It had been over a few months since Nezumi had returned to the new and improved No. 6. 'Improved' might not be the best word to describe the city, if it was judged by its appearance, as the living standards had dropped considerably after the fall of the wall, but with kids running around on the streets, sounds of music playing from the market place and the overall cheerful demeanour of the people living there, was the best improvement the city could have asked for.
All these changes had managed to make Nezumi feel more relaxed with every passing day. Shion having had invited him to live with him the moment he saw his friend on his doorstep also had something to do with the man's trust in the city returning. The only thing that he found really frustrating and really annoying, and just completely unnecessary was Shion's need to send him messages and pictures every damn minute!
Pictures of food, flowers and trees, that one stray cat that Shion fed every morning, that very annoyingly handsome looking colleague – he got at least 10 pictures sent to his mobile device a day. Not to mention the text messages that covered all the topics from 'I miss you! 3' to 'I did not know that this type of asters can grow in this climate!' Nezumi was fed up to say the least. And just as he was about to text Shion to tell him, that he was in no way interested in a lecture about plants tonight -
'Nezumi! What do you want for dinner? I thought we could make those meatballs that you liked.'
'Should I go to the store to buy what we need?'
'Do you want to go to the store?'
'We could go together!'
"For fucks sake!" Instead of replying to the messages he clicked on the call option and just as he heard Shion's intake of breath and the first syllable of his name being said, he started his not-so-thought-out-rant. "Listen, you! You can't just keep sending me this random crap every damn minute! You're not my babysitter, you don't need to keep checking up on what I am doing. Nor do you need to inform me about every single thought that pops up in that head of yours – it's enough that you do that every damn night. Enough is enough already, Shion!"
"I- uhhh I just wanted to know what you want for dinner… You don't have to go to the store, I'll handle it, Nezumi. See you at home!"
Despite hearing his friend's stuttering and being hung up on, Nezumi was sure that he had gotten his point across and he would not be bombarded with useless messages all day every day.
Little did he know how short lived this satisfaction would be.
When he got home a few hours dinner was already served and Shion was waiting for him patiently. He didn't come to greet him by the door, but Nezumi figured, that that was fairly deserved and that things would be just fine.
Two days had passed and Nezumi had caught himself checking his phone for the nth time. And for the second day in a row he had received no new messages.
Another three days passed and he was checking his phone more out of frustration than habit. "Why am I even waiting for him to write, when I told him not to? Stupid." With a sigh he stuffed his phone back into his pocket.
The next day the he snapped when he saw Shion walking down the street immersed in his phone, clicking away. But whatever he was typing so enthusiastically was not meant for him. With a frown taking its place on Nezumi's brow, he pulled out his phone for what was probably the fiftieth time that day.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
He saw Shion grin and knew his message had been read. Somehow though, he had not thought about what to do next, as Shion raised his head and grinned ten times wider, seeing the man that had just sent him an apology message, like no one else he knew ever would.