A\N: English is not my native language, I'm sorry for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes that might be ahead.

It's a *fan*fiction, therefore- I'm a fan and not the actual owner of No. 6.

I'll keep my huge thank you speech for later. Sorry it took me so long. Like, really sorry. It took me way too much time.

Anyhow, like I said last chapter, this is more of a collection of random NezuShi happily-ever-after fluff.

Chapter 9: As the Stars of the Heaven

"Nezumi!"
Nezumi froze and looked at Lili, completely dumbfounded.
"You can't put that on the table like that, you'll scar the wood!" She put a towel on the table and gestured Nezumi to place the hot plate over it.
"How many times will I need to tell you?" Lili sighed and crossed her arms.
"He's just trying to help, sweetheart." Renka said before Nezumi could even open his mouth to defend himself.
"Well, he should try harder. Rikiga, don't even dare thinking about it." She said, without even turning her back to Rikiga who tried to sneak some food off the table.
"You're so scary…" Nezumi smirked, "I sometimes forget you're only a teenager."
"I only act that way because even Getsuyaku behaves better than you two."
"That's a harsh comparison, Getsuyaku behaves much better than these guys." Inukashi put her hands on her waist.
"Whatever." Rikiga murmured and stood behind Nezumi. "You're just too strict. It's your fault for expecting too much."
"Oh, don't worry." Inukashi replied, "Our expectations are pretty low. And you keep disappointing us anyway."
Rikiga frowned, and Nezumi shook his head. "Women are so mean… Luckily, neither of us will have to marry one, right?"
"What do you mean by 'us'?" Rikiga's angry expression was turned to Nezumi now.
"Well, you are kinda old. And probably on the right way towards a heart attack."
""Why, you little-"
"He's right you know," Inukashi cut him off, "On the behalf of all women in the world, I can tell you you're going to rot single."
"Why, you mutt, you still have no right to speak as a woman." Rikiga growled.
"And you have no right to speak as a man." Lili defended Inukashi, putting a shocked expression on Nezumi's and Rikiga's faces.
"You should spend more time in school and less time with Inukashi, young lady." Nezumi scolded, "I'm getting worried about your future."

"Since you're done readying the table," Karan interrupted their conversation, "Let's eat. Shion!"
"Coming!" Shion yelled from the other side of the room, where he was sitting on the floor.
"Look, Shion!" Getsuyaku shoved a piece of paper into Shion's face, preventing him from getting up. "I got a perfect score on my math test!"
"Oh! Good job, Getsu." Shion ruffled his hair fondly.
"I got a perfect score too, Uncle!" Shionn wrapped his arms around Shion's neck from behind.
"You did a good job as well, prince." Shion smiled.
"Shion!" Karan reminded.
"I know! I'm coming!" Shion said as he struggled his way out of Shionn's grip. Nezumi looked at him from the side of the table and smiled. Shion learned to recognize that smile, after plenty of experience, as Nezumi's you're-as-adorable-as-fuck and I'll-show-you-just-how-adorable-you-are-later smile. Noticing this smile, however, only made things worse, because Shion would turn the other way, blushing furiously, which caused Nezumi's smile to develop into a slight laugher. Eventually, Shion, Shionn, and Getsuyaku took their seats around the table.

"Everything good at work, dear?" Karan asked Shion as they ate.
"Yes," Shion replied, "The new government structure is waiting for few last approvals. We should be starting the process in few weeks."
"That's good to hear. How about you, Nezumi?"
"We talked with a huge collector from No.4, he has an amazing library of pre-apocalyptic science fiction. Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, Orson Scott Card, Jules Verne. Thing is, he refuses to even think about selling unless someone actually goes there and talks with him."
"Oh, are you going to go, then?"
"Seems like it."
Karan gave Shion a worried glimpse, who hurried to calm her fears. "I'll be fine, we've already talked about it."
Nezumi sighed. They did talk about it. Well, it was more of an argument, which Shion won.
"I actually think that it's great that Nezumi's job has some traveling in it." Shion added.
"Yeah, we all know how much Nezumi loves to travel." Inukashi remarked.
"Shut up." Nezumi shot at her.
"How's school, Lili?" Karan tried to change the subject.
"Fine." She said. "Waiting for spring break."
"Getsu? Shionn?"
"It's great!" Shionn said.
"I'm glad. Rikiga?"
"Nothing special."
"Inukashi?"
"Same."

