I'm sorry everyone, I completely forgot about this /shot I know this is short, but I lost inspiration but I hope to get this back on track! No guarantees though

"Oh.. uhm… you know… when you eat lots of salty foods, it'll be hard to taste stuff after right? Well uhm, maybe that's the case! Haha…" Sion tried to cover it up the best he could but he couldn't tell if Nezumi believed him or not. He wished he could tell though. He wished he could see so that he could look into Nezumi's eyes and tell him that everything was okay.

"That's right. It's only temporary." Nezumi's voice was soft. As Sion listened to Nezumi speak, he almost believed it too.

"I'm off."

"Okay! Be careful! Do your best on stage!"

Nezumi grunted and closed the door, starting his trek to the theater.

Rikiga fumbled with his pants. After having a nice time with one of his girls, he had to run; quickly and as fast as he could because he had found something that could turn the tables. But.. Rikiga groaned. These damned pants!

"Out of my way!" he hissed under his breath. He was barely out of his apartment when the crowds got thick. What was up anyways? There wasn't supposed to be a large gathering or anything today right? No special events?

Oh right, it was lunch time. Nezumi would be at the theathre doing whatever he did.. would going to see Sion be a better idea? Nah, it would be best to not worry the poor boy. Nezumi would be keep his cool and think about this rationally and the three of them would be able to solve this together!

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT'S A SIDE EFFECT-"

"Shh! Not so loud!"

Rikiga had pulled Nezumi out the back door as soon as his performance was finished but they had to keep it quiet as people were still exiting the theater. Though talk of disease was still normal in this part of the city, nothing especially bad would happen, but it would still be better to lie low.

"Look here, I don't know too much about this. I only heard it from one of my" he coughed, embarrassed, into his fist. "girls that I spent the night with yesterday and that's what she told me-"

"Let me guess, she told you more but you forgot about it." The way Rikiga looked away told him the answer.

"This concerns Sion's life and you simply forget?" He glared menacingly. The older man should feel ashamed.

"Look, whether I forgot anything or not, that's all I know. If you want to know something, well... you'll have to ask her yourself. She's found another man and well, that was out last night together." Rikiga frowned but Nezumi couldn't tell if he was regretting not paying closer attention or simply disappointed that one of his girlfriends was leaving him.

"Fine. I'll need a name."

Nezumi cursed as he approached the building. He was starting to feel regret for his decision.

But then, he had to do this. This was a lead and he wasn't going to lose it just because he was scared, scared to step out of the shadows.

But he had to put Sion first, he had to protect him.

So he knocked.

He heard a curse from the other side of the door. A woman's voice.

"The hell?" The door slammed open, revealing a woman, her dark hair in contrast with her pale skin. "The hell you want?"

He paused, unsure that he wanted to associate with this kind of person. But to hell with it, screwing up here would hurt Sion in the long run.

It had been a long day. Nezumi was tired. He just wanted to go home now and cook dinner, eat, then sleep. In between that, reading Sion a story wouldn't be too bad. Hell, if Sion would let him sleep quietly, he'd read him two.

But when he reached home, he wanted to jump off a cliff. Just how the hell... how the hell was his home on fire?

To be continued...