I Promised I Would, Didn't I?

Nezumi knew he needed to get back to Shion. Five years ago he promised he would return to the other, he's sure the smaller had expected him to return 2 years prior and he likely would have, in truth he really had wanted to, but he had some business to wrap up. 

Wincing, Nezumi bandaged up the wound on his side, it was deep and he probably shouldn't be making a long trip til he's all healed up, but now was when Nezumi had planned on making it back to the boy who was waiting on him. He was sure he would be able to manage the trip back.

Shion sat back in his chair, sighing deeply. He had had a very stressful few weeks, well really a very stressful few years but eh, who was counting. Viola and Sebastian, two of Hamlet's offspring, nuzzled further into Shion's hair, finding it more comfortable than anything else in the entire world. This action from the two siblings made the human smile softly and reach up to lightly stroke one of the mice's soft fur.

"Shion dear, you look so tired, are you getting enough sleep?" Karan asked quietly, entering the room.

Shion turned to face his mother, giving her a sleepy smile, "yeah, well I mean, as much as I can at least."

What he didn't say was that working until he was ready to collapse from exhaustion helped to keep his mind off of Nezumi…

Nezumi…

Oh god how much he missed Nezumi… all he had left of Nezumi was the home he and Nezumi once shared in the West Block. He couldn't count Viola and Sebastian, since while yes, they were Hamlet's pups, neither of them had ever even met the gray eyed boy.

Karan noticed the far away look on her son's face. He must be thinking about Nezumi again. "you should go and see Inukashi, I'm sure they would enjoy a visit from you." she knew that he would most definitely go stay the night at his and Nezumi's old house which usually made him feel a little better.

"I would but I have a lot of work I need to get done before tomorrow. I have to get the plan for the water irrigation system in the West Block to the engineers by the end of today so we can get started on growing crops." Shion said, turning back to his paperwork.

- 4 months later -

Nezumi sat down with a hiss, he lifted the bandage on his side, it didn't appear to be healing very well, it didn't matter though, he could rest when he was back with Shion. He was almost there, just a couple more days, he just had a little ways to go, just a little longer and he could rest, a little further and he rest with his hands in Shion's fluffy hair.

He wondered if Shion's hair was any longer, would it be long enough to tie in a ponytail like Nezumi's? Had Shion cut it? How short if so? He would know soon enough, and that thought excited Nezumi. All he craved right now was to curl up on his old bed with Shion right beside him, the smaller boy's face nuzzled into his neck, their breathing evenly matched.

Maybe I should try to stitch this wound up when I get to the next town? I thought it would start healing by now, the ravenett thought to himself, as he got up and began moving again.

Viola squeaked softly, hoping to rouse the white haired boy from his slumber, as she had sensed an intruder. Sebastian just opened one of his eyes to glare at his sister. Shion flopped over, not noticing a certain gray eyed boy entering the small home. Shion only noticed when an arm made its way around his waist and a hand into his hair.

Viola saw this hand and bit it as hard as she could effectively making the intruder jump away and fall off of the bed onto the floor with an "ow fuck".

Shion blinked sleepily, brain finally registering that Nezumi was in the home, and had been cuddling him until just a few moments ago.

"Nezumi?" Shion asked with tears threatening to gather in his eyes.

"The one and only." Nezumi did a mock bow, taking in the sight in front of him, a sleepy Shion sitting up on the bed they used to share. His hair fell just below his shoulders, just as fluffy and wild as Nezumi remembered.

At finally realize that Nezumi, his Nezumi , was right there, close enough to touch. Close enough all Shion had to do was--

Shion lunged forward and wrapped his arms tightly around the other's neck, sobbing and pressing messy kisses all over Nezumi's face. The gray eyed boy rolled his eyes, guiding the red eyed boy's lips to his, kissing him lightly, one, two, three, four, five, six, they lost count after the sixth time. Breathlessly they pulled apart, they stared into each other's eyes, Nezumi stroking Shion's scar gently, loving the way he shivered at that light touch. Shion leaned in for another, deeper kiss, pulling the ravenett's hair free of its ponytail, noticing it was about to the middle of Nezumi's back now.

Nezumi stopped Shion, wincing slightly.

"What's wrong?" the smaller boy asked.

"If we keep this up, I'm going to rip out my stitches." Nezumi answered.

Shion blinked dumbly, not understanding, some things never change. Nezumi watched in amusement as Shion tried to figure out what the other had meant. Confusion soon became realization, which then became excitement, then concern.

"You're hurt?" Shion quickly got off of Nezumi and frantically looked all over him to see if he could find anything wrong.

"Yeah, it's not healing very well though." the gray eyed boy replied.

"Why didn't you go to a hospital?" Shion questioned, gently petting the other's hair.

"Because there weren't any hospitals around." Nezumi chuckled, leaning into the other's touch.

"And why didn't you go straight to a hospital as soon as you got back here?" Shion asked, frowning.

"There are hospitals in the West Block now?" Nezumi was intrigued by this thought.

"Yeah, we've made a lot of progress in the past 5 year, now West Block has the same things No.6 has, everyone has access to healthcare and has a chance just as much as citizens of No.6 do." Shion rambled, "ah, enough of that. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, it's just a scratch, it won't kill me." the ravenett rolled his eyes.

Shion sighed in relief, he was just glad that Nezumi was home and was safe, the amount of worry and stress he had felt in the past years was immeasurable.

"Squeak!" Viola grouchily said from her perch on the bed.

"Oh yeah, these are Hamlet's pups, the little one is Viola and the other one is Sebastian." Shion introduced the mice. "Guys, this is Nezumi."

"Squee." Viola gave Nezumi a skeptical look.

"Viola. Be nice." the red eyed boy scolded

"Yeah Viola, be nice." Nezumi smirked smugly at the little mouse.

Shion smiled in amusement at this exchange, more than anything the white haired boy was just glad that Nezumi was home. Finally home. He didn't realize he had spoken this outloud.

"Of course I am, airhead." Nezumi snickered, "I promised I would, didn't I?"

A/N: So Viola and Sebastian are twins in William Shakespeare's play 'Twelfth Night', I thought it would be cute if Shion named Hamlet's pups after two other Shakespeare characters