It became a weekly tradition. The entire 'family' came to Karan's house every weekend for dinner. It was awkward at the beginning, especially for Inukashi and Nezumi who had never had a family, but after a month or so, it became natural.

"Thanks, Mom!" Shion said as they stood at the door.
"Goodbye, dear!" She waved at them.
Nezumi and Shion began their traditional walk to the train station, hand in hand.

On the way from the station to their home, Shion hugged Nezumi's hand tightly.
"Nezumi?"
"What?"
"I'm going to ask something, and I want you to keep an open mind."
"Spill it."
"I… I want your sperm."
Nezumi stopped and glared at him. "That's not funny, you know."
"I mean it."
"What do you want my sperm for?!" He continued walking.
"Reproduction." He replied as if it was obvious. "What else would I need sperm for?"
Nezumi burst with laughter, and calmed down slowly when he saw the completely serious look on Shion's face.
"No."
"Why not?" Shion demanded.
"Because babies are hassles."
"But, next time Elyurias-" Shion began.
"Stop coming up with excuses. You just want a baby."
"And if I do?"
"Well, my answer is still no."
Shion sighed. "Fine."
"You give up? Really?"
"It's obviously too much for you to digest."
"That's not the reason."
"I'll give you some time to think about it."
"I don't need to th-"
"Think about it." Shion looked at him, but he was not upset or mad, he just looked at Nezumi, which was more than enough to shut Nezumi up and make him listen to his demands. "Okay?"
"Fine." Nezumi gave in.
"Thank you." Shion pressed himself against Nezumi as they walked.

A baby. Nezumi thought. His head and stomach ached just at the thought of taking care of such thing. Feeding and cleaning and burping and holding and… No, it was too much of a hassle in Nezumi's opinion. And they will have to be quiet when it is asleep. Quiet. At night. No. Nezumi will not have it.

Nezumi could already see it. Waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of screams and cries, arguing with Shion, barely conscious, kicking him out of bed and telling him to take care of his baby. After hours of terrible screams and Shion's desperate attempts to put it to sleep, he would crawl back to bed, but by then Nezumi will not be able to fall asleep again so easily.

And a baby does not stay a baby forever. It will grow up into a teenager, and it will become even more troublesome. Nezumi did not know how to raise a kid. He did not have plenty of memories from his childhood, or at least the parts one could consider as childhood.

No. A child was completely out of the question.

They arrived at their home, at last, and hurried into bed. They lay over the blanket, spooning, surrounding themselves with pleasant silence. Nezumi loved these moments, where Shion's warmth radiated from his body as he played with Nezumi's fingers, sometimes brushing it gently against his own lips.

Why do people want kids anyways?

He pushed Shion's back into the mattress and placed himself above him.
"What?" Shion asked, trying to hide a blush. No matter how many times Nezumi have done something of the sort, Shion would always get embarrassed.
"You, and your stupid questions." Nezumi answered as he leaned his forehead against Shion's.
"Is that still bothering you?"
"How could it not bother me?!" Nezumi replied with obvious irritation.
"Sorr-" Shion began to apologize, but stopped when he saw Nezumi's enraged gaze. He was not allowed to apologize, after all.
"You shouldn't think about it now…" Shion changed his approach. "We have time."
"Will you keep me distracted, then?" Nezumi planted a small kiss on Shion's lips, then deepened it slowly. Once again, Shion found himself completely enchanted by Nezumi, no matter how many times they have kissed or embraced or touched. When they finally separated, struggling to breathe, Nezumi whispered quietly:
"Your cloths are pissing me off."
Shion laughed. "Not very romantic, are we?"
"Am I supposed to be romantic?"
"Well, it's highly recommend."
"Recommendations are for weaklings." He spit, and continued at his pursue after embarrassing reactions from Shion.

