Nezumi liked the defiance in Shion’s eyes as he challenged his statement. It was with those words that he realized he had been gone for too long. Shion had moved forward. Had changed. There was a conviction behind his speech and a firmness in his features that was different from before, despite that his tone still resembled a child’s. Shion was a contradiction of being so frail and so powerful at once— a mystery to Nezumi, and he always would be. The fool had said that he wanted to stand as equals besides him, and true to his word, he had pushed himself to come this far.
Standing up abruptly, Nezumi almost knocked the bag of baked goods off the counter as he rounded on Shion the same way he had during their first encounter, his gaze challenging.
“Really? I thought you’d be too busy twiddling your thumbs over paperwork.”
Without warning, Nezumi’s arms shot out to immobilize the other, well aware that Shion’s back was braced not against the wall but against stacks of boxes. Four years before, the boy had not even the mind to resist, merely given him a wide-eyed look of surprise. But now?
Just as Shion had changed, he knew that Nezumi had moved on in the months that passed between their goodbyes and their tear-stained reuniting. The raven-haired boy had felt the earth under his own two feet, let himself be carried upon the wind like a petal torn from a flower, beautiful and hypnotizing, but light and free, with no innate ability of its own to spread roots and steady itself. Yes, Nezumi was much like that metaphor, such a beautiful thing with no real want to call any place in particular home.
The rat had surely seen parts of the world that Shion's eyes would never fall upon, had walked through cities and ruins and seen the history of their Earth through his own eyes, felt the rays of sun upon his skin and maybe even dipped his toes in a cold sea. The possibilities were endless, and with a life like that, Shion, thinking of nothing but Nezumi's well being, could understand why such excitement would lead someone to not wanting to return home.
How long would it have been till he looked upon the stormy eyes so close to him now had it not been for the interference of the city's scientists? How had he ever managed to capture Nezumi's heart?
His words and his resolve weakened for a moment, drawn on by guilt over caging such a beautiful thing, bottling the winds and the rain and the typhoon that was Nezumi and keeping him close, all to himself, never letting him see the world. At least, that was his fear, that Shion was entirely too naive, too weak, too childish, too mundane of a boy for Nezumi to ever truly live with. Rather, such a relationship would require the one he had waited for to settle.
The thought was something that made his heart ache.
Shion's small smile dipped at its edges, his bottom lip fell slightly ajar and he again braced his palms against the row of boxes, letting his irises dip towards the corners of his eyes, breaking any eye contact they had shared in that moment.
Nezumi's blow would land unhindered, the sudden movement not even drawing a reaction from the doe-eyed boy. He instead seemed to be gazing at nothing, lost in thought as his hands were pinned above his head at the wrists. Was living in this city really what was best for the two of them? Shion wanted nothing more than to be together with Nezumi again, and in a way, their situation was an answer to that wish, but it was in no way an answer to Nezumi's.
Was he just being selfish?
