Mirror, mirror...

It's eight. Shion probably won't get up for a while… The weekend's nearly over. Only one more day touring the New West Block…

It still amazes me what a huge place Inukashi has here; a combined home for her and the baby, spare rooms for visitors, a great big living area for all the dogs, and the parcel service offices. It was hard to believe she was living in that rickety old hotel she showed me in Rikiga-san's photos.

Ah, as soon as I'm out of bed, here's a trap— a full-length mirror. Months later, I still can't help staring at the proof of my past connection to Elyurias. I miss my old looks, but at least there was no suffering involved for me, unlike Shion.

Two large purple loops, scooping down my back. Two double lines as wide as… my ring finger… curving down and away from each other at the coccyx and looping back together, narrowing to close the empty hollow in between as they climb up my spine, and the back of my neck, to finally converge under the hair on my scalp. Even with shoulders exposed, most of my scar is easy to cover up, at least. Inukashi thought my scar looked like a big upside-down heart— same as I do. Shion, special child that he is, thought it looked like insect wings.

"You think I look like an insect?"

"Whoa, calm down Safu, of course not! The rest of you doesn't, it's just the scar's shape— and wait, what's wrong with looking like an insect?"

Lavender eyes are hard to get used to. People stare. Even I'm gawking. My hair's kept its colour. But now it shines with an odd purplish tint…

"If anything, you've become even more beautiful, Safu." Shion's changed. He spoke those words a few months ago with confidence— though also barely a hint of attraction. Then all of a sudden last night, after Inukashi took the little toddler to bed…

"I have a promise to keep don't I, Safu? I haven't forgotten. But I really have to—"

I can still feel my eyes widening. "Shion, it's okay, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"But do you want to, Safu?" He really has become more confident.

"Of course I do! But I've noticed a lot over these last three months, Shion. It's even more noticeable now than it was before I left for No. 5. Back then, it was like you knew you'd lost something but didn't know what it was. Now you know very clearly what it is that you want. You've changed so much. Because… you're in love, aren't you? Now you've been separated and you want to be with the one you love… and that person's not me." It took a lot of restraint to hold back my tears. If only my voice hadn't faltered.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. An apology! Not patronising sympathy, but with downcast eyes as if he'd failed in his duty to love me back. "Maybe you won't believe me, but I think I can kind of understand how you feel, Safu… It's still up to you, if your comfortable."

"Nezumi, right? You're in love with that boy Nezumi." He didn't have to answer. His eyes, suddenly glazed over as he recalled the object of his affections, told me everything. "But where is he?"

"He's… going to come back. I just don't know when. He sends letters… sometimes." He tried to hide his face by looking away, but I'd already seen the expression there. It reflected my own feelings of heartbreak back at me. And yet, he still has hope.

"Well just look at us." Even in the midst of our turmoil, I rolled my eyes and tried to laugh a bit. Shion reciprocated with a sad smile.

"For what it's worth, Safu, I think you're beautiful. Both inside and out, you're… just really beautiful."

"Do you like girls, Shion?"

"I don't dislike them."

I laughed again, though my eyes were stinging. "That's hardly an answer!"

"I only love a man because he's Nezumi. Nothing would change if he were a woman. Male or female, I can't imagine being nearly as drawn to anyone as I am to him."

"And yet you're still willing to proposition a girl in his absence?" I teased, despite my continued pain.

"I still am, if she's interested. To be honest, I think Nezumi would more likely laugh at me if I didn't try to keep my promise than he would be jealous if we… followed through." And there it finally was. His first time blushing during this whole conversation. He's become very self-assured over these last two years, but for a moment, there was the awkward, adorable Shion I remember. An instant later, his eyes held my gaze. "But I'm not taking this lightly. You're one of the very most important people in my life. As long as it's what you want, and as long as you'll still be my closest friend, and as long as you won't regret it, I want to keep my promise. So, c-can I… can-I-still-give-you-my-sperm, Safu?" And now he was redder than I've ever seen him before, but at least he still wasn't looking away.

"Shion! Don't throw that line back at me if you can't even say it properly!" I laughed, even as tears came.

Last night was beautiful. I have no regrets. But I do have some thinking to do.

"Morning Safu. You alright? You seem to be stuck in front of that mirror. I understand though. It's hard to get used to, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It is."

A/N: (updated 11/19/11)

I've finally begun to complete the sequel I promised below. It's called "The West Block." Four short chapters with a different character perspective each. (And don't believe this site's word count; the new story's chapters are under 600 words each.)

For those interested, I have a short spinoff/sequel to this story in mind, which will focus on Safu and Inukashi after the events of this chapter. I'll be writing it sometime after Waiting is finished. I hope some of you will be interested in checking that out.

Reviews pretty please? Want to rage at me about this controversial chapter? Your kind advice is greatly appreciated! ^_^