• • • • • •

"You're strange." Nezumi said, holding Shion who cuddled into his bare chest, later that night.
"How so?" He answered in a sleepy voice.
"You haven't asked for my name yet."
Shion was suddenly wide awake, but he did not answer for a while, instead he carefully tried to shape his thoughts into words. "It's because I'm selfish."
"Selfish?" Nezumi said, baffled with the unexpected answer.
"You should be called by your real name. I know that, but… I think that even if I knew your real name, you would stay Nezumi for me. I know that, so I just don't ask, so I can avoid the blame. If I'd know your name, I wouldn't have an excuse for not calling you by it. I'm being weak and selfish, forcing you to stay 'Nezumi', just because I want. Am I allowed to apologize for that?"
Shion was not the only one who still acted as if everything was their first time. Although he would never admit it, Nezumi still got nervous and overly excited whenever they kissed. And just like Shion would blush whenever Nezumi's actions had a trace of lust in them, Nezumi would blush whenever Shion expressed his love with embarrassing words.

"Of course not, stupid." He said, after he recovered from the slight shock.
"Then, is it fine by you?" Shion asked, "Are you okay with me calling you Nezumi?"
"If I didn't want to be called Nezumi, I wouldn't tell it was my name in the first place."
"Names are valuable." Shion scolded. "You should at least want to be called by your real name."
"Well…" Nezumi considered. "Define real name."
"Ummm…" Shion thought, "The first name you were given?"
"Nezumi." Nezumi replied.
"Nezumi?" Shion raised an eyebrow, "When you were born, your parents named you Nezumi?"
"Of course not." Nezumi said, "I've already told you that Rou named me Nezumi."
"It's not your real name, then."
"I don't remember that the definition of a 'real name', by your connotation, include anything about who gave me that name or when it was given to me."
"Fine." Shion rephrased: "A real name is the name your parents or guardians gave you when you were born."
"In that case, I don't have a real name." Nezumi replied simply.
"Now you're just teasing me."
"I'm serious!" Nezumi exclaimed, "The first name I was given was Nezumi, by Rou."
"But you were about eleven-years-old when that happened!" Shion argued. "You're telling me that for eleven years, you lived without a name?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Nezumi answered, "Why do you find it so hard to believe?"
"Because every person has a name."
"Not in Mao."

"Mao…?" Shion repeated.
"Yeah, people in Mao did not have names." Nezumi said.
"Really?" Shion questioned with disbelief.
"Yes."
"Then, how did you communicate?"
"You don't need names to communicate."
"How did you call someone, if he did not have a name?"
"By their titles. My father was Dad, my mother was Mom, my grandmother was Gran."
"There's no way you're telling the truth." Shion insisted.
"I am! We haven't named anything. People, animals, plants, even Elyurias. Names are not part of nature, and therefore, they were not part of our culture."
Shion realized Nezumi never named the rats before he came, saying they did not need names.
"I still think names are important." Shion said.
"If you say so, who am I to argue?" Nezumi replied in a teasing tone, and brought Shion closer. Then he sighed. But not a sigh of irritation, nor a sigh of frustration. A sigh of relief and content.
"I'm glad you're still Nezumi." Shion said quietly. Nezumi was too flustered to reply.
"Good night, Your Majesty." He whispered.
Shion buried his face in Nezumi's naked chest.
"Good night, Nezumi."

• • • • • •

"Shion."
"What?"
"You're going to be late if you won't get up."
"Five more minutes." Shion said and tightened his arms around Nezumi's waist.
"I'll be late, too." Nezumi nagged.
"I said five more minutes!" Shion desperately shook his head and closed his eyes shut.
"I'll get fired." Nezumi persisted.
"By whom, exactly?" Shion replied irritably.
Nezumi ignored his question. "Wake up already."
"No." Shion refused. Unfortunately for him, Nezumi was physically stronger than him, so he easily escaped Shion's grip and tore the blanket away from him.
"Why do you act like a child every single morning?" Nezumi sighed.

Eventually, Shion had no choice but to get dressed as Nezumi instructed him. Nezumi also got dressed, though his cloths were more casual than Shion's suit. Because of his outfit's simplicity, Nezumi had plenty of time to lazily look at Shion getting dressed, and in the end lose to the temptation and wrap his arms around Shion. Shion was a little surprised, of course. No matter how long they spent together, Shion never took Nezumi's affection as granted. They stood there together for a few minutes, enjoying each other's warmth, when a loud shout from the kitchen below ruined the moment.

