It's a raw voice, ragged at the edges. The kind of voice that burrows into you and makes a nest of your soul.

It rises from the street along with the heat of the day as afternoon bleeds pink into evening. Shion's window is always open to catch it.

When the voice starts up, Shion stops himself to listen. He lies on his bed, eyes closed, marinating in the music. It's become something of a ritual.

The voice seems to sing the sky into premature darkness as clouds gather. Soft beads of rain begin to land on Shion's windowsill, the soundless kind of rain that catches in hair and eyelashes. It quickly hardens, though, slapping the side of the apartment and pushing into Shion's bedroom.

Something thumps down below, muted and metallic. Perhaps his mother closing up shop downstairs...

A few moments later, there's a boy sitting in Shion's window. A boy with slate hair and eyes like ice. He knocks on the frame, smiling jauntily.

"Forgive me the use of your fire escape. It's very wet outside, and I figured my biggest fan wouldn't mind a visit."

Shion recognizes the voice immediately. He jumps out of bed. "You're the singer on the street-!"

"Yes, and you're the admirer whose window opens when I sing and closes when I leave. Unfortunately, admiration doesn't fill my cup."

Shion blushes. "Sorry, I don't have much money. I'm just a student on break."

"A student, huh?" Nezumi eyes Shion up and down, from white hair to white socks. "College?"

Shion nods.

"What's your name?"

"Shion."

"Oh, lovely. A flower."

"What about you?"

"I'll tell you what you can call me. Nezumi."

"Nezumi? Like rat?"

Nezumi rolls his eyes. "You're a clever one." He hops down to the floor with a smirk. "Rat and Flower. How poetic."

"Can I get you anything, Nezumi? Some tea?"

Nezumi's jaw slackens.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I told you. I'm Shion."

"Shion offers hospitality to drenched strangers off the street that break into his bedroom?"

"Consider it the tip I owe you." Shion opens his door.

"Is your brain addled?"

Shion smiles benevolently over his shoulder. "I'm perfectly sane. Did you say you wanted tea?"

"I don't believe this guy," Nezumi mutters. He questions his own sanity as he follows Shion down the hall and into a modest, quaint kitchen.

Shion fills two mugs with water and speaks over the hum of the microwave.

"Chai? Green? Oolong?"

"Green is fine."

"I see."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nezumi slouches into a chair set at a round wooden table.

"You like green tea. It's my favorite too."

"Is it?"

Shion ignores the sarcasm and plucks tablespoons of loose-leaf from a substantial bag with cheery fingers.

"It's a good night for tea. Tea in the rain is the warmest kind."

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"Not nonsense, observation."

"You have a funny definition of observation."

"I observe what I observe."

"I observe that you're infuriating."

"Maybe so. But you're still here."

Nezumi snorts and averts his gaze.

Just as the tea begins to steep, a voice floats up from the stairs. "Shion?"

Shion inhales sharply, back stiffened almost to the point of curving. "Yes mother?"

"You look like a trapped bird." Nezumi grins.

"Shhh!"

"Do you need anything, dear?"

"No, mother."

"Alright, well I'm heading off to bed. Don't stay up too late!"

"I won't. goodnight."

Shion doesn't deflate until Karan's footsteps travel gently up the stairs, through the den, down the hall and past the click of her door shutting. He refocuses on the tea with an exhale of relief.

"Crisis averted, hmm?" Nezumi indulges a look of immense amusement.

"My mother can never see you here."

"I'm all for keeping secrets."

Shion feels his cheeks flush. He's not exactly sure why.

Nezumi is.

"You're going to be fun."

"Pardon?"

"You're going to be fun..."

Suddenly Nezumi presses against Shion from behind, the warmth of his stomach seeping into his back. He reaches deftly under Shion's arms to procure his tea and sips it smugly as Shion whirls around, face resembling a beet. Nezumi's eyes smile over the mug's rim.

"...To corrupt."

~~~End

A/N: Ahhh another No.6 fic. I just can't stop myself from writing their smexy faces into all kinds of *wonderful* situations. This one just happens to be my first AU endeavor. It's been fun so far, more chapters eventually. (In which the rating will be justified. Ahem.) Tell me whatcha think! As always, cheers!