yesterday.

No one in the conference room said anything for a while.

"Imagine half of human's body growing inside glass tubes..." Kenshi, the head of transport department, whispered to Tetsuya from the cultural department. Most of the members of committee frowned again.

"I don't want that either. The research on stem cells had already been started before the big war. I just want to continue it in order to help people, not to harm. It would increase the survival rate for mankind. Neither do I want something like Correctional Facility to happen ever again. All of you here probably have known that my brother-in-law was killed in there and he was not only one I knew that was killed because of the last government's corruption." The man called Umeri sank lower in his chair and and his brows furrowed like other members after Shion's speech.

"I understand Mr. Umeri. This method is invaluable and there's no doubt that we should perform a deeper research on it. Still, we need perfect regulations first and every step of those researches must be open to the public. I want to have at least two supervisors from other cities for this or any project that will need to be tested on humans in its last stages. We need to investigate very closely on every stages so it will be impossible for anyone to do anything harmful to human beings. I wish for such experiments to be only carry on with people who have tried everything else and they have no other hope but to participate in those tests to save their lives. Before these can be guaranteed, I can't agree to start any research."

Shion announced and almost everyone in the room nodded with agreement.

"I understand, I will prepare the documents in regard to this study for the next meeting." Mr. Umeri said without a hint of regret and Shion took a deep breath before moving to the next topic. Every time they had to handle something connected to the medicine research he felt uneasy. It was like walking on the thin ice. One wrong step and someone might get hurt again.

"Yes, that won't be problem. It would be the best to look at the research from before war, then we will decide what the next steps to ensure its safety are." After a few moments of silence, Shion continued. "If there is no more discussion on this topic, we will move on to the next one. Lady Hanami, you reported that there is a problem with the city's airlines."

"Yes, as everyone has already known, the transportation between No.6 and other cities had increased by 40% from last year..." The lady started. Shion took a sip from his glass with the water. Even after four years he knew that all of this was only a beginning. He understood that this wasn't the last time when such problematic matters needed a solution. Shion only hoped that every time he and the others from committee would make the right decisions.

Shion came back to home feeling exhausted even if he left his work a little bit earlier than normal. He took some documents with him and decided to look at them later in his room. He felt uneasy and he knew that closeness of that person that always helped him to calm him down.

Walking through glass doors of the shop he heard Renka's chuckling.

"Young man, is that a hickey? It looks too big to be done at once."

Nezumi noticed Shion and started his performance.

"Yes, Ma'am, it was done by a blood thirsty animal! They look innocent and pure, but you just let your guard down and they would eat you alive." Nezumi said tragically while waving his hands like his life was on the line and someone really wanted to get him.

Shion felt his face getting red again. Renka was one of the few people who knew about their relationship. No surprise since Karan spent a lot time with her. However, whether it was Renka, his mom, or just a random stranger, the fact that they knew about his reckless behavior made he felt equally embarrassed.

Even if it was embarrassing, he would do that again because he loved Nezumi and this wouldn't change. Being drunk only made Shion more honest about his feelings towards him. It was embarrassing, but at the same time love wasn't anything wrong. It wasn't the first time and probably not the last when they left hickeys on each other's body. Even that stray thought made him feel hot and he shook his head trying to calm down.

Nezumi looked at him with his lips rising with amusement ready to joke and act dramatically again just to see Shion's ashamed face. Even if that was going to happen, Shion's body relaxed after stressful day of work. This was all he needed.

Anyway, it looked that Nezumi was going to tease him about what had happened in New Year's Eve for a while, so he decided to wait and bear it until it his lover stopped feeling embarrassed over what Shion had done. He wondered how long it would be, but it didn't matter in the end. The most important was that Nezumi was there with him. It always made dealing with the city's problems easier, even if his boyfriend was a little angry and annoyed at him.