"We should probably go down stairs." Nezumi said, and Shion had no choice but to agree reluctantly.

They went downstairs and headed to the source of the colliding shouts. When they entered the kitchen, the noise finally hushed and two adolescents who caused it looked directly at them.
"What is it, so early in the morning?" Nezumi interrogated the teens with his gaze.
"Nothing." Said the younger. She was a fine looking girl with brown hair that she inherited from her father, and blue eyes she inherited from her biological mother. She was wearing a high school uniform, her hair tied in a high ponytail, and she looked at the person besides her with a silent demand to agree with her statement.

The older ignored these looks, of course. He sat leisurely, his chin supported by his arm, which rested on the bar. He also wore school uniform, which belonged to the same school. He had his father's black hair and grey eyes.
"Not anything special." He said in a relaxed tone. "I caught Safu making out with a senior behind school yesterday, that's all."
All of the faces, but the male adolescent's, became filled with surprise and embarrassment.
"William!" \ "Safu!"

The girl, who yelled at her brother furiously, was puzzled to hear another voice yelling that name, and yet another one calling her. Shion and Nezumi looked at each other baffled, wondering why the other was mad with the wrong kid. After a quick battle of slight changes in their expression, they decided to let the other scold whoever he considered guilty.

"William." Shion said softly. "You shouldn't be telling us stuff like that if your sister prefers to keep it private."
William nodded in a manner that indicated Shion quite well that they will be having this conversation again, and that when they will, William still would not listen.

"Safu." Nezumi said with an assertive voice as he crossed his arms. "A senior? In school?"
Safu looked at her feet, red with embarrassment.
"Yes." Shion agreed from behind Nezumi's shoulder. "If you're getting caught making out with a senior in school, he's obviously a pretty stupid person. I mean, if he spent four years in this school already, he should know better hiding spots."
Nezumi turned to Shion with a mixture of anger, disbelief, and shock, while Safu and William bursted in laughter.
"What?" Shion asked Nezumi when he saw his expression.

"Well," William said after he finally calmed down, "fair is fair, as a senior myself, I also know all of the good hiding spots."
"Don't agree with your father, he's stupid." Nezumi told William. "Aren't you two late for school?"
"Ugh!" Shion exclaimed. "I'm late for work!"
"A forty-five-years-old airhead. I told you you'll be late." Nezumi grunted as he hurried to the door behind Shion.

At the entry to their house, Nezumi gave Shion his 'see you soon' kiss. Obviously, over twenty-one years, the kiss was altered a bit. It was still full of passion and affection, but now it also had a deep feeling of companionship, and unity. It was better now. Much, much better. It was the deepest love that could exist, a bond that they could not and will never want to break. There was no doubt, and there has not been any in years now: they are going to grow old together, and spent the rest of their lives on each other's side. When Shion broke the kiss to leave for work, Nezumi recited their most precious words in a teasing voice:

"Have a good day at work, Your Majesty."

~~End~~

A/N: So, I want to thank you guys so much! I mean, I finished a fic. This is awesome, I can't believe I'm still around, and actually having plans for the future! And it's all thanks to you guys! I love you so much :D :D

So, a special thank you to MC14ever, who didn't assassinate me, even though I was really obnoxious and kept nagging her to proof-read for me :D Thank you, living is pretty helpful.

I want to thank the reviewers: Rose (guest), Love it (guest), ibuki (guest), Lawl-ya (who helped me on tumblr too :D), HarukaKoi90, SKYBlue152, Danish viking (guest), Fantome Star, Guest (who's obviously, a guest), thecoldforest (I'm sorry I stole that name on my other fic ^^" When I read your comment I realized why that name sounded so familiar OTL), Tavros'-Yuujinchou, VarisVaris, LilChickenWings, barbello, levinahwang and qinvictor (in PM).

I'm sorry if I forgot someone, and I'm sorry if I messed up with your name.

And final thank to the rest of you, who followed and/or faved the story :D

If anyone is interested in my future plans (evil laughter), I posted the summary of my next fic on my tumblr, under 'my fics'. (I go by the same username)

See you next time :D