AN: Wow, I finally wrote a longer chapter than usual.

I forced myself to finish this chapter for my dear friend Lexis~ I hope you're feeling better!
Thank you all for the reviews + alerts! I'm starting to have a lot of fun with this fic... ohohoho...

The Hands of Time

Chapter 4: Distorted

Shion fidgeted uncomfortably on the couch, looking up occasionally to sneak glances at the older male eying him across the room. "Why are you staring at me?" Shion questioned, a bit flustered. Nezumi's unfaltering gaze was beginning to frustrate the white haired boy.

"No reason, really." Nezumi said absentmindedly, his cold grey eyes still locked on the other. "I was just thinking that you should take better care of yourself." He said flatly.

"I told you, I don't even know how this got here!" Shion huffed, jabbing a finger at the long cut peeking out from underneath his sleeve.
Nezumi simply scoffed and turned his head, causing his bangs to fall slightly out of alignment. He wasn't buying this.

How could Shion not notice a bright red slash along his arm? Perhaps it had happened before Shion passed out, or while he was disoriented…

but then he would've noticed the pain when he woke up, right? At least Nezumi assumed it was so. "I'm reading too much into this…" He thought, and tried to shake off the pressing thoughts in his head.

"I'm going to take a bath." Shion stated, derailing Nezumi's train of thought. Nezumi turned his head slightly to look at Shion, not bothering to give any sort of response.

The younger boy sighed lightly at Nezumi's apparent stubbornness (or, what Shion assumed to be stubbornness, anyways) and stalked out the door into the hallway, where a separate room containing a bath tub awaited him.

The actor's eyes followed the boy out of the room with quickly growing suspicion glinting in them. Nezumi, for once in his life, wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He sure as hell didn't like it, though. He knew that much.

Shion muttered reassurances to himself as he set his towel and a set of his clothing next to the bathtub. It's nothing… I must have simply forgotten about it… It's not even that painful… It'll heal quickly, I'm sure of it…

He turned a knob attached to the bath, and watched warm water pour in from a pipe nearby. As the bathtub filled, Shion stripped himself of his clothing, albeit very slowly.

He couldn't help but huff and sigh. It had been a long day… Wait, how many days had it been? He'd passed out, after all…

Well, all he knew was that he was tired. He didn't want to deal with minor injuries, or have to wonder how he got them in the first place.

Although he was considered a very bright kid, Shion never had all the answers. He wracked his brain, but no matter how much he searched, he couldn't find the answers he was looking for.

He slipped carefully into the bathtub, not even bothering to turn around and make sure he'd locked the door like he usually did. Honestly, Shion was too drained to care. He just wanted to curl up on Nezumi's bed and go back to sleep…
Wait.

Nezumi's bed.

Nezumi's bed.

He'd been asleep in Nezumi's bed… but for how long? The last time he'd slept in Nezumi's bed was when he nearly died-
Shion shook off those eerie thoughts immediately.

He sighed and reached for a washcloth sitting nearby, which he deemed to be clean. Shion dampened it slightly with the bathwater and began scrubbing his skin vigorously.

After a few minutes, Shion began to slow his actions. He wrung out the washcloth before setting it aside, and simply leaned back, spreading his arms to rest upon the edge of the bathtub behind him. He stifled a yawn, closing his eyes for a moment to mull over his thoughts.

He gave it a fair amount of thought, and Shion decided that he must've gotten the cut when those bees attacked him earlier. He'd probably fallen down at some point… but there was no evidence of the bees. Why not?

Shion grew more and more curious with every passing moment, and finally his eyes snapped open, revealing unto him an unpleasant scene that he wished he'd never seen.

The cut along his arm was bleeding a bit, tainting the warm water that surrounded the boy. His red eyes grew wide at the sight. Had he scrubbed too hard?

Shion bit his lip anxiously and rose from the tub, only to notice another slightly smaller cut on his lower calf. He cursed inwardly.
"Where do we keep the bandages, again…?" Shion thought, trying to remain calm as the deep red fluid trickled down his arm and dripped off of his elbow.

He whipped his head around, but saw nothing of significance. The lights flickered, and Shion began to panic. "N-Nezu…" He began, but stopped himself and wondered if it was a good idea to call out to him. Shion had to try to be more independent if he wanted to be seen as Nezumi's equal, after all.

"Nezumi!" He blurted, the name easily slipping past his lips. There was no response.
"Nezumi!" The white haired boy repeated.

After a few seconds of silence, the bathroom door flew open to reveal a disheveled, worried looking Nezumi.
"What's wrong? Why are you yelling?" The older male asked; his voice sounding urgent and filled with concern.

"M-my…cut…" Shion began, looking down to his arm. It wasn't bleeding, and the smaller cut on his leg had disappeared. He was shocked.

Looking up, his eyes met grey ones which looked as if they were analyzing him. There was a moment of silence. "Hmm… could it be that you were screaming my name for some other reason?" Nezumi teased, a smirk playing across his features.

Shion blushed a deep red color and grabbed his neatly folded shirt, chucking it at Nezumi. "Shut up! As if!" He yelled, completely flustered and embarrassed.

"Well you are completely naked, after all…" Nezumi commented, rolling his eyes before turning to leave the room. A shock was sent up Shion's spine as he realized this.

He'd been so distracted by the blood…and…

He went to pick up his shirt, which was now in a heap on the floor. Shion drained the bathtub and slipped into his clothing without much thought. After everything was as he'd found it, he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

As Shion passed through the short hallway, he noticed something etched in the stone wall. The word "TRAITOR," was written in small, jagged letters.

Something in Shion's stomach turned, and he ran into the room where Nezumi waited.

He could've sworn he felt a drop of cold sweat running down the nape of his neck.