Shion's mind felt numb. It was as though he had suddenly plunged headfirst into an icy pool of water. The shock coursed through his body completely, giving off little shivers until his mouth dropped open in awe.
"He misses me…" Shion murmured under his breath. "Nezumi…"
Shion floundered for a moment with his legs, stepping forward shakily to stand before the table. He tried to get closer to Nezumi's image imprinted upon the wall, but found that his own shadow stole away the picture, blocking out Nezumi's face. Edging along the wall slowly, Shion stood as close to the picture's subject as he could without blocking it. He didn't know what to make of it. He had hoped for a picture but… hadn't expected it.
Shion dropped down to his knees and sat staring up at the picture. He read over the simple message several times, allowing it to fully sink in. As touching as those simple two words felt to Shion, he couldn't help but feel somewhat angry at the dark-haired boy within the forest. If he really did miss Shion… why had he left in the first place?
A month had passed since the Holy Day, but it felt to Shion like many more had flown by. He loved his mother, he loved the newly-changing city, he even loved taking care of little baby Safu, but he couldn't help but miss those days with Nezumi. They had promised to meet again someday… yet when was someday? Did someday mean days from now? Months? Years? He was sure that he'd feel more secure with a solid number to go on. Just one number to mark upon the calendar, and joyfully tick away at until the awaited date came to pass.
There was a click and Nezumi's picture faded with a little blip as Cravat lowered his head. Shion felt an ache run through his chest and clenched his teeth, bowing his head. He felt his throat tighten with the threat of tears and rubbed his eyes against his sleeves, wiping away the liquid that was blossoming there.
A little squeak sounded from behind him, urging Shion to look back at Cravat. The little mouse was sitting on the tabletop, waving his little paws in the air. His pupils were dilating and subtracting in size like… like a camera's lense.
"Wait," Shion said before the mouse could snap a picture of him. He wiped his arm across his face and stood up quickly, bolting for the kitchen. He dug through the junk cupboard in the corner, pulling out a pen and a tattered bit of paper before darting back into the living room.
He flopped down by the table before the two mice and wrote a message across the paper in the best hand writing that he could manage. "Okay," he told Cravat once he was finished. "You can take the picture now."
Shion scooted back a short distance from the mouse and smiled as Hamlet tapped down on Cravat's head. There was another bright, yet very brief flash of blue and a small click. The light was only gone for a moment before Cravat turned his head upwards and allowed his eyes to beam yet another brilliant blue flash against the wall.
Shion turned around to see a boy with white hair and red eyes holding up a tattered little message close to his chest. Though he was smiling, his eyes were terribly bright at the iris and red-rimmed, signaling that he had been very close to, and possibly shed tears. His eyebrows were furrowed together in a pleading manner, giving him a very puppy-like look.
"That'll do," Shion said with a sigh. He would have liked to look a little less… pitiful in the image, but the message in his hands was easily readable, which was the entire purpose of the picture. Besides, Shion sort of felt that the puppy-like tone to the photograph was a nice touch. Some lewd feeling in Shion's mind wanted Nezumi to see him in that state.
Cravat nodded his head and turned to nuzzle Hamlet's cheek. He only waited for a last little pat on the head from Shion before he scurried over to the door to leave.
"Take it to him as quick as possible—and be safe!" Shion called to the mouse before he slipped under the door and out of sight.
Although he had done virtually nothing worth being tired over, Shion fell onto the couch in an exhausted manner after Cravat left. Emotionally exhausted. He had spent so many days pushing Nezumi to the back of his mind that bringing the boy back to his full thoughts was very painful. He really hadn't noticed how much he missed Nezumi until his image had appeared upon the wall, cast by Cravat's eyes. He wished that Cravat could have stayed for a little while longer. He felt as though he could look upon those grey eyes forever, even though they were but ghosts of the actual person that he adored and wished to see.
Shion could have fallen asleep where he lay on the couch, absorbed in thought, but he was torn back into the real world as Safu's urgent crying mingled with Hamlet's sharp squeaks, ordering him to take care of the baby. For the first time since bringing baby Safu home, Shion felt very reluctant to answer the baby's cries.
"What's wrong with you?" Karan asked Shion shortly after returning from shopping. She had only exchanged maybe two sentences with her son, but that woman was already spot on the fact that something was not quite right. She glanced over her shoulder from stacking away groceries, raising an eyebrow at her son.
Shion was very happy that he was turned away, placing items in the fridge when his mother addressed him. He was sure that his expression might betray his feelings. "It's nothing," he said. He felt his cheeks blush as he told the blatant lie.
Karan sighed and turned completely around to look at her boy. "If nothing's wrong, then why are you going around sighing like a depressed little thing?" she asked, shaking her head with concern.
Shion put aside the last item and closed the refrigerator door. Taking a deep breath, he turned to look his mother in the eye. "I got a message from Nezumi today," he said awkwardly.
