Lili wasn't at work the day after the office party. As Shion walked into the bakery, his eyes half shut and a hand holding his head, Karan met him with a warm pastry and a glass of water.

"I'm not going to ask what happened last night," she told him before adding, "but if you want to talk about it, I'm here to listen."

"Thanks mom, I don't think I want to talk about it though," Shion told her.

Karan nodded her head and went back to tend to a customer who had just entered the bakery. Shion took his breakfast back to his room and sat on his bed, nibbling on the pastry to test his stomach. He wasn't sure if he would be able to hold anything down yet.

Shion spent most of the day in bed, trying to recuperate from the hangover he had woken up with. When Nezumi called him that night, the ringing of his mouse felt like a knife in his brain and he quickly fell asleep after talking with Nezumi for a short amount of time.

A couple of days later was when Nezumi was scheduled to arrive back in No. 6. Shion woke up earlier than normal and was extremely antsy all day. His coworkers sent him home early after a series of events occurred involving Shion knocking three separate mugs of coffee onto the ground, a stack of important documents that had ended up in the "to be shredded" pile instead of the "to be sorted" pile, and a jammed stapler that sent Shion into a meltdown for no apparent reason.

Shion tried to keep himself busy at the bakery by helping Karan run the shop. His eyes were constantly on the front door, waiting for Nezumi to walk in. By the time the bakery closed up for the night, Nezumi had still not arrived and Shion was practically useless. He had grabbed his robotic mouse and was ringing Nezumi every few minutes with no response. Karan forced him to eat dinner without constantly pressing the call button and after they ate, convinced him to clean the dishes.

Karan stayed up with Shion later than she normally would have but eventually it became too late and she left him to go to bed. Shion waited in the bakery, pacing anxiously in front of the door. He was starting to get worried when midnight came and Nezumi had still not arrived.

At one o'clock, Shion went to his room and picked a book at random to keep him occupied. He moved back into the bakery and slid himself down to sit on the floor facing the entrance. He read without taking in the words and nodded off after half an hour, exhausted and disappointed that Nezumi had not yet arrived.

"Shion.. Hey, Shion.. C'mon, wake up. Shion!"

Shion felt two hands on his shoulders and heard his name being called. He groggily opened his eyes to see a pair of gray ones staring back at his. It took only a moment of realization before Shion threw his arms around Nezumi's neck and tugged him down, practically into his lap. He held on tightly, burying his face in the crook of the others neck. Nezumi relaxed against him and circled his arms around Shion, hugging him back.

Nezumi felt the body in his arms shaking with quiet sobs as he held Shion close. He planted soft kisses into Shion's white hair and rubbed his back, whispering soothing words for the shaking boy. Shion fell asleep soon after his tears stopped flowing, leaving Nezumi to lift him up and walk the two to their small, shared bedroom.

He placed Shion on the small bed and remembered he still needed to retrieve the bag he had left in the bakery. As he turned to leave, he felt an hand grip his jacket, keeping him in place.

"Shion? I thought you were asleep.. I have to go get my bag.." Nezumi told him, covering Shion's hand with his own.

"No.." Shion mumbled. "Don't leave.. Just.. Come sleep with me, please.. I'm so tired and.. I missed you so much.."

Nezumi felt a tug on his heart and turned to see Shion staring up at him, tears in his eyes once more.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave my bag," Nezumi said as he successfully removed Shion's grip from his jacket.

He pulled off his pants and jacket before sliding into bed beside Shion. The other wrapped his arms around him once more and hugged him tight, falling asleep in only a matter of minutes.

Nezumi woke before Shion and watched the smaller man breathing quietly, deep in sleep. Nezumi traced his fingers through the white hair, across the back of Shion's neck, then down the pale face, stopping to run his thumb over the lips he had missed while he was away. He leaned over and pressed his lips lightly against Shion's. As he made to pull away, Nezumi felt a hand quickly grab the back of his head, bringing him to Shion's lips once more.

Nezumi chuckled as Shion forcefully kissed him back, not expecting the other to be awake. Shion soon began tugging on Nezumi's shirt in an obvious effort to bring him closer. Nezumi didn't fight and, without breaking away from him, moved to hover over Shion. His hands roamed across Shion's chest underneath him, earning a gasp as they reached the top of Shion's waistband.

Shion broke away, his eyes half shut and a light pink across his cheeks.

"God, I missed you," Shion breathed as he stared up at Nezumi.

"Mmm, missed you, too," Nezumi mumbled before swooping back down to reclaim Shion's lips.

Nezumi slipped a hand into the front of Shion's pants and heard a groan as he touched Shion for the first time in weeks. He deepened the kiss, moving his tongue against Shion's, tasting and feeling the one person who had changed his entire life.

The two young men reacquainted themselves with each other as they shared their morning in Shion's bed. Many heartfelt I missed you's, some mumbled I love you's, and a few whispered I need you's were spoken throughout their time spent embracing one another.

When they emerged from Shion's bedroom, they found that Karan had brought Nezumi's suitcase out of the bakery and left a slice of cherry cake for each of them with it.

Shion left Nezumi to unpack his bag and moved into the bakery where he found that Rikiga had come to visit.

"Hey there, Shion, m'boy!" Rikiga said loudly as Shion came into his sight.

"Hi, Rikiga!" Shion replied. "What brings you here today?"

Rikiga glanced nervously at Karan who was helping a customer pick out some pastries before hurrying over to Shion. He placed his hand on Shion's shoulders and brought his voice down.

"Shion, I need to talk with you about something..." Rikiga told him as he lead them toward the back of the bakery where Shion had just come from. "Just, uh, why don't you just walk with me for a bit.."

Shion looked back at Karan before being practically dragged into the hallway with Rikiga.

"Rikiga! What is it? Where are we going?" Shion asked as the other pulled him along.

Rikiga didn't answer. He stopped the two of them just outside of Shion's room and turned to face him, sighing heavily. Shion watched as Rikiga fidgeted, moving from one foot to the other and putting his hand inside his coat pocket.

"Rikiga? What's going on?"

"Ah, well, you see.. Shion, I.. Well, I kind of.. Um, well, what happened is-"

"Rikiga," Shion cut him off. "What's in your pocket?"

Shion noticed the older man seemed to be gripping at something within his pocket but had yet to make the item known.

Rikiga let out another loud sigh.

"Now Shion, I don't want you to be mad at me or anything.." he pulled his hand out of his pocket and showed it to Shion.

There was a small, black velvet ring box laying in Rikiga's palm.