A small smile curled on Karan's lips. "He's a good friend," she said with a mute little sigh. "What did the message say?"
Shion felt himself blush very hard as he said, "That he misses me," in a flat, trembling voice.
Karan quirked her head to the side curiously, but her smile grew only wider. "How sweet," she said. "I hope that you made sure to write back to him?"
Shion nodded his head, feeling his cheeks positively burn.
Karan opened her mouth to say something more, but was interrupted when the sound of Safu's crying came from the bedroom. "I'll go check on her," Shion offered before his mother could say anything. He darted off in the direction of the baby's room, brushing Dog's head with his fingers as he met the dog halfway through her own mad dash to reach the baby.
Shion scooped the baby up and rocked her close against his chest, humming sweet little words to her. "Are you hungry?" he asked the baby in a whisper between his hums. "I don't think you need to be changed…"
But the baby continued to cry, even as Shion rocked her gently in his arms. With a sigh, Shion carried Safu into the kitchen to fetch her a bottle. His mother waved him away from the counters, however, telling him to go sit and wait on the couch while she heated some milk. The white-haired boy did as his mother said, still rocking and bouncing the baby, trying to persuade little Safu out of her tears.
"What's wrong?" Shion asked the infant in a pleading tone. "The milk will be ready soon," he assured her, even though he knew that the baby had just about as much of a chance of understanding him as he did of understanding her.
Karan came from the kitchen a few minutes later, rescuing Shion from the baby's incessant cries. "Here, is this what you wanted?" his mother said in a voice as smooth as honey.
The baby's tears stopped instantly as she began to suckle on the bottle. Safu still seemed very squirmy and grumpy, but each little sip seemed to calm her. When it seemed that the baby was completely soothed, Karan pulled away the bottle and set it aside. It only took a minute for the baby to be crying once more, tossing around in her arms.
"Oh, dear… Maybe she's sick?" Karan said with worry, stroking the baby's short brown hair.
"I don't know…" Shion said slowly. He found his eyes traveling past the table, towards the wall where Nezumi's picture had been displayed not long ago. He found it hard to concentrate on anything other than the grey-eyed boy at this time. He kept mentally wandering about a deep, rainy forest that he didn't know the name or location to.
Karan was checking the baby's forehead for any traces of a fever when Dog bounded over and stuck her nose up on her lap, snuffling at the baby's ear. The baby's crying ceased abruptly to be replaced by giggles. Her squirmy nature turned pleasant and joyful as she grappled for the dog's wet nose.
"Would you look at that," Karan said with a laugh. "The dog knows how to take care of the baby better than we do." She turned little Safu around to face Dog, gently pushing the baby into a sitting position so she could pat the dog's nose. Hamlet scurried over at the sound of the baby's happy giggling. He bounced onto Dog's head, bobbing up and down to further entertain the squealing child.
Shion laughed too, shaking his head. "Watch her grow up to be a second Dogkeeper," he said with a smile.
His mother cocked an eyebrow at him, shaking her head with confusion. "Dogkeeper?" she asked, still laughing.
"Oh, um, another friend from the Western District," he said, scratching at his neck awkwardly.
"Such strange names…" Shion heard his mother mutter under her breath. "From the Western District? Is she in the city now?"
Shion felt surprise course through him a moment before guilt. He hadn't thought much of where Dogkeeper had gone… He had thought of her in regards to the baby's return to him, and by looking over Dog every day, but he hadn't really thought much into where the strange woman had gone. Surely going back to her hotel when all of the residents were making such drastic changes wouldn't serve very usual to her, would it? So maybe she really was in the city…
"I don't know," Shion said to his mother, echoing his response when asked Nezumi's location.
Karan sighed and leaned towards Shion, wrapping an arm around him. "Shion, you really need to keep close to your friends," she said softly. "You don't want to wake up one day and realize that they're gone."
Shion blew out his lips in frustration, resting his head on his mother's shoulder. He closed his eyes tight and clenched his teeth, forcing away any further tears. "I won't let that happen," he said. "I can't."
They remained silent, listening solely to the baby's squeals of delight and Dog's playful snuffling and whimpering. At one point they all seemed to drift into a light sleep. Safu became quiet in Karan's lap, Dog and Hamlet curled up by the foot of the couch, and Shion's mother slumped to the side, curled up against the arm of the sofa. Shion wanted to fall into the same sleep with them, but instead tossed and turned, unable to keep his mind from wandering into darker territories. A long time ago he would have loved such a quiet, peaceful setting as this. He would have drank in the calming air as though it were a life-giving liquid. But… there was something different now.
Shion turned over onto his other side, glancing towards the front door. It was growing dark outside now, but there was a sufficient amount of light pouring in through the window set in the door, cast by a streetlamp situated just outside. Although he knew that it was near impossible for Cravat to move fast enough, Shion found his eyes drifting to the base of the door, searching for the little brown mouse's body returning with a new message from Nezumi. It couldn't come soon enough.